That evening, Eden slept like a log despite the lingering sting from his encounter with Eeth's belt. He was clean, warm and well-fed thanks to the comforts they had found in the bay Eeth had chosen for them to rest in for the night.
The next morning, Eden slept until he was woken. He opened his eyes slowly, but unlike the previous day when Elis had been with them, Eden recognised Eeth's Force presence and had his bearings quickly. He stood and stretched, letting out a loud yawn. He could have slept on until lunchtime, but didn't complain; they had a mission to accomplish, and by now it had truly become a mission leaving Antaeus! They ate breakfast. Their campsite between the rocks offered protection from the wind as well as giving them what was, in Eden's opinion, a picturesque view of the rising sun over the ocean and their boat which was bobbing with the shifting tide.
After breakfast, they packed quickly and departed. It took them about two hours before they had left the bay and the rough waters behind themselves and reached the calm sea surrounding the southernmost part of the island. Here, Eeth finally showed Eden how to pilot the boat and navigate the currents. After a short lunch break that they spent on a minuscule island that was little more than a rock in the sea, Eeth allowed Eden to take the wheel until their destination came into view.
"We need to switch now," Eeth called from the back seat he had taken. "Leif might not be pleased if he sees you at the wheel, and besides, docking the boat without damage is the most difficult part."
Eden snorted at that statement; he had not docked the boat so far but knew firsthand how difficult it was to get the dang boat landed! He cringed a bit at that memory. Why he had not thought to cover up the point from Ellis' landing was beyond him. Was he completely retarded? Apparently, under pressure, his brain switched off. Well, that was something he needed to work on, given that he was training to be a Jedi Knight. Of course he knew his master would likely reply to that line of thought with something about being eleven years old and that expecting to behave like he was a Jedi knight already was arrogant.
He switched seats with Eeth, watching intently as the man docked their boat without taking out their side. In Eden's opinion that trip had been far, FAR less arduous than the last one. Firstly, his ass wasn't killing him, and secondly Eeth actually let him drive which made him feel like he was doing more than just sitting there watching; he hated that. It had also been fun, but that part he would leave out as missions weren't about his entertainment, or so he'd been told.
While Eeth was busy making sure the boat was secured to the docking pole, Eden jumped out to wait. The boating had been fun, but he was glad to be back on the solid ground of B'tik. They still had to find a way to make their return journey to the Island of Auwago where their spaceship waited in the port city of Mauwag. As he followed Eeth to find Leif, Eden wondered if they would have to wait here for a long-haul boat to come by or if they would find another way.
They had a bit of a hard time hunting down Leif who was busy somewhere in the village and had obviously not expected them back so fast. He was pleased to hear that all had gone well, however, and readily offered to host them overnight and take them back to Auwago in his speedboat tomorrow in exchange for a small fee.
"I need to buy and sell some stuff anyway," he said vaguely. Eeth got the distinct impression that he was not talking about strictly legal stuff here, but since it did not concern him, he refrained from inquiring.
Leif's children were extremely curious about the two of them, and during dinner, they showered them with questions about Coruscant. Eeth left most of the talking to Eden.
As he had done with Sage and Taram, Eden answered their questions, and then he asked a few of his own. He did not mind keeping them entertained; they were nice people. Age-wise, their three children were spread out, the oldest being about Ellis' age; the youngest looked to be around four. The meal was delicious. There was very little that the kid would not eat, anyway. Leif's youngest, however, was decidedly more picky but after being scolded to eat up, she did so quickly; this Leif guy was not someone any of his children were eager to disobey.
When their food was eaten, Eden looked to Eeth. The boy knew that it was polite to offer their help with any chores, but he was not sure what Eeth had planned for them, and so he remained quiet.
Eeth offered their help with the washing-up. After that, Leif and his wife were busy getting the children to bed. It seemed as if everybody turned in early around here, and since they were going to leave at first light tomorrow, Eeth thought that would be a sensible course of action for the two of them as well. Before they went to sleep, though, he took the time to meditate with Eden. It seemed as if the boy enjoyed it, and anyway, Eeth was a firm believer in the benefits of regular guided meditations.
