Queen of the Sandworms

Chapter 4: Sandwormland

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A burning sun loomed over the warm, golden amber sands of Sandwormland. Beetlejuice groaned, slowly shaking his head back and forth as he gradually opened his eyes. He blinked and looked down at where he laid. He was half buried in the sands.

He gasped as he quickly pulled himself out of the sand and jumped up and brushed the gold particles out of his striped suit as if they would pull him under.

Multiple round moons were seen close to the ringed planet as the Ghost With The Most looked around. He was in Sandworm territory. The one place he never thought he would go to on his own accord. He would have rather taken a bath...

Beetlejuice coughed as the bitter sands began to blow into his mouth and nose. The hot winds were starting to pick up. Beetlejuice pulled out a black handkerchief from his pocket and and tied it over his mouth. The winds picked up the sands on the surface and began to instantly cover Beetlejuice.

Beetlejuice coughed and turned his back to it.

"This is ridiculous. There is sand everywhere!" he complained in a muffled voice behind his bandanna as he began to walk. The sands continued to hit against his striped back as he trudged on through the realm. The gold color of the sand went on for miles and miles, and was dotted with strange red rock formations that were twisted and distorted.

The ghost's deep footprints were left behind him, but soon were covered over by the blowing sands.

He tried using his magic to turn into a camel, but he couldn't. Soon afterward a wave of pain went through him. Beetlejuice groaned as he stopped dead in his tracks and doubled over for a minute. After it was gone, he slowly straightened back up.

He sighed in frustration and ran his pale, red tipped fingers through his uncombed blonde hair. He used up all of his magic when he made the huge gap in the ground. Beetlejuice blinked as he stared down at the moving sands at his feet. The gap. Was it still there?

He threw his head back upward to the skies. He winced as he placed his right hand over his eyes and looked up toward the deep, dark blue sky. Right in the middle of the sky, was a scar shaped hole. It hovered there in space like an awkward missing piece to a jigsaw puzzle.

Beetlejuice lowered his head and let his hand drop to the ground. He had no magic to reach all the way up to the gap. Also, there was no point in trying to find a really long ladder in the middle of Sandwormland. He was stuck.

He sighed as he kicked the sand at his feet with his black boot and decided to keep on walking.

He didn't get far when he heard the familiar cry of a Sandworm. He stopped dead in his tracks near a red rock formation. His senses became a thousand times more alert. He was so focused on finding the Sandworm, he didn't notice when the winds ripped the black bandanna right off his face. Beetlejuice stared striaght on toward the direction of the sound.

He ignored the feeling of the sand hitting in his ear as he strained to listen past the winds and for the gigantic creature to appear.

Suddenly, the cry came out again, only this time it was closer. Beetlejuice hesitated where he stood. He wanted to run, but if he did, then the Sandworm would know where he would be and come after him.

He climbed up onto the red rock formation to get a better view.

Just then the Sandworm's head broke to the surface of the sand. Beetlejuice held his breath and instantly climbed around the rock to hide from the beast.

The sand exploded outward and came raining back down as the huge creature arched its head back and cried its long, screeching red eyes gleamed in the sunlight as it opened its mouth, revealing its sharp striped teeth.

Then from its opened green lips came another head. Its pale had snaked out and bared its sharp yellow teeth and cried as well, till falling back inside the dark mouth again.

The Sandworm lowered its head and dove back into the sea of sand. It's black and white striped body snaked through the sand till it disappeared back into the ground.

Beetlejuice was shaking with fear from the sight of the creature. Horrible flashes from his past came rapidly through his head. He closed his eyes tightly and shook his head. "No...no! Don't think about them...don't think about them..." he told himself as he placed his hands over his closed eyes.

The images of the Sandworms from the memories continued to appear. Beetlejuice's shoulders trembled. Then the memory with Lydia appeared. She was seen screaming as she fell through the trapdoor from the courtroom into Sandwormland-

"Lydia!" Beetlejuice screamed out loud as he removed his hands from his face and opened his eyes. Beetlejuice's scream echoed through the air. Beetlejuice gasped as he placed his hands over his mouth.

The winds seemed to slow down for a minute.

Beetlejuice held his breath again and listened for the Sandworm. A full minute passed. Beetlejuice continued to hold his hands over his mouth. Two minutes passed. Beetlejuice's body was stiff and as still as a statue on the rock formation.

Three minutes.

Beetlejuice ever so slowly removed his pale hands from his mouth. He wished he didn't scream like that. He would have been eaten by a Sandworm in seconds. He couldn't help it, the memory of Lydia popped in there, he had no control of it.

His face became crestfallen when he thought of Lydia. His legs became like jelly and he sat down on the red rock formation and placed his fists under his chin.

Lydia...his best friend. It was his fault she was here. Beetlejuice's stomach began to hurt from the guilt. He needed to find her. That was the only way to fix all this. He needed to find Lydia...

Beetlejuice looked over toward the never-ending ocean of sand. Trying to find Lydia in Sandwormland was going to be like trying to find a needle in a haystack...

Just then, a huge shadow went over Beetlejuice and the rock formation. Beetlejuice lifted his head up from his fists and looked down at the shadowed ground.

"What the-?" he started to ask himself. Suddenly Beetlejuice heard heavy breathing behind him. Beetlejuice's hair went up like a cat's as his body went stiff and his eyes went wide like saucers.

He instantly couldn't move. Just the hunch of what loomed behind him made him too afraid to even look. Gradually, he slowly tilted his head a bit and forced his eyes to look up.

The same Sandworm as before loomed over him from behind. It snuck up on him when he was sitting down, deep in his own thoughts. It narrowed its red eyes and opened its mouth. The other head came out and glared at Beeltejuice. Then it let out its shrilling cry.

Beetlejuice screamed as he jumped from his spot and ran away from the Sandworm. The Sandworm charged toward the striped clad ghost and slithered after him.

Ghost with The Most and the Sandworm ran across the desert like realm. Little did they know that they were being watched by a mysterious lone figure watching them from the top of a huge sand dune...