While Kaden was busy feeling sorry for himself, Eeth and Raven were taking care of the goyts. They emptied two sacks of grain into the cribs. Then they fetched buckets of water to fill the troughs. As they did this, Eeth said: "From the way Kaden walked and from the look on his face, I take it your lesson did not go too well."

Water splashed over the side of the trough Raven was filling, but she was quick to correct it and save further flooding. Not that anyone would notice; the goyts were messy critters, really messy! They spread water and food from one end of the cargo bay to the other. Raven stood, empty bucket in hand and stretched her back long before turning to face Eeth. Neither Jedi had spoken of the lesson with Kaden before now.

"Not really," she replied honestly. "He's a pain in the ass. I had to punish him again, I guess you noticed." Raven wasn't proud of herself; if she had handled these lessons right from the get-go, none of this would have been necessary. But they were friends, and it made this a difficult situation as opposed to her regular crèche classes. "Besides, he's problematic," she added. "I told you that before. No doubt this is why he has Drex as a master." Raven hefted another bucket of water, using the Force to augment her effort this time and prevent spillage.

Eeth sensed that Raven was not entirely happy with herself. That would have to be resolved if she was to continue these lessons. Her last comment also had him a little worried. Kaden had already endangered her once when she had meditated with him; he just hoped that the boy was not becoming too much for Raven to handle, in which case he might have to take over these lessons himself. "How is he problematic?" he inquired. "You had better tell me what happened, exactly."

Thinking his question a little too juvenile for her nineteen years of age, but completely unaware that he was doubting her ability, Raven met him with a neutral and unimpressed expression. She clicked her tongue when this garnered the typical response from Eeth, namely an unamused one, and began talking. She explained how Kade had been pushing her, and how she had decided to push back, literally. "I held nothing back, I really gave it to him. I thought this would work to demonstrate that power is not everything, that I know what I'm doing!"

She busied herself stacking water buckets so she didn't have to keep eye contact as she told him the rest. "I hurt him a bit, and he lost his temper again, using the Force to shove me backwards. It was powerful and might have done damage had I been less experienced. Obviously, I couldn't let that slide." She paused in her duty and turned to watch Eeth work as she continued the story. "When I attempted to correct him for that, he refused to submit to it so I did the only thing I could do, namely, I went to find one of you. This got his attention." Raven explained how he had come chasing after her and convinced her to give him another chance. Then, she went on to tell Eeth how she had dealt with him. "I'm pretty sure there is some unwritten law about hitting a kid with their own belt," Raven said, trying to lighten the tone of the woeful tale she had just burdened Eeth with.

"If there is, I am not aware of it," said Eeth, completely disregarding the attempt at humour. He was busy thinking over what Raven had told him. "It sounds to me as if he deserved to be punished," he finally said. "Do you think you handled the situation appropriately? Or are you in doubt? You seem as if you are, and I am wondering why that is." No matter what Raven's reply was, he resolved to talk to Drex about this. Hopefully Kaden had confessed to the man already. Eeth doubted that Drex would be happy with the Force push, in particular; it was definitely something that any master would call their padawan to task for. Even then, though, Eeth was also going to talk to Kaden. He had now twice acted in a way that might have become dangerous to Raven, had her mental discipline been a little less firm, and this could not be allowed to continue.

Raven had learned early on in her apprenticeship that Eeth did not possess much of a sense of humour. Thus, his deadpan response to her efforts made her smile slightly, despite the topic. "He did deserve it, and I'm not in doubt. I can handle him. It's my duty," Raven replied semi-confidently. Sure there were complications, issues that she wouldn't usually have with a typical class due to the fact that Kaden was her friend, but they would get through this.

Eeth straightened up and looked at her. "Then why," he inquired, "do you sound as if you are not convinced? If you honestly tell me that you can handle Kaden, I will believe you. Yes, it is your duty, and yes, I know that you will fulfil it to the best of your ability. But something is bothering you. And I want to know what that is."

Raven noted his change in posture as well as the slight deepening of his tone, and she went from watching him work to crouching by the goyt babies. It would be unwise to shrug him off, as much as the teenager wanted to do so, but how could she explain something she wasn't quite sure of herself? She folded and unfolded her arms, and then began to stroke the ears of the baby that had started climbing all over her. "I don't know. He says I'm being bossy, that I'm picking on him. The thing is, to begin with I wasn't, but now I'm not as patient. He's trying my last nerve, and maybe I'm a bit short with him because of that." She threw her hands up in the air in a show of frustration that Eeth would not have seen in several years. "I don't like this teaching assignment," she said in conclusion. It sounded lame even to her.

"I know," Eeth said surprisingly gently. "But at the same time, I think it is helping you learn. Kaden has been exploiting your patience. Yours was an approach that might have worked for some padawans, but from what I know about him, it does not work for Kaden. So you changed your approach, which was really the only sensible option, but of course he perceives that as unjust. I do not think it is, though. Any Jedi teacher would have punished him soundly for his behaviour in your lessons. And none of your reactions qualifies as unduly harsh to me. Harsh, yes; but then, he Force-pushed you, and that is really not something any teacher would condone."

