Star Wars Rebels - Gleam of Hope (English Version)

Bonfire Stories

Slowly they made their way through the bats and ran towards the surface. The farther they got away from the cave room where the creatures had been lurking, the fewer of them followed.
"They're annoying!", Ezra complained.
"Well, apparently, we've invaded their nest. So it's understandable that they don't want us here," mused Kanan, turning off his lightsaber as they finally reached the first rays of sunshine.
"At least we're finally out of this mountain!" Salya sighed calmly. She also switched off her lightsaber and took a deep breath.
"I don't think I've ever been happier to see light!" Ezra stated with relief.
Salya had to laugh. "I'm not surprised after all this!"
When they finally stood on the ledge, they could look out over the vast plains and saw that the sun was already sinking towards the ground. They had been in the cave most of the day!
"Wow, I seem to have totally lost track of time in there!" Salya noticed in astonishment.
"Kanan, please promise me we'll never do that again, okay?", Ezra asked wearily.
"Yes, I would prefer regular classes too," Salya agreed.
"And I thought you'd enjoy a little adventure!" Kanan replied. Then he got a little more serious. "Today was a special one. The residents I met in the refugee camp told me about the little shrine and I thought it would be a valuable lesson, especially since I could test your discipline at the same time. They didn't tell me about those bats, though. I guess it was a good thing I followed you through a different entrance after all!"
"The idea was good, but the rest was a bit problematic... I even liked it at first! However, I don't really like aggressive animals!" Salya said with a light laugh.
"Neither do I, so let's go! Everyone aboard!" shouted Kanan, opening the Phantom's hatch for Salya and Ezra to climb into the ship.
"Finally!" Salya sighed in relief. It really had been a tiring trip and she just wanted to get back to the Ghost as soon as possible and fall into her bed!
Ezra was tired too, but his stomach was growling. He hoped no one heard.
However, Kanan noticed and laughed. "With any luck, the others thought of us," he said. To be honest, they had been gone longer than he had expected. Hopefully their crew wasn't worried...
Salya, on the other hand, wasn't hungry. She was just exhausted.
"Make yourself comfortable, I'll take us home," smiled Kanan, taking the pilot's seat as he had earlier that day.
"I hope the others aren't worried," Salya finally interjected, addressing what Kanan had also thought.
"I told them our trip would be safe. They should be fine," he said.
Satisfied with the answer, Salya dropped onto the nearest seat and stretched out her legs.
Ezra was so tired by now that he almost fell asleep during their flight. After wandering around that mountain with Salya all day, the seat seemed more comfortable than ever.
Kanan, on the other hand, was concentrating on getting them safely back to the Ghost, which luckily wasn't really a challenge. They have had enough of those for the day.
~
As the Ghost and the refugee camp came into view, Kanan noted that the rest of the crew had apparently not been idle during their little voyage. They had apparently started to build something outside.
"Either I was too tired this morning or something has changed since we left," Ezra remarked as he peered through the window.
"I'm pretty sure that's new," Kanan replied, docking the Phantom onto the ghost. "Let's see what they're doing!" he suggested, also curious.
They exited the small scout ship and joined the rest of the crew, who had already noticed their arrival and were awaiting them.
"What happened?" Sabine asked in surprise. "You look like you crawled through dust."
"In a way, we did," Ezra admitted.
Hera looked a little worried. "Were there any complications?"
"No major complications," Kanan said sheepishly.
"If you don't find a swarm of bat-monsters dangerous, it's fair to say," Ezra corrected him.
Salya nodded. "Nobody got hurt, so it went well after all," she interjected with a shrug.
"Well, at least you're all fine. But hopefully it won't be quite so wild next time," said Hera, at least a little calmer.
"It wasn't that wild. After all, I was there to keep the situation under control," Kanan said to reassure everyone present.
"Yes and it would be have been less wild, if we could have defended ourselves properly from the start," Ezra added. "Just a little thought for next time."
