The dining hall was enormous compared to the one in crèche, not to mention it seemed to provide a lot more choices. Kaden wasn't particularly hungry, not that this had ever stopped him before.

"I know you can eat the things we had for lunch, but can you eat all human foods?" Kaden asked as he grabbed a tray; he wanted to try a bit of everything.

"Hrakians have a huge advantage over humans," Drex replied. "We can eat nearly everything. We have only one stomach, but it's a very capable one. Pay attention to the colour coding. The human section is over here, but you should still make sure all your food has a blue label."

Nodding at the information, Kade followed Drex to the section marked with blue stickers and placed two buns pocked with dried fruit on his plate. "How do you know which foods are which if you can't see the labels?" Kade asked once they had taken their seats.

"I don't," Drex replied matter-of-factly, his hand hovering over the array of plates and finally picking one that held a large piece of fruit. "I hope you would tell me if something was wrong with the label on my food. But as I said, Hrakians can eat most anything. We are not easily poisoned. It's a big advantage for me. Even if some food not meant for human consumption ended up in this section, chances are I would be able to digest it. When I come here alone and want to eat a full meal, I either have to ask for help or I'll have to pick something at random. I can sense the shape and rough consistency of the things on offer, but that's about it."

Kaden was fascinated. Once they had sat down, he closed his eyes, as he had been prone to doing quite a bit lately, and tried imagining that he couldn't see his plate, not that a couple of fruit buns were much of a challenge to find, but still…. "What sort of food do you like? If you want, I can find it for you. It would really suck bantha balls if you ended up with a plate full of Brussels sprouts, or worse, actual bantha balls!" The boy wrinkled his face in disgust.

It was at that moment that he caught the eye of an old rival sitting with her master one table over and quickly wiped the childish expression from his face. The two had absolutely hated each other growing up, so much so that he'd lost count of how many times they'd gotten into trouble for fighting.

Petri, for her part, mimicked the disgusted face Kaden had been pulling. It wasn't often the boy was so animated and it felt good to catch him out. She waited for her master to look the other way, then mouthed the words: 'Agricorps loser.'

Kade replied in kind with a one fingered salute, then added a second for emphasis. He didn't bother waiting for Drex to look away as he was blind, but Petri didn't know that… To Petri, he would look fearless, not even bothering to wait until the older Jedi wasn't 'looking' at him.

Indeed, the girl looked on with a smug expression, just waiting for the man to haul him out by the ear or smack him; it wasn't the first time she'd gotten Kade into trouble exploiting his short-tempered nature.

Drex, of course, couldn't see what was going on, but he could sense Kaden's shift of focus. Besides, the boy was projecting his emotions quite plainly, and what Drex sensed wasn't pretty.

"What's going on that is making you feel so spiteful?" he asked quietly.

"Nothin'," Kade answered a bit too quickly to be credible, all the while shooting a smug expression of his own back at the girl who was looking a little surprised. Feeling somewhat superior Kade deliberately turned his attention away from Petri, and took a huge bite from the fruit bun.

"Don't lie to me," Drex said flatly. "I might not be able to see everything that's going on, but I know when you're being dishonest. Now, what was going on there?"

Drex was entirely aware that his blindness might tempt a padawan to do things - well, not even behind his back, but in front of him, that they would never do with a master who could see them. That was a tendency he wanted to nip in the bud.

Kade just stared at him, stunned; did he miss nothing? When he was finally able to stop with the codfish impersonation, he coughed and answered: "It's just some girl from crèche who I didn't get along with. She was making faces at me," he replied, trying to keep his expression neutral. He could sense Petri glancing over at him occasionally and wanted to maintain the upper hand.

"I see," Drex said neutrally. "And what did you make?"

"What did I make?" The boy repeated, his voice rising in pitch slightly. "Um, Master Zaryth," he cleared his throat unnecessarily. "Can we talk about this later. Please?" he tacked on. After all, he didn't want to give Petri the satisfaction of seeing Drex call him out on this.

"Nope," Drex said calmly, but unrelentingly. "What did you do?"

Part of him was curious to know what the man would do if he refused. Fortunately, the self-preservation part of him thankfully won out. Besides there was a chance that Drex - being so old - didn't know what it meant. It could happen….. "I, I kinda gave her a one-fingered response," he answered, his olive complexion darkening slightly with embarrassment.

"I don't know whether such behaviour is considered acceptable to your crèche master, although I highly doubt it is," Drex said quite mildly. "I, for my part, don't consider it acceptable. It will consistently get you punished. And the fact that you tried to exploit my blindness will add to your punishment because that is something I cannot allow you to get away with in the least. Go to the girl in question and apologise."

He knew that this was hitting below the belt. In his opinion, Kade needed to learn a lesson. Padawans were expected to have more control of themselves than this, whether provoked or not.

