Arknights story · First of A Thousand Autumns
TA-4 Small Avalanche
Wang angers Shuo by allowing Ju to escape from the Yanese army. Shuo advocates taking a proper, steady approach to fighting Sui, while Wang seeks a decisive breakthrough. Ling mediates their conflict and explains to Wang her plan to protect their siblings from Sui.
2 scenes, 372 lines
1. Before Operation
156 linesPointless obsession, pointless struggle, pointless sacrifice... you have been fearful for centuries.
You divided my awakening into hundreds of cycles, each of which is subdivided by twelve, then subdivided by thirty, and then...
You live in constant fear every minute, every second, fearing the time limit, though you do not know when it will come...
Have 'I' become so foolish and shortsighted in the span of just a few dreams?
Without a will, without a self, without someone to measure and define it, time is no more than a cycle without meaning...
As the time you spent in the tomb was.
How do you define this time, if you neither think nor feel?
How does a dream then?
A dream hysterical for its inevitable end?
The mounts, seas, and all in between shall be our master's!
Heresy!
*pant*... *pant*...
Drop your weapon and live!
Drop my weapon?
We will teach the House of Yan that Ju has awakened, and their reign is no more than a fleeting dream compared to the infinity of heaven and earth!
The mounts, seas, and all in between shall be—
Come, drink!
Sir, I'm just a humble soldier—
Don't sell yourself short!
After centuries, we've finally eliminated the last remnant from that hunt! The lands of Yan are safe now!
A toast to all of you!
Thank you, sir!
And to the two of you, of course.
Mr. Shuo inspired the troops by always being the first to charge into the fray, while Mr. Wang's tactics were utterly flawless.
The bulk of the credit for taking down Ju must go to the two of you.
A toast to you.
...Duoxie.
...
This is a rare opportunity, Mr. Wang, and there is something I must say to you.
I know of the slanders against your name in the imperial court, casting suspicions upon you because you are not one of our kind.
But you have endured such slanders and made a historic contribution to Yan. Your noble heart is admirable.
To interfere even in family reunions... the Sui Regulator's restrictions on you are unreasonable.
I will petition to His Majesty to permit your family gathering...
It's a joyful day. I consider myself a strong drinker, but it appears wine has gotten the best of me...
To tell the truth, my orders were to... keep an eye on you and make sure nothing goes wrong.
But the two of you have proven yourself... utterly loyal... most respectable!
This is as far as I go... take care!
The drunken official manages a farewell and departs, helped by his bodyguards.
A good man, but a poor spy.
Did you think about what will happen to all of us if he finds out what you did?
You are drunk.
I wish I were drunk, and all this was naught but a dream.
Why did you let the beastial Ju go?
Who is your opponent this time?
You must feel it. We all do... It is awakening, much sooner than the one thousand years that we expected.
We need help.
Did Ju promise to help you defeat Sui?
It is too weak to even protect the Shanhaizhong, and we have not gotten to that point. It is not time yet.
I told you. There are other ways to escape Its influence—
I know what you're going to say. You finally cleaned up the ties between you and It. You wanted 'Me' to no longer be 'Us', and 'We' no longer be 'It'...
And you, you sealed 'Yourself' away in the sword...
What then? Did the Sui Regulator return your sword?
We still live in shackles...
True shackles do not come from outside—
Do you really believe that everyone can be like you?
...
You remember everything and care about everything. People, events, and things from centuries past have all flowed away like the great river, but Shuo remains Shuo, always.
Not everyone can be like you...
How long would it take for Dusk to become like you? What about Yu? Do you really want Yu to be like you?
A thousand years is not enough, and we don't even have a thousand years.
We don't have time.
I'm hardly your equal in weiqi, but I know that when there is no clear path to victory in sight, it is better to play in a straightforward manner, than to attempt radical tricks without a plan.
Do you think there is no victory in this game? That you would be content with doing all the right things in an honorable defeat?
I never said that...
Your plan will have no other outcome.
What do you think we should do, then?
If you truly found a path, tell me, and I will come with you—our chances would be better that way.
Just tell me what the chances are. You can use me however you want. I would be happy to give my life.
But do you really know what you're doing?
Or has your obsession with victory blinded you to risks and consequences?
...
Tell me.
...
Say something.
...
Did you consider it?!
The proxy slams his palm on the stone table—or so he intended to.
But he has yet to adapt to his mortal vessel, and he misjudged both the strength and position.
A deep crack appears on the weiqi board that Wang always carries with him.
...
Wang, I—
Impressive, brother. This human body you created for yourself can still split boulders.
Listen to me!
No, thank you.
None of us could reach your heights, brother. You need not trouble yourself with our fates.
Wang!
What are you doing here?
