06 | Video

[unitas]

[ It's obvious this is being filmed in one of the many temples, all cool hard stone behind her, and, given the subject matter of the video, most likely to be Hope's. Sharon does not look pleased. Furious might be the better descriptor but it's a calm sort of fury. There are a few spatters of dark blood on her cheeks, dried and cracking; old. She has no wounds just stains and memories. She leans in towards the lens and whispers: ]

So, which one of you fuckers killed me? [ Her killer could reply, he might not, but she won't stop until she finds him and returns the favor. ]

Comments

text | private

[unitas]

[ He can't leave it. How is he tied to the place he comes from? ]

Can I ask why you can't leave?

It's cool if you don't want to answer, I get it, but... sometimes we have to leave the things that tie us behind.

text | private

[greywaren]

its

complicated

[Too complicated to explain over text- or really, explain to someone who's never been to the Barns. How could he even begin to describe it? The awe-inspiring beauty of it, the pain, the love that paints its way across the glimmering fields of cows, broken-down barns, magic? How can he begin to tell her how being forced to leave almost destroyed him, and leaving again left him an angry, drunk mess for months?

That's not even counting Opal. For some reason, Ronan doubts that Sharon is ready to hear that he's sort of a father.]

you have a place, right? the city in the fog. the place you bring with you every time you lose it. thats the root of everything, for you.

text | private

[unitas]

[ She gets it some, what he says. She's not sure how his connection really works in his world or how it ties him but, if it's anything like hers, it's not a tie that has to remain. It will always be there, a hulking shadow waiting for weakness and blood, but Sharon wants to believe she's worse than that. She doesn't beat around the bush with her next question. ]

What's your ability, Ronan? Where does it come from? Why does it tie you to a place?

text | private

[greywaren]

it isnt that easy

[He tells her, though he's tempted to say it- after all, he knows what she's capable of, and he's pretty sure that she has an idea of what he could do, but the devil is in the details. If she knew the extent of it- if anyone did- then Ronan is afraid of what it could mean for him and Adam.

Too many people have died for it. He doesn't want anyone else to.]

its the kind of thing people do anything for. someone destroyed my entire fucking life looking for it and i cant let that happen here.

[There's a pause, and then-]

look i can tell you. because were friends but you have to swear to me you wont say shit to anybody. even if you think i can change something or fix something or help someone. nothing gets out.

text | private

[unitas]

Look, I know all about that kind of shit, Ronan. My life has been a literal walk through hell, but... I can't promise I won't end up saying something. You know what this place does. I can promise I'll do my best, that if your secret comes out, it won't be because it's something I wanted to do.

text | private

[greywaren]

ok

[It's honest. And honesty is one of Ronan's core values, something he holds in the highest possible regard- and so even if it isn't a total reassurance, he respects it and respects Sharon more for it.

So he closes his eyes, takes a deep breath, and starts to type.]

i can take things out of my dreams

anything. anyone.

my dad did it too. my mother is... was one of his

[unitas]

And that makes you something special, right? The birth of human and a dream. Does that mean you can't leave where you were born?

[greywaren]

no.

but when he was murdered everything he created stopped working. my home and all the animals on the farm and

[-my mother.]

anyway. i can bring it back to life. but i have to take care of it

[unitas]

[ That sounds... horrifying and a heavy burden to bear. She feels like she can understand him a little better. Alessa, Dark Alessa, felt something similar about the world beneath the world of Silent Hill. It was her world, it was her duty to care for it (and by care, she means make things worse for everyone). ]

If you leave, everything you've brought to life just... stops? I'm... Shit.

Is there a distance on this? I mean, can't you leave even just a little while? [ It's not something she can truly understand and her offer of advice is likely just shit but she feels like she wants to try. He deserves to be happy back home. They all do. ]

[greywaren]

i can visit him if thats what you mean

[It's not so dire that leaving will end everything again- if he changes the ley line enough, the house might not need him at all, except then who will take care of the cows? And the deer, and even the sleeping mice in the store rooms? It's too much, and he can't leave it for long, especially not with Opal in mind.]

its not the same. i dont want to leave it either. i belong there.

i get that he doesnt. it doesnt make it any easier to think about being there without him

[unitas]

Is everything tied to you and your ability? Or is it the place? [ Where are you going with this, Sharon? ]

[greywaren]

the place. its on a ley line. it used to be powered by him and now its powered by it. if i can keep the ley line in the right alignment then everything will be how it should be.

[unitas]

[ that doesn't sound complicated or difficult to deal with at all. ]

You have to keep it aligned? Is there no way to change that?

[greywaren]

parrish does it. i just help him

[Which should say everything it needs to right there. Without Adam there, it's going to be harder to keep things in the proper order- one of them needs to do it, and while Ronan can't speak to it the way that Adam can, if he even can anymore, he knows he has to at least try.]