Eeth was kneeling and extending his Force awareness through the rocks, searching for gaps that could be widened to get out the people who were trapped without making the whole structure collapse. There might be a way, he thought, to remove only the topmost layer of boulders and use the Force to support the roof long enough for the survivors to wriggle through.

He was still pondering this when he was suddenly alerted, both through the Force and through an eruption of noise, which carried far down here, to danger. He jumped up and sprinted in the direction of the commotion. Just like Indigo and Rulla earlier, he had to backtrack several times. When he finally emerged into the right gallery, he found a large amount of explosives, Rulla lying on the ground, semi-conscious, and a tall masked man coming at Indigo with a broken pickaxe. Indigo was valiantly defending himself with his saber, but his hold on his weapon was curiously unsteady. A fight against an untrained opponent, even an adult one, should normally not have given him much trouble, but for some reason, his control on his saber seemed to be wavering. Eeth stretched out his hand and reached out with the Force. The pickaxe flew out of the attacker's hand and Eeth caught it deftly. The man turned to flee, but Eeth was on him and had him on the ground within seconds.

"Indigo, go back to the main tunnel and fetch some help," he said grimly as he was tying up the man's wrists. "The first rescue teams are just arriving, I think. This man needs to be taken into custody until someone has the time to question him."

"He's Shawn Naguro," Rulla brought out, trying to hoist herself up, but giving up on the attempt almost immediately. "My father's main political opponent. I think he was trying to kill him and take his position."

Eeth raised his eyebrows. "That explains a lot," he said. "Specifically, it explains the reason for all these sudden cave-ins. But we have no time for this. I need to make sure the explosives will not detonate, someone needs to look after you, and most importantly, we need to get the survivors out. Go, Indigo. Quickly."

"Yes, Master Eeth," Indigo replied obediently, and after getting directions to the location of the others, he took off to find help.

Soon Indigo returned with several men in tow. He approached Rulla, placing a hand on her shoulder. She was unsteady on her feet, had a large bump on her head, and he was concerned for her. "You alright?" he asked softly, leaving the rest for Eeth and the men to deal with for now.

Rulla grimaced. "I dunno," she said. "My head is pounding, that much is sure."

"She has a concussion," Eeth said firmly. He handed Indigo a bottle of water. "Make her sit somewhere, well out of the way, and drink. If she feels sick or throws up, take her aboveground and see if Raven or a medic can look after her."

Indigo nodded, helped Rulla to where the rescue efforts were taking place and sat her down somewhere out of the way, as instructed. He cracked the seal on the bottle and handed it to her. "Don't worry; if it's at all possible, we'll get your dad out of there," he assured her and took her hand, wanting very much to give her some comfort through the Force but unable to do this without physical contact. He only hoped they would manage to rescue Thoar, as he did not see Rulla giving up and walking out of here without her father, In fact, Eeth would most likely have to carry her.

And Eeth was busy enough as it was. He had arranged for Shawn Naguro to be detained and for a team to dissemble the bomb. Now he had the rest of his crew gather at the site of the cave-in and explained what they would have to do.

While Eeth was doing all this, his apprentice was having some success with the nowargs. She had spent an hour communicating with them and thus far managed to convey that this crisis was not permanent, that it was caused by unknown factors, and that several of her kind were still trapped inside. She went on to elaborate that by attacking the men, the nowargs were forcing a retaliation and creating further risks to the safety of his pack.

The lead animal seemed to understand this, if only at a rudimentary level, and eventually agreed to keep his pack from attacking the men, for now. This was enough for the padawan. It wasn't like she could do much else as they weren't exactly intelligent. The huge creature snorted and turned abruptly. Then they disappeared into the bush, leaving Raven mentally spent and with a headache that would rival Rulla's. She lay back into the snow for a moment, her hands on her forehead to massage her brows. "They won't bother you any longer. Just tell your people to keep their distance. Do not confront them or threaten them in any way or you will destroy this alliance; it's rocky at best," Raven warned them. In her opinion, civilians could be dumb as dogshit sometimes and she wasn't taking any chances.

