Flynt emerged from his cabin still half asleep, one hand carding through his scruffy hair and the other scratching his balls. "Morning, grandmaster," he managed through a yawn. Eeth had apparently started making breakfast, and it smelled delicious. "Anything I can do to help?" he offered.

Eeth's scrutinising gaze slid down from Flynt's dishevelled hair to the hand at his crotch. "You might start by making yourself presentable and minding your manners," he said rather severely. "I do not know whether Lakhri approves of this type of entry, but I do not, as you should well know."

It was just far too early in the morning to be scolded, still. With a speed that belied his semi-conscious state, Flynt's hand shot from scratching his junk and moved to help smooth over his sleep-tousled hair. He was about to apologise and backtrack into his room when Drex entered the galley.

"I've always thought that being blind has its advantages," Drex remarked. "Do I pass muster, Eeth?"

Eeth snorted. "You know you do," he said.

He couldn't help it; Flynt started laughing, and not just a snicker, a full belly laugh that seemed to start from his toes. He clapped the elderly Jedi on the back and left, still laughing and wiping tears from his eyes; he did like Drex.

It was about then that Raven entered. Her long blonde hair hung loose but dry and was brushed straight, her uniform was immaculate, and boots polished to a shine. She glanced over her shoulder at hearing laughter coming from Lakhri's and Flynt's room and raised a brow. "Master," she bowed, then turned to the Hrakian. "Master Zaryth," she intoned. "Uh, what did I miss?" she asked, looking from Eeth to Drex.

"Nothing important," said Eeth curtly, busying himself with stirring the fruit sauce he was cooking to go with the spiced porridge he had prepared.

Drex grinned. "Eeth told Flynt off for his appearance," he told Raven. "I couldn't see it, obviously. But since Eeth seems to feel responsible for our looks, I asked him whether I pass muster. Flynt found it funny, apparently."

"I do not feel responsible for your looks," Eeth pointed out, carrying the porridge to the table. "Having breakfast with people in pyjama pants and messy hair simply irritates me, and I know that Flynt knows it. He might have shown some consideration."

"Certainly," said Drex mildly, sitting down. "I made a joke, Eeth. No reason to justify yourself."

Eeth raised his eyebrows. It had been a long time since someone had last told him he was seeking to justify himself. But it was probably true. It was a feeling he was not quite used to.

It was at that moment that Kaden entered. The boy had donned his tunic – something he wouldn't usually have bothered with – but he wasn't keen on pissing anyone off given the last few days. He stretched tall, glanced at Raven who looked… Well, like she was trying to keep from laughing. Weirdos… he thought, scrubbing a hand through his spiky padawan's cut. "Morning all," he greeted them and moved to stand by Drex.

"Good morning," said Eeth, setting the fruit sauce onto the table. "Now, where is Lakhri? I am afraid I will have to…"

"You won't have to do anything," Lakhri said mildly, ambling into the galley, showered and dressed, with Flynt in tow. "Besides, it's not even as if any of us, besides you two, will have terribly much to do today. But Flynt told me you made breakfast. Thanks. I appreciate it."

"You always appreciate food," Eeth pointed out, motioning for everyone to sit down.

"True," said Lakhri, pulling back a chair. "But I appreciate food that you make more. First, because you went to the effort, and second because you're a good cook. This smells great."

"It does," agreed Drex, handing his bowl to Kaden who usually served both of them since it was faster that way.

Kaden accepted the bowl, quickly serving his master, and then himself before passing it on to Raven. He was enjoying the banter around their table without input for now.

"It does, and it's far better than that bantha snot we had to eat on our last mission," Flynt commented, taking the bowl from Raven. After serving himself, he passed it on. "How much longer do you think we'll be here?" he asked nobody in particular.

"We shouldn't take too long. I need a couple of days to observe. Oh, and having master there will help speed that process along. But just a little," Raven teased the man, shooting Eeth a cheeky expression.

"True," said Eeth, unfazed. "I am not much good with animals. Raven was better than me even during her first year as a padawan."

Raven rolled her eyes; she had been joking, but she was well used to Eeth by now and let it slide.

"Don't worry about it," said Lakhri solemnly. "It's good for character-building, not being top at everything."

Drex grinned at that.

"Would you be willing to give Kaden another Ataru lesson today?" he asked Lakhri.

"Sure," Lakhri agreed. "When would you like me to?"

"I thought Kaden and I might explore a bit this morning, and maybe have a workout in the woods," said Drex. "He's been cooped up most of the day yesterday, after all. How about the afternoon?"

"No problem," Lakhri said cheerfully. "Flynt and I might go for a swim in the morning, then. He needs to practice using his robotic arm for swimming."

"Is that thing waterproof?" Kaden queried. It hadn't occurred to him until then that having a mechanical arm might pose a few disadvantages he hadn't considered.

"Sure is," Flynt replied cheerfully, ignoring Kaden's choice of words. "It's not as heavy as you might think. Biomechanics have improved out of sight over the last few decades; I'm glad they made me wait until I was older."

Kaden nodded, took another mouthful, swallowed than asked: "Are you planning to keep it looking like that?" he gestured to the robotic arm, the gnarled, mechanical fingers of which looked entirely alien while holding the spoon.

Flynt shrugged, then pointed the spoon at his master briefly. "Lakhri says I should have the synthflesh covering as there are advantages to concealing a strength, also a potential weakness. I guess it might freak the hell out of some people, I dunno." he paraphrased the man's comments. Lakhri hadn't ordered him to do it, though, at least not yet.

Kaden considered this for a moment. "So, if you're planning to get it covered, why didn't they just clone you an arm and be done with it?" he pressed, his interest piqued.

Raven snorted.

Flynt just chuckled. "Who do you think we are, Muun Imperialists or something?" Flynt guffawed. Upon receiving nothing more than a blank expression, he elaborated. "Cybernetic replacements are cheap, effective and safe. Cloning limbs is none of those."

"I doubt the Temple would fund such an extravagance. We rely on taxes after all," Raven added her two credits' worth.

Kaden's brow furrowed slightly at that. Secretly, he thought that, in light of the fact that they devoted their lives to protecting the galaxy, at the least, they could give Flynt a proper arm! He said nothing of his thoughts, though. Over the course of breakfast, Flynt continued fielding questions about his arm. That was until they started discussing exactly how the synth-net neural interface connected to his own flesh and he made to pull up his sleeve.

"Eww, no, seriously. I'm trying to eat breakfast, you two are putting me off my porridge," Raven complained. She was only half-serious, but still…

After breakfast, Drex offered to do the dishes, together with Kaden. Eeth and Raven left to observe the goyts while Lakhri took Flynt to the beach. Lakhri was not a good swimmer due to the shortness of his arms and legs, but he had learned to draw on the Force in order to enhance his abilities and could hold his own.

Flynt had never been a good swimmer either, thanks to his disfigured arm, and he was not quite as good at using the Force to cover up his physical disabilities as Lakhri. Nevertheless, Lakhri had taken him swimming regularly to make sure he had at least average skill. He was interested to see what Flynt was going to be able to do with his new arm or whether the stronger robotic limb would cause him to swim in circles.

When they had cleaned up the kitchen, Drex asked Kaden: "What would you like to do for a workout? Shall we go swimming, too? Or practice kata somewhere in the woods? Have a Soresu lesson? Climb trees?" He tried to make use of the available natural terrain during missions whenever they had the time and opportunity to do so. It might come in handy any time, and besides, it was a change from the monotonous Temple routine.

"Let's climb trees. I haven't done that since crèche. I used to spend hours of my free time doing that. K'Mi was always telling me off for going up too high," Kade replied. He had made an effort to visit her after Drex apprenticed him and she had taken time out to catch up with the latest in his life. She always did.

