A/N: Thanks for your reviews, y'all. They're always appreciated! We love to hear what you guys think. To Jasper's Mom: To answer your question, when we came up with the goyts, we had goats in mind as reviewer 'Hahahaha' so aptly pointed out. Of course, we modified them to suit our Starwarsly needs. There's no reason not to think of them as monkeys, though. ;)


Eeth spent a comparatively leisurely time preparing breakfast the next morning while it was Drex's and Kaden's shift to look after the goyts. When Flynt and Lakhri took over, Drex and Kaden cleaned themselves up and ate. Then, Eeth and Drex sent their padawans off for their Ataru lesson.

Again, neither Raven nor Kaden were particularly thrilled with this arrangement, but both did as bade, quickly and without protest.

Raven was making an effort not to rip Kaden's head off which she found hard given his borderline approach to their lessons. "Focus, Kaden!" she scolded, just as Eeth had done with her countless times when her concentration was not on the task. Okay, so they weren't doing the most thrilling of exercises, and given that the teen had struggled with restlessness her entire life, she could relate. However, she had been 'coerced' into shape, and he would have to endure also.

"Stop riding me," Kaden said a tad snippily while fixing his posture and straightening his stance.

"It's my job. C'mon, stop whining and do it. There are worse things you could be doing right now, you know," she told him honestly. And Raven really could think of quite a few things Eeth would have her doing now, had she started complaining about his teaching style during lessons. After all, they had been at this for fifteen minutes now, and Kaden had still not met her expectations.

As had become typical, the longer the lesson drew on, the more Kaden pushed the limits of what they'd agreed upon to be acceptable conduct. The issue was not so much with his physical behaviour, at this stage; it was more his lacklustre effort and corresponding remarks that finally pushed Raven to push back.

They were sparring for the last half hour of their lesson – a privilege the senior padawan did not believe he deserved – and Kaden was giving this his all, as he usually did when fighting. However, this time Raven was not giving him an inch. She quite literally trounced him, not allowing time for education, corrections, encouragement. Nothing. Kaden might be more powerful both physically and through the Force, and he was a talented fighter for someone his age, but he was no match for Raven's experience with Ataru.

Kaden didn't know what had hit him. "Seriously, you're just going to mow right over me? At least give me a chance to fight back." It was very unlike him to ask for a reprieve during a sparring match. Mostly, he sucked it up and ploughed on regardless. But where the Force had this come from? He hadn't thought Raven had it in her. Raven reminded Kaden of a porcelain doll, fragile and easily breakable, but as he blocked another blow that had barely fallen short of dropping him, he began to rethink Master Yoda's infamous adage.

"Be sure to request the same when you fight for real," Raven replied mercilessly and continued to pound the kid.

Kaden was getting angry. Nevertheless, he was controlling it. For now. He continued to fend her off as best he could, but – and despite his skill in Soresu – she was coming close to hurting him with some of those blows. "Oof!" he gasped when a kick to his midsection momentarily knocked the wind out of him. The force from the kick had been pulled, of course, but that one had hurt.

"If you gave your full attention to the fundamentals I have been trying to teach you, you wouldn't need a break to attack because you would have created one," the teen criticised. But she was pushing it herself and needed to focus. She lunged forward and disarmed him, the sound of his lightsaber deactivating and clattering to the floor of no consequence to her. "Get up. Move!" she pushed him on, flipping to land before him and making to strike.

"Back off!" Kaden growled, his temper ramping at being backed into a corner both figuratively and literally. He reached out with the Force and pushed. He wasn't trying to hurt Raven, but nor did he care if she accidentally hit the wall, head first! It was poor form, and he knew it. But, well, fuck it; she was pushing him, so he was going to push back, and Kaden had a lot more oomph behind him.

Raven paused. She was not as strong in the Force as Kaden, just more experienced. Consequently, she was just able to take the hit without sliding into the wall. That was actually impressive on his part, not that she was willing to say as much. "Get up, now! Throwing a temper tantrum will not get you out of this. It will reliably earn you one consequence. We will talk about that later. For now, move!"