Kanan cleared his throat. What had become of his dutiful Padawans? Now he was stabbing him in the back!
Chopper seemed to understand what was on Kanan's mind and began to laugh in his droid way.
"At least that's how we showed our discipline! And it's always good to find other ways to solve your problems!" Salya said and even felt a little proud.
"You're really very positive about this," Ezra remarked. He realized that she was probably right.
Sayla had to laugh. She and positive? She was actually a pessimist! But if she was honest, her time on the Ghost seemed to have an influence on her, even after this little time. Besides, she'd wanted to help out Kanan. "For the moment. Don't get used to it!" she said, laughing softly.
"Exactly! You've learned a valuable lesson, and that's the most important thing! Now let's not talk about this trip anymore!", Kanan decided and glared at Chopper before smiling at the others. "What were you guys doing here?"
"Well, I'd be interested in that too!" Ezra remarked curiously.
"We couldn't just sit around while you guys go on your adventure. So we came up with our own. But I think you could convince us to invite you," explained Sabine with a grin and crossed her arms.
That only piqued Kanan's curiosity even more.
"What do you want as a conviction?" Ezra asked.
Zeb smiled. "Well, since you're asking like that!"
Salya looked at her spellbound. "What is it?" she asked excitedly.
"I don't know... what do you think?" Sabine asked Hera, Zeb and Chopper, a cheeky grin on her face.
"So...?" Ezra asked.
"Oh, Hera, Zeb, Sabine, and Chopper!" Kanan looked at everyone in turn. "Would you take care of these poor, starved, dusty Jedi?"
"I don't think that's going to work," Ezra whispered to him.
"Do I have to get on my knees first so that you can pick us up?" he asked with a laugh.
Hera laughed too. "Well, let's not be like that!" she replied generously.
Chopper was disappointed.
"Well then! Thank you!" Ezra exclaimed.
"It's a shame, I would have liked to see it," laughed Sabine, but she was satisfied with that.
Salya also had to laugh at this exuberant mood. She had certainly never seen anything like it in the empire! "Well then let's go! Before I fall asleep standing up!"
"Hey, take it easy, newbie!" Zeb interjected in amusement.
"I'm so tired this could actually happen," Ezra explained.
"The sun hasn't even set yet," Sabine remarked thoughtfully. Then she looked at the others. "Shall we start anyway? I'll get the fire then!"
Kanan looked at her with wide eyes. "Fire? Should I regret my decision?"
Hera laughed. "You don't have to worry, sweetheart," she replied and went after Sabine.
"Sweatheart?" Salya whispered to Ezra.
He shrugged his shoulders. "I have no idea!"
Outside, Kanan sat down on one of the boxes that the others had lined up in a semicircle and waited for Sabine and Hera to return.
Salya, too, took a comfortable seat. She enjoyed this warm and open atmosphere and was very excited to see how things would continue!
"So! Are you ready to let some sparks fly?" Sabine asked excitedly when she returned.
Ezra looked over at her. "Always!" He sat down as well.
Salya watched silently as Sabine and Hera lit a small bonfire in the middle of the square. Then they sat down with the others.
"Finally, a fire whose smoke won't set the empire on our necks!" Sabine rejoiced.
"The warmth feels really good after the cold cave," Ezra stated.
Salya watched the fire and a big smile crept onto her face. "This is really awesome! Great surprise!"
"Thanks, apparently I'm really good at surprises!" Sabine replied with a grin.
Kanan shook his head, smiling.
"It feels nice that we're doing something together again," Ezra said happily.
"We hang out together all the time," Kanan interjected.
"Only mostly with unwanted guests," Sabine agreed, laughing.
Hera smiled. "Or with high-speed ship chases!"
"They are really great for bonding!" Kanan interjected with a grin.
"Yes, well. Angering stormtroopers is fun too, but this is different!" Ezra wanted to explain.
