The Crossing Mods (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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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
tw: blood, death and suicide talk
[There's a pause, there, and Kel glances away, nodding.]
Sunny too. I think we appear in part how we're perceived, because he was wearing those clothes before being taken to the hospital. And I doubt it's what we've been put to wear in our graves- Mari was buried in a beautiful white dress and she's not wearing it now. [A small shrug. In his and Sunny's case, it was probably impossible to even have a proper funeral? At best they were going to be scrapped off the ground and put in jars or something.
There's a shift in Kel's posture, even if he still allows Nagito to lean against him, the simple idea of leaving anyone behind in any situation is no longer there- still, there are things he doesn't quite feel like sharing. It's already enough to have Frida know how it happened. He could at least share the same things he told Mari.]
I was on the roof of the Hospital where Sunny was taken for the eye... incident. The stupid hospital left a whole piece of the rails just... broken? Empty? I didn't see it for long enough to proper register it, but the next things I knew I was free falling.
Kind of a stupid death, when you think about it, but... no one can truly win against gravity, I guess.
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Should he be thinking about what Kel is saying like this? This isn't a class trial. Makoto already chastised him once for bringing up murders--to Kel, now that he thinks about it. Maybe it's bad for his recovery process. But Makoto isn't here right now.
Nothing pointed. Nothing mean. Just a question aimed in the direction of the omission.]
You really shouldn't have gone up to the roof at all, you know? You found out how dangerous it can be firsthand.
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Kel pushes a smile on his face, grinning and using his free hand to go and attempt to ruffle the other's hair. A distraction? Certainly.]
A bit too late for that, wouldn't you agree? And, hey, not my fault Sunny was somehow placed on the top floor of that place, it kind of... happened.
[He doesn't talk about how he and the others took turns to be around Basil and Sunny as long as they could during their hospital time. Hell, as far as Kel knows, no one spoke about Basil so far and he's content leaving things like that since his heart still cannot process how he feels about the other after... everything.]
But, yeah, I agree that we don't come exactly as we die, otherwise I'd be a walking pancake. It's okay, though, I... I don't like to be dead, who does, but at least I can be here for Mari and Sunny, right?
Man, it's a miracle I wasn't sent straight to hell hell, my ma' kept saying I was going to head there because I always forgot to lower the toilet seat after going to the bathroom.
[That's not true, but shh... he's trying to change the topic. At least, unlike Sunny, Kel does talk. At least a bit.]
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But that doesn't exactly match with how Sunny reacted when Nagito asked--rudely, admittedly--how he'd died. He doesn't think either is lying. A difference, then, like the one between himself and Makoto. But more subtle, clearly. Sunny is missing an eye regardless. It seems to be a matter of how far after that point either is. Sunny's explanation wasn't exactly a coherent narrative, but he'd reached for his eye.
Nagito can see the scenes like a blurry shadow play. He could make it sharper if he wanted. He could, but nobody likes when he does that. And he's wretched and useless and that shouldn't matter, but sometimes he gets tired of it. And so many people here insist on being relentlessly kind to him. Instead, his tone lilts toward teasing.]
Ah, you should really be more courteous. I bet Hanako-kun would haunt you for something like that! But you're right, if you all have to be dead regardless, it's good you can all be together. What would Mari-san and Sunny-kun do without their guard dog?
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And Kel has been thinking about what Sunny remembers as well. He's convinced Sunny just... forgot the very last bit. Or wasn't in his right mind when he walked to the roof, who even knew what he was seeing up there. ]
Please, we're all ghosts. Hanako can't haunt me, ghosts can't haunt each other. And... well, I'm not a guard dog. But I'm the older one so... it's my duty, right?
[He paused there for a moment.]
What about you? Did you at least manage to have a quiet death?
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[Of course, Nagito's blasé attitude toward his own death may go a little beyond just that.
...But he hasn't dropped that guard dog thing:] ...A golden retriever, or a labrador? Surely you're one of those.
