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thecrossinglogs2025-04-19 09:44 am
thecrossingmods) wrote in thecrossinglogs2025-04-19 09:44 am
THE CROSSING #2
THE CROSSING #2
It's that time again.
For more detail on the particulars of the event, be sure to refer to our info and planning post!
For more detail on the particulars of the event, be sure to refer to our info and planning post!
always keep moving
— CLOUDS ON THE HORIZON
The Desert is sprawling. If you've ever gotten turned around in the rolling dunes, it may have once felt endless. But in the weeks and days before the descent of The Crossing, something appears on the horizon: first a dark smudge of storm clouds, not unlike the others that have rolled through before, then growing — wider, darker, and more threatening.
You feel it, too. For some of you the feeling is new; for others it's a reminder of a trial you've been through before. It's a weight in your body, a solidity of your self, a vulnerability to whatever is approaching.
The storm overtakes the oasis. As the first drops of rain begin to fall, The Ferryman speaks in your mind.
It's time. Those who are prepared to pay the toll are instructed to gather on the bank of The River. As for the rest of you... we hope you have a plan.
taking refuge
— THE RIVER OF MUD
The storm hits hard and fast. Even as you gather around The Ferryman, the rain grows from spitting droplets to a desert monsoon. The Ferryman's protection only goes so far: even if you're promised safety from danger, you'll still have to cope with the cold, the wind, and the water.
As before, The Lantern's Light grows dark. As before, The Ferryman gathers memories one by one, consolidated into a mote of light in their palm that becomes the new center point for the growing temporary bubble of safety. But this time— what it was too dark to notice in the Cavern before— you realize that The Ferryman themselves is changing, too. Their form fades as the light in their hands grows, becoming as fuzzy and insubstantial as mist... not unlike the wraiths, outside of The Crossing.
The sparkling white salt flat before you begins to melt and grow murky, exposing the sticky, grasping mud beneath. The Ferryman glides out over the roiling muck of The River, and so do you, your steps as light as if there were still a crust of salt to separate you from the mud before.
You must keep moving, though. Linger too long, and you'll start to sink... and the mud might not let go, this time.
— A HAVEN FROM THE WANTS AND ILLS OF LIFE
The journey is arduous, and the storm is unrelenting. The Ferryman, unfamiliar as they might be in this form, leads confidently through the blur of lightning, wind, and rain. As before, the mote of light created from your memories follows in their footsteps, illuminating the path to follow along the wide expanse of The River.
Even with The Ferryman's protection, it is exhausting work. It's as mentally taxing as it is physically draining. As such, when the path forward begins to shudder and shift, it may come as a reprieve. The wall of wind and rain finally breaks, the Desert around you replaced by... somewhere else. A place you may recognize, or may not.
Whatever stress or fear you may have been feeling from your journey wanes, replaced by feelings of calm, peace, or joy. If the place you are in is unfamiliar, the feelings are muted, as if they don't quite belong to you... but surely this is better than returning to the monsoon? Perhaps you can rest a while. Play a game, recover in shelter, or take a meditative walk through a maze. What's a few minutes, anyway? Time hardly means anything anymore.
Just don't forget: if you linger too long in any one place, the mud of The River will start to suck you down. It's best to stay alert— and to keep an eye on those traveling with you, as well.
storm chasers
— SWEPT AWAY
The Desert isn't designed to weather a storm like this one. Beyond the pounding rain and cracking lightning, those of you who have decided to travel without The Ferryman must also navigate the environment itself. Flash floods sweep through lower-lying places in the dunes, where the sand isn't able to absorb water quickly enough. Creatures that may have been docile before are now panicked, and might impede your progress, or even lash out themselves.
And, of course, there are the wraiths.
They're easier to spot this time around, across the rolling dunes. It's easier to make out just how much they've changed as well: the claws, the teeth, the exaggerated proportions... and the unmistakable pain and fury in every movement, in every shriek and wail.
You are vulnerable to any and all injury during this time, whether from the wraiths, the wildlife, or the elements. As long as you follow your gut, you'll know where to go — but we hope you have a strategy, all the same.
— AN EYE IN THE STORM
At least in the Cavern, you had cover. Nooks and crannies, branching tunnels, rocky outcroppings... But out here, beneath the wide-open sky of the Desert, there's very little in terms of shelter. The odd plateau, or cave entrance, or inexplicable feature might grant you some reprieve, but there's always more sand to cross in-between.
