Chapter Three

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The great expanse of the sandy deserts of Dorne stretches into the wide expanse like a sea of red and brown. For the many, it is a death sentence for it would be impossible to navigate by mortal means. However Ari does not classify as mortal, not in the normal sense anyhow. Even a witch and wizard in her place would have second doubts, but for her? She is goddamn sure of herself.

Being a magical beast wrangler after all requires nothing less. The beasts that she takes care of are threatening at best and dangerous at worst. One has to be exactly sure and strong in their decision making if one wants to survive on the profession.

Thus here they are, something akin to a great caldera, miles upon miles wide surrounded at all sides by mountain strongholds. She has led her new acquired tribe here through the midday sun. She has originally seen this place when she is flying and with a little help from the Elder Wand hiding as a bracelet around her arm, she once more finds it.

Ari has to admit that the La'Os is a practical people. Normally, people would not be pleased with the sudden death of their old chief and his heir. Personally she had expected that they would be raring to rebel against her first chance they get. Scratch that, she's ready for it in fact. What she hadn't expected was the cold practicality of the Desert Nomads. A little peek at the head of their Elder made her the more respect them and helped her understand them a little.

For the La'Os, it is a practical view. The desert is one cruel master. They understand that most of all. For them, it is the number one enemy that they must face every day of their lives. Anything else is secondary. Thus after being elected as the new chief of their tribe, Ari in their minds is just a second thought worry for them. Chiefs after all come and go, but the desert is always there. As long as the Chief doesn't lead them to ruin, they are more than happy to go.

Besides it's not as if Ari changed anything much other than the direction that they go to. Other than being the new chief, she has elected not to change much of the culture of the La'Os. This lessens much of the initial wariness that they have on her. The La'Os after all does not worship the Seven as the rest of the Dornish do, but rather Shai Hulud, the nature name of the Great Desert as they call the Deserts of Dorne. It is not that big of a change from the usual religions, except for the fact that it revolves around the Desert and gives off a lot of warning about the things not to do to anger Shai Hulud.

Of course with her new acquired title as the "Voice from the Outer World" of Mother Rhoyne, the members of her tribe right now slowly believe to what she is teaching, clinging to nuggets of wisdom that she imparts to them then and now.

One week, it has been one week since Ari has appeared to this tribe of La'Os as the Voice from the Outer World and her leading them. She has led them to this place one day at a time before finally arriving. They have at first been hesitant about her decision to lead them here. None of the old songs, and trails after all tell of any oasis in the area. Yet they acquiesce to her. It is the chief's prerogative purpose after all to make the decision on where they head next in the never ending quest of the La'Os to search for places of water.

Of course it is also unsaid that in their old songs that when a Chief fails his or her position as Chief and puts the clan in peril, the clansmen are then obligated to stone said chief for the failure and jeopardy that he has brought to the clan.

"We camp here Baruch, get everyone in order," orders Ari stopping right at the middle of an open space where palm covered in desert dust dwell. She has opted not to wear her usual robes but instead the white clothing of the La'Os to allow herself to be ingratiated to the people she rules. It is nothing much, just white thin cloaks to protect from the heat and specially made wrappings to preserve the moisture of the body. As it is, the cowl she wears she removes letting her jet black hair come out in a ponytail wave behind her as she looks around.

"Here? Lhisan Al-Gaib? There is no water here, no places for the waters and for the animals to drink, nor the camp," asks the Elder, Baruch in a doubting tone.

"Lhisan-Al-Gaib, the title they are calling me now for being the Voice of the Outer World,"

Ari simply stares at the old man, pinning him with her gaze for a few seconds before letting it look around the clan slowly dispersing in all directions as they try to find places to rest as their Chief and Elder stop for talks.

"It is here that we shall make our home Baruch, have faith. In two days time, we would work, and on the third day, we will start building the Green Paradise that I have promised you all," says Ari enigmatically simply.

There is a reason why she chooses this place after all. Despite being surrounded by mountain ranges as a natural defense filled with desert strongholds, there are lots of water in this place. At least under this desert sand.

One simply has to dig it out.

"Are you sure about this Lhisan-Al-Gaib?" asks the still doubting old man. "We only have reserves for a week, after that we would need to slaughter the animals,"

"There would be no need for a week, Baruch, I tell you, on the third day, our first step to Paradise begins. Have a little faith,"

…

The small tribe of La'Os under her command made themselves at home quick on the center wide clearing where Ari indicates for them to move. Once more she is impressed with how quick the desert dwellers make camp. There is an organized chaos on their movements. Everybody works, everybody moves with purpose in the creation of camp. In the span of an hour, they set their tents up alongside makeshift pens of retractable wood that they carry along with them for their animals. They even set up for her, her own tent, a little bigger than the rest due to her status as their chief and Messiah.

