Under the Red Dragon

"Sister, Father is dead. Why don't you return to the stars and keep him company?"

"I fear I won't have time to set things right before you are born. The cruelty of this world is beyond measure."

Paul awoke from a brief dream, slowly opening his eyes.

His extended stay in the desert had inadvertently exposed him to the spice permeating the air, enhancing his abilities. Occasionally, he could even see his mother's womb, before his sister was born.

Paul looked at the Fremen around him. They had just dealt with a small squad of Harkonnen family pursuers. The combat suits of these pursuers were not equipped with Holtzman shields. The special vibration frequency would attract sandworms, and only city-level shields could block them.

Therefore, these pursuers were easily dealt with by the Fremen, allowing them to safely reach this Tabr cave.

However, to his surprise, the majority of the Northern Fremen gathered in the northern cave near the spice mining field did not believe in the messianic theory propagated by the Bene Gesserit. Many even rejected him and his mother, Jessica.

"You killed Jamis!"

"Spy!"

"Witch!"

"Let the council decide! Let the council decide!" Stilgar stood in front, loudly dispersing his people, protecting Paul, the messiah he expected.

But the anger and rejection of the surrounding Fremen did not worry young Paul. He was just looking around in the crowd, and he saw the Southern Fremen, who were a minority in the North.

"Lisan al Gaib!"

"Lisan al Gaib!"

"Mahdi!"

Dozens, even hundreds, of Southern partisans knelt on the ground, wiping their foreheads and temples with their hands, shouting at Paul, the messiah from beyond the world shaped by the Bene Gesserit, with fanaticism and tears in their eyes.

"This is my base among the Fremen," Paul thought, turning his head and quietly saying to Jessica, "Your Bene Gesserit brainwashing propaganda has taken root here."

"Some people think I am their prophet, while most others treat me as a false prophet. I must change the minds of those non-believers so that I can get the help of these Fremen, rely on them to destroy the spice mines, rely on them to get close to the Emperor, and complete my revenge."

Jessica was astonished when she heard this. She whispered, "Revenge is not what your father wanted you to do."

Paul gently shook his head and said, "But I want revenge."

Then he fell silent. He had to walk his own path in the future.

After a short night's rest, but after discussions with the Fremen council, Paul was allowed to join the Fremen as a reserve warrior.

Paul's mother, Jessica, had to face her own test to be recognized by the Northern Fremen. This was the result of Stilgar's insistence.

Stilgar told Jessica this in person.

Jessica followed Stilgar to the Fremen's holy land, which was located in the deepest part of the cave, but the most conspicuous thing was a huge square pool filled with the Water of Life.

The body of the dead warrior Jamis was also carried here, and the water inside his body was drawn out by the Fremen with a pumping device and poured into this huge pool.

"Return to the deep well, our water returns to the source!" The other Fremen prayed, mixing the last traces of their people in the world into the pool.

"Bless our brother Jamis, bless Jamis' birth and death, and may his departure purify this world!"

"May Jamis' soul guard this world for his people!"

"Praise the Creator and His water!"

Jessica, as a knowledgeable member of the Bene Gesserit, couldn't help but feel solemn for this ancient religious atmosphere, quietly watching the pool of water.

That was the place where each soul returned.

Stilgar came to Jessica's side, looked at the pool, and said, "Thirty-eight million cubic decameters, we would rather die of thirst than drink the water here."

"This is holy water," Stilgar stretched out his hand and pointed to the pool and said, "We have a thousand such places."

"When these thousand pools are filled, Lisan al Gaib will come and change the face of Arrakis, make the trees grow again, and reproduce a green paradise."

"So many souls," Jessica whispered hoarsely, with tears in her eyes. This peaceful holiness and return infected the witch's sensitive perception.

"Why are you showing me this?" Jessica calmed her mind and asked slowly.

"Because you are Bene Gesserit, because you understand prophecy, you are the mother of Lisan al Gaib, and you will become the Holy Mother of the Fremen,"

Stilgar stared into the witch's eyes and said, "Our Holy Mother is dying."

But in the eyes of Stilgar, this believer, Jessica did not see the fervor of faith, but a kind of paranoia.

"You want me to replace her? Do you believe in Paul?" Jessica asked in a low voice.

"I saw the omen, everything matches Paul's tracks, so I believe it," Stilgar said firmly.

"What if I refuse?"

