A/N: We're glad that many of you enjoyed our last story, "Growth," and thanks for sticking with us!
To all who don't know it yet, our stories originated as online role-playing and are situated in our alternative Star Wars universe – well, mainly the universe of Episode One, pretending that the tragedy of the Great Jedi Purge never happened. Ahem. There are approximately twenty-five stories pre-written in this series which focuses on Master Eeth Koth and his padawan learner Raven Trebeck as well as some characters surrounding them, especially Eeth's first padawan Lakhri Tumuel and Lakhri's padawan Flynt. Although each story can stand alone, it might be a better reading experience to start from the beginning with "Of Padawans Fake and True."
"Discipline" takes place two years after Growth. Raven has just turned twenty-one years old and the team spends almost every moment that Eeth is not tied up with Council duties (which he is more often than he would like) on missions of one kind or another. Thus, neither Jedi is surprised when they are saddled with yet another one. The objective of this mission, however, is not what Raven has expected.
Now for the standard disclaimer: As everyone who has read and followed our stories ought to know by now, authority and discipline, including corporal punishment, are central themes. To any newcomers, see the aforementioned statement and take it as your only warning. We don't post content warnings at the beginning of each chapter for this. Also, we realise that our master characters will at times come across as harsh. However, please keep in mind that this is a fictional universe in which teenagers with extraordinary, potentially lethal abilities are raised to do an incredibly hard, dangerous and responsible job. Their master's feel an obligation to keep them in line in order to protect them and others by various types of discipline, including corporal punishment, i.e., spanking with the hand and different implements. And sometimes, they will need to dispense with the cuddling and tell their charges to do their duty. These are teenagers, after all, not small children. There will always be times to offer comfort and moments of closeness between master and padawan, but they might sometimes have to wait. Plus, masters might have their own issues … which is certainly true for Eeth. His journey with Raven is a learning experience for him as much as for his padawan.
Fortunately for our padawans, our master characters have near-magical healing abilities at their disposal, allowing us to indulge our preference for strict discipline – but hopefully not at the expense of character development and progression of the storyline!
If you like our stories (or if you don't like them for reasons other than those of which you have been warned), let us know in a review; we love to hear what you guys think. And that's enough of the preliminaries. Enjoy!
As he left the Council chamber, Jedi Master Eeth Koth pulled out his comlink. He needed to find out where his padawan was. At twenty-one years of age, Raven was not subject to constant supervision any longer, and since they frequently undertook missions, often at short notice, she had no regular Temple duties either. However, Eeth's council duties required his presence at the Temple more often than was common for masters who had padawans that age, and it was becoming harder to come up with meaningful activities for Raven while they were here. He was starting to think that their current schedule was not well-suited to preparing her for her knighting, and the assignment he had just accepted was not exactly helping. But right now, there was no time to explore that thought.
Having found out that Raven was currently shopping for groceries, he changed his course and met her near the exit of the commissary where she was just guiding a hovercart loaded with fruit, vegetables and a few other items into the next aisle.
"Padawan," he said. "We have just been assigned a … task."
"A task?" Raven replied, giving him a questioning look at his unusual choice of wording.
"It is not a mission, exactly," said Eeth. "It is more akin to a… teaching assignment."
Raven stopped the cart, looking surprised. They had not been assigned any teaching in a good while now as they had been offworld at unpredictable intervals.
"The good news is that it is going to take us to Borleias," said Eeth. "I believe we have never got around to exploring that planet after I fell ill during that conference, years ago."
"You and me both and no, we haven't, and I'm not complaining, but what teaching assignment could possibly require us to travel to Borleias, other than another hyperspace communications frequency debacle? Tell me we aren't teaching this?" Raven asked. She was joking. Mostly.
Eeth smiled and took over the hovercart, moving it back to the commissary where they started to return anything perishable as they would not be around to use it.
"No hyperspace communications," he said. "No, the Council had to deal with the case of an initiate who is in dire need of more structure and individual attention than her crèche master can provide. She is extremely strong in the Force, but seriously lacks discipline. Her crèche master says that she is becoming too much for him to handle, which, in one so strong, is extremely troubling. So far, the Force has not led her to a master. The Council is faced with the choice of sending her to AgriCorps or trying to get her back into line until she is taken on as a padawan."