Raven's words had been tempered, albeit laced with steal; it was disconcerting. So it was that the boy refrained from spewing more of his vitriol upon her, scrambled to his feet before she could land on him and grabbed his saber.

Raven pushed him until he was stumbling around. Another twenty-five minutes of this passed by before Raven finally let him stop; the lesson was running well over time, in any case. "Disignite your saber and walk the room." Okay so it wasn't a BIG room, but they could still make use of it. When he had caught his breath and calmed down, she pulled her saber from her belt, then thought better of it and reattached it again with a determined snap; this wasn't going to do. "Give me your belt."

Kaden's jaw squared. "What for?"

"Obey first, question later," Raven replied. Was she being too harsh on him? She put this to the 'what would Eeth do' test and decided that she wasn't. In fact, he'd probably give her extra for not obeying in the first place.

Kaden scowled. Tyrant! Well, not really but he wanted to believe it as it legitimised his feelings of self-pity. He took his time detaching his weapon and setting it aside, and then slowly, very slowly he slid each utility from his belt one by one.

"Two more for stalling," Raven told him coolly, her arms crossed.

"Two more what?! You haven't told me anything yet, how am I meant to know how to act?" He handed her his belt, his expression deadpan. It was a lot thicker and heavier than hers and would hurt correspondingly more.

"I told you to give me your belt, and you chose to drag that out. No doubt because you know how I'm planning to use it. I don't blame you. Stalling is not going to cut it with me, though, and neither is hitting me with Force pushes when you know very well that that is unacceptable during a match!" She rounded on him, his belt gripped tightly in her right hand. "You could hurt someone doing that." She let that comment linger for a moment before continuing. "You've been bordering on obnoxious, disagreeable and, to be honest, you're an outright bothersome pain in my ass to teach. Well, not any more." By this stage, Raven had gotten an inkling that their classes would continue for a lot longer than this mission, and she wasn't keen on fighting him the entire way. Thus, she asked: "Do you have anything you want to say before we do this?"

Kaden, for his part, remained oblivious to the fact that he might need to endure more than just this mission under Raven's tutelage. He wasn't sure what to say to her closing statement, so he folded his arms, gave her a smug look that said 'do your worst' and said nothing.

Okay, so now Raven was becoming annoyed. Humbling Kaden was what first came to mind, but how could she possibly pull that off? For what felt like the millionth time since these lessons started, Raven put this to the 'what would Eeth do' test. It failed; it would be impossible for her to put him over her knee and wallop some humility into him as a precursor. It crossed her mind to fetch one of the masters to deal with him, but she dismissed that almost immediately; this was her class, Kaden was her student, and she needed to deal with this herself. Decision made, Raven used the Force to move one of the full food crates from the wall. "Two things," she said while beckoning him over and gesturing that he drop his trousers. "Why am I punishing you, and why do you deserve it?"

Again, Kaden made no move to comply and said nothing. He simply stood there, arms crossed and a smug expression on his face.

"Have it your way, then. Wait here." Raven put his belt on the crate and made to walk to the door. If he wasn't going to obey here, she would get one of the masters to supervise this. She would still be punishing him, but if it took Drex, Eeth or Lakhri to ensure Kaden's compliance, it was his funeral.

"Alright, alright, you win," Kade said, attempting to sound casual when he was cold with horror on the inside. Suddenly, Kaden wasn't feeling so smug. Raven didn't stop, though. Instead, she opened the door and walked out on him. Fuck! The boy ran after her and thankfully caught her just before she entered the galley. "Wait. Look, I'm sorry. I'll do as you say. Please, give me another chance." Kaden wasn't stupid. He knew that if Raven got Drex involved in this, he was not going to sit down again for the remainder of this mission.

Raven paused, her hand on the automatic door plate. "Give me one reason why I should," she replied, annoyed.

Well shit! Kaden had nothing, but when Raven made to open the door, he grabbed her hand away. "Please. I probably don't deserved it, but I'm asking you as a friend to cut me some slack."

Raven's brows rose high. "Cut you some slack? What about me? Have you cut me any slack!?"

