'Not our nomads,' she countered. 'Like I told you, they come from far, far away. I'm sure they've never hurt a Gwurran in their lives. They may never even have seen one of your kind.' Even as she said it, she fervently hoped it was true. It was hard to imagine the thoughtful Kyakhta or the kindly Bulgan ever showing such unreasoning hostility to a cousin, even in their formerly addled condition. 'Why not come and see for yourselves? Come back with me and meet my friends. We'll have a party. You can try some interesting food.'
Her assailants exchanged dawning glances. 'Party?' someone murmured hopefully.
'Food?' exclaimed another expectantly.
'. . is anybody listen to me?' Having spent some time now bouncing off the walls, the Gwurran who called himself Tooqui was out of breath and out of energy. 'This Tooqui talking. You know Tooqui. Tooqui who-' Dumping his ill- gotten gains indifferently to one side, the thief sat down on the gravel floor of the fissure and exhaled deeply. 'Ah, moojpuck! Nobody care. Gwurran bunch of brainless bonehead stupids.' Thrusting an accusing finger at Barriss, Tooqui raised what was left of his voice.
'This all you fault, you small-head outland big-lips! You twist word noises, make friends forget Tooqui. I hate you.'
She walked toward the disheartened thief. Everyone on the rim above went suddenly quiet. As for the talkative Tooqui, seeing the much larger stranger approach, he picked up one of the foodpaks and backed up as far as he could.
'You keep away from Tooqui, you long-leg ugly bean thing! Tooqui fight you! Tooqui kill!'
Halting, she indicated the foodpak he held awkwardly in a throwing position. 'Not with a few packets of dehydrated energy pudding, I don't think.' To make herself less intimidating, she knelt, bringing her face as close to the Gwurran's level as she could manage. It was a risk. While concentrating on the thief, she couldn't keep an eye on his rock-armed comrades overhead. If they chose to bombard her while she was talking to him, she wouldn't be able to defend herself. But as Luminara had often told her, it was difficult to accomplish anything worthwhile without the taking of a risk.
Little did she know that at that very minute, on distant Coru-scant, a group of extremely powerful and very determined individuals were contemplating that exact same conundrum- though for them, the stakes were inconceivably higher.
'I don't want to hurt you, Tooqui. I want us to be friends.' She nodded up at his comrades who lined the top of the fissure. Some still held rocks in their small but strong three-fingered hands. She fought not to show her nervousness. 'I want all of us to be friends.'
The Gwurran hesitated, aware that his fellow tribesfolk were following with great interest the confrontation being played out below. 'You not hurt Tooqui? You not angry with him?'
She smiled engagingly. 'On the contrary, I admire you for what you did. I imagine it's not every Gwurran who would be so bold as to try to steal in broad daylight from a party of tall, strong offworlders like myself and my companions.'
Though still uncertain and continuing to eye her guardedly, he slowly lowered the foodpak and moved away from the wall. 'Jaja, that true so. Nobody but Tooqui brave or clever enough to do it.' He came a little closer. 'Tooqui bravest brave of all Gwurran.'
'I don't doubt it,' she responded, repressing a smile. 'Actu ally, I think you're kind of friendly.'
He took immediate offense, standing as tall as he could. This brought his face up to the level of the Padawan's stomach. 'Tooqui not friendly! Tooqui most fierce ferocious slayer of all Gwurran enemies!'
'I'm sure you are,' she agreed, reaching out to brush the fur on his forehead from back to front. He stumbled away from her, flailing irately at his head as he struggled to smooth down his ruffled fur.
'Don't do that! Don't touch Tooqui.' Fur once more flattened and smoothed back, he glared up at her out of bulging, orange-tinted eyes. 'Tooqui have much dignity.'
'Sorry.' She lowered her offending hand, palm upward. 'Now, if you and I are going to be friends, Tooqui, and if you're going to join the party, you have to return what you took.'
The Gwurran eyed the three foodpaks uncertainly. 'Tooqui work hard for to steal this stuff.'
'Take my word for it, you wouldn't like it anyway. At least, not until it's been properly rehydrated. If you'll come back with me, I'll see that you're the first one who gets to taste it.'
'First one? Tooqui be first?' His single nostril sniffed at the pak he still held. 'Tooqui always first.'
In your own mind, anyway, you sly little sneak. 'It's settled, then? You'll come back with me, we'll be friends, and we'll have a party?'
The Gwurran vacillated only a moment longer. Then he con fidently placed first one foodpak and then the other two in Bar-riss's waiting arms.
'Tooqui consent to join you.' Leaning back, he regarded his comrades on the rim above. 'It okay okay now. Tooqui make stranger harmless. All Gwurran can come down safely safely now. We go to see what nasty ugly outlander strangers got to offer Gwurran.'
Smiling to herself at the little brigand's bravado, Barriss waited while the rest of the chattering Gwurran, agile as spiders, scrambled down the walls of the fissure to join them. Tooqui's blustering notwithstanding, they largely ignored him as they pushed and shoved to get close to her, feeling her feet, her exposed lower arms, and her protective clothing. She put up with their innocent, wide-eyed curiosity for several minutes, until it threatened to become more intimate than she was prepared to tolerate. Then she shrugged them off and started back down the cleft, the three foodpaks slung over her left shoulder, accompanied by the entire tribe of chattering, jabbering, energized Gwurran.
Slender but strong ringers continued to tug at her as she walked, along with a continuous flow of questions.
'Where humans come from?. . Why you so silly-tall?. . What happened to rest of you hair?. . How can you see see out of such small small flat flat eyes?. . What this shiny-pretty on you waist?…'
'Don't touch that.' She slapped the probing fingers away from her belt. The notion of a lightsaber in the hands of an unruly, combative, slightly rowdy Gwurran was more than a little unsettling. In the constricted confines of the fracture in the hillside, the riotous babble of the diminutive Ansionians was deafening.