"AgriCorps? Are they concerned that she might be a bit like Kaden Lightbane?" Raven asked.
"There is some concern that she might fall to the Dark Side if she continues on the path she is taking now, yes," said Eeth. "Which is one of the reasons for this drastic and somewhat unusual intervention."
Raven contemplated this as they walked corridors back to their quarters.
Eeth palmed the door open and guided the hovercart into the kitchen where they started to unpack it.
"The idea is to take her out of her Temple routine for a while," he said, "with someone who can provide one-on-one attention, structure and discipline. And that would be me." He smiled at her. "Of course you are coming, and your training will continue," he added. "We will stay in a cabin at the edge of the jungle, not far from the beach. I daresay the setting will be pleasant enough."
"Sounds it," said Raven, helping him put things into their cupboards. "But why us?" Raven could kinda figure out the answer to that herself but she wanted to hear the full story from Eeth. Besides, this mission wasn't exactly going to do much in the way of advancing her training, Raven felt, and she could not help but wonder why the Council had not assigned a different team to this task.
"We felt this needs a Council member's attention," said Eeth. "The Council considered me the most suitable person for a number of reasons, including my known ability to keep unruly initiates in line."
Raven gave him a sideways look, but said nothing.
"The decisive factor, though," Eeth continued, "was the fact that I am Zabrak, since the initiate in question is Zabrak herself and seems to entertain the notion that this makes her superior to other Jedi."
Eeth put away the last packet of flour and closed the door of the kitchen cupboard.
"We are leaving as soon as we have packed," he said. "I will go and pick up the girl from the crèche then. You will do the piloting. Given the situation, I have decided against using a public spaceship."
He turned and rested a hand on Raven's shoulder.
"Padawan, I know this is not what you need in order to prepare for your knighting," he said quietly. "Your needs have had to take a backseat to my council duties far too often, and this will have to change. And it will change. I promise. Can you trust me on that?"
"'Course I do," Raven told him. She would have been lying to say that this task sounded appealing. It didn't. But then, it was her duty to obey him. She pushed their empty cart into the corridor where a droid was waiting to return it for them, and went to her room to prepare.
Fifteen minutes later Raven emerged from her bedroom, fully packed, bag in hand. Her hair, uniform and boots were immaculate. Raven was in her prime and stunning to look at by human standards. Thanks to her Chine heritage, she had retained her girlish features while gaining a very slight womanly curve to her small frame. Her grey-green eyes sparkled with health and her posture had lost the impetuosity of youth and taken on a calmer, more sophisticated demeanour. "I'll get the ship ready and meet you in the hangar," she told Eeth, placing her pack down and waiting for permission.
"Thank you, padawan," Eeth said gently. He knew that this was not the kind of assignment that Raven had been hoping for – and that she had a right to hope for, in his opinion. And he was going to do whatever it took to provide her with better training opportunities once this was over. But right now, there was a troubled girl that needed help. This was Jas' last chance; all the masters dealing with her had been very clear about the fact that she could not be allowed to go on like she had. The Order valued its children highly and the Council had agreed that Jas was worth having the best available person try to bring her around. Eeth had been considered a good choice for many reasons, and besides the ones he had told Raven about, these included the fact that he had a female senior padawan who, the Council agreed, had taken a stellar development over the past years despite having had some distinct authority issues in her youth. As such, Raven might be a good role model for Jas. Eeth had decided not to tell his padawan about that part of the Council's reasoning, though. It might make her either conceited or feel awkward around Jas or both.
He gave his bag to Raven in order for her to take it to the ship and made his way to the crèche wing. Jas' crèche master had been informed of the Council's decision but had been asked to leave it to Eeth to tell her what was going to happen.
Raven hefted Eeth's bag over her right shoulder, slung her own – which was a bit lighter – over her left and made for their designated hangar. She still loved to fly. That feeling of elation had never left her, no matter how many times she took the controls of any ship.
"R9, patch through my clearance for hangar three, we'll be taking the Delta-7 Aethersprite-Class Light Interceptor. No respray needed." This ship was also known as the Jedi Starfighter. The Delta-7 was the most common mode of battle transport for Jedi knights over short distances but it could also attach to a booster ring when hyperspace travel was needed.
