Eventually, Vile, having enough of the mathematics lesson, went off to retrieve Slave. I was tempted to follow, but figured it was a private matter between the rat and the cat, and similarly, I was a little frightened to see what sort of predicament that the sadistic rodent had left that poor feline in.
Slave did look a little worse for wear. Not significantly injured, of course, but even having fur out of place was rare for the virtually invincible creature.
"I-I'm sorry." She says, sitting upright, head lowered, unwilling to meet my gaze. "What I did was disrespectful to my Mistress, and unfair to you as well. I promise it won't happpen again."
"It's alright. I know people can do funny things when they are in... respect." I say with a smile. The cat just gives me a curious look, while the rat gives a far more negative one. "I'm sorry that I called you weak."
"Repeatedly." Slave says, with a hint of annoyance in her voice.
"Um, I did do it more than once, didn't I? I'm really sorry! I didn't mean it!"
I'm relieved when the black cat offers a small smile. "Yeah, I know you didn't. I know it's kind of an unreasonable request, as clearly I was far more wrong than you were, but I was sort of hoping-"
"Of course. Let's just put this behind us. I'd much rather have you as a friend than an enemy." I say.
The cat lowers her head again. I probably shouldn't have said that. Actual friendship might be a bit of a tall order at this point, and an apology is more than enough. She's still very much entitled to holding a dislike of me, as much as the idea displeases me. Instead she raises her head, looking to me with those golden eyes which looked so baleful and fearsome just a few hours ago, but now soft, gentle and beautiful to an extent that it's difficult to believe that they belong to the same creature. "Agreed."
"Well, now that that's settled, let's move on, shall we? I'm getting a little tired of these woods." the rat chimes in.
"Yeah, they are a little bit boring. I don't get why the wolves were so scared of them." I say as we continue forward, the rodent returning to her usual spot on the back of the black cat. "Sure, they're kind of dark, but other than that-"
I stop mid word, confused as I find my right front-paw stuck to the ground. I give a little tug, and still can't seem to move it. It finally comes free as I yank at it with all my strength. Still connected to my feet are a series of sticky, translucent strands, and as I look to the ground, there are countless tiny 'puddles' of them up ahead.
That's when the strange rattling noise could be heard from all directions. It wasn't incredibly loud, sounding like a series of hollow sticks clacking against one another in large numbers. The source was all around us, but more specifically, above. I looked up only to wish that I hadn't.
I've been so stupid. I can't beat myself up too much, as clearly neither Slave nor Vile had noticed either, despite how obvious it was, in hindsight. How obvious it was that the tranquility of this place wasn't natural. Sure, one could dismiss the lack of hostile animals as just good luck, but how could I have possibly not noticed the lack of calling birds, tiny critters, even insects? How could I have possibly not noticed that the heavy canopy overhead required more than just leaves to block out the sun so thoroughly?
The branches overhead were connected by thin, wirey silver webs, and within those webs were the remnants of the creatures who used to live in this place, or those who happened to enter, never to escape. Bones. Bones of wolves, bones of birds, bones of smaller rodents, and bones of human, all knocking and clanking against one another as the webs vibrated. Clearly such an obvious and macabre spectacle wasn't visible at the entrance to the wood, or we would have noticed it, but based on how heavy the webs are, we likely didn't just now stumble upon it, either. Who knows just how long this terrible graveyard was looming overhead, slightly hidden in the shadows but still visible to any of us who were wary, who paid proper attention to our surroundings.
Then came the other sound, a much more organic one, a strange, rapid chittering. Not from everywhere, mercifully, rather just directly behind us.
"Fuck..." Vile says, not wearing her usual causal and mildly sinister looking smile. While I don't approve of such crude language, of course, I can very much echo the sentiment as the massive spider crawls out from the brush, its body a little larger than my own, looking upon us with eight, red soulless eyes.
---- Battle Start! Squire's Party Versus DeathWeaver! ----
--DeathWeaver sprays webbing! Slave is entangled! Squire is entangled! Vile evades!
I can't help but yelp at the wide area of attack as a strange net-like pattern of webbing is launched from the mouth of the massive arachnid. It covers my body entirely, pinning all four legs to the ground, covering my back and snout, even keeping my tail from wagging.
--Slave is unable to move!
--Squire summons her inner strength! Squire is no longer entangled! Attack power increased!
--Vile casts FireBall! DeathWeaver suffers 120 point(s) of damage!
--DeathWeaver attacks! Critical hit! Slave suffers 6 point(s) of damage! Slave has been poisoned!
--Squire uses Divine Strike! DeathWeaver suffers 285 point(s) of damage!
---- DeathWeaver has been defeated! Squire and her allies have gained 200 Experience Point(s) and 75 Gold(s)! ----
"Whew, we won! That wasn't so bad, right?" I say, even if I can't help but shudder as I look to the remains of the gigantic silver furred spider with the strange almost human face. My enthusiasm is again dampened as I look to Vile who is effortlessly burning away the webs from Slave (and burning the cat in the process, but she doesn't seem to mind).
"This isn't over yet." the rat says, brow furrowed, clearly still deeply concerned. "Not even close."