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It started with the loth-cats. They’d followed him around since he was a child, more often than not Ezra would be told to stop feeding the things but they’d been following him around long before he started giving them his scraps.
Then his parents were taken and he was on his own. The loth-cat’s continued to stick around: helping him steal, keeping him warm at night. One had even saved him after a trooper had nearly dislocated his shoulder, it’d jumped on the troopers face as if it’s claws would slice right through his helmet, giving Ezra the chance to run.
Thankfully both he and the cat got away and Ezra held the loth-cat in his lap extra tight that night. It had purred strongly, distracting him from the pain in his arm after he slammed it back into its socket by repeatedly running into the sturdiest wall.
Admittedly, Ezra didn’t think much of his connection with the cats. Nor the birds that would tirelessly squawk when he nearly walked into danger, or dropped him some of their stolen trinkets when he was doing something that they seemingly thought those objects would help with.
Even the loth-rats- when not avoiding his cats -never tried to bite him and never stole from him when they stole from everyone else. A braver one had crawled on his shoulder on the longer nights that left his chest feeling tight, it’s tiny hands playing with a few strands of his hair before leaving when he could breathe again.
It’d been nice, his connection, the safety and assurance the animals of Lothal so often gave him when it felt like everyone else was out to get him. They were just about the only beings he trusted, the only things that didn’t give him a reason not to trust them.
Ezra Bridger terrifies him. Kanan can admit this to himself in the quiet of his room, not because he fears the boy will fall ( Kanan won’t allow that ) but because Ezra Bridger is overwhelming.
It’d be impossible to get a midichlorian count on the boy, no one but the Empire had that kind of equipment now but Kanan knows Ezra would qualify for the council with no trouble at all.
Kanan truthfully had gotten out all of his jealousy about his padawan’s prowess, no longer feeling inadequate but rather proud and excited when Ezra accomplished a new feat. What scared Kanan most was what could have happened. What could still happen if he failed the boy.
Dear force, it was a miracle the child had survived this long without drawing the attention of the Inquisitors. It had to be the biggest oversight the Empire had ever made-that had the potential to change. Just the thought of them wrestling his child into one of their uniforms and drowning out his blinding light with hatred scorched the broken Jedi’s heart.
The kid had street smarts when he wasn’t goofing off, enough that he slept lightly and was protective of the objects he carried on his person. These qualities certainly kept him alive during his time on the streets but those traits weren’t the things that saved him from other force sensitives, and they never would be. At best it’d give him a head start, but not the energy to stay running.
Ezra was guarded, thankfully something that carried over to his signature at times, but it was minimal, not hiding all the kid had behind those quickly put up walls. Ones that could be toppled with a well placed blow, verbally or physically if persistent or striking enough.
It was getting better with their daily meditation sessions. A good and a bad thing because that meant Ezra could keep him out as well. It bothered him but Kanan wouldn’t complain, couldn’t, it’d be confusing and likely irritating for Ezra and would only put them both through unnecessary strife.
Kanan needed to monitor Ezra, and all that raw susceptible power and emotions that came with him. Ezra also had so much more than even Kanan needed to hide, and Kanan as much as he doesn’t like it knows if these things don’t come out in the way Ezra needs them too, it wouldn’t be healthy for either or them.
It was a conundrum they were steadily working through, the force was certainly with his padawan, and it didn’t take long for the most obvious implication of that fact came to the light.
There is a stowaway on her ship. One attempting to chew through her carefully spliced and fitted wiring while leaving it’s droppings in the vents and the common area’s floor. Hera fumed at the situation, while Chopper was more than happy to twist his top and flail his arms, ready to help find and shock the intruder.
Zeb watches the scene from the table with tired eyes, sipping his caf, ears twitching when the tiniest of squeaks hit the air. The rodent intruder.
“Uh, I think it’s in the vent Hera,”
“The only one small enough to fit in there is Ezra,” Sabine pointed out as she came into the room, opening the cupboard only for her face to morph in disgust, “There’s rat crap in here too,”
Bringing her wrist up, Hera felt a little guilt for interrupting her boy’s meditation session but the thing was a real danger to the Ghost and they knew where it was. They might not be able to find it later, and there was no telling what damage it could have done by then.
“Specter Six I need your help with something,”
“On my way,” Ezra’s voice came back after a second, likely looking to Kanan to see if that was alright. The boy steps in a few seconds later, Kanan not far behind, looking almost as intrigued as Ezra does.
“There’s a rat in the vent,” Zeb fills in and Kanan realizes just what they want his padawan to do.
“Go get on some gloves and a helmet and-“ Hera begins not wanting for him to get bitten or scratched in the cramped quarters where he couldn’t push the little menace away but Ezra was already crawling into the vent.
There’s alarm from all of them as the teen slips in, no protection whatsoever as he disappears into the walls with a plethora of small thumps as his elbows and knees bump against the metal.
“Ezra!” They call in unison, Kanan stepping closer, seemingly debating pulling Ezra back out.