He rested a hand on her shoulder. "If I were you, I would talk to him," he said. "Explain why your approach changed and why it is going to stay that way. My more immediate concern, though, is with his aggression, which he has already turned against you twice. He is very strong in the Force. So far, you have handled his outbursts well. Are you sure that this will continue to be the case?"

As Eeth spoke, Raven felt less like she had overstepped her boundaries and more justified in her actions. She scooped up the runt baby who had accidentally rolled from its nest, pausing to reassure the mother, and stood, baby cradled in the crook of an elbow. Raven knew that if Eeth wasn't finding fault with her behaviour, then there was none to be had, and it was with that in mind that she mustered a confident expression.

"I don't know. He's a lot stronger both physically and through the Force, but I have more experience and a lot more control. I wouldn't want to take on another of his meditations, I'm leaving that to Drex, but I'm more confident than not that I can defend myself from any outbursts." She pushed the ears of the baby goyt back with her index finger as apparently, they liked this. "We're friends, and that is complicating things. It's not easy for me to teach him and it's not easy for him to accept it. He knows this, I've spoken to him about it before, and I'm not sure what else I can say to him that will make this any easier on either of us. What I do know is that if you or Drex step in on my behalf, it's going to undermine any authority I've managed to build." Raven lowered her gaze, slightly embarrassed at having so much trouble with something so trivial. She cradled the baby in an arm, the tiny Force presence positively purring under her ministration. Well, at least this part of their mission was going as planned…

"You are probably right on that account," said Eeth, "although I am rather certain that Drex will have called Kaden to task for his behaviour, regardless of what you meted out. After all, Kaden has turned his aggression against you before and it has been made quite clear to him that this is unacceptable."

As far as his intention to talk to Kaden was concerned, he was rethinking it. It was his protectiveness of Raven that was driving him, he realised; but possibly, this was not in Raven's best interest. She was nineteen, after all, and needed to do some things on her own, without his interference.

"I will not talk to Drex or Kaden unless you want me to," he finally said. He did not like it; he would have preferred to make sure Kaden was duly wary of antagonising Raven any further. But he knew that Raven was right; Kaden ought to come to respect Raven's authority, not just Eeth's.

"Thank you, Master," Raven told him sincerely. "I can't stop Master Zaryth from punishing Kaden. Force, if any padawan of mine did that I'd punish them too." Raven set the baby goyt down with its family and stood to face him. "But that you won't interfere is appreciated because I need to work this out myself. Kaden might need extra guidance, but I'm pretty sure he's getting that." Raven remembered her one run-in with Drex. It had not been fun and was not something the teenager ever wanted to endure again. Ever! Thus, she knew Kaden was unlikely to be getting through this sans consequences.

Raven fiddled with the hem on her tunic, something she had not done in a very long time. "I'll do better," she said when her own awkwardness forced her to add more to their conversation. It wasn't really a valid comment; Raven knew that her actions, although a little on the bossy side, had not been wrong. Still, a humble approach had always worked best with Eeth.

"Padawan, there is no need to feel inadequate," Eeth said mildly. "You are still in the process of finding your own way of doing things, and Kaden is not an easy student. I know you are doing your best. And that goes for this whole mission. I could not have expected more of you. You are growing into a very accomplished Jedi, and your commitment is exemplary. By all means stop feeling as if you did wrong. That was not the reason for which I initiated this talk. I was merely … worried about you. But that was more my protectiveness speaking than any failure on your part."

Hearing such praise from Eeth was rare, and she blushed slightly at receiving it. "You were worried about me?" the teen questioned, half rhetorical and half not, using the question to cover the fact that she was trying to accept his praise with humility. Not to mention the fact that she was honestly surprised that he was admitting he felt protectiveness for her; expressing emotions was not generally his strong suit although he had come a long way in the last seven years. "I'm sure Kaden doesn't do it on purpose. He's just a pain in the ass is all. I bet Drex has his hands full putting up with him." Raven gave him a wry grin and put two hands behind her lower back to stretch since even after all these years she still found the confines of space travel bothersome.

"Oh, I think he is fairly well-behaved with Drex for the most part these days," said Eeth. "And he has much improved since he started his apprenticeship. He merely has some issues he needs to work on, just like you do. School work is less of a problem with him than it ever was with you; on the other hand, he has more difficulties containing his aggressions. If you feel exasperated at his failure to accept your authority like he ought to, just think of the trouble you used to get into with some of your teachers when you were younger. Such as Master Granzien. Or Professor Kogan. I seem to remember that I ended up threatening to enrol you in her classes for the entire remainder of your padawanhood."

A slight smile grew on the teen's face and slowly morphed into a snort and then a chuckle. "I maintain that Kogan had a steel poker inserted up her backside at birth." Her smile dropped a tiny bit, though, at the memory of Granzien's animal husbandry class and the Cheedy Chicken debacle. Eeth had caned the backside clean off her for releasing a bunch of cage hens on a farm during a field trip and wreaking havoc for the farm in general. Raven cleared her throat because even after seven years, she was unable to joke about the punishment that incident had earned her. She coughed. "Well, maybe," and turned her attention back to the goyts. It was almost time for their shift to end.


