the exiles

chapter two: peregrine

All I ever wanted to do was deliver the mail.

Is the first thing that comes to her mind as she wakes. She is lying on the sand as she inspects her blood-stained garments. She would not like to talk about where she got those blemishes on her life. She holds up a nearby golden flag and dons it like some sort of hoodie. She feels better having the weight of those clothes off. She then surveys the area around her, smoke billowing from the wrecked vessel.

The recent past is recalled. It all began with that STUPID green package and letter. She caught sight of them when a police officer of Derse got his hands on it. She was able to retrieve the letter, but the green parcel was out of bounds. The officer told her that in order to get the parcel, she needed to talk with the man known as Jack Noir. Eons later, she realized that she was a fool to try and negotiate with him.

She finally reached Jack Noir, and he proposes a deal for her. In exchange for both the White Queen's ring and the White King's scepter, she would get the green parcel. Now that she thought about it, the deal was so lopsided she didn't know what you were thinking at the time. It seemed as if the urgency to deliver mail was stronger than her conscience. And look where that got her.

After sauntering around on the Battlefield and passing a rebellion along the way, she managed to retrieve both of the items. As she was heading back towards Jack's office, she was greeted by some brute that was trying to intercept her. She had never used a sword before. Until that very moment, when she killed a fellow carapacian. At that moment, it felt as if a large weight had been placed on her shoulders, never to be taken off. It would follow her for the rest of her life.

She doesn't really remember what happened after that, but she remembers a figure swooping down, trading the ring and the scepter for the green package, and then her giving the package, begrudgingly to the receiver. She then was involved in a blur of bright colors and loud vibrating, and she ended up here. If it wasn't for that STUPID green package and letter.

She wanders for the remainder of the day, searching for some rations for her to eat. She has a feeling that she was going to be stuck in this sandy hellhole for a long, long time. It was almost as if she was being punished for the trouble she had caused. Serves me right, she thought.

She grips her satchel in her hand, the only reminder of her past. There is a solitary letter in it, addressed to a certain professor. She has sworn off opening and reading it, the only principle that she would keep as a parcel mistress. Hours would turn to days, and days would turn to years as the golden garments she wears slowly fades to grey.

She comes across a giant tree. She is puzzled, as she has never seen a plant grow in the desert in all her years of travelling. She curiously inspects the single, giant, silver fruit hanging from the thick white branches. Then she notices that that fruit is not a fruit at all, but a metallic pod. Upon thinking this, the pod drops from the tree and lands heavily in the sand. Startled by this, she jumps back a few inches. Behind a rock, she peers at the pod. Well, it's definitely much more exciting than crossing the span of an endless expanse of desert. She takes a couple steps towards it. A door opens. Here goes nothing, she thinks, and steps inside.