It was with the rise of the image of Muad'dib on the second moon that she caught the signals of approaching people. They were so quiet that she was quite sure they must be Fremen.

Ahmina's eyes grew wide with anticipation...They might have been her people but the future only belonged to Shai-Hulud.

She stood still for a moment to sharpen her senses before setting forth warily

A squawk of a desert hawk echoed. It was a Fremen call!

She squaked back.

Her faith was being rewarded!

In more way then one when she finally met the caller: it was Shishakli, a sandrider of her own tribe! What were the Fremen of Sietch Tabr doing so far east?

"Subakh ul kuhar, Ahmina. We saw the birds and came to check. What are you doing here? Liet said you are with the offworlders."

Now, that was true relief

''Subakh un nar, Shishakli. I am glad to to see you.'' she extricated herself from her hole in the rocks, showing the full extend of the damage of her still suit and what little remained of her fremkit

''I was with them when they flew over the Cielago depression but they did not heed my warnings and a geyser forced our landing. Before we could get it back up we were attacked by unmarked military thopters, likely Harkonnen goons, and a mining rig. I followed them as far as I could.''

Shishakli passed his own catchtube to her so she could take the sip. Once done, he got out some repair tools from his own fremkit and started patching her stillsuit up, using some of the creosote sap from the bushes she had found. He was careful, and unmarried, but he withheld any smiles.

"So you followed the Harkonnen to here? I don't see any Harkonnen, but it is a wild land, hard to see from valley to valley." He talked as he was helping her. "Liet called a small convocation of naibs to the Cave of Birds. Stilgar is there, but also Abumojandis, Rajifiri, Saajid, Merkur, and a few others. We all came one worm each, so maybe a quarter of our troop, and same for the others. Still three hundred."

''Aye...this is the direction their thopters and mining factory fled to. They were fast but I had to ride a maker so I seized the opportunity and rode it in their pursuit.''

She took the catch tube and took a moderated sip...too much would be improper

''A convocation of Naib? Do you know why?''

"I know of no mining centres here. But maybe Abumojandis' tribe will. This is their area to watch." Shishakli stepped away, having finished makeshift repairs. "I don't know why. Perhaps some decision between tribes has to be made. Where will you be going now, Ahmina?"

''If the summit is here then I will go to it...perhaps it was meant to be?'' she replied before giving a resolute nod ''Yes, this is what I must do...this must be why my trials brought me here''

"Bi-lal kaifa. It's a two- or three-thumper ride. Come, I've found a good descent from here." She gestured to some moonlit pathway among the rocks. "Perhaps you'll tell me about those offworlders on our way."

''Ai...I will''

On the way, Shishakli would absorb whatever she was willing to impart. Once they came to the level of the open bled, he quickly lived up to his reputation by calling a strong worm that would navigate them around the spur of the False Wall West, skirt by the Cielago Sink and then enter the Tanzerouft on their way to the Habbanya Erg. But he would let the worm be even though it hadn't been exhausted. They resupplied a bit of water at one of the hidden plantings, meeting two others from Sietch Tabr, including Liet's daughter Chani, and committed to return the amount from the next Harkonnen cadavers they could get to deathstills. Then, Shishakli would call another incarnation of Shai-Hulud, that one even bigger, that would deliver them to the Habbanya Ridge on the next day. Making it a two-thopter ride was a quality of a true sandrider but Shishakli made little of it, though he certainly hadn't lost a chance to impress.

Amid the calls of direction: ach, derch, geyrat, it was hard to speak on the worm's back. Still, Ahmina couldn't dismiss the weird sense of deja vu seeing how much Chani and Cuyler were alike, as if they were at least half-sisters. There were some questions she couldn't answer.

/scene