The only one who doesn’t say anything in alarm is Chopper whose words are punctuated by a crackle of electricity, “Kill it !” Sabine smacks the droid with the side of her foot as they wait for the teen to reemerge potentially with a rat and scratches or bites that would need to be cleaned.
It only takes a few seconds for the kids feet to pop back out, shimming back down to earth. The loth-rat in question was not firm in his grip, rather sitting idly in the boy’s palm, not afraid of its predicament or Ezra in the slightest.
“He’s kinda cute,” The padawan laughed at the tan striped creature in his hand, it chittering softly in response before licking his fingers.
“Cute or not I can’t have him chewing on the Ghost,” Hera sighed, her voice not as strong as usual. Not with the pure content look on the boy’s face, although she did worry about the animal holding onto the boy’s nail getting him sick.
Ezra had no such fear, moving the thing to his shoulder where it sat comfortably before the padawan looked back to his master, “Did you want to finish meditating?”
Kanan nodded a little dumbly at that, feeling the force around the boy extend to the newfound friend on his shoulder. Master Kenobi had a way of connecting with animals, a few other Jedi had as well, but he’d never seen anything as seamless as this.
There was no need to connect on the boy’s part at all, the animal and Ezra just were and that was all that was needed. It was incredible.
Ezra walked ahead of the stuped Jedi then, reaching up to pet his rat before they made it back outside and he dropped to his knees, carefully depositing the rat on the ground. The striped animal made no room to run, looking up at the boy as if waiting for it’s goodbye.
“Sorry little guy, the Ghost isn’t right for you,” Ezra explained sadly, and the animal bobbed its head as if it understood before running off, his padawan watching the departure while his signature blared in a peace that made the rest of their session easy.
Ezra and Zeb ran, their feet pumping against the snowy ground that continued to trip them, blaster shots in the air as the Empire chased them down. It wasn’t an uncommon occurrence but there is something different this time. The kid was upset, very upset, and Zeb definitely understood why.
The Tauntauns the empire were utilizing were crying as they were shocked every few seconds to make them go faster, only making them slower. If they’d let them be, the damn things would have caught them by now, and neither of the rebels felt lucky that their lead was brought by suffering.
Zeb had to put a hand on the kids back to keep him running, the child looking seconds away from stopping. From letting something dangerous happen, either because he couldn’t run any longer or he wanted to see if he could help the beast, Zeb wasn’t sure. It could be both.
Another cry pierces the air, the ground crunching as one of the two Tauntauns and it’s rider falls. Deftly Ezra avoids the Lasat’s hand trying to encourage him to keep going because Ezra can’t take it any longer, turning on his heel Ezra feels for the suffering.
The padawan runs in the direction of the fallen creature, and the other soldier moves to take a shot before his own Tauntaun howls. Rearing up and throwing the bastard off before the gun could even be fully pointed at the child.
The creature stomps on its rider, crushing him with a deafening crack before it goes on the offensive, charging at the other rider still trying to pull the fallen Tauntaun from the ground and shoot the approaching specter.
It’s head slams the man a few feet back before it attacks again and again, keeping the boy and the fallen Tauntaun safe.
The snow is coated with blood as the threats die, the boy huddled protectively around the twitching reptomammal, trying to soothe it’s pain physically and through the force itself.
Still bloody, the standing Tauntaun doesn’t miss the way the child’s body shivers and drops beside him. Curling in close, unintentionally smearing the carnage on the boy’s clothes, but the child ignores it and rewards the protection with gentle pats to it’s head.
When Zeb finally approaches, having fallen into the snow a few times, the kid is petting both the Tauntauns heads, sitting in the middle of them as if he were their own bloodied child they would fight to the death for. Which they evidently had.
The Lasat doesn’t think he’ll ever understand the small Jedi or what he could actually do, especially when this was something he’d never even seen Kanan do. Pulling himself back to the mission, Zeb keeps his distance in case the Tauntauns see him as a threat as well and calls in for the rest of the crew.
The Ghost whirrs from above not much later, and begrudgingly the boy tells the two creatures goodbye and is whisked away by the crew urging him to shower. Blood and Tauntaun’s did not have an attractive smell.
Sabine is almost sure her and Ezra will drown. Her jetpack won’t turn on and Ezra is barely conscious as they try to hang onto the log keeping them afloat in the rushing rapids they’d unfortunately fallen into.
Her ankle is sprained and there’s blood gushing from Ezra’s temple, and the flooded canyon they’d been swept into is becoming too narrow for the Ghost to drop down into, let alone see them. The sky is only visible through a mere crack that Sabine fears will topple onto their heads.
The ravine only dug further into the ground from there, and Sabine can’t do anything but hold onto Ezra’s arms along with the log to make sure they don’t get separated.
Water laps at their chins, jumps over their heads, and debris scratch their skin and leave bruises that will likely take weeks to heal. Sabine doesn’t know what to do as the ravine’s drop off comes closer, one that didn’t bode well for either of them.
Her grip on a slumping Ezra turns painful, enough that he twitches and tries to pull back in agony before the world drops out from under them and water sweeps them further away.
She doesn’t mean to let him go, not even when her head hits a rock and the darkness consumes her.