On occasion, however, you may spot a strange sort of wraith watching you at a distance. Some of you may even recognize it: an eerie, dissembling creature that some have dubbed the Smart Wraith. Its form, like the others, has solidified into something grotesque and painful, as if its body has been plucked like clay by a particularly spiteful child. Unlike the others, though, it does not attack, or even approach. It simply watches, as it always have.
If you have the presence of mind to notice, however, you may find that there are occasional reprieves from wraith attacks, especially across longer stretches of dunes. They're brief, but often crucially timed (such as when someone is significantly injured, or when a flood has just rolled through), and always correspond to a moment when The Wraith can be found watching from some far-flung vantage point.
It's odd, certainly. But do you have the luxury of looking a gift horse in the mouth?
stormbreak
— CLEARING SKIES
Eventually, the storm calms. Your body lightens. The atmosphere realigns.
The Crossing ends.
The thick, sucking mud of The River has become shallow and waterlogged. It's easy to wade through now, if a touch... unpleasant. Fibrous plants and reeds line the sloped banks, inexplicably dotted with bright orange flowers. Light is low, though the sky has cleared, as if wherever you are now lingers in perpetual dusk.
If you were traveling with The Ferryman, the mirages that dogged your journey finally fade and stay gone. If you were traveling on your own, any wounds you sustained heal rapidly on their own. As before, the healing is natural, but on fast-forward, and thus may not always resolve perfectly.
For both groups, memories bleed away from you - perhaps literally, perhaps not. Anything you found in the Desert, unless given to you by The Ferryman, is gone from your pockets.
When you look again, The Ferryman appears just the same as they were before The Crossing began. Let's take a break, they say. It's been a long journey.
It certainly has.
Image credits: 1, 2 + OMORI'S STORY, and stock imagery unless otherwise noted
The Desert is sprawling. If you've ever gotten turned around in the rolling dunes, it may have once felt endless. But in the weeks and days before the descent of The Crossing, something appears on the horizon: first a dark smudge of storm clouds, not unlike the others that have rolled through before, then growing — wider, darker, and more threatening.
You feel it, too. For some of you the feeling is new; for others it's a reminder of a trial you've been through before. It's a weight in your body, a solidity of your self, a vulnerability to whatever is approaching.
The storm overtakes the oasis. As the first drops of rain begin to fall, The Ferryman speaks in your mind.
It's time. Those who are prepared to pay the toll are instructed to gather on the bank of The River. As for the rest of you... we hope you have a plan.
taking refuge
The storm hits hard and fast. Even as you gather around The Ferryman, the rain grows from spitting droplets to a desert monsoon. The Ferryman's protection only goes so far: even if you're promised safety from danger, you'll still have to cope with the cold, the wind, and the water.
As before, The Lantern's Light grows dark. As before, The Ferryman gathers memories one by one, consolidated into a mote of light in their palm that becomes the new center point for the growing temporary bubble of safety. But this time— what it was too dark to notice in the Cavern before— you realize that The Ferryman themselves is changing, too. Their form fades as the light in their hands grows, becoming as fuzzy and insubstantial as mist... not unlike the wraiths, outside of The Crossing.
The sparkling white salt flat before you begins to melt and grow murky, exposing the sticky, grasping mud beneath. The Ferryman glides out over the roiling muck of The River, and so do you, your steps as light as if there were still a crust of salt to separate you from the mud before.
You must keep moving, though. Linger too long, and you'll start to sink... and the mud might not let go, this time.
— A HAVEN FROM THE WANTS AND ILLS OF LIFE
The journey is arduous, and the storm is unrelenting. The Ferryman, unfamiliar as they might be in this form, leads confidently through the blur of lightning, wind, and rain. As before, the mote of light created from your memories follows in their footsteps, illuminating the path to follow along the wide expanse of The River.
Even with The Ferryman's protection, it is exhausting work. It's as mentally taxing as it is physically draining. As such, when the path forward begins to shudder and shift, it may come as a reprieve. The wall of wind and rain finally breaks, the Desert around you replaced by... somewhere else. A place you may recognize, or may not.
Whatever stress or fear you may have been feeling from your journey wanes, replaced by feelings of calm, peace, or joy. If the place you are in is unfamiliar, the feelings are muted, as if they don't quite belong to you... but surely this is better than returning to the monsoon? Perhaps you can rest a while. Play a game, recover in shelter, or take a meditative walk through a maze. What's a few minutes, anyway? Time hardly means anything anymore.
