A/N: We are nearing the end of this story, perhaps only one more chapter to go. Do Raven and Flynt manage to stay off Eeth's shit list until then? Hmm, remains to be seen….
Eeth and Raven have yet more adventures for you guys to enjoy, though, so buckle in for some more excitement and keep an eye out for 'Banthas, Sand and Scorching Sun,' this, our twelfth installment, finds our Jedi embarking on their most dangerous and challenging mission to date.
Also, we'd like to take this opportunity to wish you all happy holidays. Whatever you might be celebrating this end of what can only be called a crazy year, we hope that it is something special spent with loved ones. Stay safe, everyone.
Hugs and best wishes from Livia and Raven.
It was Saturday, with only a couple of days left until Lakhri's return. Much to Eeth's relief, Flynt and Raven had managed to refrain from killing each other and kept out of trouble the entire week. The fact that Flynt had been allowed to resume his workouts had doubtlessly helped. He had not even complained about swimming, despite the fact that he really did not like to swim.
As usual, Eeth prepared breakfast with some help from Flynt, or maybe even the other way around, while Raven came to join them just in time, yawning.
"Sit and eat," Eeth told her. "You will need your strength for your speeder lesson." Today, both padawans were going to be allowed to fly actual speeders on a practice course for the entire lesson, which was a first.
Raven sat and rubbed her eyes, taking in the breakfast of fried bread and eggs, all of which was happy to see her; Flynt had arranged her portion to look like a porg, complete with doleful eyes and smiling face. Her gaze flitted left to Eeth's plate, and her lip pulled into a grin because how he managed to maintain a look of supreme dignity while eating breakfast in the shape of Yoda's head was beyond her, but he was pulling it off.
"It's so cute I don't want to eat it," she told Flynt, who had just eaten the front end off his podracer.
"Go ahead, taste it," Flynt prompted her. "It's got Corellian spices and crushed kchugga root." Flynt was proud of himself. Not only had he learnt quite a lot about cooking from Eeth during his stay, he'd also discovered that he had a passion for making food, almost as much as he did for consuming it. Almost.
Raven took a piece of her porg creation. "Wow, Flynt, this is amazing."
"Yep, I know. I found the recipe in the archives." He had asked Eeth if he would help him make it and to his surprise, the man had said yes.
"What are you doing while we're off having all the fun?" Raven asked Eeth.
"I am going to use the morning, while you are in class, to conduct some investigations in the city," Eeth replied. "The usual: arms trade, smuggling, illegal sales. I will have to travel to the North Axior sector, so I might not be home in time for lunch. You had best have lunch in the dining hall. Be home by two. I will comm you if there is any change in plans."
"Can we go with you instead?" Flynt asked. To him, going out into Coruscant was better than anything else. Lakhri had taken him to a few places, and he had a taste for it now.
"Oh man, you don't really want that," Raven warned Flynt before Eeth could reply. "Trust me on this one. You'll spend all day being bossed around and grouched at for fidgeting." Alright, so Flynt wasn't nearly as restless as her, but still, it wouldn't be anywhere near as exciting as he was expecting it to be, and Raven knew it.
"Precisely," said Eeth. "You would find it boring. The one time I took Raven, she became so bored that she wandered off and found some trouble. I believe you have been in enough trouble last week." He poured himself some more tea and took another bite of his eggs which were really quite tasty.
Flynt was still at a stage of his apprenticeship where he thought that nothing outside the Temple could be as boring as being stuck inside it! In any case, he wasn't about to argue with Eeth over anything, not even something trivial, for Eeth had been correct: he'd seen enough trouble during his stay to last him the rest of his apprenticeship, thank you very much.
"So be it. You're missing out, though." Flynt pointed his fork full of eggs at Eeth. "I'm a whizz on the job."
Raven snorted but said nothing more, Eeth would only grouch at her for making fun of Flynt if she teased him. Besides, Raven owed it to Lakhri to do right by Flynt. It was her duty as his Jedi aunt to guide him in the ways of, well, survival as a padawan! And she was doing her best to return the treasure trove of information Lakhri had imparted on her.
"Finish your breakfast and get ready," Eeth said, unmoved. "You do not want to arrive late."
No, they didn't, and so both padawans obeyed.
Half an hour later, Raven had finished brushing her teeth and had her gear together. "I'm ready," Raven told Eeth, standing before him. She turned and made to hurry Flynt along when suddenly he appeared by her side, looking as if he had planned to arrive just when he did. He wasn't as immaculately presented as Raven was, but he had gone to the trouble of straightening the front of his tunic.
"Can we go?" he finished for Raven.
"Yes, you may," said Eeth. "I will see you this afternoon. Have a good lesson."
A little later, Endal was making his way to the speeder bay where their lesson was supposed to take place and found that half their class was coming down the corridor the wrong way.
"What's up?" he asked in surprise. "Have we been moved to a different practice course?"
"Lesson was cancelled at short notice" said a girl and waved her datapad at him.
Endal pulled out his own pad and read the note that was just appearing to them all. Apparently, Knight Allenchia had been called for an emergency briefing that required her expertise. The class would be postponed to a date that was as yet undetermined. Endal's face fell in disappointment. His master was spending the whole day at a workshop at the Senate that Endal would have loved to attend, but she had insisted that school came first. Just as he was pondering whether to call her, which would most likely mean making himself a nuisance, Raven and Flynt approached.
