Glaring around her, the desert wind whipping what little showing of her
face, Butok gazed ever forward hoping to reach her sietch before the
morning sun rose. She felt the gentle sway of the giant sandworm beneath
her feet. Shai'Hulud would get her there under the cover of darkness. Her
stay in Arrakeen, learning the weirding way from her Bene Gesserit
counselor, the Shadout Nefertina, had been too long.
[i] She knows much to be of little use to the Sisters. [/i]
If ever the Sisterhood were to find her, a simple Fremen girl, to be learning the ways of the Truthsayers of the Emperor himself, she would indeed be granted the opportunity of a lifetime - a lifetime of one condemned to damnation. It was forbidden for outsiders to learn something so sacred. But she had always been a true rebel, one of the few women able to ride Shai'Hulud with such ease. And in her rebelliousness, she had sought out the Baron's own Shadout, and ex-Bene Gesserit one might say, to learn that which was so sacred to the Bene Gesserit - their weirding way and their Voice. She had passed the tests, proving once and for all that she was not an animal. She had survived the Gom-Jabbar. All she had left now was to partake of the Water of Life. A shudder passed over her small stature.
She knew, however, her adeptness in the Bene Gesserit ways, even for being so old. She had never known she had shown the talent until her thirteenth year. A sigh escaped her. That had been 4 years ago when she had officially become a woman. But so late was her womanhood that no man had offered to bond his water with hers. Her heart had been angered by this lack of proposal. Butok was a dependable Fremen woman, though still so young. Inwardly she cursed the cowering men of her sietch and passed the rest of her journey in meditation.
**************
She reached the sietch late in the night, knowing her leader would most likely punish her for being an abrasion to his regulations on the women. She had left her worm approximately fifteen kilometers from the sietch opening. The waiting of its passing allowed her time to say her prayer of thanks and begin her drag-step-hop walk back to her home.
Entering, quietly, her hand on her crystal-like dagger made from the tooth of a sandworm, she probed around looking for a light to shake. Finding one, she shook it and glanced up, quite surprised to see all the tribe leaders looking directly at her. At the scowls on her elders' faces, she looked to the sandy stone ground.
"I'm rather sorry I arrived so late."
Her secondary tribe leader (co-leader I so to speak), Matsoot, looked into her eyes, his own blazing.
"You should be! We specifically told you never to leave a sietch again without permission. We let you go to visit friends, sending a message of your arrival, and we get one back saying you've not been there for 3 days!!"
Matsoot took a step towards her, his face contorted with rage.
"I took you in as a child and I get no respect from you ever since then? What possesses you child?! What, in the name of the future to come, compels you to be so obstinate - so insolent?!?!"
She sighed, keeping her eyes, and removing her hand from her dagger. "I'm sorry Soo." Her voice grew softer now. "The desert seemed to call to me."
Her excuses were not waving the looks on the faces of the elders
"Soo, you must realize that," she rushed on. "It compelled me like nothing has ever before. I can't explain it! The desert called to me, pleaded with me. It's my only way to get away from the entirety of this place!"
Her leader, Katuwain, looked at her feeling slight more compassion than her adoptive father. The girl was different. She wasn't even fully Fremen. She was an anomaly among the people. Her father had been an outsider, but her mother a true Fremen. He had known her mother, had been close with her, and when she died, he adopted Butok because she had been discarded by her people.
He spoke to her.
"Butok."
The young Fremen woman looked at him, stepping forward with her head held high.
Katuwain spoke again. "Come here girl." She stepped forward. "You are a woman and have been for nigh four years now. Act like one. You're seventeen, for God's sake. Get a grip on yourself; start acting your age. I will not tolerate anymore of this. You have one final blow to deliver and I am going to tell you now, the punishment will be beyond corporal." She stopped and sighed. He was close to this girl. She was different and he did not entirely mind that, but for sake of the sietch he had to make her behave. "Now girl, remove your stillsuit's cap."
A look of shock over came her. He wanted to see her hair. She opened her mouth. "Katu.please," she whispered. His look told her he would not change his mind. Slowly, she pulled of the stillsuit's cap, revealing long, light reddish locks spattered with the deep brown of an Arrakeen dye.
