The Spider's Web Ch. 01

He finished weaving the bowl, then retrieved the aetherstone from its webbed sling and placed the magical rock into the bowl. A look towards the filter let him know that he'd have to wait a minute more for enough water - not that he needed to pour it all in together - so he turned back towards the female and drew a small, bone-handled knife from the belt at his waist.

She tensed, her body dropping into a crude fighting stance, and Zirase hurried to reassure her, keeping the knife low and holding up his other hand. Then, he drew the knife slowly across the back of his arm, just a small cut, and dripped some of his own blue blood into the bowl. The female frowned, her eyes darting between the bowl and Zirase. The athiagan gave her a significant look, then down at the bowl, then back up at her, before holding up the knife as though offering it to her.

A mixed expression came across her face, one of confusion, caution, and curiosity. It was clear that she wasn't quite sure about the entire situation, but she did relax, to Zirase's relief. After a moment of thought, he decided to try and convince her again, miming cutting his arm again and the dripping of blood before indicating her, then indicating the entire ritual setup, before pointing at his lips and making a gesture as though gesticulating for speech. Thoughtful confusion colored the female's face, and she seemed to consider the knife again.

Hopeful, Zirase set the knife down beside the bowl, then backed up to the opposite end of the room from the female, settling himself down to the floor as he watched her, taking only a few moments to weave a bandage around the small cut - no reason to let it bleed all over the place. She stared at him for several long moments, then slowly approached the bowl and knife. Once she reached them, she crouched down, then cautiously picked up the knife, splitting her attention between the blade and Zirase, who remained still where he was. After glancing between the athiagan and the knife several times, the female sighed, said something crude-sounding aloud, and then carefully cut the back of her arm like Zirase had a few minutes before, dripping several drops of her shockingly-red blood into the bowl.

Zirase smiled, happy that he hadn't had to coerce her to cooperate, and he stood up, drawing the female's attention with a snap of her eyes. He ignored her trepidation, instead going over to the nearly-full bag of filtered water. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw the female consider the knife thoughtfully before she sighed in defeat and set it down on the ground before backing away quickly.

The athiagan smothered another smile, glad that he wouldn't have to fight the female over a knife - not that it would've been much of a threat to him, mundane and small as it was - he doubted it would even be able to penetrate his carapace, and he could easily intercept her reach with his long legs or pedipalps.

Once he reached the bowl, he set the bag down and put the knife back in its sheath at his waist, then nodded towards the female's arm, then lifted his own, indicating the bandage he'd woven. The female had wrapped part of her clothes around it, but the garments were dirty, and Zirase was mildly concerned about infection, though even if she did become sick, he'd eventually be able to cure most diseases - getting a larger water filter set up and learning all the locations of the various herbs he'd need would still take a week or two, as would getting a suitable mortar and pestle and all the other tools.

The female stared long and hard at the bandage, then up at Zirase's face. She swallowed heavily, then nodded once in a terse motion. Zirase returned the nod, then slowly approached, stopping short several of his strides away from her. She took a deep breath, then closed the distance as the athiagan crouched down. The female presented her arm, and Zirase quickly inspected the cut - a clean bit of work - and drew some t'bu silk from his spinnerets, weaving a quick, effective bandage.

His work done, he backed up quickly, still staying low to try avoid startling her. The female backed up as well, and Zirase almost laughed at the wondering expression on her face as she tried (and failed) to keep her attention on him and not marvel at the bandage.

Once they were a 'safe' distance apart, the athiagain turned and finished preparing for the ritual, pouring the distilled water into the bowl and then settling down beside it. Zirase stared into the water, which slowly tinted red and blue in places as the blood from himself and the female began to mix with the water. He allowed his mind to go blank as he gazed, unfocused, into the bowl, waiting as the bloody water slowly, oh so slowly, went from a mix of red and blue to a blended purple.

