Barris continued to retreat, finally finding her sword and preparing to activate it, but it was too late. The beast jumped on top of her, knocking Offee to the ground, and began to jump on her, risking crushing her with its considerable weight. Barris fought it off with her hands and feet, her lightsaber rolling away and unable to help its mistress. The beast did not touch Asoka at all, it did not even seem to pay any attention to her, but that was only an illusion. As soon as Tano approached the battlefield and lightly touched the animal's fur on its back, it immediately turned its head towards her and, rubbing against her hand, licked her in a friendly manner.
"There you go, good boy," she said gently. "Now get down and come with me."
The beast obediently climbed down onto the grass and followed Asoka, who took something out of her belt pocket and waved it in front of the animal's nose. Only when they were far enough away from Barris did Tano stroke his muzzle and say in a friendly tone:
"I feel sorry for you, my friend, left without such a large prey. However, I will comfort you with the knowledge that if you had eaten Barris, you would soon have died from the poison that had permeated her brain. I hope at least this will satisfy you!"
With that, she tossed a meat-flavoured protein bar in front of him. The beast immediately grabbed it and dragged it into the bushes, growling. Already hiding in the undergrowth, he turned his head for a second and winked at Asoka, as if to say thank you. After that, the Togruta returned to Barris, who had already gotten up from the grass and was now standing, dusting off her dress and adjusting her dishevelled scarf.
"Thank you, Tano, sometimes you are irreplaceable," she said when her partner came up.
"Success is more important than personal feelings," Ahsoka replied without a hint of a smile. "My teacher says so, and I believe him.
"And mine believes that feelings should always be directed in the right direction, just like our personal qualities," Offee expressed her point of view.
"Ah, what would she say about the pirates' actions? What feelings, in her opinion, guided them?" asked Asoka as they walked along the field towards a rocky area famous for its deep caves. The ledges looked quite wide but not very secure, which made it doubtful whether it would be possible to climb them. Especially for Barris, whose outfit consisted of a long dress with a wide skirt. Asoka couldn't help pointing this out to her, but Offee, without batting an eyelid, said she could handle it:
"Don't worry, I've been in situations like this before, and I had to find a crystal, which is definitely no harder than finding a group of little Togrutars.
"And this is my first time seeing them," Tano smiled, and they all climbed onto the nearest ledge, deciding to start with the lower caves. It was unlikely that the children would be able to reach the upper ones. The caves turned out to be quite narrow and, as luck would have it, empty.
"Barris, I think it would be wiser if we split up," Tano suggested. "You take the left side, and I'll continue here."
"Asoka, it's better not to stay alone in unfamiliar territory," Offie protested immediately. "My teacher says that only those who are surrounded by their own kind can survive. The lonely always lose."
"Mine would say that in a situation like this, if something unexpected happens, if we split up, at least one of us will be able to return.
Barriss didn't answer her, but suddenly fell silent, pressed her finger to her lips, and moved with her whole body towards the left edge. Then, taking Ahsoka by the hand, she jerked her shoulder in the direction of a cave. Tano understood her and ran after the Mirian, who seemed to have found what she was looking for. Once they reached the left edge of the rocky area, Asoka understood why Offee had brought her there. An unusually bright and lively warmth emanated from the bottom of the cave, which usually indicated the presence of one or more living beings. More than one, in fact, as the soft yellow glow in the Force was too strong. They both rushed there, almost colliding near the narrow passage, but stopped in front of it, trying not to make any noise, and peered into the cold darkness of the cave. It was not very deep; at least, the back wall was visible, because it was there, around a small fire — the only source of heat and light — that a group of children and teenagers had gathered, most of them Togrut, with only one belonging to the human race. He was a boy of about nine, with sun-bleached blond hair and large blue eyes. Like everyone else, he was wearing red trousers and a burgundy shirt, but that was the only thing he had in common with the others. Even now, from the narrow stone corridor, it was clear that he was sitting apart from the others, who seemed to be unconsciously avoiding him. Asoka felt a deep sympathy for him, sensing a kindred spirit, as she remembered her own position among her comrades in the Order. Deciding to move slowly towards them, Asoka and Barris entered the cave and, crouching slightly, began to make their way along it. They walked and listened to the quiet voices of the children:
"Do you think they're gone?" someone said quietly.
"Probably not," replied a more confident voice.
"I wish we could see our mother and make sure she's all right," said a quiet but insistent voice.
"I can't say anything about that. The pirates might kill some of the hostages to scare the others and force them to give up their land," the fourth voice replied immediately.
"I also lost my tail," said the one who had spoken before. "I can't sleep without it."
"Of course, no one else agrees to sleep with you," someone said maliciously in a nasty voice.
"Shut up, right now!" shouted the one who had spoken before, and suddenly there was a noise and a crash. Unable to bear the sarcasm directed at him, the offended one stood up and grabbed his enemy by the scruff of the neck, pulling him to one side and pushing him against the wall.
"Let me go, you madman!" the unfortunate boy cried, struggling to free himself from the boy's strong grip. At that moment, Asoka looked over and saw that the heroes of the situation were the same boy of the human race and a short, thin Togrut with an unkind face. Tano was about to intervene when suddenly a tremor ran through the cave, accompanied by a rumbling sound like a thunderstorm.
"Let's get out of here!" Offee shouted, grabbing Ahsoka by the hand. "The cave is about to collapse."
"You're right," agreed Asoka. "But first, let's get the children out of here. We can't leave them here."
Meanwhile, the ceiling began to shake, giving way to the walls of the cave, from which lime and small stones were already falling. They had to hurry. Both students rushed to the fire and used the Force to pull the children towards them, ignoring their protests, and carried them out of the cave. And then Asoka pulled the last one, the very same boy, but before they could get out, another, even louder rumble shook the cave, causing part of the walls and ceiling to collapse, raising a cloud of dust. But when it settled, no one appeared on the surface. Only the frightened Barris remained, clutching the frightened Togrut children to her. Only two were missing: Ahsoka and the strange boy. They had been swallowed by the collapse.
***
Meanwhile, the pirate ship had already landed on the surface of Shili, and its commander was rushing to the capital's underground to find out how his comrade, who had been assigned to guard the hostages, was doing. As it turned out, he arrived just in time. Two Jedi were waiting for him at the entrance, along with an arrest warrant for unlawful deprivation of liberty and trespassing. But the Togrutas languishing in the cold cells knew nothing of this. Those whose children had remained on the surface and whose fate was unknown were particularly anxious.
"How is my little boy? He's never left the village! What will happen to him?" wailed a young, beautiful Togruta woman with light orange skin and white and blue lekkus. Her large green eyes were filled with tears.
"Calm down, Selina," another togruta, older and calmer, tried to comfort her. "He's not alone, the other children will help him.
She believed her own words, not yet knowing what had really happened.
***
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