Zeb laughed. "Sometimes it's great fun kicking those bucket heads' asses! But you're right, kid!"
"It's nicer when the empire doesn't break up the party," summarized Sabine and leaned back a little.
Salya laughed. "The I think we can all agree on that!" She realized that there was a touch of irony that she still looked like an Imperial and yet she was sitting among them at this moment.
"I hope we can do something like this more often in the future! Mainly because then we will have defeated the Empire!" Ezra exclaimed.
"Slow down, kid! The empire won't fall any time soon," Kanan interjected, chuckling at Ezra's enthusiasm. Even if it occurred to him how quickly the Jedi had perished back then... nobody had expected that either... bad memories...
"But we will make sure of it eventually! Even if it's going to be hard work. We'll do it somehow! And don't let them hurt people like that forever or use children for their schemes! As true as I am Salya Antana!", Salya replied resolutely. No matter what the Empire had in store for her, she would not let them stop her!
Kanan looked like he'd choked on something she said.
"Kanan, are you okay?" Hera asked worried.
Ezra looked at him confused as well.
"Antana? Like Sair Antana?" Kanan asked, stunned.
Salya's eyes widened. "Uhm, yes!... yes, that's my dad!" she said, amazed.
"Your... your father?" Kanan didn't know what to say! He hadn't known that Sair had survived Order 66! Or had a child! Well, how could he have known? The survivors hadn't had a chance of any contact with each other and it probably would have been too dangerous anyway, but just the thought that Sair had actually survived and been out there all these years...!
Ezra didn't understand anything.
"E-Exactly! Did you know him?" Salya asked, shocked. It had sounded like Kanan knew him! That was... unexpected! It seemed impossible to her!
"Um... yes!" Kanan was a little stunned by this discovery himself. He ran his hand down the back of his neck. "Back at the jedi temple, we often killed time together by..." Good memories, bad role models... he shouldn't give his Padawans any more ideas!
"So, you were friends? Wow... that... that's great! And you were killing time by...?" Salya had leaned forward tensely. She was dying to hear more about her father! He had always smirked and told her some vague tales about his actions as a Padawan. But he never gotten into any details.
"We have..." Thinking back on that now, Kanan felt pretty stupid. But he could understand only too well that Salya was curious to know more about her father and what kind of person he had been. And who was he that he could have kept this from her?
"We used to play pranks on the others in the temple," he confessed.
"Ah, really? And he always reprimanded me immediately when I was getting up to mischief!" Salya said, laughing.
"Well, even jedi can learn from their mistakes!" laughed Kanan, who found the thought of a serious, grown-up Sair kinda funny. In his mind, Sair wasn't a dutiful father, but the young Padawan who was just giddy.
"My dad used to tell me exactly the same thing, but in my eyes, he never made a mistake," Salya mused happily.
"But I think we all want to hear more of this story now!" Sabine interjected with a malicious grin.
Hera grinned too. "Yes, absolutely!"
"I thought as much," Kanan murmured, beginning the story:
~
Sair ran to Caleb excitedly. "Hey Cal! Have you heard that there's a new one?"
"So once again a master took pity on a youngling as a padawan?" Caleb asked curiously.
Sometimes it happened so unexpectedly. And sometimes he even wondered what criteria the masters used to decide on a padawan! But, his friends had been pretty shocked when his master chose him back then too, so...
"Exactly! I heard she was pretty old to still be a youngling. Somehow, she hadn't found a master for a long time... you know what? I think we should help her and show her how things work around here!" Sair said with a mischievous grin.
They had pranked the newbies so many times and it was always funny! They had to be disciplined and serious during most of the day, so it was almost therapeutic to do something silly for a change.
"Yes! Preferably as soon as possible! Not that anyone warns her about us! I'm afraid we're getting pretty famous in the temple!" Caleb chuckled.
Sair laughed. "Does that surprise you? We've played so many great pranks! So... do you have an idea? Because I already have a few, but I wanted to ask my partner first," he explained with a wink.