"Class is cancelled," Endal said morosely, waving his datapad at them. "Bummer."
"Well, that sucks," Raven commented, her own datapad flashing with this new information. The girl had been looking forward to this all week and wasn't happy!
"Will of the Force. We should have gone with Eeth," Flynt stated, rubbing his chin reflectively.
Raven snorted. "You should be thanking me for sparing you."
"Maybe," Flynt conceded although nothing much fazed him, so he was quick to change direction. "Looks like we've got the day to ourselves. What are you doing now?" Flynt asked Endal. Maybe they could do something together.
"No idea," Endal replied. "My master is at a workshop at the Senate all day. She refused to take me and insisted I go to class. I could call her, but she couldn't come and pick me up now anyway, so I guess there's no point. Shall we hang out together? Even if we end up doing homework, it's more fun with the three of us."
Personally, Raven couldn't think of anything worse than being stuck at the Senate all day, but Endal was different, she knew, and so she kept her feelings on that to herself. "Sounds like a plan. Why don't you grab your stuff and meet us at our quarters?" Raven suggested. It was always better doing homework with company and Endal was good at pretty much everything academic. Raven knew better than to exploit this, though. They both did, since Eeth had caught Endal doing her work for her once on their mission to Arkuna. Yeah, that had not ended well for either of them.
Endal went to fetch his stuff and met Flynt and Raven at their place a few minutes later. With just a little help from him, all of them had finished their homework fairly quickly. Raven had switched on the holo at some point, and Endal was listening with half an ear while checking her math homework over. Suddenly, something caught his attention and he turned to listen more closely.
"Oh, no," he said, disappointed. "Look, the science and technology fair is held at the convention centre just around the corner today. My master took me to the last one half a year ago, and it was awesome. I bet she'd have allowed me to go today, too, if I'd asked her - only I didn't know about this until now, and of course, she's not around. By the time she comes home, it will probably be too late to go."
Raven looked at Endal from where she hung upside-down over the back of their couch, stretching out her back. Science and technology didn't interest her, but she knew that the other two would be disappointed to miss out, especially as according to the information, it was the last time this particular convention was being held on this side of Coruscant. Sure, most Jedi masters took their apprentices out into Coruscant, but the further away something was, the more of an 'event' getting there became and the less likely it was to be slotted into their already packed schedules. Raven was about to offer her commiserations when Flynt spoke up, cutting her off.
"You could call and ask. I might call Lakhri, too." He smiled a little at this as he knew the man did not have his comlink on him.
"No reply does not imply consent," Raven informed Flynt, tossing her legs over the couch and flipping to her feet. She rose one leg, lifting it vertically above her head and holding the stretch.
Flynt closed one eye. "Force, will you knock that off already. It's bad enough having to endure your artistic gymnastics without… Whatever that is meant to be."
"He's right; there's no harm in asking," Raven agreed with Flynt, ignoring his other comments. "The worst that can happen is they don't answer or say no."
Endal shrugged. "It won't hurt to try," he said, pulling his comlink from the pocket of his tunic. "What about you? Is there any way you can reach Eeth? And would he allow you to go?"
"He would let us go," Flynt answered confidently. "Eeth's pretty good about letting us do stuff." It was true. Eeth had let them go to multiple speeder and sparring sessions; he'd also taken them into Coruscant and often agreed to things if they requested them and were reasonable.
Raven let her leg lower slowly and nodded in agreement. "That's true. The problem is that he is 'pretty bad' about stuff when you don't ask him for permission first." Raven wasn't sure if leaving the Temple without Eeth's explicit say-so in this case would be acceptable to him or not as she'd honestly never been in the situation before. Would he mind? Her gut kinda said he would, but then, other padawans her age were allowed to venture out on their own. Besides, it was practically next door. She summoned her comlink from the table and, like Endal was doing, tried to contact her master.
Flynt shrugged. "It is literally 200 metres from the Temple," he commented, unwittingly echoing Raven's thoughts.
"She doesn't answer," said Endal after a minute. "I don't think she even has her comlink on. I mean, an emergency call would go through but this is not exactly an emergency. This is stupid. I'm sure she would allow me to go if I just had a chance to ask her! I mean, it's not as if we're missing out on doing any of our chores. We've even done our homework! Any luck with Eeth?"
Raven held up a hand as Eeth's communication service prompted her to leave a message. Messages would be pointless if their masters didn't get them until after the fact, so she hung up. "He must be busy," she said, snapping her comlink shut and tossing it onto the table.
"If our masters are too busy to answer the comm, AND well away from the Temple, AND thinking we're in class, there's no way they'll find out," said Endal reasonably. "I'm not trying to get us in trouble. I only think it's silly not to go simply because none of us could foresee having a free morning and we didn't have a chance to ask for permission. Even assuming that we wouldn't be allowed to do this, which I don't think would be the case, how would we get caught? Sure, our masters will be notified that the lesson was cancelled, but we did go to your quarters and do homework. If we just go for an hour or two and then come back to have lunch in the dining hall, how would anyone possibly suspect a thing?"
