After an uneventful evening and an equally uneventful night, they had another session of mission preparation after breakfast. When that was done, Drex set Kaden to working on his lessons, Flynt returned to his project and Raven went to the cockpit to check on the ship.

Drex discretely followed her. "My padawan is, to put it bluntly, none too thrilled at having to take lessons with you," he told Raven, sitting in the co-pilot's chair next to her. "I think he does not quite take you seriously as a teacher and feels his male pride threatened. I expect him to overcome these notions, and he knows it. Should he have difficulties doing so, however, I think it would be a good idea if you asserted your authority."

"He's not happy, or comfortable for that matter, with me teaching him," Raven replied. She leant back into the pilot's chair. Raven had planned to speak to Eeth about this later on and ask for his opinion on how best to proceed. However, she guessed that Drex would know his padawan, and how to handle him, better than anyone so she added: "I'm not really sure what to do, and I'm not sure my master will give me the answer. He wants me to learn," she admitted, and huffed.

"Unfortunately, leniency does not work too well with Kaden where sparring is concerned," Drex said drily. "He used to be deterred by the threat of exchanging his sparring lessons against exercises for his strength and stamina, but he has so much improved in those fields that this does not work quite as well as it used to anymore, although he's still not overly fond of such things. Ultimately, a sound spanking gets the best results with Kaden. And it will really have to be one that leaves an impression. Do you feel able to deal one out?"

Raven flicked a few switches on the dash absent-mindedly as she contemplated Drex's question. Could she? She fiddled with her padawan's braid, a gesture that was probably lost on the blind master but signified that the teen felt a little uncomfortable. "I guess so. I mostly teach five to six year olds so most of the corporal punishment I have given has been rather light. Although, as you know, my master is not exactly a lenient man; I've been on the receiving end of what I believe you're referring to more often than I care to admit. I am hoping it doesn't come to that, though, because in an attempt to help him relax, I said that I wouldn't 'kick his ass' so to speak. I'm not sure if reneging on that would be helpful; he still seems to resent the idea."

"Of course he resents the idea," Drex said. "That's the whole point. He's none too thrilled with me when I spank him either. In your case, he'd probably be embarrassed as well but he'll simply have to learn to deal with that, or avoid earning punishment. I think you'd be doing yourself a favour if you went back on what you said, at least if his behaviour warrants it. It might not come to that. Then again, it's perfectly possible that he'll keep testing his boundaries. And if he does, you need to show him his limits or these lessons will become a major ordeal."

Raven's nose wrinkled. The notion of having to mete out any sort of punishment, let alone corporal punishment, to one of her peers was bad enough. Yet, neither did she want these lessons to become an ordeal! Firstly, Eeth would not be pleased, and secondly, she would not be pleased! It was with that in mind that she seriously contemplated the likelihood of actually having to mete out physical punishment to Kaden. She suppressed a cringe. "If I were to do so, would you be adding to it?" she asked.

"Not necessarily," replied Drex. "I'd prefer it if you made your point clear on your own. If you don't, he might never get around to respecting you. At least, this goes for things related to disobedience, disrespect, slacking off, being late and so on. And I will tell him in no uncertain terms that you have full authority to deal with this as you see fit, including physical discipline. If he really loses control of his temper and gives in to his aggressions, I would rather deal with it myself. That shouldn't be an issue; I'll be sure to sense it if that happens." He smiled at Raven. "I'm sorry for imposing this on you," he said. "But for one thing, Kaden wanted Ataru lessons and I believe you capable of teaching him. And for another thing, he needs to learn respecting his betters even when they are not several decades older than him. Otherwise he will be a pain in the ass to take on missions, quite frankly."

The latter caused a smile. "Yes, I imagine he would be. I'll do what I can to help. Who knows, maybe he will surprise us. It's no imposition, I will do my duty to Kaden." And Raven meant to do just that. Eeth wanted her to learn from this and she was going to try.

Half an hour later, Raven was in their bedroom waiting on Eeth to finish what he was doing and join her. She stood when he entered; clearly, there was something on her mind.

"Master? I've been thinking about Kaden and these lessons. You see, Drex and I had a conversation. I didn't think anything of it at the time but I'm starting to feel a little nervous… " She reiterated the conversation with Drex and scrunched up her face. "I told him I'd be okay with this, but, Force. The worst I've ever had to do is belt that kid on our mission to Manchana, and the knight in charge was still forced to add to it." The teen paced. "Why isn't there a manual on this stuff!?"

