Raven groaned, squinting through splayed fingers as Eeth blinded her into alertness. Truth be told, Eeth had woken her at 6 am sharp just about every morning since she had become his apprentice. Today, though, Raven had to practically throw her bottom half off her mattress in order to get herself moving. She knelt on the floor clad in nothing but her underpants, giving him a put-upon look.
"I compel you to allow me more sleep," Raven commanded in her best Sith Lord impersonation, flapping her hand at Eeth for good measure.
"Excuse me?" Eeth asked in an icy voice, fixing her with an irate glare.
"I– uh, never mind…." Raven acquiesced, sighing; she hadn't actually expected him to go away, after all. Thus, the padawan went to her bathroom to get ready for their day, scrubbing at her eyes the entire way. Of course, having an attitude or, in this case, using dry humour this early on in the day was never wise, but today she was overtired. Why? Certainly not because Eeth had suddenly decided to indulge her and allow a later bedtime, Hoth may freeze over before that happened, but because she had woken up during the night and lain there thinking about their up and coming mission instead of asking Eeth for help. In exactly six days they would be leaving for Arkuna, where Drkai Luthan would be teaching her to expand on her ability to connect with animals through the Force. Not only that; Endal, Drkai's apprentice was going to be joining them and they had gotten along so well.
Eeth prepared breakfast while Raven got ready for the day. When she emerged from her bedroom, they meditated and then sat down to eat.
"You will meet Master Luthan this afternoon in place of our workout," Eeth told her. "She wants to get an impression of your level of skill. I might take you to the pools after dinner to give you some exercise."
"Alright," Raven replied, now far more awake thanks to a shower, not to mention Eeth's frosty response to her morning lapse in attitude. She wasn't exactly happy about missing out on their workout, but going to the pools was a treat that most definitely made up for that. She gave him a half-smile and swallowed a bite of toast when a thought occurred to her. "Are you going to meet with Endal while I'm working with Master Luthan?"
"Yes, I am going to meet with Endal," said Eeth. "As a matter of fact, his master asked me to work on his sparring skills with him while she teaches you."
"Oh. Okay," she said, taking another bite of toast so that she didn't have to comment on that because for some reason, hearing that Eeth was going to be working with Endal caused a stab of jealousy. It was very un-Jedi-like. Besides, Endal was nice and she liked him well enough to want Eeth to help him. Whether or not he took those lessons with ease or not remained to be seen.
Endal was going to find the answer to that question later that day.
He arrived at four pm sharp in the practice room Eeth had reserved for them, right on time. He was also looking distinctly wary. That did not particularly surprise Eeth; he knew what kind of a reputation he had.
"Good afternoon, padawan Endal," he said crisply, beckoning the boy towards him. "Before we get started, tuck your shirt in."
"Good aft… yeah… uh?" Endal stammered, looking at Eeth, then at the state of his uniform. Hastily, he tucked in the hem of his undershirt that was hanging loose.
"As your master doubtlessly has told you," said Eeth, "I will be working with you on your lightsaber skills while she trains my padawan."
"Yes, sir," said Endal politely. "I have to warn you, though. I… well, frankly, I suck. I'm probably a hopeless case."
Eeth's eyebrows rose a notch. "If you were a hopeless case," he said pointedly, "nobody in their right mind would have made you a padawan. You are neither physically impaired nor lacking Force awareness. We will see about the rest in a moment. First, though, I would like to explain the terms of this arrangement."
"Alright," Endal said, a little warily.
"Basically," said Eeth, "I want to see your best effort. Always. I will never blame you for having difficulties with mastering certain moves; it is my job to help you resolve them. However, I will very much blame you for lack of commitment. If you do not apply yourself to these lessons, there will be repercussions. Including physical ones. I think it is only fair to inform you of this from the outset. Am I understood?"
Endal's face flushed red in embarrassment at what the Zabrak master was implying. "Yes, sir," he said quietly. He was not at all happy with this announcement but nor did he think there was any point in protesting.
"Good," Eeth said, giving him a small smile. "And now I would like to see who I am dealing with. Show me the most advanced kata you have learned so far."
Endal's face flushed an even brighter red. He had still not progressed beyond the third kata, and even that one was not complete because he could not bring himself to mastering the final backflip.
"Okayyy," he said reluctantly. "But you're gonna be appalled. I have to warn you, I really suck at this."
"I was not asking you for a verbal assessment of your level of skill," Eeth replied, stony-faced. "I was asking you to show me. What are you waiting for?"