"Endal has a point. We have done all our work, and it's not like anyone would find out," Flynt pointed out.
Raven dragged a hand down her face and cupped the back of her neck. Keeping this from Eeth wasn't worth the risk, but she would certainly not rat Endal out. The problem was that if Raven put a stop to her and Flynt's involvement in this, and it turned out that Eeth would have let them go, they'd have missed out on this for nothing! Plus, the confident expressions on Endal and Flynt's faces were starting to win her over. "I suppose we could. But I can't keep it from Eeth; we'll have better luck pleading ignorance." Or so Raven surmised.
"Well, it's around the corner, and lots of people our age get to go, especially when there's three or more of them," said Endal. "It would make no sense for any of our masters not to allow this. We'll have to stop at my quarters so I can get my credits." It crossed his mind to leave a note for his master or send her a text message but he discarded the notion. They would be back before she was home anyway. He could tell her then. If it turned out to be necessary … because what she didn't know couldn't hurt her!
Raven sighed and glanced from Flynt to Endal. The convention wouldn't have drawn her attention had they not been around, yet it was something that interested them, and so it was important to her, too. Besides, Endal was right; a lot of padawans would be allowed to go if they had a group. "We can stop by your quarters on the way out," she agreed and went to get her stuff.
Ten minutes later, they were sauntering out of the Temple gates, unquestioned by the droid guards who did not routinely check the identity of anyone above the rank of initiate during daytime. Scores of people, many of them groups of padawans, were heading towards the convention grounds, laughing and talking.
"What are you gonna look at?" Endal asked Raven and Flynt. "I'd like to have a look at the book expo, but I needn't be long if that bores you."
Raven shrugged. She didn't care what they looked at, she was quite happy just tagging along for the ride.
Flynt spent a long time looking at a model that showed how a hyperdrive might one day run on water, while Raven and Endal moved on to a mechatronics display one stall along. "Neat, check it out!" Raven pointed out a tiny robotic Star Dragon. It was well out of her budget, Force, it would still be out of her budget even if they all pooled, but it was fun to watch it fly around.
They stall-hopped their way along the far side, making sure not to put more than a single stall between them when they separated. Raven was also keeping a careful eye on the crowd, scanning for danger and trying to be mindful, as Eeth often told her she should. She knew Endal and ,to a lesser extent, Flynt, would both be doing the same.
Finally, they had seen all the interesting displays and spent their credits on some books, building kits, drinks and snacks. It was nearing one p.m.
"We should head back for lunch," Endal said. "We didn't get to ask our masters how long we are allowed to stay, after all. Besides, the sun is getting really hot."
The sky was unusually clear for Coruscant and the sun was indeed burning down on them mercilessly.
Raven agreed with Endal, squinting up at the sun. She pulled her cloak on despite the heat and shared some of her liquorice on the way out. This had been the best morning Raven had had in a long time, and she was glad that they had decided to come. They were right on time for lunch at the Temple as it literally chimed 1300 as they walked in.
Eeth's investigations turned out more complex than he had thought they would be. It was nearing 2.30 in the afternoon by the time he returned. He found Flynt and Raven in their quarters, doing the laundry as was their usual task on Saturdays after lunchtime.
"Good afternoon, padawans," Eeth said, hanging his cloak onto a hook. "How was your speeder class?"
"It was cancelled," came Raven's muffled reply from within her quilt cover; she was attempting to replace it but so far had only managed to jump around in circles trying to get it up over her head.
Flynt pulled the quilt from her head effortlessly, his long arm and height helping a lot with this job.
"Knight Allenchia was called away for an emergency briefing that required her expertise," the boy repeated what Endal had told them. "What did you find out?" he asked. Because despite Raven's earlier edict that they would tell Eeth they had gone to the convention, Flynt didn't want to be the one to bring it up.
"Oh, a lot of minute details," Eeth replied, pulling off his boots. "If you are interested, I will make tea and explain. So, if your lesson was cancelled, does that mean your homework is complete?" He had his doubts whether this was the case, but he knew that Raven, at least, would have known that this was his expectation.
"Of course," Raven replied, giving him a look that clearly said she was surprised that he had doubted her. She dragged the quilt back to her bedroom. "You want to check it?" she asked on the way past.
"I will, in a moment," Eeth replied. "For now, I need something to drink. It was hot outside, and crowded." He poured himself a glass of water and set some water to the boil to make tea.
"If you like," he called from the kitchen, "I can take you to the speeder course after our workout, to make up for the lesson you missed."
Raven stuck her head around the corner. "You mean it?" she asked rhetorically, but her face fell; she had to tell him about their trip to the convention as the longer this was put off, the more likely it was that Eeth would have cause to punish them for it.
Flynt saw this and casually made his way over to Raven, cutting her off before she could get further and dragging her back into their shared bedroom. "Are you crazy?" his expression said. "If you tell him now, he might not be in such a giving mood; we'll lose our time at the speeder course."
He was correct, of course, but Raven hadn't really been thinking about that, she had been thinking about lessening the repercussions, if any were to be had. Again, Raven took in the hopeful expression on Flynt's face and acquiesced with a sigh. Given that Eeth was a highly perceptive being, Raven refrained from verbalising. Instead, she just nodded once and carried on as if nothing had happened. It didn't sit well with her, but then, how much worse could it make things?
