A/N: We're glad that many of you enjoyed our last story, "Ashpah," and thanks for sticking with us!
To all who don't know it yet, our stories originated as online role-playing and are situated in our alternative Star Wars universe – well, mainly the universe of Episode One, pretending that the tragedy of the Great Jedi Purge never happened. Ahem. There are approximately twenty-five stories pre-written in this series which focuses on Master Eeth Koth and his padawan learner Raven Trebeck as well as some characters surrounding them, especially Eeth's first padawan Lakhri Tumuel and Lakhri's padawan Flynt. Although each story can stand alone, it might be a better reading experience to start from the beginning with "Of Padawans Fake and True."
"Arcturus" picks up where "Ashpah" left off, focusing on Raven's development under Eeth's guidance. It describes the second in a series of three missions that pose a challenge as much as a learning experience to Raven and in which her arrogance and overconfidence become an increasing concern for Eeth. Also, a very old acquaintance of Eeth's makes an appearance…
Now for the standard disclaimer: As everyone who has read and followed our stories ought to know by now, authority and discipline, including corporal punishment, are central themes. To any newcomers, see the aforementioned statement and take it as your only warning. We don't post content warnings at the beginning of each chapter for this. Also, we realise that our master characters will at times come across as harsh. However, please keep in mind that this is a fictional universe in which teenagers with extraordinary, potentially lethal abilities are raised to do an incredibly hard, dangerous and responsible job. Their masters feel an obligation to keep them in line in order to protect them and others by various types of discipline, including corporal punishment, i.e., spanking with the hand and different implements. And sometimes, they will need to dispense with the cuddling and tell their charges to do their duty. These are teenagers, after all, not small children. There will always be times to offer comfort and moments of closeness between master and padawan, but they might sometimes have to wait. Plus, masters might have their own issues … which is certainly true for Eeth. His journey with Raven is a learning experience for him as much as for his padawan.
Fortunately for our padawans, our master characters have near-magical healing abilities at their disposal, allowing us to indulge our preference for strict discipline – but hopefully not at the expense of character development and progression of the storyline!
If you like our stories (or if you don't like them for reasons other than those of which you have been warned), let us know in a review; we love to hear what you guys think. And that's enough of the preliminaries. Enjoy!
Master Eeth Koth left the Council chamber, glancing at his wrist chronometer. He had ninety minutes left to find his padawan and for both of them to pack and make their way to hangar two where a spaceship was being prepared for them. Said padawan was currently teaching an initiates' sparring class. Eeth pondered calling her out of it, as he had done on previous similar occasions, but reconsidered. She was due to be back at their quarters in about an hour anyway. If he packed her things for her, they would still have more than enough time to make it to the hangar. After about thirty-five years of mission experience, Eeth could pack in two minutes if necessary. He would even have time left to clear the kitchen cupboards and cooler of perishable goods and leave a message for his former padawan Lakhri, who was on a mission of his own with his padawan but might be back before Eeth and Raven were.
Raven currently had her hands full with her initiates' class. She enjoyed teaching the younger initiates; they were usually so animated, energetic and for the most part, eager to learn.
"Jaral, keep your eye on your opponent or you'll get a flat nose." Well, flatter than it already was, she thought in amusement. Mon Calamari did not exactly have a lot there to flatten. "Good," she nodded in approval when he once again focused.
She walked between each set of students, correcting and offering advice on how to improve, just as she had seen Eeth do countless times. Teaching had come naturally to her, having spent her entire life in the Temple being taught. Passing that on seemed only logical and so when it came time for her to take over classes, Raven was happy to do so. There was only one part of teaching that she didn't enjoy…
"Kem! What did I tell you about doing that?" Raven scolded, her tone drawing the attention of most of the students, but only for a moment before they got back to work.
Kem, a human girl, stopped in her tracks and looked up. The last time she had checked, Padawan Raven had been on the other side of the room and nowhere near them. She glanced at Poko, her counterpart, who was still reeling after having been pushed backwards into some benches by a rather uncontrolled Force push. "Um, not to," came the small reply.
"Mhmm. Tell me why?" Raven pressed as she silently scanned Poko for injuries. He had none, which was one thing less she would need to worry about.
Kem frowned. "Why? It's stupid. If I'm stuck and someone's going to beat me, I'll use anything I can to get out of it. Do you expect me to just let him win rather than use my skills? Pretty crappy strategy if you ask me."
