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Sand was in no way easy to run on, even if you’ve spent nearly a decade running on it. It was soft and squishy and could slide out from under your foot at any moment. Not to mention it created quite the dust trail behind you as you ran for your life from a sandworm.
U’Korih had just wanted to explore a little bit outside the oasis on his own. He wanted to show up his sister, prove that he could grow into a great hunter also despite having never had proper training hunting. Of course, that’s exactly why things had gone terribly wrong. U’Korih had thought he could ambush a lone sandworm and kill it quickly with the knife he had stolen from the wares.
He had tied his long, violet, hair back into a makeshift ponytail to keep it out of his face while he slowly climbed a sand dune on his belly. Having reached the crest, he spotted a sandworm just below him and was very eager to prove his worth. U’Korih launched himself from the dune with a loud war cry, or what he considered to be a war cry, and landed on the sandworms back. The sandworm did not like that one bit and threw U’Korih off with ease. U’Korih found himself buried in the sand feet away from his target and his stolen knife well out of reach. Disgruntled, he pulled himself to his feet, shook the sand out of his ears, and looked around for the knife only to discover two other sandworms had joined the first. All three of them looked very pissed off, despite not having faces, and were all heading straight for him teeth gnashing. That’s how U’Korih found himself in his current predicament of running on sand.
U’Korih honestly didn’t think he had wandered that far away from the oasis and safety but apparently he had. He could see the rocks and trees surrounding his home in the distance but he never seemed to be getting any closer to it, whereas the sandworms were definitely getting closer to him.
He should have, at any rate, been a lot more focused on the running on sand part of his entire situation because at that time the sand he had set his foot down upon decided it no longer wanted to be under him and U’Korih lost his balance. The bitter taste of dirt entered his mouth as he fell face first into the sand.
This is the end, U’Korih thought as he laid there, body shaking from exertion, chest heaving as it tried to grab the last breaths U’Korih would ever breath, heart pounding out those last few heart beats. U’Korih could hear the sound of shifting sand as the worms got closer and closer to him. He never should have let U’Shima get under his skin. He was older and smarter than her, why had he let her irk him.
Should have listened to mom when she told me not to encourage the teasing, U’Korih took one last look out across the sands at his home wishing he could have at least reached the gates where the huntresses could have rescued him.
A blur of brown and violet launched over his head and U’Korih instinctively ducked thinking that the sandworms had finally got up and this was his last chance to survive. He waited for the pain of teeth tearing through his body but it never came. Instead, U’Korih’s ears perked up as he heard the sound of a sword slicing through flesh and the squish of something gooey and sticky hitting the sand.
He slowly opened an eye and peaked out from under his arms, curious as to why he wasn’t quite dead yet. Half a sandworm was lying on the sand in front of him, insides oozing out and soaking into the ground. That was definitely not there before.
“Young man, what do you think you’re doing out here?” A very familiar, scolding, voice rang out as a pair of sandal wrapped feet came into view.
U’Korih’s tail curled up in shame as his ears flattened against his head, he knew that voice, knew those shoes. It was his mom. She had come to his rescue, it would have been kinder to let the worms eat him.
U’Korih very slowly lifted his head, looking at anything but his mother. U’Yaucie stood with arms crossed and a frown on her face as she looked down at him. Her short cropped, violet hair, dripped with blood and sweat from fighting off the sandworms but otherwise she was very composed while waiting for her son to answer.
“I was…looking for a rock...to fix the uh...thing I’m working on,” U’Korih was a terrible liar but there was no way he was going to admit he was trying to hunt, she would ground him for months if she found out he neglected his chores to hunt sandworms.
“And the sandworms?” U’Yaucie asked, not believing a word he said.
“They thought I was food,” U’Korih shifted his weight and dug the toe of his sandal into the sand making circles.
U’Yaucie sighed and reached down, easily lifting her son back to his feet and setting him down gently. She bent down to look him in the eye and swiped the hairs that had fallen out of his face. U’Korih finally met his mother’s gaze at her touch and was surprised to see it soft and not angry at all.
“I’m just glad you’re not hurt. You’re definitely going to be getting extra chores but at least you’re not hurt,” she straightened up and grabbed his hand, “Let’s get you back and clean up those scrapes.”
U’Korih squeezed her hand tightly, extra chores was going to suck big time but he guessed that was a better alternative to being worm chow for now. He might feel differently about it later depending on what chores mom had in mind for him.
Later that night, U’Korih was sitting on his bed in their house, nursing his wounds, while U’Shima complained to mom on the other side of the divide about the terrible sparring partner she had to team up with that day for training.
“Well, at least I’m not a baby like U’Korih,” she said a louder voice than she had been talking in previously, “I can handle a few cuts without needing mom to baby me and make a fuss.”
U’Korih grit his teeth and his tail swiped across the bed, “I heard that!”
“You were supposed to, baby!” U’Shima called back at him.
“Children please,” U’Yaucie sighed, “It’s been a long day. Let’s all get ready for bed.”
“Yes mom!”
U’Korih could hear the sounds of U’Shima jumping out of her chair and running over to the bed. He turned and stuck his tongue out at her and pull at her eye towards him before grabbing a washcloth and heading out for a bath before bed.
U’Korih let himself fall backwards onto his bed with a groan, it was bad enough he was going to be sore for a week but now he would have to deal with U’Shima as well. She would never let him live this down. Never. He would just have to get stronger. Then he would show her who the best fighter in the house was. One day, he would kill a hundred sandworms in one go, he was sure of it.
He rolled over and drifted off to sleep as visions of being a tall handsome, fighter with a big sword and everyone's adoration played though his head.