December 30, 2022

Orpheus, Oleander, Cole and Lock step out into a landscape. To be more precise, they walk onto someone's front lawn. A woman named Mischief is kneeling in the dirt, planting flowers. She doesn't even question Orpheus and the gang. Orpheus walks off into the woods. It's perfectly navigable. The grass is just right, and there are tons of colorful flowers everywhere. There is no issue simply walking around. No animals, no bugs, just the lovely sound of birds chirping and tweeting.

Oleander is vibing, "this is nice!"

"Someone’s really good at landscaping..." Lock mumbles as she looks around

"Envy is rather nice" Cole glances around

A lot of trees. There's a bunch of log cabins around a lake in the distance.

Lock’s ears perk up at seeing the cabins. Orpheus keeps walking, she'd have to stop him if she wants to go there. Lock is a pansy and says nothing.

Everyone else follows. Well, they keep walking out into the woods. Deeper and deeper. The grass is beginning to get darker, more overgrown. The oak trees are getting denser. The sky is getting darker, just a bit. Like the sun is setting.

"So what is this place?" Oleander asks curiously.

Cole stays quiet and keeps walking

"Where are we even going?" Lock sounds tired of walking

"This place? Envy. Layer 5. We're heading to an abandoned radio tower. One of the like... Infinite ones here. They go out in the 4 cardinal directions and just, repeat that way forever."

"Radios live in towers?" Lock asks.

"They're used to broadcast signals." Orpheus responds. Cole facepalms audibly.

"Oh is this the furry hell some of you guys are from?" Oleander asks.

"Yeah." Orpheus replies.

"We’re in hell right now?" asks Lock.

"Yeah." Orpheus says.

"Oh."

"It's a good hell. Trust me, there are good and bad hells," Cole adds.

Oleander looks around at everything curiously as they walk.

Orpheus stops suddenly. "Everybody stop for a bit." They're right outside the radio tower! It looks very... surprisingly not destroyed. The door is unlocked. It's like a radio station building with a tower built in y'know.

Oleander stops and looks over the tower. "So what now?"

Cole stops and leans on his cane while staring at the radio tower.

"Looks less like a radio and more like just a tower." Lock comments. 

Orpheus places down the Radio. "Oleander, follow me. Cole and Lock, enjoy the fresh air for now." Orpheus walks into the tower.

"Alright." Oleander follows! Like a lamb to the slaughter.

Lock looks at Cole with an intent to kill.

Cole slowly looks over at Lock, "What."

"What?" Lock asks.

"Why were you looking at me like that?"

"Like what?"

"Like you’re gonna kill something?"

"No I’m not." Lock responds.

"...sure." Cole sighs as he looks around a little then goes back to looking at the radio tower

Lock continues to stare. Cole glances at Lock from the corner of his eye then back at the radio tower. Lock stares. Cole clears his throat and adjusts his overcoat. Lock stares.

Orpheus exits the tower and gives a hefty sigh. "Hhh. HEY LOCK!"

Orpheus clears his throat and walks over to LOCK. "So, uhh.. You're an axe fighter, right?"

Lock looks at Orpheus, "Is that what this is?" She gets out her hatchet.

"That's a hatchet." Orpheus explains. Cole watches with both hands on his cane

"So no, I’m a hatchet fighter."

"But, hatchets and axes are basically the same??" Orpheus pulls a handaxe out of nowhere. "See? They're basically the same. Yours just has the lil.. Fuckinn." He dinks the hammer end of the hatchet. "That. For bashing."

"You can use that side?" Lock turns the hatchet to look at the flat hammer side

"Yeah?? Just be careful not to axe yourself in the head when swinging. Like... fuckin. A fishing pole, y'know?" He reels back and then swings his axe down at the empty air. It makes a swoosh sound. Lock goes to copy the motion and flings the hatchet at the ground.

Orpheus stares in horror. "Lock what the fuck did you just do."

"...." Cole stares in concern

"What?" Lock looks over.

Orpheus yanks the hatchet out of the ground. "Lock... Lock this isn't a throwing axe? This hatchet is for like... Building. Tool. Close quarter combat or whatever!! You're looking for like.. FUCKING." Orpheus looks at Cole. "What was that one fucking weapon everybody tried to get frags with in Modern Warfare 2?"

Lock picks it up "I don’t see why not." Lock chucks it a bit further, but her hand catches on the grip and it hits the ground

"Throwing knife..." Cole says

"NO??? FUCKING." Orpheus pauses. “Wait, I HAVE THE INTERNET IN MY BRAIN."

Cole chuckles.

"IT'S A FUCKING TOMAHAWK." Orpheus shouts.

"Me tooo! We have so much in common." Lock cheers.

He high fives Lock. Lock doesn’t high five back.

"I never used that fuckin thing" Cole says.

Orpheus sighs and picks the Hatchet back up. "Cole, can you… Like… Give…Us a tomahawk? This is a learning moment. C'mon."

Cole snaps as a tomahawk appears and falls to the ground in front of Orpheus.

"Ok. Lock." Orpheus drops the hatchet and picks up the tomahawk. "You see this right? Straighter handle? Larger overall? Same-ish axehead?"

She nods. Orpheus reels back and chucks it so hard into a tree it sends splinters everywhere. “That might've been too hard. BUT LIKE. SEE? IT'S BETTER FOR THROWING."

"Woah..." She stares at where it is.

Orpheus runs over, yanks it out, and runs back. He hands it to Lock!

Lock takes it and chucks it. She has the worst aim known to man. It lands into the ground. But it goes farther than the hatchet would've! "...Have you considered simply hacking instead of throwing?"

"I’m not good at typing." Lock replies.

"..." Orpheus looks at Cole with an expression of absolute disbelief.

Cole shrugs and winces slightly.

Orpheus sighs!! "Lock, I mean like.." He swings with his axe!

Lock watches. She isn’t understanding anything.

Cole sighs and tries to explain, "like swinging the axe instead of throwing it, typically people call swinging an axe hacking...like hacking at a piece of wood."

"Ohhhhhh" Lock seems to understand.

"YEAH!" Orpheus agrees.

"There ya go." Cole smiles and nods.

"Does that make more sense?" asks Orpheus.

Lock’s hatchet reappears in her hand as she starts making the hacking motion. She swings it with both hands.

"...Lock. You're supposed to use one hand!!!" says Orpheus.

"Why?" She keeps going.

"Easier to use, and frees up your other hand to catch blades or hold onto a branch", Cole leans forward on his cane slightly, "that and you can put more power behind each swing."

"Or! Or! Just having a second hand to do something in general with. Like MY personal favorite is to GRAB someone and SKULL BASH THEM." Orpheus is getting rather joyous about this.

Lock smiles some "That sounds good." Cole looks concerned.

"Yeahh!"

+1 skill point. Lock looks at her hatchet and giggles some.

Oleander walks out. "Okay i’m done!"

"Wooo! Ok so, first off follow me." He walks back inside.

Lock follows while holding the hatchet. Cole and Oleander follow suit.

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