•>[video] no more shifting sands

[ladyofthesands.livejournal.com]

[Bent close to the camera, are a pair of blue-within-blue eyes, and then, after a moment, a bright smile.  Her hand flashes to her lips to conserve moisture as she lets out a delighted laugh.  It works!]

Ah, so that is what I must do.  Thank you for working so nicely.  [She tilts her head slightly, back and forth, as if deciding if she's comfortable.  Arha frowns lightly and then sits cross legged, making sure she is still within view.]

So, I am in a new place--like before, when I should have died in the cold of space, and found myself in the desert sands. It is so green, here.  My Mothers-Within, those who are Fremen, they say it is a wonder--while those who are not say it is strange and I should be wary.  Why should I jump at shadows?  I see this vine-thing, how it forms a speaking instrument, and I know that in this place I am not alone.  I can see that you see me, too!

Hello to you, whomever you might be.  [She flashes a quick wave and is all smiles.]

I am curious, always, about this place.  I do not need my stillsuit here, not as such--the wind is not fierce and the heat, too, is different.  There is so much moisture and so many water-fat creatures--they are not of the wildness of my desert, and they are not my Shai-Hulud--but they are a fascinating things. 

[she pauses, her eyes wide as she thinks]

Is there to be a thing called an ocean?  With the waves?  This, I think, I would like to know, for I have not yet found it.

Comments

video;

[contemptuous.livejournal.com]

[Don't mind Galatea, she's just checking out those eyes there.] Unusual.

There is an ocean here. Or a sea, perhaps. I haven't gone out far enough to see it, but I have heard the sound of waves.

Re: video;

[ladyofthesands.livejournal.com]

I would wish to find this seaocean. [She nods enthusiastically with a grin that is all joy--like a kid opening a gift.] If it can be found, I shall find it!

video;

[contemptuous.livejournal.com]

How good for you.

Keep in mind that the unexplored regions here may be dangerous.

Re: video;

[ladyofthesands.livejournal.com]

I have survived the Deep Desert for eight years and I am well trained. I am not frightened of such things--merely curious. Do you wish to find the seaocean, too? [her head tilts, curiosity radiating from her]

video;

[contemptuous.livejournal.com]

What is the Deep Desert? [She shrugs her shoulders, closes her eyes.] I have no desire to do so. [In contrast, Galatea is closed off and distant. She's not really chatty, even at the best of times.]

video;

[mellifluently.livejournal.com]

There are no oceans where you're from?

Re: video;

[ladyofthesands.livejournal.com]

No oceans at all. [A vehement shake of her head sends her hair (which is sun faded to a lighter red, loose, and falls past her shoulders) flying. Her eyes seem to be perpetually wide with wonder.]

It is sand and rock and sky forever and ever until there is no planet. There are green things growing because of what Mauad'Dib has done, and puddles in Arrakeen, but this is all. It is a desert planet, Arrakis, also called Dune, from which I come.

video;

[mellifluently.livejournal.com]

A desert planet. [She repeats it quietly, fascinated with the idea.] That sounds like a very difficult life.

I don't know if there's an ocean here, I only just arrived myself.

Re: video;

[ladyofthesands.livejournal.com]

It is a challenging life. The desert takes you into itself and you become a living, breathing piece of it. [Her blue-within-blue eyes are sharply intelligent, but are offset by the easy smile that is always a second away from bursting to life]

I can smell this ocean--it is in the wind. Too, I smell fresh soil, wet earth. It is not a familiar scent, save to my Mothers-Within. They know the scent of fresh turned fields, though I was not born to such things. The lives of those women who have lived before me--this I know.

video;

[mellifluently.livejournal.com]

[She listens attentively, nods in understanding.] It's green where I live, like here, but my family are from a drier place.

You're connected to them? The women before you?

[video]

[mnementomori]

I heard the ocean, and there's sand, but the water must be past the wild places. I didn't make it far enough to see it.

Re: [video]

[ladyofthesands.livejournal.com]

I shall find this ocean. Are there not others who would like to see the big waters as well? A man would be most incredibly rich to have so much water in the place where I come from. No stranger am I to wild places.

Re: [video]

[mnementomori]

Rich? I just missed it...it's been a while since I've seen the ocean.

And the wild places here...they do weird things to you. You should be careful.

Re: [video]

[ladyofthesands.livejournal.com]

My world, it is not free water. Only caches of water that are trapped in caverns beneath the surface. Water is currency among my people.

[Arha purses her lips.]

I am never careless. Wild places are to be respected.