Drex, in the meanwhile, had talked to Lakhri and Flynt. When he noticed that his shift was coming up, he excused himself and stood.

"I'll need to relieve Eeth and Raven now," he said. "Kaden will be spending the afternoon in his room."

"Lesson didn't go too well, then?" Lakhri inquired. He had already been wondering about the boy's absence, but had assumed he might be doing school work.

"No," said Drex with a small smile. "This is not easy for him. And I know it is not easy for Raven either. But I think it will teach both of them some things in the long run."

Raven would have agreed with Drex's summation; Eeth never forced her to do something without good reason.

Kaden, however, didn't care if this was in his best interest, especially not right now while his ass still hosted the fires of Mustafar. The longer he was left to stew, the more his indignation over it all grew. When his master re-entered to check on him hours later, he was all set to unleash his feelings. Fortunately for him, the mere sight of the man was enough to defeat his rebellion. He really didn't want a run-in with that brush tonight. In fact, the mere thought was enough to bring tears to his eyes. Kaden wasn't the begging sort; instead, he resorted to silent brooding.

This brooding silence stretched on. Kaden could sometimes be like a dog with a bone when it came to his pride and the acceptance of consequences. He sulked quietly over dinner, drawing attention from the other team members and only offering scowls in return.

Flynt had a notion of why the boy was ticked. Then again, he'd suffered through his own trials and like every padawan, he thought his own master was terrifying enough to make any sulking on the part of a peer irrelevant – the possible exception to that being Eeth who possessed both limited tolerance for misbehaviour and was entirely harsh.

Raven would agree with that! Thus, Kaden's sulking was met with a frown and the same impatience that was typical of the way she treated the boy lately. "Knock it off already, you're making everyone miserable. You've no one to blame but yourself," she told him after Flynt had tried to engage him again only to have the boy sulk and brood in response.

"You don't get to bully me out here, save that for our lessons," Kaden told her, his tone malicious. He hadn't meant for it to sound nasty; he was merely a fifteen-year-old teen feeling sad and sorry for himself, and taking that out on everyone else.

Raven didn't care what the underlying cause was, she'd had enough of him for one day. Both apprentices stood, Raven first. Then, not to be outshone, Kaden quickly reciprocating, sending his chair skidding backwards; they were going to kill each other. Raven's fists balled, her jaw clenched, and she squared off; their meal completely forgotten as were the possible repercussions of beating the tar out of her fellow padawan.

Lakhri raised his eyebrows and leaned back in order to watch the fireworks, knowing that it would take neither Eeth nor Drex more than a second to react. He was not disappointed. Both masters rose simultaneously; Eeth abruptly, as he did when he was entirely not pleased, and Drex in his usual unhurried manner.

Flynt followed Lakhri's lead and lent backwards into his chair. He wasn't interested in witnessing the 'fireworks' but given the reaction from Lakhri, he wasn't in the slightest bit surprised when both older masters stood to intervene.

"Padawan, go to our room," Eeth snapped, his glare making clear that he expected to be obeyed instantly. "Meditate. I will be with you in a moment."

"The same goes for you, Kaden," said Drex calmly. "Go."

Raven looked from Kaden to Drex and then to Eeth, her expression morphing from that of irritation to one of fear. "Yes, master," she replied, and despite wanting to kill the kid, she put her fork down onto the plate, pushed in her chair and, after offering a bow, excused herself and left to do as told.

Kaden watched her go, his injured pride still smarting. He wasn't angry, he knew better than that; he was humiliated. "I'm sick of being bossed around and told off by her!" he snapped as he watched the object of his ire retreat to her room.

Drex stepped around the table, took Kaden's upper arm, bent him over and brought his hand down onto the boy's bottom as hard as he could. Given that Kaden was wearing pants, it was probably not all that excruciatingly painful, but it was enough to get his attention, plus it was doubtlessly rather embarrassing.

"I gave you an order, padawan," he said, his tone of voice rather less placid than it normally was. He brought his hand down a second time. "I'm not interested in what you're sick of, I'm interested in being obeyed," he pointed out. "Are you going to, or shall I continue this?"

Both Raven and Flynt winced at the sound of that smack; Raven vicariously as she disappeared into her room and Flynt firsthand.

"Dude…" Flynt said, shaking his head when a second's silence was stretching into several.

Kaden swallowed. Drex was correct on one count, it was horribly embarrassing. It had also hurt. "Ah!" he hissed as the two smacks landed, his hand coming back briefly before returning to the table. "No, I'll go, I'll GO!" he replied through gritted teeth. He knew what was in store for him should he continue to buck the man's authority and he wasn't keen on providing further entertainment any more than he was willing to endure more pain. A moment later, he was on his feet and storming off towards his cabin. Kaden was not taking this in good grace.

Flynt stabbed at a piece of Kaden's discarded sausage, shoving it in his mouth. "Waste not want not?"

Drex sat back down. "Serve yourself," he said. "I will finish my dinner before I deal with this any further."