Eeth might have been more suspicious but he was currently busy straining his tea and he did not see any cause for concern. From the fact that Raven and Flynt had completed their homework and had been busy doing their chores as he was coming home, he had concluded that they had spent the morning in their quarters.
"We will go to the gym in forty-five minutes," he told them. "After I have drunk my tea and organised my notes."
"You drink your tea," Flynt told Eeth, making his way out into their common room. He was actually curious to hear about the details of Eeth's day, but when Raven came out after him, he flopped onto the couch and flicked on the holo instead.
"No violence, something 'nice'," Raven requested as he started flicking through the channels, and took up a spot on the carpet, her ass up the wall and leg over one shoulder.
Flynt looked at her briefly and then averted his eyes. There was no point arguing, but he gave her a 'what the heck' kind of look anyhow.
"We have forty-five minutes, don't start on me," Raven said a little sharper than she meant to.
Not to be one upped, Flynt picked up a cushion from the couch and pelted it at her.
Raven caught the pillow with her feet, and pelted it back at him with the unfortunate result that it took out the glass of water on their coffee table.
Flynt launched forwards and caught it just in time but not before half the contents wound up on his tunic. He pursed his lips in an expression that was a lot like Ravens, not that he knew it.
Eeth glared at both padawans. "If you would rather clean the refreshers instead of watching the holo, by all means carry on like this," he said ominously. And it was clear from his tone of voice that he meant it.
Both apprentices fell silent at the threat; neither was willing to risk losing their forty-five minutes of holo.
"My tunic!" Flynt mouthed, gesturing to his soaked front and looking hard done by.
Raven frowned at him, "Serves you right," she mouthed in response, unmoved.
"Bantha's ass," he whispered at her.
"Poo face!" retorted Raven.
"FART breath!"
"Bucket HEAD!"
"SHIT for BRAINS!"
Raven was about to retort with something worse but thought better of it and looked away; Eeth was not stupid even if Flynt was, and she did not want to clean their refreshers.
Indeed, Eeth had already risen from his chair. He slowly crossed the room, positioned himself in front of the couch, blocking the view of the holo, and asked coolly, "Was there anything either of you wanted to say?"
"We're good," Flynt said, raising a hand in placation.
Raven looked from Eeth to Flynt warily because that response was probably not what Eeth had wanted to hear. "No, master, nothing. We're sorry," she replied and glared at Flynt for his stupidity.
"Good," Eeth said, still in a rather ominous tone of voice. "I do not want to witness any more bickering, whether loud or silent, or you will find yourselves cleaning the refreshers. Is that clear?"
"Yes, Master, clear," Raven replied for them both.
Suffice it to say, neither Padawan dared risk so much as a glance to the other for the next forty-five minutes. That was until the screen suddenly went blank, and they turned in unison towards Eeth.
"Fetch your gym bags," said Eeth. "We are going to do kata practice. After that, we may spend the rest of the afternoon at the speeder course and have dinner in the dining hall."
Raven got to her feet quickly, happy for any excuse to be out of Eeth's presence for the moment. She planned to tell him about their trip to the convention centre but again, now didn't seem like the right time.
"You change your mind?" Flynt asked when they were out of earshot, unwittingly echoing Raven's thoughts; if there were new plans, he'd need to know.
"No." Raven threw her bag open and stuffed a clean tunic inside. "We just need to wait for the right moment. Leave that to me."
Flynt didn't have to be told twice. He simply strolled out and waited for Raven to get her shit together. Catching Raven unprepared was a novelty as she usually had her stuff ready to go, but today, she had been remiss. A minute later, Raven joined the two.
"What kept you?" Eeth asked. Something was going on between Raven and Flynt that he could not quite put his finger on. He wondered whether they were planning anything secret again, like the glider incident. This did not seem likely to him, but then, Raven was not usually the last to show up when they went to the gym.
"Sorry," Raven replied, hefting her bag over her shoulder. "I wasn't ready." Raven's mind had been occupied with how she would tell Eeth about their outing, and if she were honest, she did feel overly tired.
"We're all here now," prompted Flynt and started for the door in an effort to get them moving along.
Eeth frowned but did not pursue the matter any further. If there was indeed anything suspicious going on, he assumed he was going to find out sooner or later. He usually did. Without any further comment, he led the padawans to the training room he had reserved for them and started them working on a new kata move.
Raven was grateful Eeth was making them practice kata today instead of her preferred Ataru as she was feeling drained; perhaps from the sun? Raven wasn't sure. Still, she did as she always did and gave it her all. Her 'all' however, was not on par today, despite her efforts.
Flynt did his best as well. Kata had never really troubled him. His deformed arm meant that it did not look like it was supposed to, not even remotely, but that was where the difference ended. Flynt could and did connect with the Force during his kata, despite how it looked.
"Are you feeling quite alright, padawan?" Eeth asked with a frown as Raven fell out of sync with him for the third time.