"You, little miss, are sorely testing my patience. Lose the attitude, now." Raven paused at hearing those words come from her lips. Force, I have become my master, she thought. Still her tone and expression seemed to do the trick and Kem lowered her gaze, if only slightly. "Firstly, I expect you to follow my instructions," Raven continued. "Whether you find them stupid or not is irrelevant. This is an initiates' sparring class, not a lesson in Force manipulation. Secondly, you were given a warning. This is the second time I am speaking to you about this. Unacceptable. It appears that you are unable to follow my instructions, so you can spend the remainder of your time running laps. Disignite your saber and get going."
The expression on Kem's face was a mix of frustration and embarrassment. She was good at this class, and although she could mildly see Raven's point, her ego was bruised. She stomped her foot and threw her saber to the floor, and then she stormed off to start running. By now, others had begun to pay attention again.
Wordlessly, Raven picked up Kem's training weapon and clipped it to her belt. She would address the girl's outburst, but not now. Now that girl needed to blow off some steam and she had eleven students who were in need of her attention. "C'mon, squirt, you're not injured, just a li'l sore," she said to Poko. "Show me what you got?"
Raven was rewarded with a big smile as the boy raised his saber and came at her. It was a privilege to get the teacher all to yourself and he wasn't about to waste it.
By the end of class, all twelve initiates were exhausted. Raven called a worn-out Kem over to cool down and stretch with the class. However, and much to the initiate's dismay, Raven kept her at her side during this.
When the class was dismissed, Raven placed a hand on Kem's shoulder, stopping her from leaving. "Kneel," Raven instructed, doing the same. She could sense guilt and regret from the girl, which was a good start. "I don't think I need to tell you that losing your temper and throwing a fit is not an acceptable way of dealing with your emotions."
Kem huffed. "I was frustrated, and, anyway, it's not fair…"
"Oh? What about this is not fair?" Raven challenged, her own brow furrowing.
"It's obvious. I could beat him if I could use all my skills. It's stupid."
Raven was momentarily reminded of an incident during her junior padawanhood with a hand-to-hand combat instructor. She had used that same argument, although unfortunately her temper and indignant behaviour had earned her quite a bit more than what she had in store for Kem. Still, Raven's face softened at the memory; she knew how it felt, and she also knew that it was a hard, albeit necessary lesson to learn.
"Whether or not you could beat him is irrelevant. What is important here is that you were given an instruction by a senior Jedi, disobeyed it several times, and then indulged in a temper tantrum when corrected." Raven paused here, seeing that her words were sinking in, and then she leant forward, taking the girl's hand. "Kem, I know it feels unfair, and I do understand. I went through something similar when I was a little older than you. You are very good with your weapon, and no doubt given open slather, you would do much better. Incidentally, I'm sure the others would also; you are not the only one good with a saber or Force manipulation here. But that is not the point of this class. This class is to teach you to work with your weapon. Using Force manipulation in conjunction with your fighting skills comes later in your training, after you have mastered the basics. Do you understand?"
Kem frowned, her ego taking a bit of a battering here. "I guess."
"You guess? This isn't just about you. You could have hurt your sparring partner. You're not ready," Raven scolded a little more sharply now.
"I…" Kem huffed. "Yes, Padawan Raven, I guess. I mean, I understand."
"Good." Raven released her hand and unclipped the girl's weapon from her belt, holding it out for her to take. "Be thankful that you are getting this back at all. Show such disregard for your weapon as a padawan and you would probably lose it for a lot longer than twenty minutes," she warned, the memory of Eeth's reaction when she had once thrown her weapon in a fit of temper replaying in her mind.
Raven stood and extended her hand, helping Kem to her feet. When the girl was upright, she turned her to the side, pulled up her tunic and landed three teeth-rattling smacks to the spread of her pants. Each was rewarded with a compunctious yowl.
"WhaaatForrr?!" came the tearful response.
Raven could tell that it had hurt the kid. She had meant it to hurt, after all. She could also tell that Kem was working hard to keep from openly crying.
"What for? Really, must I answer that?" Raven raised her hand again, her expression ominous.
"No, NO, WAIT! Because I disobeyed and threw a fit!" Kem blurted, twisting her butt away.
