Raven was stacking the last few dishes into the cupboard when Jas entered the cabin, her eyes red from crying and both hands rubbing her backside. "Jas?" inquired Raven.

"Leave me alone!" Jas said through a sob and lay on her bunk to sulk, her back facing the room.

Raven glanced out the window to find out where Eeth was but could not see him from there. "You okay?" she asked across their bond. Of course she knew he was, but duty or not: constantly pulling the kid into line must not be easy on him.

"I am fine, padawan," Eeth sent back across their bond. He picked a basketful of fruit, reasoning that Jas might need a minute to pull herself together. Then he followed her inside. He put the basket onto the countertop and sat beside Jas' bed, resting a hand on her back. He could sense that she was exhausted.

"Sleep," he said softly. "It will do you good." He sent a light sleep compulsion along with it.

It did not take more than this. Jas was out like a light and snoring quietly barely a minute after he had put his hand to her back.

Raven set down a dishcloth, picked up the pot of tea she had left to brew ten minutes before and sat it on the table. Jas hadn't bothered to pull the blankets around herself, and given that she had curled into a ball facing the wall, Raven was able to make out quite a few thin welts poking out from her underpants. "Ouch," she said in sympathy, then looked over at Eeth. "She deserved it, though," she added.

"She did," Eeth said, pulling the blanket up around Jas' shoulders. "And I hope she understands it now. I postponed the discussion on yesterday's disobedience. If she manages to lose her attitude and show me she has understood her mistake, I might even let her off. But only then. I do not know how good the chances are."

Raven had to agree that she wasn't sure how accepting Jas would be; the girl felt she'd already been punished for disobeying and had made her thoughts clear. Then again, her backside had to hurt, and the kid wasn't stupid.

Eeth rose and crossed over to the table where he helped himself to some tea.

"Thank you," he said appreciatively. "Shall we do some kata practice? Jas ought to sleep for an hour or two now."

Raven readily followed him outside. "The medication is working fast. Do you think she'll be up and about in the next day or so?" she asked.

"She is not going to heal that fast," said Eeth. "She will feel much better and need less sleep by tomorrow, but her body will take longer than a day or two to recover. We will have to keep her from exerting herself too much."

Raven nodded and moved to stand before him. For once, she didn't wait for his instructions. She just moved into the first kata that took her and linked with him. Raven had never done this before. She was growing into herself, growing in confidence, and perfecting how to take control of situations. This mission gave the padawan experience in areas she hadn't thought she needed to improve.

Eeth was a little surprised, but he acknowledged that taking control of situations was a skill his padawan needed to develop. She had the maturity to do so, and he respected that. Therefore, without hesitation, he fell into step with her, accepting her lead.

Raven might have initiated their joint kata, but she still waited for Eeth to signal that they stop. When he did, she drew a deep breath, let it out and smiled. "Thank you, master, I needed that," she said. Then she glanced towards the cabin where Jas was still sleeping. "I can mind her for a while if you want a break?" she offered.

"Thank you," said Eeth, "but I would rather be there when she wakes up. She might still be sulking."

"I think that's a big possibility, yes," Raven agreed, her expression understanding as she followed him indoors.

Seeing the large basket of fruit on the countertop, Eeth decided to prepare some ice cream. Even though he liked cooking, he had never actually made ice cream before. It had always felt too much like indulgence. But then, he defended himself internally, he had never had to care for a child as young as Jas as intimately as he was doing right now!

Raven watched him for a few minutes. "Are you making ice cream?" she finally asked – quietly, so as not to wake Jas.

"I am," Eeth replied, somewhat stiffly.

"Who are you and what have you done with my master?" Raven inquired.

"We have a lot of fruit which might go bad unless I do something with it," Eeth pointed out in as dignified a manner as possible. "Besides, Jas is still ill. And she is only ten. So, yes, I am making ice cream. It might even be a useful skill, should an undercover mission require me to work as a cook. Which has happened before."

He looked at the concoction he had produced critically and added some more sugar. Then he filled it into a container and stowed it in the deep-freeze compartment of their cooler. "I think I will have to stir it frequently," he said. "Every hour or so. It should be finished by mid-afternoon."

"It looks good to me," said Raven, who would eat it regardless of how it turned out. It was a rare indulgence, especially so these days as they spent more and more time away from the Temple.

