The Spider's Web Ch. 01

Author's Note: Sorry this is coming out late, work has been a bit stressful, what with my GM refusing to respect my scheduling requests. Though it also doesn't help that my Brain Gremlins have started to point eagerly towards a bunch of new stories, so there's that too. Anyways, I think the next bit will be Blessed Ch 5, as that's over half done; alternatively, Ashmodaen Ch 2, for the same reasons.

Tags up front: arachne, magic, non-human, nonconsent/reluctance, bondage

Stirred from his sleep by the sudden, violent tugging of an alert line, Zirase peered hopefully at the strand of silk, taking a moment to recall where it led. Once he remembered - a web in a blind alley about five minutes away from his main lair, out on the edge of his marked territory- he rose. With a stretch that popped nearly all of his joints, the spider-like athiagan scurried out from his lair and onto the side of the building he had taken up residence in after the Convergence.

Hundreds of feet above the ground, in the deserted, towering structure built by one of the 'other world's' natives, Zirase had a good view... of similar buildings all around. As far as he knew, all of the native buildings were deserted, and the corpses of many native humanoids were littered throughout them. Additionally, the Convergence had been rather unstable, with the forest Zirase and others from his world lived in being transposed onto the city - the result was a bizarre melding of trees within the very matter of buildings, hills and ravines clashing chaotically, and so on.

The strange land/cityscape that formed after the Convergence was home to many creatures from Zirase's world, as well as what appeared to be the dominant species on the other world (the species that had built the city); over time, other creatures had begun to wander into the Converged area from without, some from Zirase's world, others from the city's, as the melded areas and areas wholly of one world or the other all boarded each other in a patchwork manner.

All that had happened over a week earlier, and Zirase had made good use of the time. He'd secured much of his old territory, though it was greatly changed after the convergence, and had managed to successfully stalk, capture, and consume a delectable meal from the new world - some kind of quadrupedal animal with a pair of tree-like horns atop its head.

And now, it appeared as though his webs were beginning to work. The trip out to the web at the edge of his territory was uneventful and swift, as Zirase had claimed the heights between the towering trees and buildings, weaving bridges between un-leapable gaps and memorizing where he could leap between. He traveled almost silently, his pulse slowly increasing as he neared his destination. Would it be another of the many-horned animals? Perhaps something from his world? Or something new? He'd eaten the many-horned animal two days earlier, so if it was a meal, he'd probably wrap it up with some asiyn silk and store it away for another two or three days.

Arriving at the buildings which created the blind alley he'd woven his web in, the athiagan was simultaneously disappointed and excited to find it was not a meal that had gotten caught in his web. The humanoid natives were far too scrawny - more skin and bones than filling flesh, as far as he was concerned - but they also seemed to be the only intelligent species in the area, which made them a source of boundless curiosity for Zirase.

Pausing near the tops of the buildings, he watched for a minute as the humanoid squirmed and struggled in his web. Even from hundreds of feet away, his keen eyes could pick out some details about the being - from the rounded chest, high-pitched voice, and subtle curves, he assumed it was a female of the species - although they seemed slightly smaller than the males, which he found odd - and she was carrying a sack on her back that clattered somewhat as she struggled, the objects within banging against each other.

Zirase was intrigued to observe that, while she grunted and swore in her alien language, she didn't call out for help - that was intriguing because it suggested that she was alone, unlike many of her kind that the athiagan had watched from afar.

Still, caution was advised. Even if he had spent every waking moment of the past week in careful observation, he doubted he'd be able to learn what he needed to know about the humanoids' capabilities, like what sort of magics they could work or what weapons they used. Though even casual observation showed that they were clearly a social species, as the groups Zirase had seen numbered anywhere between a handful and well over a dozen, and clearly not all from the same bloodline. Not to mention, they lived in massive cities - of course they were social, communal creatures.

