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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
Cmdr Allynbee Shepard |Mass Effect| OTA
Commander Allynbee Shepard is a great many things and does her very best to be the person the situation requires.
But right now, in lieu of weapons to check, a chain of command or anything resembling a plan, she waits. Her fingers twitch every now and again, a fidget suppressed and she does a headcount yet again: Dankovsky, Uremeshi, Shirogane, Hanako, Yashiro and herself.
Is she enough? Uremeshi seems fully intent on doing his own thing and considering he's made it through The Crossing before - Allynbee is willing to leave well enough alone. That still leaves four heads and her own neck to keep safe.
Shit.
SWEPT AWAY (cw: arm injury)
Shepard takes the rear when the group moves and does her best to keep folks from becoming stragglers. They can't afford to lag, not with so many eyes, animal and worse, on them.
The rain isn't helping and she uses her irritation to keep herself and anyone moving. The only way out is through - at least, that's what she tells herself as she moves. Step by squelching step. Wait.
Squelching?
She looks at her feet and her gaze follows the flow to its origin point - a rapidly developing, and failing, sandbar. Deserts can't handle water like this and she knows that they're quite literally, racing against time. Or maybe it's just the water.
"GET TO HIGH GROUND!"
All it takes is seconds, but she's hustling anyone who'll listen forward as she points out a dune ahead that buys them a few precious feet of altitude.
Running on sand is hell and wet sand isn't any better but they have to get up before the water gets any higher than her ankles.
Four heads plus her, they'll make it.
Shins.
Three to go.
Calves. Two.
She feels the sand give way to muck under one of her ankles and she pitches to her left. The last person ahead of her clears the waterline.
"Keep going! I'm right behi—"
A surge of water hits her legs so hard her knees buckle. She twists as the water drags her several feet and she can't help the pained shout she makes when it pins her to a large rock. The water rushes over her, leaving her sputtering through the pain. She's battered by water for what feels like an eternity, but she knows better - it's minutes at most.
And just as suddenly, the flood recedes, leaving her wincing as she pushes away from the awkward position the water forced her into.
AN EYE IN THE STORM
The first break post flood, Allynbee can be seen turning her jacket into a makeshift sling, hissing once in pain as she adjusts it. Likely the rotator cuff or something near it. A pain in the ass injury to get.
Once she's as together as she can get herself, she can be found taking some kind of watch, particularly paying attention to the Smart Wraith and not liking one bit that it's paying them such close attention.
CLEARING SKIES
As things settle, Allynbee keeps to herself, working her shoulder to keep from losing any range of motion. She keeps scanning the horizon, as if expecting something to appear. They're allegedly in the clear, but the commander can't relax not until they find shelter or something reasonable to hole up in. Take stock of who was injured, if anyone lost anything important.
Basically, she's zoning out.
Clearing Skies
Shepard, how are you?
[Her eyes scan her body - no blood, as far as she can see. Was it the storm rather than the wraiths? Or was there something else coming for them out in the tempest?]
Re: Clearing Skies
I'm glad to be through with the Crossing. How are you holding?
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[She likewise musters a faint smile - they're all glad to be through with it, no doubt.]
You're hurt... was it the river?
[Imagining that the rushing rainwater ripped her off her feet is better than the alternative.]
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[Frieda inquires about the injury and Shepard makes a ‘sort of’ gesture with her free hand.]
Flash flood, started quick and finished just as fast. Caught me off guard.
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Do you have any idea what happened to Doctor Dankovsky? He seems...
[She searches for the right words for a moment, then finishes on:]
Dismayed.
[That's quite the understatement. She was forced to leave Daniil lying on the ground as if he were waiting for the earch to open up beneath him.]
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[She casts a look back toward the doctor, before smiling faintly.]
He’ll sort himself out, I’m sure. Doesn’t seem like the type to take folks worrying about him too well.
no subject
[Allynbee's wry humour lightens her spirits a little, but her brief smile fades out again as she lets her eyes wander over the group and still doesn't see the missing anywhere.]
I know you wouldn't have seen Soo Won, but do you actually know whether the blonde girl with the bob cut went with the Ferryman or not?
[Was Arche even at the Crossing assembly? With how thick the rain was, Frieda genuinely isn't sure.]
