Kevlin Sal-Navar
Long minutes dragged on in silence before Kevlin realized that since he had been staring at the petite woman before him, he had not felt any kind of emotion al all, not from him and not from her. His eyes widened in wonder as an empty serenity flowed through him. Never before had he felt so clear headed. His thoughts were more focused and rational than he could ever remember.
In the mere span of heartbeats that this newfound data raced through Kevlin’s mind, the woman raised one delicate fist and held it out toward him. Kevlin’s attention focused on her outstretched hand, but the young boy did not take what meaning she intended. Then her fist suddenly opened, palm facing upward and slender fingers straining down toward the floor. A flood of emotions hit the padawan with such force that Kevlin was utterly blinded for a moment.
Reeling with the uncontrollable surge of emotions, the boy could barely maintain his focus on the Jedi Master before him. As his heart pounded, she slowly began to close her hand into a fist once more. The raucous din of emotions began to fade. Silence descended gradually until her hand finally clenched tightly into a ball. That emptiness of emotional serenity reigned once more.
“Close your mouth, padawan,” she said, “Before a mitara spider nests amidst your molars.”
Kevlin blinked. His mouth snapped shut with an audible clap.
“Now perhaps you can see more clearly how the dark side of the Force uses emotion to manipulate the unwary,” she continued.
Kevlin only nodded rumble, still reflecting upon the cacophony.
“I can teach you how to control that which has been controlling you. If you are willing,” she said, closing the distance between them, “But understand that to be master of your emotions, is to never be again blessed by their gifts.”
The Jedi Master knelt before him, fist aimed at his forehead. Then she whispered, “And your journey will be a difficult one, Kevlin Sal-Navar. Your sacrifice will be great.”
Kevlin reached up to the fist clenched before him. Laying his small hand upon hers, he slowly pried the delicate fist open. The emotions began to creep back into his mind, his body, but they were not as loud, not as violent…and not as lonely. He collapsed into her arms and began sobbing uncontrollably.
Preeyana Nem-Po held the young padawan before her for some time before turning and guiding him out of the room and toward his destiny as a Jedi Consular.
The next ten years of Kevlin’s life were among his most gratifying. Instruction under Master Nem-Po was unlike anything he had experienced before within the Jedi Academy. Her timeless patience and depthless understanding were the greatest comforts as Kevlin slowly learned to manage the emotions that had run rampant through him during his childhood.
The young padawan was often left dumbfounded at his progress. Never in his wildest dreams did he believe he could succeed in becoming a Jedi, let along actually excel at his studies! Under the focused tutelage of Master Nem-Po, the more he shielded his own emotions granted amazing insight into the emotions of others.
Throughout the years, Kevlin came to understand that Preeyana Nem-Po was not a typical Jedi Master or instructor. She maintained no standard curriculum within the Academy, oversaw none of the rudimentary classes of the younger padawans and had no qualms about working with one singular padawan for an extended duration until she felt it was time to move on.
Thus it was with some surprise that during his sixth year under Master Nem-Po, she indicated that Kevlin’s studies from this point on would incorporate the addition of another pupil. Kevlin pondered this declaration with the quiet dignity of a youthful consular but wondered at the necessity for such an alteration in his regular curriculum.
The Falleen girl who joined Kevlin was named Larissa Marleess, and the significant amount of time Master Nem-Po had spent with each of them became quickly evident. The speech, knowledge and emotional mannerisms were too distinct to indicate anything otherwise. However, from their first meeting on, the padawans’ course of study turned in a new and unique direction.
Preeyana Nem-Po had trained two diametrically opposed Jedi Consulars. The same methods of training were used in each case, but the outcomes were extraordinarily different. Larissa was molded into an emotional projector, someone who would use the skills and abilities of the Jedi Consular to gain and maintain control of a setting, circumstance or individual to achieve the ends most desired. Kevlin was shaped into an emotional receptor, someone who would use the same skills to defend and protect a setting, circumstance or individual against someone just like Larissa.
Some of the emotional battles were legendary. Kevlin always seemed to find himself on the defensive however, because Larissa had the pheromonal advantage of her species. Nem-Po’s hope was to desensitize Kevlin to these biological tactics used by some races. The idea worked to a degree, and their training progressed superbly.
For a time.
Preeyana Nem-Po knew that she needed to monitor two such individuals closely for signs of true emotional attachment. She had argued against the Council regarding as much. What she did not expect was an emotional bond to form between her padawans on a subconscious level. With such focused emotional management, neither of her pupils granted any merit to the latent romantic feelings that both had developed over the years together. They merely attributed these emotions to the next attempt to break through a defense or to mount an attack for a training exercise.
Neither Kevlin nor Larissa saw that they were truly beginning to care for each other. But Nem-Po did.
So it was that during Kevlin’s eighteenth year, Jedi Master Preeyana Nem-Po placed Kevlin under the tutelage of a new Jedi Master, and without giving the two consulars a chance to bid farewell, Nem-Po severed the emotional connection and returned to her home world with Larissa.