A/N: Hi to all who have followed us and to any new faces! We're glad you found us and hope that you enjoy this as much as we have loved creating it.
Our stories originated as online role-playing and are situated in our alternative Star Wars universe – well, mainly the universe of Episode One, pretending that the tragedy of the Great Jedi Purge never happened. Ahem. There are approximately twenty-five stories pre-written in this series, which focuses on Master Eeth Koth and his padawan learner Raven Trebeck. Although each story can stand alone, it might be a better reading experience to start from the beginning with "Of Padawans Fake and True".
'Out in the Wild', the sequel to 'Learning Self-Restraint', is set two months after Eeth and Raven returned from their mission to Borleias where they were infected with a Neimoidian virus that was almost fatal for Eeth. He has made a full recovery but is now working on regaining his physical fitness. In 'Out in the Wild', our Jedi are teamed up with another master-padawan duo and sent to Arkuna where they will find many challenges.
As everyone who has read and followed our stories ought to know by now, authority and discipline, including corporal punishment, are central themes. To any newcomers, see the aforementioned statement and take it as your only warning. We don't post content warnings at the beginning of each chapter for this. Also, we realise that our master characters, especially Eeth, will at times come across as harsh. However, please keep in mind that this is a fictional universe in which teenagers with extraordinary, potentially lethal abilities are raised to do an incredibly hard, dangerous and responsible job. Their masters feel an obligation to keep them in line in order to protect them and others by various types of discipline, including corporal punishment, i.e., spanking with the hand and different implements. And sometimes, they will need to dispense with the cuddling and tell their charges to do their duty. These are teenagers, after all, not small children. There will always be times to offer comfort and moments of closeness between master and padawan, but they might sometimes have to wait. Plus, masters might have their own issues … which is certainly true for Eeth. His journey with Raven is a learning experience for him as much as for his padawan.
Fortunately for our padawans, our master characters have near-magical healing abilities at their disposal, allowing us to indulge our preference for strict discipline. All of our stories are well-thought-out and contain in-depth character development and progression of the storyline.
If you like our stories (or if you don't like them for reasons other than those of which you have been warned), let us know in a review; we love to hear what you guys think. Okay, let's get this show on the road. Enjoy.
"Padawan," said Eeth in greeting when Raven entered the room, returning from classes. "It is good to see you. Go wash your hands and sit down for lunch. I have news for you."
It had been nearly two months since their return from the hyperspace communications frequencies conference. Eeth had finally made a full recovery, but he was not yet entirely up to his previous standard of physical fitness. Raven, on the other hand, was more energetic than ever. She had also made a lot of progress in her training and behaved reasonably well these past weeks which had included another Senate assignment during term break – this time without incident. Eeth had therefore decided that it was time for them to embark on another mission. It was designed to allow Raven to expand her skills in an area that Eeth himself had little expertise with; and it would be their first extended mission that would take them away from Coruscant for weeks, at least, if not months.
"Oh, what sort of news?" Raven asked, an eyebrow cocked.
"I will tell you when you have washed your hands and sat down for lunch," said Eeth impassively.
Raven pursed her lips but disappeared to do as asked without argument. 'News.' Now that could be bad or good, thought Raven. Heck, it might even be a mission. Butterflies erupted in her stomach at the thought. A moment later, she skidded across their dining room tiles on socked feet. "Tell me it's something good, like a day at Tree World, or a mission, or the zoo, or, Tree World!" Raven blurted, praying he wasn't about to tell her that she had misread his expression and was in fact about to get her ass handed to her. Raven had been on her best behaviour, but sometimes trouble had a way of finding her.
"Oh, I think it definitely qualifies as good news," Eeth said with a smile, inviting Raven to tuck in. "We are going to leave on a mission. It will be the most extensive mission assigned to us so far and it is also tailored to your special skills. More specifically, to your talent for connecting with animals."
Raven had a rare gift of sensing animals through the Force and being able to influence them. Eeth had known this from the start of her padawanhood but, since it was not a gift he shared, had decided to help her develop her special gift at a later stage, after having ensured that she had a solid command of all the basic skills that would be required of her. That time had come now, he believed.