Had a fight with our eldest brother? Such is written all over your face.
...
I get drunk by the roadside for a couple of hours, and the two of you are already making trouble.
If you have anything to say to him, you can say it to him directly.
...
This is not the first time you have fought over this. Can you not accept your differences?
This is a matter of life and death. It's not something that can be glossed over so easily.
Would you keep fighting, even when the end comes?
...
Run not from the words that need to be said. The longer you delay this, the greater the problem grows.
Not today.
Wang... now, now, come back—
Weiqi failure! Can you not act your age? Playing the brat in front of your younger sister?
...
Ling leads the way while Wang slowly follows behind.
They see the eldest proxy still sitting by the pavilion.
Dage. Our biggest brother.
Little Ling...
I have told you, calling me 'Little Ling' makes me feel like a child.
Sorry. Old habits die hard.
...
...
I'll fetch some good wood and make a new one for you.
Or would you prefer to keep this one? I can ask Nian or Yi to fix it, when they're here...
No need.
Oh... I recall the days when I had freshly awoken, watching you two fight amongst yourselves, time after time.
I remember the Candleholder asking me anxiously...
'How bad will it get when all your younger siblings are born? Please, give me an estimation so that I can report to the court and get a disaster response plan set up!'
Ahem.
...
An idea, Dage: Let me speak to Wang, alone.
I will serve as your messenger this time, in order that you need not break anything else.
...Very well.
So, about the weiqi board...
Just leave it, brother. I'll repair it myself. No need to trouble yourself.
Alright.
You are still angry.
I'm not.
You only address him as 'brother' when you are angry.
...
What were you arguing about? Tell me.
It is just as I thought.
His way is the proper way, but it is slow. If It were to suddenly awaken one day, it would all be too late.
As for you... *sigh*
If you want to argue with him, should you not at least come up with a plan of your own?
He gave up his sword to prove our innocence, the sword that means so very much to him. Do you feel no gratitude?
...
Are you perhaps... seriously furious that he smashed your board?
We all seek a way. Dusk has even fewer ideas. Does she anger you too?
...No.
Its awakening is accelerating. We are all anxious, and it is understandable that we might provoke the occasional quarrel with inadvertent words.
But it will take centuries for It to awaken. Maintaining a cordial relationship with Yan is the more pressing matter.
Or are you saying that I, too, lack urgency?
Your ears have merit.
It and I, we are all nothing but a dream.
This is just the seed of an idea, and I know not how far I can go.
But I hope to leave behind a dream.
A dream that It cannot disturb, even if It has fully awakened.
2. After Operation
216 lines
The right leg... almost fully polished.
I can't believe the first thing I'm doing after reforming my vessel is to die for someone else's sake...
It's time to go—
Oh, it's you.
No, you're It, but you're not It. You're... ah...
Interesting. Very interesting indeed.
How does it feel to see your old enemy split apart like this, and your old followers turned into an unruly rabble?
What enemy?
I simply had a dream that caused some delay. I managed to evade the Great Hunt before I awoke. It's not such a bad thing to die here after awakening.
But you should not kill me here quietly. You should let me die before the Yanese army. Otherwise, maniacs will keep coming, trying to die in my name.
It would be the last thing I want.
Desperate people will resort to desperate measures. You are not necessarily the reason.
I won't kill you. Quite the opposite. I can't let you die.
You want to help me instead of killing me? Interesting.
How do you intend to deal with the self-proclaimed 'Shanhaizhong'? Though it is no more than a fragment, they have indeed inherited the old carpenter's arts. They are not entirely unassociated with me.
They'll live, if you leave.
What do you mean?
The Yanese army wants you, not them. It's trivial for you to leave.
I'll help you, if you encounter any obstacles.
As for the Shanhaizhong, they'll last two more days, give or take. Ultimately, they will all die, taking a third of the Yanese army with them.
If you die for them here, they will become even more fervent and fight to the bitter end.
If you leave, they will flee, and Yan's mission will be done, so they can recall their armies.
This is the only way for you to stop the war.
You are It... no, not quite. You are ten times It in scheming and intrigue.
I would be indebted to you. What do you wish from me in return?
A piece in reserve that could perhaps come in useful. No great loss, if it never comes into play.
How do you intend to help me, when you don't know what I'm trying to do?
You would treat a Feranmut as a piece in reserve. What you're plotting must not involve mortal man. This is about yourself. Split apart, you said? How many pieces are there?
...Twelve.
Then I take it the only thing you care about is whether it is the twelve that is left, or the one.
One word of advice. One tree does not make a forest. You are defying the laws of nature. You need all the help you can get.
Ask your siblings if they've thought of any alternatives. Beings like you are not meant to be measured by normal logic and reason.
If you can find the solution, you will rid the world of a great threat...