Frustrated with her lacklustre performance, Raven scrubbed at her eyes and treated Eeth to a pitiful look. She couldn't lie because he'd know, and so she told him the truth. "I'm tired, is all." The middle of their workout session, kata or not, was not the time to tell Eeth that she might have a touch of heatstroke! Unlike Endal and Flynt, Raven was from the planet of Chine, whose native inhabitants were almost transparently white and sensitive to the mildest of hot weather. Raven knew this and had not taken the time to smudge on a little sunscreen which pissed her off even more!
Eeth saw no reason to question her statement. He decided to end the workout a little sooner than he would otherwise have because she really did seem tired. Only when they had taken a shower and were changing into clean clothes did he notice that Raven's cheeks had a distinctly red tinge to them. She definitely could not be that flushed from their workout any more, and besides, this looked different.
"Padawan," he asked in concern, "what is wrong with your skin? It looks nearly as if you…"
His eyes narrowed in suspicion.
"No," he corrected himself, "it looks a lot as if you are sunburnt."
Raven pressed her palm to a cheek and gave Eeth a sheepish look. "I probably am. I meant to tell you about this earlier but," she chewed at her lip, "other things came up and I didn't get to it." Fuck, that was lame! "We went to the technology convention for a few hours. I DID apply sunblock, but maybe I didn't spend as much time on that as I should have. I'm sorry, it won't happen again."
Flynt felt cold in his stomach, but hid it well as he stuffed his dirty tunic into his bag. He didn't know why, they hadn't done anything wrong, not really; dozens of padawans' would have gone to the convention today.
Eeth was stunned with disbelief for a moment, and that happened rarely. He needed a moment to digest this. Finally, he said in an ominously low voice, "You had better explain this, padawan. In detail."
"Like I said, Knight Allenchia was called to an emergency briefing and had to cancel this morning's class," said Raven. "We were doing our homework with the holo going in the background when we heard an advertisement for the technology convention and decided to go." Raven didn't mention Endal at this point as she didn't want him to go down with the ship if they were going to catch it for this. And Raven wasn't certain they would, yet. Sure, Eeth didn't look happy, but maybe that was because he didn't have all the details yet. "We didn't think you'd mind as a lot of padawans were going. Also, it's literally less than a block away." Raven was trying to sound more confident than she actually felt, but this was uncharted territory; Eeth had never stipulated that she needed his express permission to leave the Temple.
"And why, may I ask, did you think you had the right to go anywhere outside the Temple, whether it is one block away or at the South Pole, without my knowledge, let alone permission?" Eeth demanded to know.
"You've never said I couldn't," Raven replied, although her tone became a little sheepish towards the end of that statement.
Flynt raised an eyebrow at Eeth, not liking where this was heading. "There were dozens of padawans our age there today," he stated coolly as Raven finished with her bag and they could finally leave the change room.
"Yes, and I sincerely hope for their sake that their masters knew where they were headed," said Eeth cuttingly. "And since you never gave me a chance to say you could not go, the fact that I did not is hardly relevant. Incidentally, were any of those other padawans with you?" He assumed that if they had been part of a larger group, that would have least reduced the risk of something happening to them without anyone noticing.
"You didn't get a chance to say yes, either," Flynt pointed out. "Besides, you don't know that the others had permission. I know a few who don't need it. Endal was along for the ride," said Flynt. Like Raven, Endal was an older padawan, and he thought that stating this fact would absolve them in Eeth's eyes.
Raven's lips pulled into a line. With a brief frown at her Jedi nephew, which was met with a confused expression on his part, Raven confirmed at least one fact she knew to be true: "Endal was there, too. We weren't alone."
"And did Endal's master know where he was, at least?" asked Eeth, thorough as usual. He was not pleased with any of what Flynt had said, but they could discuss that later.
Flynt opened his mouth to lie, only to snap it shut; he wasn't going to lie, not again.
Wanting to avoid the ominous, lingering silence that had fallen over this conversation, Raven spoke up. "No. Master Luthan was at the Senate today, and like you, she didn't answer her comlink when we tried to get permission. There was no point leaving a message as by the time it was useful, it would have been irrelevant." She refrained from restating that this had been barely 200 metres from the Temple, and many others were allowed to go without explicit permission, as Eeth had yet to acknowledge those facts…
"Then none of you should have gone," said Eeth, and the look on his face told them very clearly that he was extremely displeased. Nevertheless, he decided to check on Raven first. He rested her hand on her forehead and scanned her through the Force, frowning.
"You have symptoms of heat exhaustion," he said. "This was extremely careless of you. Go home, drink at least two glasses of water, take a cold shower and then wait for me in your room. Flynt, you accompany her and wait in my room. I will be with you shortly."
"Yes, master," Raven replied quickly because Eeth's tone did not fill her with confidence.
Flynt, for his part, simply nodded. It wasn't because he lacked an argument, it was to the contrary, but considering what had happened the last few times he had tried to do anything other than obey one of Eeth's orders, he decided against it.
"This is bullshit," Flynt stated matter-of-factly when they were well out of earshot.
Raven sighed and rubbed at her forehead; she was hot, tired and in no mood to argue. "I know. But you know what Eeth's like. I did try to warn you that he might not be happy about it."
"This is unreasonable, and I'm sure Lakhri would agree with me." Flynt threw his hands up in the air in an uncharacteristic show of frustration.