Raven's spoon paused mid-scoop, she coughed and her brows would have risen into her fringe, had she had one. She stopped herself from asking Eeth if he was for real if only because that sort of rhetorical question was usually met with a literal answer. Instead, Raven stared at him for a moment, her mind racing with possibilities. "Where are we going? What things will I be doing with which animals, and with whom?" It was a lot to ask, but then, Raven had so many questions.
"We will be exploring the wildlife of Arkuna, a hitherto uninhabited Outer Rim planet, in order to make sure it is fit for colonisation," said Eeth. "The most important of our tasks will be to exclude the presence of sentient or near-sentient species, which would impede colonisation. For that purpose, we will be joined by Master Drkai Luthan, who is a specialist in working with animals. She will help you expand your skills in that area. Her padawan, Endal Kanyan, will also join us. I do not know if the two of you have met? He is about your age."
"I know of him, and I've seen him around. We don't hang out in the same circles, though," Raven replied. She was still in a state of semi-shock; this was certainly going to be the longest mission they'd had to date.
"Will I get to do things with you, too? I mean, I hope you aren't going to leave me with Drkai while you and Endal go off and do all the work?"
"First of all, 'Drkai' is Master Luthan to you until she gives you permission to call her otherwise," said Eeth sternly. "Is that clear?"
Raven stiffened slightly at his tone, her spoon lowering and cheeks flushing pink. "Yes, master." Because what else could she say to that?
"Good," said Eeth. "Now, this mission is specifically designed for you to develop your skills to a greater extent than you would be able to at the Temple, with a different master than your own. The Council frequently arranges pairings like these, as no master is equally proficient in all the things a padawan needs to learn. And there is no reason to assume that you would be excluded from the actual work. On the contrary, it will be you and Master Luthan who will do the most important work. There will actually be more teams on the planet than us, but they will be of aquatic species and devote their attention to the vast oceans. Arkuna has only one major landmass, and it will be our task to explore it. It stretches from one of the poles up to the equator and covers different climate zones. We will need to pack clothing and gear that is suitable for all of them. Since we are only leaving a week from now, there will be time for this. Once on Arkuna, we will move around the landmass, investigating the fauna both through observation and through the Force. That part will mostly be yours and Master Luthan's. But of course, all four of us will stay together and I will still have time for your training and schoolwork."
Raven was intrigued, excited and curious. "What's Endal like?" she asked, curious about her peer and the sort of company she was going to be keeping.
"He is quite the scholar, as far as I know," said Eeth. "Very talented in most academic subjects, especially astronomy and astrophysics. His saber skills are apparently not as good as yours, though, and he has no particular talent for working with animals, which is why he will not share in your lessons with Master Luthan. He might help you with your classwork, and in turn, you might be able to help him with his saber skills. I will try to arrange a meeting between the four of us tonight. You might also want to meet Padawan Endal independently and get to know him better, but I will leave that up to you. We will not leave for another week, so we do have time to get to know each other."
"Eesh, I hope he's not a nerd or anything," Raven thought aloud but suspecting that he totally was. Before she realised how bad that probably sounded, however, Eeth gave her a pointed look which had her faking a cough to clear her throat. "I didn't really mean it to sound like that. Not entirely… I'm sure we can help each other. I could arrange to meet with Endal in the padawans' lounge afterwards?" Raven asked, and started picking at her lunch once again.
"You might, if he is free," Eeth agreed. "I will comm Master Luthan after lunch."
Half an hour later, Raven had been coerced into finishing her plate and meetings had been scheduled between Eeth, Drkai and their padawans for seven pm tonight.
