No Second Chances (Star Wars Rebels)

Chapter 9

Ezra's POV

When I opened my eyes again, it was as if I had never lost my sight.  I was in a cramped wooden hut, lying on some animal pelts.  Kanan was nowhere to be seen.

I crawled out of the hut and onto a circular wooden platform.  Little bear-like creatures were wandering about, carrying spears and chattering to one another.  A few paused to bow in my direction, saying minunk as they did so.  The sky was just beginning to turn a pale blue and gray.

"Have you seen Kanan?" I asked one of the little creatures as it walked by.  It tilted it's head at me.

"Waka!" I told it. "Where's Waka?"

"Wakatenagooloominaruna!" it told me in it's chipmunk voice. I sighed and turned away.

"Forget I asked," I muttered. The creature bowed and scurried away, waving it's spear over it's head. I spotted a rope at the edge of the platform, leading all the way down to the forest floor. Hesitating for only a moment, I climbed down.

The ground was still slightly squishy from the storm the day before. There were footprints imprinted in the earth. One pair of human shoes and several pairs of pawprints.  I set off to follow them.

I had only just lost sight of the village when I was tackled to the ground by several furry bear creatures.  One of them stuffed their paws over my mouth so I couldn't talk.

Kanan appeared out of the trees and waved the bear creatures away.

"Don't say a word," he whispered, pulling me to my feet.  "Imperials nearby."

Kanan and his patrol led the way back to the village and up the rope, with me right behind.  Once we had safely arrived the bears dispersed.

"What was that all about?" I asked.

"I communicate to them through the force," Kanan explained.  "I tried to tell them to stay quiet and go to you so that they would stop following me, but they must have thought I meant keep you quiet."

"Nice. You definitely have this communication thing down."

"Hey, I'm doing the best I can."

"What are we going to do now? Imperials are everywhere and I haven't seen any sign of the Ghost."

Kanan folded his arms and stared out into the woods. "I was thinking we would repair the Phantom."

I laughed and shook my head. "Where would we get the parts?  Even your fuzzy army can't help with that."

"We can't bring the natives of this world into harm's way.  But I was thinking you and I could take it from a TIE Fighter.  I wish there was a shuttle somewhere nearby. That would be better."

For the first time I realized how serious Kanan was about this. I hated to douse his hope, but someone had to invite reality into the conversation. "The Phantom's viewport was smashed. We can't fix that."

"Then we can steal an imperial ship."

"What happened to waiting for the others to find us? That was a great plan."

Kanan didn't say anything for a long moment as I waited. Finally he turned away.

"You're right," he said. "That was the better plan. I was up early doing a patrol with the ninja bears, so I'm going to go lay down.  Wake me up when there's food."

He walked away, leaving me alone on the platform.  For some reason the conversation had left me feeling guilty.  I hadn't done anything wrong, but that didn't change how I felt.

Maybe Kanan had been onto something.  We couldn't just hope that the others would find us.  We had to help them.  Maybe I couldn't repair the entirety of the Phantom, but I could repair the communicator.

I took a coil of rope which had been left out nearby and slid down to the forest floor.  Twin thumps caught my attention as I started to walk away.  I turned around.

Two of the ninja bears had followed me down the rope and away from their village.  They waved as I stared at them.

"Go back up," I told them.  "I'm trying to be stealthy."

"Minunk," one of them agreed conspiringly.  I rolled my eyes.

"No, Minunk wants to be alone.  Go back home!"

I pointed at the village for emphasis.  They didn't seem to get the message.

What had Kanan said?  He communicated with them through the force?  If he could do it, then maybe I could.

I closed my eyes and reached out through the force.  I could feel their minds like two glowing embers.

It wasn't words exactly, but I was fairly certain I had gotten the message across.  I was going on a top secret mission alone and needed them to stay back in the village.  Only they weren't leaving.

"Don't you get the message?" I said.  I threw my hands in the air.  "You know what?  Forget it.  I don't care."

I started walking away.  My two tag-alongs followed close behind.  They might have been trying to be stealthy, but that also might have been wistful thinking.