And so they found themselves two hours later, some twenty meters up and perched on a sturdy limb. Lucia was a uniquely beautiful planet. Kaden sat next to his master describing the view he had from this vantage point. Lucia had such a diversity of bizarre plants, fungi, and animals that he honestly could have talked for days. "When the sun shines on this part of Lucia, the environment glitters almost like it's made out of glass. I know that probably won't mean much to you but it really is something else too see. The galligrubs are similar to the goyts; strong ties to the Living Force." Kaden picked one up and dropped the wriggling grub into Drex's palm. "Slimy."

Drex listened to Kaden's descriptions attentively and smiled as he felt the wriggling grub on his hand. He had sensed them through the Force, of course, but had had no idea what they were like, other than their small size.

"Slimy indeed," he said drily, placing the galligrub carefully on the branch below from where it crawled away.

Kade pulled at a waxy leaf, his thoughts back on what Flynt had said earlier about cybertronics. "Aren't you curious to know what you're missing?" he said out of the blue, then expanded; as perceptive as the man was, it was a bit much to expect him to know what he was referring to. "Cybernetics, I mean. You could always turn them off if it bothered you."

"I used to think about it in earlier days," replied Drex. "It would have meant removing the eyes I was born with, though; and it would have required a lengthy adaptation process during which I would not have been much use. And ultimately, it would have meant for surgeons to meddle with my brain. It would have been a much more difficult and sensitive procedure than the one Flynt had. With a bit of a risk involved, too. The option just never really appealed to me and I was never pressured to have it performed either."

He smiled at Kaden. "I suppose I do miss out on things, yes," he said. "So do people who aren't Force-sensitive, but it doesn't seem to bother them much, does it? Anyway, I've been told I'm too old now. My brain wouldn't adapt."

"I wouldn't want anyone fishing around inside my head either. It's bad enough being in there by myself," Kaden stated, oblivious to the amusement such an honest statement from someone his age might cause an adult of Drex's years.

They sat there for a while longer as Kaden continued explaining the scenery, then moved on to the next tree. It was around lunchtime when the two arrived back at the ship.

"Have fun?" Flynt asked, smiling at the two as they approached.

"Yeah. I wouldn't mind some time here just to explore. I won't hold my breath," answered Kaden.

Flynt shrugged. "Stranger things have happened at sea."

"Speaking of sea, did you sink?" Kaden asked.

"Nope. As I said, it's not heavy. It's not much heavier than a normal arm. The extra power compensated for the loss of forwarding momentum, though," he explained. Upon seeing the puzzled expression, he held out his arm and elaborated. "Imagine trying to paddle a boat with an oar full of holes." He looked down at his master who had come out as he was speaking with Kaden and Drex. "I think you might be right about the synthflesh covering. I'll have it done when we return." At first, Flynt hadn't cared to get this final procedure, but it would appear he was finding more and more reasons to make that trip back to the healers. He shuddered at the thought. Having his arm amputated had been more of an ordeal for him than he let on. It had truly terrified him, but the only one who knew that was Lakhri. He guessed this was why the man had yet to force him to have it completed. Perhaps he was giving him time.

Kaden looked at Drex. "Are Eeth and Raven coming back for lunch, or are we cooking for just the four of us?"

Lakhri and Drex decided to just have a quick meal of spaceship food plus some fruit and vegetables from outside. They could cook properly tonight when Eeth and Raven came back.

After lunch, both masters took an hour or so to discuss their padawans' progress in their academic work with them. In Flynt's case this was mostly his robotics project; with Kaden, it was an array of lessons he had had to work on in the past weeks.

They had just closed Kaden's math file when Lakhri knocked on their door. "Ready for your Ataru lesson?" he asked Kaden cheerfully, sticking his head inside.

Kaden stood, stretched out his back and neck and turned towards the door where Lakhri was waiting for him. "Yes," he said and held out his hand towards Drex for his saber. He had hated that Drex had given it to Lakhri instead; it had bothered him that the man wouldn't even let him carry it 20 meters. How much longer did he have to wait anyway? Drex had had his lightsaber for what felt like an eternity to him. His brow furrowed slightly at his thoughts, but he wisely said nothing.

Drex paused a little, but then relented and handed Kaden his saber. "When you're done, give it back to me," he said. "I will go outside for a workout of my own for a while, but I should be back in an hour or so."

"Sure, no problem," said Lakhri. "We're going to be in the big cargo hold. Flynt will do some kata practice while I work with Kaden, and they can practice sparring again later."

Drex's hesitation caused Kaden to swallow; if there was one thing worse than having your lightsaber handed to another master, it was asking for it, being denied and then watching as it was handed over to another master. Thus, when the man put it in his hand, Kaden didn't argue at being reminded that it had to be handed back – not that he would have, at least not lately anyway.

The lesson with Lakhri and Flynt went smoothly. Kade enjoyed listening to the two banter; their easy exchanges were making it hard to believe that the small master had handed him his ass last lesson. It was not that it had been a particularly memorable ass-kicking. Still, it had been plenty embarrassing enough, and the man had a swing on him that he had not anticipated.

An hour and a half later, a sweaty, tired-out padawan followed the pair from the cargo bay, intent on having a shower. It was then that he recalled Lakhri and Flynt had spent the morning swimming. After finding out where to go, he entered the galley to ask Drex if they could swim.

Drex readily obliged and took Kaden to the lake. He also brought a fishing rod with him. The water was quite cold, but it was sunny outside and the air was warm. Drex really thought that Kaden deserved a reward for keeping things together, especially since they had no pressing duties right now.

"I'll try to catch us some fish after our swim," he told Kaden. "You're free to enjoy your time in whatever way you like. I don't assume there are any dangers here."

And Kaden did enjoy his time. He swam, first with Drex and then alone as the man fished. The rare time out to himself was appreciated as much as the carefree afternoon. He kept his antics away from where Drex was fishing so as not to scare his quarry.

When the man had not caught anything after the first half hour, Kaden contemplated asking Raven to help. "She might just lure them in and, presto, no fishing rod required," he commented. Drex informed him, though, that Raven's affinity with animals meant that she didn't like to eat them, let alone lure them into a position where they'd be killed in order to be eaten! "I guess you'll have to do it the hard way then," Kade acquiesced, still keeping his distance so as not to thwart the man's efforts.

Dinner that evening was a combination of the fish Drex had finally caught, some lightly steamed tubers, a leafy herb and spice salad with squares of some sweet pear-like pitcher plant that Flynt had found the other day, and a dressing that Eeth had come up with that complemented both perfectly. It was delicious.

"One more day and we'll be done," Raven said after swallowing another bite of her dinner.

"About time, too," Flynt added. He was eager to get back to the temple and finish off his robotics project.

Kaden, too, had had enough of the goyts – not that he complained, mind you!

In the course of their observations that day, Eeth and Raven had discovered that the goyts' presence enhanced the growth rate of the Force-sensitive flora on Lucia, which was a huge discovery and one that cemented this planet as the perfect one for the goyts.

During dinner, Drex and the other masters were discussing this, and their plans for tomorrow. Lakhri and Drex decided to take a trip to the mainland with their padawans after breakfast. There was some volcanic activity in an area that should only take an hour or so to reach with a shuttle. It might be interesting to explore.

"We could take food and stay there for the day," said Lakhri. "There's no reason why we can't do workouts and sparring lessons outside."

"Let us just hope it does not rain," Eeth commented. "It looked like rain tonight. Maybe the clouds will drift off overnight, though."

