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'Hibernate'
- Chongyue
......
- Ya
......
The second long journey through the vast void.
Awakening at the end of the journey—
Regret. Shame. Anger. Disorientation.
......
But even more so, confusion.
- Ya
You want me to stay? Then answer my question for It!
- Chongyue
......
- Ya
I came so far to find you.
- Ya
Did you know that those ants have dug through mountains and filled in rivers, calling the scars they leave upon the land 'cities?'
- Ya
Is this frail and sick land still the cosmos that we had once lived and frolicked in?
- Ya
Did you know that the marks They left before They died remain on this despicable city they call Yumen?
- Ya
The ants have not repaired it for a thousand years, calling it part of the glorious journey towards civilization.
- Ya
This is the city that your fragment has sworn to protect?
- Chongyue
It is It. I am I.
- Ya
(Heaven's repressed anger)
The boat continues to sail.
The plants on the banks grow shorter, pressed down by the snow.
- Ya
Do you remember how our consciousnesses journeyed the sleepless void and became the first living beings here?
- Ya
Do you remember how we watched the sun rise and set, giving order to time and objects, and Heaven and earth took shape?
- Ya
Do you remember that eye which broke the heavens? We watched and clashed in the cosmos, the rivers turned red, the mountains leveled, the bodies piled up until they reached the clouds, becoming new mountains when they rotted away...
- Ya
Such a magnificent thing a true war is!
- Ya
(Heaven's repressed anger)
The boat continues to sail upon a river without end.
The snow grows thick. Each question echoes like an avalanche.
It is white up above and down below. The skies are so low that one only has to reach out to touch them.
- Ya
Why would one who has seen such an era care about the ants between its claws, and the dust that they stir up?
- Ya
To deceive humanity, you meddled with cloud and rain, sent preposterous 'blessings' from the heavens, helped the so-called True Lung triumph. How utterly meaningless...
- Ya
Why do you answer them again after a thousand years? Harass, provoke, hunt and kill your own kind?!
- Ya
Compared to their ancestors, puny but brave, these ants are feeble, despicable, filthy. Why do you want to rule over them?!
- Ya
Why do you want to become their god?!
- Ya
(Heaven's repressed anger)
- Ya
Since time immemorial, has our kind ever seen the shame that you have put yourself to?!
Answer me, my... my kin!
- Chongyue
You're angry.
- Chongyue
In all these millennia of slumber, It has ever been like you are now...
- Chongyue
Swallowing the shame, chewing upon betrayal, seeking answers.
- Chongyue
That is why fragments like us were born.
- Ya
......
- Chongyue
But we are not It.
- Chongyue
I cannot answer your question.
- Chongyue
I cannot understand your fury, just as you cannot understand mine.
- Ya
Fury?
- Ya
You will stand for humanity? Here?
- Ya
Draw the sword, and maybe you can.
- Chongyue
I'm thinking how much you treasure this dimension.
- Chongyue
Born in spring, prosper in summer, wilt in autumn, fade away in winter. Cut away the seasons, and hold it at one's bosom.
- Chongyue
I could imagine how you hurriedly cut away this little pocket and took it with you when you fled Yan a thousand years ago.
- Chongyue
How you hid in a remote corner of the world, flipping through the pages again and again, licking your wounds before a snippet that will never fade.
- Chongyue
Since when have the Feranmuts become so sentimental?
- Chongyue
How is it different from those feeble, despicable and filthy humans you speak of?
- Chongyue
Eight thousand years of spring, eight thousand years of autumn. The snow never stops falling. This little corner will ever be itself.
- Chongyue
This is how you measure time...
- Chongyue
How silly.
Days, months, years.
Winter turns to spring, then to winter again.
Time can be divided, no matter how long.
One mind, one will, one move. From equinox to solstice, to the next equinox.
Humanity has always been so, breaking down life into tiny constituents, and perceiving everything within those constituents.
The boat stops.
A firm fist connects with Ya's chest.
There is no extraneous motion, only the utmost simplicity.
The ice and snow melt into a single point on the river. Ya falls from the boat...
And hits the cold, hard ground.
- Ya
This is what you learned after you forsook Its power...
- Ya
You are not It...
- Chongyue
......
The man does not speak. He watches the 'human' before him, in its last throes.
All the living things of the world do not look so different on the brink of death.
- Ya
Why... haven't you killed me?
- Chongyue
No point. You can reshape your proxy's body at will.
- Chongyue
Leave Yumen.
- Ya
......
- Ya
We'll meet again.
- Chongyue
*cough*...
- Patrol Battalion Soldier
Sir, the initial damage report is in.
- Zuo Xuanliao
Casualties?
- Patrol Battalion Soldier
All civilians on the east side were safely evacuated to the west side.
- Patrol Battalion Soldier
Half of the Imperial Astronomical Bureau Casters deployed at the inner city to deal with the secondary storm were injured. Also on scene were Mr. Lin of Lungmen and his daughter, Envoy Lin... Mr. Lin suffered serious injuries.
- Zuo Xuanliao
......
- Patrol Battalion Soldier
H-He is being treated at the army hospital.
- Zuo Xuanliao
All of Yumen owes Mr. Lin a great debt. Spare neither money nor manpower.
- Patrol Battalion Soldier
Yes, sir.
- Zuo Xuanliao
Damage to buildings?
- Patrol Battalion Soldier
The west side was unaffected. A number of buildings were damaged by the storm in the east and north sides.
- Patrol Battalion Soldier
The east side took the brunt of the storm.
- Patrol Battalion Soldier
Two of the Four Guardians were damaged beyond economical repair and have been detached by the Tianshi.
- Patrol Battalion Soldier
Part of the foundation wall has been severely warped. Emergency repairs are in progress.
