User blog:VictressAgilis/Who's Up For Desert?

 Hello again! This newest story is about the lovely sand-dwelling monster known as the sandworm! No lemons, but all you gotta do is ask. Have fun!

A WDYD asked by Cherubic Card (Edited for the du du du):

You're traveling through the desert with a group of wanderers, led by an experienced guide. Hot sun draining you of life, you don't notice the group has stopped until you bump into the back of the person ahead of you. The guide makes a handsign, presumably meaning "hold up". He puts a hand to his ear, and  you do the same. It’s so silent, you can hear a hat drop, but then-

Swish. Swish. Swish. 

You freeze. Though barely perceptible, you're certain you heard a noise off in the shifting wastes.

Swish. Swish. Swish. Swish.

You definitely heard it that time, as well as your ragged comrades. The guide is running past you before he even shouts his warning.

"RUN, YOU FOOLS! SANDWORMS!"

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.8857142857142857;margin-top:11pt;margin-bottom:11pt;"><span style="font-size:16px;font-family:'CourierNew';color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Swish swish swish swish swish swish- BOOM!

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.8857142857142857;margin-top:11pt;margin-bottom:11pt;"><span style="font-size:16px;font-family:'CourierNew';color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Through your dried-out eyes you see, no, feel them burst from the dunes, at least four of them. Everyone is shoving and pushing to get out of the way, unwittingly running right into their inviting maws. Finally, life and thought return to your flesh and mind, just in time to see a sandworm’s outer shell meet eyes with you.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.8857142857142857;margin-top:11pt;margin-bottom:11pt;"><span style="font-size:16px;font-family:'CourierNew';color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">What do you do?

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.8857142857142857;margin-top:11pt;margin-bottom:11pt;"><span style="font-size:16px;font-family:'CourierNew';color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">______________________________________________________________