The weather, however, did not do them any such favour. By the next morning, it was raining heavily and the sky was a uniform dark grey in all directions.

"Your personal comfort aside, do you think you will be able to complete your work under these circumstances?" Eeth asked Raven as they stood at the hatch and looked outside into the torrents of rain. He knew that Raven would work in the pouring rain without complaint if need be, and so would he, but the question was whether there was any point.

"My personal comfort aside," she reiterated, barely resisting the urge to roll her eyes. It's hard to say. It didn't rain on Barslaa while we were there so I have no idea how they will react to it. It might be worth braving it in order to find out."

"I'm sure not even goyts are crazy enough to go out in this," Flynt commented, stepping up behind the two and sticking his head out.

"Well, what else would they do?" asked Eeth. The goyts had not been here for long enough to build burrows that protected them against the rain; but at the rate it was raining, they might have had to leave them anyway for fear of being drowned. The trees were not going to offer them much protection either.

"Alright, we will check," he decided. "If we find that this is pointless, we will simply have to return to the ship and stay for a day longer."

"I was going to say it cannot possibly be as bad as Larivan," said Lakhri, stepping up behind him, "but on second thought, I will reconsider that statement." Larivan had been the location of the first mission he had conducted with Eeth and Raven, seven years ago. It had simply never ceased to rain on that planet.

"Yes, that is why we will wear raincoats," Eeth said drily. As a matter of fact, he had brought the RainTex coat he had bought on Larivan. Unfortunately, Raven's did not fit her any longer and she had to make do with standard Temple fare which was by far not as good, although it was certainly better than nothing.

"No volcanoes, then," said Drex as Lakhri returned to the galley and informed them of the state of affairs.

"No, definitely not," said Lakhri.

Kaden followed Drex, stuck his head through the group of Jedi that had gathered at the hatch and frowned. "Blast. I was looking forward to that," he said through a sigh; an extra day spent in the ship wasn't exactly thrilling news to him. He glanced at Drex briefly, wondering if he'd let him plan his own day or if he'd organise it for him.

"Wouldn't be much fun having to trudge through this," Raven commented and went back inside to get her rain gear. A few minutes later she emerged to find Flynt had started making breakfast. "What you making?" she enquired, lifting the lid on a pot and taking a whiff.

"It's supposed to be… Hmm, never mind." Flynt leant over the open pot of what was meant to be a recipe of cooked cereal and frowned. "Oh well, I started on pancakes in case it tastes like a Hutt's ass."

"Dare I ask how you know what a Hutt's ass tastes like?"

Flynt grinned mischievously. "I'm a man of many talents".

"Ew! The image, the image!" Raven dropped the lid and made to leave the kitchen only to run smack bang into Eeth. "Oh, master, sorry." She gave him a cheeky grin as he steadied her. "Flynt is busy making a Hutt's ass out of our breakfast," she supplied helpfully.

Eeth raised his eyebrows. "I had better prevent the worst, then," he said wryly. He hung his bag of gear across his chair and stepped over to the stove to make sure that breakfast was going to be edible.

Half an hour later, Eeth had indeed prevented a disaster. He and Raven set off while the rest cleaned up the kitchen. "Same procedure as yesterday?" asked Lakhri. "Meaning, Ataru lesson an hour after lunch?"

"If that suits you," replied Drex, "it sounds fine. Kaden, we can do some kata work now, and then lessons. There is little point in going outside."

Kaden put the last of their dishes into the steriliser and finished wiping the table. A cleaning droid was buzzing around their feet, busy sucking up what had splattered onto the floor during the pancake making.

He followed Drex to the cargo bay and extended a hand for his weapon, his expression dour. "Can I have it back yet?" he asked. He hated being without his weapon, especially so given that he had built this one and had a strong connection to the crystals inside.

"We've been through the whole issue of patience, padawan," said Drex calmly. "You'll receive your saber back when I decide to give it to you, not when you ask me to. Trust me, I have not forgotten about it."

He unclipped Kaden's saber from his belt and handed it to the boy. "I want it back after the lesson," he said. "If Kaden was good during the next two or three lessons with Lakhri and Raven, Drex was planning to give him his saber back. But only then. And he was not going to tell that to Kaden because this was about a change of attitude, not about keeping this together for a limited amount of time in order to earn a reward.

The boy closed his eyes tightly. He hated this punishment, really, really hated it. He inclined his head in deference to the man's instructions but said nothing else that lesson unless asked a question. He wasn't sulking per se; he was just tired of being punished. He had managed to get himself into a world of trouble this mission, and that, too, was weighing on the typically trouble-free apprentice. It was always over his pride, his anger, his temper; Kaden rarely outright disobeyed or got into the typical padawan troubles. Sometimes, he wondered what was worse.

When Drex called the lesson to an end, the boy disignited his weapon and reluctantly handed it back. It grated, but there wasn't exactly anything he could do about it.

Drex realised that the monotony of this latest part of their trip wasn't helping, but with the rain pouring down outside, there was little they could do about it. Lakhri and he had been looking forward to taking their apprentices around on the planet, but unless Eeth and Raven decreed an extension of their stay, it seemed as if it wasn't going to happen.

Just like yesterday, they had a quick lunch after which Drex went through a couple of lessons with Kaden.

About an hour later, Lakhri arrived at their room to collect Kaden for their Ataru lesson.

"Here you go, padawan," Drex said, handing Kaden his saber.

Wordlessly, Kaden accepted his weapon, all the while attempting to hide the fact that having his lightsaber doled out to him as needed caused him embarrassment. Despite being able to outstride the small master well, he found himself deliberately slowing his gait so that Lakhri could precede him. He let out a sigh as they passed a window; the sky was black, and the rain was coming down in sheets. "I hope Eeth and Raven are okay," he commented, entering the cargo bay to find Flynt warming up on the opposite side.

"They'll live," Flynt commented. He held his saber in his left. He'd been working through manoeuvres designed to strengthen the connection between his mechanical arm and his weapon. It was going well. However, he still needed to improve his fine motor skills. His reflexes were also touch and go. He had accidentally snapped a metal spoon clean in half when it had dropped to the floor, and he had instinctively reached out to catch it. Yeah, he had to watch that for the first few months, according to the healers. He disignited his lightsaber, clipped it to his belt and moved to stand facing the two, waiting for Lakhri to give instructions.

Meanwhile, Kaden appeared a little impatient to get started, as he often did.

"We'll do this separately first, like yesterday," Lakhri said. "I'll continue teaching Kaden the moves we've worked on. Flynt, you could work on the Strong Winds kata in the meanwhile. Slowly. In an our or so, the two of you can spar against each other." The Strong Winds kata involved a lot of switching one's saber from one hand to the other; it was going to be good practice for Flynt.

"Like yesterday," Flynt reiterated jovially. He really wasn't fazed by the sort of exercises they did. Thus, he moved out of the way and began to run through the kata. At seventeen years old, Flynt had a solid grasp on the Force, and his style was well on the way to establishing itself. He did, however, tend to rush things, a flaw that this kata was wholly unforgiving over. This was something Flynt knew from experience as he'd fumbled his blade many times by trying to go faster than his mechanical arm could manage.

Kaden, for his part, followed the instructions as bade. Lakhri was a good teacher, and he wanted more from him, but the man kept him at the same level as the previous day. Did he not get to advance? Would he be doing the same thing over and over, day in, day out? Apparently So. The boy knew that it wasn't his place to question this, that his teachers knew best, but that just made it worse; he didn't get to advance, AND he wasn't allowed to voice his discontent. It was at times like this that being a Jedi was a constant fight for Kaden; intrinsically, he knew what was expected of him yet it felt like something inside was pushing him to rebel.

