Ahsoka walks out of the tent dedicated to being used as the "war room" with Anakin on her heels. She'd gotten back from the scouting mission a bit ago and just barely finished reporting the details to the others.
Ahsoka looks around, scanning the campsite for a particular fellow padawan.
"Master, have you seen Birdie?" Ahsoka asks, turning to Anakin.
"I sent her on a run to the town to see if the citizens knew anything about the base," Anakin replied. "Why?"
"I just wanted to spend more time with her. She's really nice. I think we'll make good friends," Ahsoka says brightly. Then her expression drops. "There's something about her that bothers me, though."
Anakin raises his eyebrows.
"It's like she's... frightened. I don't know. She guards herself and with the Force all the time, though, so I can't be certain about anything," Ahsoka sighs. "And she always wears that cloak with the hood over her face so you can't see it well."
"I've noticed something, too," Anakin admits. "She's pretty jumpy and it seems a little much to be just nerves."
"I'm going to see if I can get her to talk tonight," Ahsoka decides. "We're sharing a tent because Jesse and Tup didn't bring one for her, so maybe we can talk tonight."
"Yeah, and tell me what you find out," Anakin nods curtly.
"Got it, Master."
🪐🪐🪐
I tuck my hair behind my head and flick my hood back up as I approach the camp. It felt good to be free from the cloak hood for a while, but now that I'm finished in town, I have to put it back up.
The citizens in town shapeshifted into Twi'lek, humans, Rodians, Zabraks, and some even shifted into Echani like me when I arrived. They were frightened by my presence alone, even though I acted as non-threateningly as I could. They're quite timid.
But I have the information I need.
After I report what I found out to Master Skywalker, he dismisses me. I walk out of the tent and Ahsoka and I nearly flatten each other.
"Oh, Birdie!" Ahsoka gasps. "I'm sorry, are you okay?"
"Yeah," I assure her. "I'm fine."
There's a short pause.
"Sooo... do you want to come meet the boys now?" Ahsoka offers. "I can introduce you to them."
"Sure," I agree.
Ahsoka leads me to the large tent that serves as a mess hall. There's a large group of clones gathered around one of the flimsy tables.
"Okay, so that's Fives, Kix, Hardcase..." Ahsoka goes on, pointing to each clone as she lists his name.
When she gets to the clones called Tup and Jesse, I think, Ah, yes, tent clones. They're the ones who were kind enough to consider me worthy of a tent.
"Do they not have numbers?" I ask softly.
"They do, but it's easier and better to call them by their names," Ahsoka explains. "Why?"
"Master Krell doesn't allow them to have names."
"Oh, so he's one of those masters," Ahsoka spits out distastefully. "The 'no attachments' rule is going too far when you can't even call the clones by their proper names!"
"I agree," I whisper, inaudible to most ears. But Ahsoka apparently hears me because she smiles.
"Can we play Sabacc now?" Fives asks in a whiney voice.
YOU ARE READING
The Padawan Who Hid
FanfictionBirdie Welsh used to be the happiest youngling in all the Jedi Temple. She was outgoing, had many friends, and remained positive in every situation. She was a little ray of starlight in the darkest times. Then she became the padawan to Jedi General...