...
We will never be truly gone, as long as my dream has not been fully worn away, as long as the twelve of us persist in my dream.
Falsehood is reality, the Great Way unfettered. Such is for all things.
It sounds to me you intend to carry the heaviest yoke of them all.
You want to drag the entire family into the instant before Sui awakes, then extend the instant into eternity in your waking dream...
How long do you think you will last?
What if I drank all the wine across all the lands?
I hope there is a less desperate way.
We were never equals to It. Desperate times call for desperate measures, do they not?
Why do you bring this up again? Of course you have your reasons for doing things, but too often you cast your eyes too far and forget the things that are near...
Wait, what do you mean?
I was asked to do so.
By whom?
Hou.
The old man's alive?
He has avoided the eye of Yan, as he does not have followers like the Shanhaizhong. He told me about Ju after I took him beyond Yanese reach.
Have you told our eldest brother?
Not yet.
You can be pretty astute, when you need to be.
I asked Hou about ideas for a way out, after I helped Him leave Yan. His words have given me thought.
'Perhaps I am not in Its dream. Perhaps It is in my dream.'
Interesting, that old man. I would love to drink with Him, if I got the chance.
The unusual activity of Sui may indicate that something is disturbing It in its dream and accelerating Its awakening.
It's merely addressing the symptoms, but if I can enter Its dream and see what the culprit is...
Risky. Are you not concerned It may awaken?
Does it really make a difference, whether It awakes in seventy years, or seven days?
What if I offer not my help?
I'll find a way.
Might this way have something to do with me? Such as, stealing something from me?
...
I will take that as a 'yea'.
...*sigh*.
Give me your word, you will not do anything too foolish in this dream.
If I violate my oath—
...
But please, do not break my heart.
Yes.
Now then, drink up. You may take the goblet with you.
Just drink?
What more do you need to dream? No ritual necessary.
The elder proxy takes the cup and downs its contents.
As vertigo overcomes him, he attempts to support his body with his arms.
The stone table beneath his elbows had turned into a mountain boulder covered in moss.
He has never seen such scenery, be it in the chaos, or after he came into the mortal realm.
He is It, but Its dreams are too complex to be closely examined one by one.
Where am I...?
A battlefield.
A battlefield of void and emptiness.
The proxy hears Feranmut roar at Feranmut, humans swing their weapons at other humans, humans swarm Feranmut, before they are suffocated, crushed, and devoured.
He hears the pained trembling of Feranmuts, as massive human weapons are locked and loaded...
But he sees nothing.
Invisible Feranmuts walk across the ground. Vegetation disappears where they tread, revealing black and yellow soil.
Invisible entities strike the mountains, cracking them and causing avalanches.
But It remains still.
It is in fear, angry, in pain, but It cannot fight back, cannot avoid it, not even let out a whimper.
The proxy takes a step back, but even the mountains are trembling in the nightmare.
He can hardly keep himself upright—
Just because you're in a dream doesn't mean you shouldn't watch your feet.
Ju wanted to come personally to help you, but His brain has a hard enough time dreaming for Himself, much less entering another's dream. I'm more suited to these things.
Lamentable, is it not, that Sui's dream has become so torn and broken... fortune and misfortune are truly two sides of the same coin.
You are in Its nightmare, and you have drawn its lines, like it or not.
Look.
Hou points in the distance, where heaven and earth melt into one. Suddenly, a black silhouette emerges from nothingness.
Feranmut.
Humanity.
Weapon.
It all seems utterly unreal, like the picture books that some Yanese soldiers carry with them.
Flip through the pages rapidly, and the pictures begin to move, as though they have been subject to Dusk's touch.
I'll awaken It?
Quite the opposite.
A nightmare does not last long. Anyone trapped in a nightmare only seeks to wake up. This silhouette at least allows It to sleep a little longer.
Then, what do you mean by fortune and misfortune being two sides of the same coin?
Hou says nothing, but Wang sees it.
At first, the images are awkward and stiff, but soon they become smooth.
Not much has changed, except for a white shadow appearing within the black silhouette.
What is that?
All twelve of you took something from Its dream. When It let Yu go, Its old dream gradually blurred, and the new dream became empty.
But what was left behind was not a void. It was a mirror, waiting to reflect the first thing that enters this dream.
That thing... that man, is you.
What is this?!
You are seeing Its nightmare, and now a reflection of you—the you who filled the void in Its dream.
You told me about the strange things that happened to your family a century ago. Now, they have all come together... but in your image.
This is Its creation, Its puppet, and... the reflection of a reflection, which It is loath to face.
It's time to go.
Go?
What else? Do you intend to kill It?
If this is the shape of the void, then killing it might destroy whatever consciousness It still retains in the dream.