Lakhri sensed that Kaden was struggling with frustrations, and this only seemed to get worse as the lesson progressed. "Alright," he finally said, calling the lesson to a stop. "Kaden, I don't want your temper to take over. Meditate for a moment. Flynt, I think it's better if I go against Kaden first. If it goes well, we might switch later. You can take a break and watch if you like."

His temper was something Kaden knew well. Having Lakhri state that it was getting more than he could handle rankled. Still, he disignited his saber and stepped aside. "For the record, I am well able to determine when my temper is taking over. Now it is not," he stated crisply. It was the only way he could object to the instruction without actually disobeying it, while still giving the man a chance to listen to him and withdraw the order.

It would seem that Lakhri was making himself unpopular at the moment because Flynt frowned; he didn't like being told he couldn't handle something, even if he would agree himself. Unlike Kaden, though, the teen said nothing and sat on a crate to watch; this ought to be interesting if nothing else.

Lakhri glared at both of them, having registered Flynt's displeasure through their bond and thinking it inappropriate. "Your temper might not be taking over right now, but I don't want it to happen in the near future either," Lakhri replied curtly to Kaden's comment. "Meditate for five minutes. Then we will spar." He just hoped Kaden had it in himself to obey a simple instruction when it was given for the second time because if he did not, Lakhri would just have to impose some consequences.

Kaden only barely refrained from a counter. He wanted to say that the man was wrong; he was, after all. Still, he knelt and complied.

Flynt, for his part, turned a surprised expression on his master. "What was that look for?" he enquired across their bond.

"There was no need for you to wear that scowl," Lakhri sent back. "Kaden was nearly too much for Raven to handle, and you know it." He was not actually annoyed with Flynt, though, and he conveyed as much. After all, his padawan had done as he had been told.

Flynt gave a nod in response to Lakhri's mental communications. He had not been willing to voice his displeasure. At seventeen years old, the teenager had run his course at encountering his master's wrath. Almost. Sometimes? Uh, yeah, maybe… Flynt coughed once at the memory of his most recent foray into trouble. His shields were down, so Lakhri had been privy to that thought process. He gave his master a thousand-watt smile in response, carding a hand through his hair.

"Alright, let's spar," Lakhri told Kaden when the five minutes were up. "Freestyle. Feel free to use Ataru, Soresu or whatever else suits you."

"I feel like Corellian pizza, extra anchovies, olives and double cheese," Flynt commented randomly and raised a finger as if about to make a critical statement. "The sort with cheese in the crust," he added, speaking to nobody in particular.

"Drex took me to this pizza place once. They had stuffed some spicy meat and cheese into the crust," Kaden remarked, moving to stand where Lakhri was pointing.

Flynt didn't add anything else to that. It was not that he didn't want to, but Lakhri was trying to start the match, and here he was talking about pizza.

"Oh great," Lakhri said wryly. "Now I'm hungry. Oh well. I guess pizza'll have to wait until we're back on Coruscant."

Flynt grinned at that comment; he knew his master well.

Kaden, for his part, unclipped his weapon, igniting the blade as he did so. He hadn't needed to meditate and being forced to had just pissed him off more. Luckily for him, the meditation had quashed most of that irritation. Somewhat. He closed his eyes, focused on the Force and waited.

Lakhri launched into an attack sequence, careful not to go faster than Kaden would be able to handle, but fast enough to pose a challenge.

Rather than block that initial attack, Kaden sidestepped, flipped and came at the man with his own. He was sick of doing Soresu and intended to utilise every second he was free to use Ataru. His attacks were focused, powerful and precise. It would appear that despite not wanting to credit Raven for bullying him, his Ataru had improved since he had started lessons. One thing that Raven hadn't covered yet, though, was techniques used when sparring against differently-sized and skilled opponents. Lakhri was small and fast. Kaden was finding that his powerful attacks, although effective if landed, weren't landing in time. It was frustrating, and he wanted to shout that the man stop and fight, or at least stand still long enough so he could get a point.

Flynt leant back into the wall. One leg swung freely over the edge of his crate, and the other was pulled up into his chest. He knew Lakhri's tactic. It was very effective when dealing with opponents who favoured powerful attacks as it often tired them out.

It was a tactic that Kaden knew also. He'd fallen for it while sparring with Drex's grandpadawan, Quarg, and wound up being driven to exhaustion by Drex as an object lesson. The boy pulled back, a serious frown on his face at having to change tactics, but change them he did. He switched to a combination of Soresu and Ataru, trying to lure the man into thinking that he had given up his attempts at winning that point in any way that was satisfying to him. Kaden also knew what sort of comment such a thought would garner from his master: this wasn't about winning in the most satisfying way, and he knew that. It was just so much fun to finally do Ataru that he wanted to throw caution to the wind, if only a little, while Drex wasn't around to pull him up.

Lakhri did not share a training bond with Kaden and could only guess what was going on inside the boy. For now, Kade was keeping his aggression on an acceptable level. When he started switching to a more defensive style, Lakhri reacted by increasing the frequency of his attacks and the force behind them. He called out the occasional bit of advice, but refrained from interrupting the fight to give longer explanations.

Kaden was biding his time; he was using more and more Soresu to force Lakhri into attacking him. It seemed to work. Thus, on the man's fourth attack, Kade retaliated with a counter that was more powerful than any he had tried in quite some time. It took all of his focus and a lot of energy, but if he managed to pull it off, he'd get that point. It felt good, too and his weapon practically pulsed with his raw Force energy. It was untamed, albeit restrained for now. His skin prickled and the air around him felt static. It was an exhilarating sensation, yet he knew that to indulge in it would end badly. If only he could find a balance that would allow him to harness some of this power yet not let it overcome him! Alas, each time he'd done this around Drex, the man had thrown the Force equivalent of a bucket of water on him and forced him to meditate. Well, Lakhri did not share a bond with him, and he thought it worth the risk; sure, Drex would probably notice, and he'd question him later, but if he kept his shit together, he would be able to offer a credible explanation.

Flynt felt the air in the room prickle. He frowned, moved into a crouch atop his crate and watched closely. The attack Kaden was currently launching on his master was something well out of his league. The kid was organic, raw, but there was something unhinged about him that didn't sit well with Flynt right now. He hated to admit it, but his master had been correct in benching him.

Lakhri could sense more of what was going on than Kaden guessed, and he did not like it. He had been holding back so far, having learned long ago, when teaching Raven, that it would not do to keep wiping the floor with a padawan you were supposed to teach. Now he launched into a counterattack that was maybe not quite as powerful as Kaden's, but a lot faster and more precise. It had Kaden's attack run into empty space. Before the boy could change momentum, Lakhri came at him from behind, sending him stumbling. A lightning-fast swipe sent Kaden's saber flying.

Okay, so Kaden had anticipated that. As the man came at him, he made to redirect his attack, but it had been so powerful that he couldn't redirect it in time. He stumbled, tripped and, uh! No. Freakin! WAY! Not again. A sound that was half wail and half a scream of frustration escaped the boy's throat as his saber went flying. Again!

Flynt had been watching this with interest. Of course, he knew Lakhri could handle Kaden, but he was ready to jump in and help if he got too much. His help wasn't necessary, though. As the kid's lightsaber came hurtling towards him, his Jedi reflexes kicked in. He reached out a hand and snagged the saber out of the air. There was a disturbing crunching sound, followed by a few sharp cracks. Flynt winced. Kaden's saber was in his mechanical hand. He'd caught it alright. Unfortunately, he'd also crushed the thing! Well, good thing they had a spare on board…

The look on Kaden's face went from frustrated to indignant and finally settled on outright mutinous as his head whipped around in response to the crunching sound. "You bantha-pawed, clumsy-ass fuck! What the hell did you do!" the boy ranted, rounding on Flynt who was now on his feet, both hands raised in a placating gesture, the mangled remains of the kid's lightsaber dangling from his robotic hand.