"No! But I plan to. Please." Kaden was begging now and he hated it!

Raven stood there contemplating for the longest moment before reaching a decision. "Alright, here's the deal. You're going to be a perfect student for the rest of our lessons. Otherwise, I'm not going to bother with warnings, I'm just going for one of the masters. Got it?" Raven knew that she was only winning his compliance out of fear of what the masters would do to him, but it was all she had at this point. Besides, she doubted that this situation was going to be a common occurrence; most of her students were easy and enjoyed lessons with her. Kaden was a fucking nightmare.

"Deal," Kaden replied quickly, and without waiting for her to even turn, he practically ran back to their training room.

As a matter of fact, Drex had been sitting in the galley and overheard the whole thing. It did not exactly surprise him; he had sensed earlier that Kaden's temper had surged and he had sensed the Force push, too. Jedi instructors were never happy with such things. So it was obvious that his padawan was still not behaving for Raven as he knew he should; and from what Drex had overheard, it was also clear that Kaden had nearly brought Raven to the point where she needed to come and fetch him. Drex would have thought the consequences of Kaden's last run-in with Raven had been impressive enough to convince the boy that he needed to pull himself together but apparently, that had not happened. His pride was, once again, getting in the way, and that was really beginning to be a serious problem. Drex rather thought he needed to cure Kaden of this, little as the boy would enjoy that. But first, Raven was hopefully going to impose her own consequences.


Raven blew out a sigh and made her way back to their training room. When she got there, she was met with the unpleasant sight of Kaden's underwear-clad ass. He had his hands on the crate and was bracing himself. Well, that was one less order she'd need to give. Resigned, Raven picked up his belt from the crate where she had left it before walking out and stood to his side. "Why am I punishing you, and why do you deserve it?" she repeated.

Kaden was just dying. But he knew that Raven had his balls in a vice here; if he disobeyed, he was going to cop it two-fold, and that was to be avoided at all costs, even his pride. "I might have been difficult. And I guess I lost my temper again," he answered. It had come out strained, but he had gotten it out.

It was a half-assed answer, but Raven knew that the boy had understood what he'd done. "Difficult?" That's the understatement of the decade, she thought but kept it to herself. "I wish upon you a padawan as difficult as yourself." And with that, she brought the belt back and bought it down with a crack that was so hard the sound rang off the walls. Raven wasn't holding back at all and was rewarded with a strained grunt from Kaden. She kept this up until his grunts turned into groans, then whimpers and finally he was having trouble staying in position. Only then did she pause. "That was for your general lacklustre approach to our lessons. You need to step up to the plate, or you will have a hard time ahead."

Kaden was concentrating so hard on keeping his composure that he barely heard a word of what Raven said. He did, however, grunt in acknowledgement. That all changed, though, when instead of being told to stand, he felt his undershorts coming down. Fuck! He gritted his teeth. That had hurt plenty bad enough over his shorts; bare was going to be a whole other ball game.

Raven knew he hurt. She had been there herself. She wouldn't be able to hold him down, at least not without injuring him; he was too strong in the Force. Thus, she asked: "We're not done. Can you manage, or do I need to ask for help?"

Kaden's nostrils flared, and he visibly cringed. "Seriously?" Was she honestly asking him if he needed to be held down? FUCK! Somebody, anybody? Just kill me now. Please!

"Seriously," Raven countered but was waiting patiently for his answer.

"Just get it over with," Kaden said, careful to keep this tone on the right side of 'keep the masters out of this!'.

Raven knew how Kaden felt, or at least she thought she did. Personally, she had never struggled with authority as he did. Then again, she had her own issues that Eeth would no doubt attest to. Without preamble, Raven dealt out fifteen solid licks to the thickest part of his bottom, and each was as hard as she could make it. "That was for nailing me with a Force push during a lightsaber duel. What else?" she held him down, her hand on his lower back as he gasped to catch his breath. Apparently, his belt packed more of a wallop than hers did. Well, that was the point.

"For disobeying," he replied quietly through sniffles.

