The Ferryman (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
theferryman) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
thecrossing2024-12-14 11:51 am
theferryman) wrote in thecrossing2024-12-14 11:51 am
Entry tags:
voice + text
[You feel it before you hear it: an uncanny sensation like you aren't alone, like someone just out of sight has fixed their attention on you.
They're not hiding, though. The Ferryman is simply speaking, directly into all of your minds, as clear as if they were standing right beside you.]
It's starting.
Sorry. Was hoping you'd all have more time to rest before we got going. But when it's time, it's time.
We're going to Cross. Not now, but soon. You'll feel it when the moment gets here. And you need to be ready for what that means, when it does.
It's a dangerous journey. There's still a lot of yourself left to lose, even if it doesn't feel like it now. That's my role here. I can guide you through it. Keep you safe.
There's a cost. You'll have to give something up, a part of your life Before. A face. A feeling. A memory. That's your toll to Cross. You pay it to me, and you won't get it back.
You don't have to pay. But if you're not with me, I can't keep you safe. You'll have to make The Crossing on your own. And if you do, there's a chance you lose a whole lot more than what the toll is asking from you.
There's some time left still. You don't need to decide now. But you do need to decide. You'll find out soon what sort of toll The Crossing is asking for, this time around.
Come find me if you want to talk. I'll be where I always am.
[The connection is tenuous; message delivered, The Ferryman's voice fades from your mind. If you're quick, and you concentrate, you might be able to grab on long enough to ask a question or two more.
Otherwise, all that remains is the object that purports to connect you with the other souls, all tasked with making the same decision. Whether it's a page or a screen, there's a new message for you:]
A toll to be levied for safe passage
from the cavern to ǝɹǝɥʍǝsʅǝ
Hear a voice that causes you pain
words spoken with rage or grief or envy
fueled by hate or love or suffering
offer it to The Ferryman
and let go
[ ooc | And we're off! Remember: The Ferryman is (for now!) the only one who can communicate to everyone via voice; the rest of you are stuck with text! The only exception is if characters try to hijack the fading connection to talk with The Ferryman one-on-one; there's a header for those questions here.
Otherwise, consider this a mingle! Chat, threadhop, go nuts. ]
They're not hiding, though. The Ferryman is simply speaking, directly into all of your minds, as clear as if they were standing right beside you.]
It's starting.
Sorry. Was hoping you'd all have more time to rest before we got going. But when it's time, it's time.
We're going to Cross. Not now, but soon. You'll feel it when the moment gets here. And you need to be ready for what that means, when it does.
It's a dangerous journey. There's still a lot of yourself left to lose, even if it doesn't feel like it now. That's my role here. I can guide you through it. Keep you safe.
There's a cost. You'll have to give something up, a part of your life Before. A face. A feeling. A memory. That's your toll to Cross. You pay it to me, and you won't get it back.
You don't have to pay. But if you're not with me, I can't keep you safe. You'll have to make The Crossing on your own. And if you do, there's a chance you lose a whole lot more than what the toll is asking from you.
There's some time left still. You don't need to decide now. But you do need to decide. You'll find out soon what sort of toll The Crossing is asking for, this time around.
Come find me if you want to talk. I'll be where I always am.
[The connection is tenuous; message delivered, The Ferryman's voice fades from your mind. If you're quick, and you concentrate, you might be able to grab on long enough to ask a question or two more.
Otherwise, all that remains is the object that purports to connect you with the other souls, all tasked with making the same decision. Whether it's a page or a screen, there's a new message for you:]
from the cavern to ǝɹǝɥʍǝsʅǝ
Hear a voice that causes you pain
words spoken with rage or grief or envy
fueled by hate or love or suffering
offer it to The Ferryman
and let go
[ ooc | And we're off! Remember: The Ferryman is (for now!) the only one who can communicate to everyone via voice; the rest of you are stuck with text! The only exception is if characters try to hijack the fading connection to talk with The Ferryman one-on-one; there's a header for those questions here.
Otherwise, consider this a mingle! Chat, threadhop, go nuts. ]
Sunny just pouting as usual
Mmmmm. [Sunny hummed a small note, if it could even be called that. Really, it came out just as croaky as the rest of the times he attempted speaking. Kel sure hadn’t had any voices in his head… but Sunny had. If his dreams counted. It still was jarring, when it wasn’t of his own choice.]
[Making new memories though… that phrase caused his stomach to cramp. So similar to a plea another boy had urged of him… one that hadn’t remained here, thankfully.]
Then… why…? [Why bother making memories at all, if they were just meant to give them up? Even the ones here… it was just prolonging the inevitable.
Whatever that might be; Sunny tried not to think about that too much.]no subject
For now, he just... kept a tiny bit of distance for his own safety and mental health.]
Yeah. Bit... weird. Hah...
