Star Wars_ The Approaching Storm - Alan Dean Foster [81]
“Sure sure you are,” argued one of the tribe. “You tell us what Jedi folk do: travel travel all the time, go from this place to that place to next place, always on the moving, never staying same place very long.” She looked to her multihued companions for support. “That a nomad.”
“It’s true that some of us do seem never to put down any roots,” Luminara admitted. “But others do live for a long time in one place. If you rise to a position on the Jedi Council, for example, you find yourself spending most of your time on Coruscant.”
“What a Coruscant?” one of the other Gwurran asked.
“Another whole world, like Ansion,” Barriss explained.
The tribesfolk exchanged puzzled looks. “What an Ansion?” one finally inquired ingenuously. With a resigned sigh, Barriss did her best to try to explain the concept of multiple worlds. It would have been easier at night, with stars in the sky. Clearly, the horizons of the Gwurran were far more limited than those of the Alwari.
Much of the remainder of the day, when the travelers should have been galloping through the hills and across the open prairie beyond, was spent educating and entertaining the Gwurran, who were passionate in their desire to learn, to explore every new object and idea. What they needed, Luminara decided, was not a casual visit but a permanent school, to at least bring them up to the educational level of the taller nomads they so disliked. Starting with physical and intellectual disadvantages, they needed proportionately more help. When they returned to Cuipernam, she resolved to mention it to the proper authorities. Failing local interest, there were societies and organizations within the Republic specifically designed to help isolated ethnic groups like the Gwurran.
Also, she and Obi-Wan determined that, despite the genuine affability exhibited by the little Ansionians, the onset of night might prove just a tad too tempting for the more acquisitive among them. Better for all concerned to remove any opportunity to stray by leaving while the sun was still up. While the overhang in the gully offered an appealing campsite, they would find a way to manage out on the open prairie.
So they bade their farewells and promised to send others to teach and assist the Gwurran. It was as they were making final preparations for departure that Luminara felt a tug at her pant leg. Looking down, she saw a Gwurran she recognized. It was Tooqui, the enterprising and unusually bold would-be thief who had led a persistent Barriss to his tribe.
“What is it, Tooqui?” she inquired politely. “We’re almost ready to go, you know.”
“Tooqui know.” He slapped both long-fingered hands against the striped brown and black fur that covered his chest. “Tooqui bravest of all Gwurran. The best fighter, the smartest, the most handsomest, the—”
“Yes, you’re a fine representative of your tribe, Tooqui.” Luminara agreed absently as she checked the supply pack harness of her patient suubatar. “I’m sure they’re very proud of you.”
“Pifgah!” he exclaimed sharply. “Gwurran multiple stupids! Got no dreams, no purposes, no goals. Happy living in holes in hills.” The little thief managed the difficult task of appearing to strut while standing still. “Tooqui want more. Tooqui got to have more.” Bulbous red-orange eyes gazed up at her. “I want go with you.”
That put pause to her inspection. Squatting, she gazed apologetically into those oversized, staring eyes. “Tooqui, you can’t come with us. You know that.”
“Know what? Don’t know that.” The Gwurran was not in the least intimidated by the much bigger Jedi. “Tooqui know only what he can see. See that you have plenty room on great big riding suubatars for little guy like Tooqui. I fight hard, don’t eat much. Usually.”
She had to smile. “You mean, usually you fight hard, or usually you don’t eat much?”
Taking a step back, he kicked angrily at the ground. “Don’t word-game Tooqui! I not stupid stupid like these other ground-burrowers! Tooqui smart smart.”
“Smart enough to steal from us when we’re sleeping?” she inquired pointedly.
Placing his right hand over