"About leaving the Temple without permission? I kinda think Lakhri would side with Eeth, but I get your frustration, really. Also, if we're in trouble, that means Endal is likely to be in trouble, too, don't forget. It's not just about us."
"Endal's master is not Eeth; neither is mine. I rather think they would be less about the semantics and more about IT WAS 200 METRES from the TEMPLE!" Flynt stated, a little louder than he had meant.
Raven socked Flynt in the arm. "Quiet. You want half the Temple to hear about this? Look, I'm no happier about this than you. Let's just try not to make it any worse, okay?"
Flynt fell silent, having exhausted his frustration for the time being. It wasn't Raven's fault, he knew that, and he hadn't meant to take it out on her. Heck, Flynt rarely got worked up, yet his grandmaster had a way of getting to him.
Eeth tried to call Drkai, who was not home. Nor was Endal. He sent Drkai a message coded as "personal and confidential", informing her of her padawan's excursion. Then he walked home, more slowly than usual, his eyebrows knitted in a frown. He found the common room empty, as expected, and opened the door of his cupboard, pondering his options. Finally, decision made, he took out the cane and made his way to his room, assuming that Raven might still be busy taking the shower he had told her to have.
He knocked sharply on the door, gave Flynt two seconds and entered.
"Alright," he said abruptly. "You left the Temple without permission, and without anyone knowing where you were. The fact that you had no chance to ask me does not change anything about that, nor does the fact that other padawans are allowed to go there by themselves. You might have been, if we had had a chance to discuss it, in which case I would have known where you are and told you at what time to be back. Since we did not have a chance to discuss it, you had no business leaving. And the fact that you did not even see fit to leave me a message only makes things worse. Nor do you seem to have been in much of a hurry to tell me about your excursion."
"You said to be back in our quarters by 1400, and we were. The guards saw us leave and… We did try to contact you, but you were somewhere in the city doing undercover investigations," Flynt tried to reason, his voice squeakier than was typical as he backed up to put some distance between them. He had seen the cane Eeth held, and as much as he would never admit it, Flynt was scared.
"It is not the guards' job to decide whether you are allowed to leave the Temple, it is mine, as you well know," said Eeth sternly.
"It might not be their job, but someone still knew where we were," Flynt pointed out.
Eeth raised his eyebrows. "So you told them where you intended to go?" he asked in a tone of polite incredulity.
"No, but it would have been obvious; almost everyone was going to the same place today."
"I am not concerned with 'almost everyone', I am concerned with you," Eeth snapped. "You had no call to leave the Temple without my permission. Period. Had you brought this up at some point and had we had a chance to discuss it, you probably would have received that permission. Within clear limits and with clear instructions, one of which would have been to always inform me of your whereabouts. You did not do that. You did not even try. Why did you not leave a message?"
"Because there was no point leaving a message asking for permission if by the time you got said message it was obsolete. We were back long before you and planned to tell you in person," Flynt replied, his arms folded across his chest. But this wasn't an act of petulance, it was more an unconscious effort at self-soothing.
"Which you did not do either," said Eeth coldly. "This is completely unacceptable. I need to know where you are at all times. That is a rule you have known since infant creche. It has not changed, nor will it change until you are knighted. And I am positive that this is true with your master just as much as it is with me. We are Jedi. Unforeseen things might happen at any time, and we will need to know where to find you then. Moreover, we care about your safety, which is why asking for permission is not negotiable. And I am going to make that very clear to you."
He pulled out the desk chair, laid the cane onto the desk, sat down and ordered, "Bare your bottom and get over my lap."
Flynt did not look at Eeth as he spoke. Instead, he kept his arms folded tightly and focussed on the floor. Of course, he knew that someone had to know where they were at all times, but he'd thought the Temple's guards would have been good enough! It was good enough for others! Unhappy about this, but seeing little other option, Flynt shucked his pants, stood by Eeth's side and awkwardly draped his lanky frame across his lap. It hadn't gone unnoticed that the man had put the cane aside so maybe his argument had worked to spare him some pain? He fucking hoped so, because he couldn't take it. He just knew that he couldn't.
Unfortunately for him, Eeth did not care whether Flynt thought he could take it or not. He was just going to have to. After having received a thorough spanking first. Without further ado, he raised his hand and brought it down onto Flynt's bottom with considerable force. Not wanting this to be an all-night affair, and having in mind that he still had his own padawan to take care of, he spanked hard and fast, not giving Flynt the slightest chance to come to terms with the pain.
"Fuck, man!" Flynt gasped in shock. The force from each blow had his palms skidding forward on the carpet just enough so that he had to adjust himself every few swats. Just when he thought that it had to be over (because surely Eeth had been walloping him for a solid minute now!), another smack landed! It was unbearable. Lakhri had used his belt on him any number of times, and each time Flynt vowed that he wasn't going to break, that he was going to stay strong and take it like a man. Yeah, that had never worked for him, and it certainly wasn't working for him now. Well before he wanted to admit it, Flynt had reached his limit and tears started running down his cheeks. It hurt, and with seemingly no end in sight, he could do little more than sniffle, grunt, yell and squirm.
Eeth still gave him a dozen more swats for good measure and then stopped. But only to say brusquely, "Get up and bend over the chair."