There wasn't going to be any need for superior manoeuvrability, advanced weapon systems or the like. Still, Raven loaded on four guided proton torpedoes as a precaution and so they were not left defenceless. Moments later, she had boarded and was busy performing the pre-flight checks, the R9 astromech droid chirping and whistling its input from the outside as it checked over the outer shell for damage.
Ten-year-old Jas Gaan was once again glaring angrily into a corner of her crèche dining hall, her now trembling arms held high above her head. She was nine minutes into a ten minute timeout for starting a fight with another girl over seating arrangements. Well, the cry-baby deserved everything she got if you asked Jas, not that it had gone over well when she had stated as much. Jas wouldn't give in, though, no way would she simper and beg for a reprieve. That would be acknowledging that the punishment was working, that she had been at fault, and worst of all, that she deserved it. Well, she did not! And she wasn't about to give her crèche master the satisfaction. Jas would sooner pass out. It was this tenacity – or stubbornness, depending on one's perspective – that the masters both praised and condemned.
"Time's up, Jas. Come here, please," her crèche master called over his creche group's chatter, his tone nowhere near as stern as it had been upon ordering her there.
Jas pretended not to hear him, and in spite of her aching arms, she forced him to give the order a second time before acknowledging it. She turned, dropped her arms and casually walked to stand before him where he proceeded to lead her through the usual post-punishment ritual. "Tell me what you did. Tell me why what you did was wrong. Apologise." Yada yada yada! The man needn't have heard her flat tone to know that she wasn't taking this seriously, but, as was typical, he didn't have the time needed to properly address this; four initiates had their hands raised and were waiting patiently for his attention. Sighing, the man patted her shoulder. "Go, pack a bag and wait by the crèche entrance. Someone is coming by to see you," he said.
"But I haven't finished my meal!"
"You might have if you hadn't started a fight. Now you'll just have to miss out. Go on, do as I told you." He put a gentle hand on her back and she didn't shrug him off.
"Why?" she asked.
"Because I asked you to," her crèche master replied mildly, an eyebrow raised.
For once, Jas was intrigued. It wasn't anything new that her crèche master gave her orders she didn't understand or that he didn't explain, but this somehow felt different.
Twenty minutes later, Jas was sitting, arms crossed and unusually still for a girl of ten, by her crèche dorm entrance. Why she was here still remained a mystery to her, and why they couldn't just tell her was yet another!
She was not kept waiting long. Barely a minute later, Eeth came walking down the corridor with his usual fast strides, stopped in front of Jas and gazed down on her. He could be rather imposing if he wanted to, and he usually did. Now was no exception.
"Initiate Gaan," he said, his tone of voice as precise and controlled as usual. "I am Jedi Master Eeth Koth, a member of the Jedi High Council. The reports we have received from your crèche masters and teachers have been troubling to an extent that made us decide to intervene. You will continue your education outside the Temple under my supervision for a while. My padawan learner is currently preparing a ship that is going to take us to Borleias. Please take your bag and come with me."
He saw no need to beat around the bush. Nor did he tell her that this was her last chance, short of having to leave the Temple for good. Such a warning might put more pressure on her than she could handle. Besides, this was only going to happen if Eeth failed, and Eeth never aimed for failure.
Jas looked up at him, her expression deadpan. "So, this is what it's come to, then," she said and stood, arms folded casually across her chest. "Just so you know, Eeth Koth of the Jedi High Council, I really don't care what you, my crèche master or whoever is whining about me this time says. There is nothing wrong with my attitude. It is only fair to warn you that if you plan on forcing me into believing there is, you will fail. So, you might as well save yourself the effort, turn your ass around and walk right out again." Jas wasn't being disrespectful, she believed; just truthful. Why so many adults got those two confused, Jas would never know. She paused, staring Eeth down and providing him the chance to be smart about this and leave. It was important to set strong foundations from the get-go or others would walk all over you, she believed, which was why she now stood tall and dignified and exuded confidence.