Endal gulped and complied. He made a lot more of an effort to focus and to perform the moves with some degree of precision than he usually did for his master, but he knew it was still a performance worthy of an eight-year-old. Not even attempting the final backflip, he came to a halt, his head hanging.
"Look at me," Eeth said quietly.
Endal's head came up obediently.
"Why did you not perform the backflip?" Eeth inquired.
"Because I can't," Endal replied sullenly. "I'm never gonna master that one. I'm just too scared or too stupid, I guess."
Eeth gave him a scrutinising look. He could sense no real, deep-seated fear in the boy, just a rather ordinary reluctance to engage in physical activity that seemed risky. Most Jedi younglings were taught to overcome that fear as initiates; it merely required sufficient determination. No teacher would ever let them come to harm during such exercises, of course.
"Nonsense," Eeth pronounced sternly. "You are not only going to master this backflip, you are going to master it today. You are not going to leave this gym before you are able to perform it. It is as simple as that. Now, take a ready stance."
Endal stared at him in disbelief. "But – I've tried it for weeks and never managed to do it! And… and even if I did manage, it will take ages and I've still got an astrophysics project to work on!" he protested weakly.
Eeth did not appreciate the attempt at backtalk and it showed in the look on his face, which made Endal take an involuntary step backwards.
"Astrophysics are not your priority right now," snapped Eeth. "Mastering this backflip is. Should this training session take as long as to interfere with your homework, I will write to your teachers and excuse you from it. And I do not care for how many months you claim to have tried this. If I tell you that you will master this backflip today, that is exactly what you will do. Period. Now do as I told you and assume a ready stance."
Endal hurried to comply. It soon became obvious to him that Master Koth was serious: he was not going to back off until Endal had mastered the backflip, one way or another. It also became obvious that, just as the man had told him, he had no patience whatsoever with lacklustre efforts. Endal's hope of discouraging him by showing him how dismal his skills really were was thwarted before a minute had passed. After the first half-hearted attempt, he received a stern warning from Eeth along with a few suggestions for improving his performance. When he failed to even make an honest attempt at implementing these suggestions, Eeth told him in no unclear terms that there would be repercussions if this went on.
Endal tried to pull himself together for the next five attempts. By then, he had still not mastered the backflip, and this was taking forever! Consequently, it was with a less than constructive attitude that he approached his next attempt, only to be pulled out of it by the scruff of his neck and to have a very hard swat with a paddle that had appeared from Force-knew-where administered to his bottom.
"Ouch!" he yelped, half out of indignation and half because it had really hurt. "What did you do that for?"
"That," Eeth said, glowering down on him with his arms folded across his chest, paddle still in hand, "was for not applying yourself. I told you I expect your best effort and I meant it. The next time your attention is anywhere but on the flip you are supposed to practice, I will make it two swats. And the time after that, three. Whether you will be able to sit tonight depends entirely on you."
Alright, so that was unambiguous. Endal was not used to this style of teaching but he could see that the man meant business, and like it or not, he could see no way out of this. Nor was he stupid; that swat had hurt fiercely and he did not want more of them. Besides, he did not really think it desirable to antagonise the Jedi he would have to spend at least several weeks with before they even left the planet. So, with an internal sigh, he gave in to the inevitable and really got to work. And when he did so, he found that Eeth was not only a strict teacher, but also a good one: patient, efficient, quick at spotting and correcting mistakes that prevented his student's progress, but not trying to achieve too much at once. Above all, Eeth was determined, and he very strongly projected the fact that he expected the same amount of determination from his student. Somehow that went a ways to helping with Endal's attitude, and he managed to limit his experience with the paddle to one more instance in which he earned two swats for whining.
Two hours later, the unimaginable had happened. It was an exhausted, sweaty and inordinately pleased apprentice who exclaimed: "I think I've got it now! Don't you, Master Eeth?"
He beamed up at the man, the three swats he had received during the session completely forgotten over his accomplishment.
"Yes, I do," Eeth agreed, giving him a tiny smile. "Some of the details still lack the necessary precision, but you have mastered the essentials of the move. This will enable you to move on to the fourth and fifth kata quite soon."
"I know," Endal said happily. "I wouldn't have thought it possible. I honestly didn't think I could do this."
"What nonsense," Eeth said brusquely. "If there is one thing I have no tolerance for, it is a self-defeating attitude. It leads you nowhere. Well, I am glad you have seen for yourself that you can master physical skills if you really apply yourself. There is still a lot to be done, of course. You have far less strength and stamina than a human boy your age should have, and I intend to work on that during our mission. For now, though, you are free to go home and start on your astrophysics project."