The leader shook his head. "You cannot hide your differences girl. What will you do with your eyes, eh?"
Butok blinked. Her eyes weren't blue-within-blue: they were a green-within- green.
[i] She knows much to be of little use to the Sisters. [/i]
If ever the Sisterhood were to find her, a simple Fremen girl, to be learning the ways of the Truthsayers of the Emperor himself, she would indeed be granted the opportunity of a lifetime - a lifetime of one condemned to damnation. It was forbidden for outsiders to learn something so sacred. But she had always been a true rebel, one of the few women able to ride Shai'Hulud with such ease. And in her rebelliousness, she had sought out the Baron's own Shadout, and ex-Bene Gesserit one might say, to learn that which was so sacred to the Bene Gesserit - their weirding way and their Voice. She had passed the tests, proving once and for all that she was not an animal. She had survived the Gom-Jabbar. All she had left now was to partake of the Water of Life. A shudder passed over her small stature.
She knew, however, her adeptness in the Bene Gesserit ways, even for being so old. She had never known she had shown the talent until her thirteenth year. A sigh escaped her. That had been 4 years ago when she had officially become a woman. But so late was her womanhood that no man had offered to bond his water with hers. Her heart had been angered by this lack of proposal. Butok was a dependable Fremen woman, though still so young. Inwardly she cursed the cowering men of her sietch and passed the rest of her journey in meditation.
**************
She reached the sietch late in the night, knowing her leader would most likely punish her for being an abrasion to his regulations on the women. She had left her worm approximately fifteen kilometers from the sietch opening. The waiting of its passing allowed her time to say her prayer of thanks and begin her drag-step-hop walk back to her home.
Entering, quietly, her hand on her crystal-like dagger made from the tooth of a sandworm, she probed around looking for a light to shake. Finding one, she shook it and glanced up, quite surprised to see all the tribe leaders looking directly at her. At the scowls on her elders' faces, she looked to the sandy stone ground.
"I'm rather sorry I arrived so late."
Her secondary tribe leader (co-leader I so to speak), Matsoot, looked into her eyes, his own blazing.
"You should be! We specifically told you never to leave a sietch again without permission. We let you go to visit friends, sending a message of your arrival, and we get one back saying you've not been there for 3 days!!"
Matsoot took a step towards her, his face contorted with rage.
"I took you in as a child and I get no respect from you ever since then? What possesses you child?! What, in the name of the future to come, compels you to be so obstinate - so insolent?!?!"
She sighed, keeping her eyes, and removing her hand from her dagger. "I'm sorry Soo." Her voice grew softer now. "The desert seemed to call to me."
Her excuses were not waving the looks on the faces of the elders
"Soo, you must realize that," she rushed on. "It compelled me like nothing has ever before. I can't explain it! The desert called to me, pleaded with me. It's my only way to get away from the entirety of this place!"
Her leader, Katuwain, looked at her feeling slight more compassion than her adoptive father. The girl was different. She wasn't even fully Fremen. She was an anomaly among the people. Her father had been an outsider, but her mother a true Fremen. He had known her mother, had been close with her, and when she died, he adopted Butok because she had been discarded by her people.
He spoke to her.
"Butok."
The young Fremen woman looked at him, stepping forward with her head held high.
Katuwain spoke again. "Come here girl." She stepped forward. "You are a woman and have been for nigh four years now. Act like one. You're seventeen, for God's sake. Get a grip on yourself; start acting your age. I will not tolerate anymore of this. You have one final blow to deliver and I am going to tell you now, the punishment will be beyond corporal." She stopped and sighed. He was close to this girl. She was different and he did not entirely mind that, but for sake of the sietch he had to make her behave. "Now girl, remove your stillsuit's cap."
A look of shock over came her. He wanted to see her hair. She opened her mouth. "Katu.please," she whispered. His look told her he would not change his mind. Slowly, she pulled of the stillsuit's cap, revealing long, light reddish locks spattered with the deep brown of an Arrakeen dye.
The leader shook his head. "You cannot hide your differences girl. What will you do with your eyes, eh?"
Butok blinked. Her eyes weren't blue-within-blue: they were a green-within- green.