"There is none, as you well know," Eeth said calmly. "You need to find your own way of doing things. If Drex tells you that lenience does not work for Kaden, though, you should heed that advice. If you are unsure what a not-so-lenient punishment should be like, I recommend you imagine what would have been your fate in a comparable situation. In any case, it might be a good idea to use an implement, seeing that Kaden is a fifteen-year-old boy and quite sturdy."

"Ugh!" The image of that had her plonking on to her bunk. "I don't want to." It was whiny and, although half in jest, there was also half of it that was serious. "How do I end up in situations like these anyway?" It wasn't really a question. Raven knew she had to learn but this was a hard lesson for her, too. She started playing with her hair. "What would you use?" she asked, sounding slightly desperate.

"Padawan, you know that depends on what he did," Eeth said drily. "And I am sure you are aware that my hand would hurt him more than yours and that I tend to carry a paddle, too. You will have to find your own answers."

Raven huffed. "That is not very helpful," she told him matter-of-factly.

"Padawan, you know how a spanking works," Eeth said pointedly. "You have received a lot of them, after all."

Raven opened her mouth to state that she resented that comment, but closed it again… There wasn't much point if it happened to be true.

"Tell him to drop his pants, bend over and make sure he feels sufficiently bad about his punishment to avoid repeating his misbehaviour," Eeth continued. "Your belt will probably ensure that. If you prefer a different implement, take precautions and bring one. Try to gauge his reaction. I think it is unlikely that he will put on crocodile tears; Kaden strikes me more as the type who will try to put on a tough façade. It might be a good idea to break through that so that he will accept you as the one in charge. What more do you want to know? A list that says 'Mild disrespect – 10 swats with a cooking spoon'?"

"Yes, that is exactly the sort of list I want!" she shot back. "You may have noticed that I'm finding this difficult. Maybe I'm not ready to deal with peer-level padawans yet." Raven knew how that comment was likely to go over, but she was frustrated, too.

"If you want that kind of list, write it yourself," Eeth snapped. "You might find it difficult, but that is no reason to give up on it. When I tell you that you can do it, then you had better believe me. There is nothing that inherently prevents you from giving Kaden what he deserves, should the need arise, other than the fact that it makes you feel uncomfortable. And when has that ever saved you from having to do something?"

Raven could argue that but she had been with Eeth long enough now to know when she ought to desist: now was that time. "Never," she replied sullenly and stopped playing with her padawan's braid. "I wish I had your confidence…"

"If you think you are lacking confidence," Eeth said a little more gently, "just think for a moment that I, for one, have full confidence in your ability to do this. When the situation required it, you have never had issues with asserting your authority before. You will be able to react appropriately, I am absolutely sure of that."

"Yes, Master," she replied. It did help that Eeth had confidence in her, but she was still unenthused. Eeth must have sensed as much and knew what would be best for her now. He told her to go find Flynt and have a workout together. The two got along famously, they always had, and it would work to blow off some of the anxiety she felt. It was an order Raven was happy to obey and five minutes later, with Lakhri's permission, she had dragged Flynt to the cargo bay.

"That bad?" the teen said upon seeing his Jedi aunt's face. He tried to parry another of her blows and was pushed back into the wall. "Yeesh! Settle Petal. Dodgy robot arm, remember?" He flexed and unflexed grey metal fingers for emphasis.

"Force! I'm sorry, Flynt. You attack, I will defend only. I'm just," she sighed. "Just not used to training older padawans, let alone older padawans who resent the fact that I'm teaching them. So, yes, the whole Kaden thing is heavy on my mind."

"I can see that. Kaden can be intimidating. You want me to rough him up for you?" he offered, pleased that this got a smile from the girl.

"No, apparently that's my job…"

"Oh!" Flynt said, realisation dawning. "But, can't you just leave it to Drex?"

"No. He needs to learn to respect and obey me as his superior. And apparently I need the experience…"

Flynt wasn't sure what to say to that, so, he did his best to give her a good workout and take her mind off it.

In the meanwhile, after he had left the cockpit, Drex went to check on Kaden and explained some Umbaran grammar to him. Leaving him to do a few drills on the matter, he made his way to the galley and started rummaging in the kitchen drawer. He took out a few cooking spoons and egg flips and ran his fingers over them, not quite satisfied with what he found. Most of them were flimsy and made of metal; their edges might hurt Kaden, or they would bend, or both.