Only once all trace of solitary red or blue were gone, and his senses confirmed that their blood was truly mixed, did Zirase begin the next part of the ritual, channeling some of the local magic through the runed webbing he'd woven and into the bowl, into the aetherstone. At first, nothing seemed to happen. Then, a prickling sensation danced across Zirase's body, and every hair stood up on-end. He barely registered the female shivering and looking around anxiously.

Then the stone began to glow, first just a colorless light, but slowly, it tinted darker and darker, first into the translucent purple of the two's mixed blood, then into the color their blood would mix to had they not been in water. At the same time, the water itself began to thicken, darken, and swirl.

A gasp at the edge of Zirase's un/focused senses briefly reminded him of his audience. A sort of tremble that he felt in the magic pulled his attention right back to the ritual - even something as minor as learning languages was still a complicated, dangerous bit of magic. Anything beyond simple cantrips required a balanced mind, free of distractions.

Time seemed to stand still. Slowly, so slowly as to be almost imperceptible, pressure built. Zirase waited as the magic rippled along the Aetherial Weave.

And then it was time. The athiagan's eyes focused, and he snared the magic that had been gathered, using the catalyst of the bloody water to create a bridge between himself and the female.

Zirase almost blacked out at the sudden, nearly instantaneous, backlash that occurred as the link formed at the female's end. The ritual completed, the information and knowledge he wanted retrieved, but rather than the steady, headache-inducing flow, it poured into his mind as a flood, causing the athiagan to cry out in pain as he jerked away.

"Are... are you okay?"

It took the athiagan a moment to realize that the female had spoken - and that he had understood her words. Still clutching his head and squinting through the splitting headache, he looked over at her with a weak smile, his mind parsing through the new information to incorporate into his preconscious, allowing him to say, "I... will... live."

Her eyes widened. "Y-You speak English?"

"I... do... now... that I... have... learned... from... your... knowledge."

She frowned in suspicion. "What do you mean, 'learned from my knowledge?'"

Zirase settled himself into a proper resting position, still cradling his head and massaging his temples. "The... ritual. It... can... transfer knowledge... between... two... individuals. I learned from your knowledge... but... did... not transfer... my knowledge... to you. I did not... know... how it... would... affect you."

"Right, and not because you're trying to hide anything from me."

The athiagan frowned at her. "I am not trying to hide anything from you, I did not transfer my knowledge to you because I did not... want to... harm you. I... believe it... was a... wise... choice... too; the... reaction to... linking to you was... unexpected. This..." he paused to gesture to his current state, "was not... intended. The... magic react...ed to linking to you and... created... feedback."

"Is that why your talking is so... stilted?"

Zirase smiled in amusement. "No, my talking is stilted because my... mind is... still learn...ing your language. Every... new... word... will... take... time for me to... process and... understand. Once I... sleep, I will learn... most of the knowledge I learned from you."

"Okay then. So... why am I here?" The female crossed her arms. "I'm guessing you didn't kidnap me just to learn the local language."

The athiagan frowned. "Based... on my... observations, you are... safer... here... than... alone... out... there. Most... of your... kind... stay... in... groups. Safe...ty in... numbers. You are alone... correct?" He waited for her reluctant nod. "My kind are... apex... predators of... my... world. Few would... risk... fighting me... just to... get you."

She glowered at him. "That still doesn't give you the right to just abduct me!"

He gave her a wry look. "If I was... like... others from my world, you would... be... dead... now, and I would not... have to... eat for... several... more... days. You were... caught in my... web."

"So you're going to keep insisting it was for my benefit that you kidnapped me?"

Zirase blinked. "I was...n't... saying that. I was trying to... understand why you are... upset... about... something... beneficial to you. The... reason I took you was to... study you. Learn... about you and your kind." He thought for a moment. "Humans."

The female shrank back slightly. "What do you mean, 'study?'"

He shrugged. "Observe. Minor... tests. Your kind are... different than anything from my world. Soft... all... over. It's... strange."

She balked. "So you're going to poke and prod me to figure out what makes me tick?"