Meanwhile, Padawan Endal Kanyan was slowly making his way to the training room his master had reserved for him, hoping that he could talk her into making it a short session. He had been assigned an exciting astrophysics project and wanted to get to work. Besides, he was pretty sure that there was no way he was ever going to master backflips. Despite his master's efforts to encourage, reassure or, alternatively, rebuke him, he was simply too scared he would lose balance, crash into something and hurt himself. It also seemed like a lot of hard work. Endal was not lazy as such; but there were types of work that he much preferred to others, and exercise was simply something he loathed. Logically, he knew that in order to become a Jedi, he would have to make progress with this aspect of his training. And he did not exactly refuse to do so; it was just that he was not keen on doing any more of it than was strictly necessary. Thankfully, his master, while unwilling to allow him shirking his workout and meditation sessions, never enforced them beyond the point where Endal thought he couldn't stand one minute more of this crap!
"Hi, master," he said cheerfully as he entered the training room right on time and found the Zabrak woman already waiting for him. "Guess what? I got an A+ in my Huttese oral exam."
"An A+! Well done, padawan. I'm proud of you," said Drkai in well-practised Huttese and pulled him into a quick hug. Drkai had taken basic Huttese as a padawan but not to the point of mastery, which was why Endal was encouraged to learn the language; it was best for a team to have different skills to enhance their effectiveness.
Endal grinned. He was used to academic achievements but it had not made him conceited; he was still genuinely thrilled with every good result and glad about his master's approval. He gave her little enough to be proud of in some other areas of his training, he assumed.
"Come on, let's get started," said Drkai. She was still smiling over his good news as she took up a ready stance, gesturing that he do the same. It was going to be a light warm-up, and then into a more rigorous sparring session. She was trying to ease Endal into more confidence in his abilities, although that approach seemed to be slow going so far. In fact, her approach was going to have to change lest he fall too far behind his peers. It had been on her mind a lot lately and she briefly wondered how Endal was going to react to his new orders when they began their mission.
Endal unenthusiastically readied his practice saber. He was a fairly obedient child although more often than not, he did little more than go through the motions when his workouts were concerned. Given the circumstances, it was hardly surprising that he had not been allowed to build his own saber yet. He knew perfectly well that he needed to make more of an effort in order to make some real progress but it was just so much hard work. He hated breaking a sweat! He did follow Drkai's orders, but his moves lacked power, speed and precision – as usual.
When their hour was up, Drkai put a reassuring hand on Endal's shoulder and patted him once, sending him off to shower. She knew he was disappointed in himself, but he would have to trust that she had his measure. And Drkai did; things would improve soon enough.
"Put your things away and come join me," said Drkai, heading to their comm unit to check messages and order them some lunch. Typically, Endal would spend hours in his bedroom studying but today… "I have some news for you."
"Oh?" asked Endal, his curiosity piqued. "Sure. I'll be with you in a second." He hastily tossed his workout clothes in the laundry chute and returned to the common room.
"What is it, master?" he asked as he served himself to a glass of water from their kitchenette.
"We have been chosen to accompany Master Eeth Koth, and his apprentice Raven Trebeck on what could turn out to be quite an extended mission to the planet of Arkuna," replied Drkai, gesturing that he help set the table while they waited for their lunch.
"A mission? That's great!" Endal said enthusiastically. They had only ever been on one mission before, and that had been a conference on Alderaan. Endal had found it quite interesting and his master had been pleased with his performance; he had even taken the minutes on some days. Maybe they had been assigned another conference? he thought. Or negotiations? He did not think the Council would assign them a mission that was actually dangerous, given the fact that he had not built his own lightsaber yet.
"What kind of mission, master?" he asked eagerly, opening the cupboard to get out two plates.
Drkai smiled at his enthusiasm. "Primarily, it is an exploratory mission. We are to search the planet for signs of existing civilisations, near-sentient beings and discover whether or not it is suitable for colonisation by the Republic. Like me, Raven has a particular gift for connecting with animals through the Force; the Council have requested that I work with her to help improve that skill. It ought to be a rather interesting and different mission for us."
"Cool!" said Endal happily. This sounded really exciting. The only cause for apprehension was Master Koth. Endal knew the man by reputation, and according to that reputation, he was the strictest master in the Temple. Well, his padawan seemed to have survived her apprenticeship so far. Endal had seen the slim, blonde girl around. The classes she took were not as advanced as his but she was apparently a really good fighter, or so a friend of his, who had a secret crush on her, had told him. She had one over him there. Endal just hoped they were going to get along!