Eeth nodded and sat down as well. It was surprising how often he and Drex were thinking along the same lines, considering how different they were in many respects. In any case, he did not see why his padawan's lack of self-control should spoil his dinner.

"You sure it's a good idea to force them to continue these lessons?" Lakhri asked both masters noncommittally, picking up his fork again.

"Yes," said Drex and Eeth simultaneously. They paused for a moment; Drex smiled.

"I know how difficult this is, for both of them," Eeth explained. "Raven would have an easier time teaching a younger padawan and one that she does not know, and Kaden doubtlessly would fare better with you or me as a teacher. However, in real life, on actual missions, things will not always be that easy and clear-cut. Raven might find herself in a position of authority over Jedi not much younger than her, or even older; and there might be friends among them. She needs to learn to deal with this, without doubts and ambiguities."

Drex nodded. "And Kaden will have to learn to cope with being at the other end of the hierarchy in such situations," he said. "Raven is in authority over him, and he will have to come to accept that. As usual, his pride is getting in the way. And I don't think it would be a good idea to allow him to indulge it."

"Yeah, I think I see the point," Lakhri said thoughtfully. "Flynt, you wanna take lessons with Raven as well?"

Seeing the uncomprehending expression on Eeth's face, he burst out laughing. "I was just joking," he said. "It's not as if I have it in for Raven. And, Flynt, you're much less prideful than Kaden to start with, I have to say."

Flynt remained silent as the three masters spoke, but he shot Lakhri a brief frown at his joke. "No comment," the teenager replied diplomatically and stuffed another wad of food into his mouth. He wasn't getting into this.

Meanwhile, Raven was feeling rotten. She moved directly to the far wall by her bunk, knelt, put her hands behind her back and started to meditate; she couldn't BELIEVE! she had let that little shit get to her! Was she twelve again? She let her head thunk into the wall; Eeth was going to think she was a youngling all over again!

Eeth and Drex made a point of finishing their dinner in their own time. When everyone was done eating, Lakhri said wryly: "I suppose Flynt and I had better take care of cleaning up."

"Thank you," said Eeth and rose. Drex gave Lakhri a small smile and followed suit.

When Eeth entered their room, he found Raven meditating as he had instructed her, which was no more than he had expected. "You may get up, padawan," he told her in an even tone of voice. He pulled out the desk chair, sat down and pointed her towards the lower bunk. "I sincerely hope that you know why your behaviour was unacceptable," he said curtly. "Tell me."

Tell him? The padawan cringed as she sat. She didn't want to tell him! Her brow furrowed and she swallowed in an effort to muster some courage. "I got angry at Kaden, more so than I should have as a peer or teacher. Deserved or not, it wasn't acceptable to lash out at him. I'm sorry, master." She scrunched up her face and crossed her feet. "Don't. Please..."

"You should not have allowed him to provoke you," Eeth said sternly, completely ignoring her plea. "You are well able to exercise more self-control than this. His attitude was entirely uncalled for and he richly deserved being called to task for it, but you might safely have left that to Drex."

His scrutinising gaze rested on her face for several long moments. "Alright, padawan," he finally said. "To your credit, you obeyed me immediately, you admitted to your mistake, you apologised and you did not try to make excuses. Nonetheless, you behaved in a manner that comes very close to picking a fight; and a fight is what might have happened, had Drex and I not intervened. I will not have it, neither as your master nor as the head of this mission team." He rose and turned the chair around. "Bend over," he ordered unceremoniously.

As Eeth spoke, any hopes that she would get out of this sans punishment began to wither. Eeth rarely praised her for expected obedience these days. That said, nor did she normally lose her composure as spectacularly as she once did. Raven squinted her eyes shut tightly and let out a whimper; she was nineteen now, but that just meant she knew what to fear. She dragged her feet towards the chair and placed herself over the backrest, her hands gripping the edges of the seat tightly.

Given Raven's compliance, Eeth decided to be relatively lenient. He did not tell Raven to bare her bottom, which was something he rarely dispensed with; and he was not using an implement either. Both were privileges he would not have granted a padawan who refused to obey and, when being forced, stomped off in bad grace; he did not imagine that Kaden was faring all too well with that kind of behaviour right now…

But Kaden was not his concern; Raven was. Eeth held Raven down with his left, raised his right hand and brought it down onto his padawan's bottom a dozen times in a steady rhythm, hard. It was by far not the worst he could have handed out, but it was certainly not a token punishment either. Eeth was not the type to mete out token punishments. When he had completed the dozen, he released his hold on Raven and said: "You may stand up."

Raven knew that Eeth was sans paddle, but his hand felt like a damn board; it always did. Thus, when it cracked down onto her small backside, clothed or not, the teen gasped. "Mhmmphuf! Ah, OW!" came the breathless replies to the last few smacks that landed, her face scrunching tightly with each. It had hurt, a lot, but not as badly as she knew it could. It was with that in mind that the teen swiped a hand under her nose, rose and met Eeth's gaze, dry-eyed. "Master… Ow." She rubbed frantically but made it brief, forbearing to hop around as she might have once. She wasn't angry with Eeth; she was, however, not pleased at having been spanked at nineteen years old and it showed on her face.

