Amphibian Discipline

A Shiri Binin/ Yoda story

Well, there have been stories about Yoda disciplining Qui-Gon, but have you ever wondered where Yoda has learned it from?

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Conveniently, the official Star Wars database only says „ Much of Yoda's history is unknown“, adding „homeworld: unknown“ and „species: unknown“ (http://www.starwars.com/databank/character/yoda/eu.html), which leaves practically everything open to imagination. That being the case, I decided to do away with human dominance for once: All the characters in the story belong to species that are shown in the movies, and none of them looks human (not like „Corellians“ or „Chalactans“, which are only a sorry excuse for alien races :-)).
I thought I‘d just write a short piece for the fun of it, but the whole thing turned out to be rather difficult - and long. Well, it was still fun. Imagining Yoda doing something stupid and being punished for it seemed nearly sacrilegious, which proved to be very entertaining. Plus the novelty of thinking about all the obstacles that the Jedi educational system has to overcome when there are lots of different species around: Amphibians who need salt water; species who take a long time to mature; beings who don‘t know syntax ...

I didn‘t really remember the voices of all the species (except for the Mon Calamari) from the films (maybe they didn‘t have speaking roles, I don‘t know), so what I didn‘t know I made up. I also made a lot of wild guesses about alien skins and stuff like that. Geez, didn‘t George Lucas write a manual about important things like these?

This story stands in absolutely no relation to any book there might be about this period (I have no idea if such books exist). I haven‘t read any Star Wars books. I have just watched the movies and used the information on the offical Star Wars site.

If you want to find out what the different species I mention look like, look here:

	Thispiassian I wonder how he spanks his charges, with these claws!
	Iktotchi My Iktotchi is a female, so she looks a lot nicer than this one ;-))
	Ishi Tib Doesn‘t he look like a venerable Jedi Master? I think he does.
	Mon Calamari Again, mine is female - but in this case, gender shouldn‘t really make a difference. Btw, whoever can tell me why I called her Soghra get‘s a nice postcard ;-)
	Sullustan He‘s just cute.

Ette Talassis pressed Deesaan Muul‘s doorbell button, wondering why the head of the Jedi Council wanted to see him - or rather, wondering which of his charges was in trouble now. The small, silver-haired Thispiassian sighed. Being Creche Master of the Jedi Temple could be a demanding task. But he fulfilled it with dedication and was respected for his good work throughout the temple.

Deesaan Muul‘s door slid open after a few seconds, and Ette entered. He bowed respectfully to the tall, imposing Iktotchi woman who was standing inside. „A good day to you, Master Muul,“ he said.
Deesaan returned the greeting and invited Ette to sit on an armchair, while she settled down on the ground cross-legged. Their heads were about the same height this way.

„Creche Master, I wanted to talk to you about your charge Yoda,“ Deesaan started. Ette slightly inclined his head, inviting the Iktotchi to continue. He wasn‘t particularly talkative, but a very good listener.
„I‘ve been watching him,“ Deesaan continued. „His force signature has become clearer and more complex recently. I‘ve been wondering if he is approaching adolescence by the standards of his race.“
Ette nodded slowly. „You are, of course, aware of the fact that we don‘t know anything about his race. They definitely age far more slowly than most humanoids. He‘s been here for more than twenty years now, and his development has been considerably slower than that of, say, Chalactans, humans, or Twi‘lek. The problem is that it is very difficult to estimate at which stage of development he is, compared to other races, as he is so different from them. His command of the Force is becoming stronger and stronger now. His intellectual development is not quite as fast, but it‘s been speeding up lately. He‘s got this curious inability to master Basic grammar, which makes me suspect that he must have been older than we thought when he was brought to us. As to his emotional maturity - to be honest, I can‘t really say. He‘s always been very much in control of his emotions. One curious thing is, you should think that the other children tease him because he‘s been in the creche for so much longer than most of them, but they hardly ever do. And if they do, he‘s completely indifferent to it. He doesn‘t even ignore it - he just looks at them, and they stop. He is certainly a remarkable being.“
He shrugged. „You probably want to know if he is ready to become a padawan, don‘t you?“
„Exactly,“ Deesaan replied.
Ette considered this. „Yes, considering his strong command of the Force, I would say he is ready for it, as far as I am any judge of it. Have you been thinking of a particular Master?“
„Yes,“ said Deesaan, fixing her unblinking yellow eyes on the Thispiassian „Shiri Binin has been looking at Yoda, and he has felt drawn to his Force greatly.“

Ette was impressed. Shiri Binin was a highly respected member of the Jedi Council and one of the most famous Jedi of his times. He was an Ishi Tib, an intelligent, serene and friendly humanoid-amphibian very much devoted to the Jedi cause, and the best diviner there was. He hadn‘t had a padawan for a long time, and it would be a great honor for Yoda to be chosen by him.
„Well, if Shiri Binin would be willing to be accept Yoda as padawan, I am pleased to give my consent,“ Ette said.