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Clearing Skies
(Not that the commander would have seen that. Sunny had forgotten that she had mysteriously disappeared during the last Crossing, so seeing her here was a bit of a surprise.)
She seemed… far away though. Sunny was used to that, did so often enough himself, and he could use the quiet… so the teen sat down near her, looking off into the distance. Was she searching for something, or simply wanting to escape someplace else?]
Re: Clearing Skies
Hey there. You weren't here that long, were you?
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No, it hasn’t been. Or at least, he thinks it hasn’t, he might have spaced out too?
Still, there’s a small knot of worry in the way his eyebrows screw together. She had been really far away.]
Ok…? [The fragmented question is accompanied by the teen glancing at her, as if searching for injuries but not getting much closer.]
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[The way Sunny trails off confuses Shepard for a moment until she follows his gaze to her arm.]
Oh. Yeah. [She gestures back in the direction she saw Dankovsky with her ‘good’ hand, though now the the worst of the Crossing has passed, her arm feels much better.]
The doctor looked at it, helped me make sure it set right. I’m just being careful.
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It… still hurts…?
[His voice is small, and the fact that she got hurt at all… that means that they lose more memories, doesn’t it? That was what was implied, at least.]
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[There’s a fragility to Sunny that makes Shepard soften a little and in an attempt to assuage him, she moves her formerly injured arm. It’s a little tender but between the field dressing and Dankovsky, she’ll be good as new shortly.]
See? I’ll be alright.
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(In Sunny’s case, his injuries are more of the mind, but he understands this nonetheless).]
I’m… glad… be… careful… [Hopefully, with the worst of the Crossing complete, they wouldn’t run into anything dangerous. Especially with their group all wit the Ferryman.]
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(Omori icon technically but I couldn’t pass it up XD)
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Eye in the Storm
He still frowns at her.
"You're taking my only job from me." He remarks, a single bleeding scratch can be seen on his cheek, but either he's not aware, or ignoring it.
Re: Eye in the Storm
Allynbee takes in his state, the scratch on his face but is still a little too preoccupied with her own injury to pay it much mind. She's glad that's the only thing he's suffered.
"Is everyone else okay?"
Re: Eye in the Storm
If the bone is positioned improperly it will simply heal like that which would be bad for her. He's trying to decide if he should do it now, or wait until the crossing is almost over. There are pros and cons to both.
"As far as I've seen, yes." He nods, "Either minor injuries or none at all, you seem to have gotten the worst of it so far."
Re: Eye in the Storm
Never one to put off unpleasantness, Allynbee moves to get her injured arm out of her jacket at the very least.
"We're lucky if I'm the worst of it. No one was attacked by the wraiths?"
clearing skies
Nagito doesn't seem too exhausted, at least. A little, sure, but far from how those who went the other route seem to look.
"Did you manage to keep an eye on everyone, Shepard-san?"
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Shepard braces at the sound of Nagito's voice. It's little more than a straightening of her spine and a cool, friendly smile, but she is definitely preparing herself. Wiggling her slung arm a bit she chuckles.
"Everyone but myself, looks like. How are you holding up?"
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He seems to be his usual cheerful self, essentially. If he's concerned about talking to Shepard, it doesn't show in his body language or on his face. He gestures to Shepard's arm. "Was that from a wraith or something else?"
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It's sincere, if a little tired, and when Nagito mentions her injury, her gaze flicks to it. She knows it's likely fine by now, but giving it a little more time should be fine.
"Flash flood. Luckily, the wraiths gave us a wide berth this time around, and the doctor already took a look."
She nods toward the group, pretty sure of the answer considering Nagito's fairly stable affect.
"How'd your friend make out?"
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There's the flicker of a frown, but then Nagito smiles again, forcefully. "I'm sure he'll show up eventually!"
There is no other option.
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Fuck.
Wondering at how stabilizing this relationship was for Nagito, Shepard's brows knit, more concerned at Nagito's haste to self-deprecate than anything else. She knows it's not something she'll get used to, and gently, she decides to push back against the young man's internal narrative.
"You could lighten up, you know. We're all on the same footing here - they call death 'The Great Equalizer' for a reason."
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