Unsurprisingly, and despite the shot, Kade did not sleep very well that night. It was almost ten in the morning before the boy finally woke. He didn't want to leave his room, but his guilty conscience and growling stomach soon had him moving.
Drex had decided to let Kade sleep in. If the healer wanted him to stay home, he must need the rest; being thoroughly acquainted with the results of training accidents, the healers did not tend to impose such a verdict for a mere scratch.
"Good morning, Kade," he said mildly when the boy finally left his room, looking sleep-bedraggled and decidedly guilty. "Why don't you get showered and dressed while I make some breakfast for you?"
"Morning," the boy replied sheepishly. Drex's composed reception just made him feel all the worse. Despite wanting nothing more than to be put out of his misery, Kade did as he was told and fifteen minutes later he emerged from his room once again, this time showered and dressed in a clean uniform.
A bowl of oatmeal with fruit and a jug of juice were waiting for Kade by the time he came back dressed. Drex was sitting at the table, sipping a cup of tea.
"Eat," he told Kade, not unkindly. "And when you have finished, you tell me the truth about what happened. The whole truth."
"Yes, Master," Kaden replied, his tone still thick with guilt. He eyed the oatmeal hungrily, although apparently his stomach had other ideas. Four mouthfuls into his breakfast he finally surrendered his spoon and looked across at Drex, a piteous expression, that was no doubt lost on the man, plastered on his face.
"I got into a disagreement with some older padawans. I didn't do anything wrong," he was quick to state the latter. "But they thought I had," he said ambiguously, his gaze locked on the discarded spoon. "I tried to walk away but they kept goading me so I challenged a Nautolan boy to a fight and, well, I won," Kade admitted, although somehow confessing to this did not feel nearly as good as actually winning. In fact, he felt ashamed. "We were careful not to actually hurt each other." He paused, not quite sure how to put this. "But I wasn't paying attention towards the end and didn't jump in time to miss a sweep. That's how I fell and cracked my head on the floor," he stated, then went on to explain how Aren, Shald, the Zabrak and Lyn had helped deal with his injury.
He waited for a few moments, then forced himself to sit up straight. "I'm sorry I lied to you, and I'm sorry I tried to hide what happened. It was deceitful and," he swallowed, "I shouldn't have gotten into a fight in the first place." He knew all this in theory, yet the practical application still needed a lot of work.
"No, you shouldn't," Drex replied evenly. "Nor should you ever try to hide an injury from me. It is not only dishonest, it is also dangerous. So what you told me is all? The whole truth? You didn't do anything to provoke them?"
"It was a misunderstanding, that's all, a bit like what happened on the shuttle," Kade explained.
"Meaning you did not start the situation, but did quite a good job at escalating it?" Drex asked matter-of-factly.
"You could say that," the boy answered, shifting uncomfortably. "But I didn't misuse the Force, I just told them where to go, so to speak..."
"I'm sure you are aware that there are types of misbehaviour that don't involve misusing the Force," Drex said, still in that calm, solemn voice, "and they are going to get you punished all the same. If people treat you unfairly or in a condescending way, being aggressive or insulting them doesn't help. Nor is it the type of behaviour I expect from a Jedi padawan. It led you right into a situation where they managed to provoke you into a fight. You engaged in unsupervised sparring, got hurt in the process, got somebody to patch you up inexpertly and tried to hide it from me, thereby endangering your health. And you lied to me a number of times in the process. Does that about sum it up?"
The boy blanched, then swallowed. "Uh, yeah, I, yeah..." He replied. "But it sounds so much worse when you put it like that."
"It sounds exactly as bad as it was," Drex said without heat, but very decisively. "And it will earn you quite some punishment. First of all, give me your lightsaber."
Shocked into silence, Kade simply stared at him for a long moment before reluctantly unclipping his weapon and placing it on the table. "Why do you want my lightsaber, what are you going to do to it?" he asked, horror clear in his tone.
