═════════ ☆•° °•☆ ═════════
♯ ❝ I WASN'T SLEEPING. ❞
CHAPTER THIRTEEN ✧･ﾟ: *✧
˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ ACT TWO ── destiny calls 🪐

▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅

THE DESERT WAS CALM LIKE USUAL. NOT A BREATH OF WIND THAT WOULD NORMALLY GRAZE THE SAND WITH ITS GRACE. IT WAS ALMOST AS EVERYTHING HAD SUDDENLY BECAME STILL FOR HER, ALMOST LIKE ARRAKIS KNEW OF THEIR — OF HER PRESENCE.

Her cheek was rested against the scorching sand, head covered by the rough material wrapped around her body to protect her from the sun, that was belting down on her in the harsh environment. Body also overed in more cloths, as well as her quarterstaff and stillsuit.

A gloved hand was tightly holding onto her left one, that was placed on the sand hill she laid on, feeling it squeeze from time to time. (E/C) eyes fluttered open hearing shifting around her, and squinted her gaze up to the sun, watching how it was getting covered by the moon slowly.

She stares at it for a few seconds, letting the warmth was over her like a tidal wave. Being in the desert for this long, made her feel peace like nothing she's ever felt before. Something was changing, whether it was inside her out out, that question was yet to be answered.

Her head tilts away from the sun, blinking a bit to readjust her eyes from them being in the light for so long, and smiled to herself seeing Paul. He was beside her on the sand also having his eyes still closed, and was the one holding her none gloved hand in his.

Rolling onto her side a bit careful not to bump him, she was met with Chani's awake face staring at her, a finger held up to her mouth, signalling she needed to be quiet. This set a bad feeling stirring in her stomach, and directed her attention back to her resting boyfriend.

(Y/N) leans down to the side of his head, where some of his skin was exposed from the material over his head, and pressed her lips onto his temple, coaxing him awake by the shoulders next, "Paul, wake up.."

He also stirred feeling her touch instantly, hand squeezing hers and opened his eyes up, landing on her nervous expression directly above his. His soft look shifts into a worried one, and she shakes her head, mouthing to him, "Trouble. Chani says not to talk."

One of the Fremen above them went down to sand hill, running past Jamis' dead wrapped up body was. Chani got up next to investigate, crawling a bit low up the dune, to reveal Jessica on her other side on the sand.

"Enemies." Jessica signed to them with her hands, making the couples eyes widen and look back up at Chani, who pointed over the dune, hearing the familiar sound of Harkonnen's communicating.

Chani nodded her head at (Y/N) to grab her attention, as she nudged it towards the hill where the other Fremen was. She got up after that quickly, along with her other friends following her to safety, leaving the four of them alone still.

However Stilgar was still beside (Y/N) laying down, ear pressed into the sand to hear what was going on. She bent down lower to press her stomach back on the sand, her hand letting go of Paul's despite wanting to hold it still, and reached for her quarterstaff naturally.

His eyes, blue from the spice in the sand connected with her wide ones, narrowing them down on the couple, before he lifted his head up from the sand.

            He made a bird calling sound with his mouth, placing his weapon back to his side, and made the last Fremen follow on after him down into the hide away rocks.

Paul grabbed onto (Y/N)'s spare hand not holding her weapon at this, giving her a reassuring nod feeling how stressed she was, and then turned to his mother, getting a nod to signal they should move.

He helped his girlfriend up from the sand quickly, making sure she was in front with his mother, and peeked their heads over the dune. They spotted a ship hovering in the sky, with Harkonnen soldiers hoping down from it, all heavy armed with weapons.

(Y/N)'s eyes narrowed down on them with a scowl, feeling the wind pick up a bit in result of her shift in emotion. But she calmed down when Paul squeezed her hand, and Jessica pressed a hand on her back, both pulling her down from getting spotted.

"Below. On the right." The mother hand signed to the young adults, motioning to where she meant for them to run towards and hide from the enemy.

They both nodded their heads back in understanding, watching Jessica get up first to run down to dune, and then they got up together. Paul kept a strong grip on his girlfriends hand, making sure she didn't trip or lag behind, as they run past Jamis one again, and down to where Jessica was.

