The Retired Anarchist - A Dream SMP Story

The Cracked Mask

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CHAPTER FOUR

The Cracked Mask

Present Day. One week before The Blood Siren.

The Axe Of Peace swings through the air, the wind whistling as it arcs. 

The blade slams into the log, the wood not giving much of a fight and splitting into two easily.

Techno surveys the mess of logs around him. He had cut enough for about a weeks' worth of fuel. His mind had already gone through the calculations before he could step off his small chopping platform.

The sun is high in the sky and Techno still had plenty of work to be done around his house. He had the bees to check up on, a few wildflowers to replant and see if his brand new turtle farm was producing any scutes. The tasks at hand all vanish when Techno senses a presence among the trees.

Pivoting with his heel, he scans the forest. To an untrained eye, the forest seems safe, with the few snowy rabbits bouncing around and the occasional cry from an overhead bird. The spruce trees still blow softly in the wind and no sounds of crunching snow alert his ears. However, Techno's eyes have been trained. He uses the method of scanning in the opposite direction of how he reads in, so his eyes don't skip over any slight discrepancies in the woods. Scanning and rescanning the surrounding woods, he practically smiles when he spots the tip of a black boot peeking out from the base of a tree.

The Masked Man is back to his stalking.

Smirking, he looks away from the boot, unbothered and unthreatened by the man. The Masked Man is one of the most powerful people in the Dream SMP and its surrounding land. He didn't have many allies but he was more than capable of bringing a country to its knees without a second thought. He had been keeping a close eye on the new country, L'Manburg which happened to be his siblings' home. Even after it got blown up they still called the massive crater in the ground their home.

Though powerful and dangerous, The Masked Man had never shown Techno any reason for him to be on guard while he watched him. That did not mean Techno fully trusted the man for what he had done to Wilbur. He hadn't been the cause of his death but he certainly had pushed his twin to his boundaries by handing him vast amounts of dynamite. Mind you, Techno had also pushed Wilbur to the edge so he couldn't blame The Masked Man for his twin's death.

The Masked Man went under the name of Dream. In his usual attire, he'd wear a lime green cloak and a porcelain circular mask with a menacing smiley face drawn in black ink. Techno had no idea how Dream could see, nevermind breathe in it, but he didn't feel like asking anyway.

Techno swings The Axe Of Peace over his back and checks to make sure The Orphan Obliterator is correctly sheathed and easily accessible. Even though Dream hadn't done anything to provoke him, that didn't mean he can entirely lower his guard.

He whistles for Carl. The whistle is high with multiple notes that would make any passerby think it is just a bird. Techno bends down and collects a handful of logs. Carl walks steadily towards him, pulling a small wooden cart that had taken Techno a full day to build. It was ironic how he had built an entire bee dome and a working heater but he couldn't build just a simple cart.

He loads up the wood into the cart, watching Dream out of the corner of his eye. His boot moves back behind the tree and Techno senses Dream is ready to follow him.