"I'm going to carry it on my belt for the next two weeks," Drex replied, taking the weapon and attaching it to his utility belt. "And that is only if there is not the slightest further incident of aggression from you; if there is, I will extend that period. We will not do any saber work during that time. Other kinds of Force work and workouts, yes. Saber work, no. You have not handled your weapon responsibly and therefore, you will not be trusted to handle it at all for a while."
"W-what!? Two weeks?! But, two weeks! That's insane, you can't be serious," the boy exclaimed, his tone rising, along with his temper, as the gravity of what Drex had just told him sunk in.
"Oh, but I am," Drex said serenely. "Maybe the next time you feel tempted to challenge someone to an unauthorised fight, you will think of this and will resist the temptation. Now wait here for a moment."
He rose and went into his refresher from which he retrieved his hairbrush. His hair was thick and wavy, and his hairbrush was correspondingly broad and heavy. He only used it sparingly, in cases in which he thought he really needed to leave a strong impression. In this case, this was exactly what was needed. There was no way Kade was going to get out of this with his dignity intact.
Too shocked to react, Kade just continued to stare as Drex rose and disappeared into his refresher. After hearing he had lost all rights to use a lightsaber for two weeks, the boy didn't know what to expect and eyed the door with a mixture of curiosity and trepidation.
Returning to the common room, Drex pulled out a chair from the table, sat down and said unceremoniously: "Bare your bottom and get over my lap."
Kade swallowed as he spotted what had to be the nastiest looking hairbrush he'd ever laid eyes on. There was no doubt that it was going to hurt. He had no problem dropping his pants, but there was no way he was going over a lap at his age. Panicking, the padawan dropped to his knees, the habit a product of years spent with a Kushiban as his crèche master, as much as it was a gesture of respect, or in this case, outright begging! "No, please don't make me do that, not like that. It's humiliating and," he paused to swallow the lump in his throat. "I'm far too big, I won't fit," he pleaded, hoping to all hopes that the man would take pity on him.
Drex knew it was humiliating. He also happened to think that Kade would benefit from being taken down a peg or two. He was far too concerned with seeming as old and mature as he possibly could, instead of learning the lessons he really needed to learn.
"You are going over my lap," he informed Kade. "This is punishment. It is not meant to cater to your wishes. If you liked the way I administer it, it would not fulfil its purpose. And don't worry, you will fit. I'm not that small. Now don't make me wait any longer because I can assure you, as bad as it may seem, it can always get worse."
As far as Kade was concerned this was as bad as it got, he couldn't imagine how it could possibly get any worse. "But," he stammered, desperately trying to buy himself some time to come up with a solution, anything other than being put across the man's knee. "I have a head injury, I shouldn't have my head down." By this time he was beginning to deep breathe, and his palms were sweating.
Drex looked thoughtfully at Kaden for a long moment - well, he did not really look at him, as such, but kept his face pointed in the boy's direction. Coming to a decision, he slid from the chair and knelt, facing his padawan.
"Kade, you want to become a Jedi Knight," he said quietly. "And you need guidance to achieve that goal. Sometimes that guidance will be pleasant, and sometimes it will be very unpleasant. This, obviously, is one of the latter times. You earned it, though. The question is, do you trust me to give you the guidance that you need - even when you don't like it?"
Kade had not expected that, thus he blinked a few times before finally admitting: "I do trust you, it's just, just…" He puffed up his cheeks then blew the air out in a huff of resignation; there was nothing he could say to that other than: "Yes, Master."
Reluctantly, and without taking his gaze off the man, Kaden reached down and unfastened his pants, and got to his feet. He did not want to do this! However, when Drex sat back on the chair, the boy dropped his sleep pants leaving himself bare as the day he was born, then awkwardly approached his masters right side. This took a few attempts, he leant forward, then straightened only to attempt a different approach. In the end he just resigned himself to the fact that there was no dignified way to do this and bent over, his face red from the embarrassment.
Drex tilted Kade forward some more so that his bottom was pointing conveniently upwards. Then he started spanking him with his hand, hard and fast.