"If we're partners, I don't have to do all the work! Go ahead with your plans! I can improve them to make sure, they actually work!" Caleb replied with a cheeky grin.
"Well, I thought we'd give her a little scare and leave her in the dark... we could wrap her in a sheet or something!" Sair said thoughtfully.
"For her to run down the halls like a ghost? Sounds good! But we've had better..." Caleb mused. They had to come up with something more than that... Ambition wasn't necessarily a Jedi virtue, but they still had to learn and not forever stay at the same level. He thought the same was true of his plans with Sair!
"Hm.... That's right, it should be something special. Maybe we can expand the plan somehow?" Sair suggested thoughtfully. They needed a master stroke! Something that would stand out! But not so much that they got into trouble with the masters right away...
"Paint!" Caleb then remembered! Why didn't he think of it straight away? "A lot of paint was delivered yesterday because they want to paint some wall with it. I think a droid was commissioned to do it. Until he notices that a bucket is missing, we've long since made off with it!"
"Brilliant! And when she rips off the sheet: Splash!" Sair laughed. He was happy about their brilliant idea.
Caleb joined in the laughter. He was also convinced that it would be great! "Then let's get the paint right away, before the droid has used up everything!" he suggested excitedly.
"Good! Should someone distract the droid? Or do you think he's dumb enough not to notice?"
"I don't know... Crafter droids don't seem like the biggest threat to me. They don't have to be very intelligent to change a lamp or anything...if we wait for a good moment, we probably don't even need a distraction," Caleb mused.
"Well then, let's go right now! The sooner we have the bucket, the quicker and more unprepared the prank will hit her!", Sair said with a grin. "Let's see who's there first!", he said and started running.
"Hey!" Caleb called and quickly ran after his friend! If he thought he could beat him, Sair was fooling himself!
"Are you still following, kid?" Sair asked, having a slight head start. He knew Caleb didn't like being called that, so it was a great tease!
Caleb gritted his teeth and ran even faster until he caught up with his friend, even a little ahead of him. "Hurry up, space snail!" he replied, smiling victoriously. He really couldn't stand that name! But somehow the clone troopers of his masters liked to call him that too.
Sair kept trying to take the lead again, but the other padawan was still a few inches ahead when they got there. "I am impressed! You've gotten faster since last time! Or I shouldn't have called you kid, kid."
Caleb glared at him. "If I'm so small, you won't mind if you grab the bucket without the droid catching you. We wouldn't want to risk it being too heavy for me or anything," he replied, putting his hands on his hips. "Or see it as your prize for losing, space snail!"
Sair raised his eyebrows. "Well, I would say that your brevity makes you more agile and faster and it's easier to get there unnoticed. So you had better take it. I'm so slow they'd catch me, right?" Sair turned it around.
"Fine..." Caleb muttered. "But then you still owe me for my win! After all, I won even though you started running earlier!" he reminded his friend.
He carefully peeked around the corner to watch the droid. It only took a moment before he got the hang of it. The droid was pretty predictable - what else could you expect from a crafting droid? The processes repeated itself. Dip the brush, paint the wall. It took him a moment to turn around, his joints were either from a rather old model or already quite worn.
If he timed it correctly, it should be a piece of cake!
"So? Shouldn't be too difficult, should it?" Sair was a little bit more serious now. After all, the success of her prank depended on it!
"Yes, yes. What kind of jedi would I be if I couldn't get along with such a simple droid!" Caleb replied, almost a little grumpy.
He watched the droid for a moment longer. Waited until he dipped the brush again and finally turned away. That was his cue to run!
Caleb stormed out into the hallway and aimed for the paint can closest to him. It was all the same shade anyway! Not that it mattered...
He grabbed the handle and found that the paint was actually heavier than he had imagined! With a sideways glance at the droid - who was still busy with the wall - he used a little help of the force and tucked the large paint can under his arms before hurrying back to Sair.