Raven had no intention of swatting Kem a fourth time. However, she had learned from the best that sometimes just the threat was enough. "Correct. I'll be sending a message to your crèche master about this. You have until this evening to tell them the full story yourself. You need to meditate, to release your emotions into the Force." Raven wanted to help her with this but it was at that moment that her wrist watch alarm went off; she was going to be late. She pulled the girl into a hug and projected some calming energy.
"Hey. You didn't have to do that, I can do it," Kem said, but she did not pull away. She liked the feel of the padawan's Force presence. It was calming.
"I'm sure you can, but you didn't today. I want to see more of an effort to control your temper next time. Now, go on, you'll be late for your next class." With that, Raven released the girl from her hug and began madly stuffing things into her bag.
Eeth was standing at the door to their quarters, waiting for Raven with a frown on his face. He could be very patient if need be, but there were things that he had absolutely no patience with, and his padawan's habit to lose track of time and arrive late for appointments was somewhere near the top of the list. She had much improved, of course; anyone being trained by Eeth would have to be suicidal to continue keeping up bad habits because that invariably ended painfully.
"Master," Raven greeted Eeth with a formal bow, and then she winced slightly upon seeing his expression and do or die posture. She held her hands up in a placating gesture, her right still a little red from the walloping it had delivered ten minutes ago. "Before you get all prickly. A student in my class needed correcting and this ran over time," Raven explained, shucking her cloak and tossing it on the hook. It was at that moment that Raven noticed Eeth was wearing his cloak, and… "We're going somewhere?" she asked upon noticing their bags.
"Yes," said Eeth curtly, shooting her a glare at her tardiness, but accepting her explanation. "Take your cloak and your bag. We need to be at hangar two in twenty minutes. We are leaving for Arcturus. Have you ever heard of the place?"
He did not suppose she had, but asked the question nevertheless, just in case.
"No. Where is it and what's going on there?" Raven asked, grabbing her cloak and shouldering the bag Eeth had packed for her. His glare did not go unnoticed but she was pleased to see that her reason had placated him, if only enough to spare herself pain.
"It is an outer-rim planet and entirely covered in ice," replied Eeth. "Only the equatorial regions are habitable, at least for people who are willing to put up with the permanent cold. There is sufficient geothermal energy to make it possible to heat houses and produce food in greenhouses. A few decades ago, a large group of human settlers decided to leave Coruscant and build a colony on Arcturus. They were rather successful, it seems. While the colony is still small, it did apply for membership in the Republic. Master Eden Xander and his padawan Indigo have been sent to investigate whether Arcturus fulfils the criteria for formally accepting the application and elevating it to the rank of a candidate for membership. However, just now an unexpected crisis arose in the nearby Saavigar system. The Council urgently needed to dispatch a Jedi, and since Master Xander was the only person closeby and time was of the essence, he was asked to leave for Saavigar immediately. We deemed the situation too dangerous to allow him to take his padawan, who is only thirteen years old and does not have much mission experience. Thus, somebody needs to travel to Arcturus, complete Master Xander's mission and look after his padawan while doing so. And that someone will be us."
While he talked, they entered a turbolift. Eeth entered a code and the lift took off.
A few years ago a mission like this would have drawn a groan from Raven because even if she was a good babysitter, she liked to be in the action. By the age of eighteen, Raven had learned that the life of a Jedi was not all about lightsaber fights, blaster fire and chasing the bad guys. In fact, it was rarely like that. Sure, over the years there had been times where they had been in real danger, their mission to Nar Shaddaa coming to mind, but this was the exception, rather than the rule. Raven smiled and looked up at Eeth. They had been through a lot together, and she had come so far. "So, we fly in, suss the place out and babysit the kid? Sounds interesting," she commented just a tad dryly, but within acceptable limits to avoid being called on her attitude.
"Padawan, I do not think you have ever been to an ice world," said Eeth, effortlessly catching on to the implied meaning of boredom. "And I have not been to one in a long time either. From what little I have had the chance to learn about Arcturus, they only use speeders for long-distance trips due to a shortage of power cells. For short distances, people use skis or snow boots, and in the capital city of Calinia, they use ice skates for moving along the network of canals that spreads throughout the city. They have electric sleds for medium distances. All of this might turn out to be quite a new experience for us. I know how to ski, at least in a rudimentary fashion, but I have never had to use ice skates. Nor do I think you have."