At this point, Lakhri entered, intending to start preparing lunch. He took in what Drex was doing and understanding dawned.

"What has Kaden done to earn your displeasure?" he inquired, coming over to the kitchen counter.

Drex shrugged. "Nothing right now," he replied. "I wasn't pleased with him last night, though, and when I called him to task, I realised that making my displeasure clear to him is more taxing on me than it used to be. Spanking him with my hand might not be a good option any longer. Since I'm not Eeth and don't usually carry paddles around, I thought I'd look for something else, short of my hairbrush which is what I really only use in serious cases. None of these are any good, though." He dropped the items back into the drawer.

"Hmm," said Lakhri. "You can always ask Eeth for his paddle, you know? The one he carries in his belt. It's about as bad as a handspanking by someone with large, hard hands and strong arms, so it would be what you want."

Drex smiled. "Yes, but Eeth would hardly carry it in his belt if he felt he did not need it," he pointed out.

Lakhri shrugged. "He might feel that you need it more, though," he said. "It isn't as if he uses it much, these days, and he can always leave the same impression with his hands if he really wants to. Besides, he has spare ones at the Temple, I'm afraid to say. I was quite horrified to find that out. I'll ask him." Without waiting for a response, he marched off to find Eeth.

Drex made to stop him, but reconsidered. Having a paddle might actually be helpful.

And indeed, Lakhri came back after a short while, with Eeth in tow.

"Here you are," said Eeth matter-of-factly, handing Drex his small paddle. "I do not need it often these days, and I always have alternative options. If you feel that it might be helpful to you, you are very welcome to it."

"Thank you," said Drex. He felt that the offer was genuine and saw no point in refusing. "It will be very helpful to me indeed. I told you that I was going to get old when I took Kaden as a padawan, and I think I'm at the point where I'm losing the strength that would be needed to handle a fifteen-year-old without an implement."

"I'm glad to be of service," Eeth said solemnly. And that was that. Drex did not quite feel like stowing the paddle in his belt, though; that did not seem to be his style. He brought it to their cabin, hidden beneath his robes, and stowed it in his cupboard, shielding it so that Kaden could not see.

Indeed, Kaden paid his master no mind when he entered. He was wholly focussed on finishing the last of his Umbaran. A few minutes later he was done and he clicked the pad shut. He, too, wasn't looking forward to his lesson with Raven, but unlike her, he wasn't willing to openly admit as much. "Can I go hang out with the others for a while?" he asked, unsure what else Drex would have for him to do.

"Yes, but only for twenty minutes," Drex said. "I would like you to finish one more lesson before lunch. In the afternoon, we will have a workout; your lesson with Raven will be after dinner again."

"Twenty minutes," he reiterated, getting to his feet and stretching. A moment later, he was off out the door in search of the others.

That evening after dinner Raven again met the boy for their lesson. It was tense, to say the least. She needed to rebuke him quite sharply several times and at one stage had him meditate in order to get a handle on his frustration. He had been barely riding the cusp of respectful behaviour during the entire lesson, something that Raven would not tolerate from her younger students. But for some reason, she felt compelled to give Kaden more and more chances.

Drex was monitoring him, she knew. Nevertheless Raven wanted to handle this, wanted to prove Eeth right, that she could do this. That evening during meditation, she didn't try to hide her anxiety as she let it go into the Force. "I'm sorry, Master," she told him when they had finished. "I am trying, he's just, I don't know –" She threw her hands up in the air. "– testing me or something. I'm sure it's not that simple, Kaden is not a bad person. We get along fine outside our lesson…"

"Oh, I rather think it is that simple," replied Eeth. "He is not a bad kid at all, but like many fifteen-year-olds, and especially boys, he is too prideful for his own good. He has trouble respecting your authority. That is why he is testing you. And he will most likely continue doing so until you put a stop to it. The sooner you do that, the easier your lessons with him will become. But that is, of course, up to you."

Raven sighed for what seemed like the billionth time this trip. "I know," she told him. In the past, Raven's issues with space travel had mostly been centered on boredom, too much academic work or, Force help her, uppity royals, but it was not the case this time. This time, it was not her own issue, or an outsider, and it was her in charge, not Eeth. She curled up on her bunk and again pushed her anxiety into the Force. Tomorrow would be their second-last day; they were on the home stretch.

Most likely, depending on their time budget, Raven would have to continue giving these lessons to some extent until the end of their mission or even after that, but since they had no way of knowing what their time budget would actually be like, Drex and Eeth had not made a decision on that yet. In any case, Eeth hoped that Raven would eventually pull herself together and show Kaden his limits.