"I will," Endal said, grin still firmly in place and deciding to ignore the part about "strength and stamina" for now, as it sounded entirely too foreboding. "Thank you, Master Koth."
He bowed to the man and hurried towards the showers.
A quarter of an hour later, he came barging into his quarters, still visibly excited.
"Master!" he called out. "Master Koth has taught me how to do a backflip! I can do the complete third kata now!"
"That's wonderful, and I'm so very proud of you!" Drkai said with a full smile on her face as she pulled him into a hug. She had expected progress, but certainly not this much progress in only a few hours. Endal responded well to her guidance in most areas. However, it was now proven that her typical approach to the physical aspects of his training was not going to work. Well, she had kind of already known that; Drkai had asked Eeth for this favour for a good reason, after all. "I hope you behaved yourself?" she said, releasing him. "And I hope you are hungry. I've made bwalla stew." Drkai had not been sure how Endal was going to respond to Eeth and had prepared his favourite meal in an effort at boosting his morale, had it taken a turn for the worst.
"Very hungry," Endal replied, giving his master a grateful look. Drkai was always so thoughtful; that was one of the many things he liked about her.
"And I did behave, mostly," he added while pulling off his boots. "Master Eeth gave me a few whacks with his paddle for not paying attention to what I was doing. But it was nothing, really. It actually helped; if he had not made me pull myself together, I would never have mastered that backflip and I'm so glad that I did!"
He thought it was only prudent to reveal that bit of information to his master lest she hear about it from Master Eeth.
It didn't come as any great surprise to Drkai to hear that he had gotten swatted. No, what took Drkai off guard was Endal's easy acceptance of it from Eeth, and over his physical training at that. Endal was typically accepting of correction, physical or otherwise, if he understood that it was deserved. He did tend to make a lot of excuses over his lack of physical ability, though. Well, apparently, he had understood and agreed with Eeth's assessment in this instance. Still, Drkai frowned. "You know I expect you to pay attention, padawan. That expectation applies to anyone teaching you, not just myself," she admonished while gesturing that he take some bowls from the cupboard.
"Yes, I know," said Endal contritely as he proceeded to help set the table. "Sorry, master." It was just, he thought privately, that his master had never actually forced him to pay attention the way Eeth had.
Drkai decided to let it go; Endal knew what she expected of him, and Eeth had dealt with it sufficiently.
While Endal set out bowls, Drkai brought the pot from their stove and set it down on a cork mat, a serving ladle sticking out. When they finally sat to eat, Drkai passed some bread rolls over. "Tuck in," she said.
When they had eaten for a while, she asked, "Did Master Koth assign you any additional work to do?" because if he had, she would need to make time for it in his schedule.
"Not really," said Endal. "He just told me to practice the third kata, including the backflip, every day during my workouts. I figure we'll do that anyway, won't we?"
"Certainly. For one thing, I want to see it," Drkai said with a smile. "For another, there will be more advanced moves in the next kata which you will need to master to progress." Besides, she was interested to see what else Eeth Koth could help him overcome in this area of his training. Yes, asking Eeth to offer another perspective to Endal had most definitely been the right choice, she thought.
While Drkai and Endal were busy with dinner, Raven had entered their quarters to find Eeth absent, a datapad with instructions left open on the table. It was hardly irregular, and so she went about her duties all the while curious about what was taking Eeth so long with Endal. The session with Drkai had been a real eye-opening experience; it was the first instance Raven had had to meet anyone else with her particular gift, and she was excited to tell Eeth all about it. She was less excited about all the meditations involved; in her opinion, there were already enough things to meditate about in her life.
Eeth arrived about forty-five minutes after his padawan had come home.
"Padawan," he said, hanging his cloak onto the cloak rack. "So you are back already."
"Yes, master," Raven replied, springing up from her spot on the floor and disregarding her homework for now.
Eeth smiled at her and asked, "How was your lesson?"
"It was awesome! The things Master Luthan can do are just amazing. Like, did you know that you can borrow Force energy from a Force-sensitive animal if you create a bond with it! Imagine how powerful you could be? Also, she said that if I work hard, eventually I'll be just as good as her, if not better," Raven said, trying not to let that comment go to her head. She perched herself on the edge of their sofa arm. "There is a lot of meditation, though. Too much, actually. It's just that I already know how to communicate with animals because I've been doing it for as long as I can remember; I need experience, not more meditations."
