Star Wars_ The Approaching Storm - Alan Dean Foster [52]
“Your efforts will not go unappreciated.” Ogomoor rose, glad to be able to abandon the uncomfortable, ill-fitting chair. “Think about it. According to my bossban, changes are coming to the Republic. Changes beyond anything you or I can imagine.” In passing his host on the way to the door, he leaned close and lowered his voice. “I am assured it would be most advantageous to be on one side of these changes rather than the other.”
The human did not see his guest out. He didn’t have the time, having been left with too much to think about.
The assault by the gairk had done no harm, Luminara reflected as they started across new prairie the following morning. It might even have done some good, alerting them to the fact that while they had left the minions of Barriss’s would-be kidnapper behind, the planet Ansion presented dangers enough of its own.
While she and Obi-Wan rode on cloaked in the serenity that characterizes mature Jedi, their Padawans were less composed. The incident with the gairks had left them slightly jumpy. Despite their comfortable, high perches on the backs of their suubatars, high above the grasslands, they continued to regard everything that moved as a potential threat. Luminara observed Barriss’s reactions with mild amusement while offering no comment. There was nothing like experience in the field to teach a budding Padawan when to jump and when to relax.
As for Anakin, at times he seemed almost eager for another attack, as if anxious for the opportunity to prove himself. Obi-Wan had spoken of the young man’s skill with a lightsaber. But part of that skill, she knew, was knowing when not to use the weapon. Still, she found it hard to be critical of him. He wanted so badly to impress, to please.
The flock of ongun-nur provided an excellent lesson. They came swooping down out of the west, their enormous balloonlike wings darkening the sky. Anyone could have been excused for thinking that the huge flying creatures, with their long, rapierlike beaks and bright yellow eyes, represented a threat. At the sight of them commencing their dive, Anakin drew his lightsaber but did not activate it while Barriss made sure her own weapon was ready to draw.
The flock came steadily closer, making no attempt to swerve around the loping suubatars. Anakin’s forefinger nervously caressed the ON switch of his lightsaber. Unable to stand it any longer, Barriss urged her mount forward until she drew alongside her teacher.
“Master Luminara, shouldn’t we be doing something?” She indicated the oncoming flock. “Those things, whatever they are, are heading straight for us.”
Luminara gestured, not at the plummeting ongun-nur, but at Kyakhta. “Look at our guides, Barriss. Do they look apprehensive?”
“No, Master, but that doesn’t mean they are unafraid.”
“You need to study different sentients more, my dear. Observe the intelligent natives of any world and see how they react to possible danger. Trust your own senses. By all means, keep alert. But there is no need to jump to conclusions, either.” Raising a hand, Luminara indicated the dark flock that was almost upon them. “Just because something is large and intimidating in appearance does not mean it is dangerous. Look how the wind buffets them about.”
It was true, Barriss saw. For all their great size, the ongun-nur were riding the wind, not manipulating it. They were rushing toward the band of travelers not intending to attack, but hoping they would get out of the way. At the last instant, the great flying creatures were able to alter their angle of descent just enough to carry them past the oncoming riders. So close did they pass that Barriss and Anakin found themselves ducking involuntarily. As they did so, she saw that the wings were paper-thin and the huge bodies swollen with air instead of muscle. The ongun-nur went where the wind took them, unable to fly against it. Seeing the suubatars and their riders heading in their direction, the members of the flock had probably been more frightened of them than the riders had any right to be