Re: [video]

[mnementomori]

[almost every world she's been to had free-flowing water...except Agrabah. Was this lady from there? Or another desert, maybe? Xion, used to strange sights, hardly blinks at those blue blue eyes.]

Oh. That sounds tough.

If you're careful, you should be okay. Though it's probably a long walk; I can't even see the water from the clock tower.

[border-phantasm.livejournal.com]

There might be an ocean. But it is in a place where reality seems to wear thin.

[ladyofthesands.livejournal.com]

Reality has worn thin as it is, no? [Her eyes are wide again and her head tilts to the left.] We are in this place after having not been here, and there, such is nearly unbelievable. But. I should still like to see this ocean, even if it is in such a place.

[border-phantasm.livejournal.com]

Hah. But it is even worse than this; I cannot guarantee you will find it, or emerge from there unchanged.

[ladyofthesands.livejournal.com]

There were days when I could not find water n my desert, though I knew it was there. It mattered that I sought it out and that the effort was made. This ocean thing, it is worth the same. I wish to see what has been seen by other generations along my genetic memory. It is a priceless thing, to see such great water.

[Her frown is momentary.]

Life is full of change, it is not the change that matters, but how you accept it. I do not fear these things. [Arha flicks her fingers in a sharp, birdlike motion.] Fear is the mind-killer, so--change will come whether I sit here and smell the ocean or go and try to find such a thing.

[border-phantasm.livejournal.com]

[Genetic memory? Yukari files that for later reference]

Not that sort of change. But if you insist...look to the north-west.

May I have your name?

[falterderleere.livejournal.com]

[Oh, those eyes. Grell could stare for hours at those eyes. So beautiful, so blue, so different than what she's seen before.]

Hello to you too.

I know this may seem sudden, but may I ask you a few questions? You've said phrases I know nothing of, that draw my interest.

[ladyofthesands.livejournal.com]

Hello! [Arha waves, her smile infectiously cheerful and her eyes bright with curiosity.] If you wish to ask me questions, this you may. I shall do my best to provide satisfactory answers.

[falterderleere.livejournal.com]

[She ends up smiling herself, it's contagious.] You explained much to others, and I saw that, but what is [she pauses so she can better mimic the pronounciation] Shai-Hulud?

[ladyofthesands.livejournal.com]

[Her smile only wides as she fold her hands and shifts into the proper lecture position, her spine straight.]

Shai-Hulud, also known as The Old Man of the desert, Grandfather of the desert, Old Father Eternity, and, sometimes, simply Worm, is the Fremen term for 'sandworm'. The sandworm itself is one of the predominant species that lives within the sands of my native planet--it is massive with some recorded sizes of worm up to four hundred and fifty meters in length. They have incredibly thick skins, which are a orange in appearance, and form thick armored scales that are, for the most part and sometimes more, a few feet across and overlap. This armor is impervious to nearly anything--lasguns do not do damage to it at all--though the scales themselves can be exploited for the purpose of riding.

[She paused for a moment, collecting her thoughts, her blue-within-blue eyes bright.]

By prying open one or more of said scales, such armor would be compromised as sand would enter the sandworm and thus cause intense irritation. Shai-Hulud, not wishing to be further troubled, would then roll himself until the afflicted scale was at the highest point from the sand, yes? In doing such a thing, he minimizes the amount of sand that could enter and damage him.

We Fremen have Maker hooks that we use for riding that pull a flap open just enough for him to need to roll and we may then direct his passage. So long as our hooks remain in place, he will not go under the sand. He smells very much like bitter, flinty, cinnamon. There are some, like myself, who can smell him coming. Tsst, [she flicked her fingers] should you see arcing blue lighting, you are best to get to stone or the Maker will probably eat you like the tiny speck of life that you are. He is intensely territorial and one must tread carefully--always on the sane you must walk the Fremen way or risk his wrath.

That said [her laughter ran free for a moment and her eyes crinkled slightly] I am good friends with Shai-Hulud. I have been eight years in the deep desert and he has not once attempted to eat me. His maw is so very wide that he can swallow a whole spice harvester! His teeth, too, are sharper than anything in the known universe. We Fremen use the teeth offered to us by Shai-Hulud to make our crys knives--no outlander may see one unsheathed. [Her expression grew grave.] To be sheathed once it is drawn means it must draw blood.

[falterderleere.livejournal.com]

[She listens in rapture, nodding when appropriate, her eyes dreamy as she envisions all that the woman is saying.]

Beautiful...your world sounds so fantastical and amazing, my lady. [She uses that instead of "miss" since she heard what the woman's position means. Thus, respect is due.] Something that could open up the minds of even the most shut off.