"Are we going to meet Master Koth and his padawan before we leave?" he asked. "And when are we leaving?" It did not look as if his master was in a hurry, so probably not tonight, he thought.
"We are, tonight in the dining hall, in fact," said Drkai. "We have plenty of time to get to know each other before our mission; we aren't scheduled to leave for another week. The Council often gives us more time to prepare when a mission is without urgency, such as this one. You can't always count on that, though."
After enduring more homework than Raven thought fair, she and Eeth were making their way towards the dining hall where they were to meet with Drkai and Endal. After that, Eeth and Drkai were going to talk and she and Endal would be free for the evening to get to know each other. Raven was excited, yet curbing her enthusiasm. "That's them," she said, pointing towards the sandy-haired boy that she recognised as Endal from many nights spent at the padawans' lounge. They had not really met, not really, but most padawans knew who everyone was, even if only superficially.
"Yes, it is," Eeth said.
They exchanged greetings, chose their meals and sat.
Raven, never one to shy away from an opportunity at conversation immediately started talking to Endal about their up and coming mission. She was pleased to discover that although he was a bit of a nerd as far as classwork went, he had a good sense of humour; they were going to get along just fine.
Eeth gave them a moment to get acquainted with each other. Then he asked everyone to listen to him for a moment. He proceeded to outline their mission, the trip and the geographical regions they would need to cover.
"We will be unlikely to find civilisations with highly-developed technologies there," he said in conclusion, "because satellite scans show no evidence of them. There might be a civilization hidden in the oceans, but covering those will be the task of other teams. What we might find, or rather what Master Luthan and my padawan might find, is sentient life at a primitive stage, or possibly semi-sentient animals. We will definitely also have to deal with predators, so we will want to watch out for those. If that happens, you and you–" he pointed at Raven and Endal – "will follow Master Luthan's and my lead and obey your orders without a moment's hesitation. Is that clear?"
"Yes, master," replied Raven in a fashion that implied her response was given by learned rote, and possibly thought about a second afterwards. At the same time, Endal shrugged. "Yeah, sure," he said, not giving the matter a second thought. He had not really had issues with obedience so far.
Drkai nodded once at the dual replies. Endal was a good student; it was rare that she had to actually discipline him over anything, but it had happened on occasion. Raven, on the other hand, struck her as a bit of a loose cannon. Eeth appeared to have her conditioned to respond, which was commendable for a twelve-year-old, yet she did not sense any resentment from Raven. No, that pairing was also well matched, Force-willed, she surmised.
When their group was finished with dinner, Drkai led them back to their quarters where she invited them inside. "Make yourselves at home, I'll get some tea," Drkai offered, ruffling her padawan's hair affectionately as she moved into the kitchen. It wasn't like Eeth or Raven would have trouble finding their way around; the quarters she shared with her padawan were standard and looked like most others assigned to master-padawan teams.
"Thank you for the offer," Eeth said. "I would appreciate some tea. I was wondering, however, whether our padawans would not like to go to the padawans' lounge for a while. We will most likely be discussing practical arrangements during our mission that will not necessarily require their presence." While Eeth did not subscribe to the concept of 'fun,' he had learned a thing or two about team building over the years and thought that it might definitely make their stay on Arkuna more productive if Raven and Endal got along.
Endal grinned. He liked Raven and wanted to get to know her better, and besides, he still considered the Zabrak master a tiny bit scary. "Sure, why not?" he said. "You coming, Raven? I mean, if it's okay with you, master!"
Drkai waved the two apprentices off, the anticipatory and excited expressions on their faces amusing her.
Once they had left, she served Eeth and herself tea, smiling politely when he thanked her for the hospitality. She wanted to ask a favour of him, yet thought that to do so before he'd so much as taken a sip of his tea was impolite. Thus, she allowed him to begin their conversation, curious to know what he had to say.
