Category: Higurashi

When the sandworms cry II

Do you know what is the sin?

It isn’t because you ate the forbidden fruit.

Do you know what is the sin?

It isn’t because you listened to the serpent.

You still don’t know what is the sin?

Then, that itself is your sin.

From “Billee Purana” by Frederica Bernkastel

Rena cleaned her sword before sheathing it. Anyone can kill with the tip, to kill with the edge is a sign of mastery she thought of the Ginaz axioms as her face reflected against the clean blade. To most Rena looked like a fool, a woman whose friendship to Lady Mion landed her a job as weapons master. It was a mistake the pile of flesh that used to be a man also made. Among the blood Rena could see a Zensunni crest, yes it was a rival smuggling group. Most of the universe is Sensunni the crest told them nothing, and Rena doubted others would find something in the body.

Keiichi arrived knife in hand panting heavily, he looked down then at Rena who now was looking at the remains. Wait where is the assassin?! It looks like Rena just walked in to find a chopped pig in human clothes. He sheathed his knife and walked besides Rena. Yes that was the guy…

“Did you get any information out of him?” Keiichi looked at the Sensunni talisman, like those you could buy in Arrakis when visiting the Shrine of Leto. Keiichi had one, he used it as a keychain, a common souvenir from those who had dealt with the Empire at some point.

“He had no spice for us. It was too good to be true, too cheap” Rena giggled “He lied, so he got what he deserved”

Keiichi noticed her honest expression, Rena did not enjoy killing, but she wouldn’t doubt on doing it so to protect those around her. She had killed many to protect Mion, to protect him even. Actually, that was how they met, just as the man before them, Keiichi was sent to poison Mion, Rena called him out in combat, and almost killed him, though she stopped when noticing he did not know he was carrying poison. “Sire, you should not be trying to protect me with a knife. My job is to protect you”

Rena patted him on the shoulder and walked out of the room. Keiichi crouched next to the body to find that it reeked of spice, it was wearing a stillsuit and a jubba cloak. He pulled out his knife and prodded the body a little, there it was, the blue within blue of the eyes, this man was a Fremen. Rena knew she would never get any information out of him, and alive a Fremen is always a threat. Even Sardaukar feared them, yet there it laid, and it was not rare, not even surprising for Keiiichi to see a Fremen corpse before him.

Rena arrived before Mion and gave her a light bow “Lady, the smuggler was nothing, but an assassin sent to kill you. I only managed to get that; he is no longer an issue” She placed the sheathed knife of the man on the desk. Mion took the blade, unsheathed it, milky white shining with such a light that it seemed to have a life of its own. I don’t want to ask what happened to the man holding this knife, Fremen never let their knives go, they die with them.

Mion laughed “I think you just wanted to add one more knife to your collection” She handed the knife back “Did you think about what I told you?”

Rena took the knife back “I don’t have to think about it, lady, House Khumali gave me good conditions, but my loyalty remains with you. I thank you for giving me the chance to think about it, more a reason to not leave your side” Rena bowed and kissed Mion’s hand. She blushed, when her eyes met Rena’s, she pulled out her hand, Rena knew the weirding way, she could tell her pulse was becoming faster. Of course, Mion could control it, she knew Prana Bindu as well, but her self-control was not the best when Rena pulled out moves like that.

Rena was a rare product, a swordsmaster of Ginaz with Bene Gesserit training, called an unstoppable force by those who know her in the battlefield. By personal choice Rena rejected the idea of becoming a Bene Gesserit, in favor of becoming a swordsmaster. Her mother became the concubine of a rich spidersilk merchant, seeking to secure connections so that her daughter could marry into nobility. She had even named her daughter Reina, Queen in an ancient language. Rena rejected all those ideas, she decided not to abandon her father and returned with him to their home planet of Tanna. It was there that Rena decided to reject the name her mother had given her, it was then when Reina died and Rena was born, Rena the girl who decided to go to Ginaz and become a swordsmaster when the choice came, it was either that or Wallach IX to become a Bene Gesserit sister.

Rena hated the sisterhood, until she met Rika and Satoko, Rika was not considered a traitor of the sisterhood when she waged war against the Harkonnens to get her friend back. The sisterhood had a mission, each sister could pick the methods to carry it out. In a way Rena had become exactly what the sisterhood wanted. She was in a noble house of the Landsraad, but Rena chose the way in which she would serve. Rena no longer hated the sisterhood, lady Mion and Shion, both were Bene Gesserit, in a way she had become as Bene Gesserit as them, though Rena still hated her mother, Reina the Reverend Mother would never become a reality, but Rena the swordsmaster of the Bene Gesserit was something she could accept.

Rena’s training in the weirding way was not perfect, but in some odd way it allowed her to be a great fighter. The imperfect bindu trance that Mion nicknamed Kyute mode made her virtually invincible. Rena was the reason they had won the war against the Harkonnens, she was let loose in Kyute mode in the middle of a platoon of Sardaukar in Harkonnen uniform. The personal army of Abulurd, the only thing that allowed him to keep some sort of power in Giedi Prime. By the end of it Rena was there, covered in blood, none of it her own. The issue was that to trigger it required certain conditions. Mion was lucky that those Sardaukar were smuggling a baby sandworm, that, the idea of riding a baby sandworm was what triggered Rena’s trance.

