ᴀʟɪᴇɴꜱ【𝐏𝐚𝐮𝐥 𝐀𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐬】

ɴɪɴᴇ

"𝐒𝐡𝐡𝐡𝐡" 𝐏𝐚𝐮𝐥 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐬, we could hear people muttering on the other side of the mountain of sand we were hiding behind. They weren't speaking a language we could understand but we could tell they were no friends of ours. Probably Harkonnens trying to make sure none of the Atreides had survived. Enemy I signaled to Paul and he nodded. Chani touched my arm and signaled for me to look over the sand. I slowly peeked above the sand and realized that the Harkonnens had moved behind part of a rock and would not have been able to see us.

Before I moved I looked at Stilgar who had his head pressed against the sand. He waited a moment and said, "They're here." Instantly many of the Fremen began to move and hustle quietly in each direction.  

"Go now" I whispered to Paul "It may be our only chance." We jumped and slid down the sand to an area between the rock and the sand where there was a little bit of shade and escape. He stumbled a bit on his way down but got back on his feet and we hid close to the rock peeking around the corner. Just as they were coming over the sand I saw that Paul had dropped his bag giving them a clear message that we were close by. 

"Shit Mila, I'm sorry" he signaled "It doesn't matter now" I waved him away preparing to have to fight. I kept my hand on my blade and my eyes on the Harkonnens who inched forward ever so slowly continuing to speak to each other. 

One of the Harkonnens was about to reach us and I watched him draw his blade. Paul slowly lifted a rock and I readied myself. Just as he was about to see us we heard a dull thumping. Our enemy turned around, slowly muttering to themselves. One of the Fremen must have set off a thumper to protect us. 

They began to run towards the rock, I didn't expect them to make it in time but suddenly they began to rise and float up towards the top of the rock. We watched as they all levitated upwards, easily, and out of harm's way. A few moments later they shot something and then the thumping stopped. The tracker had been shot to pieces. 

"How long do you think they will be up there?" I asked Paul. He placed his hand on my shoulder for comfort "I'm not so sure but now that the thumper is gone probably not too long." All of a sudden, a body fell from above us and we jumped back surprised. The person was dead but we weren't sure how he had been killed. Before we knew it more and more bodies began to fall, one of them nearly landing on top of me. 

One of the men slowly floated down with his sword drawn but was turned in the opposite direction of us. Paul looked at me and I knew what he was thinking. No way was I going to let him take this fight if the man turned around. I was the better fighter and stood a better chance. One last body fell with a loud clunk causing the man to turn around. When he saw us he began to run forward and before I had time to react Paul sprinted to one of the dead bodies and took the sword in the waistbelt. While they were occupied I took the opportunity to sprint over to the other side of the sand so that I could sneak up on the Harkonnen in case Paul needed help.

The man swung at Paul almost instantly but Paul was able to take him out rather easily. It was not a long fight nor a painful one, at least not for Paul. As soon as the fight was over another one appeared in front of me. This one had a gun though. I thought that Paul would have noticed him but he might have been in shock or something as he was simply standing there not moving. 

I realized what I would have to do as the man aimed his gun at Paul. I drew my blade and quickly slashed it through the man watching him drop onto the sand. "How many times have you been warned to never stand with your back turned towards the open area?" I yelled storming down the sand "I tell you this all the time, you have to be more careful."

"I'm sorry," he said softly "Are you alright." I sighed and nodded "I promise to be more careful" 

"Good," I told him hugging him quickly "I can't lose you, you know that." It was true, neither of us had anyone left. Not that we knew of anyway, Paul believed that his mother was still out there since he was having dreams of his unborn sister that would have laid in her womb. 

It was always possible that Lady Jessica was still alive but it's also possible that Paul's dreams were just that, dreams.

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For a while, Paul and I sat below in the shade waiting for some of the fighting to be over. I rested against his shoulder and noticed him fiddling with his father's ring. I reached out and took his hand squeezing it gently. "Do you think my father was scared when they killed him?" Paul asked me. We had no idea how nor when his father had died but I said 

"No, I don't think so" he looked at me curiously "Your father was a very brave man, I'm sure that he was fighting until his last breath to protect you and your mother"

"How can you seem so calm right now" he asked me "You don't seem scared or anxious, or even sad. What about your mother? and Blaize? and even Zach?"

"Being scared won't do me any good now" I told him "I have to stay focused to survive" 

"And your family?"

"Something tells me they might have made it," I said softly playing with his hand "My mother and Blaize would not have given up easily, I bet my mom had some sort of leverage to keep them alive, she always has a bunch of secrets that she has kept hidden from us. As for Zach, I hope he is ok." 

Paul chuckled a little. Not because anything was particularly funny but because here we were, sitting beneath a rock, with no friends or family, Harkonnens hunting us, and we still both knew that Zach was not a skilled fighter. 

Once the Harkonnens had been killed or were in the process of being killed, we made our way back up towards the rest of the Fremen. "They had to have been here for you, right?" I asked Paul 

"Of course, they couldn't have had someone this good-looking around" he joked as I punched him playfully. 

"You think too much of yourself" Stilgar interrupted "Only Fremen can survive out here, they were here for us." He stood up from killing a guy "As for you two, I'm taking you guys somewhere they will never find you." I didn't know why but that sentence was a little bit unsetting.

"You fought well," Chani told Paul "once you woke up"

"I wasn't sleeping," he told her confused. I shook my head when he looked at me, I had no idea what she was talking about either. Once the Fremen had thrown all the bodies in a pile, they set off a thumper next to the pile and began to walk on. 

"Will you help me carry?" Chani asked gesturing to a body that we were taking with us 

"Of course," I told her, I didn't want to haul this body on but I was a little scared of what would happen if I said no. 

"Hey, hey, I can do it," Paul said coming up to me 

"That's ok" I reassured him, "I think I can handle it" 

"Promise you'll let me know if you get tired?" 

"Promise." He settled for walking beside me. As we continued on I heard a low rumbling and assumed that the worm had come and taken the bodies away. I wondered when we would reach a place where we would be safe and if I would ever see my family again. 

Hey guys!!! SO excited to be back and updating this story!! It's been so long.