Peace In Pandori

By Sejal Aarunya

“Hey, kid! What are you doing here? Go away,” shouted an up-lander. On hearing the voice, Axour turned around to look who it was and then ran. He ran not because he was scared but because he was not keen on the idea of being caught by one of the nasty land people, so he ran away.

Axour was in the clan of water people and recently there had been a lot conflicts and issues going on between both the sides. He had been seeing dozens of land people around his home every single day since the month began. 

The water people had skins of either blue or green colour. They were just about three feet and had a single eye in the middle of their head. They wore robes made from pearls, oysters, and weeds. The water people were mermaids and mermen but they could convert themselves when they wanted to talk to the land people. However, it was a rare event as both the communities rarely talked and had a peaceful agreement. 

But recently, there were arguments going on between both the sides. The land people accused that the merfolk were trying to invade their land and even rob them of their goods.          

The merfolk found it startling - Why would they even think of invading a place as filthy and dirty as their land? As for the stealing part, barely a couple of people went to the city in a month and that to just because they had been called upon. Even after listening to all these facts the land folk was not ready to agree and stood their ground. 

This was the beginning of the end of peace on Pandori (the mythical planet where these people lived). The heads of both these tribes started meeting frequently, although to no avail, since the intensity of the conflict just kept increasing with every meeting.

Back to Axour, he had wandered towards the land people’s territory because he had seen something unusual moving towards that direction when it suddenly disappeared altogether. He tried to look for it but in vain when one of the land people arrived.

Axour thought the land people rather horrible looking, they were dwarves and had a rather rough manner. They were clever and he even heard that they ate fishes and disgraced the mighty Varuna, instead they prayed to “Bhumi.” It was the second time he came on land, and it was a rather frightful experience for him. 

Just when Axour stopped running, he suddenly heard a thud sound in the same direction from where he had just run. Now, he was in two minds although it was a little away from the main town, there was a chance he might encounter another dwarf. Nevertheless, in the end curiosity got the better of him and he decided to go back on the same path.

He soon reached there, and he was sure of it, that it was the same mysterious thing he had seen in the sky earlier. No one was around, but he could hear a faint sound calling for help. He soon discovered the source of the voice; it was coming from the spaceship. It took a little searching but, in the end, he found the person. With a little struggle, Axour managed to pull him out of the space-ship.

He then had a good look of him, the person was not exactly a dwarf but he was certainly not a member of his own clan either. Surprised and shocked, he asked, “Who are you, stranger? I have never seen a person of your clan. What brings you to Pandori?”

The stranger himself looked startled “Pandori? Wherever is that?” he asked. Axour replied, “The land you are standing on right now is the land of Pandori. And I am Axour, a member of the merfolk. But,” he questioned again, “but who are you?” 

The stranger replied, “I am Ishaan, and I am human. I came here from Earth. I was in my space ship when we got hit by a meteoroid and lost balance. And I ended up landing here.” Axour was surprised to hear this, “What is a human? We only have dwarves and merfolk on our planet.” Now it was Ishaan’s turn to be surprised, “For real? Mermaids and mermen and dwarves really exist?” Then he sneezed. Axour got a little concerned as sneezes were rare below the water and he told him to quickly follow him home. Although, even that could not be done because, of course without proper gear it was unsafe for him to go in deep water. They decided that he could just stay near the river and he would get something for him. 

On their way, they met a female dwarf. She was shocked to see Ishaan, but her anger towards Axour was greater and shouted at them to leave. Ishaan found it weird and asked, “Are dwarves as bad as that?” Axour told him all about the recent conflicts and how things used to be in earlier times. “I do not have a high opinion of these folks. One of them might do it and then put the blame on us,” Axour added with a face as black as thunder. The hatred in his eyes was something that startled Ishaan. 

He grew quiet after that and thought a way out of it. If it was one of the land folks, who was it? And why are they doing it at all? It was puzzling but he wanted his unpredicted trip to Pandori fruitful for everyone and help them solve this issue. That is when they reached the river bank, where merfolk’s empire began. Axour told him it would take him a while before he came back since he would have to talk to his parents about this matter and then bring the best food possible for him. He agreed and mentally decided that this was the best time for him to reach the bottom of this conflict.

Ishaan felt a surge of different emotions when he saw Axour transforming, but, he did not have much time to lose and started running back to the same direction immediately. He soon reached a market place, and he was thankful that not many dwarves were paying attention. 

He chose to move towards a corner when he saw a member of merfolk, quite like Axour, so he moved closer to him to talk. But on getting closer he realised it was a dwarf, disguised in a merman’s robe. He quietly looked at him and silently drew the attention to the closest dwarf near him. The disguised dwarf was trying to steal! When the other dwarf noticed him, he quickly caught hold of the disguised dwarf and exposed him in front of the whole market.

The people soon realised what was going on and the word soon got around. The dwarf who caught the disguised one, complimented and asked Ishaan about him. Ishaan told the dwarf all about his unexpected landing, from where he came and how he was rescued by Axour. The dwarf got a little suspicious when briefed on Axour but he managed to convince them and slowly but steadily the real reason of the theft was revealed all around to the land people. The older dwarves reminisced about older times and proposed that both the communities need to learn to co-exist peacefully.

That is when Ishaan silently left and made it back to Axour to tell him all about it. But strangely, he already knew all about it. He was the son of one of the ministers and had got to know about it almost as soon as the event took place. 

Ishaan now got a little concerned about how to go home, but he was amazed to see his space ship safely and in a well condition nearby. Axour had got it repaired as a token of gratitude for all his help. Ishaan and Axour shook hands and the former took one of their robes back home as a souvenir of his travel to Pandori. Although he never told about it to anyone except his parents, it was a voyage he would never forget nor about the precious pearly robe.

By Sejal Aarunya