Between Time and Space
She had no idea how long it had been since that day she had come upon Sietch Tabr with her Sister Sheeana. Part of her had been worried it would be gone, although she knew that was a fairly baseless fear: the place was hidden well, much like, as Sheena would have told her, anyway Sietch built by a Fremen. It was still here, next to the building that looked like a precursor to a skyscraper: the same limestone build, the same precarious steps to reach it. This was, as Sheeana had told her, the place where the original Muad'dib had hidden, where the Fremen had taken shelter before the days of the Tyrant.
It was where she went now, to reclaim a piece of herself.
The Tarot card reading had not been her first indication. After the death of Ozai, she had thought long and hard about where she'd been not long ago: she had accepted that there were people who lent themselves to chaos, to discord, and that they signed their own death warrant when they infringed themselves on others. It had been here Sheeana had attempted to have her delve into the mysteries of the Bene Gesserit, here where she had first partaken of Spice.
One cautious step, two, and then the caution was gone once she remembered that day: the Nightmare King had had her in his grip, or at least her fears were getting the best of her then. Somehow Sheeana had picked the right time to bring her down this hallway, past the treasure hunter bodies to the chamber. There she entered the place where the water was drained, all moisture kept, and she felt herself stumble only a little. It had been Sheeana's second time coming here too, and one mistake would keep her lost.
Quickly she made her way through each trap, just as easily as Sheena had the first time, since Kaya had been itching for a chance to use her limbs again, to dart quickly around a corner or to sidestep another obstacle before coming to THE chamber, where the ancient writing had been before. She could already smell the cinnamon waft that was the remainder of the Spice, the drug the Fremen used to travel through space, to heighten their awareness, to give them the ability to see the future.
Here, Kaya remembered, she had strengthened her mind against the Nightmare King once. Now, in this familiar place where many had gathered in celebration, in orgies, in reverence to the one that would triumph over the Harkkonans in time, for a time.
Kaya, however, was not here to get misty eyed about the loss of her teacher and many like her over time. Nor had she come here to take Spice to enjoy herself. She was here, mainly, to reclaim that part of her she had bravely taken a time before, when she had traveled the stars and seen the future, seen herself. This was a journey she knew she had to take again, if she thought she would be the girl she had strove to be once before.
She took the Spice from the floor, sniffed, then took it into her mouth again, and once again, tasted bitter cinnamon.
Kaya remembered herself, and regained. She endured, and she pulled into herself. She was here a long time.
Several hours would past before she emerged from the Sietch, but those that saw he would say she looked different: she stood straighter somehow, but she looked in a trance, one induced, and her eyes were bluer than they had ever been in the time they knew her. Her hair was loose around her, her feet bare, her clothes dusty and smelling faintly sweet, What was unmistakable was the look on her face: it was silent, accepting, but with a reserved joy that only one who asked would know.