By this point, Flynt's ass felt like he'd been set on fire. He rolled himself off Eeth's lap, falling in a heap on the floor and swiping at his face with a sleeve. He knew that to beg only made things worse; he'd learned that over the last few weeks, yet in the face of this? Flynt was honestly at a loss. "I – I can't. Please," he begged, humiliation flushing his face red as he slowly found his feet and faced Eeth's chair. There was no way he could stand up for this. Would Eeth pull out the paddle if he asked to lie down instead? And, would that make it any easier to bear? Flynt didn't know, but what he did know was that Raven had told him horror stories about Eeth's cane; it was the worst and Flynt was understandably terrified of it.
Eeth was not entirely without compassion but he was not going to relent. Rising from the chair, he turned it around.
"You deserve this," he said implacably. "We will talk more about why that is, later. For now, you will take what is coming to you. Bend over now unless you want the count raised."
"I don't," said Flynt, raising his good hand in placation. "I know I deserve it, and I'll do as you say, but please can I lie down?" It was a coward's request, and at this moment, Flynt was struggling to figure out which felt worse: the humiliation of Eeth seeing his weakness, or his fear. Both were very un-Jedilike, and the expression on his face told Eeth that he knew it.
Eeth frowned and considered this for a moment. Then he gave a curt nod towards his bed. "Go ahead," he said. "But do not think I will go easier on you for it. Put my pillow under your hip."
Grateful, or as grateful as anyone could feel towards a man about to tear the ass off them with a cane, Flynt complied quickly. The position left him feeling vulnerable but at least, lying down, he could bury his face, grab handfuls of bedding, kick his legs, scream, whatever. If he bent over the chair, he had none of those 'comforts'. Besides, if what Raven had told him was true, he didn't think he could stand through the ordeal, he simply wasn't cut out for this sort of shit - a fact that was reconfirmed when he felt – no, he hadn't felt anything, he'd heard it! – the tight thwacking sound of stick connecting with ass, which was enough to incite terror of its own merit. The pain that followed seconds later had him rethinking his ability to get through this as It was every bit as horrific as Raven had described, especially so as, just as the pain from that first scorching stripe piqued to a smouldering line of unfathomable agony, Eeth landed another one. Immediately, Flynt broke out in a full sweat, and by the third, he was sure he'd torn off a chunk of coverlet in an effort at maintaining his control. He didn't know how Raven could take this! It was too much; not that Flynt had time to contemplate this as another stripe had him bellowing and begging for a reprieve. "Stop!" he howled, not caring if Raven heard him. Heck, let her hear if it meant she might come and rescue him from this!
This was, of course, not going to happen because unbeknownst to Flynt, Eeth had soundproofed the room, as he always did. When Flynt was unable to remain still, Eeth used the Force to restrain him and continued the caning, laying down stripe after stripe until he had completed the dozen. Contrary to what Raven and Flynt seemed to think, leaving the Temple without permission, even for the convention centre, was no small offence, and Eeth was making that abundantly clear.
Flynt had wailed himself hoarse by this point. He had the top half of Eeth's coverlet in a death grip but had kicked the bottom half off the bed at some point before Eeth had restrained him. Flynt barely noticed when the licks stopped landing because, as unfathomable as this seemed, the pain continued building. The only saving grace was that no new stripes were added to drive the peak of agony into wild panic. This was the worst punishment Flynt had endured to date, worse than Lakhri's belt, worse than that Force-awful shoe that the man bandied about on occasions, worse than anything. Was it meant to hurt him that much or was it a mistake?
Eeth laid the cane on his desk and sat on the edge of the bed, lightly resting his hand on Flynt's back. He did not speak for a while. Finally, he said, "I will need to talk to Raven. Clean yourself up a little and then meditate. Yes, I know it hurts. And I will provide some healing later. But for now, you will do your best to focus on what you did wrong and why, exactly, it earned you such a big punishment. Am I clear on that?"
Unable to provide a verbal answer, Flynt nodded his head once to show compliance. Then, once Eeth had left the room, Flynt limped into the man's refresher to inspect the damage. His ass was not a bloodied mess as he'd expected for that level of pain. In fact, the twelve welts were not bleeding at all. Flynt didn't know what to think as, for the amount of pain, he had expected half his ass to be missing, and if nothing that extreme, then at least some blood! At that moment, Flynt had never been happier that Lakhri did not own a cane because he couldn't take that again.
Meanwhile, Raven exited the shower clad in a singlet and underwear. She wasn't sure how mad Eeth was as he had been shielding, so she didn't know if he would let them go to the lounge tonight or not. Raven decided to err on the side of caution and remained dressed for bed; it couldn't hurt. When Eeth entered carrying the cane, however, Raven shot to her feet, eyes wide. Apparently, he was seriously displeased, far more than the padawan had anticipated.
"I do not know where Flynt and you got the idea from that it would be acceptable to leave the Temple without permission and without anyone knowing where you were," Eeth said sternly. "It is not. You did not even leave a note or a message, and contrary to what you both seem to think, that would not have been irrelevant because it would have enabled me to know where you are in case I had suddenly needed you or something had happened to you. Instead of making sure I could find you at all times, you were careless enough to sustain a sunburn and heat exhaustion, which would not have happened if I had had a chance to give you instructions. I have had this discussion with Flynt already, but just to make sure I am not doing you an injustice here, tell me honestly whether there is anything that would excuse your behaviour."