It was late afternoon the next day when the port of Mauwag came into sight. From the speedboat, Eeth could even make out their spaceship a little to the east of the town. With any luck, he could finish the repairs tonight and maybe even take them into hyperspace before he went asleep.
The trip to Auwago had been boring, horribly boring to Eden! The boy had sat quietly, unable to ask to pilot the boat for obvious reasons, and done his best to amuse himself by playing a game. It was a game that his master had taught him and was designed to help him detect tiny fluctuations in the Force that might signify danger. Eeth would have sensed what he was doing, but Leif would not.
Finally, they arrived! After thanking Leif for his help, paid-for though it was, they went about finding a method to transport the cryonic acid to their ship. "You know, he was a pretty decent driver for a non-Force sensitive being," the boy remarked sometime later as they loaded their cargo into a small hovercraft that Eeth had managed to obtain.
"Of course," Eeth replied. "He has most likely been piloting boats all his life. Never underestimate non-Jedi. Force awareness is a good thing, but it does not magically provide you with agility, muscle power or experience."
Eden refrained from uttering a 'you don't say' response to that statement, if only because he knew by now that Eeth did not have much of a sense of humour.
They made for their starship where Eeth told Eden to bring their luggage to their cabins and go into town to buy something to eat. He himself started working on the tank right away. There were some repairs on the circuits left to do, but Eeth thought that these would be relatively straightforward.
Eden did as bade, taking their packs to their respective cabins and piling their dirty clothing into the onboard cleaner. Hopefully Eeth would restore their power tomorrow and they'd have another clean set of clothing. After that was organised, he left to find them some dinner. It would be dark soon, so the boy did not dawdle.
He had just finished ordering some food when a familiar laugh caught his attention. "Sage, Taram, how are you?" he asked as they approached, each with a towel in their hands and shouldering a pack.
"Eden! Great! We're about to head home for a pre-dinner snack, you wanna c…" Sage cut herself off, not sure if inviting him would be such a good idea.
"You want to come?" Taram continued, thinking it the polite thing to do regardless.
Eden smiled at Sage, immediately picking up on the girl's discomfort. "I can't, but thanks. Eeth has started work on our ship, and he probably will want me to help." Of course, Eeth would not want his help, but he could hardly say he was going to spend the day working on his lessons when he was supposed to be on school vacation.
"Ohh! You got the cryonic acid! That's awesome! So you'll be able to get back home soon. You'll be glad of that," Sage said a little sadly. She liked Eden, and it was nice having an off-worlder around to ask questions about the galaxy.
"I like it well enough here," he admitted with a shrug. It was at that moment that the cook approached with a large bag containing their food. He handed him the required credits and turned back to his two friends.
"Come see us before you leave, okay?" Taram questioned in a hopeful tone.
"I will. I doubt the ship will be finished by this evening. Have fun, guys. I'm jealous, really, I am." It was true, too. Eden would love nothing more than to go spend the rest of the afternoon hanging out with his friends. Well, he had his duty. Thus, they said their goodbyes and Eden returned to their ship.
"Food's here," he announced as he came within hearing range of their ship. He could not see Eeth but knew the man would sense his presence.
It was nearly evening by this time, close to sunset. Eeth was planning on continuing the repairs after dinner. Eden had not been entirely correct in his assumption that Eeth was going to make him do schoolwork, however. That had been his initial thought, but then he had remembered that Eden had had no proper workout and had mostly sat in a boat for the past three days. Besides the fact that this was not conducive to maintaining his physical condition, it was also not an ideal situation for a young boy.
"After dinner, I want you to go outside and swim, or run, or workout in any other way," Eeth told Eden. "You need it."
Two words immediately leapt to Eden's mind: GOAR SHARKS. They attacked swimmers, he knew. Yes, Ellis had also told him that they did not come into the shallow coastlines, but he wasn't so sure. He was not at all comfortable with the idea, in any case, not that he was going to say as much; Eeth would think him a creche baby if he admitted to being scared. Instead, he simply shrugged in acknowledgement and kept on with his dinner. He did not know what he was going to do. Maybe some kata practice; he was quite good at that, and it required the least effort.
When they had cleared up, Eeth told Eden: "Be back in two hours. And you had better not use your saber, you might be seen."