"What I mainly meant to talk to you about," said Eeth, "is the division of responsibilities during this mission. Due to our mandate, it is clear that you will spend a great deal of time working with Raven and that our main objective, the search for sentient life, will be largely in your hands. I will be happy to take care of mundane tasks such as setting camp and preparing meals while Raven and you do this, and I assume that Endal will help me with this. However, since he is only a twelve-year-old padawan and in need of training, I was wondering whether there is anything more substantial that I might work on with him while you are busy with Raven. I am not meaning to interfere with your training, of course; I am simply looking to make productive use of our time on Arkuna."
Drkai was genuinely surprised at this perceptive question. "As a matter of fact, I was going to ask if you would be willing to do me a favour." She leant forward, her hands cupping her tea. "As you say, you and Endal will be spending a lot of time together during this mission. If it is not too much of an imposition, I'd like to ask if you might take over his physical training while we are away. Endal is a good kid and does well in most aspects of his training. However, when it comes to physical training, he struggles to apply himself. I have tried to ease him into this, perhaps for a little longer than I should have for his sake, yet what works well for him elsewhere doesn't appear to be working for him in this aspect. I was considering switching to more serious methods, but then this mission came up and I noticed your name. You are well known for your physical prowess as well as your talent with a lightsaber. I think Endal could benefit greatly from spending some time training with you." Drkai wasn't sure if it was asking too much, but she was serious about helping her padawan improve himself and truly believed that Eeth would be able to help kickstart that.
Now Eeth, in turn, was a little surprised. He was aware, from having looked into Drkai's and Endal's files, that sparring was not Endal's strong suit and that the boy had not built his own saber yet but he had had no idea that this was an actual issue. Nor was he sure how to deal with Drkai's request. With Raven, he was well within his rights to bend her over and swat her if she was lazy or recalcitrant (which practically never happened during lightsaber training!) but with Endal, it was a different matter. He was not quite sure whether Drkai was aware of his usual approach to teaching and whether she would approve it.
"I will gladly be of help," he finally said. "Now… As you might know, I am a fairly strict master and I am quick to enforce compliance with my instructions. At the same time, I am loath to interfere with the way in which other masters raise their padawans. What, exactly, would your expectations be if I worked with Endal on his saber skills?"
"That he improves and benefits from a different teacher and style. From you, I'd imagine that you'd treat him no differently than you do your own students. As I said, Endal is actually quite a good kid, he's just struggling, and so far I haven't found the right brand of motivation to help him get past this. I've been teaching him Soresu; the style does suit him well, but perhaps some time spent learning something different, Ataru for instance, might just generate some interest? So you know, Endal has yet to master several of the moves required for basic Ataru; this might help to motivate him, and if not, well, I'm aware that your teaching style is different from mine. In this case, I believe it might just be what Endal needs to get him past this block. He is capable, very capable."
"If he is capable but still struggling, I assume he is lazy," said Eeth bluntly. "My usual approach, with my own padawan, is very straightforward. If she does not make the kind of effort I expect from her, she is paddled until she does. This has never been the case with her physical training but is quite often an issue with her academic classes. I assume you will have to see what kind of motivation she needs, if any, in the lessons you give her. The question for me is what kind of motivation I should provide Endal with if he needs it. I feel it would only be fair towards him to be clear about this from the outset."
Drkai pondered his first statement. Was Endal lazy? Hmmm. Perhaps in this area, he was. It was not a notion she had thought of as he worked so hard in all other areas. "He is also afraid of failure, I suspect. I have spoken to him about this, yet all the encouragement in the universe did not seem to help him much. This is why I was about to restructure our training, and I will continue to do that. I will admit that your teaching style is harsher than I have been on Endal so far, but that is rather the point; I believe a change in pace will make all the difference for his confidence, amongst other things. As I don't believe you are a maniac," she gave him a very slight smile, "I'm quite confident that he will survive. You have my permission to do whatever you think necessary to help him. It would be greatly appreciated, actually." Drkai was going to be spending a lot of time with Raven on this trip and would not be able to give Endal the one-on-one attention he needed in order to consistently implement her new training strategy. Eeth would be mostly taking over this area even if Endal was not lacking, after all.