The girl was of average height and sturdily built; her frame was mostly muscle. Unlike many Zabrak, Jas had a full head of dark brown hair. However, she had noticed it beginning to thin out on top as her horns started growing through. Consequently, it was currently pulled back into a tight knot at the base of her neck which allowed the four tiny, rounded horns to be noticed, just. Jas was proud of her horns since they prevented her from being mistaken for a human, which she considered an insult. She had once beaten the crap out of a boy for calling her a human. Humans were an inferior species, weak of body, weak of mind, weak in the Force, and whiny, so fucking whiny! Jas was convinced that she was nothing like that. Much to her relief, the older she became, the less human she looked. Her skin was lighter than Eeth's, but was progressively darkening with age. Her face, although still youthfully heart-shaped, had an angular jawline ending in a small pointy chin. Her eyes were large, dark and currently boring holes into the tall Zabrak man standing before her.
Eeth could easily see why this girl was more than a crèche master with a bunch of children to look after might be able to handle. He was certainly not going to let her provoke him, though, nor was he going to allow her to talk to him in that tone. Fortunately for Jas, who urgently needed to be taken down a peg, he still carried a paddle around in his belt. It was mostly for the sake of his intermittent teaching duties; he could not even remember when he had last had to use it on Raven.
He calmly and firmly took Jas' ear in a vice-like grip, sat down on the chair and flung her across his lap. Releasing her ear, he securely held her around the waist with his left arm and used his right to pull her pants down. Conveniently, standard initiates' uniforms came with an elastic. He left her underpants up for now; they were not going to make much of a difference. A second later, his paddle came crashing down.
Jas did not appreciate being taken off guard at the best of times. She was strong in the Force and relied on it to warn her of danger. This time it had not, and her ear had paid the price. It burned, yet she would not give Eeth the satisfaction of showing it, nor did she carry on like her peers. All the begging, pleading and screaming was entirely undignified, and she was determined not to do any of it, despite the fact that this first swat, much to her surprise, actually really, really hurt! Jas had never been punished by another Zabrak before. All her crèche masters and carers had been either sea-dwelling species, Iktotchi or human, and none of them had ever dealt out a swat that was on a par with what she had just received. Her teeth clamped shut over her lip lest any sounds of distress escaped. Still, she hung limp and silent across Eeth's knee, giving the impression that, if anything, this was boring her. He could go right ahead and wear himself out, and her body language said as much.
Being a Zabrak himself, Eeth knew all about his species' high tolerance for pain and he adjusted the force of his swats accordingly, meaning that he put about his full weight and strength behind them, which he would never have done for a ten-year-old human. Just like his second padawan, his first had been human and his master had warned him at the time not to apply Zabrak standards when punishing him. Eeth had heeded that warning; despite having been extremely strict, the harshness of his punishments had been adapted to what a human could take without suffering lasting damage. Now he was dealing with a Zabrak, and one who obviously prided herself on being tough, and he took that into account. Consequently, the first three swats he dealt out rang off the wall.
Then Eeth said, perfectly calmly, "Let me make a few things clear. First, it is Master Koth to you, not 'Eeth Koth of the Jedi High Council'."
Jas gritted her teeth, forcing her body to remain still. It was difficult to do because he really was smacking her hard, but she managed. Well, at least she knew what the punishment was for now, although she thought that spanking her over this was entirely overkill.
She fully expected Eeth to set her back on her feet, then waggle his finger and blah blah blah. So when another swat landed, it was the second time this man had taken her off guard. Eeth dealt out three further scorching swats and this time her eyes widened in disbelief over how much that had hurt. Eeth could tell that this girl had got into the habit of letting her punishments wash over her. Well, that was another thing he was not going to allow.
"Second," Eeth said, "if those in authority over you say that there is something wrong with your attitude, then there is something wrong with your attitude. And I am not interested in whether you agree with that assessment."
He underlined this message with six swats that were possibly even harder than the first half dozen, and they were aimed right at the tops of Jas' thighs. They were designed to make it impossible even for a Zabrak to pretend to ignore them.
Typically Jas was able to grit her teeth and bear any physical punishment. She had not cried or fussed over such a thing in quite a few years now, but this was something else. The girl managed to restrict her sounds of distress to gasps and muted whimpers, though. That was until she had counted off another three and Eeth landed a fourth. Fuck, he wasn't stopping! She let out a yelp at each and by the time he popped her thigh for the sixth time, she was kicking and wriggling so much that her trousers had worked their way from her knees to her ankles. Worse still was the fact that her throat was developing a lump, and her eyes were beginning to pool with unshed tears.