"Good work. Let's hope they keep their end of the bargain," said the taller of the two men. "Up, you can't stay out here," the other said, pulling Raven to her feet. It was true, there wasn't a lot of body mass on Raven and she'd soon freeze lying in the snow. It just felt nice on her head.

Groaning, Raven contemplated finding a dark room and taking half an hour to recover, but they had a job to do and she needed to find Eeth. Pushing the pain aside, Raven focused on her link with Eeth. It hurt. "Nowargs situation is dealt with, where do you need me?" she communicated, rather sloppily, across their bond.

Eeth picked up on her exhaustion immediately. He was currently busy using the Force to carefully move a large rock from the site of the cave-in; it would then be the miners' job to get it out of the way. So far, this was working, but it was slow going and required his full focus.

"Padawan, get some rest," he instructed through their bond. "Find a quiet place and enter a healing trance. I need to concentrate."

With this, he broke off their connection and slowly lowered the rock to the ground.

Raven sent her understanding and compliance back across their bond and made her way towards the main shelter where most of the casualties had been taken. When she got there, fully intending to do as Eeth had told her, she found that there were many wounded, and some almost certainly fatally so if she did not help. She took a moment to focus on the pain in her head, then pushed it aside using a technique Eeth had taught her many years ago to endure pain.

Raven knelt beside a young woman who couldn't be much older than herself. "Shhh, I'm a Jedi," she said gently. "You're going to be okay. Just relax and I'll do some healing." And Raven did. Her mental strength was nowhere near what it usually was, but it was enough to assess the woman's injuries and pass the information on to the civilian medics. "Internal bleeding, some ribs are broken," Raven told the man who had come to assist. He nodded and quickly sedated the woman, leaving Raven free to move to the next person. She wasn't able to look after her, though, due to the wave of dizziness and nausea that suddenly washed over her. Sighing, the padawan resigned herself to the fact that she was not going to be of any use to anyone like this and went to find that quiet place as instructed.

Meanwhile, Eeth and the rescue workers had some success. The opening they had created was not yet large enough to allow for anyone to get through, but at least there was now a current of air; if the survivors had had an oxygen problem, it should be lessened somewhat now.

Eeth told the crew to step back for a moment. He took a running leap to the opening and vaulted himself upwards with a Force-enhanced jump. Clutching at an outcrop of rock, he held on tightly and shouted through the hole, "Is anybody there?"

There was a moment's silence. Then a very faint voice shouted back: "Yes! We're here!"

"We will get you out!" yelled Eeth. "Nearly there!"

It took them an hour more to remove enough rocks to enable the smallest miner to wedge himself through the hole and crawl to the other side. He returned a little while later, reporting that from the two dozen people trapped by the cave-in, nine were still alive, including Thoar Junayd. However, they were all weakened by lack of oxygen, food and water, and a few of them were injured. Eeth equipped the man with a rope, several bottles of water and a stack of energy bars and sent him back.

They needed two more hours to increase the size of the hole and pull out every single survivor by way of ropes. The last one was Thoar Junayd. He rolled down the tumble of rocks that led up to the opening and collapsed onto the floor, coughing.

"Father!" yelled Rulla, throwing herself upon him and starting to cry. "It was Shawn Naguro, he was trying to get you killed. Eeth caught him. He was trying to kill Indigo and me, too. I thought you were– oh–" She could not go on; she wrapped her arms around her father and sobbed.

Her father could not speak; he simply returned the hug, as tightly as he could. He had spent a lot of time thinking, back in the cave, and most of these thoughts had been focused on his daughter. His daughter whom he had left right after having decreed a punishment, unable to make things up with her. His daughter, who would be all alone in the world without him. His daughter, who rarely got to see him most of the time. Only now did he realise how much he loved her, how much the thought of having to leave her pained him, and how much he might have to make up for. He had no idea how she came to be down here, and in his weak and sleep-deprived state had hardly been able to comprehend what she had tried to tell him, but that did not matter right now. What mattered was that he had survived and that he was reunited with her.

