Ezra watched the mother board the ship with her child, arms crossed as he knew they were going to be taken somewhere safe, somewhere away from the hands of the Inquisitors.
"Ezra?" He looked up and peered at Kanan as the man gestured for him to follow. "You seem...distracted."
The teen fell into step with Kanan, shrugging a bit. "I guess...just can't stop thinking about the kids. Do you think there are many out there?" He looked up at his Master, trying not to let on to everything he was feeling.
"More then we want to consider, hopefully the Inquisitors haven't gotten any of them though." The Jedi sighed, rubbing his forehead a bit. It was hard to consider how a child in their grasp would grow and what they would become. He didn't really want to think of it if he was honest.
"What...were they doing with them anyway? I mean what were they going to do with them?" Ezra asked as they came upon the command bridge, glancing at Ahsoka before focusing back up at Kanan.
"I'm...not sure. Something similar did happened during the clone war but the plan back then was... well to create sith spies out of them to overwhelm the Jedi's. That is no longer necessary as there isn't really a order of Jedi's left to spy on."
"Then...what?" Ezra stared up at him.
"To corrupt them. To make them the new tools of the Empire." Ahsoka spoke up softly. "But we saved them. They won't become that."
Ezra frowned and looked down. "...They were going to take everything from them...family, freedom, childhood...to turn them into weapons?" He asked quietly.
The other human watched him, watched the frown and the darkening eyes as Ezra took that in. This wasn't the kind of life Ezra should have, to even have to consider it. He had barely had a chance to be a child thanks to the Empire, growing up to fast and still growing in the fight they were involved in.
A idea sparked of in him.
He glanced at Ahsoka, he knew she knew this game but he hoped she wouldn't tell the padawan. "I think we should get back to training." He clapped his hands together before reaching for the coms unit had on his belt out of habit more then anything these days.
"Training?" Ezra looked up.
"Yes, or well a hunt is more like." He smirked a bit, watching Ahsoka straightening and turning otwards them as Ezra narrowed his eyes in confusion. "Specter three, four and five, you there?" Kanan waited for them to respond. "I'm going to involve you all in a little training exercise. Ezra here is going to get to the Ghost from the command ship, without getting caught. He's allowed to use his blaster, he's allowed to Force enhance his sense and he's allowed to pull and push but nothing else. We are allowed our blasters, and I can use the Force in the same manner as Ezra. If Ezra gets caught, he has to take everyone's chores for a day and he has to spend a whole day meditating." Kanan watched Ezra's face turn mulish.
"But if he wins..." He almost smirked as Ezra's blue eyes perked at the idea of winning. "If he wins I teach him something new and we take all his chores for a full week."
"Kanan, a full week!"
"We split them evenly IF he wins Zeb." He watched Ezra roll his shoulders, already gearing up for it. "I'm going to count to five and then ten Ezra, at five, the others start chasing. At then at ten I move. Better start running. One..."
Ezra blasted of towards the doors, the door opening for him as he slipped out. "Two." The door shut and Kanan chuckled quietly. "Three...four...five. Move out, he's on the way." He slipped the com onto his belt and raised his eyebrow at Ahsoka's amused look and Sato's bemused one.
"You're playing padawan catch with him?"
"He looked to serious and dark. Beside, dangle something in front of Ezra that he wants and he's in for it. He doesn't need to know its a game and not a proper training exercise."
"And if he finds out?"
"He won't as long as you and Commander Sato here don't tell him." Kanan hummed, keeping count in his head.
"And IF he finds out?"
"Then I fess up, beside, avoiding being captured in the first place is a good skill to have that he's not very good at. Now excuse me, I have a padawan to catch...I'd rather not take all his chores." Kanan started moving.
"...Is this common among Jedi's?" Sato looked at Ahsoka, blinking a bit as Kanan settled into a spring once he walked out the door.
"Only between good masters and padawans." She smiled softly, remembering playing the same game at the temple herself in what felt like another lifetime. "Though not usually on ships. Now, we need to get back to this Commander, Garel is just a temporary haven..."
()()()()()()
Ezra skidded to a stop, eyes staring down the hall before narrowing themselves and turning back to where he had come from. But once again his senses sent ringing of in his ears and he stopped, cursing to himself as Zeb and Sabine came round the corner he had been about to go through and Kanan and Chopper came through the one he had been in.
Pinned.
"Seems you're doing our chores for a day kid!" Zeb sniggered happily, he'd pile the water filtration checks onto him. He was pretty sure the kid would have to go into the pipes for whatever was stuck in them.
"Nowhere to go Ezra." Sabine wasn't better of at hiding her glee at the thought of avoiding her chores for a day.
Kanan however was watching Ezra closely as the teen looked up then shot all of them a cheeky grin. "Nowhere for YOU guys to go you mean." He lowered into a crotch and jumped up and into the vent above, the Force propelling him up faster and further then a normal jump and opening the vent cover for him. "I got plenty of spaces to go!"
"Ezra, no ruining the ship!"
"I haven't ruined anything, I just got a vent open and I'm just doing what I can best that none of you can. Crawl through vents!" His voice faded away with laughter.
"We're...we're not going to get to shrink our chores are we..." Zeb sighed. He'd been looking forward to having a drink and watching Ezra do their work damn it.
"...If we don't catch him...he's gonna hold it over our heads for ages."
"Karabast."
The whole hunt ended up with Ezra sitting quite comfortable in the cockpit of the Ghost, enjoying a nice warm cup of chocolate with Hera as the others took his chores. "And remember Kanan, the air filter needs to be completely scrubbed~" She chirped and grinned at Ezra.
"Thanks for helping me." He grinned happily, a flush on his face.
She sniggered. "Just don't tell them..."
"My lips are sealed~"
Author note: Kids play games all the times, I imagen there's no different with Jedi younglings XD Because I'm going on vacation I'm uploading a chapter now right before I go. Have a good one people!