"In that case, I will do my best to help Endal improve his skills," said Eeth solemnly. "I value the show of trust that this implies. I would like to schedule a practice session with Endal at some point before our departure in order to assess his potential and the areas he needs to work on most. Conversely, I would like for you to meet my padawan and assess her level of skill. It would be best if we chose an afternoon with no other obligations since I do not like to schedule a fixed amount of time for such purposes."
Drkai gave him a genuine smile. That this mission had shown up as it did was fortuitous for her padawan, to say the least. It was also going to be rewarding working with Raven. "I will replace our usual practice session tomorrow at 4 pm and have Endal meet you instead. I can meet Raven at the same time if it suits," she proposed.
"It does," said Eeth. "I will book a training room and send you the details, and I will send my padawan to meet you here or at a place of your choosing."
He rose from his seat and gave a slight smile. "I will contact you later this week to discuss the choice of vessel and equipment," he said. "I am looking forward to working with you."
"Likewise," replied Drkai, standing and taking his empty cup. She was pleased, yet suspected that Endal might not be overly thrilled by her request of Eeth. Well, it was what it was; Raven needed training in a rare skill that not many Jedi possessed, and Endal needed help in his physical training. It would be an interesting mission.
In the meantime, Endal and Raven had made their way to the room of one thousand fountains. It had been Raven's suggestion as she wanted to avoid being beleaguered by her friends and focus on getting to know Endal. Besides, the fountains were prettier to look at than a bunch of couches.
"Have you been on a mission like this before?" she asked after some general 'getting to know you' sort of chit-chat.
"No," said Endal. "Just one mission so far, a conference. But then, I've only been a padawan for half a year or so. You?"
"Over a year now," Raven answered sans judgement and sat on some stonework surrounding a large fountain. "I've been on a few missions but nothing that was exactly like this. It doesn't sound like there is a lot of danger, at least, but then, who knows. Crazy things happen on missions." Her expression looked as if she spoke from experience, yet was still excited by the idea nevertheless.
"Do they?" asked Endal with a grin. "What kind of exciting things have happened to you during missions so far?"
"Force, where do I start?" Raven replied, pulling her knees up to sit cross-legged and settling in, ready to tell a tale. "My first mission was to the planet of Fenesteer where we were to attend King Falp af Fustaun's crowning ceremony. It was meant to be purely diplomatic, consisting of little more than standing around in fancy robes, making a lot of small talk and attending banquets. What actually happened was far more interesting." Raven went on to tell Endal about how there had been tension from the old aristocracy, resulting in stampedes and an assassination attempt, both of which she considered out of the ordinary considering it was meant to be a diplomatic mission!
"My second mission," Raven continued without pause, "was to Larivan. Eeth and I were teamed up with his former apprentice, Lakhri, who had already spent two years trying to settle a civil war in the Hevelan system and knew what he was doing. Our job was to locate a runaway bunch of royals who, despite being forced into exile by their planet's new democratic system, were reluctant to leave, and bring them to Coruscant. Eesh, can I just tell you that dealing with royals is a pain in the ass. If you can avoid it, do so." Raven did not elaborate further on that mission as Prince James, although no longer a sore spot for her, had been her first experience with boys, not to mention with death sticks!
Raven held up a finger marking a third point, and pulled her legs in tighter. "This one was to Nar Shaddaa."
"Nar Shaddaa?" Endal asked, flabbergasted. "They'd allow a padawan your age to go to Nar Shaddaa, of all places?"
"I guess," Raven agreed, without divulging more than was proper about that experience. "Our job was a straight-forward one, though; find a Force-sensitive child and return him to the Temple. It was the place that made this one crazy. Firstly everyone looks like they either have something to hide or they want to kill you! We ended up hijacking Nash the Hutt's ship, and can I tell you, if it wasn't for Eeth's extraordinary ability to use the Force, we'd have never made it out of that." Raven smiled at the memory because unlike Eeth, she had not really contemplated the concept of her own mortality. Not yet.