Eeth, in the meanwhile, started to organise transport back up. They would have to go in three groups, with the survivors in the first two. He assigned Rulla and her father to the second group, since Thoar was doing relatively well, compared to some of the others. Indigo and he would go in the last group.

That finally left him a chance to ask the boy some questions, such as, "What, exactly, did the two of you think you were doing when you came down here?"

His tone of voice left no doubt that, unless Indigo came up with a very good excuse, he was in serious trouble.

The pained expression Indigo shot the man was, for once, plainly readable on his usually stoic features. He swallowed, cleared his throat and started to explain how Rulla had taken off and he'd followed her. "She made a good point," he justified himself. "It would have been much harder for the men to stop trying if she were there, and I couldn't let her go alone, so I helped." Indigo knew the dangers of allowing one's emotions to rule their actions and he grimaced at how his explanation would have sounded to Eeth. He also knew that he'd been ordered to stay clear of the mines, to help where needed, well, maybe he had 'helped' where he was needed most? Indigo wasn't sure if mentioning that was wise though.

He was right, Eeth was not impressed.

"If you honestly think that, with or without Rulla's presence, I would have allowed anyone to 'stop trying' as long as there was anyone left alive inside, think again," he said sharply. "Incidentally, how did you even manage to make it down into the mine? Did you use the Force to manipulate any of these people?"

It seemed like the only logical explanation to Eeth; he could not fathom how anyone could otherwise have allowed two teenagers to go down into the mine and right to the site of a dangerous cave-in!

"No. That was Rulla's doing," Indigo admitted. Upon seeing Eeth's expression harden, he promptly explained how Rulla had bluffed her way through although he wasn't pleased at having to reveal the details of Rulla's lie. "After that, I set my comlink to track you," he continued. "Once we were roughly in the right area, it was a case of hit and miss. I think, though, it was more miss than hit. I was having trouble not letting Rulla's emotions affect me and it was impeding my ability to connect with the Force." He hoped to all hope that Eeth had not noticed his lack of ability when using his saber, and if he did, that he would simply assume it was due to his lack of focus.

Indigo's hope was futile; Eeth was extremely perceptive and Indigo's strange inability to fully master his saber had certainly not escaped his notice.

"Was it also affecting your ability to wield a saber?" Eeth asked bluntly. "You should have had no difficulty taking out an untrained, unskilled attacker, and yet when I found you, you seemed to be in serious trouble, and Rulla was hurt. How did this happen?"

"I made some modifications to my weapon," Indigo admitted.

"What kind of modifications?" asked Eeth icily.

Cowed by his tone of voice, Indigo elaborated. "I increased the power by refocusing the crystals and reinforcing the grip, and it took more concentration to handle than I was used to. When Raven took me sparring the other day, it wasn't bad at all. I could handle it just fine, you ask her," the boy implored.

"Do you mean to imply," said Eeth in a deceptively quiet tone of voice, "that she knew about this and chose not to tell me?"

Indigo swallowed, still holding Eeth's gaze, but only barely so. "Given that this wasn't supposed to be a dangerous mission, she allowed me to keep it on the proviso I told you myself when we got home that day. But, then all this happened." Indigo raised both hands to gesture the crapshoot they had landed in. "Rulla was hurt because she tried to help me, and I wasn't fast enough to protect or stop her from being pushed back." And Indigo really did feel bad about that; Eeth was correct, Shawn Naguro should have been no match for him.

"I think," said Eeth, "you have found out first hand why it is strictly forbidden to modify your weapon. This was extremely bad judgement on your part, and we are very, very lucky that no one was killed as a result. Rest assured that we will be addressing this thoroughly, once we find the time and opportunity. For now, though, we will have to see everyone out."

Back above ground, Thoar, who had arrived with the second group well before Eeth and Indigo, immediately took charge again, hungry, thirsty and exhausted though he was. He arranged for a team of guards to take Shawn to Calinia where he would face trial, and for a team of engineers to start assessing the damage to the mines; he organised the transport of the wounded back to Calinia and … suddenly, his gaze fell upon his daughter who was sitting huddled in a corner, looking lost, lonely and as if she was trying hard to suppress tears. He fought an inner battle for a moment; and then, the father inside him won.