"I haven't," said Raven. "Although… there were the frozen regions on Arkuna. Do you remember that mission? It was with Master Luthan and Endal Kanyan." The memory made her smile. "That was an interesting planet, even if we did get captured by those smelly little monsters."
"Of course I remember," said Eeth. "Including the illicit escapade that led to your capture." Raven snorted, her chin in the air. "They got lucky," she said.
Eeth raised his eyebrows at what he perceived as arrogance. "Yes, thanks to your disobedience and carelessness," he said and stepped out of the lift as the doors swished open.
"Be that as it may," he continued, not allowing himself to be distracted from their upcoming mission, "Arcturus is very different from Arkuna, starting with the fact that it is populated by colonists. Calinia seems to be a fairly large town."
The planet itself did sound interesting to Raven; it was the assignment that she lacked enthusiasm for. "On the plus side, Indigo is thirteen, so we're spared diaper duty," she said.
"Padawan, every mission offers an opportunity for you to learn," said Eeth pointedly. "Arcturus is a very recent colony. These people are building a life in a harsh environment, and it seems to function remarkably well. It will be our task to find out whether that impression is correct, and whether their colony is stable enough to allow for a formal membership candidacy. They do seem to have a working democratic system. The head of their colony is an elected consul. We will be staying with him; his name is Thoar Junayd."
They had reached the hangar by now where an unremarkable, medium-sized and relatively fast spaceship was waiting for them.
"We will pilot it ourselves," said Eeth. "Would you like to take charge of the take-off?"
Raven's elated expression said it all; heck, yes, she wanted to take charge of the take-off! She strode up the ramp, tossed her bag somewhere where it wasn't going to fly around and jumped into the pilot's seat. Raven had always loved to fly, and that had never changed. She simply never tired of it.
Half an hour later, Raven had their course plotted, and after taking a moment to contact Kem's crèche master, she engaged the hyperdrive and they were off. As the stars turned to streaks of white and the engines settled into a steady hum, Raven stood from her seat, stretching tall. "What sort of spaceship food did they pack for us this time?" Raven asked, entering what passed as their kitchen where Eeth was seated at a table, scanning the mission briefing.
"The usual, I suppose," said Eeth a little absent-mindedly. "The trip will take us a week. Let us hope that Padawan Indigo will be able to take care of himself during that time. He is waiting for us at Thoar Junayd's home in Calinia. According to the information that Master Xander sent to the Council, the only other inhabitants of the house are the consul's daughter – I have no idea what age she is – and a housekeeper."
"I'm sure if he's like most padawans, he'll have no problems taking care of himself. Whether or not that 'care' is considered care by those in charge, well, that would be debatable." Raven remarked. She didn't give much thought to the other two. They were civilians and Raven was sure they would be nice enough. "I'll go see what they loaded for us to eat," she said.
Meanwhile, Rulla Junayd, Consul Thoar Junayd's daughter, grabbed her ice skates that were hanging on a hook in the corridor and headed for the basement. All houses in Calinia had basement doors that led right onto the surface of the adjacent canal because skating on the canals was infinitely easier than fighting one's way along the slippery, frozen sidewalks. Besides, the canals offered better protection from the icy wind.
"Okay, kid, I'm going to do some grocery shopping for Panthea," she told Indigo with all the superiority that fourteen-year-old girls tended to feel towards thirteen-year-old boys. "Be good while I'm gone."
As was usual during the day, her father was in the city hall. Panthea, the lady who had been in charge of their household for as long as Rulla could remember, was getting old and could use all the help that she could get. Rulla offered that help quite willingly, especially when it gave her the chance to get out and about. She had spent all her life in this city and knew everybody and everything.
"Blast it!" the padawan cursed quietly to himself as the hilt of his saber was not reattaching the way it should. He placed the weapon aside for a moment and glanced towards the basement door where Rulla was exiting. "Always. Be careful yourself," he replied to her disappearing form, and then resumed his tinkering. He'd spent the last two hours pulling apart his saber and piecing it back together. He was thirteen years old, but Eden's master had not yet allowed him to build a real lightsaber. No, this was just a training weapon, meaning that it was powerful enough to deflect blaster bolts and leave a nasty burn, but no more than that. Well, if this worked, that was all about to change and his saber would have a bit more kick to it. Either that or he'd just have to start over.