"My last mission was probably the tamest of the lot," Raven said, omitting the reason for this downscale. "We were sent to moderate the hyperspace communications frequencies conference on Borleias. I have to admit that this mission was boring, despite the bit of fun the location offered. Just when we thought it was done and dusted, though, most of the committee were infected with a virus by the delegates from the Trade Federation. Eeth almost died, and I'll tell you, at the time I wished I could have died. It was terrible. He's still not quite right, I swear it." Raven shook her head, yet her expression was more one of awe as opposed to fear.
"Yeah, I heard about that," said Endal. "I think the whole Temple did. Hey, speaking of your master. Is he really as hard-ass as everyone says?" He tried to sound nonchalant as he asked this. It wouldn't do to let on that he found the Zabrak master rather intimidating!
Raven had been expecting that question and thought it best to give a truthful answer. "Yeah, he is. It doesn't take much to tick him off, and he tends to come down on you like a tonne of bricks if you do. He is fair, though, and I tend to get a bit more freedom than some of my friends. Just not where my classwork is concerned. Are you worried about taking this assignment with him?"
Endal shrugged. "Not worried, exactly," he said. "Just wondering. He's bound to be a lot stricter than my master. You're going to take lessons with her, so I guess I'm going to be working with your master while you do."
"I guess, yeah," agreed Raven. "He's not so bad, really. Just do as he says to the best of your ability and it will be okay. OH! And don't be late, he hates late. Trust me, I know."
Endal laughed. "That doesn't sound too hard," he said. He never had trouble being on time.
Raven gave him a smile and asked. "What's your master like, is she strict?"
"Not that strict, no," said Endal. "I mean, she can put her foot down if necessary, like any Jedi master could, I suppose. But mostly, she's sweet. I'm really lucky we found each other."
'I just wish she was better at making me improve my sparring skills,' said a tiny inner voice. 'But then, that would mean a lot of work, so maybe it's not really what I wish… Anyway, it's not her fault, it's mine! I simply suck at being a Jedi.' Of course, he voiced none of these thoughts. Instead, they started talking about classes. It turned out that Endal still had to take hand-to-hand combat and had heard a lot of stories of how scary Master Rool was, so they spent a happy ten minutes exchanging horror stories about the man.
When both apprentices had run out of things to bag Rool over, Raven stood and stretched out her legs; sitting around for too long had never been easy for her.
Endal noticed the saber dangling from her belt. It wasn't a training saber, like his, but the real thing.
"When did you get to build your own saber?" he asked curiously. "You're young to have one."
"Not long after my twelfth birthday," replied Raven, pulling the weapon from her belt and twirling it in her palm once before her grip snapped shut on the hilt. It was a move she had been working on for a while now. It was then that she noticed Endal had not yet completed that padawan rite of passage. Immediately she reattached her saber, not wanting to look like she was showing off or belittling him for not having reached this point yet. "Does Drkai ever say when you might be allowed to construct your own?" she asked, genuinely interested.
Endal grimaced. "No," he said. "To be honest, I suck at anything related to lightsabers. Or to physical training, for that matter. I'm nowhere near where I need to be. Maybe this mission will help, I dunno. Do you think we'll get to fight? Like, predators?"
Raven concealed a wince at hearing her padawan peer profess that he 'sucked', and she wondered why he wasn't on the level. He didn't look like he had any issues. Then again, everyone had their weaknesses, Endal's were just different from hers. His question got her imagination running. "You know, I actually have no idea. I read the mission file and very little is known about Arkuna. That's why they're sending us. It's possible for sure. Who knows what we'll find." Raven looked intrigued about the whole thing nonetheless.
They continued to talk about the possibilities for quite some time until Raven's chrono began beeping. "Time to head back," she said, smiling when Endal nodded. "Hey, Endal I'm really looking forward to this mission, we're gonna have a blast," she assured him as they parted ways at the turbo lift.
Endal grinned at her. "Yep," he said. "This is going to be my first real mission; well, the first really interesting one. I'm totally looking forward to it. See you soon!"
"Hi, master! I'm back!" he called as he entered their quarters a little while later.