"Padawan," Eeth said softly. "You have been doing well with Kaden so far. Pull yourself together and carry on. By rising to his provocations and gearing up for a fight with him, you will not earn his respect. On the contrary." He pulled Raven into a hug. "I doubt, though," he said with a rare show of wry humour, "that Kaden has any time right now to think about whether he respects you or not."


… That much was true. Drex had had more than enough of his padawan's attitude and he intended to put a stop to it once and for all. Thus, as he entered their cabin, the expression on his face was uncharacteristically grim.

Kaden was lying on his bed to meditate. When Drex slid open their door, he noted guiltily that the mechanism was delayed, possibly from how hard he'd repeatedly hit the door panel. He was really doing poorly at controlling his temper lately. It wasn't only disgracing himself, it was also reflecting badly on his master. Drex didn't deserve that. The self-pity lasted until he saw the grim expression on the man's face. Fuck. He stood, hands raised, only to lower them again and back up a pace. The problem with that was that the backs of his knees were already pressing into his bunk and he didn't have anywhere to back up to. So he did the only thing he could do: he started begging. "I'm sorry, truly sorry. I won't lose my temper ever again. I swear to all that is sacred that if you let me off I'll not ever do it again. Please master, I can't take another smacking." Kaden would do just about anything to spare himself pain, although for a boy who hated corporal punishment as much as he did, he had a funny way of showing it lately. He just couldn't keep himself out of trouble!

"Stop it, Kaden," Drex ordered firmly. "Your behaviour has been disgraceful, both in your lesson with Raven and during dinner, and you will be soundly punished for it. You have allowed your pride to rule you and I will not have that. Never have, never will. You knew that perfectly well, so if you wanted to avoid punishment, you should simply have behaved accordingly. We are way past the point where your show of contrition will do you any good. Bare your bottom and bend over the chair. I give you thirty seconds. If you take longer, I will add to your punishment."

Drex was not exactly running out of patience here; it was more that he felt it wouldn't do Kaden any good right now to be treated with patience. He would just keep arguing and prolonging the agony.

"No, please!" Kade continued to beg. However, the threat of additional pain had the boy rushing to comply, his hands groping for his belt. He had just managed to fumble it off and was starting on the clasp of his trousers when the sound of a door sliding closed outside, and a single set of heavy, precise footsteps next door, caught his attention. Suddenly he felt sorry for more than himself. His behaviour had probably landed Raven in the shit also. Eeth was not to be fucked with. Then again, she deserved it; she'd been bossing him around! He frowned, his thoughts evoking a sense of misplaced righteousness. He was giving himself whiplash here, as when there was no lighter set of footsteps following Eeth's from their room, he had to wonder why. Was she grounded, did Eeth kick her ass? He wasn't sure but he started to feel bad all over again. The thought didn't last long, though, as Drex cleared his throat, effectively drawing his attention to the fact that he had about ten seconds to bare his bottom and bend over. He did so quickly just as the half minute ticked past.

"I believe I told you tonight's spanking would be with the hairbrush, instead of the paddle, for your refusal to hand me your lightsaber when I asked for it," Drex said. "In light of recent events, I have decided to add a dozen strokes with the belt. Raven is not 'bossing you around', she is your teacher giving you instructions. Any further complaints about that fact, whether in the form of temper tantrums, whining or sulking, and your backside will pay an immediate price. I am done tolerating this attitude of yours. All of us are. Now, wait a moment."

Wait, what? Oh hell no, no! The boy panicked but managed to keep any protestations to himself for now. He absolutely did not want to make this any worse.

When Drex returned, hairbrush in hand, his sense of the Force told him how Kaden was positioned. To get a precise aim, he did the same Eeth had done to Raven, resting his left hand on the small of Kaden's back. Then he raised his right arm and brought the hairbrush down in a heavy swat that rang off the walls of the cabin.

"Ahhoww!" the kid wailed. His hips slammed forward in an effort to put more distance between his ass and the brush. It was no use. With an undetermined number of smacks with the brush and twelve with his belt to look forward to, Kaden threw back his hands. "How many?" he needed to know. He couldn't possibly take this stoically without knowing when his pain would end. He just couldn't.

"As many as I think you deserve," Drex said, a hint of steel in his voice. "Put your hands back in front of you. I will use the Force to restrain you if you don't have enough self-control to stay still."

As willful and headstrong as the boy could be, he was not stupid; disobeying Drex during punishment reliably resulted in one outcome: more pain, a lot more pain! Consequently, his hand was removed immediately and placed back on the chair where he took a death grip on the seat with both hands. "No! OW! Ow! NO! OOWWwahOW!" And so it continued. With each smack of the brush he rose a little higher on his toes, his bottom clenched tightly and his cries increasing in both volume and length until they melted into one long, agonised howl. Kaden wasn't as tall as Drex or Eeth and was utterly dwarfed by Flynt (they all were, for that matter), but he was far more solidly built than any of them. He had once hoped that his solid, muscular frame would spare him some pain, somehow better equip him to handle it physically, but it didn't, not at all.

