Beware Of Chicken

Tianlan was so happy when she managed to finish the road. She pulled off her yellow helmet and wiped her brow, staring with pride at her construction. It had been hard work, but she had managed it. Forging ahead of her Connected One, instead of having to catch up to him. Also, she got to see her little ones who had been missing for a while, out of her web. Her people.

Tigu, Ri Zu, Gou Ren and Yun Ren. Perhaps even the grass girl, who felt… familiar, sometimes. Hers. It was good to feel them again after days of building. She carefully guided the little cracks of gold, taking care to avoid the bulk of the sleeping energy under the mountain. Some of her energy bled and touched the mountain, causing it to stir… but it didn’t do more than sluggishly churn, not trying to touch her.

She breathed a sigh of relief as nothing happened and ruffled Chun Ke’s mane. Her touch caressed what was hers, spreading out along golden cracks. They were safe and whole. Smiling, she let out a breath as the energy she had been using to create the connections dispersed back down the link she had with her Connected One. He felt very tired. So she gave some of herself back, perking him up, so he could get here and play with his friends—

And then, there was terror. She plunged down the link from Tigu.

What was hers was in danger. Tianlan tried to push Qi down the link, but the newly built roads were still too fragile - they were not meant to have such power coursing through them. They would need to be bigger.

But to make them bigger, she would have to touch the mountain. She would feel it. The ball of memories and screaming pain within.

More fear came down her link. More determination. What was hers was fighting. Hurting.

Chun Ke was there, a stable rock against her back. Tianlan swallowed thickly. She would not stand for it.

She strengthened the connections. The little gold roads thickened and surged, burrowing into a rotting piece of herself.

It was like a spike was driven into her skull.

Memories. Remembrance. Pain.

She fell to her knees and grabbed at her eye, screaming as the thoughts surged and threatened to overwhelm her.

She did not let them. She had to help. She shoved her own Qi down the connections. Tiny golden cracks in their souls, proof of their bonds, opened up. It was a bare trickle of power that she could give them, but it did its work, reinforcing their bodies and letting them fight long past when they should have fallen over exhausted.

Her Connected One’s strides grew in length, covering the distance of a hundred steps with every one he took, pulling him towards her along a golden road.

Her people held the line. Moment by agonizing moment. She felt the little Blade of Grass burn. She felt Tigu’s turmoil, screaming as she forced her body back into its original form.

And then Her Connected One arrived.

His resolve burned. Tianlan could feel his determination shining through her, along with his sorrow. The disgusting, wriggling thing that had been attacking the grass girl stood before her Connected One. It was a cancer that needed to be excised, if one that felt oddly familiar.

Her Connected One asked. His Qi brushing up against hers.

Tianlan answered.

Her head pounded with the sudden influx of memories rampaging through her, but she managed to hold off sinking into oblivion.

Just a little longer. She had to help her Connected One.

She gave of herself without hesitation, Wood and Earth mingling together. She spoke the old, old words, blending together with her Connected One’s movements. Gold burned in the darkness, flooding everything with light.

‘And so the great Ancestor, Shennong, commanded his disciple in the ways of preparing the fields. Till the land. Cut down the trees. Divert the waters—’

Old memories. Old pain. The feeling of being drained. Tianlan sang it. Tianlan screamed it as the two of them put their all into the blow.

[Break the Rocks]

And then, nothing at all.

“Something for all of us. A place for music, culture, and arts. A place to see our future defenders,” a man said with conviction, staring at the mountain that had been split in two by his struggle.

The thousands behind him nodded their heads.

“Let's get to work,” he commanded.

When Tianlan returned to consciousness the first thing she felt was an old sensation.

Exhaustion. Bone deep, weary exhaustion. It was something that Tianlan knew all too well. She knew it so well that it was a return to normalcy.