(Y/N) swings her quarterstaff around her neck for now, and skidded to a stop along the sand, a grunt escaping her at the rough landing. Her body was being caged in by Paul's larger one, her figure nearest to the rocky cover, where as Jessica was behind them on the sand also.

Heavy pants escaped their mouths from the running, Paul resting the side of his covered head on the girls one for a few seconds, one of his arms around her waist to keep her flushed against him for protection. Not like she needed it though. He knew that but still felt like giving it to her.

They hear the voices of the Harkonnen's getting closer, their voices muffled by the helmet they had over their ugly faces. In response, the trio all shuffled more into the rocky coverage, hoping to hide away from the enemy until they passed.

Her (E/C) eyes peeked out from over Paul's shoulder, seeing Jessica with hers closed, and a hand touching her stomach. She frowned a bit worried, but didn't say anything as she knew if something was wrong, the mother would tell her.

The Harkonnen soldiers were now crossing from the other side of the dune, weapons raised up in the air as they slowly walk down the side the group were hiding in. One of the men in front passes Jamis' body, while the others all glance around.

"They are close." A soldier vented through his helm in their mother tongue, eyes scanning the footprints in the sand that was in front, making the rest of the group lift their weapons more.

(Y/N) gulped in fear at them being so close to where they were hiding, Paul's gloved hand behind her head pushing her face more into the side of his neck. Her eyes still could see what was happening, and was prepared to attack if necessary.

Paul cursed inside of his head, removing the hold on his girl for a few seconds to reach over her, fingers grabbing onto a rock for a weapon as the Harkonnen was right on top of them.

The couple were going to attack the threat, but before they could a thumping sound in the sand was heard. It caused the trio to relax a bit knowing the Fremen set that off, and watched the Harkonnen's move their attention to it.

"The rats are calling a worm." A solider, the one almost close to using his sword on the trio called out in warning, and walked back up to the rest of the troops all staring in the same direction.

Seeing this as a chance to change spots since they weren't looking at them, Paul signals for them to move and grabs (Y/N)'s free hand in his gloved one again, with Jessica leading them along the side of the rocky, small cliff on the ground.

The Harkonnen's also slowly realised what was happening, and took off running towards the same cliff. They used their suits to fly up the rest of the way, and unfortunately had safely gotten away for now from the sand. But, that wouldn't last very long, even when they shot down the thumper.

The sun was also fully covered now in an eclipse, which made the desert turn into a beautiful red hue, really setting the atmosphere to assassinate the enemies in the Fremens lands, which they were now currently doing one by one without ease.

One of the dead bodies of the soldiers fell where the trio were running, a small yell escaping (Y/N)'s mouth that was covered by Paul's hand, and was pulled into his chest out of reflexes, seeing the body that almost landed on them from above.

She got her breath back from the sudden scare, gently pulling away her boyfriends hand away from her mouth, and took a step forward. She was still in his reach just in case, and glanced up in awe, watching how the Fremen was easily taking out each Harkonnen like it was nothing.

Paul was the one to spot what was about to happen. His eyes went wide in panic, and quickly grabbed the girl by her waist, "(Y/N)!" He exclaimed pulling her back into his chest roughly, just as another dead body landed right in front of them.

She yelped at the sudden roughhousing from him, both of them tripping onto the sand from it. She landed in between his opened thighs, while his figure framed around her, arms tightly around her waist as they caught their breaths.

More were falling down from the cliff the exact same way as the first did, landing with a loud smacking sound in result. She pressed her palm into his fast beating heart, and looked up into his panicked features, "T-thanks for the save, Paul."

His jaw clenched a bit and she knew he was a bit upset from how careless she was, but he shakes his head and rested his lips on the side of her head momentarily, "You're welcome, sweetheart. Just don't leave my side from now on."

She huffed out some air annoyed, going to say something snarky back at him, but soon stopped when two of the Harkonnen's appeared down in front of them, their backs turned away from the trio near the rocks.

The couple shared a look of understanding, communicating the same idea without even talking as they just knew. She pushed herself out of his hold to grab her quarterstaff, while he snatched the sword from one of the dead enemies.