Just don't forget: if you linger too long in any one place, the mud of The River will start to suck you down. It's best to stay alert— and to keep an eye on those traveling with you, as well.
storm chasers
The Desert isn't designed to weather a storm like this one. Beyond the pounding rain and cracking lightning, those of you who have decided to travel without The Ferryman must also navigate the environment itself. Flash floods sweep through lower-lying places in the dunes, where the sand isn't able to absorb water quickly enough. Creatures that may have been docile before are now panicked, and might impede your progress, or even lash out themselves.
And, of course, there are the wraiths.
They're easier to spot this time around, across the rolling dunes. It's easier to make out just how much they've changed as well: the claws, the teeth, the exaggerated proportions... and the unmistakable pain and fury in every movement, in every shriek and wail.
You are vulnerable to any and all injury during this time, whether from the wraiths, the wildlife, or the elements. As long as you follow your gut, you'll know where to go — but we hope you have a strategy, all the same.
— AN EYE IN THE STORM
At least in the Cavern, you had cover. Nooks and crannies, branching tunnels, rocky outcroppings... But out here, beneath the wide-open sky of the Desert, there's very little in terms of shelter. The odd plateau, or cave entrance, or inexplicable feature might grant you some reprieve, but there's always more sand to cross in-between.
On occasion, however, you may spot a strange sort of wraith watching you at a distance. Some of you may even recognize it: an eerie, dissembling creature that some have dubbed the Smart Wraith. Its form, like the others, has solidified into something grotesque and painful, as if its body has been plucked like clay by a particularly spiteful child. Unlike the others, though, it does not attack, or even approach. It simply watches, as it always have.
If you have the presence of mind to notice, however, you may find that there are occasional reprieves from wraith attacks, especially across longer stretches of dunes. They're brief, but often crucially timed (such as when someone is significantly injured, or when a flood has just rolled through), and always correspond to a moment when The Wraith can be found watching from some far-flung vantage point.
It's odd, certainly. But do you have the luxury of looking a gift horse in the mouth?
stormbreak
Eventually, the storm calms. Your body lightens. The atmosphere realigns.
The Crossing ends.
The thick, sucking mud of The River has become shallow and waterlogged. It's easy to wade through now, if a touch... unpleasant. Fibrous plants and reeds line the sloped banks, inexplicably dotted with bright orange flowers. Light is low, though the sky has cleared, as if wherever you are now lingers in perpetual dusk.
If you were traveling with The Ferryman, the mirages that dogged your journey finally fade and stay gone. If you were traveling on your own, any wounds you sustained heal rapidly on their own. As before, the healing is natural, but on fast-forward, and thus may not always resolve perfectly.
For both groups, memories bleed away from you - perhaps literally, perhaps not. Anything you found in the Desert, unless given to you by The Ferryman, is gone from your pockets.
When you look again, The Ferryman appears just the same as they were before The Crossing began. Let's take a break, they say. It's been a long journey.
It certainly has.
Image credits: 1, 2 + OMORI'S STORY, and stock imagery unless otherwise noted
no subject
Roger. S'long as he actually listens to me, it'll all work out.
[Time will tell if their mutual stubbornness doesn't get in the way, at least.]
Thanks. For lending him yours. You didn't have to, but it makes me breathe a little easier.
no subject
[She may be underestimating just how prone to butting heads and walking at a (reasonable) distance to each other the two of them might be - after all, during her venture with Daniil to the mysterious monolith out in the sands, they collaborated without a hitch, and she attributes the doctor's collision with Nagito during the therapy session to the latter's provocations more than the former's temper.]
I wish there were more I can do for you.
[Even just on a spiritual level - if she still had the Wall Church necklace she found in the cavern, she'd give it to him for protection. That was, after all, the purpose of the Walls.]
no subject
You're already doing plenty, if you ask me. We're the dumbasses going back for more. You shouldn't be worrying this much.
no subject
[How she's able to half-joke as the dark clouds ominously grumble above them and the rain picks up, she hardly knows - it must be Yusuke's unshakable chipperness rubbing up on her once again. She looks back in the direction of the oasis, which is hardly visible in storm.]
...
It's hard to leave, somehow. Harder than it was in the cavern.
