kunzite

[dramatispersonae]

[ The hill in the Ring dissolves, leaving you alone with your team in a soft, featureless grey space. The Dog's genderless, gentle "voice" speaks into all of your minds, less anxious and more confident now; confiding. ]

My name is The Dog Who Dies At The End Of The Story. I don't remember the name I had before that, and I didn't know what this one was either, not till I chose a new Master. I don't think I was supposed to do that, but I did, so here we are.

I understand being a dog, and sometimes dogs die. But I don't understand dying, even when I know what it is. . . and in order to make a choice about it, I need to catch answers. I've died over and over and not understood yet. Maybe some of you have, too. I wanted . . . to ask what you thought. . . ?

Thank you. . . I won't be able to answer for a little while, so if you would. . . please answer for me.

[ You know instinctively that while the Dog will not answer your words for a while, once it asks you its questions you will be able to speak your answers when you've reached a consensus and be heard. ]

Comments

round one part one

[dramatispersonae]

[ The questions click into your mind like pieces into a puzzle. You know that you must answer them together as a group. ]

In your story, you've just died. They're mourning you back where your body is, or they're not; I don't know how much they loved you in this story.

The rest of you is following a trail away. What's at the end of it?

something warm or something cold.

something close or something far.


something or nothing.

discussion

[dramatispersonae]

Re: discussion

[adropintheocean]

[shivers. forcefully:]

Not nothing.

answer

[dramatispersonae]

[ Please answer as a group if you choose to answer this question: one answer each for the three "or" choices. ]

Re: answer

[adropintheocean]

something warm
something close
something

round one part two

[dramatispersonae]

Why did you answer that way? Is that how you think it is, or know it is? How are you sure? Or is it just what you want to be true... has someone you loved died, and now you hope they're there?

Please help me understand.

discussion

[dramatispersonae]

Re: discussion

[adropintheocean]

[hunches his shoulders a bit]

As I said -- I don't have any personal experience, only --

Re: discussion

[faketears]

Um, I don't think I understand...

answer

[dramatispersonae]

[ Please answer as a group if you choose to answer this question: you can go into detail or not, but the thoughtfulness of your answer will affect your score and game results. ]

Re: answer

[adropintheocean]

Pamela is a ghost who does not remember her death; Clear remembers what it is to die though he is not human; I associated with a man who had died a long time ago. We have . . . different perspectives and situations.

I think what we can agree on definitively is that there must be 'something.' You are yourself until the moment of your death, and at least in some worlds, you will not stop being yourself until it has passed -- the 'something' may be even greater, if you are remembered and well-loved.

As for something warm, and something close . . . Clear felt it at the moment of his passing, and Pamela would like those things. . . . I would, too. For you and for us all.

round two

[dramatispersonae]

What does death mean to you? Is there ever a time to die?

discussion

[dramatispersonae]

Re: discussion

[adropintheocean]

[. . . strangled whale noise]

Re: discussion

[faketears]

Um, well, I guess it would depend. I'm okay with being a ghost, myself.

answer

[dramatispersonae]

[ Please answer as a group if you choose to answer this question: you can go into detail or not, but the thoughtfulness of your answer will affect your score and game results. ]

Re: answer

[adropintheocean]

Death can mean -- warmth, and discovering what you thought you didn't have, at the moment of your ultimate crisis. Death can mean simply going on in the current world, but in another form. Death can mean that you're taken away from the world until a later time, or altogether, so your direct impact upon it ceases. It seems there are many meanings and many ways to take a death, but all of them . . . are paradigm shifts. To make a crude pun, death is a change in the way you live -- the way you go forward, and how you can affect the world. But you do go forward, somewhere else.

. . . everyone must die eventually. But I think you'd be hard-pressed to find someone who wants to die, or pass on, before they've made an impact somewhere in the world: whether it's making a difference in the lives of people they care about, or traveling with someone they wish to travel with, or changing some broader system.

round three

[dramatispersonae]

Tell me about. . . the place you talked about in the first question, even if your answer was that it wasn't a place. What it looks like and feels like around you. Just so I can. . .

Thank you.

discussion

[dramatispersonae]

Re: discussion

[faketears]

Hm...

answer

[dramatispersonae]

Re: answer

[faketears]

Well, for me, that place is the school back where I'm from! I mean, um, I never left in the first place, so it's not really like I went anywhere else... except for here, maybe. Hm... it's not that bad, really. I'd like to explore outside one day, of course, but Vayne promised he'd take me with him, so I can wait, hee hee. It's a very fun school, and I've made a lot of friends.

Re: answer

[adropintheocean]

You were riding in the chariot with me, Dog. You saw a little of what it was like. I remembered the rest of it right after, can you believe it...?

Anyway, it's the only context I've even -- directly touched myself, of someone's death. And as I've said, the death wasn't mine. But it is something, and it is warm, and I suppose it is -- close to Rider. He brings it with him.

...it's a desert, you see -- the greatest one ever imagined. I don't think it's ever rained there. But there's no way to be alone there, because all of Rider's men are there too -- because he said that his legend was of a King who would never stand alone, but would go on with his followers and friends.

So it--isn't empty, and it isn't lonely, because of that. And there's something more past it; something he was hunting for.

It's not mine, but it's what I know about, and he called it his greatest treasure. So I hope -- I hope that helps.

Re: answer

[hushabyte]

... It's a shore. A gentle, quiet shore, and waiting there is the one I've chosen to be with. There are grains of sand shifting, of course, but it's also so warm, with a big towel wrapped around us. If we look up to the sky, we can watch the stars sparkle, and if we look down to the sea, we can see the jellyfish dream. Everywhere is a wonderful place.

It's not a memory, but maybe one day it will be? Those were the images my feelings made. I hope that's all right, Dog-san.

result

[dramatispersonae]