Still, the fact that this female wasn't calling for help strongly implied that she was alone, which made her the perfect subject for study, since he probably wouldn't be interrupted. Potentially even worth taking back home to study long-term, Zirase mused to himself, beginning his descent down the building. As he approached, he kept an eye out for any sort of trap, ambush, or concealed weapon he would have to worry about, but quickly discarded that particular concern - aside from the hand-sized knife strapped to her thigh, the female appeared unarmed, and there was nowhere for additional assailants to hide that he wouldn't be able to detect them; he might have worried about magic that allowed for concealment, but little could escape an athiagan's senses, even magic that enhanced stealthiness.

As he neared the female, Zirase began to pick up scents from her. Fear, if not quite outright terror, was the most prominent, followed by her sweaty and dirty natural odor. But one stood out in stark contrast - arousal. That's... odd.

Arousal when caught in a athiagan web wasn't unheard of - agiaths almost universally enjoyed being bound in webbing, for example - but it was certainly strange that a member of a species so wholly separated from athiagans would experience the same sort of reaction as the smaller agiathes, who were effectively kept as breeders and slaves by athiagans.

It was definitely worth studying. At length. Preferably indefinitely.

Zirase was only a few strides from the ground, and the female still struggled in his web, unaware of the athiagan behind her. Convinced that there were no threats nearby, he forwent stealth and allowed his long legs to gently clatter against the hard, stone-like walls of the building. The sound immediately drew the female's attention, but stuck as she was in the web, she couldn't turn to see the athiagan approach.

The fear and terror in her scent increased massively, nearly drowning out the arousal. "I doubt you can understand me," Zirase said, "but it's worth telling you that I won't harm you."

A whimper answered him, and he sighed. A ritual to learn languages did exist, and it wasn't even complicated, but it did require the proper setup, which he still hadn't done post-Convergence. Finding food and securing a safe lair had been higher on Zirase's priorities. Survival and safety, then convenience.

Unfortunately, that left him with a struggling new study subject and no way to calm it without some kind of force. And with a sigh, he began producing tough, stiff asiyn silk from his spinnerets to wrap the female in silk and keep her bound. He worked quickly and efficiently, holding her hips with his pedipalps before secreting somyul with his hands, which temporarily made his glue-like egiel lose it's sticky properties. He then released her hands, arms, and upper body and quickly wrapped her torso in asiyn, despite her vigorous protests. Luckily, she was considerably weaker than Zirase, and he was able to easily restrain her as he worked. Only once her upper body was bound did he free her hips and legs and wrap her lower half in asiyn. Once she was all wrapped up, Zirase used some egiel and glued her to the top of his abdomen.

While he worked, the athiagan spoke soothingly, hoping that a calm, constant voice would help settle the female. She still struggled and resisted, trying to free herself even after it was very clear that she wouldn't be able to break free from the asiyn silk, but she didn't raise her voice; Zirase wasn't sure if that was due to her being afraid of accidentally luring another predator, or if his voice was soothing enough to keep her quiet. Probably the former.

The quiet lasted all of a couple seconds once Zirase started back up the building. The moment his body's orientation shifted fully as he ascended the wall, the female began to whimper and moan in fear. When he had to make the fairly short jump from the building to a path of webbing he had made, she screamed loud enough to make his ears ring.

Is it possible that a species that made these tall towers actually has those who are afraid of heights? Zirase wondered, pausing briefly to spin some more asiyn silk and fashion a gag from it. He wasn't too threatened by the idea of other creatures knowing where his lair was, but even apex predators need to practice some caution.

Despite the extra load, the trip back to his lair took Zirase significantly less time than the trip out to the web. Mostly, it was due to allowing himself to rush; on the way out, the further he went, the more likely he was to run into dangers, and so it was prudent to go slowly and keep an eye out for trouble. However, moving deeper into his own territory, the trip only became safer, and so speed was acceptable, as every step he took brought him greater safety.