Raven couldn't really take her attention off the fact that Eeth carried his cane. She swallowed, crossed her arms about her chest and tried to come up with something that might excuse her from his arguments. Nothing came to mind, at least nothing that she thought would work! "I didn't think it would be such a big deal. Other padawans are allowed," she settled on and gestured to the cane. "Not bad enough to warrant that." Raven looked at him, eyes still a little wide.
"Well, it is," said Eeth. "I am aware that some padawans your age are allowed to leave the Temple without adult supervision at certain times, to certain places and within certain limits. That is after their masters have explicitly given them permission and outlined the conditions under which they are allowed to do so, one of which is invariably to inform their master of their whereabouts. This is important, not only because Coruscant is a dangerous place, even in the vicinity of the Temple, but also because unforeseen things might happen at any time that might require me to know where to find you. It should have been fairly obvious to you that the decision on whether this is a big deal or not was not yours to make."
Feeling like some kind of professional disciplinarian, he laid the cane onto the desk, sat down on Raven's chair and said, "Bare your bottom and bend over my lap."
As far as Raven was concerned, physical discipline was simply part of her life; if she misbehaved, Eeth punished her. Simple. The problem was that it wasn't always that cut and dry, especially so when it was something serious enough to warrant the use of his cane. Raven bit her lip and moved to Eeth's side. Any attempts to talk him out of it would be disastrous, and so she pulled her underwear down and lay herself over his lap without complaint. That wasn't to say Raven didn't have complaints! She totally did. Many, in fact. For now, though, she bit her lip and just hoped that… "Ah!" Raven sucked in a breath and grabbed on to the chair leg as that first swat almost pushed her clean off his lap; this was no minor punishment.
Eeth made it just as fast and thorough as he had done for Flynt although Raven bore it a little better. Feeling even more like a professional disciplinarian, he then ordered her to bend over the chair. He was not exactly happy about this. Contrary to popular belief, he did not enjoy having to punish his padawan; he simply felt it was his duty, and he was extremely serious about fulfilling his duties.
Sniffling, Raven swiped a sleeve under her nose and reluctantly bent over the chair. Unlike Flynt, Raven knew how much this was going to hurt and was dreading it. The problem was that any efforts to talk her way out of it would only make it worse. "How many?" Raven asked, sounding genuinely pitiful because knowing when the agony would end helped, if only a little.
"A dozen," said Eeth with an air of absolute finality. And dealt out the first stroke.
A dozen! Raven was already rock bottom but apparently, rock bottom had a dungeon! Her thoughts were sent scrambling as the pain from the first stripe registered just as the second landed. It was unbearable, yet Raven bore it with her usual determination. The problem with this approach was that sheer power of will, stubbornness and determination could only last so long. Besides, Raven was only a thirteen-year-old girl. Unsurprisingly, by the eighth thwack, the padawan was crying in earnest. She had started begging despite knowing it never worked, and her fingers wrapped so tightly around the chair that she thought the arm might just crush. "I'm s-sorryyy!" was added on the end because right now, Raven was truly sorry.
"Good," said Eeth grimly, and continued the caning. Raven's and Flynt's actions had been entirely unacceptable, and he wanted to make the extent of his displeasure very clear to her. He targeted the last four strokes on the undercurve of her bottom and the uppermost part of her thighs. Knowing how painful this was, he used the Force to restrain her. If this did not make her start her thinking about her attitude towards the rules, he did not know what would.
The squeal that Raven let out at those last two was not loud, per se, it was, however, ear-splittingly high-pitched. Sobbing, Raven buried her face into her sleeve to try muffling her cries, but it was no use; half the east wing of the Temple would have heard her! How humiliating. Not that Raven particularly cared at this moment. No, right now, all Raven wanted to do was jump around in circles trying to rub out the burn, which she did the moment Eeth released his hold over her.
Eeth left her to it for a moment. Then he rested the cane on the desk and gently, but firmly took hold of her hands. "Padawan, I want you to meditate about why this happened and what you can do to avoid a repeat occurrence," he told her. "I will go and look after Flynt. When you are done, I will provide some healing. Then the three of us will have a talk."
It was all Raven could do not to pull away. She wouldn't dare, though, and continued bouncing even though Eeth was stopping her from rubbing. And Force, if the ache wasn't still building! It wasn't easy having a rational conversation while in so much pain, yet Raven wasn't about to make things worse by not listening to him. "Yes, master," she replied through hitching breaths.
"Then get to it," said Eeth. He picked up the cane and made his way to the common room, feeling rather weary. Having to keep one padawan in line was one thing, but having two of them who kept getting in trouble together was in a league of its own. Ordinarily, if he just had Raven to deal with, he would have promised to spank her every night for a week because, both padawans' belief to the contrary, their offence had been serious. But that would mean doing the same with Flynt, and Eeth was not sure he was prepared to deal out that much punishment. Fortunately, there were other ways to drive the lesson home. As far as Eeth was concerned, this was not quite over yet.