Another body landed on the ground in front of them, which had the Harkonnen's turning around, and growled spotting the trio hiding there. They advanced on them now fast, which had the couple splitting off the deal with their selected one.

A playful smirk lined over (Y/N)'s lips, raising a finger at the Harkonnen marching his way to her, and she spined her quarterstaff around in her fingers, until she held it along her side crocked, the top of it peeking over her head.

She heard clashing, grunting and noises from across her, which meant Paul was engaged in battel also. Her narrowed gaze was focused on her opponent, as he raised his sword to swipe it down on her, but she quickly blocked it with her staff.

He kept blindly aiming slices at her with the sword, while she just deflected each one easily, and even landed a blow with her staff into his chest, which sent him toppling back a few meters.

Taking this chance while he was knocked off balance, she swinged her arm in an underarm way, which caused some of the sand to follow the movement, and sent it towards him in the wind.

The solider struggled to see through the sand in his helmets vision, waving it away from the air as he still blindly aims his sword at random places. He wasn't so lucky when a sudden pain erupted on his side, and released a strangled sound seeing the familiar quarterstaff aimed right in his suit, it having broken through to stab his skin.

He fell to the ground now dead, as the sand disappeared revealing (Y/N)'s scowling face holding her quarterstaff in the air, the one whom ended his life. She flicked off the blood on the weapon, and twirled it back around to behind her back, pants leaving her lips.

She turned around quickly when she felt a familiar presences behind her, and Paul was coming up to her, from having just finished off killing the other enemy. He holds her face in between his hands briefly, glancing over for an harm but sound none, which made him sigh in relief.

They were so focused on each other, that they didn't realise the Harkonnen up on the dune, having his gun aimed at their heads. Paul instantly pushed (Y/N) behind him protectively, but before the gun could be fired, Jessica appeared behind him and used a heavy rock to knock down the man.

She yelled out lifting the rock above her head, and smashed it into his helmet, which made it release a gust of air, and she finished off the job by smashing the rock in his face over and over again, until he was limp underneath her.

"Oh, wow." (Y/N) gaped in amazement from behind Paul's taller figure, her head peeking out from over his shoulder holding onto the material around his beck, as she saw what Jessica had did, "Remind me to never get on her bad side."

He chuckled under his breath, reaching out to pull her from behind him by the wrists gently, "Like you could ever get on anyone's bad side, love." He snorted fondly down at his girl, rubbing his thumbs over the creases in her wrists, as he dropped the sword he used before.

She grinned back up at him, even more brighter then the sun he thought, "You're so right, my love." She mused cockily, making him roll his eyes amused, and adjust the material hoodie that now covered her head, all while smiling at her.

Jessica's strict voice broke the couple apart from their moment under the sun's blessing, "Never stand with your back towards the open." She scolded coming down the dune, and looked between the two, "How many times do I have to tell you guys that?"

(Y/N) pursed her lips hearing the motherly scolding, and slumped her shoulders a bit, leaning into Paul's side for comfort, to which he expected instantly, "Are you okay?" She asked softly after a few seconds, gaining a nod back, "How about the baby?"

"She's fine, don't worry." The mother reassured more gentle this time, seeing how worried the younger girl was and squeezed her shoulder giving the two a nod to follow close behind.

They all walked back to where the Fremen had showed themselves again, finally coming out of their spots since all the enemies were taking care of, and saw them all at work like it was normal for them, which it was.

Stilgar was knelt on the sand beside one of the Harkonnen's, and started to collect the water in his body, "They usually don't venture this deep." He told the trio, grunting as he removed his knife.

"They want to make sure no Atreides escaped." Paul answered hearing the males comment, coming to a stop beside his girlfriend who watched Stilgar curiously, something that he's picked up on that she does now.

He laughed a bit amused, and shakes his head at Paul, "You think too much of yourself. No, no, we're in the deep desert. Only Fremen can survive here." He stood up from the sand, giving the couple a long look, "They were here for us, and probably her too. But not for you."

(Y/N) stifled a snort behind her hand at the obvious tease at Paul, who's face scrunched up not liking that his best friend was mentioned in that sentence, and shots Stilgar a scowl of annoyance.

