by Murasaki99
“Okay, so I’m crashed over a hundred-fifty klicks from our base camp. I’ve been in worse places.” Anakin Skywalker surveyed his ruined fighter, still smoking from its collision with a tree. The large bird which had caused the crash by flying up into the air intakes had not survived the collision any better than the ship. Anakin peered into the exhaust ports hopefully, but nothing large enough to eat remained inside. A few burnt feathers were all he could see. “Poodoo. I was hoping at least to get some fresh meat out of this.” He shook his head ruefully.
Sighing, he pulled his kit from the wreck, turned his face toward the sun, and began to walk. Soon he was deep into the woods that covered portions of this continent. Wrapping himself in the Force, he followed the threads which connected him to Obi-Wan. Moving in the guidance provided he avoided the dens of predators and stepped along so quietly the browsers and prey animals of this world watched him pass without being startled. This part of the planet had been untouched by the war that had ravaged so many other worlds in the galaxy. The silence under the trees was almost unnerving in comparison to the chaotic clangor of battle.
After several hours of steady hiking, Anakin paused at a small river to drink and refill his water bottle. As he crouched on the muddy bank an animal approached, dipping its long nose down to the water. It was like no animal Anakin had ever seen before. It was a quadruped, smaller than the ungainly ronto of Tatooine, and yet taller and far more graceful than the opie. For one thing it lacked the opie’s large padded feet and lumpy back and its face, while long, did not end in a prehensile trunk-like nose. Its hooves were cloven, a long mane sprouted from the top of its neck and a long tail hung from its hindquarters. Anakin had always thought of black as being a single color, but this animal was many shades of black: dark pitch black down along its neck, spine, and legs, a lighter carbon black interspersed with fine silvery stripes along its sides, while its belly shaded into soft, deep gray. Little sparkly bits that looked like tiny metallic scales glimmered on its chest and flanks, shining in blue-black indigo. The animal raised its head from the water and looked at him, one mobile ear turning in his direction. Anakin thought at first its eyes were the color of liquid mercury but as he met its gaze their color stabilized into deep blue. A long horn grew from the animal's forehead, sweeping upward like the blade of a Weequay scimitar.
"Hello," said Anakin. "You look like you were made to handle almost anything." The animal's ears tipped toward him. Lowering its head it drank slowly. Once finished, it raised its head and looked at him again, water dripping from its dark muzzle. As Anakin stretched out toward it with the Force he could feel its curiosity. "You're not afraid, are you?" Anakin could feel no fear in the animal. Its presence in the Force was solid and steady. Standing, Anakin clipped his water bottle to his belt and moved a step closer to his visitor. The animal turned his head to watch, but did not move away.
"You seem as if you were made to run fast. I don't suppose you could give me a ride, could you?" Anakin felt the animal's level of curiosity ratchet up a notch. He also sensed a certain amount of confusion over the concept of 'ride'. Clearing his mind, he assembled and projected an image of his mother riding one of the patient, desert-bred opies on a trip into Mos Espa. "Ride, like that. Would you mind?" A gust of amusement greeted his mental picture of the inelegant mount, immediately followed by a stream of thought concepts.
We kerynn are much more handsome. Come, I will carry you. Backing away from the bank of the river, the animal stepped up to Anakin and poked his muzzle into the young man's shoulder, taking a deep breath of his scent. You smell interesting. Get up, and we will go.
Lightly, Anakin vaulted onto the back of the kerynn, positioning himself slightly behind the animal's shoulder blades. In that position the spine was well padded by muscles and the lack of any sort of saddle did not seem to be a problem. The kerynn began to stride briskly along the river toward a place some distance ahead where the river broadened and became shallow enough to ford. Anakin began to adjust to the movement of the animal under him, a motion entirely unlike any other riding beast in his limited experience.
Where do you wish to go?
"Back to Obi-Wan, back to… my people," Anakin decided to keep it simple, unsure if the kerynn would have understood the explanations involved in describing the Jedi Knights, the war, the clone troopers, and the state of the galaxy at large.
We will find your herd.
Splashing through the river, the kerynn climbed the bank with one long smooth lunging leap. Anakin grabbed a large handful of the heavy mane to steady himself. The kerynn turned his head slightly on his long neck to gaze back at Anakin out of one blue eye.
Keep balanced. We will move swiftly.
"Thanks," said Anakin. "How swiftly… eeyah!” Before he could finish his question the black stallion had taken off, accelerating rapidly, passing over the smooth grassland beyond the river like a dark cloudshadow. His cloven hooves made no noise.
"General Kenobi, you wanted to know the minute we regained contact with Commander Skywalker." Commander Cody called into the tent. Obi-Wan sprang to his feet and ran outside, dodging around the clone trooper.
"You've finally got communicator contact?"
"No sir, but I can see him coming." Cody pointed toward the horizon. Obi-Wan looked in the indicated direction. The Force confirmed his distant view of an approaching rider. The feeling was definitely that of Anakin and not a stranger. Obi-Wan frowned slightly. "He left with a ship, and now he's returning after two days with some sort of riding beast. What happened to his ship?"
"I thought you knew better than to ask that question, General, especially where Commander Skywalker is concerned." Cody grinned at the Jedi.
Obi-Wan heaved a long sigh. "You're only too right." Walking through the tidy ranks of temporary shelters occupied by his troopers, Obi-Wan reached the periphery of the camp and waited. The moving speck on the horizon grew rapidly into the galloping form of a powerful black quadruped. Over the top of the animal's bobbing head Obi-Wan could just see the tousled hair of Anakin Skywalker.
"Sorry I'm late," said Anakin cheerfully as the kerynn came to a stop ten paces away from the Jedi. "I had a bit of an accident with the ship; it's going to need a new engine. If it wasn't for Tanoki here I'd still be walking for another two days."
"Tanoki?" Obi-Wan looked at the kerynn in surprise as Anakin slid down from his back. "Anakin, do you know what this animal is?"
"Tanoki says they’re called kerynn." Anakin patted the black shoulder. "Thank you, I owe you one." Tanoki nuzzled Anakin on the cheek. Lifting his head a little higher, the kerynn nibbled off a bit of Anakin's hair, revealing for just a moment an impressive set of canine fangs. Pivoting over his hind hooves, he cantered away across the grass and entered the forest beyond the camp. In an instant his dark body vanished into the deep shade under the trees.
"Anakin, weren't you paying attention to Master Arkonna when he was teaching everyone about galactic legends?"
"No Master, I'm afraid I wasn't." Anakin gave his friend and mentor a sheepish grin. "I fell asleep a few minutes after he finished lecturing about angels in the first lesson. I didn't know it was possible to make such an interesting subject so deadly boring. I slept through all the rest of the lectures. I passed the tests because L’rinna let me copy her answers." The younger man strode ahead into the camp. "Got anything to eat around here? I rode all night and day. I'm starving."
Finding some leftover rations, Anakin began to eat hungrily, chattering away around the food in his mouth. "So, how soon until we can arrange a pickup for my ship? It wasn't my fault, the crash. A bird flew up and got sucked into the engine, what a mess. I managed to put down on dry ground and didn't sink it in the swamp. I was looking at a really long walk back when Tanoki turned up. What an interesting creature! D’you think there's more like him on other planets? Why did he have a horn on his head? He didn't seem to be using it for anything. I didn't see any others like him while he traveled. Where did he come from? What a fantastic color he was! I always thought black was a dull color, but not anymore. And he’s so fast! Did you see the way he…"