"Boskor, can you take over here?" he asked solemnly. "I need to look after my daughter."

"You do that," said Boskor gruffly. "And then you get some rest, damn it. We've got enough empty beds. Look after yourself. It will be a while until we can spare a speeder to get you back anyway, what with all the people we need to take to hospitals."

Thoar knew he was right. He nodded his thanks and made his way to where his daughter was sitting.

"Rulla," he said hoarsely, dropping to his knees and pulling her into a hug. And then he did something he had not done since his wife had died: he started to cry. Rulla returned his hug, startled and shocked.

"It's alright," she said awkwardly, trying to pat his back. "You're alive."

"Oh, I wasn't afraid of dying," said Thoar in a choked voice, regaining control of himself. "At least not very much. I was much more afraid of having to leave you all alone in the world."

He gave her a tearful smile. Then he gently pulled her head against his shoulder, stroking her hair tenderly.

Rulla was silent for a moment, letting herself relax in his embrace. Then she said quietly, "I didn't know I meant this much to you."

This statement shocked Thoar so much that he did not immediately know what to say to it. "Oh Rulla," he finally brought out, hugging her as tightly as if his life depended on it. "You mean everything to me. Everything. I might have neglected showing it, but it's true. If I had to give up my office for you, I would. In a heartbeat. Never doubt that."

Now it was Rulla who did not know what to say. She had not expected this. Nor did she want her father to give up his office! Luckily, she was spared an answer since a young woman came up to them, offering to show them to a room where they could have some privacy, a bath and food. Hot baths weren't a problem here; geothermal heat and snow were both available in generous amounts.

Rulla and Thoar were already gone when Eeth and Indigo came up, looking for Raven. Eeth was rather feeling the strain by now, having had to maintain a tight focus for hours, and he was glad when Mirko told him that he had found a big room for the three of them where Raven was already resting.

"Master," Raven said quietly as Eeth entered with Indigo. Her eyes were still closed and she was seated, cross-legged, on a bed in the far corner where the blind had been pulled down and a partial partition built around her to block out most of the light. She had been in a healing trance for an hour now and was feeling much better for it, so much so that she opened her eyes and met his approaching presence with a slight smile. "You are tired and drained," she stated, scanning him across their bond. Raven swung her legs over the side of her bed and took a moment to steady herself before standing. "Did you get them out?"

"Yes," replied Eeth, sitting down on the opposite bed. "I also had to take down a saboteur who had attacked Indigo and Rulla, an attack that Indigo had difficulty dealing with due to the fact that he had tampered with his saber."

"A saboteur?!" Raven was shocked that this had been a deliberate act. "Who?"

"Thoar Junayd's main political opponent, apparently," said Eeth, but he was not going to allow Raven to distract him from what was, in his opinion, the more pressing question: "Padawan, why did you not notify me that Indigo's saber was not in working order?" He gave her a piercing look.

Raven met his expression with a resolute look of her own. "I had confiscated his weapon and planned to tell you when we arrived home, but Indigo promised that he would do so himself. I thought this was only fair enough as it would spare him the humiliation of having me report on him and being called off by you in front of everyone. But then all of this happened," Raven said, not realising how alike her reasoning for Eeth's lack of knowledge was to Indigo's. "I didn't think of it again."

"You should have," said Eeth, and Raven lowered her gaze. "There was plenty of time during the trip here," continued Eeth. "I would have made sure his saber works as it is supposed to before our arrival here and he would have been considerably safer for it."

Raven's gaze flicked towards Indigo who was looking anywhere but at them right now. He felt guilty and she could tell as much. Still, Raven frowned at him but didn't think passing the blame would be right; she was the senior padawan and responsible for this outcome. "You're right," she told Eeth. "I'm sorry, master. I should have made sure you knew. It won't happen again."

"I accept your apology," said Eeth, "but that will not make you immune to the consequences of your decision. We will talk more about this when we are back in Calinia. Not now." Raven's face scrunched at his and Indigo felt even guiltier if such a thing were possible.