Indigo sighed at that thought because he'd spent ages on this idea and really wanted it to work the first time. He had a keen interest in just about everything mechanical and would spend hours pulling apart any gadget he could get his hands on. This was usually not a problem. In fact, his master indulged this interest, hoping that it would develop into a real skill if nurtured. It was unlikely, though, that he would approve his idea to increase the power in his weapon. But then, Indigo did not plan on divulging it to him either. It would not be visible and the only way his 'improvements' would be noticed was if someone actually used his weapon. That was extremely unlikely, and thus well worth the risk. The truth was that Indigo was already quite good at mechatronics and electrical engineering, even though these were subjects not available to him just yet. Apparently, he would have to wait for another year or so before starting them, something that grated a little on him.
"You still playing with that?" Panthea asked, placing a plate of cookies by his side.
"Yes, Ma'am. Almost done." As if to prove this, he held up his saber and gave it a spin. Unfortunately, the hilt was still not quite right and it flung off, two springs and a sealing screw flying loose in the process. "Ahh! Or maybe not."
Panthea just shook her head. When she left the room, Indigo was still crawling around, his top half under their couch, searching for the parts.
Rulla, for her part, was glad that the boy had not asked to come. She was not particularly thrilled at being saddled with him. Apparently, it would take a week for his master's replacement to arrive. Her father was rarely home during the day and frequently came home late at night, which was why she saw more of Indigo than she would have liked. Rulla had learned how to take care of herself and, increasingly, of Panthea and the household. There were no public schools in Calinia; this was something her father was working on but that had not yet materialised. Rulla had had a private tutor for several years and now did lessons at the terminal whenever she felt like it, but mostly, she preferred to take charge of things and do them. She was only a year older than Indigo, but she felt a whole lot more mature in terms of life experience – that, and she was a girl and they matured faster, or so she told herself.
She made her way to the main north-south canal which was broad enough to allow her to seriously take up speed. Rulla was good at skating, one of the fastest skaters in the city; she had won several competitions. And she knew nothing that was more fun than speed skating, with the wind rushing through her hair. It was summer on Arcturus, which meant that temperatures were only a little below zero, so she saw no need to wear a hat.
Two hours later, Rulla and Indigo were busy assisting Panthea with household chores, including the preparation of their evening meal.
Indigo had been raised to help out, so this was no imposition on him. That said, cooking was not exactly his favourite of chores, not that he would have said as much. His features typically gave nothing of his emotions or feelings away either. He was a rather stoic-looking boy for a human and he did not tend to wear his heart on his sleeve.
He did find Rulla's attitude towards him bothersome, though. She treated him with the sort of veiled contempt one might have for annoying younglings who want to hang with the older initiates all the time. For the most part, he ignored it, although the longer he stayed with the Junayds, the more this seemed to grate. For now, though, he was busy peeling vegetables, and thanks to his master's seemingly endless ability to pile him with work, he also had enough school assignments to fill most of his evenings, if he chose to do so…
Suddenly, and well before dinner was ready, they heard noises in the basement. The door to the canal banged shut.
"Father!" exclaimed Rulla, rushing towards the basement door where a tall, heavily-built man was just coming up the stairs on thick woollen socks; he had left his skates downstairs to dry. Thoar Junayd was in his mid-forties. Like his daughter, he had brown skin and dark brown eyes. He wore a short beard and his long, straight and jet-black hair was hanging down his back. He took off his hat and shook off the snowflakes that had piled up on it, since snow had started to fall softly and steadily late this afternoon.
"Rulla!" he said affectionately, beaming at his daughter with a smile that showed his startlingly white teeth. He hugged her tightly. She took his hat and gloves while he hung up his thick coat and found a pair of leather slippers.
"You're home early," she said, sounding pleased about the fact. She would never admit it, of course, but Rulla did miss her father quite a lot.
"Well, we do have a guest whose master just had to leave," Thoar pointed out. "So I postponed my meeting with the shareholders of the Bank of Arcturus. Is he doing alright?"
"Oh," said Rulla, a little taken aback that this was apparently not about her needs, but about Indigo's. "Him. Yeah, I suppose he's okay. He's been helping Panthea in the kitchen with me. He was tinkering with his stuff or something while I went out today."
"Didn't you ask him to come?" asked Thoar.
Rulla shrugged. It suddenly occurred to her that she had not been very courteous and that her father might have expected her to be. Showing an off-planet kid around Calinia was not something she was particularly keen on, though.