Stilgar shrugged lightly, raised the corner of his mouth, and said lightly: "Then he is not Lisan al Gaib, and you have no meaning to exist."

"Then we can only return the water in your body to the deep well!"

Jessica felt that she and her son Paul were not welcome by the Northern Fremen. For the sake of her own and her son's life and future, she could only agree with fear.

Fortunately, as a member of the Bene Gesserit, she knew that to become a Holy Mother, the rituals may be different in different places, but in the end, she needed to drink the Water of Life to open the memories of all the female ancestors in her bloodline. Only by possessing the wisdom and memory of all the female ancestors could she be recognized by the Fremen.

This was also the rule set by the missionaries sent by the Bene Gesserit in the past, who were specifically responsible for the Bene Gesserit's control of power. Now, it has also become Jessica's test.

Although the Water of Life is poisonous to humans, the members of the Bene Gesserit are not afraid. She is just afraid that by carrying the memories left in the blood of all the previous Holy Mothers, she will also bear the suffering and pain of this Fremen race for centuries.

But Jessica still comforted her son and bravely stepped into the cave to accept the destined test.

All the Fremen left the cave, leaving only Jessica, who was about to be tested, the dying Holy Mother, and the attendants. Paul could only wait patiently outside the cave entrance, praying that his mother could safely pass the test.

But laughter came from the Fremen crowd waiting around, like mockery and ridicule.

Paul sighed, saw the young girl Chani in the crowd, so he stepped forward and asked softly, "What are you laughing at?"

None of the surrounding Fremen were willing to answer him, except for Chani.

"Nothing," Chani stopped laughing.

Paul looked at the Fremen with smiles on their faces and said in a low voice, "You don't believe it, do you?"

"That's right, we don't believe it," Chani replied decisively.

"That's just the belief of the Southerners," a Fremen female warrior said loudly.

"Southern belief?" Paul asked curiously. Paul, who had not had much contact with the Fremen, did not know much about them. His predictive ability was now limited to the people around him.

"The southern tribes believe that there will be a messiah," the female warrior sat on the ground, looked up at the young boy and smiled: "Save us and get rid of evil,"

Paul lowered his eyes and asked, "You don't believe in Lisan al Gaib?"

"We only believe in the Fremen," Chani, a young female warrior, squatted on the ground like a man and said solemnly.

"If you want to control people's hearts, tell them that the messiah will come, and then they will be willing to wait for centuries, even in sorrow and suffering."

Paul frowned, looked at Stilgar, who was praying with the believers, and asked, "What about him?"

"Stilgar? He is a Southerner," the young girl Chani showed a smile on her beautiful face, "Didn't you hear his accent?"

The surrounding Northern Fremen burst into laughter.

Paul was silent and fell into thought.

The silent atmosphere was broken. Jessica, who had passed the test, was carried out by the attendants. Although she was still weak, it was enough to prove the name of the Holy Mother.

Paul waited by his mother's side, and all the surrounding Fremen began to talk about it, noisy and noisy.

"You have all seen it, this is enough to prove that he is the chosen one," Stilgar stood up and wanted to control the right to speak.

"You have all seen with your own eyes that the mother of Lisan al Gaib was unharmed after drinking the poison of the Holy Water! She also did it, as the oracle showed."

"That's not a miracle," the young female warrior Chani shouted angrily. The brave girl stood up from the crowd and faced the leader without showing any weakness. "The oracles are all written by their Bene Gesserit!"

"You are blaspheming," Stilgar's stern eyes stared at the girl Chani. "The prophecy has been fulfilled!"

"Mahdi must be a Fremen!" The female warrior who had laughed at Paul before also stood up and roared loudly.

"Arrakis must be liberated by its own people!"

All the Fremen quarreled.

The silent Paul turned his head and suddenly shouted loudly, "She's right, she's right!"

So all the Fremen stopped arguing and looked at the young boy, the messiah in the prophecy, not understanding what he was doing or why he would say such a thing.

"This is not a miracle," Paul sat peacefully on the ground and said softly, "My mother has received training in this area. Senior members of the Bene Gesserit know how to transform poisons,"

The young boy's increasingly deep eyes stared at all the Fremen and slowly shook his head: "I am not Mahdi,"

Then he stood up, stood in front of all the Fremen, and his voice gradually became louder,

"I'm not here to lead you," the young boy suddenly switched the Interstellar Common Language to Fremen, and his eyes revealed sincerity and firmness.