Just when he thought it could get no worse, Kade found himself shifted into the most humiliating pose this position could possibly offer. "Master, please…" The boy complained as his palms skidded forward on the carpet to compensate. He didn't get more than that out before the man's hand cracked down onto his backside with considerable force.
"OWwchH!" he squeaked, his voice briefly taking on the tenor of a ten-year-old girl. He didn't know he could still manage that octave! That had completely taken him by surprise; he wasn't expecting the old man to have such an effective arm.
Drex was still strong and muscular enough to leave an impression, even on a twelve-year-old who prided himself on being tough. Besides, he had years of experience at punishing errant padawans, and it showed.
"You don't get into fights," he told Kade while peppering his bottom with stinging swats. "You don't draw your saber on anyone without permission. When you're injured, you get treatment. And you don't - lie - to - me!"
The last four words were punctuated with particularly hefty swats to the backs of Kade's thighs.
Ok, so if the position wasn't bad enough to make him regret his actions, this surely did the trick. Sure, he had taken worse from Eeth, and his crèche master's stick had truly lifted him on more than one occasion, but for some reason what Drex was doing felt worse than all of that combined.
"I-I'm, AH! s-sorry!" he sputtered through gritted teeth. His entire back end burned, and he bit down on his forearm to keep from crying out when Drex lit into his thighs. He was not going to lose his shit over a childish spanking, he wasn't!
Unfortunately for Kaden, there was no way that Drex was going to allow him to tough it out. He felt that Kaden needed to give in to this punishment, and that included letting go of his pride and his pretence at having some degree of control over the situation.
"You took vows of obedience and of honesty when you became my padawan," he informed Kade while continuing to pound his backside with his large hand. "You did not honour those vows yesterday. That's why you are being punished. And this punishment is far from over."
His hand was beginning to sting, and Kade's backside was radiating heat by now. This was the cue for Drex to reach for the hairbrush which he had put onto the table. He let it rest on Kade's upturned bottom for a second in order to take aim, then raised it and brought it down with considerable force.
By the time Drex paused to pick up the brush, Kaden was seriously beginning to doubt his ability to get through this; it was the hardest he had ever been spanked in his life. He knew why he was being punished, and he knew he had earned it, but he honestly had not expected it to hurt this much! His face was red with the considerable effort he was putting into keeping himself from crying out.
He tightened up as he felt the cold surface rest on his ass, and for a split second it actually felt soothing. That sensation was short lived, however, as what came next was anything but. Kaden grabbed hold of his master's trouser leg, clutching it with all his might, but as the next few landed the boy simply couldn't withstand it. "YeoWCH!" He bellowed, his hips twisting in an effort to avoid the next whack, and hand flying around as backup. He turned his head to look up at the man who had just earned himself a spot in his personal ass-kicking hall of fame, his eyes bright with unshed tears. "P-please," was all he managed to get out. If he said anymore he was going to cry.
"Sorry, Kade, but this stops when I decide to stop it, not when you ask me to," Drex said calmly. "Take your hands out of the way. I know they are there somewhere, but I can't see them and I don't want to hit them. Grab the legs of the chair if you must."
Kade would rather Drex nail his hand than take another smack to his ass, but apparently he wasn't being given that option, and it was with great effort that he managed to comply.
He tried gripping the chair leg but it simply hurt too much for him to hold his upper body weight with one arm. However, as Drex pounded the brush down another couple of times, he no longer cared. He was forced to drop his full weight onto his master's lap as he went limp, tears streaking down his flushed face. Much to Kade's increasing distress, he was unable to stop himself from kicking out as a sob escaped, and it was not long before he was crying shamefully.
That was the point that Drex wanted to reach; for Kaden to submit to this punishment. Kaden had a harder time doing so than many, but that was hardly Drex's problem, after all. He gave Kade another half dozen solid swats, aiming for the undercurve of his bottom, and then finally laid the brush aside, waiting for his padawan to regain his composure.
The last six animated the boy in a way he had not experienced before. He kicked, wriggled, writhed, sobbed and howled loud enough that he was sure they heard him in the tower adjacent. However, to his credit, he did not try to beg or plead again.
