Tag: Higurashi

When the Sandworms cry V

What is it that I seek?

Perhaps it is a knight from a far away land.

What is it that I seek?

Perhaps it is a shore that will save me from this eternal swamp.

There is only one thing that I seek.

What I would obtain will either be the kishi (shore), or shiki (my death).

—From “Time wasting prayers” by Frederica Bernkastel

Rena let the flap of her stillsuit free and took a sip of the spice coffee. Keiichi on the other side of the table had asked for a glass of spice beer, it was sweet. Satoko believed spice could break down to sugars, after fermentation it would become alcohol, a simple reaction that needed no grain, a beer so to say but not a proper one. No wonder it hit so hard, Keiichi was barely beginning one pint and he was feeling the effects of it. His beer was way cheaper than the coffee Rena was holding, in such a planet substances that made you lose water were not coveted, coffee was one of them as well, but less than coffee. Water, plain water was the most expensive item.

“I heard it was more expensive in the old imperium” Rena said, she smiled and sipped her coffee “Life for the locals was very hard”

Keiichi looked at his beer, he was regretting drinking it already.  They were supposed to be the reconnaissance to find when and where would a spice freighter leave, and board it eventually. This was proving a lot harder than it seemed, Fremen trusted nobody. Rena had the advantage of speaking without an accent, but her face, her skin color and water fatness showed how she was an off-worlder. Even if she was wearing a Fremen Stillsuit.

Keiichi was feeling great discomfort on many areas, he could feel the blisters already forming. He shuffled, Rena got close to him and began tightening his stillsuit, the pain subsided. Of course, Rena would know how to wear one, she collected them, so many Fremen had tried to personally kill Lady Mion, the infidel Shintosunni who said her own priestess was a god. Many died for less than that, Mion would had died already if she was not a Bene Gesserit, and of course if she didn’t have Rena as her bodyguard, and Keiichi as her husband.

An old man playing tawla looked at the off-worlders sitting at his back and mumbled “Do not even try it” he resumed his game.

Rena looked at the man, he had allowed himself to go fat, but through his stillsuit she could see a shadow of musculature. His eyes were aggressive, but they lacked the blue within blue tint of the Fremen. His companion had the blue within blue eyes, but the stillsuit was not Fremen, it was Fremen-made but did not belong to a Fremen.

Rena began communicating with Keiichi by blinking in binary “Sardaukar, companion is local but not Fremen”

Keiichi looked at their reflection using his glass “He looks old, but not a lot”

“We just want to go to the main temple and pay our respects to Muad’Dib” Rena said with a wide smile, she sipped her coffee.

The man turned around to face Rena “Using stolen Fremen stillsuits? You have a sword hidden under that jubba. Your lord is armed too. Whatever you are up to will angry the Fremen, just don’t”

Rena looked at the companion of the Sardaukar, he did not act surprised, they were probably speaking about them earlier, but he didn’t feel as if their actions were heresy.

“Takes one to know one good sir” Rena toasted to Keiichi. Of course, a Sardaukar playing for money, he sticks out as much as we do.

“What is your name swordsmaster?” Said the old man, he sipped his spice beer.

“My name? Hau! Only if you tell me yours Sardaukar” Rena rested her face on her hands.

“Ooishi Ghym” He said “Now your turn”

Cloud, his name is so contrary to a Fremen name, a normal person with the name of a venerated phenomenon. She thought to herself, this man already knew enough she could simply say her name “Rena Ryuuguu”

The man with Ooishi turned his face to look at her. Rena felt a chill on her spine, she should have lied about her name, Tanna was already a planet of Heretics and the only reason their leader remained alive was because of her bodyguard.

He then scratched his chin “Rena, do you know a Duncan Idaho? I heard he killed 20 Sardaukar without breaking a sweat. Ooishi here says that it is all legend” 

“Not personally… But I did hear of him and it wouldn’t be surprising if he could have killed 20 Sardaukar, though he probably died after pulling off such a feat” Rena felt the fear wash away. We are just one planet more of heretics, that is good.

Ooishi laughed loudly “What a good joke you say girl!”

Keiichi now slightly drunk patted Rena on the back “If you want to call him out I have no issue”

Ooishi stopped laughing, his friend was now the one laughing. There was terror in Ooishi, Sardaukar were good soldiers, but even they knew that swordsmen of Ginaz could potentially harm them, much more swordsmasters. Ooishi did not know Rena was a master, if he knew that he wouldn’t even make fun of her school. On top of that he was old, he was slow.

Rena sighed “Do not bring me into challenges I do not wish for sire. He is an old Sardaukar in Arrakis. I am sure he survived the battle of Arrakeen, isn’t that proof enough of his strength?”

Ooishi puffed his chest “I misjudged you Ryuuguu. You recognize a good soldier when you see one!”

“Perhaps we could use some of your advice for our business?” Rena said calmly. Yes, now he will help us. He is a little afraid of me, that will help us.

Ooishi laughed again “Anything for my new friends, come at our table to play!” yes those two were not seeking trouble, he thought, they can be good allies.

Keiichi looked at Rena, his heart skipped a beat, Ooishi had realized in a few seconds that Rena would have killed Ooishi if he had asked. He wouldn’t of course, but even to an outsider it was obvious the type of relationship they held. Maybe in another world they would had been a couple, the feelings were still there. It didn’t mean he did not love Mion, that love was the reason he had never broken his bows. The Faufreluches would not allow Rena to climb up like that, perhaps if she had followed her mother’s desires that would had been the case, climbing up the ladder before seeking love.

Rena of course, she was loyal to Mion even more than to Keiichi, it was the secret of their strength, that closeness they had to each other, what allowed these three houses to challenge the Guild and even think about stealing from the Empire. This connection was clear to Ooishi, he would not understand the full extent of it, but the threat from Keiichi did not make Rena flinch, he saw how she changed her position slightly, even though she had remained relaxed her hand was near her sword. It was then when he could see the pummel, the engraving, this was not a simple swordsman but a swordsmaster.

Ooishi was not a normal Sardaukar, even before Arrakis had toughened him he always survived things that others did not. Salusa Secundus to him was not a hell but paradise, a world in which he could easily thrive. When he came to Arrakis he learned how easy he had it, and thus made it his mission to improve himself, without Shaddam IV he would sell his services to anyone, and he made a name for himself that way. The Sardaukar who fought like a Fremen, the Sardaukar who was chewed up by the planet and came back asking for more. He knew how good swordsmasters were, and Arrakis had taught him not to pick fights with allies, the planet is the enemy, the locals, the Emperor himself, you do not waste allies. Why worry, if that man can pay for her services, then he can cover mine as well.

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.