Kade sunk a little further into his chair, wishing the floor would simply open up and swallow him; he hadn't meant to take advantage of the man, he had wanted to win one over on Petri, and now he felt guilty to boot. Nothing could have prepared him for what came next, however. "No, I-I can't. You don't understand," he blurted in a hushed tone, doing his best to disguise his horrified expression.

"Oh, I believe I do," Drex said calmly. "Now, you've got exactly two choices here. Either you can go to the girl right now and apologise in a collected, dignified manner. Or you can give her the satisfaction of seeing you get swatted publicly and then apologise to her in what will probably be a much less collected and dignified manner. You have ten seconds to make that choice or I will make it for you."

His heart practically stopped beating and the boy felt cold all over. "You wouldn't…." It was more question than statement, yet the unwavering expression on Drex's face provided the answer. "I will never live it down, it's demeaning. Please?" By this stage he was outright begging and his calm façade was crumbling around him.

"What you did was demeaning, too," Drex replied quietly, but very firmly. "You want to become a Jedi padawan, and that means it will become imperative for you to learn self-control. It also means accepting that you are not the one who is in charge. Your master is. Now, I'm not your master yet, but as a senior Jedi I am telling you that you are one second away from ending up over my knee, and I'm sure that will be plenty more humiliating than any apology would be – an apology that you're going to end up uttering anyway."

He was serious about this. From what he had seen so far, Kade very strongly wanted to project the impression that he was in control; but he wasn't. He was not even able to control his impulses, and he needed to come to terms with that fact, instead of keeping up a façade. Drex was also serious about his threat. If Kade did not set himself in motion just about now, he would have no qualms to pull him across his knee and swat him.

"I'm too big to go across your knee," Kade retorted, but wasn't about to have the man try it either. Scowling, he got to his feet, the chair skidding noisily backwards from his effort, then without further comment he strode towards the girl who was sporting a smug smile.

"Despite the fact that you deserved it, I apologise for making a rude gesture at you," he said curtly, his dark eyes now almost black with anger. His brow furrowed as she smiled up at him. He would have hidden up his own ass if he could have, anything to avoid apologising!

"Sure, Kaden," Petri replied smugly, this was fantastic! The smile was quickly wiped from her face when her own master enquired as to the boy's motives, though.

Kaden smirked slightly at hearing that, but he had already turned and was walking back to where Drex waited.

He kept his eye on Petri as he turned to sit, a smug grin of his own growing as the girl's master stood and gestured towards the door; apparently Kade was not the only one with an unsympathetic bystander.

Drex suspected the apology was made in less than good grace, but did not comment further. Kade was going to have to learn some humility, one way or another.

"You might not fit over my knee comfortably," he told the boy in a low voice as he sat back down, "but your comfort is not my foremost concern in moments like these. Never consider yourself too old for this type of punishment."

The over-the-knee position was maybe not the most practical with tall children or adolescents, but it was the one that made it easiest for his hand (or any type of implement) to find the target, which was why he much preferred it to any other position.

Kade had hoped Drex's comment had been a scare tactic, although as he slid into the chair opposite, he realised the man was actually serious. "But… I am too big, I'm almost thirteen and," he fidgeted, "only younglings are punished like that." Kade picked up the last half of his bun and started picking out the bits of dried fruit, as despite Petri's public exile, he was still feeling humiliated over having to apologise.

"Wrong," Drex said calmly. "Finish your plate and let's go."

Wrong? He wasn't wrong, the boy thought as he stuffed the remaining piece of bun in his mouth. He did try, with varying degrees of success, to lose his sulking attitude, though. Drex was right, these things had never been up to him, not that he was willing to admit as much at the moment.

He remained silent and unmoving as Drex finished his food, then stood with him. He had no idea where they were going now although he hoped it was not back to his crèche; being put in the 'too hard' basket yet again would not sit well with the boy, but he couldn't help who he was.

Drex, however, had no such intention. He took Kade back to the gym area and booked them into a free aerials gym. It was a busy time of the day, and the only gym that was free was not one he would ordinarily have taken a twelve-year-old to; but then, Kade had a good command of such things, and Drex would be there to cushion potential falls. "This gym is ordinarily off-limits to initiates and junior padawans," he told Kade. "But it's the only one that's free, so I'll make an exception this once. You may climb anywhere but the two topmost platforms. Go ahead; just try it out and get a feel for it."

"Whoa, no way," Kade said, his voice taking on a hushed reverence one might reserve for worshiping a deity as he surveyed the room.