"So you didn't," said Thoar. His tone of voice and facial expression barely changed, but Rulla knew exactly that he was not pleased, and that realisation hurt. She simply could not bear it when her father was disappointed in her.
"He seemed content doing what he did," she said defensively.
"Nevertheless, you will show him around tomorrow," said Thoar. And nothing more. He didn't need to; Rulla knew she was going to do as her father had told her. Thoar granted her a lot of freedom, but he also had high expectations of her.
"Yes, father," she said quietly and led the way to the kitchen where Panthea was just stirring a sauce while Indigo was peeling tubers. There were no grains and no flour, nor eggs and dairy to be had on Arcturus, only vegetables, nuts and tubers from the greenhouses, a lot of fish and the occasional piece of meat when a hunter had been successful. Tonight, it was shrimp stew with salad and tubers fried in nut oil.
"This smells fantastic," said Thoar appreciatively. "Hello, Indigo. Good evening, Panthea. Can I help?"
"Yes, you can bring up coals for the fireplace," said Panthea promptly. "I've been waiting for days for you to come home early enough to do some of the heavy lifting."
"Sorry," said Thoar apologetically. "I'll get to it right away. Indigo, can you help? I'm sure Rulla can finish peeling the tubers."
Rulla stuck out her tongue at him playfully. He just laughed and ruffled her hair.
"I can," said Indigo. "Wait, I'll get my gloves." He wasn't as good at leaving his stuff at the door as everyone else just yet. He had a habit of putting things back in his pack or on the floor in his bedroom. He wasn't a particularly tidy personality, something that Panthea had frowned at upon seeing him "hanging" his clothes on the floor. He had picked them up immediately, and so far he had been doing a good job at keeping his things organised. Then again, he hadn't been without his master's supervision for very long.
Less than a minute later, Indigo appeared at the door to the basement where Thoar was waiting for him. He hadn't spent a lot of time with the man yet but could tell he was much loved by his family, something that endeared him to Indigo. He took a moment to adjust his saber, pulled on his coat, boots and gloves and then waited for the door to open.
"You won't need your weapon in order to fetch coals, you know," said Thoar jokingly. "We don't usually have assassins hidden in the basement. C'mon."
"I'd hope not, because assassins are out of my league with a simple training saber," Indigo replied, his tone jovial and matching Thoar's. He didn't anticipate trouble. Then again, life was rarely predictable. "I'm meant to keep it with me, is all," he explained.
"Sure," said Thoar. "As long as it doesn't get in the way. Coal is heavy."
There was a big store room for coal in the basement that was regularly filled from street level through a sealable hole. Arcturus had large coal mines a few hundred miles to the south of Calinia. Most of the energy used to heat the houses was geothermal, but they all had fireplaces in the living rooms for added comfort. Coal was also used for producing electricity. Thoar would have been the first to admit that this was not a very clean way to produce energy, but he saw it as a preliminary measure while the colony worked to expand and create enough income to buy power cells. At the moment, the population was so small in relation to the size of the planet that pollution was minimal.
Thoar handed Indigo a basket and a shovel. "Fill it with coals and bring it upstairs to the container next to the fireplace," he said. "But don't take more than you can carry. We'll need to go three or four times in order to make Panthea happy. After that, she'll probably want us to buy cidre."
Arcturus had special greenhouses devoted to growing fruit. An enterprising colonist had started producing cidre a few years ago and it had been a huge hit. Thoar was rather proud of this.
"What's cidre?" asked Indigo, accepting the shovel and swivelling his belt to the back so that his saber would not impede his work.
"A drink made of apples," replied Thoar. "Panthea loves it. I like a glass every now and then. Rulla mixes it with water. We have nearly run out of it. We can take two skids, skate to the next store and load up on cidre once we are done with the coals."
As it turned out, that was exactly what Panthea had in mind for them. Lined up against the wall of the house, on the canal's frozen surface, were several skids with handles that a skater could push.
"Grab one and let's go," said Thoar.
Indigo really wasn't great on skates or skids. He was all gangly and unstable, unlike Rulla who he'd watched from their window often and who looked as if she were born with skates on. Indigo eyed the skates and skid with a feeling of mild distaste, not that it was noticeable given his naturally stoic expression, and then he did as told.