She reached to her chest to pull down the rags that were her clothes… though this time with both hands. She stared at the new limb. Where before there was a stump of gold, there now was cracked flesh. The gold was dull. It had lost its luster. But… to her surprise, no new wounds had opened up. The Qi of her Connected One had held fast, binding her wounds closed.

She glanced around at her surroundings. It looked like a dilapidated bedroom. There was an ancient stone bedframe, bare of any covers.

It felt familiar—

Another spike of pain pressed through her head. She grimaced and walked towards the door.

The hall was… ancient. It was filled with levers, pipes and machinery.

Her hands ghosted along pathways and mechanisms. Some powered on, but those... Those were in the minority. Most stayed dark. Some, when they turned on, tried to move, only to break themselves completely.

Tianlan grimaced as the knowledge of how these worked once more assaulted her, and she shook her head to clear the haze.

She clambered out of the depths of the mountain. The Earthly Arena, the Palace of the—

She cut the thought off as she grabbed her head, alone in the darkness. Until a snout touched her.

Chun Ke chuffed happily at her. He grinned, taking some of the pain she felt into himself like he always did. Bearing some of her nightmares to give her a modicum of peace.

Shaking, she pressed her forehead to his nose and climbed onto his back.

Chun Ke needed no other direction. He cantered out of the old hallways, rising back into the sun so she could feel her other ones. They were safe. She breathed a sigh of relief.

Well, most of them. She could feel Xiulan still on fire. For a moment, she considered leaving the girl. The overly familiar woman who dared to trespass again and again… but the others would be sad if she died.

And Chun Ke had already started trotting in the girl’s direction.

The girl had grown on Tianlan as well. Like a mushroom.

Tianlan took a breath as they arrived at the connection. It was hot to the touch. Tianlan slid off the boar’s back and pressed into it.

In a field full of ashes, the girl danced a familiar dance. Something Tianlan could remember, would always remember, no matter how broken she was. It was something she had loved.

Her feet touched the ground and the two of them danced together. The girl danced well. She had learned to cast off the rigid, wrong forms.

The mushroom had learned. She no longer felt… wrong. Tianlan could feel her resolve to give her life for the little ones. It was enough.

Tianlan joined her. It always felt so right, dancing with the girl. Though having to teach her felt wrong. For some reason Tianlan always felt she should have been the better of the two of them. But there was none of that hesitation now.

Xiulan danced, the lessons of the Cycle surging through her soul and repairing the ruined ground within her.

Their familiar dance ended.

Cai Xiulan opened her eyes and smiled at Tianlan.

It caused a dull ache. But… the woman was so happy to see her and see her friends safe.

As Tianlan pulled her head down, to claim her as her own, another familiar face flashed overtop.

Her lips touched Xiulan’s forehead. The girl woke up. But Tianlan, still exhausted, fell asleep.

“What are these for?” Tianlan asked, raising an eyebrow at the bundle in Ruolan’s hands.

Ruolan grinned. Her eyes were outlined in red and her robes were the finest silk. Tianlan tried not to be jealous of the other woman’s perfect grace. Her stunning beauty and crystal blue eyes were the envy of all… even Tianlan.

The opera singer and dancer smiled brilliantly at Tianlan as she posed, as she was wont to do, flicking her silky brown hair behind her.

“This one’s performance needs them!” the woman decreed, her fans floating behind her. “A work must have props, to deepen the immersion!”

“Swords though?”

“The character is a warrior! A fierce one! This Ruolan would never forgive herself if the performance was anything less than perfect! The Verdant Fan Opera troupe provides only the best, and these Jade Grass Blades will take this Ruolan’s performance to new heights!”

Tianlan rolled her eyes at the woman’s antics.

“Just don’t make the mistake of having people think you can actually fight, now,” Tianlan teased.

Ruolan seemed affronted. “Who would dare sully the thirty-two Fans of Grass with something as base as combat?” she demanded.

Tianlan shrugged. “Dunno,” she said, before shaking her head. “Enough about those. Do you have what I asked for?

