Zhang Han's heart clenched, painfully so. He felt angry and annoyed at Vaien who had boasted time and time again at how flawless he was...but he supposed that this time it was more so Kalla's fault than Vaien's. With how tense Vaien had been, Zhang Han could believe that he acted hastily, not paying close enough attention, and then got caught.
Were they...even still alive? Wasn't Vaien the one who said he'd never put his own life on the line to save him? Now Zhang Han knew he was being the fool, coming after him like this.
Zhang Han grit his teeth, his hand clenching over his laser gun, and banished these thoughts.
But his legs still kept moving forward through the forest. He didn't want to give up.
What would he even do if Vaien was dead? Where would he go? Survival would become all the more difficult. That was why even if Vaien wouldn't risk his life to save Zhang Han, Zhang Han would risk his life to save him.
Ah, plus, he supposed Vaien was good at cooking.
Zhang Han heard a noise among the trees webbed with silk, and his eyes flinched around the dim area, trying to catch sight of the source.
It was a skittering sound, like multiple legs running along the silk threads, and he realized that the sound came from a thing only a few steps ahead of him. It was only that it was behind something he couldn't' see through.
A giant enclosure of silk...like a huge tent that went over the tops of tall trees, and there was a circular opening near the front that was about two meters in height.
Whatever made the sound was just inside of it, and it was possible that Vaien and Kalla would be in there too. Although alive or dead, he wouldn't know…
Zhang Han firmed his gaze.
He needed to find a way to draw the creature out so he could go inside and check for them.
Going off his previous observations, to create a distraction he'd need to make a vibration that mimicked something being caught in this creature's web.
Scanning his eyes over the area, white silk threads hung off just about every branch and leaf besides the few bare spots, including the one he stood in now. Lifting his bundle of rope off from shoulder, Zhang Han tied the end into a loop and carefully threw it over a branch far away from him, one with spider silk hanging off of it.
He really hoped that whatever was in there would fall for this trick and not come running for him instead. But age, fuck it. Zhang Han began to pull on his end of the rope.
It went taunt from where it hung, in front of the spider silk cove, then he started shaking the rope, in turn shifting the branch with the silk attached. Rustling leaves filled the air with noise, then he heard that creature skitter around again.
Long, hairy legs appeared out of the spider silk tent first. Then half of a body, one with giant mandibles twitching and countless black eyes dotting its head. It was a spider with claws on the ends of its feet, as tall as their snoufle mounts.
With surprising quiet, it went towards the shaking branch one step at a time. One of its legs was missing, a hole where the joint used to be attached and was dripping green blood.
The spider was curious of the shaking branch, two of its front legs reaching up towards it with caution.
Zhang Han knew the moment had come, he pulled as hard as possible, snapping that branch with the rope and letting it fall on top of the spider's body. He dropped the rope in the next moment to prevent himself for getting pulled by the spider. Then as fast as he could manage, with all the strength he could muster, he ran into the spider web tent.
Around the same time the spider rapidly began flicking its legs, trying to get the rope off its body in confusion and turning in circles. He was well aware that such a distraction would only last seconds.
Inside was even darker, but he could make out the surroundings.
A number of tight woven cocoon shapes, varying in sizes, were within the tent. They hung off the walls and ceiling in abundance.
Which one was Vaien or Kalla?
He caught a flash of red hair from one silk wrap that seemed incomplete.
"..." Probably him. It dawned on Zhang Han that the 'skittering' sound he heard earlier was the spider wrapping its silk into a cocoon. After all, since it didn't make much noise while walking, then this explanation made sense. He'd arrived just in time for it to be in the middle of wrapping Vaien up.
Fuck, Zhang Han felt so close to success that he didn't even care if that spider rushed in at any moment. He reached the cocoon in a few steps and both his hands dug at the silk.
And yet it was to no avail, the spider thread was not only flexible but powerful like bendable steel. The more he tried to wrench it apart, the more his fingers were cut into by the threads. Blood dripped onto the white cocoon garishly.
An angry sigh left Zhang Han's lips; he couldn't break it on his own.
"Urgh…" he heard a muffled groan from within the cocoon and the threads beneath his hands shifted slightly from a source within. The entire cocoon shuddered as though the person within was trying their utmost to break free.
Zhang Han had another idea, although he didn't like it as much.
He took his laser bow off his shoulders.
Typically he was a great shot, but in this case he didn't know where Vaien's body was within the silk, nor was the lighting good, and it was also close range...but…it was better than doing nothing.
He pulled the string tight, a bright blue light flaring out, then let it fly.
A blue streak shot horizontal against the cocoon, breaking through the strands with a searing noise. He hoped it was enough to allow Vaien to break free.
The ground vibrated as the spider stepped back inside, free of the rope.
Zhang Han furrowed his brow, keeping his breathing as steady as possible. He drew back the string of his bow again, knowing that this would be his only chance to attack before the beast discovered him and retaliated. He wasn't quite certain where to aim, and went for the center of its forehead.
A shimmering blue whizzed at the spider's head, but the beast reacted as though aware ahead of time, ducking as the arrow cut through the top left of its head, destroying at least three of its compound eyes. More green blood dripped and its mandibles twitched as though it were pained, yet it was far from enough to stop it.
The spider quickly turned its body and shot silk at whatever threat had just injured it.
Zhang Han flinched but was unable to dodge in time.
Half his body was covered in a soft and sticky thread that stuck him against the wall of the tent with little room to budge.
As the spider tested the strands of silk, trying to see if something was there, Zhang Han glanced at the cocoon that probably held Vaien. He'd blasted away at least half of the silk.
Suddenly tan fingers poked through from within.
A ripping noise filled the space as Vaien tore through the remainder of the wall. His muscles strained and ached from it, but he burst out of the silk and fell onto the ground, chest heaving.