Arknights story · Operator Records
One Last Bolt Towards the Mountains
On the day that the memorial to the victims is unveiled, Joanna comes into possession of her father's effects, and realizes that the circumstances surrounding her father's death were not as simple as she thought.
1 scenes, 183 lines
1. Interlude
183 linesThat morning, a Kjerag breeze drifted free of the bonds of the mortal plane.
It greeted the mountains gently, with the peace that She perceives.
Though they no longer walk the earth, Her embrace continues to console the tired departed.
Though they no longer bathe in the sun with Her, they have chosen to become the snow that falls.
Praise unto Her, as we praise the spirit of the departed in their final moment.
Revere Her as you would if all your ancestors were standing before you.
She has granted us the opportunity of farewell, to wipe away the tears and close the wounds.
Wipe away the pain and fear that we have never known.
In the name of kindness, happiness, reverence, and all things beautiful, She will walk with them.
And She will weep with us.
...
A week has passed since the Catastrophe.
A memorial to the victims has been erected near the site of the train station that was destroyed.
Children kneel alongside the adults, wearing their most formal attire and holding flowers.
'By Kjeragandr...' the crowd murmurs in prayer. The clerics pull away the cloth covering the monument, revealing the names etched upon it.
At last... I pray for the departed with my whole heart, that they may slumber with the mountains in Kjeragandr's embrace...
In the distance, the normally boisterous marketplace is completely silent. Joanna puts her hands together in prayer.
She closes her eyes, and the past comes rushing back...
'You don't want to see pain and death. Your bow is aimed at the prey, but there is hesitation in your heart. You're afraid of the consequences.'
'What will you see, if your eyes are covered?'
'The harvest promised by Kjeragandr. She steadies your arm so that you will kill with one shot. Kjeragandr has settled their fates.'
'But I will not allow this fate to befall you, though She puts you through the trials of pain.'
'You'll get better, you will... if She does not reveal Her will, then I'll promise on Her behalf that we'll always be together.'
The air exhaled by the people in the crowd turns into white vapors. The market is beginning to look lively again, now that the storm has passed.
Joanna wanders through the town after the unveiling ceremony.
A small beast follows in its master's footsteps, dodging dirty puddles in order to keep its paws clean.
Don't run around, Rift Cloudbeast. Too many people here.
I know you're hungry. We'll eat after we're done here.
A bit of yellow on here, make the colors brighter and more appealing. The ceiling needs to be painted too.
Take the wooden sculptures into the basement. These things are getting rare now that there aren't any suppliers anymore. Gotta raise the prices.
The new sign will take five days?
Get it done soon! New tourists are coming soon...
The letter says it's around here... where is it?
Hang it here, the door! This bolt's from Mr. Grisha, it needs to be front and center.
This bolt...
It's father's—
Hello! Is that one of our leaflets I see in your hand? Come inside! We're still doing renovations on the shop, but the goods are good and ready to be sold at favorable prices.
I got a letter from the owner of this shop. Are you the owner?
I'm Grisha's daughter.
Ah, I remember now... yes, I think I did send it...
It said my father left some things here.
Is this bolt part of it?
Ah... Mr. Grisha asked me to give it to you, but the address he left was vague and I wasn't sure you'd get the letter, so I had to hang it out like this.
This isn't an ordinary bolt. It's used by the hunters to communicate messages about prey. The little tube on the shaft can hold a slip of paper.
You shouldn't hang it here. Our family didn't make it to be displayed to other people.
Sure, sure, as you wish.
What else did he leave behind?
A box of hides, a package, and... I'm not sure about the specifics.
Come with me. They're in the basement.
'Use your breath and let cold sharpen your focus rather than fight it.'
'Kjeragandr will grant you your prey as you focus. There is no need to think about the result of the shot. It is in Her hands.'
'Dad can't be with you forever. You must learn to communicate with Her, and listen to Her even in the toughest of times.'
'She watches over all hunters. Even if... even if She's silent, we must call to Her and wake Her, and we must not be afraid to disturb Her.'
'I know it's not easy, Joanna. But we'll take it one step at a time...'
Here's all Mr. Grisha's stuff.