Drex used the Force to make sure Kaden did not get up and then busied himself swinging the brush. He made every swat count, and he dealt out several dozen of them. There was no fixed number of swats he had in mind; rather, he adapted the length of the spanking to Kaden's reaction, and that meant, in this case, that he was not going to stop before Kaden was as sorry as he could possibly be. Only when the boy was reduced to sobbing did he pause, lay the hairbrush aside and start to undo his belt.

By the time Drex relented, Kaden was bawling for all he was worth, or so he thought… His cries could still ratchet a notch or two, though, as he found out when he heard the sound of Drex unbuckling his belt. "No! N-NO! Please!" the boy wailed. Unabashed, he started to struggle, his earlier lesson in compliance forgotten courtesy of the panic that was now gripping him. He couldn't take a belting! Drex had only ever given him a few licks with his belt before, an experience that had been permanently etched into his mind; if a few hurt, twelve was going to be unbearable. He tried to stand but found he couldn't. As strong in the Force as he was, breaking Drex's hold over him would require concentration as opposed to raw ability. The latter he possessed, the former, it just wasn't happening. "You can't. You can't!"

"Oh, but I will," Drex said implacably. "Your attitude has been appalling. I have tried my best to convince you to settle down without going this far, but you obviously weren't interested. You knew exactly what to expect for disobedience, temper tantrums, indulging your pride and, above all, using the Force in ways that might endanger your instructor, but you chose to ignore that. Now you're paying the price, and I'm not going to make any bargains." By this point, he had taken the utilities off his belt, including his and Kaden's lightsabers, and placed them on the desk. Then he doubled the belt over in his hand and brought it down onto Kaden's bottom smartly – by far not at full force, of course, but he doubted that Kaden was going to notice.

Yes, Kaden knew what to expect but that didn't mean he had to like it, just that he had to do his best to accept it. Well, that was easier said than done. He arched his back at that first lick, kicked his legs back at the second and by the fifth he was squirming uncontrollably. He couldn't help it. "Stop! P-please STOP!" he wailed but received no clemency, just another hard whack of the belt that seemed hell-bent on branding itself, maker's moniker and all, across his ass. "Owwww!" He'd have shot upright in an instant if only he could do more than wriggle around. The noise emanating from the boy would have been enough to deafen the entire ship, although he was pretty sure his master prevented that humiliation. It was a small mercy. Not that the distress he was radiating through the Force was going to be overlooked by their team; his shields were down and his agony palpable.

Drex did his best to shield the rest of the team from that as well, but he was sure it would still be noticeable. Then again, nobody was likely to be particularly surprised about the fact that Kaden was just receiving some serious punishment. And this was possibly among the most serious punishments Kaden had ever received. After all, he was fifteen now and they were on a mission. Drex simply expected a lot more self-control from him than he had shown, and he expressed his displeasure through the determination with which he swang the belt.

When he had completed the dozen, his left hand left Kaden's back. Drex took his time reattaching his belt and utilities and rearranging his clothing. Only then did he release the Force restraint on his padawan.

The second that last smack cracked across his ass, the boy tried to spring up and rub, but found that he still couldn't move. He was crying too hard to form coherent sentences which meant he wasn't left with a choice; he'd have to wait until Drex let him up. The time it took Drex to put his belt back on seemed to stretch on for an eternity and prolonged his agony. All he wanted to do was rub his ass! When finally he was able to move, the kid jumped to his feet and started bouncing around. Both his hands immediately shot to his blazing ass cheeks. He went up on his toes and arched his back, his face contorted with pain. He didn't care that his junk was swinging around in the breeze, or that he was failing to take this like a man. "Fuck, it hurts!" he managed between sobs. He was pretty sure that Drex had never smacked him this hard before. Apparently, he was lethal with a belt; it was a hard lesson but not something he was going to forget any time soon.

Drex left Kaden to his jumping and rubbing for a moment. He went to put the hairbrush back in its usual place in the bathroom and returned with a couple of handkerchiefs. He handed them to Kaden and, when it seemed that the boy was calming down, he pulled him into a hug. "I know it hurts," he said sympathetically. "Do you see why you might have deserved it, though? Or do I need to explain?"

The handkerchief and hug were both accepted, the hug a little stiffly as Kade had not yet forgiven Drex for dealing out such a memorable punishment. He pulled back and blew his nose. Then, after kicking off his boxer shorts, he carefully pulled his trousers back up. The pain had settled into a steady burn by now, which was good because it meant it wasn't going to build any more. Kaden pouted at the floor, his arms folded across his chest. He didn't want to sit, he couldn't! So standing was the only option right now. "You didn't have to do it so hard," was his sullen response to Drex's question. Both hands were still rubbing at the seat of his trousers, and he could feel the heat off his ass radiating through the material.

