Obi-Wan shuddered as he remembered that
night. It had been the first beating he had received from his new Master but it
definitely wouldn't be the last. Whenever he did something to displease Na'em,
no matter how small and insignificant, he paid for it with another beating.
*****
The morning after that first spanking
Obi-Wan had awakened afraid that Na'em would still be angry with him. To his
surprise his Master was very cheerful and agreeable. Truthfully, had it not
been for the throbbing in his backside he would have thought it all a dream.
*****
Obi-Wan laughed cynically. A dream...how he
wished this whole thing was just a terribly bad dream...
*****
For several days after that first beating
Obi-Wan was as obedient and agreeable as possible. He actually began to think
that perhaps it had been a one-time thing. It wasn't until several weeks later
that anything happened.
Na'em had just received word that a
previous Padawan of his, Joli, had been killed on a mission. Joli had been
Na'ems first and favorite Padawan and the news of her death socked him deeply.
For nearly a week Na'em seemed lost and confused until one day he just suddenly
snapped out of it. He became his usual self, or at least that's what it seemed.
Soon however, he began to experience
terrible mood swings. H would be fine one minute and angry or upset the next.
The slightest infraction would set him off and more than once Obi-Wan found
himself being scolded harshly. At first the irate Master just yelled, scolded
and reprimanded Obi-Wan, though it was harsh. Then he began banishing the young
teen to his room for the rest of an evening or making him spend long hours in
meditation. Although Obi-Wan knew his Master was overreacting he didn't
complain. The boy knew that it could be a whole lot more painful if Na'em
wanted it to be.
So the boy put up with it and soon it
became part of his daily schedule to spend several hours meditating on a
"wrong choice" he had made. He grew so accustomed to it that he almost
forgot how angry his Master truly was. Almost...
(A few days later)
Obi-Wan ran down the Temple corridors,
hoping he wasn't waking anyone up. The thirteen year old was, as usual, late.
His curfew was at eight o'clock but he had forgotten again, and now was racing
back in hopes he could get there before Na'em got out of his meeting.
The first time he had been late had been
before Joli's death and Obi-Wan had been let of with a warning to be on time
the next time. A second time had resulted in five hours spent in meditation and
a day of confinement. Somehow he was afraid that this time his punishment
wouldn't' be so light. Unfortunately for him, he was right...
Obi-Wan hurried through the door only to
stop short once inside. Na'em was standing there staring at his Padawan with an
angry gleam in his eye. It wasn't hard to guess that he was in one of his bad
moods.
"You're late." Master Retsam
said, his voice tight with anger.
"Forgive me Master, I lost track of
time." Obi-Wan said quietly.
Na'em grabbed the boy by his shoulder, his
grip as hard as iron. Obi-Wan winced, he could feel his shoulder bruising
already and his Master had barely touched him yet.
"I'll teach you to waste time! You're
a Jedi and you shouldn't be 'forgetting' things like this!" With those
words Obi-Wan's heart sank. He knew he was going to get a beating and he was
scared.
Na'em dragged his Apprentice to the couch
and roughly threw him over the arm. With his left hand he held Obi-Wan down and
with his right he pulled off his belt. It only took him a moment to pull off
Obi-Wan's tunic. Master Retsam then proceeded to hit the young boy's back, rear
and legs with his belt, not bothering to aim or pay attention to what, or
where, he was hitting.
The pain Obi-Wan was experiencing was more
than he'd ever felt before. It didn't take long before he was sobbing. Soon he
was begging his Master to stop, but Na'em turned a deaf ear to his Padawan's
pleas. Instead he put more effort into the beating, each swat more painful than
the one before.
"Master, please!" The boy chocked
out, "Please stop!" He was begging but at the moment he didn't care.
He knew that he didn't deserve this kind of a punishment for his small
infraction and all he wanted was for the pain to stop.
"You will take your punishment without
complaint!" Was the only reply Na'em gave, "I will stop when, and
only when, I feel you've learned your lesson!"
Ten minutes, and several swats later, Na'em
stopped the punishment. Obi-Wan's entire backside, from his shoulders to his
knees, was covered in welts. The skin was raw and very sensitive to the touch.
At the moment he felt as though he were dying. Obi-Wan didn't even want to
imagine the kind of pain he'd feel in the morning.
"Go to bed. Tomorrow we will be in the
gym working on lightsaber drills." Master Retsam ordered.
Obi-Wan couldn't answer. Instead he only
nodded and stumbled into his room. The pain seemed unbearable and Obi-Wan spent
several hours that night applying bacta and focusing on releasing the pain.
*****
At first the punishments Obi-Wan had
received were for disobeying but now he realized, anything could set the man
off. Master Retsam had overreacted to Obi-Wan's tardiness, this was true, but
he did have some reason behind it. However there were more punishments, these
much more painful, in the poor boy's future...
Obi-Wan shook his head while wincing at the
pain. How could he have been so stupid? He had known that Master Retsam had
mood swings that often turned out to be dangerous for those in hi way, Obi-Wan
mainly. But even with all this the teen still didn't do anything. Instead he
began to think that it was his fault, that he deserved all this and was
bringing it upon himself.
***
The next morning when Obi-Wan woke up he
could barely move. There was no way that he could participate in a lightsaber
exercise and still perform well, yet if he didn't show up his punishment would
only be worse. Carefully he made hi way into the main room, expecting to find
Master Retsam sitting there, but instead all he saw was a datapad on the desk.
Obi-Wan,
I have a meeting with one of the
other Masters. I'll meet you at the gym after your last class today. Don't be
late!
Tardiness is inexcusable -remember this.
-Master Retsam
Obi-Wan shuddered at the thought of another
one of his Master's "corrections". The next one could very well be
the one that kills him. With a sigh the boy began to gather his things for
class.
(a few hours later)
After class Obi-Wan hurried towards the
gym. He was determined to be on time and actually would have made it had he not
run into someone...
"Oh, I'm so sorry! Please forgive me,
I was in such a hurry..." The boy trailed off when he realized whom he had
bumped into.
"That's okay Kenobi, or actually Padawan
Kenobi by the looks of it." Qui-Gon Jinn said with a smile.
"Yessir, Master Retsam took me as his
Padawan. I've been with him for nearly a year." The boy replied.
Qui-Gon watched Obi-Wan curiously. He
expected a grin or smile of some sort when he mentioned being a Padawan. Or at
least that's how most new Padawans responded. Obi-Wan however seemed upset,
nervous and anxious. "Are you alright?" He asked carefully.
"Yessir. Fine. Just wondering how
upset my Master will be for my tardiness. I was supposed to meet him for
practice several minutes ago." The boy forced a smile, "I need to go.
Perhaps we can continue this conversation some other time sir?" He half
asked, half stated.
"Of course,
I wouldn't want you being too late." The Jedi Master patted the boy on the
shoulder. He noticed Obi-Wan stiffen and draw in a sharp breath but the Padawan
didn't say anything. Something wasn't right but he didn't want to make things
worse than they already were so he remained quiet.
When Obi-Wan
arrived at the gym he was flushed, out of breath, and definitely late. He tried
to explain but Na'em only scowled, "Go back to our quarters. You have wasted my
time, not to mention the fact that you are several minutes late, as per usual.
This is becoming a bad habit that I must break you of." Na'em said angrily.
Obi-Wan trembled
but obeyed. The thirteen-year old knew what was coming and dreaded it. To
resist, however, would prove stupid and he could only hope Na'em took pity on
him…