"Padawan," said Eeth sternly, "if Master Luthan tells you that you need to meditate, then you need to meditate. Period. Is that clear?"
'Mission mode', thought Raven, hopping from her perch to stand. "Yes, master, clear." She forbore to add a salute if only because that was probably pushing it even for her. The corner of her lip did twitch slightly, though.
When this got zero response from Eeth, Raven followed him around their apartment telling him about all the things Drkai was planning to teach her. When she ran out of stuff to say, however, it occurred to her to ask about his lesson. "So, how'd it go with Endal?"
"Quite well," Eeth replied as he started slicing a loaf of bread. "He made some progress, and he seemed quite happy about it. Set the table, please. We will have dinner now and go to the pool later. Are you done with your homework? I will want to look at it before we leave."
Raven smiled a little at hearing Endal had made progress and started pulling things from drawers to set the table. "Not yet," she replied. Her homework was far from finished, yet Raven knew Eeth would check it. Ever since she'd failed maths and been placed in the remedial class, he had checked everything. It grated, but then, she had kinda earned as much. Still, Raven was on a high and not much could dampen her spirits; not even the six days of waiting that she thought would NEVER end!
Six days later, early in the morning, the two masters and their padawans boarded a large starship that was waiting for them in the Temple hangar. It contained a large amount of provisions, camping and exploration gear and a big speeder shuttle that would be their main means of transport when on the planet. The ship held two cabins, one for each master-padawan team, a galley, a common room and a mostly empty cargo hold that Eeth had rigged up as a training room. The trip was going to take eight days and they were going to need some exercise.
Half an hour later, they had left orbit and entered hyperspace. The four Jedi entered the galley and had breakfast. For now, they had a store of fresh food at their disposal which was going to become increasingly sparse as their trip continued. While they ate, Drkai and Eeth discussed a schedule for their time on the spaceship.
Each day after breakfast, Drkai would work with Raven and Eeth would take Endal to the cargo hold for an extensive workout. Then each master would put in a couple of hours of schoolwork with her or his padawan. After lunch, they would jointly prepare for their mission. Since little was known about Arkuna, the only thing they could do was to study the available satellite pictures and plot a course that would cover all of the planet's landmass. Following that, there would be another hour of sparring or Force work, either between master and padawan or between all four of them together. Before dinner, the padawans would do a couple more hours of schoolwork on their own. The time after dinner would be free.
"Well, that about covers it, I think," Eeth said when he and Drkai had finished outlining that schedule. He looked at both padawans. "Any questions?" he asked.
Raven shook her head. The take-off notwithstanding, it sounded like another work-filled starship journey. Joy… She glanced over at Endal who was shaking his head also. His mind was elsewhere anyway; it was filled with a mixture of excitement and apprehension at the thought of the training session with Master Eeth that was in his immediate future. He had actually made some progress in kata practice with his master and had got started on the fourth kata, but sparring was still an ordeal, and he did not even want to think about working on his "strength and endurance".
"Well," said Eeth, "then let us clear up here and get to work."
"Work, always with the work," commented Raven, a lopsided grin on her face as she went about doing as told.
Shortly after having cleaned up, Raven followed Drkai, somewhat impatiently, to an area in their common room that was relatively open and would give them room to space out a bit.
Drkai gestured that Raven sit on the floor opposite her and placed a large, plastic sealed box between them. It definitely had something crawling around inside it, and Raven's suspicions came to fruition when Drkai opened the lid. "Ugh, no. Really? I hate the crunchy kind," Raven remarked when the lid was lifted to reveal four brightly coloured arachnids on one side of an opaque divider and about twenty cockroaches on the other.
"Crunchy?" Drkai was perplexed.
"Yeah, you know when creepy crawlies are kinda hard-bodied with prickly angular legs, instead of the soft-bodied sort with long, springy legs?"
Drkai just blinked at her, and then she chuckled; this kid was crazy.
"Crunchy or not, this is what we're going to be working with for a few days. These are potentially two mating pairs of an almost extinct species given to the Temple for rehabilitation. So far there has been no luck getting them to breed. We won't be attempting that today. Today, we're going to set the four out and – oh dear," Drkai pulled what looked like a fifth, very skinny and somewhat transparently flaky spider from the container.
"Ugh, yuck." Raven wrinkled her nose as the thing was flapping in between Drkai's fingers. "Did the others eat it?"