One day later, Shiri Binin and his new padawan walked to their quarters. It was a strange sight - the Ishi Tib had about three times Yoda‘s height.
„Our quarters are next to the ones of Master Soghra and her Padawan,“ the amphibian explained in his melodious voice - the Ishi Tibs‘ voices were among the most beautiful in the galaxy, their gills producing harmonious cadences. „The area has been adapted to the needs of amphibian beings. We have our private quarters, but we share with the other two a big garden with a briny pond.“

Master Soghra was another council member, a Mon Calamari female. She and Shiri were close friends, as they were very similar to each other in character and temper. They also shared a sort of quiet amusement about the ways of the more humanoid species, especially their complicated family structure which was caused by their even more complicated gender relations. Both Mon Calamari and Ishi Tib did not know individual sexual relationships or individual parenthood.

Shiri liked Yoda‘s quietness. The young one had amazingly expressive facial features and ears, but didn‘t talk a lot, unless it was necessary. He wasn‘t shy, he just wasn‘t talkative. Shiri‘s last apprentice, decades ago, had been a human, and it had seemed to Shiri as if the only time he hadn‘t talked had been when he was sleeping. Amphibian phlegm and human restlessness sometimes didn‘t go together very well. But the Jedi were trained to be tolerant and patient with each other. Each race had its good and its bad sides - it took all kinds to make a galaxy.

When Yoda had unpacked his few belongings, Shiri took him out into the garden. „I have to have a swim in the pond for a while,“ he said. „I have to do this at least about once a day in order to prevent my gills from drying up, but I feel more comfortable if I do it more often.“
Yoda looked up at him and answered: „Join you I can, if your wish it is, Master, hmmm?“
Shiri nodded his consent. All the young ones learned swimming in the creche, if their disposition allowed it, and Yoda looked as if he would feel at home in the water.

And so it was. The padawan moved with a surprising grace in the pond, swimming and diving slowly, but with ease. Shiri came up beside him and touched Yoda‘s Force, inviting him to enter a meditative trance with him. Yoda replied readily, and the two of them spent a long time drifting on the water, forming a bond between them that would last all of Shiri‘s lifetime.

When Shiri finally opened his eyes, he yelped in surprise - and this was something that happened to him extremely rarely. Yoda wasn‘t drifting *on* the water any more, he was drifting several inches *above* it, his eyes closed peacefully. Shiri had never seen anybody but a powerful Jedi knight be able to do this.
He watched the scene for a while with his yellow eyes, carefully thinking this through. Finally, he gently nudged Yoda with his Force. //Padawan? Come back to the pond, please - or even better, to the edge of the pond. It‘s time to go inside.//
//Yes, Master//, Yoda replied through the Force very clearly. Another startle - normally, a new padawan shouldn‘t be able to respond verbally through the Force yet. It had really been high time that Yoda started his apprenticeship.

When they were at the shore, drying in the evening sun, Shiri said: „Yoda, some of the things you just did are very... advanced. They usually aren‘t taught at the creche. Where did you learn them? And did the creche master realize you could do these things?“
Yoda half closed his expressive eyes and considered his Master for a moment. Shiri waited patiently. Finally, Yoda replied: „Taught it to myself, I have. Shown it to the creche master, I have not. In showing off, no use there is.“
Shiri blinked slowly, digesting this answer. Then he said: „There is indeed no use in showing off, but it is for a reason that a lot of techniques are only taught at the padawan stage. It takes a long time to learn to control them, and the learning process must be carefully supervised. If Master Talassis had known about your abilities, he would have found a master for you much sooner.“
Yoda shook his head. „Mmmmmm... Trust in the force, I did. The Force, guide my master to me, it would, at the right time.“
Shiri was impressed. The more he got to know his padawan, the less he could understand why they had let him stay in the creche for so long. Of course, there might be other sides to Yoda‘s character that he would only get to know over time. Shiri wasn‘t prone to rash judgments.

