The Padawan Who Hid

Chapter 6: A Pretty Little Face

I sleep restlessly all night and am only half asleep most of the time. I wake before the sun is up to change into my long robes and cloak. Once I make sure everything is tidy and put away, I leave the tent to meditate.

Ahsoka finds me at the first crack of dawn. After she makes sure she didn't hurt me or pester me too much last night, we share ration sticks for breakfast.

"I was just super tired last night," I explain, trying to play it off cooly. "I didn't mean to cause any trouble."

We don't worry about bringing the incident up ever again.

Master Kenobi instructs us to gather the men. We round up Captain Rex and the majority of the 501st clone troopers

The son is hardly over the horizon when we start marching to the Separatist base. We have to walk halfway across the planet to get there and taking the whole army on gunships would be too noticeable, even if they took us as short of a distance as a klick.

I walk next to Ahsoka most of the time. She hangs back to speak quietly with her masters once, but she comes back to walk next to me. No one talks much so Ahsoka and I don't either: we just enjoy each other's company.

I like it very much like this.

🪐🪐🪐

"Master, I talked to Birdie last night in the tent," Ahsoka whispers, matching her pace with Anakin's so she could walk between him and Obi-Wan.

"Did you find anything out?" Anakin whispers back.

Obi-Wan gives them both confused looks. "Hold on, is something wrong with Padawan Welsh?"

"We... don't know," Anakin admits. "Have you noticed something off about her?"

"I have sensed that something is strange," Obi-Wan says.

"I asked her about being Krell's padawan and about her troops. She doesn't talk much. All her answers were vague, but I think I found out a few things," Ahsoka tells them. "Krell has rules like she can't talk a lot or have credits and she has to study a lot and she said he 'encourages her to be observant.' I asked her if she wore the cloak all the time because it was a rule and she answered really fast and told me she was just cold. I asked if she was sure and she snapped at me about it, then apologized like crazy."

"Oh?" Anakin hums. "So do you think he makes her wear it and is she hiding something with it?"

Ahsoka shakes her head. "I'm not sure. I fell asleep before she took it off because she said Krell would be mad if she didn't study and I woke up after she put it back on. I did wake up in the middle of the night, but all I could see was the hair on the back of her head."

"Interesting." Obi-Wan strokes his beard. "She's most likely hiding something if she was so strategic as to face away from you to make sure you didn't see her face."

"I also found out she's an Echani," Ahsoka adds. "I thought she was human."

"Anything else?" Anakin asks.

"I think that's it, other than she said our troopers are nicer. But when I mention Krell, she bristles a little. It's hard to notice, but I think she's scared of him," Ahsoka sighs. "I can't be sure of anything, though."

"Yes, I did notice that she seemed a bit distraught after her talk with Krell. I didn't happen to hear what they said, though," Obi-Wan adds.

"Well, we'll just have to see what happens next. It's her move," Anakin says.

"I guess so," Ahsoka shrugs. "I'm gonna go catch up to her again."

And with that, Ahsoka speeds forward to catch up with Birdie.

🪐🪐🪐

We walk along the seemingly endless trail for several hours. And with the passing time comes the rising Sun. It beats down on me, making me feel like I'm suffocating. But I remind myself that fatigue is only mental and press on.

We stop shortly to rest our feet, get a sip of water, and eat a ration bar or two. I eat half of a ration stick. Then it's back on the trail.

A breeze picks up mid-afternoon. It blows into us and fills my hood, cooling me. I'm thankful for it as it blows some of the sweat off my forehead.

Then suddenly, it puffs into my hood more powerfully than before. I feel the fabric sliding across my skull and falling down the back of my head. I snatch for it, but it's already down. It's too late.

I can feel all the eyes burning holes into me. My head is tilted down and my eyes dart back and forth across the ground. I can still see the craned necks. My throat tightens.

Ahsoka's expression is the worst. A mix of horror and surprise.

I have to play it off coolly. I crane my neck to look at Ahsoka

"Oh, are you looking at my scars? I got them during a battle. They're battle scars. I wasn't the brightest padawan at first," I explain, keeping my composure intact even though my throat is so tight I feel like I can hardly breathe. "They're physical memories, y'know? Suvinears."

"Some of them look so recent," Ahsoka breathed.

"My last battle was two days ago," I croak, voice ready to break. "I'm still not too bright."

"Oh, Birdie, those look so painful. And the large one on your cheek looks like it might be infected," Ahsoka reaches out to me.

I wince and scrunch away. My hands are shaking. "They're battle scars. T-they hurt. Please don't touch them."

Ahsoka quickly relents. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," I grit out, my throat almost unbearably tight. I twist my fingers in my joined cloak sleeves and pull my cloak more tightly around my shoulders. Now that I have my hood off, I keep it that way.

The rest of the walk to the base is silent but I can feel the eyes burning holes in my back.