"No, not quite. This is an exoskeleton." Upon seeing Raven's blank expression, Drkai elaborated. "It means that one of them has moulted and will not eat. It will make our job harder, but I think you're up to it."
As it turned out, Raven managed to prevent two of the cockroaches from feeling anything. Still, she didn't like this, even though she knew that the spiders had to eat; it felt cruel to feed them the poor defenceless cockroaches.
"This technique is humane if you consider how it is in the wild," said Drkai. She was not at all oblivious to how this must feel to Raven, yet she also knew that the girl needed to harden up. Force knew she did not enjoy doing this either; it was simply something that had to be done.
It was difficult for Raven to sense multiple creatures at once. This was the one weak spot that Drkai had pointed out early on, and she assigned Raven meditations to help with her focus.
"Good job, you did that well," praised Drkai when they were done, moving to sit with Raven who was doing an admirable job at concealing a headache. "With practice, the pain will lessen," she said. She stroked a strand of hair from Raven's forehead and put an arm around her shoulder, encouraging her to guide the last spider back into the container.
Drkai led Raven to a couch and had her sit between her legs while she placed her hands on Raven's head, using the Force to get rid of her headache. "This sort of thing happens frequently when you're learning to focus on more than one creature," she explained. The good thing about that was that Drkai herself knew how to alleviate this sort of headache rather effectively. It was about the only Force-aided healing she wasn't rubbish at.
Raven for her part simply closed her eyes. She was rather talented at Force-aided healing. However, it was hard to heal herself of pain as that pain often hindered her focus. "Thanks. Do you know that my master is pretty awesome at Force-aided healing? He's practically a healer," she boasted, standing and pulling her hair back into a neater ponytail.
"Is that so? Well, I'm impressed," Drkai said with a smile. "I'm also impressed with you. Very well done. You focused and pushed hard. I'm proud of your effort. Keep it up and you'll be running circles around me in no time."
Raven had the prudence to at least attempt an expression of humility, but her smile was determined to shine through. "You think so?" she found herself asking. Raven knew what sort of an answer that would get from Eeth, yet Drkai simply nodded and got to her feet. "Let's go and see if my padawan is still in one piece, shall we?"
Raven smiled a smile that was all teeth and skipped from the room practically beaming. She had done well, very well.
While Raven and Drkai worked with the spiders, Endal looked at the training room that Eeth had prepared, impressed and just very slightly apprehensive. The man was obviously taking this very seriously. Part of the room was laid out with thick mats. Ropes of varying length were dangling from the ceiling, and there was a number of crates that presumably held training equipment, but could also be used for climbing and jumping. Endal just hoped that Eeth would not require him to do any such climbing and jumping because he absolutely sucked at that.
Eeth, however, did not give him much time to take in his surroundings. He motioned for him to take up a position in the centre of the room, facing his teacher.
"Alright," he said without preamble. "Can we agree that, given your academic record so far, improving your skills with a lightsaber and at your physical training should be your top priority for the time being?"
Endal sighed. "Yes," he admitted. "I know I have been slacking off in these areas and that, like it or not, I will have to pull myself together. I'll try. But I really, really suck at this! I'm not sure how far I will get, even with your help."
Eeth raised his eyebrows. He thought he could detect a pattern here. The boy was flinging his presumed or real shortcomings into Eeth's face in order to lower his expectations. Endal probably hoped that this would earn him sympathy and excuse him from making a real effort. Eeth had no intention of indulging this strategy in the slightest.
"You do not 'suck,'" he snapped. "And you will not just 'try' either. These are nothing more than excuses for laziness, and I will not stand for them. Is that quite clearly understood?" Just for emphasis, he pulled the paddle from his belt and folded his arms across his chest, the implement clearly on display.
Endal's eyes widened. Alright, so that was unambiguous! "Sorry," he said hastily. "I won't just try, I'll do it. After all, I learned the backflip last time, didn't I?"
"You did," said Eeth. "But that does not mean you should harbour any illusions about what improving your physical condition is going to mean. You are not going to spend each and every training session acquiring new skills. In order to succeed, you will have to build up a lot more strength and stamina than you possess now. You will also have to learn to endure hardship and to persevere. As such, while some of our practice sessions might turn out to be satisfying experiences like the one you had last week, others might turn out to be nerve-wracking, exhausting and even painful. I expect you to commit yourself and to give your utmost effort, irrespective of the nature of the work we do. And I think you have a good idea of what to expect in case you do not meet that expectation."