At first, Kaden wasn't aware that Drex had actually stopped, and even when he was, it still hurt badly enough that he had to glance back and check his arm was no longer moving and that the brush was no longer in his hand. It was official, he was never, E-eVER doing anything that would earn him another round with that horrid thing! N-never again! Force, even his thoughts hiccoughed.
It took him a minute to pull himself together, but once his cries had slowed to the occasional sniffle the boy took his weight once again. He wasn't sure what to do, but neither was he willing to risk anything else connecting with his ass, so despite desperately wanting to rub some of the itchy burn, he simply lay there and sniffled instead.
"Alright, up you get," Drex said quietly, helping Kade rise from his lap. He put his arm around his padawan's torso in a gesture of support; should the boy wish to cry it out on his shoulder, he was welcome to do so. Should he want to withdraw, he was just as welcome. Drex did not yet know his padawan's preferences.
With a little help, Kade found his feet and allowed himself to accept the man's comfort for a brief moment before stepping back. He kicked off his undershorts, planning to go commando as his backside was completely roasted and all he wanted to do was retreat to his bedroom and quietly 'lick his wounds', so to speak.
"Can I go to my room p-please?" he asked softly. He managed to keep his hands at his sides, but only because he realised that his ass actually hurt too much to rub.
"For a quarter of an hour," Drex said. "I expect you back here then."
He did want to offer some comfort, but Kade, unsurprisingly, obviously was among the children who needed to get over the humiliation of the experience first. While Kade retreated to his room, Drex cleared the breakfast table, returned the hairbrush to his refresher and prepared some hot chocolate and a plate of cookies. After all, Kade had hardly had any breakfast.
"Alright," Kade replied quickly, desperate for the privacy of his room.
The first thing he did was rip off his tunic and pants, turn on his shower and stick his ass under the cold water. The relief was instant, although as enjoyable as it was, he could not stay here forever. Sighing, he stuck his head under for a moment before flicking the water off. That hairbrush was going down, he thought, pulling on a loose pair of sleep pants and roughly scrubbing his chest and head dry with the towel.
Fourteen minutes and fifty-nine seconds later, Kade exited his room, his gait rigid and expression contrite as he moved to stand before Drex once again.
"Come here," Drex said kindly, offering Kade a hug. "And stop being embarrassed. There is nobody here to watch."
Kaden obeyed, accepting the affection his master offered gratefully. "Am not," he lied through a grin and swiped his eyes with the back of a hand as he pulled away. "Have you finished punishing me, or is there more?" the boy asked, his gaze lingering on the cookies for a moment before he stood up straight once again.
"No," Drex replied. "I think the next two weeks, combined with what you received, will be punishment enough. Have a cookie and drink your hot chocolate. After that, I would like you to meditate for half an hour on your choices and on how you could go about avoiding a repeat occurrence. When you are done, I am going to give you some bacta for your bottom."
Kade raised a brow in surprise. He had never been offered healing after being disciplined, but then again, nor had he received a punishment that had affected him like this.
Not willing or wanting to argue, the boy took a cookie and his mug of hot chocolate and leant tiredly into the table; the sooner he got this over with the sooner his ass would stop throbbing, and it was with that thought in mind that he made short work of the snack. "Can I meditate on the couch?" he asked, not particularly thrilled over the idea of sitting on a mat.
"That does usually not help a person's focus," Drex said wryly. "Better try kneeling. It will not be fun, but then, it's not meant to be."
Kade sighed in response, then wordlessly dragged his feet toward his meditation mat and knelt. Drex had been correct, this was not fun and although his ass was not touching the floor, it still burned like nothing else! Needless to say he spent the half an hour with his arms crossed about his chest and forehead leaning into the wall for support, it was not the most comfortable position, but it sure as hell beat sitting.
When Kade's half hour was up, Drex, who was sitting on the couch, said: "You may stop now."
As Kaden rose, understandably a little stiffly, Drex held out a tiny jar of bacta to him.
"Spread this thinly across your bottom," he advised him. "I want you to be able to sit."