That night they slept well with the entire tribe sleeping heavily under the cold winds of the stars. The deserts of Dorne might be brutally hot in the morning, but in the evening, it is extremely generous for the cold weather it offers to the inhabitants that call the desert home.

It is good so for at the morning, the work that Ari is planning begins.

Dawn greets everyone bright and early and Ari is one of the few that wakes up first. It would be bad for her image after all if the one who would bring the Green Paradise to this people would show that she's not as interested in this as they are. As it is, Ari opts out of the thin white robes that the desert dwellers prefer and instead wears a sleeveless white shirt and pants alongside her boots as she steps out of her tent.

"So you're the one that Elder Baruch sent," Ari exclaims as she meets one a balding man who looks like he is in his early thirties waiting for her outside her tent. He is quite tall though, almost six feet in height and looks more akin a warrior than a scholar.

"Yes Lhisan-Al-Gaib, it is an honor to be in your presence," he bows to her with reverence though she raises an eyebrow as he peeks at her attire before blushing horribly as he averts his eyes. It seems that t-shirts and pants for women are not the norm here at Westeros. She has to keep mind on that. For now she would shrug it off.

"Walk with me, what is your name son?" Ari asks as she walks the breadth of the camp with other young men and women following them a ways behind.

"I am named, Joshua Lhisan-Al-Gaib. I am Baruch's oldest son and the our foremost warrior other than you of course Chief,"

"I can see that," Ari says looking at him from head to toe as she continues walking. "Are your father training you to be the next Elder?"

"He is, Lhisan-Al-Gaib, though I admit that I would need to be elected by our tribe to be the next leader. It is a great honor," he answers honestly.

"Honest and true, a Gryffindor, I can work with this," thinks Ari to herself making a passive Legilemens at his brain before pulling out.

"Very well, then how many families does this tribe have Joshua?" asks Ari surprising the man with his question.

"A hundred families Lhisan-Al-Gaib,"

"And the composition?"

"There are Dornish, Andals and Rhoynar Chief,"

"And what about the livestock?"

"Fifty pairs of Oxen, and five hundred sheep and goats alongside two hundred of the winged poultry Chief,"

"Very good," Ari pauses on her walk somewhere between the idention of two palm trees before looking at him.

"What do you think of this place Joshua?" she asks the man looking around the place.

"It is a poor and dusty place Lhisan-Al-Gaib," he answers with a small frown clearly confused by her question.

"Yes indeed, you are right. It would be impossible for us to establish a settlement permanently here Joshua. Do you ever dream of being in one place and no longer move from place to place?"

"All La'Os tribes do Lhisan-Al-Gaib," he says with a sad smile. "Yet we must move as our ancestors are wont to do since we first established ourselves in this continent. We worship Shai Hulud and the Dornish at towns and cities despise us for our worship and traditions. Desert rats they call us. I cannot fault them for refusing though. The water that sustains their strongholds and Houses are barely enough for them. Shai Hulud is not a gentle god I am afraid Chief. We are forced thus to transfer from Oasis to oasis in secret areas, ever traveling, ever wandering,"

"I see and I agree with you Joshua, the Desert is not fair to those who live on its sands. However only in adversity can one be strong and where you see desperation and calamity, I see opportunity. The desert has power, but when you harness that power and go with it instead of fighting against it, then one can live with the desert,"

"I don't understand Lhisan-Al-Gaib," says the young man confused making Ari smile at him.

"I don't expect you to for now. You'll only know it when I show you in the future. Tell me Joshua, this place what does it need to be a good place for a settlement?"

Ari simply watches him as he looks around before shrugging with his shoulders obviously stumped making her sigh.

"A Gryffindor indeed, honest and true but not too bright,"

"I can see that your father needs to teach you more. What this place needs is water," at this Ari stomps her feet in the dirt.

Joshua simply blinks at her words in a combination of disbelief and confusion. "What do you mean Chief? Are you telling me that there is water here?"

"I am, and not just here, but also there, there and there, six different places all in all. All that it needs is for us to do a little digging and build wells where we can then draw them out in our pleasure," she answers with a smile.

"Are you sure of this Chief? Digging wells is not an easy task. How do you even know there are water down there?" he asks obviously full of doubt.

"I am the Voice of the Outer World from Mother Rhoynar Joshua. Trust me, I have my ways, just have faith. Now go and tell the others to bring every shovel and pickaxe that they can find. We have wells to dig,"

….