"I'm here just to learn your way of survival,"

"Let me fight alongside you, I only have this one request," the boy scanned the warriors who opposed him and said sincerely.

The voices of opposition gradually disappeared, and the Fremen who originally believed in the messiah were discussing in a low voice, "Mahdi is too humble and unwilling to admit that he is Mahdi! This proves even more that he is Mahdi!"

In this way, Paul began to join the Fremen as a warrior. His words not only gained him the more fervent support of the original Southern faith faction, but also gained the temporary recognition of the Northern Fremen. Jessica also became the new Holy Mother of the tribe.

In the following time, Paul followed the Fremen and began to learn how to survive in the desert, how to fight in the desert, and also learning how to become a Fremen.

His performance gradually gained the recognition of the Fremen, and he received the help of the young girl Chani and Stilgar, allowing him to grow rapidly.

During this period of contact, he also became a loving couple with the young female warrior Chani, although Chani still does not think that her lover is the messiah, but it does not prevent Chani from falling in love with a warrior who bravely challenges herself.

Relying on his predictive abilities and his knowledge of the Lion Throne Empire and the Harkonnen family legions, Paul repeatedly won battles after joining the Fremen resistance.

The spice mines and many mining vehicles and guards of the Harkonnen family legions were also destroyed and eliminated by Paul and the Fremen resistance using seized laser guns and ion cannons.

Paul began to become a real Fremen, and even learned how these Fremen ride and control sandworms as mounts. Although it seemed that this way of riding was more like hitchhiking, he also became a sandworm knight.

After another day of fighting, Paul habitually sat on the sand dunes, looking at the dim sky. The Atreides family heirloom ring on his hand had been put into his arms.

"Maybe, I have found the path I want to take," Paul thought, and he felt that the life of becoming a Fremen warrior was also very good.

He can destroy the Harkonnen family's spice mines with these warriors and eradicate the strength of the former family blood enemies, without worrying about the clear impression in his mind, the religious influence of millions of Fremen in the South.

As night fell, the tents built by the Fremen warriors on the leeward side of the sand dunes had lit up with warm lights, and Paul walked down the sand dunes and stepped into the camp.

Cheers rang out, and the Fremen warriors applauded and celebrated Paul, not only for his outstanding performance, but also because he used his predictive abilities to save his partner and lover, Chani.

Now in Paul's eyes, there is no longer a distinction between the Northern and Southern factions, because these Fremen have accepted him, and he is becoming a leader who has not taken away the real right to speak.

"You have all seen what he has done," Stilgar cheered enthusiastically and shouted loudly at these Fremen commando legion warriors.

"He foresaw the enemy's movements, he foresaw the future."

Even the Fremen female warrior who had previously opposed and laughed at Paul was imitating the movements of the desert rats in the desert with her hands, whistling and teasing Paul.

The female warrior Chani looked at the quiet Paul with tenderness in her eyes, asking with interest, "Who taught you to fight like that? Your fighting style is different from ours."

"My former masters were also my closest friends," Paul said softly.

Now, Paul only needed to speak to make all the Fremen in the tent stop and listen to his voice.

"They were all massacred, just like my father," Paul said, raising his eyes to look at his companions and warriors.

"You have fought the Harkonnens for decades, while my family has fought them for centuries. I know all their habits inside and out."

"You have mastered the power of the desert. Together, we can stop them, destroy them, and bury them in the desert."

Stilgar stared at the savior he had chosen and said in a deep voice, "What do you want us to do, eh?"

"What would you do, Stilgar?" Paul did not answer, but instead looked at the warrior who had always supported him and asked.

"Me? I would," Stilgar thought for a moment and said, "I will continue to advance north."

"Then I will continue north," Paul said decisively.

"The further north you go, the more likely your life will end," the female warrior said softly.

Paul shook his head and smiled faintly, "Then I will gladly die."

He looked at the female warrior and said, "Perhaps you will too."

Paul's gaze swept across the faces of the other warriors, and he said, "But the rest will continue forward. The Fremen will not give up until they achieve victory!"

All the Fremen pounded their chests and made sounds of praise.

Thus, Paul was given the Fremen name Muad'Dib, which meant that he had become a part of the Fremen that they recognized in their hearts.

Tomorrow the world ends, Dune is too niche, I have to take into account some settings, writing numb and boring, but the necessary groundwork has been completed, it's still easy to just mess around and write, over!