„Yoda, I must ask you not to use your Force without permission for the time being,“ he said calmly. „You are at a very critical stage of the development of your command of the Force, and I want to be able to assess exactly how advanced you are before I decide on how best to proceed with your training.“
Yoda‘s eyes narrowed a little, and his ears perked up slightly. But before he could answer, their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of their neighbors, Master Soghra and her padawan Ninye Cusond, a fourteen-year-old Sullustan. Ninye was small, though still far bigger than Yoda. He originated from a subterranean people and wasn‘t afraid of water, but not particularly fond of it either. He preferred watching his Master from the shore when she went on her evening swim. Though amphibian, too, Master Soghra wasn‘t as dependant on water as Shiri.

The two apprentices were introduced to each other and talked a little while their masters exchanged some news, Soghra only having taken a very short dive into the pond.
Ninye and Yoda had seen each other before, but they had been in different clans in the creche. Ninye had a squeaky voice and was very talkative. The taciturn Yoda listened to the Sullustan with patience and amusement, only offering the occasional comment. It was easy to see that Ninye was good-humoured and friendly, and that he adored his Master. He didn‘t seem to notice Yoda‘s curious way of speaking and certainly didn‘t make fun of it. In fact, his own way of speaking was a bit strange itself - he often repeated parts of a sentence and spoke very fast. Yoda, who had usually been a bit of an outsider among the children of his clan, all of whom were bigger than him, and younger in years, warmed to the other padawan quickly.

Shiri and Soghra were pleased that their padawans seemed to be getting along fine. They decided to combine some of their training activities. But for the moment, Shiri wanted to get his padawan inside, have dinner with him and put him to bed.

In the coming days, Shiri grew to like his new padawan a lot - even more so as they had much in common. Yoda was serene and patient. His command of the Force was stunning - focussing on his center came easy to him, and he never lost concentration. Still, he wasn‘t the least bit conceited, and he seemed to know his limits. Unfortunately, his quiet self-confidence bordered on arrogance sometimes, which, combined with his natural stubbornness, could be very trying. Shiri first found that out on their second morning, when he entered the kitchen to find a tea pot hovering from out of the upper cupboard to the sink.

He grabbed the teapot and placed it on the table. „Yoda, what does this mean?“ he asked seriously.
Yoda looked at him with large, impassive eyes. „Reach it with my hands, I could not.“
Shiri considered him for a moment. „I realize that the kitchen is not built for people of your height,“ he answered calmly. „But I clearly remember to have told you the day before yesterday not to use the Force without my permission for the moment.“
Yoda pricked his ears. „My consent to this, I did not give, Master. Able to master the Force, I am. Cause no harm, I will. The Force, guide me, it does.“
Shiri again considered this answer. He could sense no haughtiness or conceit in his padawan, but a considerable amount of obstinacy that was unacceptable in the circumstances.

The Ishi Tib motioned his padawan to sit down at the table with him.
„Padawan,“ he said, „I don‘t give orders without a reason. I know you let yourself be guided by the Force to a remarkable extent, and that is a good thing. But the signs of the Force can be misleading to the unexperienced. I‘m not saying that this is the case with you. But I need time to find out where you stand with your command and understanding of the Force. And I won‘t feel safe for the moment when you use the Force unsupervised.
Besides, I cannot tolerate your refusal to obey me. You are my padawan, and I expect obedience of you. I want to be able to rely on that. If you don‘t agree with one of my orders, you may ask for my reasons, if the situation allows it, and I will explain them to you. But I can‘t allow you to just ignore my orders and then tell me you had a right to do so because you haven‘t given your consent to them. Your consent is not required, Padawan.“
Yoda closed his eyes, as if he was listening to an inner voice. He had his shields up, and Shiri could not guess what was going on inside him. He waited patiently for a reaction from his padawan, but even after several minutes, there was none.
Shiri pondered the matter. He knew that he would have to deal with his stubborn apprentice in one way or another, but the matter required some thought.

„Padawan, I want you to go to your room, put your nose in the corner and think about your behavior and about the obedience you owe to your master,“ he finally said.
Yoda opened his eyes slightly, but didn‘t look at him directly. „If your wish it is, Master,“ he said and left, giving Shiri the impression that he would do as he was told, but that he didn‘t really accept the reprimand.