Your mind is sharp, but your words are terrifying.
You could not kill Sui outside the dream. What makes you think you can kill It in the dream?
I suppose, you could try it, if you are confident that you will be able to escape unscathed.
I'm confident... that I can take it down with me.
You don't listen to what people say, do you?
I suppose I'll have to fetch someone whom you care about.
Wang?
He wants to sacrifice his own life to kill Sui in this dream.
Have you abandoned your word so soon, my second-oldest brother?
That's quite enough. It's time to bring your brother out of the dream, girl, or we'll all be in danger—
You saw the reflection, and the price was... to create an inexplicable foe for yourself in the centuries to come.
Having to face this again, you must be filled with regret.
What a terrible error. If I knew this reflection of yours could leave the dream and enter reality... I would not have left so easily.
Where are you hiding?
No matter... I will find you.
Yes. It's time to go.
Clearly unwilling to stay any longer, Hou waves His stick, and the three figures disappear...
But neither He nor Ling realizes that they have simply taken one of many weiqi stones.
The stone will shatter when they depart the dream, and Hou and Ling will not find the same hill when they attempt to return to the dream.
A black aura suddenly surrounds the proxy. The next instant, he has leapt from the cliff, into the formation of thingless things.
At the horizon, the beast-shaped silhouette seems to have been hit by something, letting out a wail that shakes the earth.
The grey-white tide of humans outlined by black lines quickly swallows the Feranmut's silhouette and rushes toward the proxy.
In the distance, it looked like a thin line; up close, the raging tide obscures the heavens.
Black armor, plain robes, iron swords, pale bows.
Yanese equipment from a thousand years ago in black and white, like an uncolored draft, surrounding the proxy.
The first soldier charges at the proxy. A spear carrying the afterimage of Arts rushes towards the proxy's throat. The proxy cleaves it in two.
Bring it on!
He shouts.
The army in Sui's dream pauses for an instant...
Then, they rush towards him, like a river that his words had frozen for an instant.
What's going on?
M-Mr. Shuo...
You're Ling's Candleholder? Where is she?
As he speaks, a claw the size of a mountain is brought down upon Shuo.
Shuo swings his fist. Heaven and earth tremble.
Its attack foiled, the Sui beast turns its attention to the other side, at the enormous weapon that has just been assembled, not even taking the time to lick its bleeding wounds.
We can't stop It...
Half the Imperial Guard have fallen, along with the Yumen troops that had been deployed to the Tomb of Sui...
We have mobilized every soldier in the four cities around Baizao. We can only hope, before It destroys the next city...
Where is Wang... where is he?!
What use is there in looking for him?
Ling took the others into a dream to protect them when Sui awoke. You led the army to fight Sui... who else could have awakened It, other than the great offender?
The... offender...
Dage!
Ling?!
You should not be here! Or has the dream already...?
Ling's eyes are closed. The dream has yet to end.
Even in the dream, however, she and the other siblings in it can feel Its presence, so very near now.
It has come to this...
...A fight to the death, it is.
Shuo is awake. He draws his sword, which has not yet tasted blood.
In the dream, Ling points her lantern at the body of the bestial Sui.
The bestial Sui turns around, towards the beings born of Itself—
Yet just before everyone on the battlefield—every human and every beast—could plunge into the coming slaughter, a bloody, black figure appears behind the bestial Sui.
Caught you.
You—
Through dreams in dreams infinite, all of me and all of us are here. There is nowhere for you to go.
You wouldn't dare! Kill me, and you will be destroyed, as will all your family—
Wang does not answer. He lunges forward with his sword and impales the throat of his own reflection, which he had pursued through dreams far too numerous to count.
Strange scenes from countless dreams gush from the wound.
Mountains, Feranmuts, armies... white dreams boil and roil between heaven and earth, and a white mist, fever-hot like fresh blood, wraps around the army and proxy outside the dreams, even the Feranmut.
Only when the white figure falls to the ground do the others see that two bodies lie upon the ground, all life gone from them.
One was Wang. The other was exactly like Wang, but not even death could wipe the malice from his face—no one knew who he was.
Ling?!
As the two bodies fall, Ling and her siblings in the dream vanish into nothingness.
Ling!
The bestial Sui wails with the last proxy.
You're still trying to daunt me with illusions... it will not succeed.
'Who could see a gulper of cups, become now a sorrowful drunk?'
Ling would never say that, not even with the end upon us.
...How many of your stones sacrificed, this time?
Go on, count.
You may think that I don't have many stones left, but how much is left of your memories?
Not much.
But perhaps you have forgotten something.
Did you really think a few fragments, split from a mere one-twelfth, could possibly stand against me—the whole that was born alongside this entire land?
Remember?
Your last failure was the same as this.