"If you've nothing for me to do, do you mind if I go for a walk?" she asked. "I heard some locals talking about the arrival of one of their sea creatures. Apparently, it's an annual occurrence and only lasts for a week. They migrate in huge numbers to this same small stretch of beach to lay their eggs. I wouldn't mind seeing this. May I go?"

Eeth hesitated for a moment, which was unusual for him.

"Alright," he finally said. "But watch out for the man you met earlier. Be mindful. And alert me if there is the slightest sign of danger."

There was no need for him to babysit his twenty-one-year-old padawan, he knew; but yet, he felt uneasy at letting Raven go.

Eeth's hesitation was noticed, and had that not made Raven wary, his comments and instructions did. "Do you sense something?" she asked while pulling on a parka. It wasn't cold but neither did she know how long this might take. Raven often hid the fact that she was a Jedi when she was not required to present as such, and thus, she rarely wore her uniform when away from the Temple and mixing with civilians.

"I do," said Eeth truthfully, "but it might be exacerbated by my protectiveness. You are certainly competent to handle difficulties on your own. Just be careful."

"I will be," Raven confirmed, and now she was very much on her guard. Raven knew the horrors of the universe and was aware that she was not impervious to them. She contemplated changing into her uniform; this would give her identity away but also meant she would have a place to keep her saber and comlink. Then again, the parka Raven had chosen was made of a lightweight material designed for this climate and had quite a baggy fit, which meant that she could easily hide the saber beneath it. Raven summoned her weapon from her bedside table and clipped it to a loop on the inside pocket, meeting Eeth's gaze again. "I'll be back before dark," she said, "unless you want me back earlier?"

"I do not," said Eeth.

It was then that Jas stirred, rubbed her eyes and rolled over to face the two. "Can I go, too?" she asked, noticing that Raven was dressed in civvies and heading for the door.

"You will not be going anywhere for at least the next three days or so," Eeth said firmly. "May the Force be with you, padawan."

Raven bowed and left, pausing outside briefly to slip on some sandals. She was on her guard but was not worried enough to stay at the cabin; she really wanted to see the migration, and there was no telling when this opportunity would come about again.

Jas, on the other hand, was sulking. Hearing that it would be three days before Eeth let her go anywhere had not gone over well.

Eeth moved over to the girl's bed, sat down, took her hand and monitored her condition through the Force briefly.

"The virus is all but gone," he said, "but it has weakened you considerably. The reason for which such diseases go so badly for Zabrak is that our immune system puts up a valiant fight, preventing us from becoming ill very often. But once it succumbs to a disease, it breaks down completely. And it takes a while to recover from that, even with the best medication."

Jas was curious to hear these details about her body. She had to concede that if what Eeth said was true, and if how she felt was anything to go by, she would need to rest. She looked at her hand when he released it, not wanting to meet his eye. Jas had always struggled to relinquish grudges and had problems knowing how to act after punishment.

"Jas," Eeth said quietly. "Do you or do you not think you deserved to be punished over this?"

"Yes, but I don't like it," she replied honestly. "I hate it, it's embarrassing and it hurts."

"I am afraid that is rather the point," Eeth said, not without sympathy. "Your creche masters seem to have punished you in ways that did not affect you much. You might have liked that better, on the surface; but it did not do you much good. Let it go. If you cannot do that, ask for help. That is the Jedi way."

Jas looked up at him. Her creche masters had punished her, but had it been anything like this? No! She frowned. "It might be the Jedi way, but sometimes that's hard," she said and sighed. "I want help because making it embarrassing and painful might be the point, but I'm still mad at you for doing it."

"I know," said Eeth, "but allowing you to continue being dishonest about your wellbeing – or anything else, for that matter – would hurt you much more in the long run. I can help you deal with your emotions. Link with me."

He entered a meditative trance, reaching out to Jas.

Jas linked with Eeth, dropping her shields. This had become easier the more often they meditated together. Still, it was hard for Jas to open up to others. Displaying her weaknesses and feelings made her feel vulnerable. Eeth never judged her, though, which was good because she hit him with a torrent of anger and frustration over this most recent punishment.

Eeth helped Jas to work through these feelings, hard though that was on her. He knew that she would feel better afterwards.