It had everything. Kade managed a muted nod as he tried to decide where to start. It took him a minute to take it all in, but pretty soon the boy was making his way across to the first of many apparatuses, each of which led upwards to the next. In no time at all Kade had arrived at the level Drex had set for him, and glanced down; it was freakin' high. He didn't understand what difference an extra couple of meters to the top would make, and for a moment he contemplated trying it, but only for a moment

He bounced around for a good half hour before yelling out to the Jedi from his upside-down position. "Why can't I go to the top, is the roof faulty?" he asked, knowing full well that it wasn't.

Instead of yelling back, Drex decided to climb after Kaden. Relying on his sense of the Force, he deftly made his way up to the boy's level, swinging across a gap on a rope and landing on the platform next to his.

"Impressive," Kade spoke to himself.

"The topmost platforms are impossible to reach without jumping," Drex explained to Kaden. "And I don't fancy having to cushion a fall from this height. You probably wouldn't die, but I couldn't guarantee you wouldn't hurt yourself. We will only do this when you're really good at drawing on the Force to stabilise yourself. Which is one of the many uses of all the tedious Force work I'm going to make you do. It won't be about meditation only."

His explanation made the boy smirk. "Gee, careful you don't overdo the perks of an apprenticeship, I might just start thinking I can pull it off," Kade spoke through a grin, although he wasn't entirely joking; so far he had not done so well and he wasn't even a padawan yet.

It was with that thought in mind that Kade glanced over at the man, a guilty expression on his face. "Hey, I didn't mean to take advantage of you." He fiddled with a rope. "Petri loves goading me, we've fought since we were toddlers," the boy admitted, smiling at the memory of his junior crèche master chasing the pair of them around with a spoon.

"Apology accepted," Drex said calmly. "I had more or less expected something like this to happen. It has with every single one of my padawans so far, so I assumed you wouldn't be an exception. I don't hold a grudge, but be warned. This kind of thing will always get you punished. I do appreciate honesty - as do you, from what I gathered."

"Gee, again, thanks for the vote of confidence. How come you couldn't assume that I'm going to be the best padawan in the history of the Order, and that you'd never have to use corporal punishment on me because it's an ineffective method of achieving discipline," he quipped and swung down to stand upright, his face flushed pink from hanging upside-down.

"I did not assume anything," Drex said. "If you manage to get through your padawanhood without further misbehaviour, I won't have to impose consequences and we will be all the happier. I just told you about the potential consequences of a repeat of your behaviour in the dining hall. Knowing about the consequences might enable you to make better choices. Now, do you know anything about drawing on the Force to increase the reach of your jumps or to cushion your falls?"

Kade could argue that, but realised it probably wasn't very clever and let the subject drop.

"A bit," he answered, then realised that the man probably wanted more than that. "Master K'Mi spends time teaching me some more advanced techniques when she can, and when she's too busy I've had other masters and knights assigned to me. The last teacher I had was amazing at this, and he said I was doing well for twelve. I guess I won't know if I can do something until I try it."

"Alright," Drex said. "From what level do you think you could safely jump and land on your feet without falling over, or worse, getting hurt?"

Kaden leaned forward and peered down. "Not from here."

He hopped from platform to platform until he was about ten meters off the ground. "Probably about here," he confirmed and jumped. It wasn't the most graceful landing but neither was he hurt. When he looked up, Drex was swinging on a rope ladder beside the platform he had leapt from. He just hoped that the landing was his success and not Drex's intervention lest he break his neck.

"Good," Drex said. "That's a good starting point. It also shows that you are well able to draw on the Force for such things."

He jumped after Kaden, landing gently on his feet without wobbling.

"We'll work on your technique for a bit," he told Kaden, grinning. "Come on, get back up."

"Sure," he replied easily, and doing the reverse, he used the Force to enhance his jump. However, he was only able to make six or seven meters. It was certainly no great feat and barely a drop in the pond of what he would eventually achieve if he ever made it to knighthood, but for a twelve year-old initiate he was on the level.

"Good," Drex said again, approvingly. "You are fearless. That is a good quality, for the most part. As long as you're still able to exercise some caution, that is."

He linked with Kaden and showed him how to manipulate the Force in order to make for a soft landing, then worked with him on his stance for a while. Finally, the next team that had booked the gym arrived and they had to leave.

The session had been far too short for Kaden. However, he was grateful for having gotten that much and didn't ask for more time.

"We've got half an hour left before I need to return you to Master K'Mi," Drex said. "Is there anything that you would specifically like to see or do in that time?"

"Force, yeah, can we start with the rest of Coruscant and work our way out?" Kade replied, a slight grin on his face as they wandered towards crèche. Truth be told, there wasn't much he didn't want to see outside the Temple.

"We will go out into the city quite a lot," Drex promised. "I consider it important for my padawans to gain experience with real life; more important than many masters, probably. But half an hour is too little time for that. If you don't have a preference inside the Temple, we'll pass by the arboretum and then I'll drop you off at the crèche. You may come and see me again tomorrow morning, any time you like. I'll be there."