[With it get harder with each new location? In the cavern, their situation was still new to all of them, and it was dark and cold - but here, in the hot sands under the sun, their little group of souls started to feel more like a settled community.]
no subject
[He's never been very good at integrating into any community, though he's gotten better in the last year or so. Some of it is natural introversion, despite all his boisterousness; a lot of it is his prickliness, rooted in stress and unresolved frustration; but some is also just a certain amount of teenage social awkwardness.
He's been a bit of a loner here, too. But even he's been feeling what she's talking about: a certain amount of familiarity, and camaraderie.]
I never really thought about this part, before. It was all pretty hush-hush. [This isn't strictly true... it's more that he never wanted to think about it.] But, I dunno. Whatever it was, I didn't really think there'd be this many people in it. Y'know?
no subject
Right? I never thought we'd lose some of our groupmates without warning outside of the Crossing... but I expected even less that we'd have new ones joining us!
[Her eyes wander over the silhouettes of their peers, likewise obscured by the heavy rain: Hanako and Yashiro, standing close together (Frieda's expression dims at the sight of them - she did her best to talk Hanako, the driving force behind the decision, out of 'crossing' without the Ferryman, but he was firmly set on it), the nameless skeleton, and those she hasn't even spoken to yet - the blonde girl and the giant bird. She doesn't know what their choice has been.]
...
I want to see everybody again on the other side.
no subject
Even if somebody gets stuck, there's always ways for them to get unstuck again. Sometimes it takes a while, but... [He shrugs, one-shouldered, a little awkward.] I think if we ever get where we're going, we'll run into 'em again eventually.
no subject
[G'raha, Katsuki, now Makoto, and at least one more person she never met... where are they? Sleeping in the river, like the Ferryman said? Or merely lost in the cavern or in the dunes or somewhere in between, like Allynbee was?]
The Ferryman did say that no one gets lost for good. We're all still on our journey.
[She says that to reassure herself just as much as Yusuke.]
no subject
We sure as hell better be. If it turns out it's just more of this bullshit forever, I'm gonna have a bone to pick with the creepy bastard.
[This means the Ferryman, presumably. He's been mostly avoiding them since the first conversation with them didn't yield what he was after.]
no subject
Forever? How would that be possible? At some point, we'll have no memories left.
[For just a moment, she allows morbidness and humour to collide, and it amuses her to imagine how they'll have to bend and twist increasingly unsuitable remnant memories to somehow fit the Crossings' requirements. "I always did find a sense of comfort in peeling potatoes" and the like would have to suffice!]
no subject
I don't know. But doin' 'em one at a time like this is gonna take ages. Maybe they start changing the rules on us once we get down to what we had for dinner last Tuesday.
no subject
What did you have for dinner then? For me, it was pea stew with sausages!
[Meat on a weekday... she truly did live a noble lifestyle! In a way, she's almost surprised that she still remembers the meal - its appearance in the porcelain bowl, its smell, its taste. It feels like it was simultaneously just a few days and an entire lifetime ago (but then she was used to sensations like this even in life, having harboured far too many lifetimes' worth of memories in her mind). It's equally surprising that the memory, despite its clarity, doesn't make her feel hungry.]
no subject
[The truth is, the last few days of his life were chaotic enough that it's difficult even to remember what happened when for the main events, much less the restful moments in between. But he tries anyway, rubbing at his temple with one knuckle like that might help get the brain juices flowing.]
Me, I dunno... I mighta just scarfed down the cheapest beef bowl I could find.
no subject
You were busy, I take it?
[There's so much she still doesn't know about his life. When I see you again on the other side, she vows, I'll ask you about all the rest.]
no subject
Eh, you know how it is. Not a lot of time to cook when you're saving the human world from total destruction.
[If he saved it— or that someone did. He doesn't know-know that everything turned out okay... but he needs to hang onto the thought that it was enough, in the end. That the sacrifice wasn't a waste.
He seems happy to leave it at that cliffhanger, anyway.]
It's a long story. If I keep ya for the whole thing you'll get left behind, and then you'll really be stuck with us.
no subject
Thunder rumbles loudly overhead, then forked lightning crashes down not too far off in the dunes, and she nods - they have to say farewell.]
I think you have enough on your hands as it stands! Take care, Yusuke. I wish you success.
[She'd hug him, or give him a hearty handshake at least, but they're both already sopping wet, and rather than importing warmth and strength, it'd only drive home their sorry state.]
no subject
He really thinks they can pull it off. He's going to put his all into it to make sure they do.]
You got it. See ya on the other side.