Retrieval

"I'm hungry." A small human female tugged on Ndonsa's pant leg, her voice small and hard to hear against the chatter of the other initiates. The Kufu looked around for a caretaker, then realized she was on her own. Master Anbira was on the other side of the ship, speaking to a few other Jedi who had come with them on this journey.

Ndonsa knelt down to look the cub in the eye. "You were given snacks for the journey to Ossus. It is not long, and you have plenty."

The girl's eyes widened, and they both looked behind her, to where an empty bag rested on the deck, crumbs spilled around it.

The Kufu's expression flattened. "You ate it already."

"I ate it already." The human child's face crumpled with strong emotions, and Ndonsa awkwardly patted her on the head, ruffling her headfur while looking around for help.

An Alliance member, a female who specialized with resettling children with new families, turned up at Ndonsa's elbow. "Is everything okay?"

The Jedi padawan shook her head, getting to her feet. "This one is upset, and eats too much."

The older female frowned, and took the child's hand. "I will take it from here."

"Good."

Ndonsa ignored the look the woman gave her as she led the child away. There were many of them on board, all from Naboo. They had been gathered together because they were able to feel the Force, and either their family had brought them, or they had no family. The word for such a cub was "orphan" though in her tribe there had never been any orphans. Everyone had a place at the fire. If a cub's mother and father were dead, they were raised by other adult tribe members.

The idea of having no family, no tribe... it was very strange.

Ndonsa's tail flicked as she looked across to Master Anbira. He looked up and met her gaze, smiling, before turning back to his conversation. In some ways she had been an 'orphan,' when she left her tribe behind on Kuf.

Now, Master Anbira was her tribe, as the Jedi would be the tribe for these young ones.

"Excuse me."

Anbira parted from his current company, making his way towards his padawan.

"How's everything going back here?"

It was more of a rhetorical question. The younglings, while a little restless from the flight, seemed to be in good enough spirits. Their Kufu caretaker seemed that way too, although in a somewhat ambivalent state. She often wore her emotions as a wardrobe, and there was an earnestness about Ndonsa that simplified the world in such a refreshing way.

"I am not good with little ones," Ndonsa said, her ears swiveling as a child started crying in another compartment. Most likely someone had stolen a beloved toy. She focused on her master, pulling her senses back into her immediate surroundings. "I did not expect speeches when we left. There were ... a lot."

"It's a momentous event."

Anbira met his student's earnestness, clasping his hands as he talked.

"Not for the Jedi, though that's true in a way, but also for these children, and their caretakers or even families. The commitment asked at such a young age, that's an awful lot to demand. And even to those amenable to what the Jedi stand for and represent, these are still someones' children. It isn't how it was for you and I, Ndonsa. We both came to the Jedi much older."

"Hmm." Ndonsa crossed her arms over her beaded necklaces, eyeing Akasha as the black-furred Jedi walked past. After some silence, the Kufu looked back at her master.

"Why do you not have cubs of your own?"

It was a perplexing question to ask, much like so many of Ndonsa's questions. She had a gift for, if not insight, then certainly candor. Anbira's brow raised, and he crossed his arms in whole-hearted contemplation.

"That is an interesting question. Should I have?"

It was as much a question as it was a thought exercise.

"Your life represents many possibilities. Some are pursued, and others lie in a different direction. I suppose the right moment to pursue that particular possibility never arrived for me."

Ndonsa accepted the answer silently, her mind still running through a tunnel of thought. "I read that the Jedi took cubs, infants, to join. How did they make that commitment?"

She tilted her head, ears swiveled forward with interest.

"I suppose that was a burden that they had to learn to carry."

It wasn't a question Anbira had an easy answer for, and he shook his head slightly.

"Why do you ask, Ndonsa?"