"Right. I ordered you to continue, among other things..." She didn't think it necessary to restate each as he seemed to have grasped the point here. "When I, or any Jedi superior, gives you an order, you obey it."

The boy didn't have much time to reflect on that because shortly afterwards, the belt cracked onto the tops of his thighs. He let out a shout that would have been heard over the bleating goyts, over the hyperdrive generator, Force! It would have been heard on the outer rim, he was sure of it. Kaden hated it when his thighs were targeted, and those licks were on par with the worst he had felt.

The next one caused Kaden to curl slightly in an effort at avoiding it, but Raven didn't pause, or use the Force to hold him as Eeth would have done with her. She simply moved so that she had a clear target and landed another just below it.

By the sixth Kaden was yelling blue bloody murder and crying into his sleeve.

Raven took this as her signal to deliver a final two, and then she stopped. It had been harsh, but he would live. "When you're ready, stand up," she told him, not unsympathetically.

Kaden hadn't noticed it, but he had taken a death grip on the top panelling of the crate causing his fingers to go white and leaving them indented from the wooden edge. Now that it was over, however, his first priority was pulling himself together and regaining his dignity, or what was left of it. He stood stiffly, wincing as he righted his clothes, and did his best to stand tall and look unfazed as he turned to face her. Yeah, right.

Kaden's determination and efforts at composure were impressive, but they weren't fooling Raven. She had been around the block a few times herself and knew that the belting she'd just doled out could not be easily dismissed. He was going to hurt and would continue to hurt until he either healed or was given bacta. "My master would order a lengthy meditation now," Raven told him in a solemn tone and met his gaze. "But I won't. Not this time. However, I think it goes without saying that I fully expect you to speak to Drex about this lesson." She handed him his belt.

Kaden did his best to disguise the internal cringe he had at the mention of regaling Drex with today's lesson highlights. "Look, I'm sorry. Please don't tell Drex to add to this. I don't think I'll live."

Raven had to chuckle at that; she just couldn't help it. Why? Because she had thought similar herself so many times over the years that she had lost count. "You will, you just won't like it," she replied. Raven wasn't being cruel here, but she did see herself in that plea.

"Will you ever stop bossing me around?" the boy asked.

"Will you ever stop giving me cause?!" Neither padawan knew that this argument was going to follow them through many years of service to the order, but it was.


Eeth was already waiting for Raven in the corridor. He immediately noticed Kaden's stiff gait but chose not to comment on it. "Our shift is starting in two minutes," he told his padawan, "We need to go and relieve Lakhri and Flynt. Come. Kaden, your master is waiting for you in the galley."

Oh Joy, thought Kaden, but wisely kept that to himself; he was in enough trouble as it was.

Drex was indeed in the galley, soaking a pot of grains that Lakhri had bought in Tuppset. "There you are, padawan," he said mildly. "What happened?" He did have a fairly clear idea of what had gone down but he wanted to hear it from his padawan.

Kaden leant on the bench and played with a dropped piece of peel that Drex had possibly missed. He wasn't particularly thrilled at having to recount the lesson but recalled Raven stating that doing as much was not only for his own benefit but for hers also. Reluctantly, the boy gave an honest recount, his expression sheepish by the end. "She was hard on me, not just during the sparring either." Raven had not offered comfort or healing after dealing out punishment. Ordinarily, this wouldn't bother him, but that was probably because he was always given the option.

Drex was not happy with what he had heard, and it showed in the expression on his face. "So you lost your temper again, in a way that might have been quite dangerous, and you disobeyed Raven again," he said. "After having been punished for both of those things before. Not exactly a steep learning curve, is it?"

Kaden pursed his lips, biting back the 'it's not me it's her!' Retort that he was so desperate to let fly. Instead: "I'm trying. Please, just give me a break this once, my ass is killing me, and I feel rotten enough," he pleaded.

"How, exactly, are you trying?" Drex asked Kaden, straightening up from the kitchen table and turning to face him. "Can you honestly tell me you have done your best to obey Raven, do as she asked of you and make your utmost effort in these lessons?" He did not comment on Kaden's request for "giving him a break". Kaden knew better than to expect "a break" when he did not deserve one; and whether he did or not was yet to be determined. The few instances in which Drex had opted for being lenient with Kaden, this had always backfired.