It was clear to Shiri that he would have to discipline his padawan in order to make him see that his behavior had been wrong. He pondered his options carefully. He had usually disciplined his human or near-human apprentices by grounding them, or assigning them tasks they disliked. He doubted that this method would be effective with Yoda, who, as far as Shiri had been informed by Master Talassis, wasn‘t easily bored and wouldn‘t really mind being deprived of the company of others. He would just accept any such punishment and see it as an opportunity to improve his focus on the here and now. Which didn‘t need a lot of improvement, actually.
The other option was obvious. Shiri had never applied corporal punishment before, as he hadn‘t had the impression that it would do his former apprentices any good. With Yoda, he wasn‘t so sure. Yoda had more emotional control than any other youth Shiri had met; and perhaps it was exactly this self-control that prevented him from giving up his stubbornness, and submitting to his master.

Shiri decided to ask Soghra for advice. The Mon Calamari had more experience with corporal punishment, and she would be able to advise him on a way to apply it. He knew that a lot of human masters just spanked their human padawans with their hands, but Shiri‘s amphibian hands were quite soft, and Yoda‘s green skin was rather thick. Shiri would have to do this in a different way.

Half an hour later, Shiri entered his apprentice‘s room to see Yoda ... well, indeed with his nose in the corner, but upside down. And at least ten inches above the ground.

Shiri never got angry. Anger only brought one closer to the Dark Side. But he believed in doing what had to be done, without mixed feelings or regrets. And this outright defiance strengthened his resolve.
He sat on Yoda‘s small bed and ordered calmly: „Padawan, come here.“

Yoda turned slowly from his upside-down position into an upright one, and Shiri waited patiently, not wanting to rush his padawan in this delicate operation, but fully intending to prevent him from doing something like this again in the near future. However, when Yoda was only halfway around, there seemed to be a sudden lapse in his control, and he fell to the floor with a loud thud. He gave a small yelp and clutched his shoulder.

Shiri gathered him up and carefully examined him. There was nothing wrong with him - he hadn‘t been up high enough. But had he landed on his head, that might have earned him a trip to the healers.
Shiri returned to his place on the bed and put his apprentice to his feet in front of him.

„I think this little incident rather proves my point, Padawan,“ he remarked calmly.
Yoda stared at him with wide eyes. For the first time since Shiri had met him, he seemed to be a little upset. „But Master! Never before, happened to me this has!“
Shiri inclined his head and thought a while before he answered: „Maybe you never tried this in the presence of others?“
Yoda nodded slowly.
„Which shows how important it is to explore your potential slowly, and carefully,“ Shiri stated.

„Padawan, you have blatantly disobeyed me twice today. Do you have anything to say for yourself?“
Yoda was silent for a long time, but Shiri sensed that this time, he was really thinking about his attitude. Finally, the padawan‘s ears drooped, and he said in a small voice: „Master, at fault I have been. Apologize I do. Do better, I will.“
Shiri nodded gravely. „I accept your apology. But nevertheless, I will have to impress on you the importance of obeying your master.“
He pulled a strong, but flexible glassfiber switch out of his robe.
Yoda‘s eyes widened, and his ears twitched when he saw it. He looked up at his Master‘s gentle amphibian face and saw the concern, but also the quiet determination in it. With a deep sigh, he bowed his head and waited for things to come.

„I want you to lower your shields, please,“ Shiri said. „I have no way of knowing how much pain this inflicts on you, and I don‘t want to overdo it.“
With slight reluctance, Yoda did as his Master had asked him.
Shiri nodded and then grabbed his apprentice and unceremoniously put him over his knees. As Yoda‘s legs were too short for trousers, the padawan only wore a long robe over his underwear. Shiri pushed the robe up und pulled the underwear down, baring a pale green bottom.
He could feel that Yoda tried to focus on his Force to strengthen his emotional control and ordered: „Padawan, this lesson will hurt, and it is meant to hurt. I don‘t want you to resort to the Force in order to lessen the pain.“
Yoda obeyed, though only after a moment‘s hesitation.

Shiri carefully established a bond with his apprentice that would allow him to monitor Yoda‘s feelings.
Finally he raised the switch and brought it down on his padawan‘s tiny bottom with moderate force. It left a thin white line that faded immediately. Shiri could tell that Yoda had felt a slight discomfort, but that it hadn‘t really hurt. Soghra had said that this implement left painful welts on the skin of more delicate beings, like humans, though it did never break skin. She reserved it for cases in which Ninye deserved severe correction, and even then she was very cautious with its application. Obviously Yoda‘s skin was a lot sturdier than Ninye‘s.

Shiri brought the switch down a second time, this time with nearly all the force he could muster. Yoda let out a surprised wimper, and Shiri knew he was now experiencing a lot more than discomfort. It also took much longer for the white line to disappear after this second stroke. Shiri decided that this was the right intensity, and he started switching his padawan in earnest.

