Ahsoka, chapter 11: In Search – part 1

Hera Syndulla made wide strides along the corridor. She was a tall and green Twi'lek woman, but even for her an attentive observer could detect her being a bit too energetic, her jaw muscles a bit too tight. Hera nearly stormed in her private part of the quarters. Although the automatic slide door almost made no sound, her son, sitting on the centered table, looked up from his data pad. He looked painfully alike a younger and alive version of his human father, Jedi Padawan Caleb Dume, or later Kanan Jarrus in hiding, except for Jacen's outstanding green hair. He also could be as stubborn as his father had been.

As soon as the door was shut, Hera took the two steps to sit on the stool beside him.

"Sorry, Mom. It's late, I know", he mumbled without his eyes leaving the screen. "Let me finish this round, please. Then I'm going to hurry up."

Hera nodded. "What about being a co-pilot for real?" She had her son's immediate attentiveness. "Pack only few things, we're going on a mission." She paused for a breath and added: "Instantly."

Jacen's eyes widened. "Really?"

"But until we'll be in hyperspace, this is going to be a stealth mission. Is that understood?"

"Aye, ma'am, erm captain" and Jacen saluted with his right hand, which appeared a bit awkwardly in his sitting position.

"I'm a general, Jacen, and you are our child. I am still your mom. Remember, we travel light."

"Yes! - Mom." He smiled from one ear to the other. Without saluting again, he switched off his data pad and went directly to work.

Jacen missed his mother's slight smile.

- X – X – X – X – X -

The pod consisted of two male couples and two smaller ones, a younger and an older pup. One of the adult animals held Ahsoka and the older pup flew Huyang in one of its tentacles.

"What is happening now? There's no ground beneath me!" Ahsoka heard Huyang complaining.

"Of course, Huyang, because you are flying," the woman answered dryly.

"I will shatter into thousand pieces if this goes wrong! Like my monocle already did!" Huyang's voice developed a higher pitch, while its robotic four hands still clinched the deactivated or broken parts of weapons and the two front elbow joints and metal forearms pressed on the blue tentacle of the purrgil for imaginary stability.

"It won't happen," Ahsoka tried to put an extra calm exhalation into her voice, "just try to make yourself comfortable and enjoy the ride while not moving to much. Or the grip might get tighter."

Huyang remained silent.

It was the older pup who suddenly raised a melodic tune. Receiving an answer from one of the other three free-of-a-load flying animals, the young and smaller purrgil turned off and dove low in the air.

Helping to hold onto the adult purrgils steadily with the sheer will of the force, Ahsoka finally detected Sabine's helmet dangling up and down the sea spray.

"There!" She dared to free a hand and pointed out to Huyang and the rest of the small purrgil family, "Port side!" Then she closed her eyes and searched within the Force: "Sabine," she whispered to herself and opened her eyes again. Although no other signs of Sabine could be seen, she could feel her somehow vaguely, her apprentice's life energy as a thin line contained within the web of the Force. "She's alive."

With that, the young purrgil head-first dove into the water, tentacles straight behind its body. The spray of the fountain, which the animal created, could be felt drizzling onto Ahsoka's skin. But the rest of the pod carried them on and she could not observe the younger one any longer.

The three remaining members flew them back over the fall-colored land and it did not take long that their shuttle came into view.

"There we are again," Huyang commented their arrival, as the two ones that carried them hoovered above the treetops and gently extended the embracing tentacles to set Ahsoka and Huyang down on the small clearing before the ship. The droid arranged the carried bulk of weaponry to be collected in its folded back arms.

Ahsoka bowed towards the pod of space whales physically as well as mentally, showing her gratitude in the Force.

"I owe you. Again, thank you," she said. The reply was a multitude of vibrated melodies in the air, coming from all three of them at once, or so it seemed.

Huyang turned to the animals, too. "Well, thanks a lot, but…," and paused. Then the vocalizer changed again into a higher tone by exclaiming: "What about Sabine?"

Ahsoka smiled slightly. She stepped a few steps back towards the ship and raised her arm. With her curved hilt still in hand, she pointed at an other direction in the air.

The smallest of the purrgils appeared and held on tightly to an unconscious Sabine in one of its tentacles. The young one was still glittering wet. The tip of another tentacle skewered Sabine's helmet, its motley colors clearly standing out from the dark blue of the whale's skin and the lighter blue of the sky.

Ahsoka fastened the hilt onto her belt, outstretched both arms and walked towards the stretching tentacle. By bending her knees with a burning through her right leg, Ahsoka had to cushion the sudden weight of Sabine's drenched body, the hair and cloth parts of clothes dripping onto the ground.

The motley helmet was thrown and rolled a short distance towards the entrance of the shuttle.

With a last short melody, the pod of purrgils raised higher in the air and went their way.

Huyang tried to walk towards them, but his singed leg and carried cargo made it a staggering procedure.

Huyang's artifical eyes blinked with the broken monocle still tipped up: "I will have to examine her soon."

Ahsoka only nodded and slowly got her own feet working towards the ship.

While they both stumbled their way to the entrance, engines roared in some distance and faded.

"They're getting away with the coordinates," Huyang worried.

"I've got the data stick," Ahsoka stated a bit out of breath and leaned onto the hull to let the pain subside again. If not for the Force, she would not have moved much Sabine with all her armor and armory on. Huyang helped her with a front arm to carefully pass the gangway with her burden.

Afterwards, Huyang activated the mechanism to close the entrance with its air lock automatically.

Then Ahsoka added: "We will see what it may be good for," and intended to move along slowly for laying Sabine down in the bed of her former quarters.

She stretched out a hand and caressed Sabine's cheek: "Let's see if we can get her back to life first."

Huyang was on his way to unload the carried burden of armory in the workshop of the ship and there the droid needed no search to find and return to Sabine's room with a medical scanner and a med-kit.

- X – X – X – X – X -

[A/N: Because of private reasons, I hope that I will be able to update in the middle of the month of March again. I hope for your understanding, too. Thank you.]