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[He sighs, reaching up to ruffle the other's absolutely wet hair once more.]
I'd say a Xōlōitzcuintli just to confuse you- [Mexican dog breed with a name Kel can't help but find hilarious] but they're hairless and I have far too much body hair, at least according to my ma'. But If I'm going to entertain your line of thoughts- still not a guard dog- am I a defensive one or an emotional support one? That makes a lot of difference in choosing a breed.
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But on to the topic of dogs:] Both, surely. But at least currently... More emotional support, I believe. [But Nagito doesn't doubt that Kel would bite if necessary. And it might not necessarily be a metaphorical bite.] You'd be a larger breed; you're too tall to be a small one. And you're not very intimidating just to look at, which is why I was thinking labradors and golden retrievers.
[Is that insulting? Nagito doesn't intend it to be, at least. It's just that Kel has a generally friendly aura.]
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[What is he even supposed to say? Like, holy heck, man. Why is everyone around Kel coming from such miserable lives? What now? Is he going to find out Doc's parents raised him by kicking puppies around him?]
Oh, come on, I can be plenty intimidating. Back home I was out there challenging the logal gang of delinquents, you know? [He laughs at that and while it's true those were just scuffles... he could and would bite if Mari and Sunny were involved in something unpleasant.] But... I don't know. what about a boxer? At least those look funny.
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[It's half a guess and half teasing Kel about his guard dog nature.]
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[So Kel's fursona was born. Not that he was taking that conversation seriosuly, mind you... Anyway, the small shift in posture probably answers Nagito's question more than the teen himself. He was doing his best to protect Sunny, covering him as he could, but also Basil- and he still couldn't mention that other friend of theirs.
Then again, if it wasn't for the two of them, Kel was more keen on avoiding unnecessary fights.]
Why would you even think that? Come on, Nagito...
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What even is a tsundere?
[One of those words Kel would usually run from. Or associate more to Aubrey than him.]
I dont know, man, you just made it sound weird.
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[A long, long pause as he flops his head around, trying to get rid of the hair in front of his face since he's holding Nagito closer with both arm and hands right now.]
Confuses my mind even more. But it's a good thing to have a crunchy exterior, right? Bread is at its best when it crunches as you bite. And I think my center is soft only when I have too much cheese.
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[Is this even a proper conversation or is Kel just talking so Nagito stays distracted and keeps walking? Who knows.]
Man... can you believe I'd take a whole day with Aubrey over this? Ah... I guess the joke doesn't work since you've never seen how we acted around each other.
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[A small laugh as he pulls Nagito a bit further. He needs to stay close enough to the siblings to keep them in his field of view, sure, but he also wants to assist as much as he can.]
You have no idea. I think she used to like Sunny, back when we were kids, and she loved Mari deeply. And- [And Basil. She brought him in.] Well... huh.. we kind of fought at every given chance. turn us into teens, we still fought at every given chance. But now she had a nails covered bat and a bad attitude. Still... still friends, you know? Just friends who genuinely enjoyed throwing hands.
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[Nagito may be under the impression that Aubrey has taken nail bat swings at Kel on the regular. But it doesn't seem to have harmed his theoretical impression of her.]
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[To be honest, she always had a violent streak around him. But she was never... really meaning any harm? They cared about each other, Kel missed her too, it was just.. their relationship.]
Okay, perhaps she did teach me how to dodge, but...
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[This probably raises a lot of questions about what kind of social interactions Nagito has had before arriving here.]
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[Not that they didn't have their own fair share of unpleasant realities, between wars and crime, but... the world Kel knew was relatively peaceful.] Listen. I... like Aubrey. My own way. Just don't tell her. But that's not a friend thing to do. Friends don't risk to give each other concussions...
[Kel has so many questions all the time.]
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[It may explain why Nagito is Like That when 'Naegi-sama' is involved in a conversation, though.]
Last time I checked, our planet's worst enemy was pollution.
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