"And third," Eeth continued, entirely unperturbed by her wriggling, "failure is not among my objectives. Never has been, never will be."
And third? thought Jas incredulously. No, he couldn't be serious! She tensed up harder than a rock. Unfortunately for her, another hard smack landed and answered that question for her: yes, he was serious. It hurt more than anything she had experienced to date.
It seemed to Eeth as if the swats to the backs of her thighs were getting through to Jas. Good, he thought. He added another half dozen to the crease where her bottom met her thighs, and they were just as hard as the first dozen had been.
Jas yelped, kicked and wriggled with increasing gusto at each smack. By the time he was done, her entire back end was ablaze like never before and, much to her horror, she was sniffling quietly. Traitorous tears ran down her cheeks and she swiped at them angrily with her sleeve.
Eeth stuck the paddle back into his belt, yanked her up from his lap and stood. Without giving her a chance to compose herself, he gripped her chin with a gentle, but firm hand and tilted her head upwards, forcing her to look at him. Jas did not fight him despite the fact that her trousers were at her ankles and tears streaked her face.
"Let me be clear about one final thing," Eeth said in a low voice. "I have been told that you want to become a Jedi. If that is true, you have to learn to submit yourself to authority. If it is not, you need only say so. I suspect you are just as disinclined to accept failure as I am, though. And in that case, you will just have to put up with me. I will not tolerate disrespect, disobedience or dishonesty. Any such behaviour will consistently get you punished – not by lectures or time-outs, but by being put across my knee. Consider yourself warned."
Jas had heard this sort of lecture before. However, not once had anyone asked her if being a Jedi was what she wanted. Did she have a choice? And more to the point, did she want the freedom to make that choice on her own? She blinked as he released her chin, the action sending yet more tears down both cheeks which she quickly swept away while pulling up her trousers. She said nothing in response.
Eeth had not expected her to. "We will go to the hangar now where my padawan and our ship are waiting. Come."
While they walked, he gazed down on her, noticing that she was trying hard not to reveal any of the considerable discomfort she was in. Her crèche masters had reported that she was tenacious and had much courage and willpower. That was obvious from her behaviour, and it reminded Eeth of himself at that age. He had been a lot more respectful, though; his manners had been so formal it must have been painful for everyone who interacted with him. He realised that even as recently as a few years ago, he would have made the trip to the hangar in silence, something that he would then have considered dignified and only now recognised as a form of insecurity.
"My apprentice is preparing the ship for take-off," he told Jas. "We are leaving from hangar three. The trip to Borleias is short; we will be there by dinnertime. We will have to take care of our meals and laundry there. I believe the Council ordered for some provisions to be delivered to the ship; we will have to procure what else we need once we are there. Have you ever been off-planet since you were brought to the Temple?"
Jas didn't know hangar three from her ass, nor did she particularly care what his apprentice was doing. Still, when he asked if she'd been off-planet, her reply was respectful. "Once," she told him, her chin raised and eyes focussed ahead as they walked; that particular excursion had cost her a month of privileges and, up until today, had earned her the most painful punishment she had ever endured.
It didn't bother her to hear they would be fending for themselves on Borleias. Good, she thought. She liked to take care of herself. Nothing much interested Jas at the Temple. It was all boring, mundane. That this turn of events had mildly piqued her interest, as annoying as Eeth had proved to be thus far, was a new development.
Raven sensed Eeth's approach seconds before he entered the hangar and stepped from the hatch to greet them, swiping a man-sized handkerchief that she had obviously pilfered from his pack across her face. "We're good to go," she told him and looked at Jas, a smile on her face. "Hello," she said amiably, ignoring Jas' stiff gait. She did have to wonder how Jas had managed to wind up on Eeth's shit list so fast, though.
"Thank you, padawan," said Eeth. "This is Initiate Jas Gaan. Initiate, this is my padawan, Raven Trebeck. Just for the record," he told Jas, "Raven has authority over you, so I expect you to obey her instructions. Now let us get going."