"There," he finally said, surfacing from the meditative trance. He gave her a small smile.

"Take a shower and get dressed," he told Jas. "You may have some time to yourself after that if you like, but you are not to exert yourself. We can talk more after lunch. Is there anything you particularly feel like eating?"

Jas did not have a preference, so she shook her head. She grabbed a clean uniform and did as he had said. Her backside stung a bit when the warm water hit it. She twisted to look and was surprised to note that most of the welts had vanished. Only a few of the harder stripes he had landed on the lower part of her bottom were still visible. The girl groaned. She did not desire to ever experience another switching.

Ten minutes later, she exited the shower, towel in hand and hair damp. It was getting thinner and thinner. Each time she washed it, more fell out. Jas knew that soon, her horns would start to grow again, and she would most likely lose the hair there. The thought made her smile. She wanted to look like a Zabrak, not like a human with bumps on her head. She wanted to look like Eeth, tall and menacing. For a moment, Jas was lost in a game. The wooden stirring spoon Raven had tagged her with was now her lightsaber, and it arched through the air, Jas providing the sound effects. She wasn't sure what she was fighting here, but it was going down.

Eeth tried hard, and quite unsuccessfully, to suppress a smile at her antics. But since he had his back turned towards her, he hoped she would not notice. He prepared a soup into which they could dunk strips of meat, fish, fried egg, and vegetables. He had also made a hot sauce to go with the soup. It was prepared according to Iridonian Zabrak taste. During his travels, Eeth had come to like it that way.

"Careful with the sauce," he warned Jas. "It is a typical Zabrak dish, hotter than what you are used to."

He himself scooped a liberal amount of it into his soup and started eating.

Jas didn't mind spicy either, and she was a Zabrak who aspired to be like Eeth, so she added the same amount to her food as he had. Yeah, that wasn't a good idea, as she soon found out. "Ahh! Hot! Hot!" she panted. Her tongue hung out, and she was fanning it with her hand.

"Obviously," Eeth remarked wryly, "your taste buds will need to get used to this."

He handed her a piece of bread. "Eat this," he said. "And you had better add some more soup to your bowl to dilute the sauce."

The bread was eaten quickly, and soon the burn dissipated. It took Jas a few attempts to get the taste to her liking, but eventually, she managed. The soup was good; she liked it. Thankfully it liked her too, and she was able to keep it down.

"What am I meant to do for three days if you won't let me go anywhere?" Jas asked when her soup was finished. She was waiting for Eeth to finish, too, since she was not allowed to get up before he had. She hated that rule. It was stupid! Still, she'd learned it was best to keep comments to that effect to herself.

"Unfortunately," Eeth said drily, "you are neither up to exercising nor to doing Force work. Starting tomorrow, we can take short walks into the jungle or along the beach and see how you fare with them. You may do some class work, but only small bits at a time. I will keep you company and I am willing to play games with you or talk. I know this sounds boring. It probably will be. But this cannot be helped. Zabrak viruses simply are like that. Medication helps, but only time will heal them. As you know, a few years ago, I was struck by a virus that was so severe I nearly died. I made a very slow recovery. At one point, I tried to resume work – nothing strenuous, merely a Senate committee. I very nearly relapsed but fortunately, the healers ordered me to stop before that happened. I was not happy about it at all, but it could not be helped."

Jas' face fell upon hearing that she was going to be bored for the next three days. Then again, Eeth and Raven had played with her so far, and she wasn't often left alone. She huffed but acquiesced; if even Eeth relapsed so severely, she could also. Thus, Jas refrained from further complaints for now.

Eeth finished his soup, laid his spoon aside, fixed his trademark relentless look on Jas and said, "Before we do anything else, tell me what possessed you to disobey Raven yesterday. About staying in bed."

His question was met with a frown. Jas did not want to talk about this, not again! And therefore, she attempted to derail him. "Raven already told me off and punished me for that," she complained.

"I know," Eeth replied coolly. "And yet I chose to ask you about it. Answer my question."

Jas huffed, annoyed that her efforts had not succeeded. "Like I told Raven," she said, "I was bored. I didn't think it would make any difference."

"Presumably, you also did not think you needed to obey Raven and me as long as you did not get caught," Eeth remarked, clearly unimpressed with this answer. "Is that not so?"

