A whole new world

[aestrix]

There is a forest that likes to pretend that it's ordinary. It isn't, it's quite bizarre. Every night, in fact, zombies and other horrible monsters swarm this place, looking for people to kill. Not that they've found anyone, the forest itself is quite empty of residents. But they search anyway, during the night, shambling and groaning and occasionally leaving body parts lying around. Those disappear pretty quickly, but it still happens. Then the day comes, and they depart to who knows where, swearing (if mindless monsters could think, or in fact swear to anything in particular) that they'l be back the next night. Repeat ad nauseum.

It's currently in the day portion of this cycle of directionless attempts at violence. Maybe this day will be different from all of the others.

But then, probably not, it's a very boring island without anyone here.

Comments

[aestrix]

Yep! It will love her forever and ever and ever. Until she eats it. Then it will likely not love her anymore, because it would be dead.

[greatestgift]

Well then.

She seeks out little crawly things to catch with the net, next.

[aestrix]

There's a grasshopper! That looks like it would make good fishing bait.

[greatestgift]

Scoop! Does it become a pocket grasshopper?

[aestrix]

Yep! Just like the gold fish. How convenient!

[greatestgift]

Excellent.

She also has to find an ocean. She tries a direction that she hasn't gone yet, scooping any crawlies she spots along the way.

[aestrix]

Butterflies! A scorpion! More grasshoppers!

Oh, look, an ocean.

[greatestgift]

Okay. So... time to fish?

[aestrix]

The fishing rod is pretty intuitive with bait, and it's quite straightforward. Soon enough, she catches a trout. It flops around for a bit before it turns travel sized, and it looks like it would make a pretty good meal.

[greatestgift]

Travel trout! How charming. Also, as she half suspected, fished things don't seem to exist until caught. She'll keep at it for a while, then, to see what else turns up.

[aestrix]

A crate! A tuna! A bass! A chainsaw?

[greatestgift]

... What.

[aestrix]

It's a fish. It identifies itself as a sawtooth shark, but it does not shrink down to travel size and when picked up it identifies itself as an upgraded axe.

[greatestgift]

That is an axe?

She stashes it in her bag for Dylan to explain later and goes back to fishing.

[aestrix]

She runs out of bait pretty quickly, but nabs another tuna, a bass, and two more trout.

[greatestgift]

So many pocket-sized fish!

Time to go back and ask her guide what in the wide green world is up with that fish-saw.

She returns to Dylan's house, and gets the sawtooth shark out of her bag, and holds it up, and says "What."

[aestrix]

Dylan looks at it.

"You can use your pickaxe to dig through dirt, and your axe to chop down trees."

[greatestgift]

"It's a fish," she says. "A fish with saw teeth. And it thinks it's an axe."

[aestrix]

"Start by chopping down trees and gathering wood."

[greatestgift]

"Okay. I will believe you and the crazy fish saw about its axehood. I guess. Thanks for the tip about fishing."

[aestrix]

"I am here to help!"

[greatestgift]

"Yeah."

She goes to test out the fish-saw-axe on a tree.

[aestrix]

It is really effective at cutting down trees. Leagues and leagues better than the copper axe.

[greatestgift]

Ooh. Nifty. She'll just be carrying around the fish-axe instead of the copper axe from now on.

[aestrix]

The fish-axe has no comment on the matter! Axes don't talk, and neither do fish, unless it's a Disney movie. And this is not a Disney movie.

The clouds darken, and it starts to rain.