The slight grin morphed into a full smile at hearing Drex's comment, it really was music to his young ears. He had found linking with the man easy during their session so Kade tried something he hadn't yet done: he closed his eyes and attempted to send his contentment through the Force. It was a short burst, and given he had never tried such a thing before, Kade had no idea if it worked. Drex, however, sensed what Kaden was doing and returned it readily.

It didn't take them long to arrive at the arboretum and although Kade's thoughts were still lost in the idea of visiting the city, he was enjoying the time with Drex.

"Thanks for taking me with you today," he told the man with genuine sincerity. Not only had he enjoyed the day but he may have made himself a friend as well. He wondered what Drex wanted them to do here. He was pretty sure the elderly Jedi wouldn't be into climbing trees, but then again, it wouldn't be the first time Drex had surprised him.

"You are very welcome," he told Kade kindly. "Let's sit down for a few minutes."

He gestured at a spot beneath a large tree; the ground was soft and mossy and they could lean against the broad trunk.

"I like this place because it is full of life, but also full of peace," he told Kade. "Close your eyes for a moment and allow yourself to feel the flow of the living Force. Even when I was a young padawan, it almost always helped to calm me down when I was anxious or upset."

He wondered what someone like Drex ever had to get anxious or upset over as a padawan; the man, like most adults in Kaden's life, appeared to be the epitome of Jedi serenity, and he assumed Drex had always been that way. No Jedi was like he was. He took a breath and tried not to focus on the negative as he really just wanted to enjoy this place with the man he had developed a connection with. He did as instructed, and sure enough the place had a calming feel to it and the Force flowed around them.

"There will be times when you will be upset, angry or afraid," Drex said softly. "You will have to find your own ways to come to terms with those feelings. You might prefer to come to me directly and ask for help, or you might prefer to try to deal with your feelings yourself before you approach me. If the latter is true for you, like it was for me, it might be a good idea to look for places that have a soothing influence and help you feel better and calmer. It might be this one, or somewhere else entirely."

"This place has a calming feel to it. It reminds me of a spot at the top of the biggest tree in the middle gardens," Kade shared.

Drex smiled. "Maybe you will find others," he said. "You will get to explore most of the Temple eventually. Now let's go to the crèche and deliver you to Master K'Mi before she starts looking for you."

"I guess," the boy said through a yawn. "Besides, you don't wanna get on the wrong side of K'Mi," he quipped and got to his feet, stretching long as he stood.

K'Mi was busy coaching some of her younger students through some gentle exercises when Drex and Kaden entered. She nodded towards the pair, but continued with her work. The initiate shot a sideways glance at the older man. "She's always busy, but has eyes in the back of her head," he commented wryly, not quite knowing how to end their time together, or wanting to for that matter.

"I can relate to that," Drex replied wryly. "I don't even have functional eyes in the front of my head, but I still catch on to most of what's going on."

He rested a hand on Kaden's shoulder. "Take your time to think things through," he advised, "and come see me in the morning. Any time, although preferably not before six thirty."

Kade snorted at that. He appreciated the man's sense of humour, and after his run in with Petri he could totally believe that the man missed very little. As to arriving before six thirty? That could have been a possibility. He didn't think he was going to get a lot of sleep that night with everything that had happened today. "I will. Not that I need it."

"In that case, think about what becoming a padawan will mean to you and what you can do to make the transition easier on yourself," Drex replied solemnly. "It is a big step. No bigger than you're able to take, for sure; but it won't always be fun and it will require a lot of dedication. Starting your padawanhood with some resolutions would be a good idea."

He squeezed Kaden's shoulder briefly in a gesture of affection.

"I'll see you tomorrow, then," he said in a lighter tone of voice. "May the Force be with you."

"And with you," Kaden replied as the man turned to leave.

That evening the boy did as he had been told and tried to come up with some resolutions. It wasn't easy as he really didn't know what would be so different. Sure, it was going to be harder, longer and more work, he would be held to a higher standard and more would be expected from him, but how much more was 'more'? How did someone measure a how much 'higher' the standard? Kade didn't know, but what he did know was that this wasn't a game, it was the Will of the Force and he was on the right path.

K'Mi entered Kaden's small room to find him dutifully kneeling facing the wall as she had instructed ten minutes earlier.

"Alright, young man, come and sit by me," she said, feeling that her punishment for his encounter with Petri was sufficient. Drex had rectified the situation by making him apologise, so she felt the short meditation was sufficient to reinforce the lesson. The two spend a good hour talking about Kade's feelings, thoughts, fears and questions regarding this next step, and by the time K'Mi flicked out the light for what would be the last time, Kade was feeling far more confident that he had fulfilled Drex's instructions.