Chapter Text
Murky waves lapped at the basalt-formed shore of Yggdrasil as two cloaked figures made their way down to the coastline, a quiet conversation being passed between the two of them. The harsh winds of the northern island made the journey a rough one, but given the proximity to land and the familiarity of their path, neither figure lost composure.
“It’s been a while since the last letter came in.”
“Are you worried for him, sir?”
“...In a sense. Pandora is clearly restless and bored, and we’ve seen where that’s led them.”
“So you think that his mediator role may have landed him in trouble.”
They stopped at the edge of the stony beach, one lingering behind as her leader stepped forward to lower himself into shallow waters. It was only when, several minutes later, as he re-ascended to the shore with a bottle in hand, that she allowed herself to untense.
“Well? What does it say, sir?”
“...Zynn. When we get back to the Covenant, I want you to make preparations for a guest.”
It starts like this: a bottle thrown from the flowering cliffs of Luminara’s northmost shore, drifting up and past the mystical storm barrier that marked the separation of Pandora’s sister island, and a young man, sitting and staring at the beach to wait for a response from whoever it had managed to reach.
It was Ish who had planted the idea in Saps’ head; the god taking time out of his day to accompany Saps while he was busy drafting ideas for his vacation house. Ish had been throwing random questions at him as Saps tried his best to answer them to the god’s liking; until he’d asked about Yggdrasil.
“Tell me Saps, what do you think of Luminara’s plan to unite the islands?”
“Well…” Saps had muttered, tapping the end of his pen against his chin. “I mean, you would know best, right? Is it even possible? With the storm and all, I mean.”
The magical storm that separated the two islands stretched for miles onward in the surrounding sea, encircling both islands in their own separate cages. If someone travelled too far along the Northern coast of Pandora, they usually wouldn’t make it back alive— and yet, Luminara’s leadership was intending to attempt building a bridge across the storm’s trajectory in order to allow Yggdrasilians to cross the border without having to brave the sea’s wrath. It was a good plan on paper, but it didn’t account for the fact that the builders themselves would still have to attempt to cross the storm’s edge to place down foundations.
Ish was the main god who presided over both Pandora and Yggdrasil, and rumors said that he had been the one to erect the storm all those years ago. If there was any one person who would know whether or not Luminara’s task was possible, it would be him.
“Well…” Ish chuckled, sounding contemplative. “Maybe one of these days. Who knows? It takes a while to build a bridge, doesn’t it?”
“Yeah, I guess so,” Saps nodded, and he thought that would be the end of it.
But then Ish spoke again, a look Saps couldn’t truly decipher on his face. “If you’re wondering about the ability of things to pass through the storm barrier, I’ve heard things from Yggdrasil about objects washing up on shore from Pandora. Trinkets, here and there… discarded little objects that the people of this land have deemed unimportant or overlooked and lost. I’ve even heard of people finding penpals through the storm… if you wanted to give it a try, I’d recommend going from that point where Luminara’s building their bridge. It is the northernmost point of Pandora, after all.”
“I’ll… keep that in mind,” Saps said slowly. It was easy to forget that Ish was a god sometimes, given the way he so casually interacted with his people, flitting in and out here and there with words of encouragement and even summoning gifts for those he found worthy— but the not so subtle push from him was enough of a reminder for Saps.
Ish nodded, a content sort of look on his face. “Well, then, I’ll leave you to your construction work! I hope to see this place come to flourish soon, Saps. Farewell for now!” With that, the god left, and everything around Saps stilled to its natural quiet.
Saps had tried to keep working after that— going down to the beach, collecting piles and piles of sand for the walls and ceiling of his home— and yet, Ish’s words lingered on his mind.
You could give it a try.
The idea lingered on his mind through the week he spent slaving away, old composite sketches of the house that he’d tried and thrown away piling up on the sandy shore of the beach as time passed. Saps couldn’t understand why exactly the idea nagged at him so intently. Maybe it was the want for connection? He wasn’t necessarily bothered by a life marked by loneliness, especially when there were so many people all over Pandora who were willing to take him in as their own, but…
Saps had led a nation, once. A refuge for those in less fortunate circumstances to find safe shelter, even if it came with great risk to himself. Maybe it was the idea of the people of Yggdrasil wasting away, unable to provide for their families and homes. Maybe it was a stupid, hopeless venture based on pure instinct and a nagging feeling that wouldn’t leave him alone. Maybe it was Ish’s doing to begin with, a new form of entertainment the god had come up with.
Whatever it was, Saps found himself gathering just a little extra sand to forge a few bottles, scribbling short notes across the backs of his discarded blueprints and shoving them inside, alongside as many diamonds as he could fit without causing the bottle to sink to the bottom of the ocean.
To whoever finds this, my name is Saparata. I am Pandoran, and I know how much the people of Yggdrasil must be wary of us— but I’m not part of any nation here, and I mean no harm, I swear. Do you want to be friends? If you do, please write back. It gets a little lonely out here with no one to talk to.
When he next found the chance to go to Luminara to visit Flux and the other Luminarans, Saps brought one of the bottles along with him, taking the first chance he had to hurl it into the sea.
Then came the waiting game.
Saps was aware that Flux, despite his leader and most of his country’s ideals, disliked the idea of communication with the other island. There had been scraps of sea-soaked propaganda papers and broken weapons that had found their way through the storm and to the shores of Luminara and Aperion, and though Flux had never said anything to Saps about it, he had seen with passing days as his friend became more and more tense at the prospect of Yggdrasil somehow making contact with Pandora.
If he knew that Saps was trying to communicate with the other island, and even sending extra resources he himself didn’t need… yeah, Saps figured that wouldn’t look pretty.
So on a day where Flux had excused himself from a meeting to go and discuss plans for the building of Luminara’s bridge with Thomas, Snowbird and a few others, Saps too excused himself to make his way to the beach, both hopeful and resigned to the probable reality of there being no bottled message waiting for him.
And yet, despite his disbelief, there on the sand lay a bottle, and a piece of what looked like petrified wood.
To Saparata of Pandora—
My people typically don’t entertain the thought of fraternizing with Pandorans, considering our differing conditions. That said, I would hope you’d have different views from the rest of your island regarding us if you went through all the effort to send this letter through the storm. I can’t say we’ll be friends, but I can keep you company.
Also, I would like to thank you for the diamonds. We don’t come across those naturally here, so it was quite a surprise to see such precious gems in a bottle. Yggdrasil isn’t so plentiful in resources, but I tried to find something that a Pandoran wouldn’t have stumbled across before. This wood is taken straight from Yggdrasil, our Warden Tree. Some believe it has magical properties. Whatever you choose to do with it, I hope it serves you well.
—Turntapp of the Covenant
“Huh. I guess it worked after all,” Saps murmured, a small smile on his face as he carefully placed the paper and wood into his pockets, already thinking of what he would write to his new penpal next.