"Incidentally," said Eeth, "when I sent you inside to rest, I could sense you took your time about it and put in some Force work as well. Do you think that was sensible?"

Raven just looked at him. She had expected that Eeth would have been far too busy with his own tasks to notice this. Her silence dragged out until eventually she admitted, "I thought I could help and there were many wounded. I wanted to try."

"Padawan, you need to recognise your own limits," said Eeth. "I grant you that this is not an easy lesson to learn, and I am speaking from experience here. That is why you are supposed to listen to me and obey me when I give you an order. Is that clear?"

"Yes, master. Clear," said Raven, feeling like a complete idiot for having this lesson explained to her yet AGAIN. She was eighteen years old and ought to know better!

"Alright," said Eeth. "We will talk more after our return. Night has fallen by now. If you feel up to it, you may help with the wounded for one more hour. No more. Indigo, you may assist her. After that, you will both turn in. I will rest for half an hour. Then I will look for Thoar Junayd and find out how and when we might be leaving this place."

Raven stood, a hand extended to help Indigo up. "C'mon, let's go and make ourselves useful," she told him. He didn't need telling twice and was off the bed and out the door in a heartbeat.

"I'm sorry I got you in trouble," he said the moment they were out of earshot. "I don't know what I was thinking, ratting you out like that. It, it just came out!"

Raven was trying to look stern, but she couldn't keep it up, and her lip curled just a little bit. She put an arm around his shoulders and pulled him towards her. "Well, my master is known for his ability to sniff out bullshit, and even more so, for his lack of patience regarding prevarication. You did the right thing by being truthful."

"Really?"

"Yes. Now let's try not to think about it. We have people to help." Raven was fast to organise Indigo, placing the boy with a medic and instructing him on what to do. She then left to do the same herself.

Eeth slept for exactly half an hour. When his internal clock woke him up, he went to look for Thoar. He was shown to a room next door where he found a tired-looking Thoar sitting on a bed, his back leaning against the wall, with Rulla's head on his lap. The girl had fallen into an exhausted sleep. She looked as if she'd cried; they both did, for that matter.

"I am sorry to intrude," Eeth said in a low voice. "I can return later."

"No, it's fine," Thoar said solemnly. "Do sit down. I would very much like to get up and shake your hand or something. From all Rulla told me, I owe you my life. And maybe hers as well."

"It was my pleasure to serve," Eeth replied formally, taking a seat on a chair. He made no attempt to deny what was probably the truth; without the Jedi, the prospects of the trapped miners would have been dire.

"You should know that both your daughter and Indigo disobeyed a very clear order when they came down into the mines," he said. "I would not have dreamt of exposing them to such danger. On the other hand, your political opponent might have blown us all up if they had not stumbled upon him. And while that is no excuse for your daughter's disobedience, I have to point out that she was absolutely determined to save your life if at all possible."

Thoar nodded, gazing down at his sleeping daughter. "I know," he said softly. "And quite honestly, I feel disinclined to punish her for it. I… There are some things I need to make up for."

"That is, of course, entirely up to you," Eeth said politely. And he meant it. He felt no desire to act as a professional disciplinarian for all sorts of people although he seemed to end up in this position more often than not.

"What are your plans now?" Eeth asked. "Are you intending to stay at the mines?"

Thoar shook his head. "Not after the whole affair with Shawn Naguro came to light," he said. "I think I am needed in Calinia. I will talk to Boskor, but I think that, with the saboteur gone, they will manage to stabilise the mine without my help. If they get a grip on the nowarg problem."

"My apprentice took care of that," said Eeth. "She can tell Boskor all about it. It will not be an issue."

Thoar nodded. "Thank you," he said sincerely. "That leaves us with the question of how to get back home. We have few electric speeders, and I would not want to delay the transport of wounded people to the hospital. So we'll either have to wait for a few days until that's been taken care of, or take electric sleds. If we left by sled tomorrow morning, we'd be in Calinia by nightfall, but it isn't an easy trip."

