The Repeating Day - 10.138

[Ndonsa]

Ndonsa fell to the ground in a cloud of dust, and then kicked at Akasha's feet, knocking the bowing padawan off balance.

[Abarai Loki]

When Akasha was swept unceremoniously to the dirt, Loki stepped in, placing himself between the fallen padawans. Sensing a fracas, he pinned the felinoids to the floor with the tips of their once discarded weapons, and was swift in his punishment.

"Padawan Ndonsa, since you are intent on behaving like an animal, you may join them. Clean out the eopie pen. And as for you," he turned his attention on the brazen Orryxian, pleased to the see the look of smug satisfaction wiped from her face, "The Gossam are serving root stew today. Bring me some back before it gets cold."

[Akasha Khan]

Loath as she was to let a sneak attack go unanswered, Akasha didn't want to give Loki an excuse to dole out further punishment - she knew he was just itching for the chance she could tell by the way his face was completely expressionless and void of any hint of malice or triumph--

The Orryxian clamped down on the snarl that had begun to curl her lip, and instead merely climbed to her feet. Then, without a word, she clipped her staff to her belt and padded off in the direction of the Gossam settlement.

[Ndonsa]

Ndonsa's ears flushed pink on the inside as he called her an animal, but she bowed stiffly and stalked off, leaving the gathering group of padawans behind her as Loki picked another pair for instruction. The eopie pen was far enough away that her blood had time to cool, though she still felt shame for her actions. Why had she done that? Akaska had used the same trick as before, and she had fallen for it, again.

She leaned on the outside of the eopie pen, looking in at the awkward animals. The smell was...smelly. She wrinkled her nose with distaste.

[Ndonsa]

Mucking out the stalls was rough work, and by the time she was laying in fresh straw her footpaws and lower legs were caked with dirt. A sudden uproar in the nearby construction area made her flinch, and she looked up to see the crane? tilting madly. The workers were shouting at each other, the mongoose in charge bellowing particularly loudly and pointing...no, waving his paws around. Ndonsa tossed the last armful of straw and vaulted over the fence of the eopie pen.

The machinery wasn't in danger of falling near her, but the nearly completed medical building was overshadowed by it. She looked around, her heart beating quickly. Why was everything happening the same as yesterday? Ndonsa looked toward the hills and the jungle, and snatched up her spear and ran toward the wild as fast as she could. She ran down the main road, passing padawans from combat class, and various Jedi, but she did not pay attention to any of them.

Her only concern was gettino away, and getting out.​

[Untaaura Verratoa]

"Kosa!"

Untaaura saw the bounding Nehantite at the last minute, side-stepping at the last moment to avoid a certain collision. An acrid aroma pierced her senses as she passed, and Untaaura gave the air a few sharp sniffs as her eyes traveled to her uniform, now flecked in something unpleasant.

"Watch wherre jyou'rre gojing and forr the Goddesss' ssake clean jyourrsself jyou forrda ssavage!"

[Ndonsa]

Ndonsa didn't slow down, but held up her paw behind her with one finger raised in what she'd learned was a very effective insult. She kept running, the construction crew managing to right the crane as she disappeared into the jungle.

[Ndonsa]

Ndonsa had finally fallen into an exhausted sleep in the jungle, in the shadow of the S-E-N-T-R-Y thing. It had been overgrown and moss covered when she had found it, as if no one had seen it in years.

She rolled over, and woke suddenly, sitting up in a shaft of sunlight that warmed her fur, shining in the window of her room. She stared, her heart beating hard, and jerked back as a bird slammed into the glass. It fell to the ground, dazed, a smudge left behind on the window.

Ndonsa yanked on her pants and top, threw her necklaces on, grabbed her spear and ran out of the Jedi dorms. She looked around wildly, and took a few deep, calming breaths of cool morning air. Akasha emerged from the mess tent, and Ndonsa stared at her.

[Akasha Khan]

Akasha stalked with shoulders hunched and tail snapping, evidently in a poor temper. She had turned to head in the direction of the hydroponics gardens when she sensed someone's eyes boring into her, and she stopped in her tracks and turned unerringly to face the Kufu mongoose.