The sound of tools clinking on the ground can be heard as the La'Os tribe works on the hard dry ground. Suffice it to say that her declaration that they dig here is not well received by anyone. In fact her declaration that there is water here has been met with skepticism and doubt. Ari cannot fault them for their doubt. Digging a well after all is hard and sweaty work, something that the La'Os who are rather conservative of their body's moisture are well aware of. Still, she knows that to the patient go the spoils.

Is she sure that water is here? She is. The Elder Wand points so and the Death Stick has yet to fail her. Still, to prove that she's not just over her head and guessing for the heck of it, Ari joins the work, using one of the pickaxes of the tribe to help on the digging.

They are already at it for half a day and are already making very good progress. On the six locations she has marked out, already there are deep indentions on the ground that reaches to a man's waist height. The La'Os despite their grumbling work fast. Just like in everything in their lives, there is a teamwork in what they do as they alternate between workers making the work go non-stop. Every time one would pause for water or for rest, another would take his or her place in the hole making the digging continue. All in all, it is good work. Ari finds herself soon sweating through her shirt making her glad that she has opted for the attire instead of the encumbering outfit of the other La'Os.

As she takes another pause with another taking her shift, Ari takes the time to go around the six wells as she drinks from the water skin given to her by one of the younger kids of the tribe. She is being careful of course that the holes they are digging are straight to the water sources and not into dry empty space. Being Messiah is hard job and she has to prove her words with miracles or else they would all be uppity in rebellion and stone her.

She would not die of course, but that is the last thing she would want. Being hit by rocks is a bitch after all.

Anyway there is still work that needs to be done and she has to get back to it.

The work of the wells continues on and it is a challenge with the assuredness of Ari to the working tribesmen and women of the La'Os. Every day the doubt of the tribespeople grow as they delve deeper and deeper into the cold dry ground with no sign of water. On the second day, some begins to grumble and only to be silenced by the whispers of Elder Baruch about the rules of the desert and the rules of their lifestyle, reminding them about the role of the chief and the promise of hers about the Green Paradise that she is about to bring.

As it is, the Elder visits her side on the campfire where everyone usually gathers. Ari on the other hand due to her status as the Voice From the Outer World usually spends it all alone on a separate smaller fire outside her tent.

"Lhisan-Al-Gaib. So, tomorrow is the big day huh? At least it is according to my son," says the Elder plopping himself at the fireside with a pained grunt making Ari raise an eyebrow at him from where she is sitting cross-legged.

"Are you alright?" she asks the old man who smirks at her morosely.

"A pained back, that tends to happen when you're old,"

"You need to lie down more Baruch and not overexert yourself. And yes, tomorrow is the big day. Tomorrow we would take our first steps to the Green Paradise I all promised you," she answers chewing on the bacon she cooked from the fire.

"Good, good, everyone is getting restless with no sign of water. The young ones especially are getting impatient with only seeing dust for two days straight. They need something to reaffirm their faith," says Baruch.

"Tomorrow, they will not doubt anymore. The days of this tribe would end by tomorrow. This I promise you. This place also of dust and sand would be nothing more than a memory. This would be where the dream of the La'Os would come to life, this would be where your wanderings end,"

Baruch simply stares at her for a minute or two before smiling. "If your words has any truth to it Lhisan-Al-Gaib, then I swear that I would serve you with my life,"

"You do not have long anyway old man," she replies making the man in front of her snort as they shared the campfire in peace.

Morning comes fast and the work as usual continues on the wells with Ari doing her usual rounds and joining the workers in their work. It is at her eighth shift however and the sun is at its highest when loud cheers can suddenly be heard on the first well where Joshua is leading the effort. Everyone immediately drops their tools and equipment as they ran to the commotion and it is obvious as to what it is.

Ari stares down below with the others on the large square hole where four men are working abreast. There holding mud and where water is slowly appearing all over the hole is Joshua holding triumphantly a pile of wet mud, all doubt in his eyes gone as he looks at her with fanatical faith and devotion.

"Lhisan-Al-Gaib!" he shouts holding the fistful of wet mud for all to see.

"Lhisan-Al-Gaib!"

"Lhisan-Al-Gaib!"

"Lhisan-Al-Gaib!"

Everyone cheers her title with the ladies showering her with kisses and hugs. Ari just smiles through it all as she soaks in the praise.

Everything is going well with her plan. Now all that is needed is to make sure that the numbers of the people under her command grow.

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Author's Note:

So another chapter done. Hopefully you like this one. Sorry if it has no action. I do enjoy building our world one brick at a time. Guess, what she would do next? Also, suggestions for the city or settlement that she is going to build?

A, Jerusalem

B, Caledan

C, Ibelin.

Choices, choices.

As usual please review for your reviews are the song to this beloved writer's heart.