Eden sighed; workouts weren't his favorite of duties.
He walked for about half an hour until he found a place similar to the boulders. It was a vast number of pools, varied in sizes. The water proved to be safe to drink and they were free from predators. He soaked for a little while and then decided that he had better make an effort. So he found the largest pool and started swimming around in slow circles. Given that this pool was about twenty-five meters in circumference, he was getting some sort of workout, especially as he kept at that for at least an hour. His arms were a bit sore when he emerged, and his body resembled a prune. He dressed quickly and made the half-hour walk back to the ship. When he arrived back, it was dark, but Eeth was still working. Eden had dried on the return trip, so he didn't bother to shower. Instead, he threw his pack on the table, yawned and found a comfy spot to sit.
Eeth was becoming quite obsessed with finishing up his task, but he forced himself to take a break and look after Eden. Satisfied with the fact that the boy had taken a walk and a swim (and fully aware that it was probably nowhere near as vigorous as it would have been if Eeth had been there), he meditated with Eden and sent him off to bed.
He continued working on the cables with grim determination. Around midnight, he thought he was finished. However, when he tried to switch on the main power, nothing happened. Pursing his lips, he rose, strode towards the cable shaft with a scowl on his face, and stopped. It occurred to him to wonder what his master would have said about his obsessive behaviour. She would not have been impressed with it, nor with his lack of patience, and she certainly would not have allowed him to miss out on a night's sleep in order to continue the repairs when no acute threat was present. And there was no such threat, really; Eeth's Force awareness told him as much.
With an internal sigh, he resigned himself to having to spend at least another morning in this place and turned in.
When Eden woke the following morning, he sensed that Eeth was already awake although he wasn't sure what the man was doing. He scrubbed at his eyes, squinted and tried to focus, but as usual, his sense of the Force kicked in well before his shotty eyesight. It took him no time at all to dress and get ready for the day. Hopefully they would be leaving, and that was both good and bad news: good because he wanted to get home and be reunited with his master and because he craved some normalcy; bad because he had made friends here. He made his way to the galley.
Eeth had got up at five thirty, meditated for a short while, got dressed and continued the repairs. Having had some sleep, he found the fault easily. One cable connection below the outer hull had been severed. He had mended it and was just screwing the hatch to that particular cable shaft shut when he sensed Eden move.
"Good morning!" he called. "Pull your boots on and find some bags, please. I will just test whether the power is back; then we will buy some food and leave."
Their remaining credits were enough to buy them fresh food for the return trip which was going to take five days. Five days with nothing but spaceship food could be quite trying. Besides, they needed some breakfast.
"Yes, Sir," Eden replied sleepily and yawned. It was unusual for Eden to be so formal with a Jedi who wasn't his master, but it just felt right to be so with Eeth.
Eeth operated the switch that started the ship's power supply. To his relief, this time around, the air circulation system immediately started humming. The light was back to its normal glow as opposed to the dim emergency lighting that had surrounded them since last night. So, all systems seemed to be in working order. This meant, among other things, that the cooling was starting to work (it had been getting quite hot since sunrise) and that they were going to be able to take a shower. For now, though, they had one last trip into town to make.
A few minutes later, Eden emerged into what passed as their common room, two packs in hand. He slung one over his shoulder and handed the larger to Eeth. "You fixed it! Good job," Eden praised him.
"Thank you," Eeth said. "We will still have to see about the engines. We will only know if they work when we take off. But I do not think they were damaged; the problem was with the power supply."
He slung a backpack over his shoulder and said: "We will have breakfast at the harbour front and buy some fruit, vegetables and bread for the five-day-trip. Your master stocked the ship up on preserved food well enough, but it will be good not to have to rely on that exclusively."
"I'd like to meet up with Sage and Taram," Eden said, shouldering his pack and exiting the hatch behind Eeth. "Please?" was added on as a formality. He had gotten to know Eeth well enough and knew that expecting such privileges was not something he associated with the knight.
"Alright," Eeth said, "if you are willing to buy some take-away food for breakfast. I will do the shopping in the meanwhile, but I need you to meet me in 90 minutes and help me carry the purchases to the ship. After that, we will take off immediately."