"Yes, sir," Endal said with a sigh. "I think I do."
"Good," said Eeth with a small smile. "In return, I promise you my utmost commitment to helping you improve your skills. And I honour my commitments very strongly. Whenever you feel you are lacking confidence in whether you will be able to succeed, remember that I have full confidence in that ability of yours and that I expect nothing less from you."
"Agreed," Endal replied, returning the smile with a broader one of his own.
He soon lost his smile, however, as he found out what Eeth's idea of a proper workout was; and Eeth was doing an extra thorough job today because he wanted to eradicate all illusions the boy might have about what it meant to really improve his physical condition. Even more importantly, he wanted to demonstrate to Endal that he was capable of enduring much more than he would have thought possible, and at that, he certainly succeeded.
He had the boy running laps at varying speed, forward, backward, and sideward, until Endal's tongue was nearly hanging to the floor. However, each thought of protesting he might have entertained evaporated instantly when he took a look at the Jedi master who had his arm folded across his chest, his paddle conveniently nestled in a crook of his elbow. There was no way he was going to whine or complain and earn himself swats with that implement! So, there really was no other option than to grit his teeth and fight his way through this.
Just when he thought he was close to collapsing, Eeth mercifully let him stop – only to have him start climbing the ropes.
"But Master Eeth!" he groaned before he could stop himself. "If there's anything I suck at, it's rope-climb— OUCH!"
He rubbed his stinging bottom and glared at the Jedi Master who seemed to be able to swing his paddle faster than lightning, HARD.
Completely unperturbed by the glare, Eeth snapped, "I do not remember having asked for your opinion. But let me tell you this. I do not want to hear another word about how you 'suck' at one skill or another. Such statements are no more than an excuse for you to avoid the effort involved in improving yourself, and I will not have any of that. Telling yourself how bad you are at something will only make it worse. If you are unable to climb ropes, it is because you are lacking muscle power. The only way to change that is by building up more muscle power. Feeling sorry for yourself will certainly not help. Any more instances of that self-deprecating attitude, and you will receive much more than one swat. Is that clear?"
"Crystal," Endal mumbled, pouting, but obediently making his way to the rope Eeth had indicated. He was not suicidal, after all!
Eeth had him climb ropes until the muscles in his arms were practically screaming and his hands were sore and red from skidding down those ropes with less than perfect control. However, when he complained about that, Eeth just gave his hands a cursory look, made sure that he was not bleeding and told him to go on. Again, this continued until Endal felt about ready to collapse, at which point Eeth relentlessly ordered him to draw his lightsaber, assume a ready stance and start attacking. Endal stared at him in disbelief for a moment, feeling very, very close to tears. However, he had quite clearly understood that the Jedi master had no tolerance for self-pity. Besides, he reminded himself, I want to earn my lightsaber at some point and become a Jedi knight eventually. If this is what I need to do, I will do it. I won't be a cry-baby about it.
He continued this internal monologue while assuming his position. He was panting and soaked in sweat, his arms were aching and his legs felt weak. He knew that any attempt at sparring in his current state would be pathetic. He also knew that anything but his best effort would be likely to earn him swats with that infernal paddle, and he decidedly did not want that. Thus, he drew a deep breath, tried to steady his legs and lunged into an attack with as much determination as he could possibly muster – only to find himself flailing past a Jedi master who had neatly sidestepped him and nearly tripping himself up in the process. At this point, he really felt like screaming, but again, that would have accomplished nothing but earn him swats. There was nothing for it but to grit his teeth and try again. Eeth blocked his attack, but nodded in approval at his perseverance and gave him some useful hints about improving his stance.
The lesson continued in much the same pattern, with Eeth working Endal relentlessly, but rewarding his perseverance and his honest efforts with helpful advice and small signs of approval. Endal was more tired and sore than he had ever been, but he also felt an inexplicable satisfaction at his refusal to give up. At some point, he entirely lost his sense of time and was reduced to running through the moves by instinct, too exhausted and sore to be able to muster any conscious thought; but somehow, his internal mantra was continuing and he was still on his legs, even though they were buckling.
When he finally heard Eeth tell him to sheath his saber and take a shower, it took a while for the words to actually penetrate the mist of pain and exhaustion.
"Alright," he mumbled, clumsily disigniting his saber and managing to attach it to his belt at the third attempt.
"Wait," Eeth said quietly, putting a hand under his chin and raising it with surprisingly gentle fingers.