When Sabine manages to open her eyes once again, she’s on solid ground, in the middle of a cave still connected to the winding underground river that had threatened to drown them both.
Her head throbs and panic fills her before she sees Ezra a few feet away. A large reptilian beast resting its head on his chest while it’s long armored tail encircled the area around the two of them, the rest sitting under the boy’s head like a pillow.
It’s yellow eyes pierce her soul, sizing her up as if she were a threat. Sabine knows immediately she’s only alive because of Ezra who’d likely encouraged the animal to save her as well when it’d fallen into the same trance it seemed all animals around Ezra did, and protected him.
A new noise echoes in the cavern then, one that has the large daunting creature settle a little more firmly over the unconscious teen, the teen who was no longer bleeding because the sticky saliva sitting against his temple that had effectively stemmed the wound.
Sabine couldn't image the long snout of the beast gently licking over Ezra’s wounds, but it was evident that was what had happened.
Voices hit the air over the sound of a propeller and the animal makes no move to leave its new companion, and Sabine keeps a subtle and cautious eye on the beast as a boat with Kanan and Zeb come into view.
They dock quickly, approaching her with a breath of relief as she motions blearily towards their other specter. Not even knowing how to brief them other than gesturing towards the pair while struggling to stand.
It’s hell to get to her feet, thankfully Zeb let’s her lean against his fur as Kanan takes a step towards his padawan and his new scaly and dangerous acquaintance. The reptile opens its jaws, revealing bone crunching teeth to the approaching Jedi lest he dare get any closer.
Kanan had heard before the master learned just as much from their padawan than the padawan did the master, but Kanan wasn’t entirely sure if his connection to the beast would be successful, certainly not as successful as Ezra’s.
His thoughts are clear, his concern and promise to protect Ezra a mantra that he hopes the creature understands, and he’s sure it does if it’s now closed maw meant anything, except it didn’t move from it’s spot on the boy’s chest.
Zeb and Sabine silently make their ways towards the boat while Kanan tests his luck and gets in closer, the reptile allowing him to enter the circle of his tail and kneel beside the boy.
“Thank you,” Kanan doesn’t realize the words have passed through his lips as he takes in the ‘treated’ wounds, knowing his child was as protected as he could be.
Those two words are all the creature seemed to need, or maybe it was his gratitude and concern for Ezra’s well-being that swayed the beast into sitting up. Using its tail to help maneuver the boy into his arms.
It stares for a long time at the older Jedi as the padawan instinctively curls into Kanan’s heat before it ultimately decided the boy was safe, and dragged itself back into the water where it waited to seemingly escort them out.
Scales passed by the boat every once in a while as they rode back to safety, the creature making sure it’s human friend escaped this place in one piece.
“Jedi man,” Zeb huffs as the scales disappear under the depths for the final time, and they take their youngest crew members home where his wounds would be treated with something other than saliva.
Chopper didn’t understand why the human was so upset with him. Chopper had killed and done lots of things, killing a potentially dangerous Massiff shouldn’t be any different than killing a stormtrooper.
Yet Ezra was upset, ungrateful. The damn hound had been sprinting towards him, what else was the droid to do other than zap it through the heart?
The droid's insistence fell on deaf ears as Ezra stared at the fallen body, Chopper was getting tired of it and decided to move the damn thing so the boy wouldn’t mope any longer. His tracks stop and the sand beneath spittles as his wheels turn in an attempt to move. The kid was keeping him in place!
With a shove Chopper rolled backward with an aggravated warble, tipping back as his head spun furiously, “ Stupid Jedi!” Ezra didn’t care about the droids' protest, not as he took his time digging a grave for a being Chopper didn’t think deserved it.
“It was running towards us so I would pet it,” Ezra stated quietly as he covered the last bit of the remains in sand before helping the droid back up onto solid ground.
Chopper wanted to retort how could it or Ezra possibly know that, but the boy wasn’t listening. Not at all.
For once Chopper actually felt bad.
The force ripples in his temples as the Jedi rushes to his feet. Reaching immediately throughout the force to check on his crew. Hera is in her bed, Sabine is in her room curled on her cot, and Zeb is snoring in his bunk while Ezra...is outside.
Kanan clips his lightsaber to his hip, the force around him more active than ever, his heartbeat prickling in his ears as he walks throughout the Ghost and makes it down the open ramp onto Lothal’s plains.
It doesn’t take him long to spot Ezra, or more accurately the hulking white wolf sitting up and staring at the moon, his padawan curled against its side as if that was where he was always meant to be.
The force is strong with the animal, something within calling to him . Does it want to communicate with him? Is this what Ezra feels with every animal he just so happens to come across?
Kanan doesn’t know, but if the force is sure, so must he as he approaches it’s turned back. It’s growl jostled the very air nearly knocking the Jedi off his feet, and yet surprisingly his padawan didn't stir.
The wolf's head then turns slowly back towards him, it’s head near completely hiding Ezra from view as it’s golden eyes pierced the Jedi’s.
Kanan immediately feels winded, taken apart, bare in front of the beast that seems to know him in the same way it knows itself. Then it speaks:
“Dume.”