"Relax, man; flattery will get you nowhere. It was an accident, and you know that. Besides…" He scratched at some newly grown chin stubble, "You said you wanted a demonstration. Well, uh, bon appétit?" Flynt quipped, shooting his Jedi peer an apologetic expression. He was referring to Kaden's request to demonstrate the capabilities of his new hand. His crushing effort at catching the kid's saber had achieved that, if not in the way he would have preferred. He didn't think this was a big deal. Kaden could easily rebuild it either on the way home or at the temple. For a padawan who liked weapons so much, Flynt hardly thought it would be something he would consider arduous.

For Kaden, this was a very BIG deal. The boy was seething. Not only was his lightsaber confiscated but now it was smashed too! What would happen to it next? Ejected out the waste hatch?! Upon seeing the remains dangling from Flynt's hand, he indeed thought the latter would be likely; it was unrepairable. He closed his eyes but was just too furious to focus. A combination of frustration over this last part of their mission, being punished by just about everyone on board, including Raven, having his lightsaber confiscated and the tight leash Drex had him on was all coming to a head. The destruction of his weapon was the straw that broke the banthas back, or in this case, the last of his patience. When his eyes opened, they were black as coal and lifeless. His expression was scarily calm, focussed. He was going to kill Flynt. Well, not literally, but he wanted to smack him around a bit at the very least. Without warning, he stepped forward, planning to do just that.

Flynt, for his part, was trying to take this as he usually did, being light-hearted and attempting to convey that this was nothing to blow a fuse over. Very few things had ever gotten such a reaction from Flynt; he was simply not wired up to be volatile. He could sense Kaden's anger, but the boy seemed to be controlling it. He frowned at his confrontational advance and posture. "You know, squaring off at me like that is unwise…" The teen was calm and he straightened to his full imposing height. "A word of advice, I really would reconsider." Flynt widened his eyes and moved them left quickly, signalling to Kaden that Lakhri was still in the room and he needed to get his shit together. Had the kid forgotten? Was he out of his mind? Because starting a fight right in front of a master was nothing short of suicidal.

There was something about Flynt's relaxed, jovial demeanour that was disarming and made it hard to stay mad at him. Kaden was still fuming, both at losing his weapon in the fight and having it destroyed. He certainly wasn't in a forgiving mood. He settled on shoving the teen, sending him back a few paces.

Lakhri grabbed Kaden by the arm, none too gently, and flung him around. "Stop this," he ordered. "Flynt didn't do this on purpose, and he'll certainly look into helping you repair your saber. But you have no call to shove him. Apologise."

"I won't," Kaden replied with as much dignity as he could muster. His expression, however, was decidedly wary; logically, Kaden knew what continuing this sort of defiance would get him, if not from Lakhri, from Drex.

"Dude, put a lid on it," Flynt quietly coached. Despite having been pushed around by the boy, he wasn't pissed. It was hard to piss Flynt off.

"For Force's sake, just shut up, please. You've done enough!" Kaden kicked his busted lightsaber, sending it into the wall and causing what little was left intact to smash.

Flynt looked from Kaden to Lakhri, then back again. The kid was starting to bug him now. "It's your funeral," he said without malice.

Lakhri stood his ground, not budging a millimetre. He was not impressed with Kaden's reaction. This belligerence had to stop. "Right," he said firmly. He Force-pushed Kaden against the wall and used the Force to immobilise him there. This was something that was typically done to small children who had no control of the Force yet. Few Jedi could pull it off on a padawan Kaden's age, especially one who was so powerful. However, Lakhri had always been exceptionally gifted at Force control. He had never done this to Flynt because he had never needed to, but it came to him naturally. "You don't shove anyone," he told Kaden. "Least of all a fellow padawan. You might have been mad, but that doesn't give you the right to give in to your aggression. You're going to apologise to Flynt. The only question is whether you want to make things harder on yourself before you do."

The look on Kaden's face was truly chilling. His eyes were black and his posture as rigid as possible given his undignified position pinned to the wall. He glared down at Lakhri. He could break free if he wanted to, break him, break it all if he just let himself go, let the anger take over. He wanted to. The boy closed his eyes, and when they opened again, they had a reddish tinge. He had to get control. He couldn't do this; it wasn't who he wanted to be. His gaze lowered and his eyes became lighter although he ignored Lakhri for the moment. "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven," he started, unwilling to let his temper get him in more trouble, or worse, let himself sink further into the Dark Side. If Kaden lost it now, he could very well take out more than Lakhri.

"Lakhri?" Flynt enquired quietly, unsure what he should do.

Lakhri shook his head. He realised that Kaden was very close to losing it, but was fighting to keep control of his temper. He also knew that Drex, who was somewhere on the ship, was going to intervene if necessary.

Indeed, Drex was very much aware of Kaden's anger, and he was closely monitoring him. He did not want to interfere with Lakhri if at all possible, but he also knew that he was the only one who could control Kaden if he really lost his temper. Fortunately, that did not seem to happen although it was a close call. Therefore, Drex refrained from barging in. After all, he trusted Lakhri to be able to handle his own lessons.

Lakhri, in the meantime, was waiting it out, giving Kaden time to calm himself down, but not loosening his hold on him despite the fact that this was quite draining in the long run.

"Master," Flynt said a little more insistently this time. Should he get Drex? Should he help, or do nothing? He didn't know.

"Don't do anything," Lakhri told Flynt through their bond. "Drex will come if he thinks it necessary."

It was all the reassurance Flynt needed, and he stood down. He wasn't about to leave, though, not unless Lakhri sent him packing.

Kaden was calming himself down. It had not been the first time he had managed to pull himself from such a rage without assistance; neither would it be the last, he knew. He opened his eyes. "Let me loose," he said evenly. Yes, Kaden could break free but not without hurting people, himself included.

Lakhri returned Kaden's look, considering. "I believe," he said, "I told you to apologise. Are you going to do that, or will you resume shoving people if I let you loose?"

"I will not shove anyone," Kaden agreed, his tone still strained. He didn't like this feeling; it was making him claustrophobic.

So he did want to do this the hard way. Lakhri felt tempted to roll his eyes, but refrained from it. "Fine," he said, releasing his hold on Kaden. He nodded his head towards the crate on which Flynt had been sitting during their fight. "Bare your bottom and bend over," he said. "I need to make a few things clear to you and I'm going to make sure I have your full attention."

When Lakhri released his hold the boy slumped forward a bit. It took him a moment to get his balance back. "Fine what!? I said I wasn't going to shove anyone, I complied, what more do you want from me?" he said angrily.

Flynt winced and scratched at the back of his head. He'd been in Kaden's position before; granted, not for the same situation, but for similar stupidity.

"Oh, I think I told you quite clearly what I expect from you," Lakhri replied, unfazed. "Three times. You didn't obey. And you're currently doing quite a good job at compounding your troubles by again refusing to obey. Now, bare your bottom. Bend over. No further backtalk."

Kaden opened his mouth to utter something about not knowing what the hell Lakhri was talking about when he caught Flynt's expression in his peripheral vision. The teen was dragging a hand down his face and shaking his head slightly, his eyes sympathetic. Kade looked from Flynt to Lakhri, then down at his belt. He didn't want this, not again! He called out for his master across their bond, then thought better of it; what would he say when Drex inquired as to how this had started? Wordlessly, Kaden strode to the crate, dropped his pants and undershorts and leant over the flat top. It wasn't comfortable, but nor did he bother adjusting himself; he was still far too pissed at this recent turn of events to care.