"That," said Drex, "you will leave up to me to decide." His normally serene voice was hard as he said it, which was quite a rare occurrence and told Kaden that he was treading on very thin ice here. "I asked you a question," he told Kaden. "I have not received a satisfactory answer. In fact, I have not received an answer at all, only another complaint. Under the circumstances, that means you're asking for even more trouble than you've already been in tonight." He pointed at the floor. "Start doing push-ups," he ordered. "Maybe some physical activity will help you come up with an idea of what, exactly, was wrong with your behaviour to earn you such a spectacular punishment." He was entirely serious, too.

Okay, so Kade had not expected that. The boy's mouth gaped open, and he looked from Drex's finger to the spot it indicated on the floor. Unwilling to disobey, he let out a groan, kicked at the floor and knelt to begin. He didn't want to do this. He was still pissed off over having gotten the belting of his young life; it was still hurting, a lot! Deciding to try getting out of this, he looked up at the man. "I deserved it because I can't lose my temper like that, it's dangerous," he tried while holding himself in a high push-up position, without beginning to perform actual push-ups.

"Yes, that's a start," Drex said, pleased that this method seemed to be working. He would not feel comfortable with punishing Kaden's bottom any further, so he had resorted to a different type of discipline – with apparent success.

"Go on," he told Kaden. "Push-ups. Let's see if they help you come up with more reasons than that because there are. Quite a number of them."

Again, the boy groaned, only this time it was because he'd failed to get out of it despite having given what he considered an acceptable answer. Resigned, he started working. Kaden was muscular and heavy-set so push-ups, in the short term, weren't going to pose much of a problem for him. They would, however, cause him pain if Drex kept him at it for too long, something he was all too aware of. "It's not Jedi-like, and you ordered me not to lose my temper," he said quickly, trying to get out the right answers before his arms started aching.

"Yes," said Drex. He turned around the chair over which Kaden had bent a few minutes ago and sat down as if he had all the time in the world, which he did. "And what caused you to display such behaviour, despite knowing full well that it is unacceptable?" he inquired.

"My temper," Kaden replied a little too quickly; he wasn't enjoying this at all.

"If you absolutely don't want to make an effort," Drex said, leaning back in his chair, "that's your own choice. Feel free to continue doing push-ups, then. Alternatively, you might think about what caused your temper. And what caused me to hand out not only a punishment, but one that you will hopefully remember for a long time."

"I am making an effort!" Kade said with exasperation as he forced himself to continue. He wasn't in discomfort yet but knew that once he got into the triple digits, it was going to become another story. A small film of sweat that had formed while enduring the belting from hell reappeared across his forehead as he concentrated. What else was he supposed to say? "I lost my temper because…" He stopped just before blurting out that Raven was bossing him around. He swallowed and swiped his forehead on his shirt; he was starting to get hot now and wished he'd had the good sense to take off his shirt before starting this. "Because I let my frustration get to me and used the Force to take it out on Raven which is dangerous, and why you whipped me within an inch of my life with the belt from hell," he said in a run-on sentence, the last word of which came out with a grunt as his weaker arm started to feel the strain of repeated effort. It was an exaggeration, of course. He was still very much alive. However, at the time he'd thought it touch and go.

"And you were frustrated because…?" Drex asked leisurely, propping his left foot on his right knee. If Kaden could either not see or not admit that it was his pride – and his resulting resentful attitude towards his Ataru lessons – that was the issue here, that was just too bad for him.

"Because…" Well, he didn't know why. Or, he did but wasn't sure how to put it. He thought for a while, but the longer he took, the harder his work got and the slower he started to move. "Because the lesson was frustrating me. I don't know what you want me to say, just tell me so I can say it and stop? Please."

"No, you know exactly why the lesson was frustrating you," Drex said firmly. "You simply don't want to admit it, possibly not even to yourself. If I had asked Eeth to teach you, instead of Raven, I'm sure the lessons would have been harder, but a lot less frustrating to you. Why?"

"Because Eeth isn't a girl who's meant to be my friend and who I find it hard to take orders from," Kaden grunted.

"And why," asked Drex relentlessly, "would there be anything wrong with finding it hard to take orders from her – and acting on that, instead of trying to conquer that sentiment?"

Kaden's ass hurt, it really did, and now his arms were burning to boot. All he wanted to do was stop and rub the burn out of his arms, but he didn't dare disobey Drex again. "Because it's prideful. Jedi don't let their pride interfere with their duty." It had been hard for him to say, and he hoped it was enough because he honestly didn't know what else the man wanted to hear from him.

"You know," Drex said when Kaden was struggling through another push-up, "one day you might find yourself on a mission where a Jedi not much older than you, possibly even a friend, is in charge of you. And if your pride gets in the way of your duty then, it might turn out to be fatal. You have to understand that when someone is in authority over you, you obey. Period. That's a lesson you need to learn, and you need to learn it now. You got into huge trouble twice over exactly the same kind of issue. There will be no third time, not if I have a say in it. Am I making myself clear?"

Kaden was struggling now; he'd lost his mental tally at around eighty. His arms were burning, his ass was burning, and if that wasn't bad enough, the lecture Drex was hitting him with was making him feel worse. He sniffled once, but held it back; he wasn't going to start crying over this. He knew he had issues with authority, and that this was something he had to constantly work on. He pushed out another two before the question registered. The expected: "Yes, master," that followed was noticeably pained. He wasn't going to make that mistake again. The cost was just too high, not to mention the fact that he could have prevented losing his shit with Raven. All he had to do was tell her he needed help and she'd have gone for Drex, he knew that.