Jas wasn't sure how to respond to that. It was true, but admitting that would land her in more trouble. She went silent, her arms folded and her frown aimed at the table.

"I advise you against digging yourself in deeper," Eeth said calmly. "I have not yet decided how to deal with this, but pulling an attitude is definitely going to make it worse. This is the second time I have to order you to answer my question. If it happens a third time, I will emphasise my order with the paddle."

Jas stared at him, momentarily contemplating her options. None were appealing. "Raven was meant to be gone for more than five minutes," she finally said. "And, yes, I didn't think I'd get caught," the kid added, deciding that being more forthcoming, even if it was incriminating, might gain her some leniency; she was sick, after all.

"And why might that have been wrong?" asked Eeth. "Why would it have been wrong even if Raven had not caught you?"

Was Eeth seriously going to make her say this? One look at the expression on his face said that he was. Jas' frown deepened, her posture stiffened, and she worked to swallow her pride. "Because going outside slowed my recovery and went against the orders I was given." Jas' nose wrinkled and looked like she was in physical pain as she said that.

"Correct," said Eeth. "And I might add that you lied to Raven when asked about it, rather than owning up to the choices you made." This made Jas cringe. "Once again, you had an attitude problem," Eeth continued. "You thought you knew better than us. You are annoyed with what you consider constant supervision; but you need to understand that irresponsible behaviour like yours makes it hard for us to trust you. When you find a master, the two of you will need to build a relationship of trust, and that trust needs to be earned – through honesty, through reliability, and also through obedience."

"I know!" Jas exclaimed. Eeth was making her feel worse. She threw up her hands. "But it wasn't like at the time I was thinking 'Oh, I'll go outside because I want to be untrustworthy, because I want to do it to spite you or Raven or because I want to relapse.' I was just bored. I knew I'd get in trouble if I got caught, but I didn't think I would, so I snuck out instead of doing what I was meant to do. And the chances of me getting a master are virtually zero, so what does it matter if I enjoy myself now?" This sounded bad even to her, but it was the truth as Jas felt it.

"I have already told you that this is nonsense," said Eeth sternly. "And I do not fancy having to repeat myself. There is no reason why you should not find a master, and when you do, they are not going to be impressed with your attempts at pretending your behaviour does not matter. It does."

"Wait a minute here. Are you telling me that you're all-knowing? How do you know that my feelings are nonsense?" asked Jas. She wasn't being a smartass here; she did not like it that he dismissed her feelings as nonsense.

"I was not talking about your feelings," snapped Eeth. "I was saying that this claim of yours that no master is ever going to take you on is absurd and no excuse for misbehaviour. Whether or not you meant to be untrustworthy, the fact remains that you were. You need to learn to think about these things before you act, and that is precisely what my punishments are trying to accomplish. Do you see any reason why I should not punish you for having disobeyed my very explicit instructions? And I am talking about my own instructions, not Raven's."

Jas brooded over that for a moment before replying to his question. "Why? Because your and Raven's instructions were exactly the same order! And she already punished me for disobeying it once." Jas started to fidget. This was either going to go very well or very bad.

"That excuse will not fly, as you have probably already noticed," Eeth said sharply. "I gave you an order, Raven gave you the same order, you disobeyed both of us. And Raven knew perfectly well that I might want to add to her punishment and she took that into account."

Had Jas simply acknowledged that she had done wrong and deserved her punishment, he would have dropped the issue. As it was, he wanted to make a point.

Pushing back his chair, he ordered: "Come here."

Jas stared at him from across the table. "No," she complained, but it didn't take more than a second before she slipped from her chair and moved to do as he said. She folded her arms tightly, her eyes already overbright; she didn't want another punishment, and that was something Eeth could hardly fail to notice.

"Your health is important," Eeth said, quite gently. "You need to learn that. Even if it is not a pleasant lesson to learn. Pull down your pants and get over my lap."

If Jas was compliant, he thought, he would make it a rather mild punishment. After all, he internally defended himself, Jas was still ill.

Jas stood there for a moment until it looked like Eeth was about to move. Then she panicked, jerking her clothing to her knees in one swift motion and throwing herself over his lap, her arms hanging limply over his side and her toes adjusting and readjusting to make this comfortable. The act itself was horrifying enough to Jas, but obedience was slowly starting to trump her pride.

