Special Thank You to @kravkalackin for coming up with this whole concept and then giving me permission to just do whatever I wanted with it. I hope you have enjoyed this adventure as much as I have. This was very much a learning experience. As a funny, incidental TAZ bonus, this comic ended up having 69 pages in total. That was in no way intentional, and I will be mystified to this day. Thanks again <3
Transcript under the cut:
*The boy, still perched on the back of the werewolf, carefully climbs off, and slides down the sandy slope that leads to the sandy beach of the river. Standing at the water’s edge is a hooded figure. They hold a scythe, with a lantern hanging from it.*
The boy: Um...h-hello.
Figue: Hello
Boy: Are you...do you...?
Figure: I am the ferryman. *They point to a white boat docked nearby* I ferry people across the river. *They turn to the boy* I’m guessing you need to cross?
Boy: Yes, please.
Ferryman: Well, before we go...I’d like to know...did you solve your mystery?
Boy: No. I did not. But that’s alright. Because some mysteries...*Behind him every spirit the boy has encountered emerges from the forest*...like what hides in the shadows of the woods...*There are many more gathering behind him that he hadn’t met, but they feel familiar anyway*...or comes out in the light of the moon...aren’t meant to be solved.
Ferryman: *The figure smiles at the boy* Well then. Let’s be off.
*The ferryman and the boy are now on the boat, beginning their journey across. The spirts stay on the shores edge, waving to the boy. The boy waves back. Once they get on the water, the river looks much larger than it did before, with the moon rippling softly over the surface. Balls of light float around them. The boy suddenly feels his eyes getting drowsy. He yawns*
Ferryman: It will be some times before we get to the other side. You may rest until we get there.
Boy: Okay. *he starts to lie down in the boat* Wake me...wake me when we...*everything fades to black* Get home...
The last chapter title card says “End”
*Everything goes from greyscale to warm colors. The boy is seen laid on a couch, his jacket draped over him, magnifying glass in pocket. A backpack by the couch had a wooden stick coming out of it. On the coffee table is an open book with a page looking mysteriously like the ending title card. A group of disembodied voices speak around the sleeping boy.*
Voice 1: So he’s been snoozing since he got home?
Voice 2: Well, he was out and about all day so I’m not surprised.
Voice 3: Did you see the stuff he brought back?
Voice 4: We should probably take him on to bed.
Voice 5: I’ll carry him.* Someone carries the boy up the stairs.
Voice 6: You go him big guy?
voice 5: Yeah, I got him. *Someone else tucks the boy into bed*
Voice 7: Goodnight, kiddo. *we see, perched on the windowsill of the boy’s room, a fairy cross, a dousing rood, a paper butterfly, two silver strings tied together, a small bell, and a tuff of fur.* You’ll solve another mystery tomorrow.
*We zoom out and see the boy tucked into bed, still fast asleep. A swirling of lights floating over him peacefully.*
