Chapter Nine

“But are there any predators?” Luke wanted to know. “Creatures that prey on other creatures.”

Plum chirped and tweeted.

“He doesn’t mean eating bugs,” said Lisa. “He means anything that may eat…well, either of you.”

Pip squeaked and hid under her wing while Plum whistled sharply.

“Okay, relax,” she said soothingly. Turning to Luke, she said, “They say no. They say…” Her brow furrowed. “They say, ‘Mother protects’.”

“ ‘Mother’?” Luke echoed.

Pip chattered, ears wiggling. Plum let out a loud whistle and, in the distance, they heard the squawk.

“That’s Mother?” Lisa asked. “We’ve been hearing that sound. Where is she?”

Plum chirped.

“ ‘Guarding’,” Lisa translated. “Guarding who?”

Pip chattered and rolled onto his back.

“ ‘Everyone’, huh?” Lisa frowned.

Plum whistled.

“Apparently,” Lisa said to Luke, “this ‘Mother’ is some kind of guardian. These two have never seen her, only heard her, so I’m not getting any kind of description or image.”

Pip chittered, rolling back onto his belly.

“He says, ‘Mother keeps the scary things away’.” She scratched the back of her neck. “That’s why there are no predators. This ‘Mother’ keeps them away.”

Luke rubbed his chin, thinking. He closed his eyes briefly. After a moment, he opened them and shrugged. “I’m not sensing any hostility, so I guess we can leave it for now.”

Plum hopped from Lisa’s shoulder to Luke’s and chirped.

“ ‘Mother stays hidden until she’s needed’, apparently.”

“Fair enough,” said Luke.

They’d been sitting in the grass by the lake. The sun had started sinking behind the trees and it was getting cooler as it got darker.

“We may want to start heading back to camp,” said Lisa. “And get Pip home before dark.”

The aforementioned juvenile Riverback chirped, ears wiggling.

“Sorry, kid,” said Lisa, scratching behind Pip’s ears. “But if we don’t get you home before nightfall, your parents won’t like it and we just got Elder Reed’s permission to stay.”

Plum hopped back to Lisa’s shoulder and then down to her knee, whistling.

“She’s right,” said Lisa to Pip. “We’ll be here a long time, so we’ll see each other again.”

Pip grunted and Luke could swear he was pouting; he hid his amused smile by standing and offering a hand to Lisa to help her up. Plum fluttered up to her shoulder.

Hand-in-hand, bird on shoulder and Riverback at their heels, they walked back through the bamboo and towards Pip’s river.

“Here he is, safe and sound,” said Lisa to Elder Reed and his mate – Pip’s mother, she’d explained to Luke.

Pip’s mother nuzzled him and chirped and clicked.

“You’re welcome,” said Lisa. “We’re heading back to our landing site. Plum knows where we are if you need us.”

The colorful bird chirped what Luke guessed was an affirmative.

Elder Reed shut his eyes and wiggled his ears. It was evidently a dismissal because Lisa reached for Luke’s hand and they walked back to the X-wing.

Artoo, who they had left behind to guard the ship and supplies, beeped something at their return.

“You wouldn’t have been able to follow us through some parts of the bamboo anyway,” Lisa told the droid, patting his dome.

Artoo whistled and beeped. Plum, still on Lisa’s shoulder, canted her head and made a perfect imitation of Artoo’s whistle, then chirped a question, tapping her foot twice.

Lisa chuckled. “No,” she said, “he’s not a bird. He can just sound like one if he wanted.”

The couple sat on the ground just outside the shelter. Plum hopped over to Luke’s shoulder and started pecking at his hair.

Luke grinned at the amused expression on Lisa’s face as the bird poked her beak into his scalp. After a moment, though, she seemed to give up, chirped, and flew away.

“She went home for the night,” explained Lisa. “Basically, ‘food and sleep’.”

He nodded and shut his eyes, concentrating. The Force flowed around him, weaving through every tree, under every rock, through every body of water, and into the very air around them, carrying a sweet scent of flowers and fruit.

When he opened his eyes, he saw Lisa watching him, waiting for him to finish his meditation. Smiling at her, he inhaled deeply and let it out slowly.

“The Force is strong here,” he said.

“I’d hope so if it’s the future location of a Jedi Academy,” she replied with a wink and a grin.

Luke snorted despite himself and scooted closer to her, reaching for her hand. She rested her head on his arm and wrapped a wing around him.

“We got this, Luke,” she said, squeezing his hand. “You and me. Together.”

He looked down at their entwined fingers and then out at the setting sun. Laying his head against hers, he shut his eyes again; not in meditation this time, but contentment.

“Together.”

The End

Back *~*~* Chapter Eight *~*~* Trivia and In-Jokes