Eeth pulled out his paddle and dealt out six heavy swats. They were slow and hard swats, as hard as he could make them, but it was only the small paddle and there were only six of them. He hoped that Jas would recognise the reprieve for what it was. When he was done, he laid the paddle onto the table and said, "Alright, that will be all. You did yourself a big favour when you complied with my instructions."

Jas scrambled to her feet, paused briefly in surprise that this was really all Eeth was giving her, and righted her clothing. It had still hurt, especially in addition to the effects of the switch, but it was nothing the ten-year-old couldn't handle.

"Can I go? Please?" she asked, the pleasantry having been added as an afterthought. Eeth might have gone easy on her, and Jas could even appreciate that reprieve, but he'd still spanked her and she was still not happy with him for doing it.

"You may," said Eeth gently. He swiped a thumb across her cheek, removing a stray tear, and gave her a small smile. As a padawan, he had been much the same: when his master had punished him, he had often felt a need to withdraw, to regain his composure and come to terms with what had happened. He had usually sought out his master a little later; but of course, he had had a much closer relationship with his master than Jas had with him. He was not going to enforce anything.

Jas turned and made for her bunk, only to stop short. "Will you let me go outside?" she added, facing Eeth again. By now, he had seen her teary-eyed so many times that she didn't bother trying to hide it.

"Yes, but do not move too far from the hut and do not exert yourself, "Eeth replied. "Should you want company, I will be here."

Typically, Jas would ignore such a comment, especially since he had just punished her. This time, however, something was different. She was still mad at him for spanking her, but she was starting to feel angrier at herself than him. It was confusing. Usually, Jas felt like the victim, but she was starting to wonder if this was actually true. She turned, her hesitation no doubt noticed, and made her way to the bench.

Meanwhile, Raven was busy at the rookery. This was what the locals called the place where the strange-looking amphibians gathered each year to lay their eggs. There were only two of those here for now. However, many more would come during the evenings, and she was invited to return. Raven wanted to see this, and so she agreed. She wasn't sure if Eeth would let her, considering her encounter with Vin, but she hoped he would, as this was possibly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for her. Excited at the prospect, she collected a volunteer pack from the ranger and left for their cabin.

She arrived to find Jas lying on the bench on her stomach, her head buried in the crook of an elbow. "Jas?" she asked.

The girl looked up and swiped at her face with a sleeve but did not say anything.

Raven had fully expected to be told to go away, as usual. That she wasn't garnered her curiosity, so she sat on the bench, tossed the pack aside, and pulled off her sandals. They were full of sand now and uncomfortable. "You okay?" she asked.

"No," came the sullen reply. Jas was still not feeling well, and she'd been punished to boot.

"Want to talk about it?" Raven inquired.

Jas shrugged. What was there to say? she thought.

Raven didn't need the Force to know what had gone on. Eeth had been her master for nine years now, and not once had he ever let an act of disobedience go unpunished. "That bad, huh?"

Jas looked up at her. "It wouldn't have been so bad if he didn't take that switch to me earlier," she complained.

"Yes, he can be quite lethal with a switch. Lakhri hates them to this day for that very reason. Personally, I think that horrid thing with all the holes in it is worse," Raven said, leaning a little closer as if to confide a secret. "I lost my temper once and tried to break it. He almost broke it over my ass for my efforts."

Jas actually chuckled at that. "You don't seem like the temper-throwing sort," she said.

"I'm not," replied Raven. "It was just a rebellious stage I was going through. I was fourteen then, and although I wasn't beginning to develop physically, my mood was very much that of a rebellious teenager. I gave everyone a hard time for quite a while."

"You weren't developing at fourteen? Is that normal for humans?" Jas asked. She was ten, and already her horns were sprouting.

"It's a bit late, but not unheard of, no. Most people from my homeworld tend to be tall and lithe. I'm not tall but I do have low body weight, which can delay the onset of puberty. Most likely it was just my body's programming." Raven shrugged and pulled up the pack she had tossed aside with her toes.

"What's that?" Jas questioned.