"Sure," Eden replied easily. By now, he had a pretty good idea of the foods available here and he also knew where he was likely to find Sage and Taram at this time of day. He hoped they were up as it was still quite early.
The harbour was not as busy as it was around midday. Still, most of the shops had set up at first light to cater for those going out to fish for the day, and there were people walking around. Eden ordered some takeaway breakfast, a grain porridge with nuts and some freshly cut fruits, and then he made his way into the centre. He did not find Sage or Taram, however. He looked around until he ran out of time, but had yet to find either of his friends. He wrote a note on a napkin and gave it to the woman who sold the colourful shirts that hung on hangers from her shop ceiling. "Thanks. Tell them I'm sorry that I missed them, but we had to start early," Eden explained to an understanding shopkeeper and handed her the note. "Could you make sure they get this?" he asked. After receiving an affirmative, he left to find Eeth.
"I didn't find them. Can't exactly expect them just to pop up when I need them to, I guess," he told Eeth dejectedly upon his return.
"They might have been at the camp," Eeth pointed out. "They are not likely to walk around the harbor every day. I am afraid we really have to leave." After all, his mission mandate said to get the boy away from Antaeus as fast as possible, and he took his mission mandates very seriously!
"I know," Eden replied. And he really did understand; this was not a pleasure cruise, and their orders were to return to Coruscant.
Once aboard, Eeth asked Eden to stow their purchases away while he went to the cockpit to start the engines. To his relief, everything seemed to be in working order, and they soon took off into the atmosphere. Entry into hyperspace was smooth. And that was that.
"This leaves us with five days of spaceship travel," Eeth said to Eden upon entering the galley. "A lot of time to catch up on school work and workouts. Which part do you want to start with?"
"Five days of school work and workouts, where do I sign up?" the boy said in a deadpan tone, shutting the cupboard a little more firmly than necessary and latching it closed. He turned to face Eeth, his expression unenthused. "We just entered hyperspace. Might we avoid work for, oh I dunno, a few hours?" Eden did not know why they had to throw themselves into working immediately, nor did he understand why they couldn't just play a game or read a book, watch a holo – anything but work.
Eeth, on the other hand, saw no reason why five days of hyperspace travel should not be put to good use. This was not a vacation, after all, and Eden's training was important. "No, we might not," he said firmly. "You may have some time off when your work is done, not before. Now, since you do not seem to have a preference, fetch your school work. I will have a look at where you are and what you need to do today. You can work on that for two hours, and then we will have a sparring session."
Which was what they did.
Eden was decidedly unimpressed with being focused on like this by someone who wasn't his master, but couldn't put his finger on why that bothered him. It wasn't like he didn't expect this treatment from any superior.
The first day went by slowly, and the second dragged out in a similar fashion. Still, the boy did as was expected of him. However, by the time it came to sparring practice on their third day, the trip was beginning to wear on him. He lifted his blade into a ready position for what felt like the hundredth time that session, only to have it knocked out of his hand again barely a minute later. "Arghh!" he hissed, giving the wall a good taste of his boot as he turned to summon his weapon.
"Pull yourself together," Eeth said sternly. "Focus. You are not paying attention to what you are doing."
He was positive that the move he was trying to teach was not beyond what Eden was capable of achieving, and he had no tolerance for the boy's lack of patience, bored though he might be. Eeth had quite a bit of experience at teaching lightsaber combat, and he was becoming known as a demanding teacher, but also as a fair one who took care not to ask more of his students than they could manage. What he consistently expected, however, was a maximum effort. He thought he was being quite lenient, in actual fact; after all, Eden had been allowed several hours off every day of their trip so far, which was several hours more than Eeth himself would have wanted at that age.
"I AM pulled together, and I AM focusing!" Eden snapped, snatching his saber and swiping at his forehead with his sleeve. This wasn't more than he could handle, but it was frustrating, and he was finding it a challenge to keep his temper in check.
Eeth glared at him. "You are neither," he stated. "Disignite your saber and meditate for fifteen minutes. When you are done, we will try this again." He was not impressed with Eden's fit of temper but assumed that there was little point in addressing this as long as the boy's emotions were not under control.