Eeth raised his eyebrows. "Are you up to it?" he inquired. "You are the one who was stuck in a mine for two days."

Thoar smiled. "Thanks for your concern," he said, "but I'll manage."

Eeth nodded. "I will talk to my apprentice and Indigo," he said.

"Take them back here," Thoar proposed. "Boskor said he'd organise us some dinner. So far, all I've had is energy bars."

"I will be right back," said Eeth, rising from his chair and making his way to the makeshift healers' ward where Raven and Indigo were making themselves useful.

Raven noticed Eeth's presence entering the room. She stood, excused herself and then went to fill him in on what they were up to. She was currently busy administering several local anaesthetics to a man about to have staples and stitching to his arms and chest. They were low on hypos, hence she had advised that they conserve what was left for the more serious injuries until the next supply truck arrived. Unlike Indigo, this sort of thing did not bother her at all; she could even perform minor surgeries without batting an eyelid. Yeah, just as long as it was not happening to her! The memory of Eeth swatting her for trying to run and pinning her down to administer shots flashed through her mind. She had only done that a couple of times, though, as he had been wholly unamused over her refusal to cooperate. That memory drew a smile.

"Wrap up here and come with me," Eeth said. "We will have dinner with Thoar Junayd and his daughter. A very light dinner, I presume, although it appears that more rations were delivered this afternoon and a fishing crew that Thoar sent out was successful."

"I'll organise Indigo and meet you there if you like," Raven told him while dropping the hypodermic into the steriliser and snapping off her gloves.

"I'm organised," Indigo said, moving to stand next to her to clean himself up. "I'm also starving, I could eat a whole bantha."

Raven's nose scrunched as the idea of eating Poe and Biscuit from their Sindal mission came to mind. "Have you ever smelled a bantha?" she asked honestly as they followed Eeth towards the dining area.

"No," Indigo replied stoically.

The indignant expression he shot her amused Raven, and so she decided to tease him a little. "Well, trust me, you probably wouldn't want to eat one if you had. They're also like chewing on a boot. Oh, and it's best to avoid eating the ass end if at all possible, or so I'm told."

"Alright already."

"Did I mention the mucus, snorting and flatulence?"

"Argh! Master Eeth, make her stop, she's putting me off and I'm hungry," Indigo complained.

Raven chuckled.

Eeth ignored both their banter and Indigo's complaint. He led the way to Thoar's and Rulla's quarters. Like their own room, they were fully furnished and contained the personal belongings of their previous occupants, presumably miners. Eeth did not know whether their original occupants were dead or simply in hospital for treatment; he hoped for the latter but decided that they would all be better off remaining ignorant about this.

At the door, they ran into Mirko who was bringing them a tray with a bowl of steaming grains, fried fish (again) and several pieces of fruit. The tap water in their rooms was drinkable, he told them. Eeth realised that their meal was more than the standard fare they could currently afford to hand out to the miners. Given that Thoar was still recovering, that he himself and Raven had done an extraordinary amount of Force work today, and that they would most likely have to spend all of tomorrow on motor sleds, he decided not to argue. He merely thanked Mirko politely and took the tray inside Thoar's room, where Rulla had just woken up, stretching and yawning. She looked at Eeth sheepishly and a little warily as he entered. He gave her a pointed look.

"I'm sorry for disobeying you," she said contritely, immediately knowing what the look implied.

"That," said Eeth, "is a start. I will leave it to your father to discuss with you the reasons for which this was not a wise idea."

He put the tray on the table and started ladling out grains.

Thoar squeezed Rulla's shoulder. He felt entirely disinclined to punish her, but he was going to have a serious talk about safety with her.

"Umm, while we're at it?" Rulla said to her father, deciding that now was as good a time as ever to get it off her chest. "The ban on skating? I disobeyed that, too. I taught Eeth and Raven how to skate. You weren't there, so I was the only one who could do it. I'm sorry."

