Thread: Student of Dune (DarkAngel & Sync)

Helene let out a soft sigh as she quietly padded through the corridor leading to her windowless room, carefully tucked away deep inside the fortress that had become her home for the past year. The girl still hadn't grown accustomed to her living quarters, but it was more for lack of wanting to grow attached to her current location. Her entire life had been that of the nomad, moving from place to place, never staying in a single Keep for very long. When she'd been younger, she and her brothers and sisters had often pretended to be much like the Fremen wandering the deserts and seeking the shelter of the sietches that only they would know and be able to find. Of course, this had been just fancy and it had been years since she'd even been allowed to see her siblings. In fact, she hadn't even met her youngest brothers and sisters at all. A part of her knew she never would and Ghanima never spoke of it. And once Irulan left, she wouldn't dare bring up her siblings again, at least not in front of her parents. But she didn't have time to dwell on such things. Now was the time to listen even if she didn't want to. The air was hot, though a breeze managed to find its way through one of the many open windows as Helene made her way toward her room. The warm air played with the flowing material of her white gown, causing it to billow slightly as she moved. Her golden red waves cascaded over her shoulders and down along her back, bouncing as she walked. She could hear the clicking sound of footsteps behind herGhanimaand glanced over her shoulder. Her blue eyes locked with those of her mother and she smiled. She wished she wasn't being sent away. Wasn't it bad enough that Trebor was gone? And Eleanor? And then there was the twins Elaine and Regor... It sickened her inside that her family was so divided, scattered as if nothing more than ash in the wind as time pressed forward and dust settled on Dune. Not dust. Spice. You have to hurry, Helene, Ghani prodded. Our visitors will be here shortly and you must be presentable. I'm afraid a nightgown isn't proper attire for greeting guests. Helene stopped and turned on her heels. She tilted her head, a hand moving so that a finger could twist itself about a loose tendril. Mm... quite so, she agreed, finally nodding. A smile tugged at the corners of her lips and she continued on her way to her all but hidden room. The air suddenly felt warmer as Helene found herself standing atop the great staircase that led to greeting room. She wondered just whom she was to be meeting. Ghanima stood directly across from her, her blue-in-blue eyes flashing fiercely as the two Atreides locked gazes. Ghani quickly moved forward, her hand reaching up to cup her daughter's face. The girl was the image of Atreides beauty that she always heard the Fremen whisper about when they thought no one was listening. Ghani was quite good at blending in with the locals and made it a point to sweep through the marketplace from time to time. Of course, Leto never approved of the reckless behavior, but he also knew better than to stop his beloved twin. As Ghani stood there peering down at her second eldest daughter, she couldn't help but admire the girl before her. There she stood, her golden red hair swept up into braids that fell like a waterfall over her left shoulder. Her silvery gown was airy and shimmered as the light danced upon the material. She looked like an angel in the desert, standing out yet somehow fitting in. She was proud and she knew that both Farad'n and Leto would also be just as proud of how she'd turned out. How could they not be? She was Atreides, part of a legacy. Though how she wished her daughter did not have to be torn away. Just like Trebor...and Eleanor. Just like her twins Regor and Elaine. It was too much, though she knew she had no choice. This was part of the path and all Atreides had to follow it. Ghani's only wish was that she could follow all of her children, personally ensure all of their safety. But, she could not. Helene tilted her head, blue-in-blue eyes glistening. Mother? she whispered. Realization began to set in. She'd dreamed this. Just then, a pair of strong hands gently seized Helene's arm and began escorting her in a direction that hardly led to the greeting room. Quickly, she glanced down, her eyes glimpsing Farad'n as he moved away from a small gathering of people dressed in brown. She'd dreamed this. Helene watched her mother turn away, their eyes no longer focused on one another. She was being led away, taken from her home, from the Keep. Her heart was pounding as she was led through a darkened corridor that would lead her to a future she feared. She knew it would be fraught with dangers, tests, people she didn't know... people who frightened her in ways she couldn't begin to explain. It was odd feeling that way and she knew it. After all, her grandmother had come from the desertborn and raised. And her mother had been born in the desert as well along with her uncle, her mother's beloved twin, the now Emperor. For a moment, Helene's thoughts drifted and she imagined what it must be like to live such a lifeone so secluded and apart from the hustle and bustle of Arakeen. A shiver ran along her spine just then, her blue eyes blinking as she thought on all the bits and pieces she'd learned about her grandmother's people. It had never been hidden from her that she was both blessed and cursed, enduring the burden of prescience like her grandfather, a gift that seemed to run in the Atreides line. While Irulan had lived with them, the princess had chosen to forsake her Fremen heritage, concentrating her efforts on teaching her and her siblings what she could of the Weirding Way, much like Lady Jessica had done for Muad'Dib. But the teaching had been limited and her knowledge of her people, stilted. It was something Ghani had never forgiven herself for and had hoped to rectify with her youngest children. But such things did nothing to ease Helene's mind as her dreams unfolded before her very eyes and her time with the Fremen became inevitable. All too quickly, the corridor was getting shorter, the walls closer together and Helene found herself getting closer to the large door she knew yet had never seen before in her life. Swallowing hard, she recalled every part of her dreams. It was one that had made her skin break out into a cold sweatstrange given the heat of Arrakis. At one time, the water produced by a body would've been considered a cherished gift and, to some, it still was. But those numbers were dwindling and it was because of her own family's legacy, the one started by her grandfather, the Mahdi. Was that what her uncle had meant? Helene shook her head. Uncle Leto's affairs were his own, his and her mother's. Not hers. She had her own future, her own destiny, her own... path... ahead of her now. Suddenly the man that had been holding onto Helene let go and nodded toward the door. You're to leave this way, he said gruffly. And the others? Helene inquired. She'd distinctly seen a group of people gathered in the main hall where she thought she'd be meeting her Fremen guests. Decoys, he responded. Helene's eyes widened. Almost glowing in the dim light of the corridor. She nodded, her breaths coming faster as she found her nerves growing ragged and raw. She'd dreamed this. Just when Helene didn't think she'd be able to take much more, the gruff man opened a slot in the door and made a soft call. It was the sound of a shrill bird, one she'd heard before when listening to the soft sounds of Dune as the sun set over the deserts and the great worms cried out as if in pain. What are you doing? Helene hissed. Alerting your escorts, the man said. Here. He thrust a brown cloak at Helene causing her to grunt softly. Put this on.