Once he arrived back at his lair, the athiagan secreted somyul along his abdomen to un-stick the egiel, then set the female down. Zirase spent a few moments checking her over, making sure she hadn't somehow gotten hurt on the way to his lair, then took a minute to carefully remove the bag from her back while keeping her encased in her asiyn bondage. He settled down onto the floor, his legs bent sharply so his abdomen and thorax brushed the floor, and carefully investigated the female's possessions. It appeared that she mostly had small, hard cases that smelt vaguely of meat or plants inside the metal they were sealed in - perhaps packaged food? There was also some small containers of rainwater, some clothing, and a large sheet of cloth and a small cloth-wrapped pad. In another, smaller compartment of the bag was an assortment of small tools, including a few different types of knives, some sort of cylinder with a flat crystal or something at one end, and a bunch of small, acrid-smelling cylinders of various sizes.

All curious, but nothing worth his attention at this stage more than the female herself. Zirase repacked all the items into the bag, then scuttled up to the ceiling and secured the bag there, before dropping back to the floor.

After quickly double-checking all of the space he'd claimed, and finding that, as he had thought, none of it had any escape routes for the female to take, he returned to where she was struggling on the floor, and swiftly cut open the asiyn restraining her, including the gag. He ate all the now-unused silk, recycling much of the energy it took to make the webbing in the first place. After a once-over of the female to make sure she had endured the trip without any damage, Zirase left the lair, heading out and hoping that he'd find the reagents he needed to perform the language-learning ritual, as well as reagents for other rituals as well.

It would be quite difficult to study the habits and learn the mind of the female's species if he couldn't communicate with her, and he hoped she'd be cooperative if she knew, from his own mouth and in his own words, that he didn't plan to eat her.

Let's see, he thought to himself, compiling a mental checklist. An aetherstone is the rarest of the reagents, but hopefully that cave passed through in the Convergence. I'll also need lead... no, I'll need far too much, I'll make due with runes using my silk for now - t'bu silk should channel the magic well enough. Next would be a medium; water will work fine, so I'll just weave a waterbag and find a clean river or pond to draw from, I can carry all that I'll need in one trip. Then it's just our blood.

Of all of it, the aetherstone was the trickiest bit. Had it been before the Convergence, Zirase wouldn't worry - a cave near his old lair was rife with quality stones. But in this twisted, merged amalgamation of two worlds, he wasn't certain he'd be able to find what he needed, doubly so if the cave itself hadn't crossed over. Luckily, the Convergence had been a thing of the Aetherial Weave, so it was likely that any sources of aetherstone had made the crossing without issue, passing through the Weave like air though Zirase's webs - practically without notice.

Likely, but not certain. For Zirase, that was a very large 'but.' The success of his studying might well rely completely on whether or not those aetherstones were present in the Converged worlds. If the cave wasn't here, he'd have to search blindly for who-knows how long until he found more.

A few minutes later, the athiagan arrived where the cave entrance should have been. Instead, there was some kind of artificial cave entrance. He wasn't sure if he should be worried that the actual cave was missing, or relieved that there was at least some kind of hole in the ground. After a moment's hesitation, searching with all his senses for any signs of danger, Zirase slowly descended into the artificial hole.

At the bottom of the descent, the floor leveled off and a long corridor stretched before and behind Zirase. Taking a moment to orient himself, the athiagan continued forward, since it roughly matched up with the route the cave would have taken. After a minute, the floor became cracked and broken, the artificial stone mixing with earth and natural rock, before nature completely replaced the artificial. The straight corridor began to bend and curve in familiar patterns, and Zirase let out a small sigh of relief. Assuming it didn't change back to the underground structure, if the cave had Converged, even partially, then it was all but certain that the aetherstones had as well.

Another minute or two later, after passing by several sections of fused cave and structure, Zirase arrived at the main chamber of the cave - and there, he stopped for a moment in surprise. The aetherstones were there, but the cavern was bisected by some kind of structure from the new world, with sets of metal bars leading from a hole in one wall of the cavern across the room and out another hole. The bars seemed paired, and were set in cutouts in the ground.

