A Star Among Planets (Star Wars Rebels Fanfiction)

Chapter 44: Trouble

    Halftail's heart sank. "What do you mean Ezra's in trouble?"

    "Just follow us. Kanan called for us," grumbled Zeb as he continued forward with Sabine following close behind. Halftail darted after them with Birchfoot still struggling to limp after them.

    They all made their way to the cockpit where Kanan and Hera were talking quietly, yet urgently, to themselves. Halfatil cleared his throat and Kanan turned his head, breaking up the conversation.

    "We hear that Ezra is in trouble," meowed Halftail as he curled his tail over his back, hoping that he wasn't interrupting something very important.

    Kanan narrowed his eyes and Halftail drew back a bit. "He's hardly in too much trouble, but we should probably get him out of there sooner rather than later."

    That was about the closest that Kanan would get to admitting that Ezra may need help. "So what are you going to do about it," inquired Molis as his tail lashed behind him.

    Kanan looked over and his gaze met Molis's eye. "We're going to send Zeb and Sabine down there to break him out of there," he explained.

    Adlerleaf and Molis took a step toward their companions. "We're going too," announced Adlerleaf as she gave Kanan a firm nod. He wasn't about to argue with her, so he gave a slight dip of his head.

    "What about me," puffed Keen as he took a step forward, his ears lifting on his head a bit.

    Bluefeather turned her head over to Keen and her eyes flashed in alarm. "You most certainly aren't going anywhere," she argued as her ears were shoved forward. "At least not without Halftail or I."

    Keen looked upward and his eyes hardened in frustration, but when he spoke he wasn't disrespectful. "If Ezra is truly in trouble then I want to be there to help. I can do this, Bluefeather. You have to trust me."

    Molis took a step forward and stepped over Keen a bit. "I'll make sure that he stays out of trouble," he assured as he dipped his head to Bluefeather.

    Bluefeather bit her lip and sighed as she looked at Keen. "Alright, but listen to everything that Molis says and don't do anything fish-brained."

    Keen swiftly pivoted and pushed his head against Molis's leg to try and push him to move. "I will. I will. Now let's go," he barked quickly before Molis or Bluefeather could change their minds.

    Halftail watched as Swifttail touched his nose to Adlerleaf's ear and something sparked through Halftail. He saw Swifttail whisper something in her ear before she drew back and bounded after Sabine. Zeb brought up the rear and Halftail hoped that Keen going wouldn't be a mistake.

    "Are you nervous," wondered Birchfoot as he limped over to Halftail as he blinked his eyes slowly.

    Halftail smiled. "He did live very well without me. Besides, he has Adlerleaf and Molis to watch over him. I think that he'll do fine," he meowed, but his voice was tight and gave away his fear.

    Birchfoot rose to his paws and looked over to Swifttail. "Come on, Swifttail. If anything happens then we'll need our herb stores," he pointed out as he started forward with Swifttail about to follow.

    Halftail stopped him and Swifttail looked up, surprise lighting in his eyes. "May I speak with you," inquired Halftail in a rumbling whisper.

    Swifttail's eyes lit in confusion. "S-Sure," he stammered as he sat down, his paws quickly scanning his father's face before resting on his paws. "Did I do something wrong?"

    Halftail shook his head. "No, of course not. I just wanted to ask you what you said to Adlerleaf," he meowed as he tried to force Swifttail to look into his eyes.

    Swifttail looked up and shrugged. "Is that it? I just told her to be safe and I hoped that Starbound would light her path. There's nothing wrong with that, is there?"

    There was a slight challenge in his mew. Halftail knew better than to argue about something like that to his son, so he just shrugged. "No, there isn't. Now you don't want to keep Birchfoot waiting."

    Swifttail seemed a bit on edge, but he didn't say anything else. He turned and bounded out of the cockpit in an effort to get away from his father.

    "What was that about," inquired Bluefeather as she took a step beside Halftail before she sat down, her eyes searching Halftail's face for an answer when he didn't speak.

    Eventually, Halftail just flicked a paw. "I have no idea. He's just a bit on edge. I may have offended him, but he's at that age where I can't tell. Keen will reach it one day and you'll not be sure what to do."

    Bluefeather gave a snort of amusement. "I know and I'm not looking forward to it. Well, I hope that things get better between you two," she murmured as she turned back to the controls so she could help Hera.

    Halftail strode from the cockpit and padded to the edge of the top of the hanger to peer down at the cluster of crew members as they left. He just hoped that Kanan was right and that Ezra was alright.