He turned the corner just in time. He grinned at his friend and presented his loot.
Sair had observed everything and nodded, impressed. "Great! Now nothing can go wrong! Hahaha, this is going to be awesome! I have to say you did great! For your size, I mean. Come on, let me help," he said.
Caleb stuck his tongue out at him, but then gladly let him help. At least he didn't want to have to carry that bucket all the way by himself!
"Now, when is the best time to do this?" he mused aloud.
"Well, preferably as soon as possible. I heard that she often looks around in the archives, must be a little nerd. But I figured if she got out of there and headed to her room, we'd strike!" Sair said excitedly.
"How can one voluntarily spend so much time in the archives? They are sooo boring!" Caleb clarified. He hated the days when Master Billaba told him to spend his time researching the archives! "But it sounds like a good opportunity! Let's hurry then! Before she realizes how boring the archives actually are!"
"I'll get a sheet and you get the bucket in position! Then we'll meet in front of the quarters! Deal?" Sair could already picture the girl's face! That would be great!
"All right!" Caleb called, filled with anticipation. "Let's welcome her into the ranks of padawans!"
"And show her how things work among us! See you soon!" Sair called and vainly walked away.
~
A while later they met again at the quarters as agreed. Sair had found a sheet.
"So! I heard she's coming our way! Is everything ready?" Sair tried to ask as calmly as possible, but his anticipation was clearly audible. At least for Caleb.
"Yep, everything ready! By the way, it was a brilliant move of yours to let me drag the stupid bucket up here in the end!" he interjected. Sair had simply rushed off to get the sheet and he had had to unobtrusively bring this bucket here like an idiot.
But he was so excited that he couldn't really be mad at his friend!
"Hahaha, well I'm just brilliant like taht! Of course, that was planned!" Sair tried to make fun of it, even though he could have apologized. "I thought we could hide here in the hallway to the right of the quarters. From there we have a nice view of the main entrance and the girl probably won't see us!"
"Oh, good idea! Quick then!" Caleb instructed his friend and charged off. He couldn't wait!
They hid in the corridor just mentioned. Shortly thereafter, they heard footsteps.
"Okay, you throw the sheet over her and I'll take care of the bucket," whispered Sair.
"All right!" his friend replied, ready to act.
Then they saw a brown-haired girl, absorbed in reading a datapad, walking towards the quarters.
"Oh, we're about to get her...!" Caleb murmured. Using the Force, he held the sheet ready and waited for the perfect moment.
The girl went right under the sheet without noticing or even suspecting anything!
"Now it's time!" Sair said happily.
Caleb grinned and then dropped the sheet on the startled girl! She lost her pad in shock, fidgeted a bit and stumbled a few steps backwards. She flailed. Then she tripped and fell. Only then did she manage to free herself from the sheet.
Her head was red as a tomato and she looked really angry! Sair balanced the bucket over her head and finally poured its contents over her. She looked genuinely shocked and wiped the color from her eyes.
Caleb tried not to laugh so as not to blow their cover, but that was harder than any control exercise he had ever been taught in the jedi temple!
The girl looked around angrily, wanting to know where this nasty prank had come from! Her eyes finally fell on the hallway and she spotted the two boys.
"What are you doing!?" she asked angrily.
"A little welcome ceremony!" Sair said arrogantly. Their cover was blown anyway. Then he dropped the empty bucket on her head so that she wasn't hurt but couldn't see anything anymore.
Now Caleb couldn't hold back his laughter and patted his friend on the shoulder in congratulation.
Sair straightened up and stuck out his chest proudly!
The girl angrily threw the bucket off her head. Meanwhile other padawans saw it too and laughed. The girl blushed with embarrassment.
"You... you... argh! Boys are just stupid!" she yelled angrily, and one could hear the hurt pride in her voice. She grabbed her pad and stormed into her room.
Sair laughed out loud.