Zirase vaguely recalled an explanation he had once heard about the mines that the fomdir kept, and the 'rails' they used to ferry carts around their labyrinthine tunnel networks. Perhaps these were rails as well?

Shaking off his curiosity, Zirase scuttled about, examining the aetherstones for what he needed. One too large and powerful, and the ritual might get out of control, sharing more of the participants' knowledge than necessary - or safe. One too small, and the ritual might not work at all, lacking the power required to complete it.

After a few minutes, he found the perfect stone, roughly the size of his head. Wrapping it in some webbing and slinging it to his body, the athiagan made his way out of the fused caves, promising himself he would eventually return to investigate the presumed-rail-system.

Once he emerged from the artificial cave entrance, the athigan focused for a moment, examining his surroundings with all of his senses. A distant sound and the scent of moisture drew him further away from his lair, towards what he assumed was a river. And so it was, he found several minutes later, looking down from fairly high up above a dirty-looking waterway, across which spanned a stone bridge. It was a simple matter to weave a waterbag, attach it to a line of tough, sturdy silk, and cast it into the water, then retrieve it using the silk line.

From there, the return trip to his lair was quick and uneventful, though Zirase had a brief moment of panic when his new study subject wasn't where he had left her. He quickly calmed when he heard soft, angry muttering in one of the adjoining chambers, where he found the female examining the walls, floor, and ceiling.

It took her a moment to notice him, but once she did, her eyes went wide, and she backed away, her body tense and her heart pounding at a rapid clip. Hoping to calm her, Zirase tried giving her a small, friendly smile as he entered the chamber he'd been planning to make into his ritual site. He kept his body low, hoping to appear smaller and less intimidating to the female - he was nearly half-again her height, and a good deal larger overall when including his abdomen and legs, though he knew that most races were more densely-built than athiagans, so he might not be as much heavier than her as it first would seem.

"Good to see you're up and about," he said, keeping his voice calm and as soothing as he could. "I'm just going to set up for a ritual - it'll let us learn each other's languages. Well, it'll let me learn your language; I'm not sure what effect learning a whole new language might have on your race, so I'm just going to learn yours." As he spoke, Zirase began to set up for the ritual, first by setting up the waterbag he had drawn to filter into another one, using a combination of his silks to get pure, distilled water dripping from the dirty groundwater of the river. Next he began weaving intricate runes along the walls, floor, and ceiling out of his t'bu silk, which was normally used for weaving egg sacks, but also made for decent silk armor for the few unarmored races of his world, and was the best silk at his disposal for channeling magic.

The female watched him warily, keeping herself on the opposite side of the room from him. Zirase didn't mind, as she almost certainly posed no threat to him. If she felt safer at a distance that was still easily within an instant's movement for him, that was fine by him - she didn't have to know it was pointless.

Zirase kept speaking in soft, calm tones, mainly narrating whatever he was doing in the moment, or commentating on it ('hold on a second, it's supposed to connect here, then go under here, and then connect over there'). Once all the runes had been woven, the athiagan checked and double-checked them all, gently plucking at strands of silk and sensing the aether that had been activated by the presence of the magical weavings.

This next part will be... interesting, he thought to himself. The next step was to get both his and her blood, mix them in the pure water, and then submerge the aetherstone in the solution. Convincing the female to surrender even just the requisite few drops of blood would probably be troublesome, since most sentients seemed rather possessive of their blood.

Taking a steadying breath, the athiagan turned to regard the female, whose attention snapped to Zirase as she became much more guarded. Once again, Zirase lowered his body, tucking his legs and squatting so low that his abdomen came to rest on the floor of the building. "I doubt you're going to like this," he said with a small, wry smile, "but I need some of your blood to do this." He began to carefully weave a bowl from his t'bu silk, keeping the strands tight together to make it leak-proof. "The aetherstone I've got can channel and focus the magic, and the water will allow it to bridge between the catalysts - that being us - but it needs direction, something to guide the magic to the catalysts. And that's our blood. And I'd rather not start off our relationship by forcefully taking blood from you."