"No, but I'll do better," he replied after a long pause, because what else could he say to that? He frowned and crossed his arms; apparently, he was between a rock and a hard place here. He wanted badly to say that he had done his best to obey Raven, but the truth was he had tried to get away with maximum 'smartassery' while employing the minimum effort acceptable.

"Oh, I'm sure you will," Drex said neutrally. "For your own sake. These lessons will continue throughout the remainder of our mission and probably also after our return to the Temple. I happen to think they are beneficial for you. They would be more beneficial, though, if you applied yourself to them instead of giving your teacher a hard time. And I'm extremely unhappy that Raven had to punish you for a second time for the exact things for which you have been punished before - especially for losing your temper, of all things. You know how dangerous that can be. And no, I won't 'give you a break.' You will give me your saber now, and you will only receive it back when there has been a marked improvement in your attitude towards these lessons." He held out his hand, the expression on his face firm.

Hearing that these lessons with Raven would continue was bad enough, but what Drex said nex had Kaden's mouth drop open. "What! No way! We're on a mission, you can't!" He blurted, a protective hand going to his sabre. Kaden was mortified. Having one's lightsaber confiscated during a mission was quite possibly the worst punishment he could think of.

"Right now," Drex said calmly, "we're on a starship. You don't need your saber for anything but your lessons. When we arrive at our destination, I will decide if and when to hand your saber to you. You can safely leave it to me to judge whether you need it for your own safety. And talking back to me was not a wise thing to do, considering that this is not the end of your punishment. The spanking you're going to receive tonight will be with the paddle, instead of my hand. If you don't hand me your saber now, I can easily upgrade it to my hairbrush, though." He continued to hold out his hand, the expression on his face implacable.

Kaden wanted to cry but he held it back. "If there's no need for me to have it, what's the point in taking it off me?!"

This might not be much of an argument but Drex had to concede that it was ingenuous. It was also a continued attempt at talking back which, under the circumstances, was nothing short of suicidal.

"The hairbrush it is, then," Drex said, unfazed. "Now give me your saber. I'm not willing to put this to a vote."

Kaden just stared at him. He couldn't be serious, there was just no way. Hoth would burn to the ground before he submitted to having his ass further roasted with that bat his master tried passing off as a hairbrush and his expression, not that Drex could see it, said as much. Fortunately for him, he didn't voice his opinion. Instead, he unclipped his lightsaber and slapped it into the man's outstretched hand, hard enough to make his feelings on this clear; he was both pissed and upset in equal measures.

"Thank you," Drex said drily, clipping the saber to his belt. "I know you're already hurting. And I will give you some bacta in a moment. First, though, calm down." He rested his hands on Kaden's shoulders. "Do you need help doing so?" he asked gently. "I know this isn't easy. Really, I do."

"No, you don't. You have no idea how this feels," Kaden retorted, barely restrained fury clear in his tone. He was angry. He crossed his arms and glared at the floor. He didn't want help, he wanted to be mad, to kick and scream at the injustice of it all. The sight of his lightsaber hanging from Drex's belt for all to see just topped off that morning perfectly. "What does it matter anyway, keep it, see if I care." Kaden wanted to storm out but he knew to do so would result in only one outcome, and he wanted that outcome less than any temporary satisfaction losing his temper would grant.

Drex was not only a fairly empathic person, he had also - unbelievable though it may seem - had a temper when he had been young. He had been no stranger to receiving harsh punishments either. Thus, he thought Kaden might definitely give him more credit for being able to know how he felt. At least he was more or less keeping his temper in check. That was something.

"Mind your tone," Drex said mildly. "We both know you care. That's rather the point, I'm afraid. Now, go ahead to our cabin. I'll find some bacta and join you."