Jas' face was as impassive to meeting the padawan as it was to Eeth's proclamation that Raven was in charge of her also. Given recent events, she kept all comments to herself.
This spaceship did not have cabins. It was not designed for long flights and thus only held a number of seats in the cockpit and a couple of emergency bunk beds in the cargo hold that they would have no use for today. Eeth showed Jas where to put her bag and pointed her towards the seat behind Raven, which she took without complaint. Then he sat down next to Raven and took over the co-pilot's position. He knew that his padawan loved piloting, even though she had performed hundreds of flights of this kind by now.
Raven knew enough about recognising when a person was struggling to leave Jas alone for now. "The astromech droid is keen to get us out of here," Raven said to Eeth, a slight smile on her face as she began punching in a complex sequence of coordinates.
Soon their small ship coupled with the booster ring, it shuttered, the stars outside turned to stripes and they entered hyperspace. "Two hours," Raven told Eeth, switching to autopilot. She stood and stretched, intent on making an escape; she didn't want to be saddled with babysitting duty and felt that she had better things to do, such as reading up on the latest anatomy journals, catching up with her brother, Bram, and checking for a message from Meris because it was her turn to write and she was late.
"Padawan," Eeth said to Raven through their bond, "you are not leaving. It is just as important for you to get to know our guest as it is for me. Sit back down."
His face did not show any of this, though; he was not going to embarrass Raven in front of Jas.
Resigned, Raven pretended that she had stood only to stretch, fiddled with the climate controls which were conveniently located on the rear panel and sat back down in the pilot's seat. Any and all hopes that she was going to entirely leave this babysitting assignment up to Eeth went out the waste hatch.
Turning around in his chair, Eeth said, "Since it will be my task to continue your instruction, tell me about it – which parts you enjoy, which parts you think you are good at and not so good at. And where you are with your saber training."
Jas was entirely focused on the stars streaking past outside. It was the first time she had actually seen this. Since her single foray off-planet had been as a stowaway, her view had been limited to the inside of a cargo bay.
Everything was happening too quickly and she had trouble processing it. One minute, Jas had been trudging through her normal daily routine at the Temple, and the next, well, the next she was on a starship with two complete strangers. When Eeth spoke, Jas shifted her attention from the porthole to face him and it was quite possibly the first time since meeting the man that she really took in his appearance. He was a lot darker than she was and very tidy; his braids and hairless face were flawlessly kept. He also had more horns than she did, and apparently, his right hand was hard as a board. She glanced at it briefly, frowned, shifted in her seat and looked up at him again. "I'm good at everything," she said. Everything except getting along with her teachers, that was, but she left that part out.
Eeth gave Jas a scrutinising look. For an initiate who was currently being sent away in a last-ditch effort to sort out her serious attitude problem, she seemed remarkably sure of herself.
"When you say you are good at everything," he said, "that is obviously not the whole truth. If it was, we would not be here. Do you have any idea at all why your masters felt that you were becoming too much for them to handle?"
"Because," she answered without hesitation, "I call it as I see it and my creche master and peers don't like hearing any unfortunate truths."
"From the reports the Council received, we did not gain the impression that this is merely about you saying things that others do not like to hear," said Eeth. "Nor do I think that anyone has appointed you the sole arbiter of truth in the Jedi Temple. Since you are so intent on being truthful, though, might you consider giving me the whole truth about your difficulties?"
"I don't like classwork," Jas said, her face and voice deadpan. "Sparring is sometimes fun, as long as you don't get stuck with one of the dweebs." She shrugged and looked over at Raven who was entirely focused on their ship's controls. Raven was almost as small as Jas and would be no match. Perfect analogy, Jas thought.
The glance at Raven had not gone unnoticed. Eeth had read in the reports on Jas that she had frequent issues with looking down on humans. Well, that would have to change.
"Do not call your peers dweebs," he said neutrally. "They might currently not be as good at some things as you are. That can change, and even if it does not, it does not make them 'dweebs'. I expect you to speak of others with respect."
Jas gave Eeth a questioning look. "If it looks like bantha shit, and it smells like bantha shit, then it's most likely bantha shit," she replied. As far as Jas was concerned, "dweeb" was actually a lenient description to use.