Of course, Mion allowed her to ride the sandworm a couple of times, before she had to sell it to the Emperor for a hefty sum of money. Mion still did not fully understand that imperfect Bindu trance, it was what Rena considered adorable, what she considered kyute. Sandworms was one of them, the horned child of Lady Furude was another one, out of those two there were few clues as to what could make Rena get into her trance. Mion though, was afraid of Rena wanting to stay, the planet they stood was doomed, it became more common for those Fremen to attempt to kill her, the Jihad was nearing, and they had to prepare, prepare or flee. That choice was given to Rika, Satoko would help her think of the best choice, she was a Mentat, and a good one at that, it was too much responsibility for two teens like them, but Mion knew that they would make the best choice.

When the sandworms cry I

Please do not deplore yourself.

Even if the world does not forgive you, I will forgive you.

Please do not deplore yourself.

Even if you do not forgive the world, I will forgive you.

So please tell me.

What will it take for you, to forgive me?

—From “The Shintosunni Sutras Book I” by Frederica Bernkastel

Satoko sipped her Sapho juice with great care, she had tried to keep her lips clean from the stains, but they always showed, with her great care at least Satoko could make it seem as if she was wearing lipstick. Before her there were different filmbooks regarding the Zensunni religion and the Fremen, the history of House Atreides, and of course the propaganda that now flooded the empire.

Satoko had been serving House Furude for less than 2 years, but she was as trusted as any other older servant. A young teen in fact, though she was already a fully formed Mentat of the Bene Gesserit. Born from Lady Fenring, the child of the now dead Feyd Rautha, Satoko had those Harkonnen eyes and lips, typical of the family. She was given at birth to the sisterhood, and at an early age she showed great signs of intelligence, so she was sent to Lampadas to be raised and trained to become a proper Mentat.

As soon as she was fully trained Abulurd Rabban bought her, the last branch of the Harkonnen bloodline had to survive at all costs. His plan was to wait for Satoko to grow of age so that she could sire a son, train him as a mentat and let him rebuild the House Harkonnen from the ground.

The only person who took issue with this was Lady Rika Furude, the high Priestess and Earl of Oyashiro. She waged a war of assassins against house Harkonnen to retrieve Satoko before she could be forced to do anything. House Furude was a minor, small and poor house, but they had the backing of House Sonozaki, a house minor but their smuggling business gave them a lot of riches and influence.

In the end they were victorious, Satoko was now in service of Rika, and for them it was as good as it could get, even with the Jihad still a looming threat in a Shintosunni planet like their own. House Furude could be called a house minor, albeit it was hardly part of the Faufreluches, long ago they held great influence, though in these current times House Furude was composed only of Rika and lately, Satoko. The war of assassins against House Harkonnen was mainly led by the Sonozaki.

Neither of the Houses had any CHOAM holdings, out of the three houses in planet Tanna only House Kimiyoshi had a small number of shares in CHOAM. House Furude’s main income was voluntary donations made by the people of Tanna, which were mostly in species since money was often used to buy farming equipment. Rika had the Furude shrine, a temple back from the days of glory, which also worked as her living quarters. Nobody would expect for such a House, a House of the Landsraad in name only to have a Mentat, but Satoko was there, and her skill could not be doubted.

A year ago, Rika arrived with a rather small child, barely a teen, purple hair and eyes. Rika had begun training her, this day it was Satoko’s turn to overlook the little girl’s exercises. Satoko stopped looking at her filmbook and raised her hand to call the girl’s attention. “Not like that Hanyuu, you must be relaxed until the time to strike. Start over”

“Hau hau!!! It is so hard, to be relaxed but awaiting?!” Hanyuu slumped onto the floor, her muscles were screaming from the training.

Satoko looked at her, it had been hours since Rika had left, and training in these conditions would begin to harm Hanyuu more than helping her Yes perhaps she should take a break… No, we should take a break. I had been working too much lately. Satoko sat up “I’ll go get some tea. You can take a break”

Hanyuu slowly neared Satoko’s working area and began reading the filmbooks, Arrakis the capital of the Imperium, the holy war that began from said planet, the billions of lives lost to the Jihad. Planet after planet cleansed and converted, Hanyuu felt an instinctive disgust for the bloodshed, and out of reflex she dropped the filmbook on the ground and began trampling on it, the sight of it, the idea of blood itself made Hanyuu feel uneasy, something in her body rejected the very concept of violence, she stopped until Satoko pulled her in an embrace.

Satoko did not understand how primal Hanyuu’s reaction had been, she began to cry, she felt sorry for making a mess of Satoko’s working place, but she was not punished.

Satoko did not know what made Hanyuu do it, but she knew what could had been, she had lived in such stress lately. The threat of the Jihad had not gone away for planets like Tanna, a small population who would rather die than to betray their priestess Rika in favor of Emperor Muad’Dib and St. Alia of the Knife. What have you done to this child Rika, bringing her to a world like this? I was already dead, but this child still had hope.