3 Chapter

Soon after Yoda and Dooku left, leaving me with the food.

I climbed down to try it and found most of it ok, even if a few of the vegetables were a bit too bitter. The raw meat smelled nice enough, but I didn't do more than taste it. The taste was a bit off so I stuck with the cooked meat, vegetables, and fruits. Some of it tasted outright bizarre, but the green orange looking thing was almost like a blueberry.

Tasty.

After finishing my meal I gathered up as many as the small pillow things as possible in a pile, before curling up the best I could. Outside the sun had started to set by now, and I'm exhausted.

When I wake up again, the sun is shining on me and a small green muppet is poking me with his stick. I give him a sour look and simply rollover. The little green bastard has the audacity to chuckle at me.

Then he pokes me again.

I turn to look at him, to see him offering me a purple fruit of some sort. I take it and slice it in half with my lower beak, only to find it to have some sort of sweet juice in it. It tastes like watermelon, soaked in sugar and lemon.

Eating the rest, I roll onto my feet and stand up to stretch and spread my wings to their full width. I guess I'll forgive the muppet this time.

I spot another pile of food on a platter on the edge of a fountain, so I move over and dig in. The vegetables and the raw meat I rejected last time are not present this time.

As I eat Yoda climbs up to sit on the edge of the fountain to watch, before pulling out his communicator and saying something into it.

I glance up as the door opens and some sort of droid floats inside. It's like half a sphere, the upper side flat, and a pair of arms hanging from its sides.

As I watch it, the drone floats up in front of me. It's barely bigger than Yoda and has a coppery shell. I blink as a hologram appears into existence above it, and one of the arms raise to point at it before it says something.

The other arm then motions towards me and I suddenly understand what it wants. It's a first contact droid.

I name the shape and it repeats it after me, before repeating the word it said first. Apparently 'cube' in what I assume is Galactic Basic.

The shape is then replaced with a pyramid.

And so it goes on. Geometric shapes followed by counting, math symbols, and more advanced objects and even concepts such as fear, anger, and danger.

It takes a week, but in the end, the droid has good enough of a concept of Creole to do basic translations between me and someone else. It's also constantly learning and adjusting faster than I would ever have been able to. The process even taught me a few words of basic.

During this time I stayed in the fountain room. The droid stayed with me, Yoda visiting every day if even for only a few moments some days.

I wake up as the sunshine on me to find Yoda sitting on the edge of the closest fountain.

"Yoda. There will be a time when waking me up to find you sitting and staring like that, will cause you to go out of the window."

The droid translates as good as it can for him, and he chuckles before answering, the drone translating back to me. "You not violent."

I snort at him. "So what's today? More lessons?"

He shakes his head. "You see tower?" and I blink.

"You plan to give me a tour of the tower?" and he listens to the droid before nodding.

"Show tower, yes. Atreus want?"

I blink and then nod "Yes", before finishing my meal and following him as he starts to walk out with his cane. The droid floats along after us.

The path takes us along corridors and stairs (thankfully no elevators) until we reach a big hall. The doorway is large enough for me to easily get through as I follow him inside. Within there are other aliens, humans, and other dustlings.

All of them equipped with lightsabers.

I blink and stop to watch as the groups go through motions, following and copying the adult leaders. "Yoda, is this place training warriors?"

The droid translates, and he shakes his head. The droid translates back even as I recognize a few of the words. "No, protectors, negotiators. Jedi, guardians."

I nod and then look at the younglings again. "Why close range weapons? Wouldn't something ranged be more efficient?"

He hmms as usual and walks over to a small locker, before picking a handle out and walking back, handing it over to me before answering through the droid. "Weapon symbol of Jedi. Made for defense, not attack. If weapon drawn, Jedi already failed."

I look over the handle in my hand. It is simple with a single button and a rubbery grip. The size is actually big enough for my hand, so I guess the Jedi do have other species my size.

Pointing the weapon away from me and everyone else I press the button, causing an emerald blade to emerge with a wum sound.

Giving it a small wave in front of me, I do the equivalent of a small frown. Close range combat is pretty much against every combat instinct I have. Close range combat is for women.

I turn it off and then hand it back to Yoda. "I do not believe this weapon is suitable for someone my body shape."

He hmmms, and nods. "Not fitting indeed. Neither shape of the body, nor symbol. Lightsaber for Jedi. Potential you have. Instruction in it, you will not get."

I just blink at him as he moves to return the large handle of the training saber to the storage locker. Did I just imagine things, or did Yoda just say I was force sensitive?

As he returns, I follow him outside again further down until we reach a large hall with a giant open gate. This one is framed by giant pillars. There are a number of dustlings milling around, moving around their business. Almost all of them wearing those brown robes and I barely draw any looks as we make our way through the hall and outside into the sunshine.

"Leave the temple you do here. If wish, you leave. Stuck, you not." the droid translates for me and I nod back.

"I understand, I am not a prisoner. Can I stay if I wish to?" and he hmmms yet again.

"Stay, Atreus. Learn. Jedi guardians, teachers. No turn away needy being." I look down at him and lower my beak in respect.

"Thank you, Khan Yoda."