"You made a big step forward today," he told the boy. "You behaved like a young Jedi, and you have every right to be proud of yourself."
He flashed Endal a brief smile and clapped his back. "And now take your shower," he told him.
Raven, too, was sent off to shower. She hadn't noticed it at the time, yet while handling Drkai's 'critters,' she had managed to get substrate down the front of her tunic, under her fingernails, up her sleeves and in her hair. On the upside, taking a shower meant that she got to waylay homework, or whatever else was waiting for her after this. Bonus!
"In the galley," said Drkai, sensing Raven's approaching presence.
Raven entered the galley, yanking a brush through her damp tangle of knots, and found Drkai seated at their dining table, skimming through what looked like Endal's classwork. "Looked like'' because whatever level of astrophysics that was, it was way over her head. "He's good at that stuff, isn't he?" Raven gestured to the datapad with her brush, a hint of wistfulness and jealousy in her tone.
"Yes," Drkai answered honestly. She slid the pad aside for a moment and reached out a hand for the brush, and then she gestured that the girl once again sit between her knees. "Not everyone can be good at everything. That isn't an excuse not to do your best, though," she said peacefully.
"I know," Raven sighed. "I hate it, though. Stuff like astrophysics just won't go into my head," she complained and then squinted as Drkai pulled at one of the more stubborn knots. Raven's blonde hair now reached just below her shoulder blades in length, but that meant it tangled a lot more.
"I'm sure I don't have to tell you that hating astrophysics won't make it go away," Drkai stated.
"Nope, Eeth tells me that all the time." And Raven's tone was so emphatic that Drkai had to chuckle a little.
At this point, a totally shattered padawan Endal entered the galley. He was stumbling at every second step, sweaty and absolutely exhausted, but he had an insane grin on his face.
"Hi master," he said wearily. "Hi Raven. I guess we're done."
"We are," said Eeth, entering behind him. "And he did well." He glanced at his padawan sitting between Drkai's knees and felt a stab of… wistfulness? Or even envy? Suddenly, he felt as if Raven had never been that close to him. Of course, it had never exactly occurred to him that she ought to be. But seeing her so relaxed and peaceful made him wonder if she had ever been like this with him, and whether his efforts at giving Raven emotional support were adequate. These were thoughts he had not indulged in quite a while. Trying to shake them off as quickly as possible, he asked, "How did your lesson go?"
"There were spiders, lots of spiders," said Raven, her nose wrinkling as she reluctantly removed herself from the comfort of Drkai's ministrations and stretched. She looked over at Endal and gave a whistle of appreciation, but said nothing more.
Drkai stood, handing Raven her brush, and took in Endal's appearance. He was exhausted, yet satisfied with himself which was progress in and of itself. "Come on, let's get you cleaned up," she said, gesturing that he follow her.
"Enough spiders to make you need a shower?" Eeth asked, looking Raven up and down. "Are you suffering from arachnophobia, padawan?" He did not think she would but he thought he had better make sure.
"Arachnophobia? Force, no," chuckled Raven, and then she noticed that he was actually serious. She straightened up a bit. "I'm good… Really. You see, the spiders live in this huge box and it's full of substrate, dirt and other stuff that they like to burrow around in. It gets everywhere." she began animatedly as Drkai led an exhausted Endal from the galley. "It was awesome! Drkai told me that this species is almost extinct and that these are some of the last breeding pairs left. Although they aren't breeding at the moment, nor have any of them eaten each other which is a really good thing," Raven continued rambling on about all the things Drkai had taught her, the work they were doing and how her head had started aching but Drkai had taken that away, her hands gesturing and expression exuberant.
As Eeth listened to Raven talk, the sensation niggling at the back of his mind returned. When had she ever been this enthusiastic about anything he had taught her? She had made progress, yes, and she might even have enjoyed herself, but this? This was in a league of its own. Of course, it might simply be due to the fact that Drkai was teaching her a new skill, a skill that she enjoyed using but had received barely any training in yet, since Eeth could not teach her. And yet…
Pushing these thoughts aside once again, Eeth used the next minuscule break in her monologue to say, "Padawan, I am glad to hear you enjoyed your lesson. It is time for schoolwork now. Please tend to your Basic assignment until lunch. I will be in the cockpit taking care of navigation. If you have any serious problems with your assignment, call me."
"Yes, master," Raven replied, her tone sharper than was typical, and it carried a hint of hurt to it. Regardless, she turned on her heel and went to do as bade. She had been so excited to tell him about the things Drkai had taught her, and he didn't want to hear about them. "Yeah, he was more interested in Endal," thought Raven, the unfamiliar feeling of jealousy surfacing once again as she threw her datapad onto her bed.