At this point, Raven turned her back to them and started pushing buttons, pretending to be checking their navigation points, but in reality it was mostly to hide her amusement. This was going to be an interesting mission, and by now Raven was beginning to think that helping Jas might turn out to be an actual mission, rather than just a teaching assignment. Well, if anyone could get a child to straighten up and fly straight, it was Eeth. They had indeed been a good choice for this, even if it wasn't what she needed right now.
Eeth frowned. "Your misplaced and disrespectful analogies aside, punching others in the face is not the same thing as 'saying it like it is,' as I'm sure you're aware of. There is no excuse for starting fights, which you seem to do quite frequently."
"So, they told you about those, too, huh," Jas said, her tone blasé. She folded her arms across her chest. "Yes, I've been in a few fights, and once I punched someone in the face. It's not the Jedi way, though, I know that. It's mostly because people keep pushing me and I lose my temper. Anyway," she continued in a tone of finality. "If you already know about this stuff, why are you bothering to ask me about it?"
"I do not care for the tone of voice in which you are speaking to me," said Eeth coolly. " Nor do I care for the way in which you speak about your peers. You desperately need to learn what the concept of respect really means. Not according to you, but according to everyone else at the Temple. And therefore, the next time I hear you talking disrespectfully about anyone – and I mean anyone – I will put you across my knee and paddle you until you are ready to rethink your ideas. Which you will then do in writing. Maybe that way you will become a little more careful about how you voice your particular version of the truth. It all depends on how fast a learner you are."
Eeth knew perfectly well that Jas was not usually impressed by the threat of corporal punishment. Well, she would learn to be.
Jas frowned. "So, each time I say something you don't like, you're gonna force me into thinking like you by spanking me until I have no choice. How is that fair?"
By now Raven was dry-washing her face with a hand. This was the point in the conversation where it would be in Jas' best interest to utter something along the lines of "yes, Master Koth," and be silent for a while. She considered saying as much if the kid didn't desist soon.
"You are not required to think it fair," Eeth said with an air of absolute finality. "Nor are you required to agree to it. We are not on equal terms here. I will do what I have to to secure your future with the Jedi and it will be up to you to adjust your behaviour accordingly. If you do not feel like doing that, be prepared to live with the consequences."
"Good, because I don't think it is fair, and I don't agree. I also don't want to do this. I want to go back to the Temple," Jas said truthfully. She would never admit it, not even to herself, but Eeth scared her a bit. He had a reputation, and given that she had not lived under a rock for the past ten years, she'd heard the stories. He had smacked her harder than anyone else ever had, too. Jas looked over at Raven who was concentrating on some instruments. Well, if that frail human could survive an apprenticeship with Eeth, she sure as hell could manage a few weeks, Jas thought.
"This is not about what you want," Eeth said. "This is about what you need. And you are not as good a judge of that as you think you are."
Jas snorted, arms folded a bit more tightly. "So, how long are we stuck here anyway? I'm pretty sure the Council would not want to waste too much of your time on this trivial assignment." An assignment that Jas thought was completely pointless, yet she needn't say that for Eeth and Raven to know that was how she felt about all of this.
"We will stay on Borleias for as long as I deem it useful and necessary," said Eeth. "You need not concern yourself with my other duties. Believe it or not, you are more important right now."
Leaning back in his chair, he decided to change the topic. He was really not interested in hearing more about Jas' views on why life was not treating her fairly.
"Do you know anything about Borleias?" he asked.
"A bit," Jas replied, pretending to look out the window so she didn't have to look at them. The planet was close and quite popular, which was why it had come up in her lessons from time to time. "It's in the Pyria system. Mostly rainforests, beaches, resorts and stuff."
"The rainforests are quite spectacular," said Eeth. "We might explore them at some point. I have been to the rainforests myself before, but my padawan has not. We went to Borleias together once, to a conference, but before we managed to make it to the jungle, the conference came to a rather abrupt end due to the machinations of the Trade Federation."
Jas had not heard the word 'machinations' before, but was disinclined to ask what it meant so she did not interrupt Eeth.