I tucked it away in this partition where no one would notice. You'll have to turn sideways to get in.
This is...
...Father's crossbow? This weapon was very important to him. He never let anyone who wasn't a family member touch it.
It took a long time for him to make the decision to give it to me before he left.
This box of hides, too. We hunted for them together when I was little. He always took good care of it.
Why would he...
Maybe Mr. Grisha was planning to retire from hunting?
He stopped delivering goods to us a little while back. He gave me this stuff when I asked what was going on.
What a shame. He was always our best supplier. We often ran out of the wooden sculptures, and now we don't have many left.
Maybe he wanted to sell more traditional Kjerag crafts to the outside for your sake, given that things were kind of turbulent at the time...
Wait... you said he stopped working with you? When?
A week before the Catastrophe, I think.
Strange. He often told me he was going out to deliver stuff around that time...
See? It's like I said...
But why would he leave this stuff here?
(Purrs)
The Rift Cloudbeast seems to have found something interesting. It approaches the box of hides and begins fiddling with the hides.
Oh, I forgot to give you something to eat. Here.
What's that? You don't like it?
Ignoring the food, the Rift Cloudbeast sniffs the box of hides, then abruptly backpedals, almost tripping over itself.
What is it? You look like you just smelled an enemy...
Is it these hides?
Joanna examines the hides at the top. There is a hole in it, a relic from when her aim was less sure.
A shame. The quality was excellent...
The next one she picks out is from the middle of the box. The hide is flawless, the fur on it fine and delicate.
Her father hunted it using her weapon for the first time, proving to her that she could achieve the same.
Finally, at the bottom of the box, something feels cool to the touch...
Joanna pulls out a bare, furless beasthide from the box. It came from an old beast that was very sick. Joanna remembers mourning it all night when it died.
Wait, is this...
...a map?
'Kjeragandr on high...'
'Your children believe in you and put hope in you, even when times are at their hardest...'
'But my child's illness has only gotten worse. She takes more and more medicine by the day. Why would you condemn a pious child to such a fate?'
'I do not want to be pitied, but the efforts of man are futile. She only has me, and I only have you, Kjeragandr.'
'Is she not one of your children? What sin has she committed, that you would punish her as such? What do you want us to do? I want an answer, from you, from the mountains.'
'Why do we worship you from one generation to the next, if you are not there for the pious?'
'If your revelation is indeed so cruel... then I have no choice but to trust only myself.'
You should take this stuff, young lady. This contraband's too hot for my shop.
This isn't an ordinary map. Stuff like this was found in various places around the city around the time when the Victorian Army came.
I find all sorts of stuff in this basement that I don't even remember collecting. By Kjeragandr, I swear She's punishing me for my greed...
They found a bunch of this stuff in the clothing shop on the next street. They were suspected of harboring spies and they haven't reopened yet...
You mean... my father left these things behind because he was part of the Victorian operation?
That's none of my business. I'm not gonna speculate on it. Mr. Grisha sold stuff that we bought, and that's as far as our relationship goes.
No... that's impossible... he would never turn away from Kjeragandr's teachings and betray Kjerag...
He would never do such a thing...
Hard to say. Maybe Mr. Grisha was framed, maybe he just made a mistake. Anyway...
There were a lot of people from Kjerag who... ah, you know what, forget I ever said anything.
...
Joanna fights back tears. She wants to prove her father's innocence, but she has no evidence.
About my father... could you keep it quiet?
Of course. We don't want to be caught up in those rumors either. If anyone asks, you never came here.
Here, take the things.
Joanna walks through the market absent-mindedly, as though she is in an empty room.
She passes by the monument with her father's name etched on it, but could not bring herself to gaze upon it. It is as though a veil of untruth has been pulled over his passing.
Grisha, her father, devoted to Kjeragandr.
He whose faith should have been unshakeable may have betrayed Kjerag.
She does not have the strength to pull away the veil.
I saw the man push those kids out of the station moments before it collapsed. I was standing just a few meters from the place.
And then it was the sound you heard. I saw him praying to Kjeragandr as the roof fell on him.
By Kjeragandr... why do bad things always happen to good people...
