I tensed and scanned my surroundings as I allowed my combat training to take over. I immediately noticed several pairs of blue eyes hiding behind rocks.
Yuma's expression and fierceness reminded me that she was Fremen too, which also meant she was exceptionally skilled in combat. Definitely more than me. It was a trait I often lost sight of after watching her handle so many mundane chores from day to day.
My thoughts travelled to below my belly where I was reminded of the possible signs of life inside me. I felt a strange mix of fear and defence, not because I feared for my own safety but because I wanted to protect whatever it was my body was in the process of creating.
"Show yourselves!" Yuma yelled. "We will not threaten you if you do not threaten us."
Slowly but surely, the many pairs of bright blue eyes began to rise to reveal the several Fremen in our presence. I quickly counted them and made a mental note of the five Fremen that stood around us. They all worse Stillsuits just as us, except theirs were definitely well used while ours appeared basically new in comparison. It made sense, I'm sure they wore their Stillsuits almost constantly.
Yuma spoke again with confidence. "If you seek our water, we will not hand it over to you, nor do we have any worth sparing."
A few of them exchanged looks as if they considered what Yuma had said, but most eyes fell to the short woman standing in the middle of them. She was older, likely nearing the same age as my father but her movements and behaviours told me she was just as youthful as I, maybe if not more.
"You're Fremen." The small woman spoke. She said it as a remark, not a question.
Yuma nodded and raised her chin proudly. "I am. My name is Yuma."
The woman's eyes flashed to me. "But she is not."
"She saved my life," Yuma added quickly in defence and power, as if her tone was warning the woman not to challenge her. "She is with me. I'm seeking the guidance of my fellow Fremen to lead us to their community. We are searching for refuge."
"Refuge from whom?" She demanded.
"House Harkonnen."
The woman's gaze flipped between the two of us for a moment as she considered this.
"Fine." She answered. "We'll lead the two of you back to our sietch. Our Naib will decide your fate."
I swallowed, unsure whether this meant they had accepted me or if they were allowing me to live to satisfy Yuma. Regardless, I breathed a sigh of relief knowing I'd live to see another day.
"What's your name, girl?" The woman asked me with curious eyes.
I could feel all eyes on me. "My name is Ophelia."
The woman nodded. "Ophelia, my name is Ramoe."
I nodded, my eyes moving across the other Fremen who stared down at me.
"Make sure you stay quiet and you stay alert," Ramoe warned me. "The desert is not kind to strangers."
I tried not to be too alarmed by her words. Ramoe turned away and began moving in our opposite direction, quickly followed by the other Fremen.
I exchanged a look with Yuma before following behind the rest of them as Ramoe took the lead.
"We can trust them," Yuma assured me. "At least for now. They know I can tell if they plan to betray us. I practice in the same ways as them."
So we followed after them, unsure of where they would take us. The group of Fremen continued downwards through a dark cave. The darkness of the night made things hard to see to begin with, so I found myself stumbling as I tried to navigate the unlit cave.
From the corner of my eye I could see movement of a figured up ahead of me. As the figure got closer to me, I realized she was one of the younger Fremen girls who had pulled away from the rest of the group. Her demeanour wasn't nearly as intimidating as the others, and she didn't look at me as a threat; despite the pitch black cave I could see the curiosity behind her eyes.
"Ophelia." The girl spoke, not in an accusing or questioning way, but almost as if she was trying out the name.
"Yeah," I answered, unsure of what to really say next. I sensed Yuma's presence on my other side which eased me slightly. "And... what's your name?"
The cave continued even further downwards, as if we were travelling down a slope to nowhere. The curious part was that the deeper down we travelled, it almost looked like my surroundings were getting brighter. The lighting grew, allowing me to make out the girl's features.
"My name is Zeina." She answered plainly. Her voice sounded young, youthful. She was likely only a few years younger than me.
I looked forward in towards the front of the of the group towards the woman who called herself Ramoe. "Is she your leader?"
"Leader?" Zeina repeated. "We are taking you to our Naib, if that's what you're asking."
"The Naib is the leader of their sietch." Yuma added quietly from my side. "He'll be the one to decide whether we can find refuge here. If he rejects us then we'll have to leave."
"She," Zeina corrected Yuma with a defensive tone.
"She?" Yuma repeated. "Your Naib is a woman?"
Zeina nodded. For some reason Yuma seemed quite surprised by this.
"Is that bad?" I asked her.
She shook her head and stared off ahead of us, deep in thought. "Not bad, just curious... A Naib will come to power by fighting and killing the previous, which is why it's always a man who is the Naib. I wonder how that is your leader is a woman..."
I could see the slight change in posture as Zeina raised her chin proudly. "Our sietch is not as... traditional as others."
Before I could respond with further questions, I could finally see where the light was coming from. We exited the end of the tunnel to reveal the open space of their home. My eyes widened at the sight.
I recalled learning how few Fremen existed, their numbers no more than a few thousand. But here it felt as though I was standing before a bunker holding well above that number. I could only imagine how many Fremen there were living on Arrakis if this was only one of their Sietches.
"Welcome," Ramoe's voice echoed from the front of the group. "To our sietch."
***
IMPORTANT QUESTIONS/UPDATE!!!!!!!
hey guys! sorry for the short chapter but i need to ask you all for your input before we move forward.
so there are 2 ways i could take this story;
1. i could follow the original plot of dune, where a 2-3ish years pass before the story picks up again. if i were to do this, id use the next 1-2 chapters to tie the loose ends so that we can move 2-3 years ahead (spoiler, if i chose this path then i would make it so that paul and lia haven't seen each other during those 2-3 years and they only find each other those 3 years later)
2. i can ditch the original plot and just continue from here without a time skip (only downside is that when the next movie comes out it wont be anything similar to what i write) but the plot might be less complex and frustrating? lol it would basically just be my own personal spin on the second half of the book
3. if you guys have any other ideas, or something that might help stay true to the original storyline while also adding my own twist please let me know!! im out of ideas and need some inspiration. the direction of this story is heavily influenced by what you guys want to happen, so please please tell me your thoughts!
as always lmk what you think! hope you enjoy this chapter!
with love,
via <3