Thoar looked confused for a moment; he had momentarily forgotten about that one. Then he understood. "Oh," he said. "Well. I actually don't know if I'd have banned you from skating if I had known that you were going to be left alone with our guests. It was just incredibly bad timing. You can catch up on your week without skating once Panthea and I are home. And I will make sure that you do."

"I will," said Rulla in obvious relief and accepted a plate from Eeth.

Indigo glanced at Rulla, a question coming to mind.

"How are you meant to get around if you aren't allowed to skate?" It was a legitimate question, because, well Force, as bad as he was on skates, he'd be a lot worse off if he had to stumble along frozen sidewalks!

Rulla shrugged. "Shoes with spikes," she said, "and just in case you're wondering, it sucks."

"It wouldn't be much of a punishment if it didn't 'suck'," said Thoar, but there was no sting to his words. He accepted the extra large serving that Eeth handed out to him without protest; after all, he had missed out on food for two days.

"Shoes with spikes," Indigo repeated, a professional voss ball match coming to mind, but he continued to eat without further comment.

"The consul proposed we make our way back to Calinia by sled so as not to take up any speeder capacity that will be needed for transport of the wounded," said Eeth when everybody had been served. "Apparently, that will take all day tomorrow."

"It will," said Thoar, "and I have to warn everyone that it is quite exhausting. At least the first few hours of the trip will be through heavy snowfall, and we will have to take great care not to lose each other. Each of us will basically have to work their sleds, standing up, all day. And we'll at least have to make it to Thoyosh, which we'll reach in the early afternoon, before there'd be any question of giving up for the day and finding some shelter."

"If the alternative would be to stay here, I'm all for taking the sleds," Rulla said immediately. She had a bit of experience with electric sleds and knew it would be exhausting, but was confident she could manage. After all, she could manage a full day on skates as well.

Indigo looked optimistic. Raven, however, sighed inwardly. She was muscular, but her body was small and thin, with little fat, and she hated the cold; it froze her to the bone. She met Eeth's eye briefly, her thoughts conveyed, but that was the extent of it. "I'm sure if either you or Rulla struggle, we can help," she said, a touch of arrogance to her statement, unintentional though it was.

"Yeah, or if you struggle, I can help," Rulla retorted, "if you ask me nicely." The arrogant undertone had not been lost on her. Given the fact that she had grown up on this planet and Raven had yet to show her that she could handle the elements better than she could, Rulla thought Raven had no reason to feel superior.

Eeth raised his eyebrows, but did not comment, at least not audibly. "You asked for that, padawan. Let it drop," he advised Raven through their bond.

Raven frowned almost imperceptibly at Eeth.

"Hardly," she replied to Rulla, thinking Rulla silly for not realising that she and Eeth were the Jedi here. Rulla and her father were the civilians in need of their help, not the other way around. She had not meant to come across as arrogant but the truth was, she had become a little arrogant over the years thanks to her abilities.

"We can help each other," Indigo interjected between mouthfuls. Eeth had given him a little more and the boy had wasted no time in shovelling it down.

"That's the spirit," Thoar said with a grin, the slight moment of tension not having gone unnoticed.

Eeth, indeed, planned on talking to Raven about this. He could remember what it had been like, being her age, having developed his Jedi skills to a degree where he could act as a full member of mission teams and consequently feeling superior to both younger padawans and the civilians he had to deal with. Sometimes he had even felt superior to his master who had been entirely unamused. He had been assigned an impressive amount of creche duty at that age. Any display of arrogance, and he found himself diapering toddlers instead of honing his lightsaber skills for a few weeks. This strategy had usually served its purpose of taking him down a peg. By now, Eeth was old enough to have learned that, however skilled a Jedi he was, that did not mean other people were clueless or incapable. As his attempts to learn skating had shown, they might even be better at certain things than he was.

When they had finished eating, Eeth insisted they turn in early. He was backed by Thoar who was visibly tired.

"We will all need our strength tomorrow," Eeth said. "Indigo, Raven, we will meditate for half an hour. Then you both go to bed. I will talk to Boskor about the sleds and then turn in, too."

"Yes, master," Raven replied immediately, taking the empty plates to a nearby sink and rinsing them off.