This Catastrophe made me wonder if Kjeragandr always protects Kjerag.
Perhaps She needs to rest from time to time. Perhaps She laments like all of us. Perhaps we're asking too much.
Is it too much to ask to live? If I were there myself, maybe I would have...
Don't say maybe. I know I couldn't do it.
By Kjeragandr...
The streets in the distance buzz with activity; Joanna's heart is filled with noise too.
The only thing she knows for sure is that her father set upon this path because of her illness.
If abandoning Kjeragandr can cure me, then I'm the one who's guilty.
Perhaps she should be angry. In her heart she wanted to shout, 'You're not worthy to be my father,' but all she feels is self-blame.
I wish I could forgive your blasphemy, but I can't.
But I can't hate you either. I have no right to.
Perhaps I'll find your confession in the bolt that you left behind, but those pieces of evidence make it impossible for me to see you clearly.
She looks up at her father's name on the monument. It seems so glaring, as though it belongs to someone else.
She takes out the bolt and runs its head over her father's name.
Rift Cloudbeast licks her cheeks, and she feels a sliver of warmth from reality.
Hello.
Can I pet it?
...Who are you?
Stop fooling around. Mom and dad said our savior's name is on this rock. Let's look for it.
The children stand on tiptoes and look up at the monument.
It's too tall, I can't read it. Can you take a look for us?
Who are you looking for?
What was his name again... Grisha?
Yeah, that's right.
Are you sure that's the name of the one who saved you?
The children nod, their eyes sincere.
What's going on?
I think I found it! Over here... But what's with all the marks on it?
What are you doing?
Joanna pauses and drops the bolt in her hand.
Why are you marking Mr. Grisha's name like that?
Joanna comes to her senses and sees the confusion in the children's eyes.
I... I came to look for Mr. Grisha's name too. I wanted to mark it...
Mr. Grisha pushed you out too? But we didn't see you there.
No... I just knew Mr. Grisha.
How did Mr. Grisha save you?
It was during the Catastrophe. The adults were all praying, so we prayed too, but he shouted at us to get out.
We were scared... and then he ran up to us and pushed us out.
I lost a front tooth when I fell.
What happened next?
Then... the station fell over, and Mr. Grisha was gone.
The adults say Mr. Grisha has returned to Kjeragandr's embrace. We're going up the mountain to pray for him in a few days.
Do you know Mr. Grisha? Do you want to come with us?
Joanna takes the children's warm hands and embraces them.
Thank you for telling me... I will.
Warmth returns to her face.
Her father's tombstone, covered with snow, overlooks the valley with the surrounding trees.
'Dad will find a way to make you better, my girl. Trust me...'
'I must pretend to have abandoned Kjeragandr completely, in order to overcome my regrets for working with them, and find the money to treat you.'
'I will accept any punishment that She has for me...'
Joanna listens to her inner voice. Perhaps her father would have said those words, if he were still alive.
Father... you must have spent a long time struggling with yourself.
Maybe this is just how things are. Good things don't always happen, even after doing our best, even with Kjeragandr's blessings.
Her father's bolt is plunged into the ground. Inside the tube sits a secret between father and daughter.
No matter what you wanted to say to me at the end, I'll understand...
I know how hard it must have been for you to write this, whether you wrote it to confess your sins, or to tell me about your hardships...
She hears scattered voices in the distance. The courage that she mustered to face her father is interrupted by children's laughter.
Get back here! Any more trouble from you, and you're grounded in the prayer room for the rest of the day!
Line up now and be good. Now, let's practice the hymns again...
The sound of young voices singing is pleasant to the ear. Her father earned the song with his life.
A fowlbeast on the branches takes flight in surprise. Joanna pulls out her father's bolt.
Kjeragandr on high, I know you haven't abandoned my father, or our family.
He carried out your will, so that these lives may continue.
Perhaps... I don't need to apologize to you on his behalf in order to prove my faith.
But please, forgive my weakness... I cannot bring myself to bear witness to his pain and regret...
Joanna takes the bolt and nocks it onto the crossbow that his father made for her.
By Kjeragandr... let this be his final confession.
She fires her father's bolt in the direction of the mountains.