Drex saw that he was finally getting through to Kaden. "Good," he said calmly. "Then you may stop now. Tomorrow morning, I want you to apologise to everyone for your behaviour, and to Raven individually for your attitude during your lessons with her. I don't care how humiliating you find it, you will do it unless you want a repeat of tonight."

The second those words left the man's mouth, Kaden flopped onto his stomach. After all, he wasn't about to try sitting down again. His arms were competing with his ass, and his face scrunched from the pain. What Drex said next had him on his feet and ready to protest, but fortunately for him, the rest of those words sank in, and he closed his mouth again. Would he honestly repeat this tomorrow night? The notion was simply too horrifying to bear and both his hands came back to cover his backside at the thought. He swiped at his eyes. He wasn't crying, but much to his consternation, tears had started to form once again. He remained silent, brooding over this turn of events. His master was being entirely too hard on him, or so he thought then. In years to come, he'd thank the man for his approach.

Drex knew that Kaden thought him too harsh. And he did not enjoy doing this to his apprentice; but he was convinced of the necessity, were Kaden ever to become a Jedi Knight. He came to stand next to Kaden and rested a gentle hand on his back. "I know you're hurting, and probably not happy with me," he said softly. "I would rather have avoided that. But my priority is to prevent you from failing to reach knighthood. Not to torture you, as you have been known to claim."

He thought about how to proceed from here. Today, Kaden had crossed several lines, repeatedly, and when it should have been abundantly clear that there would be repercussions. He had not had such a streak in a long time but it had been known to happen in earlier years. And when it had, any lenience that Drex had shown Kaden had reliably backfired. Drex had come to the conclusion that Kaden sometimes needed him to follow a zero-tolerance policy. He had once done so where their workouts were concerned; and now, Drex thought it was high time to tackle Kaden's foolish pride that way.

"Padawan, if your pride is getting in your way as much as is the case during this mission," he told Kaden, "this cannot be allowed to continue. From here on, and at least until the end of this mission, any amount of obstinacy, attitude, temper tantrums, disobedience and disrespect will have immediate consequences. There will be no warnings. You need to pull yourself together and make a real effort at conquering your pride. And until I see such an effort, I will provide deterrents. Do you understand?"

As Drex spoke, Kaden slowly regained his equilibrium. His tears were drying up, his arms had stopped burning, and he was feeling less like he wanted to crawl into a hole and never come out. Pity his ass wasn't following suit; that still stung and burned as badly as it had before. His gaze snapped up at hearing the man's closing statement. Kaden knew what that meant, and he didn't like it. Sure, it was effective in changing his behaviour, but copping a physical reminder at each failure was a hard way to learn. "No, please. I'll do better. I will!" he pleaded. However, the truth was, Kaden wasn't sure he could do this without Drex's guidance, as unwelcome as that guidance could be at times.

"Oh, please do," Drex replied, unfazed. "What I said still stands, though. Whether I have to follow through with it will depend entirely on you."

"But we're on a mission, a crowded mission! What can I do to prove that I've learned and you don't need to do this?" Kaden was careful to keep his tone respectful. If Drex was employing a zero-tolerance policy on his attitude, he needed to start really watching how he acted.

"Simple," said Drex. "Don't act up and I won't need to spank you."

As far as Kaden was concerned, there was nothing simple about that. He rarely, if ever, acted up on purpose, he just seemed to get himself into it somehow. Yeah, that was how it happened... The boy's face scrunched in obvious discomfort, not that Drex could see it, but he did not argue further. He might not be happy with Drex or his proclamation, but nor did he blame him, not really. "I don't mean to lose my temper. I know it's dangerous. I don't want to be a danger to people." He meant that, too. Kaden was powerful and he knew that if he ever truly let himself go, he could do some serious damage, not just to others but to himself, too. He was starting to feel like the only thing standing between him and the Dark Side was his master's commitment not to let him fall. The thought was sobering. He was beginning to spiral in his own self-pity, so he did the only thing he knew would work: he reached out both physically and through the Force, wanting the comfort of a hug as well as the safety to let his emotions go.

Drex readily responded to Kaden's unspoken need, wrapping his arms around him and linking with him through the Force. He opened his shields and invited Kaden to let go of his emotions. Channelling Kaden's negative emotions into the Force was often hard work, for both of them; harder than it had been with any of Drex's previous apprentices, with the possible exception of Taishin. But Drex had never shirked away from it. He knew that Kaden needed it; and what was more, he was consistently teaching Kaden to ask for it when his anger or frustration were threatening to take over. Kaden was making a lot of progress, but he was not quite there yet, which was why his lightsaber was currently dangling from Drex's belt. And Drex was under no illusion that this was going to be the last time. The important thing was that Kaden was making an effort, though, and he was – most of the time. When he was not, he could rely on Drex to force him, unpleasant though that might be.