“I do indeed. The Essence of Wood is coming along, I do think. My Lord shall be pleased. The Cycle of the Elements shall be my magnum opus!” Her eyes shone with passion.

Tianlan laughed and stood. Her feet got into position and the other woman smiled at her.

“Shoulders set. Eyes forwards. Plant that lead foot.” Ruolan began as she always did, a little grin on her face.

Together, they crafted a masterpiece.

The moments where she was awake… Stuttered. More and more. Every time she saw somebody through her Connected One’s eyes.

People she didn’t know, yet knew.

A man with a bandana and tattoos.

Gatai Altan, who took the name Guo Daxian like he was some kind of bandit. Enduring dishonour to keep his people safe. They fought together. They laughed together. And when Atlan called her sister, Tianlan smiled.

Tianlan looked at her hand, the one that had been recently repaired, the outline of what looked like a design of a faded tattoo upon it.

Tigu’s Handsome Man, as the cat talked about her new friends in their dream, allowing Tianlan to brush her hair.

Tie Jun, the mason nodding sagely as he carved characters into massive stone pillars, following the designs laid out for him. Slow and steady in all he did. He always said that stone was more talkative than metal, eschewing his ancestors’ craft.

Even walking with him, along the halls of a place that was so strange and so familiar. Everything reacted to them. Igniting. Bowing to her Qi.

It was unnerving and relieving. Like she was coming home to a place she no longer remembered could be home.

A stone chair. A band of light formed like a crown, which brought the light of happiness and the darkness of despair at the same time.

“My Lord. My Lady. We humbly receive you!”

Tianlan looked away, only glancing back when she could feel her Connected One’s distaste for them visiting. The feeling of their Qi was... Disgusting.

The feeling of them reaching inside and plundering. Grasping hands, tearing sensations. Why weren't they helping? Why were they ignoring her desperate pleas? She was begging them for help—

Her Qi surged without her consent, pinning them with her fury.

The days continued.

She was… uncomfortable. The place here had filled her head with memories, fragments of who she used to be. Things that she had forgotten clicked into place. Friends long since dead, yet in some form still existing.

She couldn’t help seeing the similarities. The looks the tattooed man gave her Connected One. Xiulan, who looked so much like an old friend.

Why had they forgotten? Why had she forgotten? Why was a mason working like a smith? Why was a graceful dancer’s body heavier with muscle meant for war?

It hurt and confused in equal measure.

And all she could do was watch on.

A crown above a dear friend’s head. I’ll make it better.

Fear seized her heart for a moment. Would the past repeat? Would what happened before, happen again?

Would they break her, again?

It was an insidious thought. She took her breath in great gasps as she curled up into a ball. Nervous, worried and—

A hand on her head.

She looked up.

“You okay, shortstop?” her Connected One asked. He stared down at her with concern, his Qi gently touching the gold in her body and wrapping around her. Concern. Worry.

A boar chuffed at her and she pouted at Chun Ke as the man picked her up and placed her in his lap.

She curled into him. Feeling his heartbeat. She shook her head.

Her Connected One sighed as he held her. “Well, I can’t speak for everybody… But getting home always makes me feel better, you know? I can’t wait. Everything is… too complicated here.”

Tianlan hiccuped a sob as she hugged him. His hands ghosted over her scars. Resolve filled his voice.

“Shh... shh.” he soothed her. “Hey, don’t worry, kiddo. Nothing like what happened to you will ever happen again. I’ll make sure of it.”

His voice stopped the shaking.

She clung to him. She believed in him.

Just like she had once believed in somebody else—

A nose touched her side. Chun Ke chuffed. And another hand joined the one on her back. Another set of hands embraced her.

She lifted her head to see Meiling’s smile.

Not just two of them. But three. Or was it four? Or was it everybody else the little golden strands had connected to?

She buried her face back down, tears streaming down her eyes.