Stilgar's lip perked up a bit hearing her noise, eyes now back on the deceive in his hand that he was switching on to use, "Don't worry. I'm taking you somewhere they'll never find us." He informs while the rest of the Fremen continued to collect the water from the bodies.

The naked dead bodies of the Harkonnen's lay out on the sand, as the Fremen inject a tube like deceive into their chests, and bring out the moister from inside. The sight itself wasn't great at all, and it had her (E/C) eyes flickering away to her hand in Paul's, feeling him rubbing his gloved thumb over her knuckles.

"Filthy water, full of chemicals." Stilgar tells them seeing the trio looking at the scene weirdly, as he adjusted the strap around his stillsuit that held the same deivie, "Good for cooling styem."

Jessica looked like she was going to be sick, by how her throat was moving, and her face had grown paler. Stilgar instantly could tell what was happening, and warned, "Don't let it out."

However it couldn't be stopped even if she tried, and (Y/N) was straight away by Jessica's side hearing her dry reaching. Stilgar frantically warned again since it would make her more thirsty, but Jessica was already throwing up, and hunching over.

(Y/N) was rubbing her hand over the mothers back gently, reassuring her that it was alright as she helped Jessica calm down. Jessica breathed heavily, and waved a hand back to them all, "I'm okay."

Paul shared a concerned look with the love of his life, both of them communicating through eye contact again as he walked up beside her, "Are you sure?" He asked of his mother, who hummed and lent back up from her hunched position.

Chani rolled her eyes at the scene, her squatted down next to the body she was taking the water from, "You fought well." She aimed this at the other girl, before her blue eyes flicker to Paul, a hardness forming in them now, "Both of you did. Once you woke up."

"I wasn't sleeping." He grunted back matching her energy, pressing (Y/N)'s side against his own in a bit of a possessive way, that had Chani rolling her eyes once more, and shakes her head knowingly.

She stabbed the deceive into the Harkonnen's skin, which had him weakly trying to shove her off, but she clicked her tongue and pushed his hands back down roughly, keeping him steady as the water transferred into the satchel.

Stilgar made a calling noise again which gained everyone's attention, seeing him circling his finger around in the air which signaled they should get going, and regroup. Her curious (E/C) gaze followed Chani's figure, who had gotten up once she heard the call and trailed alongside her other Fremen family.

"Come on." Paul mumbled gently to the girl watching the Fremen place all the bodies in the sand, and tugged on her hand for her to follow him along the dune, which she did with a small smile up at him.

One of the Fremen placed down a thumper where the bodies were piled in a circle, leaving them for a sand worm to take and eat. Or in other words, leaving it to the desert to take their bodies.

The group walked across the dune now away from the thumper, where it was safe for a bit from worms. Before the last Fremen could grab onto Jamis' dead body, (Y/N) stepped forward to offer her help, since they had already given them a safe place to stay.

"We've got it. It's okay." She gently smiled down at the Fremen starting at her wide eyed from under the face material, who looked towards Chani for guidance, and saw her nodding the go ahead for her and Paul to do it.

Together the couple stepped forward to take the spots at the back, grabbing onto the handles of the deathstill to lift up Jamis' body with the few others helping. (Y/N) shot Chani a kind smile when they past her, but the other just looked at her blanky before turning away.

Her blue eyes land on the Fremen standing there, the one whom let the deathstill go for them, and saw the wary expression. They just stared without saying anything, before Chani followed behind the group along the dune, hearing the sand worm appearing from underneath the sand.

❪ ✏️ ❫ 𝚆𝙾𝚁𝙳𝚂 : 3435
─►☆ AUTHOR'S NOTE :
welcome to the first chap of act two guys omg OMGGG!! im so excited to write this for you all and so hyped for you guys to read what i have planned cause when i tell you, ive really got some amazing shit that ive planned within
the plot ahhh 😝

anyways i hope you enjoyed reading and please don't be silent/ghost readers cause if you are then how am i supposed to know if you like it nor not??? EEHHH ANYWAYSS LOVE YOUU <33