"What do you want?" the Orryxian asked testily.

[Ndonsa]

Ndonsa straightened up from the defensive slouch she'd unconsciously assumed as the black furred Padawan spoke. "What is for breakfast?" Her paw tightened on her spear.

[Akasha Khan]

"Search me," Akasha said, and then on consideration of Ndonsa's difficulty with idioms, added, "I wouldn't even have gone in there if the sodden Cizerack hadn't scared all the sodden game away for miles with their sodden patrols. They're serving some kind of hot cereal glop with fruit? Looks the same going out as it does going in, I'll wager."

Her stomach made a loud, gurgling complaint, and she patted it with a broad paw and a look of chagrin. "I don't suppose you've got any eopie stashed away? All I've had is a family of tree mice."

[Ndonsa]

Ndonsa's eyes widened, still staring at Akasha. "No eopie. I hate eopie."

She turned on her heel and ran off down the road, headed...nowhere. Anywhere but where she was.

[Anbira Hicchoru]

Having tended the garden at the break of day, Anbira was prepared to sort out his daily assignments in earnest. A dip in the river to wash and dry again, he returned to Sanctuary with his humble garments on and hair tied back, breaking his fast with a kopokek. It was still early in the day and the heat hadn't yet descended upon them. So it was a surprise that he saw his padawan moving through the streets as if her tail were on fire.

"Ndonsa?"

There was a sense of delirium and urgency. He'd felt that sensation from many students rushing to avoid being late, but Ndonsa was early. Considerably so.

[Ndonsa]

Ndonsa skidded to a halt at the sound of her name, her tail stiffening and the brushy hairs there standing on end. When she saw who it was she made an awkward half bow, bobbing up quickly, her grip on her spear tight. "Master Anbira I -" she stumbled on the words, afraid she would sound like she was crazy.

"I will see you later." She turned on her heel and was about to spring away.

[Anbira Hicchoru]

There was a growing sense of bewilderment coming from his pupil and it was becoming infectious. She gave him a wild look, almost as if she expected to see him but yet hoped she didn't.

"Ndonsa, I..."

And then she was gone again.

"What in blazes? Padawan!"

Something was wrong. This wasn't a quirk of her usual culture shock moments. This was different. Anbira took off after her.

[Ndonsa]

She bounded away, the jungle swallowing her whole as she ran. Master Anbira chased her, but she did not slow down. Neither did she try to lose him.

When he caught up with her, the Kufu was sitting on a moss and plant covered mound, her spear fallen on the ferns in front of her.

[Anbira Hicchoru]

She put up a spirited flight, and Anbira gave chase as he kept pace with her flight through the jungle. After what seemed to be multiple kilometers, she finally slowed to a stop near a mound grown over with vegetation. Anbira's run slowed to a trot, and at last a walk as he came close to his student. He caught his breath, speaking when it came easily.

"What is wrong, Padawan? I can sense great alarm in you."

[Ndonsa]

She had torn underbrush away from the mound before sitting, and now she stared at her paws. "I am troubled, Master. Today...comes again and again. I do not understand this. Is this a Jedi spell?"

[Anbira Hicchoru]

A look of caution came over Anbira's features. He'd only recently introduced her to metaphors. Had she evolved so quickly into pondering the metaphysical? Tomorrow, would the Kufu find herself mired in an existential dilemma?

"You mean routine? That's an apt observation. Doing the same thing each day can almost make it seem as if one is living the same day over and over again. You are unnerved by the sameness, Padawan?"

Anbira took a seat next to his troubled student.

"Often it helps to take a journey of some kind to break the monotony. If you believe you know the next step every step of the way, you don't look where you travel and you don't learn."

[Ndonsa]

Ndonsa rubbed her paw over her eyes. "So this is not unknown to the Jedi then. For...sameness." She frowned. "It is not like the same day, Master. It is the same. Breakfast, the same. Same bird hits my window. I do not like this, Master. You say I should take a journey?

"A journey to where?"