[Kel didn't see that other boy and that was possibly a blesing, he would have had few choice words for him, and not kind ones.]
Why? Well, it's... first of all, I want to joke and just say 'infinite wallet' if we keep paying with new memories, right? [A small, nervous chuckle.] I just don't want to forget about the people I love, Sunny. Not Hero, nor my parents, nor you... nor everyone else back home. So I think I'm just... thinking too hard right now.
no subject
Did he deserve to remember everyone? Would it be better to forget? But… his friends (or at least the versions in his head) had been his distraction for the past four years. He wasn’t sure it would be any better to replace them with made up people.
The idea of a feedback loop from sacrificing memories here though… somehow didn’t sit right with him. Sunny would rather just not try then - because even if he did get rid of the memory, that meant the effort wasn’t worth it, right? It was too much work - and then he might have to get close to people.
Maybe it was better to have that sort of distance, even with Kel (metaphorical and physical, though the latter was definitely noticed).]
no subject
He was doing his best to hang on the positive things they had and, god, there were so few of them. Hero was home, Jay and Cris were home, he missed them so much already but- what else could they even do about it? His focus could only be Sunny and Mari at this point.
No matter if there was both guilt and a bit of resentment tied to Sunny now.]
We... will try our best, right? I promise I will do my best not to forget you, buddy. SO- new memories, new friends, new everything! And we can keep helping each other remember the things we forget, right?
[There was a small moment of tension there on his part. There was something he refused to forget. someone.]
I... should I ever forget Hero, please remind me I had a brother, 'kay? Ah, but this is so sad... let me- look! Like the ones at home!
[He reached behind himself, pulling up a shirt that had spaceboy on it. It was too big for Sunny and it wasn't the only one he found but... hey, the others didn't fit too much, right?]
Look! It's for you! I also got something for Mari and.. maybe we can go find her to give it to her? It's a shirt with cats.
no subject
Sunny had already tried to ask the Ferryman if he could just… stay. He couldn’t. He had to move forward.
Even if that took the greatest effort of all.
Still, there was one thing Sunny could agree to - he wouldn’t let Kel forget Hero. Not unless Kel seemed better off without the memories… he would find some way to remind him.
At least, he tried to promise himself that. But Sunny was awful at keeping promises, awful at everything, so… who knew, in the end?His nod then was resolute. Even if it was a promise, even if it turned out to be a lie…
Until Kel pulled out the Spaceboy shirt. Sunny’s eyes widened in mild surprise. He had already found a comic, now a shirt? Was he sure this wasn’t a dream? Was Death maybe Spaceboy’s new domain?
What irony, writers, if so.The shirt indeed didn’t fit - it could be slipped over the dark-haired teen’s head while still wearing his current clothing. There was something akin to the mildest of embarrassed blushes tinting his ears. He… ignored the mention of Mari for now. That was still a jumble of emotions, and he was much too embarrassed with how he had fallen asleep after meeting her…
Would… would there ever be a time that he could face his sister? Without all of the fear and anxiety and guilt?
Sunny looked around to see if Kel had gotten a shirt for himself… and, against his will, his gaze landed on the cat shirt. Mari liked cats. Mari had loved Mewo. Sunny had too. Until… they both were gone.]
no subject
Kel took in a deep breath, despite not quite needing it, and let out a nervous chuckle while moving just a bit back scratching the back of his head. PErhaps the bit about Hero was...]
Bit dramatic, wasn't I? But thanks, I know I can trust you.
[He really, really tried to convince himself there was no malice in Sunny's actions. The past ones. He was a good natured person and Kel had to... believe that. Let's ignore the little bug in the bag of his brain questioning if Basil had not been protecting himself too during that hellish night.
He shifted just slightly, not really having a shirt for himself and still wearing the orange torn one- he had standards and his standards were bright orange- nothing really seemed to fit well enough.]
But look at you, buddy! Looking amazing! You do keep a bit of that babyface somehow and it works absolutely well with the shirt. Man, I should see if I can find more of those!
Oh, remind me to tell you all about the big highschool carnival shirts showoff when we have... time. Sharing memories is a great thing, right?
[Even if some of them were lies just to fill the sielnce and lighten the mood...]
no subject
More important than the school memories - more moments that he had missed, by choice, both gladdened and made that hole inside him ever more apparent, that distant chasm that seemed to widen every time he heard about something ‘normal’ - was the fact that Kel didn’t have a shirt.]
Find one… for yourself… [Shoot, that sounded rude, didn’t it? But Sunny wasn’t sure his voice would hold up for more words than that without coughing, and he couldn’t necessarily take the words back. His own relatively non-emoting expressions only added to his unease; most people couldn’t tell the difference. And this was Kel but he also hadn’t seen the other in four years… (not counting the past week or so at this point. Week? Few days? Time in death was weird.)]