Drex received Kaden's call and sent back an inquiry. When he received no answer, but could instead sense a distinct mixture of anger and apprehension in his padawan, he shrugged. Most likely, Lakhri was going to call Kaden to task for his behaviour, and that did not require his intervention.

Lakhri, in the meantime, took off his belt. "You know that shoving others in a fit of temper is inexcusable," he said. "I understand that you were frustrated when you did it. That's why I didn't kick your ass but merely told you to apologise. It's not up to you to decide whether you feel like following such an instruction. Do you get what I'm saying?" He folded the belt over in his hand and brought it down onto Kaden's bottom, and this time, he did not hold back much; the stroke was quite spectacular. After all, Kaden had been warned.

So, this was about his refusal to apologise. Well, he had kind of known that but had been relying on semantics to get away with it. He remained silent, not willing to respond now any more than he wanted to give that apology. This stubbornness lasted until the belt connected with his ass and all thoughts of taking this with aloof stoicism went to hell in a handbasket. His breath caught in his chest and his hands flew up to grip closer to his backside, only barely preventing the reflex to claw at the burn. The second came far too soon, but by now he had managed to get in enough air to let out a cry of pain. And he did. "Owwchhhha!" Kaden was beginning to wonder if Lakhri was some freakin' expert because he was already in considerable pain and the man had only just started.

Lakhri was an expert at wielding the belt, not only because he had had Eeth as a master, but also because he used it frequently. His arms were short and not very effective at delivering handspankings, and he had for the most part refused to purchase any actual spanking implements because that would have felt too much like copying Eeth. So he had relied on whatever item was at hand, including cooking spoons, an old sandal, and his belt. Since he always had his belt on him, even in the training room or during missions, it had been put to other uses than as an item of his uniform quite frequently. So, Lakhri was an expert, which meant that he knew exactly at what strength to wield the belt now – enough to leave a strong impression, but not enough to render Kaden incoherent. "I'm the one calling the shots here," he informed Kaden, bringing the belt down a third time. "You would save yourself a lot of trouble if you just did as you're told." Strokes number four, five and six followed in quick succession.

"Ow, OW, OWW! AHHOwah!" Kaden bellowed, his hands coming back briefly at the sixth, only to be removed with equal haste. He absolutely hated having his hands pinned at his back. It made him feel like a child each time Drex did that to him.

Flynt was tempted to cover his ears because apparently, Kaden had a set of lungs on him. He didn't, though, and instead, he crouched down and began gathering up all the broken parts he could find that belonged to the kid's saber. He was planning to help him fix it even without being ordered to; he hadn't meant to crunch Kaden's lightsaber, after all.

"I apologise, I apologise!" Kaden hastened to cry out – because at this point, the boy would say anything if it would get him out of this.

"And what is it that you're apologising for?" Lakhri asked relentlessly, the belt poised for another stroke.

"For—" Kaden paused, cringing. He hated having to do this but neither did he want that belt landing any more than necessary. He started over. "For losing my temper and shoving Flynt." He wiped the sweat from his forehead with a sleeve as he added: "That was wrong because losing my temper is dangerous and I have help to control it if I can't. And for disobeying. I should have done as you asked when you told me to, not after you belted me." Kaden knew that usually the more incriminating details he was able to provide over his behaviour, the less likely he was to catch another swat. Well, with most teachers this was the case. He put more thought into it, what else had he done? "And for general obstinacy," he settled on because that one was usually true, and never hurt to add.

Flynt was still crawling around on the floor. His back was to the pair, but he was unable to help overhearing. He was surprised by this rather exhaustive summary; it was the last thing he expected from Kaden. Well, apparently the boy disliked his master's belt, and no doubt Drex's wrath, more than he cared about his pride. Well, that would be handy for a boy as stubbornly prideful as Kaden.

Lakhri, too, was surprised at this sudden abundance of compliance. Obviously, his belt had left an impression. That, or Kaden had started wondering what Drex might have to say about his behaviour.

"Alright, that was a satisfactory apology," he said. "Satisfactory enough to save you from having the dozen completed, actually. Plus, I really do understand why Flynt crunching your saber might have made you angry, even if he didn't do it on purpose. You may get up. Flynt, what are the chances of getting Kaden's saber repaired during this trip?"

"Pretty good," Flynt told Lakhri absentmindedly as he continued to crawl around on the floor. "Most of the parts are intact; they need rewiring. A bit of solder and a steady hand is all it will take."

"The crystals, are they..?" Kaden did not want to finish that question, but nor could he stop himself from asking it. He got to his feet, a pained expression on his face, and rubbed at his backside.

"They are intact." Flynt plucked what seemed to be the last part from the floor and laid them in a pile. "The crystals and individual components are intact," He looked at Kaden, ignoring the kid's discomfort. "The wiring will need work. I'll help you with that, I'm getting pretty good at this sort of thing," Flynt told him.

Kaden hefted up his undershorts and trousers all the same, though. He met the two with as steady an expression as he could muster. "I built it once, and I can build it again. Without help," he stated. He looked to Flynt, pulling out the front of his tunic expectantly.

Flynt dumped the parts he collected into the boy's cupped tunic. "I really am sorry, dude. I didn't mean to fry your saber. I'll help you fix it, but if you continue to refuse, then there is little more I can do. And I won't keep offering." He meant that too.

"Kaden," said Lakhri, "you will see your master now and tell him what happened. All of it. Exhaustively. Can I rely on you to do that?" If not, Lakhri was more than willing to march Kaden to Drex and tell him himself. He would rather leave it to Drex to decide on additional consequences. And Drex might also be better suited to convince Kaden to accept help.

With his ass still smarting the last thing Kaden wanted was to add to it, so: "Yes, Lakhri," he replied quietly, and with his busted up sabre still bundled in the front of his tunic, he made for his quarters to do as bade.

Flynt watched as his master rethreaded his belt, then crouched to be at eye level. "You all right?" It was an unnecessary enquiry he knew, but still, Kaden was not easy to deal with.

"Oh, I'm fine," said Lakhri. "I don't know about, Kaden, though. He'd do better to accept your help. Maybe Drex will be able to convince him."

When Kaden strode into their cabin, Drex was not here, but he could sense the man was not far away. He dumped the contents of his mangled lightsaber onto the desk, sighing at the clatter as parts hit the surface; this was going to take him ages to fix. He took a moment to wash his face, then exited the refresher to find Drex had entered their room and was standing by the chair, arms folded across his chest. The boy froze and stood silent and still for the longest moment before finally speaking. "I suppose you want an explanation?"

Drex said quite calmly: "I should probably ask for one, yes. To your credit, you did get your temper under control before you actually hurt someone. It felt like a rather close call, though. What happened?"

"It was," Kaden agreed equally calmly, although there was a slight edge of unease to his tone. He closed the gap between them and stood before the man, his hands clasped in front for lack of anything better to do with them. Sure, his ass still hurt plenty, but he wasn't about to stand there rubbing at it. He drew in a long breath, letting it out slowly. He didn't want to rehash this, not only because Drex was going to be displeased with him, but also because he was displeased with himself.