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.8857142857142857;margin-top:11pt;margin-bottom:11pt;"><span style="font-size:16px;font-family:'CourierNew';color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">I meet its gaze for a split second, before pushing past the group and following the guide toward what I sincerely hope isn’t a mirage, but an actual city.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.8857142857142857;margin-top:11pt;margin-bottom:11pt;"><span style="font-size:16px;font-family:'CourierNew';color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">I can hear shrieks behind me, and I know that the sandworms have caught up with the other travelers. The sand starts rumbling again, giving light to the fact that the sandworms are satisfied.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.8857142857142857;margin-top:11pt;margin-bottom:11pt;"><span style="font-size:16px;font-family:'CourierNew';color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Swish swish swish swish swish.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.8857142857142857;margin-top:11pt;margin-bottom:11pt;"><span style="font-size:16px;font-family:'CourierNew';color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Or not. I dare a glance back, and closely pursuing me are two sandworms. I catch up to the guide, yelling all the while. “HEY, IS THAT THE TOWN WE WERE HEADING TO!?”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.8857142857142857;margin-top:11pt;margin-bottom:11pt;"><span style="font-size:16px;font-family:'CourierNew';color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">The guide is surprised by my outburst and whips his head my way. Unfortunately for him, his momentum trips him up.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.8857142857142857;margin-top:11pt;margin-bottom:11pt;"><span style="font-size:16px;font-family:'CourierNew';color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">It happens so fast, I see it in slow motion. His foot twists unexpectedly, and his leg buckles underneath him. His face is one of terror, but I can’t stop. I press on, trying to get the sound of the sandworm devouring the guide out of my mind.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.8857142857142857;margin-top:11pt;margin-bottom:11pt;"><span style="font-size:16px;font-family:'CourierNew';color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">I look back one final time, and I immediately look forward. The worm is right on my metaphorical tail. When I look forward, I’m past the city gates, and the guards are aiming their weapons at the sandworm. She knows she’s outnumbered, and unhappily sinks back into the sand.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.8857142857142857;margin-top:11pt;margin-bottom:11pt;"><span style="font-size:16px;font-family:'CourierNew';color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">I stop to catch my breath at a trader’s stand, who stares at me in wonder. “Son, I ain’t seen no one run that fast and far in my life, and I’ve lived for a long while.” Breathing heavily, I raise my head.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.8857142857142857;margin-top:11pt;margin-bottom:11pt;"><span style="font-size:16px;font-family:'CourierNew';color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">The trader is old, in a makeshift wheelchair. He looks concerned, but when I smile at him, he does as well. “Well, *gasp* I’ve got a few more years to live yet, sir,” I reply. He laughs out loud at that.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.8857142857142857;margin-top:11pt;margin-bottom:11pt;"><span style="font-size:16px;font-family:'CourierNew';color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Ah, and he has humor, as well! That’s a good trait to have, sonny!”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.8857142857142857;margin-top:11pt;margin-bottom:11pt;"><span style="font-size:16px;font-family:'CourierNew';color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“So, disregarding the sandworm I just outran, what do you sell?”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.8857142857142857;margin-top:11pt;margin-bottom:11pt;"><span style="font-size:16px;font-family:'CourierNew';color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Well, that all depends on what you need, son!”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.8857142857142857;margin-top:11pt;margin-bottom:11pt;"><span style="font-size:16px;font-family:'CourierNew';color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“I’m all out of pretty much everything, sir. Got any water?”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.8857142857142857;margin-top:11pt;margin-bottom:11pt;"><span style="font-size:16px;font-family:'CourierNew';color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“No, but I’ve got anything else. Grappling hooks, empty water skeins, durable packs, anything for survival.”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.8857142857142857;margin-top:11pt;margin-bottom:11pt;"><span style="font-size:16px;font-family:'CourierNew';color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">I ponder this. “Do you have a sturdier pack than mine?” I point to my back, then realize that it’s gone. Double take. I stare at my bare back, then realize that the sandworm must have swiped at me at the gates and ripped it off without me noticing.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.8857142857142857;margin-top:11pt;margin-bottom:11pt;"><span style="font-size:16px;font-family:'CourierNew';color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">I curse. My gold had been in there! Dejected, I turn away from the stand, but I’m stopped by a hand on my shoulder. “Son, you just escaped a sandworm. I’ve never seen anyone do that before, so I’ll give you this pack. Free of charge,” the old man says.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.8857142857142857;margin-top:11pt;margin-bottom:11pt;"><span style="font-size:16px;font-family:'CourierNew';color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">I raise a hand to protest, but he hands it to me anyway. I hesitantly accept it. It’s miles above my old pack in terms of sturdiness. I thank him and finally take a look around.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.8857142857142857;margin-top:11pt;margin-bottom:11pt;"><span style="font-size:16px;font-family:'CourierNew';color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">It’s a rather large city, with at least twenty foot high walls surrounding it. I take a step toward a food stand that sells turkey legs as big as my head, hoping to get one for free, when I hear it.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.8857142857142857;margin-top:11pt;margin-bottom:11pt;"><span style="font-size:16px;font-family:'CourierNew';color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Swish. Swish. Swish.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.8857142857142857;margin-top:11pt;margin-bottom:11pt;"><span style="font-size:16px;font-family:'CourierNew';color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Oh no.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.8857142857142857;margin-top:11pt;margin-bottom:11pt;"><span style="font-size:16px;font-family:'CourierNew';color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">BOOM!

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.8857142857142857;margin-top:11pt;margin-bottom:11pt;"><span style="font-size:16px;font-family:'CourierNew';color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">A sandworm erupts from the ground not five feet in front of the food stand, causing the patrons and the lady manning it to scream and run. I back up, then notice that the sandworm isn’t the one that had been chasing me.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.8857142857142857;margin-top:11pt;margin-bottom:11pt;"><span style="font-size:16px;font-family:'CourierNew';color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">I know this because the one that had been chasing me is behind me, letting me step right into its mouth.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.8857142857142857;margin-top:11pt;margin-bottom:11pt;"><span style="font-size:16px;font-family:'CourierNew';color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">I try to leap forward, but its tongue latches onto my trunk, and I can only watch as the jaws of the sandworm slowly close, inches from my outstretched fingers.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.8857142857142857;margin-top:11pt;margin-bottom:11pt;"><span style="font-size:16px;font-family:'CourierNew';color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">I’m as good as dead. I might as well have tried to help the guide up and been swallowed then, instead of leading the sandworms into the city. As the sandworm's tongue wraps around me even more, melting my clothes, I pass out, unable to take the stench.