Drkai looked up from where she had been sprawled out on the couch, reading their mission file. "Hi yourself," she replied, setting the datapad aside and stretching out. "Tonight we'll do our evening meditation in the gardens." The gardens, Endal would know, were literally right next door to their quarters; they had gotten lucky in that aspect.
"Alright," said Endal. He went to wash his hands, and waited for his master to pull on her boots before they could leave.
"Did you learn anything interesting from Master Koth?" he asked as they left their quarters. "Is there anything I can do to prepare for the mission?"
"Nothing I would consider interesting, no," said Drkai with a wry smile. "As for any preparation you might make: typically, I'd tell you to read and research because the more you know, the less likely you are to be unprepared. With this sort of research mission, however, we know little and remedying that is indeed our mandate." Drkai led him to a flat, grassy spot beside a fountain and gestured that he sit opposite her. "As you know, I'll be spending a lot of my time training Raven to use her Force ability with animals. This doesn't mean I won't have time for you, but it will be less so than you are used to. Master Koth will be supervising you for the most part. He is a very talented Jedi master, most notably for his lightsaber skills, which is an area in which you have been struggling. This is a wonderful opportunity for you to improve yourself, padawan, and it is why I have asked that Master Koth focus on your physical training while we are on Arkuna."
Endal's eyes widened and he gulped. He had not seen that coming.
"M-master Koth is going to train me?" he stammered although, truth be told, it came out as more of a squeak. His lightsaber skills were the very last thing he wanted the Zabrak Councillor to take an interest in because that was sure as hell going to become intensely embarrassing! Plus, he did not imagine that the man would be particularly tolerant with Endal's reluctance to break a sweat.
"He is an excellent teacher," Drkai said in the way of an answer. She put her hand on his shoulder and squeezed, leaning forward to meet his eye. "I would not request this if I thought you incapable."
"But I am!" said Endal, and this was maybe the first time that he actually voiced that idea. "C'mon, master, I can't even do a backflip! Master Koth is probably going to send me back to the creche when he sees how bad I am." Besides, Master Koth was super strict, and Endal was not keen on having his ass busted – but he chose not to voice that thought because he knew what his master would think of that.
"Nonsense. Nothing short of my instruction will have you returned to the creche for such a thing. And It is precisely your lack of progress that has prompted my decision. Had this fortunate opportunity not presented itself to you, our training sessions would have had to change," she said, and it was not without a sense of understanding. Drkai could understand, after all.
Endal pursed his lips. He knew that his master was right. He was annoyed with his own lack of progress and was aware that this could not go on forever. At the same time, he had a suspicion that for him to make progress would involve a lot of sweating and probably some degree of coercion, and he was not at all keen on this. Then again, what could he say, other than "I'm afraid of the evil scary Councillor" or "I'm too lazy to put in the effort"? Both would be ridiculous, and therefore, he said nothing.
Drkai could guess what Endal was feeling, and she sent him a wave of reassurance through their bond, but like it or not, this was how it was going to be. She closed her eyes and entered a meditative trance. "Link with me," she told him through their bond. Although it was relatively new, their bond was a more precise way to project her love, support and belief in him. It was also going to help Endal vent his fears and insecurities about this part of the mission. And there were a lot of those! Endal was usually a fairly optimistic and carefree person who had sailed through his creche days on his intelligence and academic interests. He had gone along with the physical training but without a lot of motivation or skill. The idea that he might not be chosen by a master had occurred to him but it had not scared him to the extent that it seemed to scare most other initiates; there were always other career options for people with a talent in maths, astrophysics, and history, after all. Nevertheless, meeting Drkai and being asked to become her padawan had been exhilarating, and it felt completely right. Whenever they meditated, he was certain beyond any doubt that this was where he belonged and this was the path he was meant to take, even if it might become hard at times. It looked as if those times had finally come, and that scared him. Still, meditating with his master helped, as it usually did. She had his best interests at heart, and she knew what she was doing, he could sense that.
And thus, it was with an air of resigned acceptance that he went to bed that night, deciding to just do his best in his upcoming session with Master Koth and hope that it was going to be good enough.