The store was not far, but far enough that the journey there caused Indigo's body temperature to rise enough for him to shed his coat upon arrival. "How many of these do you want?" he asked Thoar. "I can load it while you pay if you like?" he offered, tossing his coat over the handle of his skid and rolling the first barrel onto his load.
"Yes, thank you," said Thoar, giving him a brief smile. "Load mine with four barrels. You take two. That will be enough for you to handle, both in terms of weight and in terms of skating."
It had not escaped his notice that Indigo was still uncomfortable on ice skates. All the more reason for Rulla to help him along, rather than leaving him behind when she went out, he thought. He was going to tell her so when he tucked her in. On the rare occasions on which he was home early enough, he always did that.
Although he did not say as much, Indigo was silently grateful that he didn't have to carry more than two barrels. He was wobbly enough as it was, and stacking his skid with a heavy load of cidre barrels would require him to draw heavily on the Force.
Twenty minutes later, they were on their way back. The skating paths on the canals were an effective way of getting about on Calinia, something that Indigo planned to put in his report – if he managed to start writing it, that was. The boy found it harder than expected to motivate himself to do his work without his master pushing him. Conversely, the urge to procrastinate, to do fun things other than writing reports or doing schoolwork, was strong.
It crossed his mind to wonder whether his master's replacement team would show any interest in his schoolwork. Apparently, Eeth Koth, a member of the Jedi High Council, and his padawan were on their way. His master had received this news when he had been packing up his things and he had laughed out loud upon hearing who was about to take care of his padawan. It turned out that Eeth had cared for Eden in a similar situation when he was about the same age Indigo was now, and from what little his master told Indigo about this before he had to leave, Eeth had pushed Eden to his limits.
"I think looking after me was his first assignment after he was knighted," said Eden as he was folding his robes. "And he was really a very new knight then. He took this assignment more than seriously. You know he actually made me climb a palm tree with a backpack full of rocks once?"
"What for?" came the obvious question.
Eden chuckled as he shoved the folded robes into his pack. "To be honest, I was a bit lazy about my workouts at that age," he said. "And Eeth would have none of that. He drove me really hard. In response, I was stupid enough to make a scarcastic comment, like, 'What's next? Climbing trees with a backpack full of rocks?' And without batting an eyelid, he made me do the exact thing I had suggested."
At this point Indigo went wide-eyed, but he didn't interrupt.
"I don't recommend you follow my example," said Eden. "I mean … he might have loosened up in the past twenty-five years, of course. But maybe you shouldn't try to test that theory. The man was actually carrying a paddle around in his belt, and rumour has it that he still does."
He grabbed his toothbrush and toiletries from the shelf and stuffed them into his pack, too.
"He carries a paddle in his belt." Indigo looked at his master with a 'what the fuck?' kind of expression on his face.
"Yep," said Eden, closing his pack and straightening up. "But I hope I can trust you not to give him reason to use it. He might be many things but I don't think he's unfair. Behave for him, alright? And for Thoar as well. He doesn't have a lot of time to look after you, so please do as he asks you, stick to your schedule and continue with your school work. Alright?"
Indigo remembered this conversation with his master as he and Thoar made their way home with their barrels of cider, and wrinkled his nose. Of course he had promised to behave and do his work. And he had behaved, although there was definite room for improvement where his work was concerned!
By the time they got home, Indigo fully intended to start catching up on his classwork, but when they'd carted the last of the barrels to the storage room and saw dinner, he reconsidered; it could wait. "This smells wonderful," he told Panthea. And the taste of the food did not disappoint either. Panthea had even produced a dessert made from berries, nuts and a flaky concoction produced from a type of bean that could be sweetened and was delicious.
After dinner, they sat around the fireplace and Thoar entertained them with stories about funny people he had met in the course of his work. He was very good at giving impressions of others, and it sent Rulla into peals of laughter. She loved being with her father. It was a rare occurrence these days, and she cherished it all the more when it happened. When he finally sent them off to bed, she obeyed only reluctantly, but she did obey. Her father was the type of person whose orders people just tended to follow.
Ever the gentleman, Indigo insisted that Rulla use their bathroom first. When she was finished with it, he went about brushing his teeth. The home was warm despite the freezing conditions outside, warm enough so that he could sleep in the standard sleep pants and singlet he used at the temple. His bedroom was quiet and had an empty feel to it when he entered that night. Indigo was missing Eden, missing his master's presence and affection, and for a long time that evening, he tossed and turned until sleep finally took him.