Star Wars_ The Approaching Storm - Alan Dean Foster [40]
At Obi-Wan’s urging, Kyakhta and Bulgan concluded their negotiations for the six animals. At the shoulder, the magnificent suubatars stood thrice the height of a human. They were six-legged, with long-splayed toes that seemed wholly out of place on a creature designed for running through open grasslands. When Anakin pointed out this seeming evolutionary disparity to Kyakhta, the Alwari laughed.
“You’ll see what they are for, Jedi Padawan!” Pulling back on the double set of reins, he effortlessly turned his own newly acquired mount.
The lightweight but thickly padded saddle was cinched between the front and middle shoulders. Between middle shoulders and rear haunches, a second swayback would accommodate a sizable pack of supplies. Having been negotiated for and priced, these were in the process of being loaded onto the complaisant animals by the merchant’s busy underlings.
“Food, water, accessories: all has been acquired and accounted for, Master Barriss.” Bulgan had his own booted, long-toed feet thrust forward in stirrups that were slung on either side of the suubatar’s neck, instead of hanging downward. The smooth arch of the saddle behind him cradled his crippled back. “Ahhhh—haja!” he exclaimed with evident pleasure. “To sit like this brings back many memories.”
Following Kyakhta’s instructions, Luminara straddled her own mount. Despite its height, she had no trouble doing so. First, because it was presently crouched down awaiting its rider, and second, because the body was lean and narrow. The reason for the saddle became immediately apparent. Without it, one would be seated directly atop the line of protruding vertebrae.
“Elup!” Kyakhta barked. Starting from the front, the suubatar rose one set of legs at a time: front, middle, and finally rear. The reason for the high-arching leather curve at the back of the saddle was now clear. With no support behind her, the angle of ascent would have sent Luminara bouncing down the creature’s spine all the way to the ground.
Though each boasted its own pattern of dark green stripes set against short soft fur, all six animals were the same underlying light bronze color. The combination would allow them, despite their size and visibility, to blend in well with their prairie land surroundings. Expecting the suubatars to be typical grazing herbivorous creatures, Luminara was surprised to learn that they were in fact omnivores, able to survive on a wide variety of foods. Their long, slim jaws were hinged at the bottom, allowing for an enormous if narrow gape that could swallow astonishingly large fruits or prey in a single gulp. The four front canines protruded above and below the jaws, giving their owners a fearsome appearance that belied their placid nature.
“Of course, these are domesticated individuals,” Bulgan told her, divining her thoughts. “Wild suubatars have been known to attack and destroy entire caravans.”
“That’s reassuring.” Bobbing from side to side atop his patient mount, Anakin was struggling to maintain his balance. Kyakhta noted the trouble he was having and came alongside.
“You’re sitting up too straight, Master Anakin. Lean back into the viann, the saddle support. There, that’s it. See how your legs now thrust naturally into the forward stirrups?”
“But I can’t see as well in this position,” the Padawan complained, struggling to hang on to the double set of reins.
“I think we’re high up enough to see anything of importance,” Obi-Wan told him. He lay back in the saddle as one to the manner born. “Look on this as another unexpected episode in your education.”
“I’d rather be educated in a late-model landspeeder,” Anakin grumbled. But Kyakhta was right. The more he leaned back and trusted the saddle, the sturdier and more stable he felt. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all.
Could he trust himself to a strange, alien animal? The suubatars were certainly handsome creatures, with their protruding silver-flecked eyes, single wide flaring nostril, and smooth skulls. Their ears