Mind my tone! Mind my tone?! The boy snorted at that warning, but that was the extent of his disrespect; he was cruising on the edge of his master's tolerance for an attitude right now, and he wasn't willing to push him too far. He turned on his heel and strode for their cabin, only barely managing not to walk right over Lakhri and through Flynt who were both returning from goyt duty, or to pulverise their cabin's door panel as he entered. He wanted to, he really did! But Drex's consistent lack of tolerance towards his temper had begun to change his behaviour, even if he had yet to link the two.

Drex ignored Kaden's attitude, for now. He fetched some bacta from the medical supplies cabinet and made his way to their cabin. At the door to the corridor, he met Flynt and Lakhri. He asked them to finish preparing lunch since he was going to be busy with Kaden for a while. Lakhri readily agreed. He watched Drex head for his cabin, bacta in hand, and grimaced.

"I take it the lesson didn't go that well," Lakhri said wryly to Flynt. "I just hope for Kaden's sake that he's not in trouble with Drex, too, but from the way he nearly knocked me over, I'm not too sure. C'mon, let's see what we can cook."

"Looks that way," Flynt replied, although his thoughts were with his Jedi aunt. He knew she hated this teaching assignment as much as Kaden did but being the instructor, most of the pressure to get it right rested on her. He said nothing of his thoughts, though; he would seek her out later.

Drex, in the meantime, entered their cabin and closed the door behind himself. He found Kaden lying on his bed, his face buried in his pillow. "First order of business," he said. "Meditation. You may choose to meditate with me or on your own. In any case, you need to get a handle on your frustration or you will spend the rest of this day being spanked. And I assume you want that even less than I do."

Kaden's frown couldn't get much deeper at this point; he was just so angry over losing his lightsaber. Could this day get any more out of control? Apparently, it could.

Drex realised that Kaden was probably not going to be able to do this on his own. And he really was not interested in exacerbating his padawan's troubles any further. Thus, he sat by Kaden's side and rested a hand on the boy's shoulder. He also sent a burst of calming energy through their bond. "Take a deep breath and count to ten," he instructed. "Come on. You need to calm down before we continue this talk."

Kaden closed his eyes and screwed up his face, shoving the anger he felt into the Force with each breath until he had counted to ten. Only then did he open his eyes. "I'm calm, I don't need to," he said quietly. Kaden didn't want to meditate. It was somewhat ironic that the times he needed meditation the most were the times he wanted to do it the least!

That was not the answer Drex had wanted to hear. "Padawan, I'm done with tolerating your constant backtalk," he said, and this time, there was nothing mild about his voice. "I told you to meditate. We both know you need to. Your only choice, at this point, is to meditate or to go over my knee and then meditate. Do you absolutely want to do this the hard way? If yes, just say so. If not: meditate. Now."

This had the boy's attention, and he sat up, only to wince. He did not move though; Kaden was stubborn like that. He was also still rather unhappy with his situation and the trouble he'd gotten himself into, but he found himself wanting the comfort of Drex's presence; he'd been through a lot today, and although he wouldn't admit as much, he was struggling to deal with it. "Those aren't very good choices," he admitted. And it was true, they weren't! He shifted on his bed, his ass uncomfortably sore, but he closed his eyes and entered a meditative trance as instructed.

Drex actually believed that meditation was an extremely good choice for Kaden right now. He was frustrated and his frustration was making him volatile and argumentative. He needed to learn that meditation was the best immediate option of dealing with negative emotions because anything else usually meant ending up over his master's knees, eventually.

Drex also recognised Kaden's need for reassurance. He set the bacta aside for the moment, squeezed Kaden's shoulder in a gesture of support and linked with him, helping him release his negative emotions into the Force.

Although Kaden had not asked for help, he had wanted it, so when Drex's presence did not vanish from the room, he was relieved. He readily linked with his master and allowed him to guide him through the process.

When Drex signalled that their meditation was over, Kaden opened his eyes. Naturally, he was a lot calmer now and had the good sense to feel sheepish over his behaviour. He had pushed Drex further than he ought to have, yet the man had been patient with him. Kaden wasn't sure what to say, so, as was typical for him, he said nothing.

