Home sick

Chapter 4 - Growing Up

Homesick
Chapter 4
Growing Up

As the weeks turned to months on Peridea, Ezra continued to explore with his new nomadic friends. Their species had survived on this planet for centuries so Ezra knew they would be key to his own survival. He could tell he was growing stronger with the help of Kanan's training and meditation. While he didn't have a saber anymore he would still practice his forms with any sort of large stick or small branch he would come by, doing martial arts style forms of Jedi training when such a prop wasn't available. He used both Kanan's teachings and recalled the Holo recordings Ahsoka had shown him that Anakin had made, he incorporated them both into his own style. He had no idea what was going on with Thrawn and the star destroyer but droves of storm troopers had been leaving. Whenever Ezra would sense them he would track them down and eliminate them. One good thing about the troopers on the planet was that when they died he could actually feel the planet absorbing their energy and life force and growing. Between the minimal life forms on the planet and the constant draining from the dark witch presence, the planet never had a chance to heal and grow on its own, and now with all of the troopers Ezra was slaying, he was giving the planet that chance by fertilizing it. Because the Noti never stayed in the same place long, Ezra didn't have the ability to collect helmets like he used to. So he started to collect their dog tags instead, and it didn't take long for him to start building up quite a nice collection. Live and let live, live and let die. Ezra knew this was the way, the key to surviving.

Ezra.

"Kanan?"

Come, it's time for your meditation practice.

"Ok." Ezra nodded. Over half a year had passed on Peridea, and as time went on Kanan seemed to frequent him less and less. Ezra never brought it up, he was sure there was a reason or maybe something preventing him, but he ignored his thoughts and just enjoyed him when he was here. He went to the edge of a small cliff and sat down, closing his eyes and focused on his breathing.

Find your center Ezra, breathe, focus on your core.

Ezra took a deep breath and felt his energy calm. He reached down into the planet, he could sense the coursing rivers of water that flew deep under the surface. The Noti had discover several small springs where the water would come out, they knew where to find the proper edible plants that bore fruit and vegetation, the ones that had roots deep enough to access the fresh water. With such little resources and the Noti always on the move, it was no surprise to Ezra that finding food and water had been so hard to come by. Hopefully with the life from the troopers he was killing would help change that. In his time here he had actually felt the planet starting to purify and get stronger. Next Ezra reached upwards, sending his thoughts up into the sky. The energy and the wind currents in the atmosphere, they looked calm but had the force of a typhoon. The air was thick but not as dark and toxic as it had been, he could even see the moon at night, rain sometimes fell. Another sign that the planet was healing. Ezra took a deep breath and next reached within himself. He could feel the raging fire inside of him, contained in a circle but ready to burst out like a storm at any given notice. He had noticed the pull of the dark energy on him, perked by the witches presence. It was similar to the call of the Sith and the dark side. It took him a very long time in order to resist it while in a vulnerable state such as sleeping. Ezra grimaced and hunched over slightly.

Ok Ezra that's enough, you did well. You have gotten stronger and are able to withstand the presence of the sisterhood without corruption.

"Thanks Kanan." Ezra sighed, he felt exhausted and slightly dizzy. His meditations had been hard on this planet, its state and the constant threat of being drained had him constantly on guard. With such little food and water as well, it was much different than going hungry on Lothal as a kid. Lothal wasn't trying to kill him, he knew Peridea wasn't either, it just couldn't help it.