Eeth frowned. He failed to see what he had done wrong and therefore had no idea how to rectify it either. As he made his way to the cockpit, he tried to push his feelings of insecurity away once again but it did not quite work.
In the meanwhile, Endal threw himself onto his bed. He was completely shattered. He also knew that Eeth had told him to take a shower, and given that he was drenched in sweat, that seemed like a sensible instruction, but he felt way too exhausted to remain standing!
Predictably, Drkai had Endal take a shower nonetheless, and when he emerged, she gestured that he lie down on his bed. "Tell me about it?" she asked gently, wanting to hear from him what he and Eeth had gone through while she worked to alleviate the pain in his muscles. Drkai was no healer but she would be able to offer massage, and with the addition of some liniment, it should take away the majority of the boy's pain.
"It was just really, really… intense," murmured Endal. "I felt like I was about ready to collapse less than halfway into the workout. It was actually painful but Eeth wouldn't allow me to stop. So I kept going. Well, he would have paddled me if I hadn't. I think by tomorrow morning, I'll be too sore to get up. I still can't quite figure out how I managed to remain upright until the end. I think at some point, I was just running on auto-pilot. Do you think he ever puts Raven through something like this? She looks like she might break if he does."
Drkai listened intently but had to work to conceal a slight smile at his comments. "Padawan, no master will push a student beyond their limits, Eeth included. We will provide healing if it's needed, and, believe it or not: you will survive this." She pulled his tunic down and placed the jar aside, patting his back gently to signal that he could get up. "You have classwork to deal with now, and then we will have some lunch. I've heard that there is still quite a bit of fresh food left on board." Drkai let her smile come through at that, knowing that her padawan was quite fond of good food.
"Master, you know I'm on top of my work," Endal mumbled, pulling the pillow over his head. "Just let me sleep? Please? I'm tired."
Drkai pulled the pillow off his head just as fast and raised an eyebrow at the petulant expression she got in response. Not wanting to do his classwork was entirely new for Endal, so she knew that his protest had some validity. Still, he was not exactly dying here, not even close. Besides, this wasn't really about Endal's homework. It was about his ability to push through when he thought he couldn't. He needed to work on that, and Drkai knew it. Thus, "Homework now, hop to it," she ordered, and this time her tone was firm and uncompromising.
Endal rolled around and flopped onto his bed. "Master, I'm dyyyyyyiiiinngggg!" he said dramatically. And had to chuckle at his own antics. "Alright, alright," he said with a sigh. "But if you make me do another workout this afternoon, I might just actually die."
It was hard for Drkai not to crack a smile at Endal's melodramatics, but she managed. Just. "Oh, I'm pretty sure you would live. The Order does not take kindly to masters who kill their padawans with too much exercise." At this, her lip did curl up slightly. He was capable of more than he knew, and she was going to be pushing him harder, but in this case she thought he'd had enough for one day.
"Good for me," said Endal tiredly. And he really was tired. But it was not like him to defy his master, let alone over schoolwork, so he rose slowly, wincing slightly at the pain in his muscles, and grabbed his datapad.
"Have you finished your Basic assignment, padawan?" Eeth asked, entering their room an hour after he had left for the cockpit.
Raven, still unwilling to entirely forgive him for fobbing her off earlier, did not look up from her datapad. "No," she answered a little too sharply. It was unlike her to be so informal with Eeth. However, it was not unlike her to hold a grudge from time to time. Raven had trouble letting things go, and jealousy was something she hadn't really dealt with before.
"Well, then finish it, please," said Eeth, frowning a little at her lack of manners. He wondered what was causing it but decided to let it go.
Raven huffed, grumbling to herself about the dryness of this text and where the author could shove his textbook.
The edges of Eeth's mouth twitched slightly as he overheard her comment. "Poor padawan," he said mildly, pulling out a chair. "You are still not getting out of this. If it makes you feel better, I will keep you company while you finish. I still have a report to write."
Raven looked over her datapad at him as he sat at the desk by the wall. Eeth's rare use of humour had been unexpected, and despite being mad at him, she found her lip curling to match his. Classwork was an unavoidable part of her life. Unfortunately, it also made up the majority of the work she had to do during most spaceship travel. Another entirely put upon sigh escaped; "One day down, another SEVEN to go!" thought Raven.