Eden huffed. "I am both!" But he disignited his saber and dropped to his knees in any case. He was frustrated to all get out. That said he knew better than to ignore an order like that. The boy did his best to rid himself of his frustrations and was successful for the most part. So it was that when Eeth called for his attention again, he rose without complaint.
"Thank you, padawan Eden," Eeth said calmly. "Now focus on your balance. I know you can do this; your proficiency at meditation is more than sufficient."
"More than sufficient?" Eden said in the same huffy tone he had used earlier.
"Yes, that it was I said," said Eeth coolly. He ignited his saber and launched into the same attack sequence that he was teaching Eden to defend himself against.
"Why can't you just say it's good?" Eden started to complain, but was forced to defend himself before he could finish.
Given that Eeth had made him meditate, Eden was better able to fend off the attack when it came and parried it with ease as he threw himself into the defence. He also did his best to implement the moves against Ataru that Eeth had begun teaching him earlier in the week, with mixed success. He was not great at this, but he managed to pull off the basics.
Eeth was not looking for greatness, he was merely expecting an honest effort. That, he received now - mostly. It was enough to keep him from uttering further reprimands, anyway. "Alright," he finally said. "We will work more on this tomorrow. For now, take a shower. You need to finish your biology lesson. After that, you may have the rest of the afternoon to yourself."
Eden's shoulders slumped. He was tired of the monotony, and his patience for this part of their trip was wearing a little thin. He was bored! Nevertheless, he slunk off to take a shower and find his work because by now he knew that Eeth would not only expect him to do what he was told, but he would check his progress, too. When Eeth approached him a few hours later, he handed over his pad without being asked; he had gotten an acceptable amount of work done in that time, after all.
Eeth conscientiously checked Eden's work and nodded. "Alright," he said. "You may have some time to yourself. I will call you…"
At this moment, the comm unit signaled an incoming message. It was a text message, notifying Eeth that Master Jayside-Wex had had to terminate the negotiations unsuccessfully and was about to leave Antaeus. Since his ship was no faster than Eeth's, that meant that Eden would have to spend about three days at the Temple without his master. Having read the message, Eeth passed it on to Eden.
"Jay will be bummed that their efforts failed," said Eden. "And my grandmaster is still away. At least he was when I left Antaeus. Anyway, it's not like three days is an extraordinary long time. Besides, I am eleven now and don't need babysitting. They'll let me stay in our quarters alone," he said although his tone was not entirely confident.
"No, they will most definitely not," Eeth said decisively. "Even senior padawans are normally assigned someone who will look after their training when they have to spend time at the Temple without their master for some reason. Junior padawans are always assigned a guardian they stay with, or who stays with them. Grandmasters and padawan siblings are the most common choice; failing that, the Council will make a decision based on their assessment of the needs of the padawan in question."
Eden's chin came up defiantly. "I can handle my own training, thank you very much," he said.
"No, you cannot." said Eeth sternly. "And I am rather certain that my statement is entirely in line with the Council's position on this matter. Do you have padawan siblings?"
"Anthia. But if you mean for her to take over babysitting duty, I'm not sure if she's even back at the Temple." Eden was not happy with Eeth's response, and it showed on his face. "For the record, I'm eleven, not four, and certainly don't need babysitting in the Temple. I grew up there, for Force's sake. What do they think I'm going to do, anyway? Hijack a speeder and go clubbing?" His expression was incredulous; he was working himself into a mood over this.
"Padawans a little older than you have been known to do that," Eeth said, giving Eden a withering look. "More to the point, though, the Council probably think you might slack off with regard to either your school work or your training or both. In any case, this is the Council's decision, not mine, so if you feel you need to vent your frustration at anyone, vent it at them. I do not recommend it, though."
The boy was about to retort, yet the look on Eeth's face had him reconsider doing so. Eden didn't like what the man had said because it was true; he probably would slack off a bit. But that would be fun for a few days and not at all detrimental to his training! His expression shifted from a frown to one of resignation. "Fine," he replied, entirely unwilling to further antagonise Eeth. Besides, if he couldn't win this argument now, he might just bring it up with the Council. Surely they would see his point of view...