Indigo, on the other hand, was not entirely convinced that he needed to rest right now. "Would you mind if I stayed up a bit longer? I'm not tired. It is still quite early," Indigo asked Eeth in as non-confrontational tone as he could manage.

"It has been a very long day and you are just as much in need of sleep as the rest of us," said Eeth, rising from the table. "You might not feel like it right now. Adrenaline has a way of doing that. That is why I said we would meditate. Come."

Indigo thought it wise not to argue any further. Also, he hadn't had much of a chance to meditate with anyone since his master had left, save for the one time with Eeth, and that had admittedly been pleasant.

When Eeth and Indigo entered their room, Indigo looked at the man. "I need help with some things if it's okay?" he asked. Guilt being first and foremost in his mind. Indigo knew he did not share a training bond with either Jedi, but he also knew that Eeth would be able to guide him.

Raven entered a moment later, swiping her hands down her pant legs, and carrying extra blankets.

Eeth nodded. "Padawan," he said quietly, "it might be better if you meditated by yourself for a while. I will focus on helping Indigo. We can meditate together when that has been accomplished. That will make things easier for all of us."

Raven thought she was well able to handle Indigo's onslaught, but she was tired, cold and mentally worn out. Thus, she didn't argue although Eeth's dismissal stung her a bit. Didn't he think she could do it?

Eeth patiently helped Indigo to deal with his negative emotions as best he could. He did not share a training bond with him, but he was a very experienced Jedi with a high degree of mental discipline and therefore the amount of help he could offer was still considerable. He suspected, though, that the boy would continue to hold on to at least part of his guilt until he had actually been punished for his transgressions; and that would only be the start of it since he knew full well that his master would want to say something about this as well. Still, a punishment from Eeth would probably go a long way towards making Indigo feel as if he had paid for his disobedience and disregard for his safety. And Eeth was determined to provide him with one, once they were back in Calinia.

"That will be all for tonight," Eeth said finally. "Off to bed with you."

Indigo leapt up and jumped into his bed. "Thank you," he said, looking over at Eeth.

"You are welcome," said Eeth with a small smile, straightening his blanket. "Now sleep."

Indigo smiled and, despite having claimed that he wasn't tired, was out for the count.

"I am jealous of that," Raven admitted, pointing her chin towards the now sleeping form of Indigo. "I wish I could sleep so quickly, without help, I mean." She moved to crouch before Eeth and put her hands on her knees. "I'm sorry I messed up on this mission, that I didn't tell you he tampered with his weapon and that I disobeyed you. I honestly thought I could handle both, and it turned out bad. Will you forgive me?" She knew he would, that there was likely punishment in her future, but the death she'd witnessed today had renewed her gratitude for life and she wanted to hear him say that he forgave her before going to bed that night.

Eeth rested a hand on her shoulder. "Of course I forgive you," he said quietly. "You did the right thing, asking Indigo to tell me himself. But you should not have forgotten about it. There was sufficient time for you to tell me during the trip. In our line of work, we cannot afford to be forgetful. As for the fact that you continued working when I told you to rest… Padawan, you have reached a stage in your training where overconfidence is a very real and, unfortunately, very common danger. You need to be mindful of your body's limitations, and you are not taking those seriously enough. That is why I give you orders, and as always, I expect to be obeyed. When you fail to do so, there will be consequences. Always. You know that, do you not?"

Raven slumped back on her butt. "Yes, master. I just thought I might be a bit too old for those consequences now," she replied, her head lowering.

"You thought wrong," said Eeth.

Raven stuck out her chin, unimpressed. She remembered the mistakes she had made on Ashpah and the Council's wrath in response. Still, she said nothing, simply nodded once. Lakhri had once told her that he had not been immune to the consequences of his mistakes until he was knighted. Thus, in hindsight, she should have expected such a response.

"Let us meditate for a few minutes," said Eeth. "Then we will go to bed. If you have trouble falling asleep, I will help you as always."

"Thank you, master." And Raven did appreciate this help because they had a long day tomorrow.