Drex, for his part, had sensed some of what went on in Kaden during his lesson with Raven and decided not to do anything about it, for now. Raven would gain nothing from having Drex assert his authority on her behalf; if anything, it would cause Kaden to respect her even less. Kaden was aware, after all, that Raven had full authority to punish him as she saw fit since Drex had told him that in no uncertain terms. Drex decided to watch this for another day. If there was no improvement then, nor did Raven step in decisively, he was going to talk to both padawans.

Unfortunately, Raven was labouring under the misconception that their lessons would cease once they left the ship and at most, perhaps, resume on the return trip. She didn't know that Eeth and Drex had meant for them to continue, although in hindsight it probably made sense. Still, she was blissfully ignorant for the moment. That evening, the teen found herself relegated to their quarters working on Huttese. She was not at all happy with the way Kaden's lesson had gone this evening and was honestly glad to have something to occupy her mind with.

Meanwhile, Flynt was sitting at the table with Lakhri. They were going over some advanced robotics theory. "I can't believe it's this complicated," the teen complained, flipping from screen to screen trying to figure out where he'd gone wrong and why his CGI robot was not moving. "It may as well be a toaster oven. Bah!" was added as he scrapped his work and made to start over. "Toast?" he suggested, grinning.

Lakhri laughed. "Always," he said. Flipping a few pages along on Flynt's screen, he pointed at a section.

"Check this bit," he said. When Flynt had read it, Lakhri discussed it with him until Flynt suddenly saw where he had gone wrong, whereupon they went back to recalibrating some of the robot's circuits.

"'Course I knew that, I was just testing you. Gotta keep you on your toes, you know?" Flynt said jovially. He was grateful that he had a master whose skill set was not restricted to a singular vertical, but widely ranged; Lakhri seemed to know enough of just about everything, except for Force aided healing; yeah, he was rubbish at that.

"How did the lesson go?" Drex asked Kaden in the meanwhile.

Kaden had been sitting quietly, his attention focused on his work. He shrugged when Drex asked, but immediately he felt a pang of guilt at the hard time he'd given Raven this evening. He liked her well enough. He just didn't like her in this role. "Okay, I guess," he answered, thinking it the safest reply. It wasn't an outright lie, but neither was it entirely truthful. Kaden knew that his master would not be pleased if he found out that he was giving her trouble, and so far it would appear that the girl had not complained about his behaviour. Well, good.

Drex gave him a skeptical look. "Why do I get the feeling that you're still resenting this arrangement?" he inquired.

"Because I am still resenting it. I don't like it."

"Padawan, you will need to settle down to it and accept it. Is that what you're doing?"

"Yes," Kaden countered, but his tone was hollow at best.

"Yes, well, you might try accepting it with better grace than you have so far," Drex said calmly. "I advise you against giving me reason to step in. You would not like the outcome."

Kaden heeded that threat, but remained silent. He knew Drex was right; he would not like it if the man had to step in. In fact, it would be decidedly unpleasant.

Eeth, in the meanwhile, was having a much similar talk with Raven. Having returned from an urgent comm talk with the Temple, he sat down on his bunk and asked Raven: "How did your lesson with Kaden go?"

"Not so good," she answered, pushing her data pad aside and standing. "He's questioning my every decision, being a bit of a smart ass and is generally disagreeable," she told him honestly. It did not cross her mind to lie or try to make out that it was going better than it was. Eeth could always tell. "I correct his stance and he tells me I'm nitpicking. I ask him to warm up with me and he tries to do his own thing. I have to force him every step of the way." She gave him a pouty look that he probably had not seen in a while. "It's tiresome."

"And you do about it – what, exactly?" asked Eeth. "Has it occurred to you to wonder for how long Drex would have tolerated that kind of behaviour? Or me?"

"Yes, master, it has," she answered, glancing at her hands briefly before looking up once again to meet his gaze. "You'd have kicked my ass if this was me," she admitted and started to pace again. "I ordered him to do meditations before our sessions, hoping that would help, but it didn't seem to. I plan to replace sections of our lesson with muscle building exercises if he continues to defy me. I did make our last cool-down one that I knew he would find dull purposefully on account of his poor behaviour." She huffed. "The more consequence I add, the more he seems to resent me. If I give him the hiding I know you would have given me had I acted in such a way, what's to say it doesn't get worse?" Raven didn't think it would. In fact, she thought the kid more than deserved it. Still, it was proving hard for her.