"It's a pack from the ranger at the rookery. They said I could come and help. They're always chasing volunteers to make sure the animals can lay their eggs undisturbed by predators and people messing with them." Raven opened the bag and pulled out a tiny pen light, a white, reflective shirt with the words "Volunteer" written across the front and back, several packs of jelly beans and a pamphlet of instructions.

"Can I have some of the jelly beans? Please?" Jas asked.

Raven met her with a serious expression and asked pointedly, "Are you still being punished?"

"I don't think so," Jas said. "He didn't say anything about lines or meditations."

"Best go ask him. Besides, I'm not sure if giving you this while you're sick will have any effect on the Azura virus. Eeth will know. Better to be safe than sorry." And with that, Raven piled the things back into the bag, grabbed her sandals and made for their cabin.

"Master," she greeted Eeth with a smile as she entered, Jas in tow. "Jas allowed these?" she asked, tossing him one of the small bags of jelly beans and sitting on the chair opposite him.

Jas was giving him a hopeful look but hadn't said anything yet.

"Yes, she is," Eeth said, having taken a look at the bag and handing it to Jas. "As long as you heed your stomach's signals, Jas, you should be fine. Incidentally, I have just checked on the ice cream I made this morning. It should be good to eat if anyone is interested."

"Oh, I'm interested," Raven said and instantly took out some bowls. "I ran into the ranger at the rookery," she said to Eeth. "Apparently, the amphibians mostly come in during the night to lay their eggs. They were short on volunteers to help so I said I would. May I?"

"Yes, you may," said Eeth, "provided you continue to be cautious. Heed your sense of the Force."

"Yes, master, of course," said Raven.

Meanwhile, Jas was struggling to open the packet. "Who made this anyway, Bastards Incorporated?" she grumbled. At this precise moment, the packet finally ripped open, and jelly beans flew everywhere.

Eeth ducked and sighed.

"Pick them up," he told Jas, going to fetch the ice cream from the cooler. He had stirred it quite frequently and it had become fairly smooth. It also contained more sugar than Eeth usually liked, but he supposed it would be to Raven's and Jas' tastes.

"I'm glad I cleaned the floor last night," Raven commented wryly, reaching down to pick up a red jelly bean that had rolled over near her foot. She went to pull some spoons from the drawer while Jas was crawling around on the floor, picking up jelly beans, eating some and piling the rest into the front of her top.

Eeth was still feeling slightly uneasy about letting Raven go out that night. However, he told himself that Raven was an adult and that she was a highly competent senior padawan, well able to both sense danger and defend herself against it. Therefore, he sent her off without showing any of his unease.

That evening was an experience for Raven. She had read the information pamphlet thoroughly, which pleased the ranger because many of the volunteers did not bother to do this, which meant that the ranger was forced to waste time explaining the rules. Raven quickly took over this task for him, leaving the more experienced ranger free to watch over the arriving sea creatures which, as Raven had learned, were called Borleian Burtles and were found nowhere else in the galaxy.

The next four days went by smoothly. Jas was now showing serious signs of improvement, both physically and in terms of her attitude. She had taken to asking Eeth to meditate with her, which had subsequently helped release her emotions, making the days she was stuck at the cabin recovering just about bearable for everyone. In fact, there was only one time that she was told off and smacked at all, which was for mouthing off. Surprisingly, that one swat came from Raven, not Eeth. But it was really just a minor incident. All in all, Eeth felt, Jas was not the same surly, obstinate and arrogant initiate any longer that she had been when he had first met her. But he thought it better to give it a week or two more before thinking about returning to the Temple.

On the sixth day of her volunteering mission, Raven was leaving for the rookery earlier than usual. Several media crews were scheduled to cover the night because it was the most busy of all. Almost all of the Burtles were either entering, laying eggs or leaving. It was all hands on deck; some photographers did not mind being kicked off the beach for using flash photography if it landed them that front page spread. "I might be late tonight, depending on the numbers," Raven said to Eeth while pulling on her parka and clipping her saber to the inside loop.

"I know I have told you before," Eeth said solemnly, "but I am going to tell you again. Be careful. I have an uneasy feeling, today more so than before. Call me if there is any trouble."

He rested his hand on Jas' shoulder.

"I was going to take Jas on a nighttime walk to the jungle," he said. "I think she's up to it by now. But I can be there fast if you need me."