Paul Atreides X Reader (Dune)

Part 3: Day One

     Paul Atreides awakens just as the sun begins its ascend into the Arrakis sky. He stays beneath the blankets for a few more minutes, finding it odd that he'd be freezing at night but then would dress for the day in cool clothes. Once he felt more awake, he slips out of bed and walks to the closet where an outfit had been hung for him. It was similar to his black cloak, though it was tan and a lot more thin. A lot more suitable for the desert. Paul slides it over his body; it felt very soft, and the coolness was refreshing to his skin. He then kicks off his boots, in which he had on all night since he had fallen asleep before getting a chance to take them off; he had been too tired last night to care. Paul replaces his pair of black pants with a more baggy, as well as tan pair to match the cloak. His body was covered enough to where he wouldn't get a sunburn, while it also was keeping his body cooler than what it'd be in his black cloak. He slips his black boots back on, and now he was ready for the first full day on Arrakis.

Gurney stays in the Palace tracking the Harkonnens while Paul and his parents load up into an ornithopter. They were set to go view a few of the spice harvesters and examine how they work. Leto was the pilot, Paul sat on the passenger side, and Jessica in the back. They all strapped up and the Duke started the engine, it roaring while the wings deploy, stretching out until they're straight. The wings then start to vibrate, picking up momentum at each passing second. A loud buzzzzz fills the air as the wings reach their maximum speed for takeoff. Leto pulls up the yoke and the ornithopter ascends into the desert air, hovering over the sand and causing it to make a whirlwind around the ship until they get high enough off the ground.

    Paul can't help but take in the beauty of the desert as they fly across the sky. It was so vast. So tremendous. It was hard for him to believe any human being survived solely off of the desert. He wanted to know exactly how; the film books only gave him brief descriptions. As they flew, he thought of the Fremen. He wondered how they looked and how they acted in person. He hoped he'd be lucky enough to meet one of them. Of course, he was mainly here for the Harkonnens and the spice, but something about the Fremen caught his attention. There was something special about them, he wasn't quite sure what, but he knew he wanted to learn more.

     In the near distance, the first harvester can be seen. Leto brought down the ornithopter to a better viewing altitude, still staying high enough as to not disrupt the harvesting. "You can unstrap now, if you want a better look." Paul's father tells him, and he does so. Paul leans towards the glass of the cockpit, looking down and observing the large machine work. It digs deep into the sand dunes, pulling the spice out and separating it from the sand before collecting it. Paul notices a few small objects hovering in the air around them, they were almost drone like. "What are those?" He asks his parents. "Worm spotters," his mother replies, "They can detect worm sign from about 500 meters away." She explains. "What happens if they spot a worm?" Paul asks, genuinely curious. "Then they pray for their lives." His father jokes, before Jessica gives him a hard stare and he stops laughing. "A Carryall will deploy and lift it to safety. However, they do harvest up until the very last second. It's a dangerous job." The Duke says. Paul nods, continuing to watch the harvester.

     "Father, have you ever seen a worm? In person, I mean?" Paul questioned. Leto chuckles in return, "only from the air, son. And that's all you'll ever want to see 'em." His father says, shooting him a quick smile and patting his shoulder. "We're safe up here." His father assured him. Not that Paul was worried about being devoured by a sand worm, he was more so curious about them. He'd seen images of them, but part of him wanted to see a real one. Up close, maybe. "Ready to head to the next one?" The Duke asks his family, and they nod in return. The ornithopter buzzed through the air as they soared. Paul had his eyes peeled for worm sign, but he wasn't too hopeful. When they approach the next harvester, the family immediately notices several other ornithopters hovering around it. "Who are they?" Paul asks, concerned. "Calm down, it's just for worm spotting." Leto says, but he wasn't completely sure. They had replaced the ships for the drones for worm spotting awhile ago, so why would there be any other ornithopters here?

Duke Leto proceeds forward, trying to get a look at who was inside those other ships. Just a second later, a warning call goes off. It was from Gurney. The Duke looks down for a split second to find out what it was about, and in that time, one of the other ornithopters turned to directly face them. Paul squints his eyes, getting a better look into the cockpit. It was a dark figure in a black suit, who also seemed to be without hair. "Harkonnens.." Paul mutters, looking to his father. "Shit." His father says upon finding out himself. "Strap in," he tells both Jessica and Paul, and once they did so, he wastes no more time and suddenly makes a swift, vigorous bank to the left. Paul holds on tightly to his straps while his head was being thrown around with a lot of force from the quick bank. Now, all the other ornithopters were facing them and were on their tail.

Leto pushes the throttle to its max capacity, the Harkonnens were right behind them. They soar through the desert air at a fast pace, the wings were working at full power and the buzzing sound rumbled throughout the entire ship. Jessica looks behind her after they had been flying for awhile, and she couldn't see any of the other ships anymore. "I think we lost them," she sighs, putting a hand to her stomach. Just as the family takes a breath of relief, multiple bright lights flash behind them. The Harkonnens had fired three missiles. The ornithopter's alarm system beeped constantly, warning them of the upcoming missiles that were locked on their ship. Leto works tirelessly to dodge each missiles attempt to make contact with their ship. He flips the ornithopter, turns it sharply, and continues flying as fast as possible. Jessica and Paul's heads are still being whipped around violently, giving them headaches. Leto was used to it. Although, he never had time to strap himself in, so he was being thrown around a lot more than the others. He didn't have time to care about any potential injures, though. He had to keep flying.

Two of the missiles collide when the Duke confuses them by letting them get close, before closing the wings and nose diving downward. As they fell, the last missile followed closely behind. It was gliding fast, and their ships' engine was about ready to give out at this point. Leto re-opens the wings, making them come out from the dive and ascend quickly, but the missile did the same. Their speed was decreasing as the engine was dying. "I need you two to brace and stay in that position until we're on the ground." He tells his family through gritted teeth. "Why? What are you.." Paul starts to ask, but his father flicks his head toward him, sweat dripping down his forehead. "BRACE!" Leto yells, just as all power shuts off. The Duke knew he could try one last thing to protect his family, so he stops the ornithopter mid-air and turns it so the pilot's side faces the missile. He quickly glances at Paul, who wasn't leaning down yet so he pushes his head down with his sweaty hand and keeps it there, forcing Paul to brace. A split second before the missile makes impact, Leto lifts the ship up a bit to make it where the missile hits the bottom of the pilot's side, causing the majority of the impact to fall upon him.

A loud crash falls upon Paul's ears as the missile hits their ship. His father's hand was still holding his head down, so he couldn't see what was happening. A few seconds after that crash, he feels his father's hand loosen its grip on his cranium. And soon, he no longer felt it at all. He looks up, his eyes going wide as he spots a sight of pure horror and panic. The entire pilot's side of the ship was missing, along with his father. The large hole in the ornithopter caused gusts of wind to throw the ship around like a rag doll. They were going down, fast. Paul looks around frantically for his father, but he is nowhere to be seen. "FATHER!" He yells hopelessly. "PAUL, BRACE!" His mother screams at him, sounding just as distraught. Paul buries his head in his arms, closing his eyes and letting fate decide what will happen to him.

The ornithopter spirals downward until finally colliding with the sand below them. The impact causes an eruption of sand to fall over them. The glass of the cockpit shatters and flies through the air, striking Paul and cutting him in a few places. Being strapped in most likely saved both Paul's and Jessica's lives, however the collision into the desert's sand was so powerful both mother and son had blacked out upon hitting the ground; their brains had been rattled around so much, it was likely they had a concussion. Nevertheless, they were alive. The Duke, however, his fate was yet to be determined.