Eeth had brought their experience for a reason, other than a desire to pass the time: he wanted to find out whether Jas had an interest in learning things, hearing about missions, or generally talking to people, or whether she was as self-centred as their conversation hitherto made her seem. Eeth felt that it would be much easier to enforce boundaries if he could manage to establish some kind of positive relationship with the girl; but that depended on her as much as on himself.
"Yes, that was a close call," said Raven. "Master almost died because of a virus the Trade Federation had manufactured, and I was seriously ill myself. Thankfully, Master Windu was able to extract the necessary information from the Nemoidians or it might have ended badly."
Jas wasn't much of a people person. People tended to react badly to her and she repaid the favour in kind. Still, she was interested in missions. Some day she hoped to go on them herself if she was ever chosen by a master. But even if she wasn't, Jas had a plan: she would continue her training herself and become something like a rogue superhero crime stopper. That was why she wasn't really concerned about not being chosen, unlike her peers. So what! She could do it on her own.
"Anything outside of the Temple has to be interesting," Jas replied, and for her, that was pretty much true. "I've been into Coruscant a few times, and on a spaceship once. Until they caught me, that is." That was all the information she was willing to volunteer about that.
"Yes, I have read about that unauthorised excursion," Eeth said, raising his eyebrows. "Try that as a padawan and you will not know what hit you. If you do not believe that, ask my padawan about it. She tried it once. And only once."
He gave Raven an almost imperceptible smile.
"You ran away, too? What for?" Jas asked Raven incredulously. She refrained from stating her reason for asking – Eeth's warning still fresh in her mind – because to her Raven looked like butter wouldn't melt in her mouth.
"No, I didn't run away," said Raven. "Master was in a very dangerous situation, stowed away on a hostile system of planets in the midst of brutal war. The Council thought him dead until I managed to connect with him through our bond. They assembled a team of highly-skilled Jedi to rescue him. I wanted to go, to help find him using our bond, but the Council deemed it too risky. They were right, not that I could see that at the time. I let my emotions rule me and stowed aboard their rescue ship and hid in a crate. Who knows if I would have had oxygen when we left the atmosphere. It was stupid." Raven scratched at her chin reflectively.
Jas rose a hairless brow at hearing that, her expression garnering a chuckle from Raven.
"It is safe to say that I was not the easiest of apprentices to raise. I gave my master quite a run for his credits there for a few years." She looked over at Eeth and returned his smile.
Jas was still staring at Raven like she'd grown horns. Was it possible that Raven had been in trouble, too? She doubted it. She was a human and probably weak. It was more likely that the reference to giving Eeth a run for his money consisted of missed homework and showing up late for class.
Eeth smiled in amusement at the incredulous look on Jas' face.
"Did you think you are the only one who ever dared do such a thing?" he asked. "Well, you are not. Not by a long shot. Incidentally, what possessed you to do it?"
Eeth had read about the incident in Jas' files, but he had no idea what had motivated it; he did not even know whether her creche masters had managed to make her tell at the time.
Jas shrugged. "I was weak," she answered nonchalantly, but was unable to completely hide the disgust in herself that this confession caused. "I let someone I thought was a friend get to me," the girl continued, facing the window because she did not want anyone to see her face. "It's not important. I did it because I had a fight with her and it made me want to give up." It had been her only friend, too, but she saw no need to divulge that piece of information. "Like I said, I was weak. It's not gonna happen again." The latter was stated with an unmistakable note of finality.
"Incidentally, locking others out in fear of being hurt is also a weakness," Raven replied candidly.
"And what would you know of it?" Jas said haughtily, turning to glare at Raven.
"A bit more than you, I'd wager," said Raven but did not bother to argue this point further.
Jas snorted and faced the window again. "You humans are useless at the best of times," she stated.
Eeth knew perfectly well what Raven was talking about. He had at times been so good at locking others out that he had inadvertently caused them pain, which he genuinely regretted. There might be more time to address this later. Right now, though, he had a more immediate concern. He had promised Jas that each instance of disrespect would get her punished on the spot, and he always kept his promises.
"That," he informed Jas, "was both disrespectful and untrue. You have been warned."
"Warned?" Jas knew what Eeth meant by that but she wasn't about to admit as much. Instead, she backed herself into the seat and against the window. If Eeth was going to try anything, he'd have to pry her out with a crowbar, she vowed to herself.