"If Drex thinks this is what works for Kaden, I think you would do well to trust Drex," replied Eeth. "I am quite sure that it will only continue to get worse unless you find the courage to do what you know perfectly well needs to be done. Kaden is probably entirely aware that he deserves it. And if you refuse to punish him appropriately, he will continue pushing you. Moreover, if it goes on this way, I think it likely that Drex will step in, and that will only undermine your authority even more."

"I know," Raven agreed quietly, more to herself than Eeth. "Will you meditate with me, please?" she asked, already knowing the answer. Eeth had never denied her this if it were in his power to offer it, after all, and right now Raven could really use some the comfort and reassurance she got from Eeth while meditating.


The following morning Raven woke well before the rest of her teammates and went to what passed as their common room. It was dark, as was climatically correct for this hour at their destination, so she slumped into the soft couch and pulled her legs into her chest. She sat there for a long while before the sound of crinkling wrapping coming from the kitchen drew her attention. The teen smiled, not moving from her spot. "Master put them all in the freezer, you'll have to wait until tonight," she directed towards the sound of gently hinged cupboards and a carefully prised-open cooler.

"Gah! Is nothing sacred!" came Flynt's hushed response. He padded into the dark common room to sit by her side. "Why are you up? I'm guessing you aren't raiding the kitchen for extra sweets."

"I can't sleep," she told him.

"No? How come?"

"Not sure, could be a lot of things. I haven't been in charge to this extent on a mission before, and… Kaden. He's problematic."

Flynt nodded at the former but smirked at the latter. "Hey, do you remember that first time I stayed with you and Eeth?"

The girl nodded, curling into his side a bit.

"Remember what a pain in the ass I was? How badly I needed to learn that although Lakhri was my master, Eeth was still running the show when he wasn't around? Similar thing with Kaden. He needs boundaries and you're not setting them for him. His failure as a student is also your failure as a teacher."

Raven blanched at this. It was uncharacteristically serious for the usually carefree Flynt and had taken her by surprise. She made to pull away, but Flynt held her close.

"Try to think of Kaden as just another student and not a friend, that might help."

Raven stilled and let out a long breath. "I know you're right, you are ALL right. It's just harder to do in practice than it is in theory. Imagine how you'd feel if suddenly you found yourself in my situation."

"Me?" Flynt laughed at that. "You're kidding, right? Believe me, tearing up Kaden's ass would be the last of my issues. Although I might be tempted to set him on fire instead if he were giving me as hard a time as he's giving you. It would be a close call there." He rubbed at scratchy stubble on his chin as if deeply reflecting this, but the smile on his face said it all…

Kaden emerged later that morning, scrubbing a hand over his face and, like Flynt had barely hours before, making to raid their kitchen. "Hey," he said, catching sight of Flynt and Raven asleep on the couch. "Better get up and wash. Drex is up and I heard Eeth rustling around his room."

Eeth was knocking on Lakhri's door at that moment.

Lakhri yawned and stretched. "Alright, alright, I'm getting up," he called. "Thank you so very much for letting me sleep in!" Rolling out of his bed, he noticed that Flynt wasn't there. He must have made an early start to the day. Probably he was hungry; he was much like Lakhri in that respect.

"Good morning," said Eeth, immaculately dressed as always, when a sleep-tousled Lakhri opened the door. "I was going to start on breakfast. And hunt for my padawan on the way. I notice that yours is not there either."

Lakhri shrugged. "He isn't far," he said. "He was probably looking for food. I'll be with you in ten."

Eeth nodded and made his way to the galley where he found all three padawans. "Good morning," he said and added, addressing Flynt and Raven: "Since when are we having breakfast in our sleepwear?"

"Morning," Kaden replied to Eeth and inclined his head in way of greeting. He walked past Raven and Flynt then whispered: "Told you," before making his way into the kitchen to start making breakfast.

"C'mon Grandmaster, let us live a little?" Flynt tried, offering the man a slight bow.

"Morning, Master," Raven greeted him, bowing formally. She couldn't help but roll her eyes at Flynt's efforts, though. "Since when has that line ever worked on my master?" she said in a stage whisper.

"First time for everything," Flynt replied from behind his hand.

Eeth frowned."Off to the shower with you," he decreed. "Get dressed." There might be nothing much on today's agenda but that did not mean he was going to allow anyone to slack off!