"Bare your bottom, please," Drex said. "I would like to give you some bacta. After that, we will have lunch in our room. You need some time to find your bearings." Drex also wanted to judge for himself the results of the punishment Raven had meted out earlier. He did not think she would have gone too far; but he still thought he ought to make sure. Besides, there was further punishment in Kaden's future and Drex wanted to take the current state of the boy's bottom into account.

Kaden complied; bacta was going to go a ways to taking away his discomfort, and he was grateful that his master was allowing it.

Drex took his time administering the bacta, and he used a rather generous amount. Raven had really not gone easy on Kaden at all. It had probably been necessary, though; he needed to learn to accept her authority, once and for all.

When Drex had finished his task, he screwed the jar shut and rose. "Stay here and wait for it to take effect," he said. "I'll fetch our lunch."

Kade lay there without moving until Drex returned with two trays, one with an enormous amount of food, and the other with not so much. His lip pulled into a slight smile. "Thanks," he said, accepting the tray with the most and setting it onto his bed. He didn't want to smudge the bacta all over his sheets, so he ate while laying on his belly.

Drex took a seat at the desk and ate his lunch as well. When he had finished, he said: "It will be our turn to look after the goyts in a moment. I'll take over our shift. You stay here while I do. I think that some quiet reflection will do you good."

"Are you grounding me to my room?" Kade asked, honestly wanting to know as being relieved of his duty with Drex and the goyts sounded a bit that way to him.

"If you want to put it that way," said Drex. "Yes, until dinner. I would really like you to think about your attitude towards your lessons with Raven. It has been abysmal, and you need to find a way to improve it. At least if you want to improve your Ataru skills. And if you want to be able to sit comfortably afterwards."

Kaden had expected to hear as much, so he didn't comment. He wasn't thrilled about being grounded to his room, and he also thought that Raven was being too hard on him. Before Drex could leave, Kaden cleared his throat and said: "Just so you know, I think Raven is being too hard on me, and I'm not just whining or trying to deflect blame here. I'm serious. She used to have patience. Now she just bosses me around all the time."

Drex paused a little, considering this. His impression had been that, if anything, Raven had been too lenient with Kaden, at least at the outset of their lessons. Maybe she had become so annoyed with him that she had become impatient and irritable? That sometimes happened with inexperienced teachers. On the other hand, what Kaden had told him about their lesson had clearly involved a case of serious misbehaviour. Thus, the punishment he had received did not seem undeserved. "Tell me, Kaden," he said, turning back to face his padawan. "If you had acted towards me like you acted in Raven's lesson, would you have expected me to be more lenient than she was?"

"No, but then you are you, and she is she," Kade replied, his gaze now focused on the man. He didn't really want to enter a debate over this. It was rarely productive to argue with Drex.

"True," said Drex calmly. "Which implies, among other things, that I am currently teaching my fourth padawan while she is still trying to find out how teaching works best for her. I suspect what happened is that she tried to get through this whole business of teaching you on friendly terms and eventually realised that this does not work for you – and we both know that to be true. So, she finally became exasperated enough to enforce some rules. It probably would have saved both of you some frustration if she had done so from the outset; but then, like you said, she's your friend, and quite new to teaching padawans as old as you are. And I'm afraid I have to point out that you exploited that fact – probably not consciously, but you exploited it all the same by displaying an attitude that would not have lasted ten minutes with me or with Eeth. Or with Lakhri, for that matter. So, on the whole, my feeling is that Raven being harsh on you is not so much the issue here; the issue is that she only resorted to being strict after having led you to believe that you could get away with your behaviour. Which you should not have from the outset; and I would have thought the punishment you had received before would have made that clear. This afternoon, you might consider thinking about what I said. I might be entirely wrong. If Raven really was too hard on you, we should resolve that issue before she continues teaching you."

Kaden wasn't sure how to respond to that. Firstly because he couldn't provide a legitimate argument to that, and secondly because… Well, he couldn't provide a legitimate argument to that! The boy huffed, dropping his head into his hands. Funnily enough, it wasn't the physical labour aspect or the goyts that were testing Kaden this mission, it was a stupid Ataru class!