Work Text:
Dragonspine.
The icy cold mountain that stood between Mondstadt and Liyue.
A Mountain with everlasting snow.
To ordinary people, a mountain full of dangers.
To Scaramouche however, it was just another snowy mountain, not unlike the snowy white terrain of Snezhnaya.
He had come to this mountain for a mission from the Tsaritsa. Her highness had sent him to investigate the ruin guards in the area for a hidden message. How the message was related to Her plans, he could only guess. Alas, what The Tsaritsa wants, She gets. And Scaramouche isn’t about to disobey Her orders any time soon.
He finally reached his final destination. A shore southeast of the snow covered mountain. It was one of the locations the agents had reported a sighting of a ruin guard. He ventured even further west, passed the hilichurl camps and by the tall rocky structures by the beach.
Clink!
His foot knocked over something near the water. He looked down to his feet and found a glass bottle. He reached down to pick it up only to find something stored within the bottle.
‘A piece of paper?’
He decided to open the bottle in case the paper contained information he needed for his current task. He took out the paper inside and unfolded it to find a letter written on it. Frustrated, he made a move to throw the letter away but did a double take as he paid closer attention.
‘This handwriting…’
“If you are reading this message, I hope that you are the one I am expecting.
I've lost count of which letter this is. How far will it drift, and on what shore will it wash up?
If we ever should meet again, do tell me once more of the mountain city of stone and the snowstorms of the north. Or perhaps, tell me about dandelions and wine instead. What say you?
I will wait for your reply as I always have."
The handwriting was very familiar, but he couldn’t put it together. He was deep in thought when-
Clink!
Another sound came from somewhere on his left. He headed towards the source and found a couple of snow foxes on a small rock platform by the water, playing with yet another bottle with a letter inside of it. The bottle looked similar to the first one he found, so he concluded that they must’ve been from the same sender.
The foxes ran away as they sensed him approaching to pick up the bottle. Once again, he took the letter out and unfolded it. It was written in the exact same handwriting as the previous one, so he came to the right conclusion.
"If you are reading this message, I hope you are the one i am expecting.
We once believed that war was something that only happened in fairy tales and legends. But now, each and every one of us trembles under Her Excellency's thundering wrath.
The beach that we used to go to has been sealed, but i found a way to get this letter out nonetheless.
Do not worry, or blame yourself for this. This deed is but trivial for one who once ventured alongside you such as I. I will wait for your reply, even if you write but a single word."
Scaramouche distantly remembered a memory of a certain beach. A beach only he and a certain white haired boy knew about. The beach where they spent most of their time together, playing around, laughing, having fun. Memories of a life he could’ve had, had he not moved back to Snezhnaya. Had he not decided to serve The Tsaritsa. He looked back at the letter and then to a terrain far across the ocean.
‘Could it be…?’
Scaramouche shook off his thoughts and continued doing what he originally came to do. He walked around, and eventually found a ruin guard covered in snow. He noted the message he got from it and saved it.
He was about to leave when he heard a mechanical whirring sound. He looked back at the ruin guard he just examined. It was dead silent, not moving an inch. The source of the sound is from elsewhere. He looked further towards the end of the beach and saw it. It was a machine bigger and more advanced than a ruin guard. It was a ruin grader. He knew there were a number of ruin graders in Dragonspine. But he didn’t expect to find one on a beach of all places.
Scaramouche focused back on the task at hand. He heard heavy and rapid footsteps coming towards him. A charging attack. But he wasn’t a harbinger for nothing. He summoned power from his electro vision and aimed an attack towards both of its legs. The ruin grader stumbled and lost the function of its legs. But it didn't just stop there. It continued with a laser attack, aiming straight at him. He was prepared however, and launched another electro attack right at the opening of its eye. The ruin grader became paralyzed and he launched another burst of electro and the ruin grader was down.
Scaramouche smiled in satisfaction at the remains of the ruin grader. But his victory got interrupted by another clinking noise, followed by a thump, from the area the ruin grader came from. He headed towards the source and found another drifting bottle. It seemed that this one had just arrived on shore.
Again, Scaramouche picked up the bottle. This one seemed a bit heavier than the other two bottles he found so far. A glance inside told him that a letter wasn’t the only thing stored inside of it. He took the letter out first and unfolded it. It was indeed written in the same handwriting as the other two.
“An old friend of ours came over yesterday bearing ill tidings...
I have not received a reply from you in a long while. Perhaps he’s right, and I should accept reality.
But nonetheless, if you are still wandering this land, should you receive the missive, I hope that you can send me a reply.
Attach your insignia to your letter, that I may recognize you by its presence when the time comes.
Do you remember Uyuu Restaurant? We shall meet there. You will find money for wine attached herein, and a little something to remember me by.
But if you are not the one I was expecting to receive this letter...
Then please, take this keepsake all the same. Perhaps you might be able to find its original owner for me — do also take the Mora in here as thanks."
He took out the other two items from the bottle. One was a small sack of mora, like the letter said, enough to buy a bottle of wine. He reached in to take the final item.
He held his breath as he pulled it out. He was expecting something like a handmade item, a piece of jewelry perhaps, something most people would have thought of sending. The item was much more simple, and yet it held a lot of meaning to him. It was a maple leaf
He knew of one person who loved the red leaves that only came in the autumn season. A white haired boy, his companion during his time in the nation across the ocean. He remembered the day he left Inazuma City. The two had met up in Uyuu Restaurant the night before, and left with a promise to each other. A promise to come back and see each other again.
“Kazuha…” he whispered the name of the boy he now longed for.
Scaramouche made up his mind. If he couldn’t come back to visit, now that Inazuma had become an isolated nation. He would just send the letter back with a new message. He flipped the paper around and wrote a short message in it, folded it and put it back in the bottle along with his insignia. He then put the lid back on the bottle and made sure it was closed tight. Then he put it back to the water and let the current take it away.
He stayed a while and watched as the bottle drifted into the ocean towards the isolated land. Then he took one last look towards the horizon and started heading back towards the land. As much as he wants to hear more from his old companion, he knew he had to wait another day for that, and that he had more things to do, like decoding the ruin guard messages for one.
Two days later, Inazuma.
Kazuha sighed as he snuck back to the beach. He was starting to lose hope that he would ever get a reply to his letters. But today, he decided to check, in case he did get one and missed it. So he walked by the beach that night, careful so that he wouldn’t get caught. And that’s when he saw it.
It was a bottle. His bottle. The last bottle he sent across the ocean.
With a heart now full of hope, he ran towards it and picked it up. There was a letter inside, and a certain insignia he was very familiar with. He smiled with happiness and unfolded the paper to read the familiar handwriting he hadn’t seen in years. The more he read the message, the wider his smile grew, until he broke out in a laugh.
“Scaramouche,” he managed between his chuckles, ”You sure haven’t changed now, have you?”
He grabbed the letter and the other contents of the bottle and walked back home silently.
Later, he would put the letter on his desk at home. In a place where it would be easy for him to see, as a reminder that his companion still remembers.
“I hope you’re doing well.
I’m guessing you still like sitting by the maple leaves in the middle of autumn.
Don’t risk your life just to send a single letter!
P. s. Dragonspine? Really? Out of all the places, your stupid bottles just had to end up there?”