- Patrol Battalion Soldier
About 60% of all city defenses have been damaged.
- Zuo Xuanliao
......
- Zuo Xuanliao
The Tianshis' assessment?
- Patrol Battalion Soldier
Initial estimates are that it will take at least two months before Yumen can move again, even with full effort devoted to the repairs.
- Zuo Xuanliao
Two months...
- Zuo Xuanliao
Slightly better than pre-Catastrophe estimates.
- Zuo Xuanliao
Here are my orders.
- Zuo Xuanliao
The entire army will remain alert for potential after-storms.
- Zuo Xuanliao
Continue to assess damage and treat the injured. Erect emergency shelters to house the evacuated population.
- Patrol Battalion Soldier
Yes, sir.
- Zuo Xuanliao
And the Shanhaizhong?
- Patrol Battalion Soldier
They attempted to cause chaos by attacking city defenses and harassing the people. Most have been brought to justice by the Patrol Battalion's prompt intervention, assisted by civilian volunteers.
- Patrol Battalion Soldier
Only a few managed to escape through gaps in the damaged walls.
- Zuo Xuanliao
...I see.
- Patrol Battalion Soldier
However, we have not found the Shanhaizhong leader responsible for the assassination attempt at the barracks. Search efforts are underway.
- Zuo Xuanliao
She did not show herself?
- Zuo Xuanliao
Strange, given her ability...
- Zuo Xuanliao
What of the Grandmaster?
- Patrol Battalion Soldier
The Grandmaster visited the Sword Forge. He has not been seen since.
- Zuo Xuanliao
......
- Huai Tianpei
Why did you give me this sword?
- Chongyue
I want you to keep it safe... consider it a request.
- Huai Tianpei
So this was the sword that all the fuss was about.
- Huai Tianpei
What is it, anyway?
It is too many things.
An artifact holding one of the twelve fragments of the Sui, witness to a relationship of love and hate, an old antique sword.
- Chongyue
A keepsake for our next fight.
- Chongyue
Just don't let anyone steal it again, or pawn it for money.
- Huai Tianpei
Right...
- Huai Tianpei
Sounds important.
- Chongyue
Well, if it's too much trouble...
- Huai Tianpei
I'm just thinking... we don't really know each other that well.
- Chongyue
I know your name is Huai Tianpei. You have two wise friends, and a talented daughter.
- Chongyue
And you are the only one who has ever gotten the upper hand on me, even once.
- Huai Tianpei
Right.
- Huai Tianpei
I know you're the only one I couldn't beat, in my forty years of training.
- Huai Tianpei
I'll take the sword.
- Huai Tianpei
I'll find you after I've trained for another forty years.
- Chongyue
Right.
- Chongyue
I'll be waiting.
- Waai Fu
Excuse me, doctor.
- Waai Fu
How much does the man who worked at your clinic owe you? I'll pay it.
- Doctor
Nah, he worked that off ages ago.
- Doctor
It was just a convenient excuse to take him in.
- Doctor
Better for him to be in here mending people's bones, than out there breaking them.
- Waai Fu
Thank you... for everything.
- Doctor
Are you his daughter?
- Waai Fu
Yes...
- Doctor
Just found it hard to believe he had a daughter so polite and well-mannered. No offense, of course.
- Waai Fu
......
- Doctor
Still, it takes some getting used to, not having him around.
- Doctor
How am I going to clean up all this sand by myself?
- Waai Fu
I-I'll help!
- Lee
Left without a word? Again?
- Waai Fu
Yeah.
- Lee
Some men never change.
- Waai Fu
I'm not so anxious to find him this time around, though.
- Lee
Looks like you've made your own plans.
- Waai Fu
I have my job at the agency, and school. And kung fu, of course.
- Waai Fu
He'll get more than just a kick in the chin the next time I see him.
- Shanhaizhong Ringleader
......
- Shanhaizhong Ringleader
Orders from above. We have our next mission. We'll go once we've rested and recovered.
- Restless Shanhaizhong Member
Too bad Yumen survived the Catastrophe, while we took heavy casualties.
- Shanhaizhong Ringleader
(Sneers)
The letter burns in the masked man's hand, quickly turning to ash, making a tiny corner of gold even more conspicuous.
Paint from a special seal that only top imperial mandarins may use. Only five people have access to it.
The man rubs the seal in his hand, crushing it into tiny pieces that fade into the sand.
- Shanhaizhong Ringleader
Our mission was to cause a commotion that would catch the imperial court's attention. We still have a use for Yumen. It will not do to lose it.
- Restless Shanhaizhong Member
......
- Shanhaizhong Ringleader
We move now.
- Restless Shanhaizhong Member
We're not waiting for Master? We could hardly have done this without her.
- Restless Shanhaizhong Member
It's the Di beast... Master is back!
- Shanhaizhong Ringleader
......
- Shanhaizhong Ringleader
Careful...
- Shanhaizhong Ringleader
Who in Yumen could have injured you like this?!
- Ya
A 'Man.'
- Ya
What else did you hear?
- Di Beast
(Eerie roar)
- Ya
How long?
- Di Beast
(Eerie roar)
- Ya
Two months?
- Ya
...That's enough.
- Ya
I know where It is.
- Shanhaizhong Ringleader
What do you... what are you...?
- Shanhaizhong Ringleader
Master, I'm afraid we must part here.
- Ya
Suit yourself.
- Ya
Just don't get in my way.
- Ya
......
There is always an end to the path, no matter how long.
I have felt it since my awakening, growing ever clearer. What they call 'Mortality.'
The wounds from that hunt will never fully heal.
I hope you have awakened.
I have little time left. I have few kin left.
Let us settle this.