"I can't keep myself off of everyone's shit list!" he started, his tone angry. "I know my pride is a problem, I KNOW that it's not acceptable yet, I continue to land myself in it," he ranted and began to pace. It took him a while, and a few times Drex had to ask him to clarify things, but eventually, he got the story out, concluding with the belting, Flynt's offer to help him fix it and Lakhri's order to report all of this to him. Resigned, and not waiting for a response, Kaden turned and walked the few paces to their private refresher where he snatched Drex's brush from its place and stomped back out again. "Save your breath," he said, holding it out for him to take while his other hand worked to unfasten his belt and pants.

"Kaden, I might be old, but I'm not that old," Drex said, a hint of amusement lacing his voice. "You needn't save my breath. More importantly, this is not your call to make. And you really don't want me to think you're being impertinent about this. Return the brush and come back here."

"Impertinent! Impertinent? I rather thought I was saving you the effort of ordering me to fetch it. You're going to use it on me so why delay it? Just get it over with," the boy said, his brow furrowed and expression dark. He felt Drex was mocking him here.

"I was not going to, no," said Drex, and there was no trace of amusement left in his voice now. "But since you obviously know better, I will follow your lead." He took the hairbrush, pulled out a chair and sat down. "Go ahead," he said. "And while you bare your bottom, you might tell me what you're receiving this spanking for. I wouldn't know, but fortunately for us, you seem to."

"For disobeying Lakhri," Kade said, flinging his belt to the floor forcefully. "For getting into trouble during my Ataru lesson. AGAIN!" His trousers were unceremoniously shucked to his knees. "For shoving Flynt, and for my attitude in general which it seems just about everyone has taken issue with so far!" His undershorts joined his trousers in one curt, agitated movement. He stepped forward, anger clear on his face, and moved to the man's side. However, his ass was sore, so he hesitated; he really didn't want to do this. Having Drex insinuate that he somehow had a choice and had brought this on himself was making it worse.

Yes, Kaden had brought this upon himself, and no, he did not have a choice – which was the whole point.

"Get yourself over my lap," Drex ordered. "You insisted on this, against my explicit instructions, and now you will take what's coming to you. Personally, I would have thought the belting you received from Lakhri was sufficient to make up for your behaviour; I was much more interested in talking to you about ways to keep you out of trouble and about repairing your saber than I was in taking you across my lap. But once again, you knew better, and I'm afraid your backside will pay the price. If nothing else can convince you that obeying your superiors without questioning and backtalk is in your best interest, maybe this will."

"Wait! It was sufficient! I assumed you'd do this anyway. You will wallop me for sneezing lately! And…" The boy blinked, as the situation dawned on him. He eyeballed the man. Was this for not taking the brush back? Fuck, had he disobeyed again? And was he now by not bending over? Was he incapable of obedience? Apparently so, he thought as he stood there, both hands cupping his still burning ass. Unable to offer anything that wouldn't make this worse, the boy leant across his master's lap, his hands slapping onto the carpet and toes digging into the thin pile. If Drex nailed his ass with that brush, he was going to come unstuck. Fast.

Drex wasted no time in bringing the brush down onto his padawan's bottom with quite a bit of force. It was not the worst he had ever dealt out, but it was plenty hard enough to leave an impression, even on unblemished skin, let alone on welts. "Maybe you should just stop assuming," he told Kaden and swatted him a second time. "Or you might, for a change, assume that Lakhri, Raven, Eeth and I know what we're doing and that we don't need you to second-guess us." A third swat nailed the undercurve of Kaden's ass.

"OW! OWAH! OUCH! Master! Please. I'm sorry for second-guessing, for disobeying! No more, please. My ass!" The boy wasn't kidding either: the smacks had reignited the burn and set him on fire all over again.

"Yes, it's killing you, I know," Drex retorted entirely unsympathetically without ceasing to deal out slow, systematic swats. "And you have only yourself to blame for that. I don't appreciate being told what to do or how to punish you. Especially not with the attitude that you're displaying." He brought that message home with several particularly hard swats to the uppermost part of Kaden's thighs.

Given the state of Kaden's ass, it didn't take much to have him all apart, not that Drex was going easy on him. The few that landed on his thighs garnered sobs. The last one had him crying into the man's trouser leg.

At this point, Drex stopped. He lost little time in helping the crying adolescent up from his lap.

"Now for the Force's sake, take the hairbrush back to our refresher and bring me the bacta," he said quite gently. "Can you find it within yourself to do this without starting an argument? I would be quite grateful because, really, all I wanted to do was talk to you."

Still sobbing, Kaden stumbled to his feet, not bothering to pull up his pants. Typically, such a display of emotion would embarrass the would-be-manly apprentice. However, today he just didn't care. He nodded, swiped at his tear-streaked face and took the horrid thing back to the bathroom without a word. When he returned a minute later, he was still sniffling and tears were tracking down his cheeks despite his efforts at swiping them away with his sleeve. He shuffled over to where Drex still sat and handed him the tin.

"Thank you," said Drex. "Lie down on your bunk. I'll see what I can do to make your bottom feel a little better."

While he started gently spreading a thin layer of bacta across the thoroughly punished area, he asked: "Are you going to accept Flynt's offer to help you repair your saber?"

"Why, when I can do it myself?" the boy asked, scrunching up his face as the bacta started to work. He wasn't being confrontational, just honest.

"Because this is not about who can repair your saber better although I suspect that Flynt would be that person," said Drex. "It's about making amends. Flynt obviously wants that. Don't you?"

Kaden lifted on to his elbows and craned his neck to look at the man. "I already apologised for shoving him. If you mean Flynt wants to make it up to me, then…" The boy turned back to face his mattress. "I don't know if he wants to, I guess. I don't hold any grudge."

"That's good," said Drex, "but sometimes it helps to show it. Not everyone can look into your heart. And getting others on your side is usually preferable to doing things on your own. Flynt might have taken your rejection of his offer as a slight, even if it wasn't meant to be one. I won't force you to accept it, however. I would merely like you to think about it." He screwed the jar of bacta shut and sat back on his heels.

"The more important thing I wanted to talk to you about," he continued, "is how this mission has been going for you. Now, where our actual work is concerned, you have been an asset, and I know that Eeth thinks so as well. You have worked hard and done whatever you were asked to do, without complaint. And yet, you managed to land yourself in hot water far too often, usually over quite avoidable things. Do you have any explanation for that? I know it frustrates you, but it won't change unless you find a way to change your behaviour."

"Not really. I'm not doing this on purpose, you know. I don't know why I keep losing my temper. Things just seem unfair, I feel indignant, and I'm really tired of being told what to do by everyone. It grates after a while and I start to feel suffocated. I don't suppose you remember what it's like to be fifteen but let me tell you, it sucks."

"I know you're not doing it on purpose," Drex said patiently. "And being fifteen might suck, but the fact remains that it does not make you old enough to be exempt from following orders. Nor does being sixteen, seventeen or eighteen. And your lessons with Raven are continuing, too. So we had better look for ways of dealing with your temper, don't you think so?"

"I don't expect to be exempt from orders; It's just that everyone is ordering me around. Nobody orders you around," Kaden replied. He didn't know what to do about how he felt as being a naturally dominant personality; it was hard for him to submit to authority. He was trying although it was not always successful. He needed to work on that if he wanted to become a knight, he knew. How? Kaden didn't know. The boy sighed.

Drex laughed. "Of course people order me around," he said. "That's why we're here, among other things. It might not be as noticeable because I don't raise a fuss about it. I don't typically start arguments about my orders. That said, you're obviously ordered around more often than I am. I daresay that waiting for fifty or sixty years will remedy that problem. But that's not a practical solution to what's happening now. Realistically, nobody will stop giving you orders in a hurry just because you find it hard to follow them. We both know that. So the only thing that's left for you to do is to gain some level of acceptance of your situation - unless you want us to continue as we've been doing, with me providing constant deterrents. I can do that, sure. And as a matter of fact, I will. I just thought you'd rather avoid being spanked twice a day. And I'm afraid nothing short of an attitude change will achieve that."