Yoda was determined to remain stoic, but Shiri was equally determined to force him to release his emotions. He brought the switch down on the quivering green bottom again and again, all the while carefully monitoring the amount of pain Yoda was feeling. He didn‘t want to be cruel.

Yoda soon started to wimper and clasp his master‘s robe with his hands in an attempt not to throw his hands back. Shiri nodded gravely, content with his apprentice‘s acceptance of the discipline, and continued the chastisement. Finally, the first suppressed sob escaped Yoda‘s throat.

At this point, Shiri started to lecture while concentrating his strokes on the sensitive sit spot.
„You (WHAP!) will NOT (WHAP!) disobey me (WHAP!) again (WHAP!)!“
“(sob) No, Master!“
„I care for your safety (WHAP!), and if I give you an order (WHAP!), I expect you (WHAP!) to follow it (WHAP!)“
„Owwww! Yes, MASTER! Sorry, I am! OOOOOOUUUUWWW!“
„I won‘t (WHAP!) tolerate (WHAP!) outright (WHAP!) defiance (WHAP!)!!!“
Yoda was sobbing hard now, and Shiri decided that he had had enough. He sensed submission and true repentance in his padawan.

Very gently, he pulled Yoda‘s underwear up and stood the crying apprentice on his upper thighs, hugging him to his chest. Yoda returned the hug, sobbing his heart out and telling his master over and over again how sorry he was.
„Ssshhh,“ Shiri said softly, stroking his apprentice‘s back. „It‘s alright, Padawan. You‘ve made a mistake, but you‘re forgiven now.“
Slowly, Yoda calmed down. Finally, he pulled out of the embrace, looked his Master in the face and said in a very subdued voice: „The punishment, deserved it was. Foolish I have been. For correcting me, thank you I do.“
Shiri smiled and stroked his padawan‘s thin hair. „All the young ones make mistakes. But you are wise for your age, and the Force is strong in you. I know you will become a fine Jedi.“
Yoda shook his head. „To live in the here and now, better it is. A good Padawan, I want to be. A good Jedi, I can be later.“

Shiri suddenly felt a warm surge of love for this tiny creature, and he pressed his beak to Yoda‘s forehead in an affectionate gesture. Then he put his padawan on his feet.
„Master?“
„Yes, my Padawan?“
„Allow me to meditate, you will?“
„Yes, Padawan, you may meditate. As long as you stay on the ground.“

Shiri decided that some meditation would be the right thing not only for his Padawan, but also for himself. He went into the garden and dived into the briny water of the pond, slowly pulling it through his gills and focussing on his Force. A number of images started whirling through his mind.

Few Jedi had ever been as gifted at foreseeing the future as Shiri Binin, and one of the reasons for this was that Shiri, due to his amphibian phlegma, wasn‘t afraid of what he would see. Most humans, and those who were similar to them physiologically, would, even if they reached the utmost calmness and serenity, very deep inside them still be afraid of knowing about their own death, or the death of their loved ones. Shiri wasn‘t. And that was why it didn‘t disturb him now, when he was drifting in the pond, to see himself on his deathbed, and a grown-up (though still tiny) Yoda in a Jedi Master‘s robe kneeling beside him. He didn‘t push the image away, but opened up to it. It was followed by other images - images of a much changed Jedi Temple; of Yoda in the council; of Yoda fighting an opponent with a lightsaber; of Yoda and a brown-haired human Padawan; of Yoda teaching a group of children; of a much-aged Yoda in a swamp; of an even older Yoda sitting on the shoulders of a blond human adolescent; of a very frail-looking Yoda lying on a bed in a cave, the same adolescent kneeling next to him ...
Shiri didn‘t know how many of these images, if any, would come true. But one thing was remarkable.

Usually, when Shiri had visions about a person‘s future, he saw different roads, corresponding to the different potentials inherent in the person. Nearly almost, some of this potential was negative. Few Jedi managed to rid themselves of all of their aggressions, their impatience, their fears. They achieved control over them, yes. But a tiny bit of potential of turning over to the Dark Side was always there. A slight temptation. The overwhelming majority of the Jedi wouldn‘t give in to the temptation, but it was there.

Shiri couldn‘t see it in Yoda at all. He let the briny water stream through his gills, immersed in the images and smiled. „I feel honored to be able to teach you, my Padawan,“ he whispered. „Whether you want to think about it or not, you are going to be one of the greatest Jedi there has ever been.“