Watching the Jedi council as he stood at Qui-Gon’s side with the
warm sunlight streaming in through the large windows, Obi-Wan
suppressed his desire to smile when he felt his robe move where he
had done his own edit to the garment this morning.

The
pocket containing his pet.

In the
end, he had named him for Iri, which was short for Iridescence, due
to his color changing nature and after a bit of holonet searching,
which had been overwhelming if he was honest and he had needed
Qui-Gon’s help quite a bit, Obi-Wan had also been able to find an
instruction on how to sew a pocket for the animal on inside his robe.

Apparently
a common practice for the people who had these pouch rats, since most
of them were therapy pet and not just pets bought at random or given
to children.

And
because they were highly intelligent and easily trained, they had
been breed by certain core members throughout the centuries to
produce the perfect rats to make them perfect pets for anyone that
could stand rodents.

That
however also made it impossible to integrate these particular rats
back into the wild.

The
wild versions of these rats were smaller to make hiding easier, their
fur were tougher and coarser and their coloration were a lot muter
than the sharp shade of red, yellow, blue and purple Obi-Wan got to
see Iri turn.

It
made sense but it was also saddening in a manner as it meant that a
mutation in the species had been breed and breed and breed until they
got what was most ‘desirable’ to sell them to the public and
while Obi-Wan was grateful to have Iri, it also saddened him so much
to see the exploration of the species.

Qui-Gon
had quietly informed him of such practice in farming, pet trade and
such that left certain animals practically breed to ruins for the
most ‘profitable’ result.

It had
not been a pleasant conversation.

But
Iri at least was in perfect health and from a well reputed trader
that didn’t engage in bad practices from what Qui-Gon told him.

He was
inclined to believe Qui-Gon honestly, the man was always willing to
debate with Obi-Wan, listening to the teachings his new, rather
unique padawan had.

He had
been particularly interested in how in the world the ghosts had
taught Obi-Wan if they couldn’t touch.

That
however was a misunderstanding Obi-Wan had to explain.

They
could touch the world, work with the Force…but not for prolonged
moments.

All
three of them effected the living world to some degree with Patia
being the strongest and able to move physical things around,
sometimes even large rocks though she would need rest after that, she
had once opened up a well when in the first three years of Obi-Wan’s
life in the temple, water had become an issue.

She
had been invisible for two weeks after that, Viruta having to take
over and using the letters they had already written to teach Obi-Wan
new words as her voice was the only thing that reached Obi-Wan.

His
ghost family had tried with what they had, fetching items like
clothes and occasional food items through Force nexus that connected
to other places but there was only so much they could do as Qui-Gon
had said, they had done their best.

Tried
their best to provide for a child they hadn’t been prepared to take
in that had landed in their mist.

‘And
I am well taught,’ Obi-Wan mused to himself before sneakily sliding
his hand through the large sleeve to gently rub Iri’s head inside
the robe, pinching the robe sleeve with the other one to make it seem
like he was still standing with his hands inside each sleeve. ‘My,
these sleeves are so large, I could hide so many bread rolls inside
it…’ He mused with some amazement before jerking a bit as he
noticed how quiet it was with everyone looking at him, flushing when he glanced at Qui-Gon to see
the amused look on his face.

“Caught
in your own thoughts padawan?” He chuckled, mildly fond of tone and
his eyes glittering with emotions that he didn’t quite know how to
read or feel through the bond even as Obi-Wan’s flush deepened
until his ears and neck were surely a deep red more akin to the blood
deep color Iri turned.

Clearing
his throat, master Windu got their attention, his eyes on Obi-Wan
with his lips twitching faintly with suppressed amusement. “Your
master seems to feel that you may be able to handle some missions
away from Coruscant, as long as it’s not in any major metropolis
with too many people or creatures. And the healers also feel that you
may do good with coming away from Coruscant for a bit as you are more
used to a life on a planet with… less pollution,” That was one
way of putting it Obi-Wan mused to himself. “But what do you say
Padawan Kenobi? Do you feel ready to take on a mission?” The master
of the order leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.

Rubbing
Iri’s head while feeling Qui-Gon’s support in their bond, Obi-Wan
smiled shyly before nodding. “I do believe I might be ready
masters, I defer to the wisdom of my elders and I do feel like I
might be able to handle some under Master Qui-Gon’s guidance.” He
stated, feeling excitement in his veins.

It was
time for another step into the galaxy.