"But they don't! At least not in the same way that they order me around, and waiting sixty years?" the boy huffed. "I won't make it that far. At this rate, I'll die from a broken ass." This sort of humour was very unlike Kaden. However, he'd been spending a lot of time with Flynt, and the older teen was starting to rub off on him a bit.

"Unlikely," said Drex drily, "although I can see why you would currently feel that way. Which is why I'm trying to have this conversation with you. Kaden, you might want to be treated like an adult, but it's not going to happen. You will have to take my word for it. Now, we could try to set up a meditation schedule that might help. But it's only going to work if you really want it to work and accept your status for what it is – that of a padawan learner who is expected to follow orders and trust others to know what's best for him. If you don't feel like accepting this and changing your attitude accordingly, the only kind of help I'll be able to offer is to provide deterrents. And I won't hesitate to do so consistently, without warnings."

Drex rose from where he was sitting. "Think about it," he said. "Make up your mind. I will invest the time and effort that is required to make you change your behaviour in any case; but whether I invest it into helping you change your attitude or into calling you to task for every bit of backtalk, insolence or outright disobedience is up to you."

Kaden's chin lifted to follow the man as he stood. He didn't want to be constantly punished. It was starting to get to him, not just because it fucking hurt, but because he seemed incapable of controlling himself at the moment. On the one hand, it was a relief that Drex wasn't going to give up on him; on the other hand. The boy winced. "No. I don't want that," he said and stood, not bothering to adjust his trousers as he wasn't keen on the bacta fusing his ass to his pants. "I don't know what to do. Apparently, I'm too young for the responsibilities I want, and I'm too old to get away with any mistakes. I guess I passed up just right when nobody was looking," he told the man, and at this moment he felt as if he was never going to pass muster.

Drex smiled. "Don't feel too sorry for yourself," he said. "You're growing; and being that age is never easy. Chatzis had quite similar issues, and I'm not even going to start about Taishin. Eeth tells me it was no different with Raven. Still, the demands placed on you won't change. If you can accept that it is your attitude that needs changing, a denser meditation schedule will actually help. And I'm entirely willing to take as much time for that as you need."

"Yes, master," the boy replied subduedly. Although he didn't show it, Kaden was relieved that Drex wasn't giving up on him, and hearing that he was not the only padawan to have a hard time of it was comforting. He had problems with his anger, he let his temper get the better of him, but there was hope!

As promised, Drex began spending an extra half hour each afternoon meditating with Kaden on acceptance. He also kept his word, as much as Kaden didn't appreciate it at the time, and consistently kicked his ass each time he started to rebel. It was working, too: the trip back to the temple was thankfully sans further incident in Raven's class. Most of Kaden's spare time was spent fixing his lightsaber, a chore that, as Flynt had correctly surmised, Kaden did not mind at all. He had taken his master's advice and accepted the tall teen's help, which meant it was back in one piece in no time, not that Drex let him keep it…

"Entering the atmosphere in five," Raven spoke into the faulty com unit, garnering a chuckle from Flynt.

"I hope they don't fix that, the entertainment value is far too high," he told Lakhri who was sitting opposite. At that moment there was a slight jolt, signifying that Raven had pulled the ship from hyperspace, and then a whining sound as the thrusters kicked in. The black atmosphere began to lighten and five minutes later they were surrounded by blue sky and a shitload of traffic.

"Welcome to Coruscant. Please return your trays to the upright position, collect all your rubbish and obey the safety instructions given by the crew. That would be me. So. Flynt, do fifty push-ups!" There was a quiet chuckling briefly before the communication cut out, although the smile on Raven's face remained. They were home.

"Padawan," Eeth said quietly to Raven as they made their way down the ramp, "you performed exceptionally well during this mission, and I will make sure to mention this during our mission debriefing. I have every reason to be proud of you. – But do not let it go to your head," he added in an afterthought.

Lakhri who was just behind him and had overheard the last part, grinned. "That's right, don't get too full of yourself," he said. "We wouldn't want two of Eeth."

Eeth turned around and raised an eyebrow at him. "And what," he asked, "is that supposed to mean?"

Lakhri's grin broadened. "I'll leave it to you to draw your own conclusions," he said innocently.

Eeth decided not to comment.

Raven smiled at receiving his praise, and that smile morphed into a chuckle at hearing his exchange with Lakhri. Unfortunately, she was still under Eeth's tutelage and unable to get away with the sort of comments that Lakhri did. Thus, she contented herself with a chuckle and shot her Jedi brother a wink, silently thanking him for getting one up on Eeth. Of course this was all in fun. Raven loved her master and so did Lakhri; it was just so much fun to mess with him.

While Lakhri, Flynt and Raven bantered on their way to the council chambers, Kaden was quiet. He didn't want to go before the Council without his lightsaber. It was going to be humiliating enough if Drex brought up his issues during that mission. Fortunately for him, his silent, brooding expression was not out of character for the boy. Thus, none of the others noticed anything was bothering him. He was glad of that, too.

They left their bags with the Council secretary and turned towards the double doors that opened into the Council chamber.

"One moment," said Drex quietly and rested a hand on Kaden's shoulder. Eeth held up his hand, signalling for the others to wait.

The boy's heart sank. This was it; his master was about to tell him to brace himself for the final smackdown. The Council would surely be disgusted if they knew how much trouble he'd had controling his temper.

Drex, however, calmly unclipped Kaden's lightsaber from his belt and handed it to his padawan. "Since you managed to keep out of trouble during your lessons on our trip back," he said with a small smile, "and since you generally did an admirable job at keeping your temper under control, I think you should have this back." Kaden had even refrained from pestering him about it for several days in a row, which deserved some credit in itself, Drex believed.

This was the last thing Kaden had expected. He stared blankly at the saber in his hand.

Flynt clapped the kid on the back, a knowing expression on his face. The two had formed a close relationship during the trip home thanks to the fact that they had been working on Kaden's lightsaber together. Kaden hadn't whined, but Flynt had been able to tell the kid was miserable about being punished. Surprisingly, Flynt did have a serious side; he didn't show it often. He'd shown it during those talks with Kaden, though, since he wanted to help the boy deal with this if he could. He'd told him to be patient and that it would pay off. Well. The tall teen gave Kaden a shit-eating grin as he stood there, lightsaber in his hand.

"Thank you, Master," Kaden said, his tone still disbelieving. He didn't know what else to say other than that. He truly was grateful to have his weapon back. He clipped it to his belt, a small smile on his face as he followed Drex into the council chamber. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.


A/N: Thanks to everyone who has followed us this far and a special thanks to those of you who have written us reviews or PMs! You keep us going.

We are going to leave Kaden and Drex for a while (but not forever!) and, as some of you have requested, write more on Eeth. Our next story will portray him as a young knight who has not taken on a padawan of his own yet. He's put in charge of a junior padawan, though. You will find the story "Eeth Koth, Jedi Knight and Babysitter" on our profile soon. After that, we will start posting our stories of Eeth and his second padawan, Raven. Be warned: we have loads of them!

If you'd like to read more on Eeth's youth, his time as Lakhri's master or the story of his third padawan, Lok, feel free to check the author profile of Livia Yoran. As you will see, Eeth is an extremely strict master character but he also has depth and he grows throughout our threads. So does Raven, eventually, despite many run-ins with Eeth's infamous collection of spanking implements... We hope to see you around! If you like Eeth and Raven, watch out for our next story. It's going to start soon.