"No disrespect meant, but if you want me able to sit afterwards, can I suggest that next time you don't try to wallop me with in an inch of my life!" Kade stated, and eyed the tin as if it were some sort of magical talisman.
Drex just snorted at that suggestion.
Kade yanked down his sleep pants and popped the lid. He wasn't shy in the slightest, however, having a blind master meant that even if he was, dropping trow in the middle of their common room was no big deal. "Ahh," he hissed as the bacta started to work, but it barely lasted a minute and soon his ass was beginning to feel less like it had been scorched with a hot iron.
"How is your head feeling?" Drex asked quietly.
"It's better than it was, Healer Bril did a good job..." Kade admitted. He suddenly felt a pang of guilt at having gotten the others in trouble. He did not know if Drex intended to contact their masters or not but nor did he want to bring that up at the moment.
"Good," said Drex. "Now sit with me and, as much as you're going to hate this, tell me the names of the others who were involved in this episode. I'm not in the habit of making you tell tales on your peers for every tiny incident of misbehavior, but this is something that I cannot overlook. And their masters wouldn't want me to either."
Sit? Kade thought, but got to his feet all the same; he just hoped that the bacta didn't stick his pants to his ass. Figuring that the man knew what he was doing, Kade sat down at his side and blew out a long breath at what Drex was asking of him. "These boys are a lot older than me and, although I know the way I went about it was wrong, I earned their respect." The padawan paused, his face crinkling. "I will tell you if you order me to, but if there's some way around it I won't complain…" he said, hoping to see some sort of understanding for his situation in the man's sightless eyes.
Drex was understanding alright, but he needed to do what had to be done.
"There isn't," he said calmly. "If it makes you feel better, I hereby explicitly order you to tell me."
"No, it doesn't make me feel any better," Kade stated tersely, but it didn't sound as if he had much of a choice. "Lyn healed me, I fought Shald and Aren was the reason it all happened," he said, feeling like crap for having to rat them out.
"Since they are senior padawans, they will know that they deserve whatever they are going to get," Drex pointed out. "Plus, they will know that you were not given any choice. Unauthorised sparring with junior padawans is a serious offense. What is more, not only were you hurt in the process, but they also helped you to try and cover it up, instead of getting you to the healers as they should have done. I would be a lot more understanding about this if they had been no older than you are; but having been padawans for several years, they should have known better. Their masters will have to teach them to act more responsibly in the future, and how can they do this if they don't hear of the whole thing? And, yes, I know that is all good and well for a master to say and a lot more difficult for a padawan to act on."
He gave Kade a brief smile and rose in order to go the terminal and activare the register of current padawans.
"Yes, it is," Kade agreed, his tone of voice underlining his displeasure with Drex's decision to contact their masters.
He watched on silently as Drex used voice commands and a special keypad to navigate the terminal, then cringed as the holographic image of a tall, dark-skinned man appeared. Apparently, Aren's master was no more pleased with their antics than Drex. He knew the other boys' masters well and offered to pass the message on personally.
That evening Kade was not surprised to see Shald sans saber, the Zabrak standing somewhat stiffly and Aren and Lyn missing. He inclined his head, fully expecting to be scowled at for having to rat them out. He was more than a little shocked when Shald approached, a slight grin on his face. "He caught you out, huh?" the older boy said in a comradely tone.
"Uh, yeah, it's a bit harder to conceal injuries during meditation, he was on me like white on rice," Kade admitted. "Sorry I had to rat you out, I hope you didn't catch it too badly."
Shald and the still nameless Zabrak both snorted. "We're seventeen years old, of course it was bad. I'm not gonna sit down for a week, and Force knows when I'll get my lightsaber back. You too, hmm?" The Nautolan gestured to Kade's belt where his saber would usually be clipped.
"Yeah," Kade said through a huff, "but like you said, it's not the first time I've gotten a whipping."
They all smirked at that and the Zabrak clapped him on the back. "You've got guts, kid. We'll see you around." And with that, the pair left to greet Aren who was just walking, somewhat stiffly, into the lounge.