Zirase frowned, tilting his head. "No, I will not 'poke and prod,' but I will... take... blood... and hair to study, to learn about you and your kind."

A scowl answered him. "So I'm just your lab rat. A guinea pig."

The athiagan thought for a moment, his mind scrambling to make sense of the turns of phrase. "Those have... negative... connotations. I will... treat you... humanely. Find you... food, keep you safe. My study...ing will not harm you."

"A golden cage is still a cage, and this one isn't even golden."

He frowned at her. "It would be... cruel... irresponsible of me to... set you... free, alone... with others from my world out there. You are... lucky to not have... been... killed... since the... Convergence, and that I... found you... first."

She scowled at him. "Say whatever you want, I'm still going to find a way out of here!" she spat.

Zirase raised an eyebrow at her. Given how high up they were, and that he'd sealed off the rest of the building with his webbing, he wasn't too worried about her actually escaping. But still, if she tried, and ended up falling from this height. "Very... well. If you will not... stay... put of your... own... volition, then I will keep you safe from your...self."

Before the human could react, he sprang forward, darting across the open space between them and catching the female in his arms and pedipalps, lifting her easily off the floor. She screamed and shouted, afraid and angry, and struggled ineffectually against the much stronger athiagan. After only a few dozen seconds, Zirase had her bound wrist and ankle with tough asiyn silk, additional strands tethering her to the floor and ceiling, her body hoisted into midair and hanging a few feet off the ground.

"What the fuck are you doing?" she shouted, kicking and twisting to try and escape her new bondage.

"You... don't... intend to... cooperate, so... I'll make you. I... also want to... investigate something now - you were... aroused... when you were... caught in my web... outside. I want to know why, and... see if you are... suitable to.... breed."

Her eyes widened. "You what?" she screeched, bucking all the more to try and escape.

The athiagan winced at the noise. "Please be... quiet, or I will make you be quiet... as well."

"Fuck you! I'm not just going to sit here while you do god knows what to me-glhk!"

Zirase, already tired of her loud, shrill screaming, had woven another gag and shoved it into the girl's mouth, muting her voice. The venomous glare she sent him made the athiagan sigh and shake his head before he walked around the bound girl, examining her head to toe from every side. After several circuits, he started to poke and pull at her clothes, wondering if he'd be able to get them off her without damaging them. Failing to see a way for most of her garments, he briefly considered trying to get her cooperation, but the venom in her eyes as she continued to struggle against his silk quickly put that notion to rest.

I doubt this will ingratiate me with her, but I don't think she regards me very well anyways, he thought to himself as, with a sigh, he used his knife to carefully cut off the female's pants, paused to stare for a moment at her panties in confusion - What possible reason could she have for wearing a second layer here? The first would do just fine for protecting even her sexual organs, it's not like female athiagans need layers - before cutting the sides of those off and taking them off her as well. Muted screams and curses were his response from the female, and Zirase did his best to ignore her as he moved on to her upper clothes.

After a few close calls with the knife as she continued to struggle and buck against her bondage, Zirase stopped and glared at her. "If you keep... moving... around... eventually I'll... cut you, and that would not be... good."

She all but growled at the athiagan, and redoubled her efforts. Sighing in consternation, the athiagan grabbed ahold of the female and held her still, making short work of the rest of her clothing - though he didn't have the opportunity to pause and wonder about her bra, though he quickly realized the support it would give, then question why such support wasn't built into her clothes themselves.

With several pieces of clothing cut into near-uselessness on the floor, the human was left wearing only her socks and shoes, which Zirase was able to untie and pull off without much issue. Stepping back afterward, he took in the sight of her. She was shaking, though whether it was from anger or if she was cold, he couldn't tell, though the way her skin had prickled suggested that maybe it was the cold. Or perhaps fear? She did smell of fear.

Once again circling the bound female, this time keeping close enough to reach out and gently touch her nude body, feeling her soft, smooth skin and inspecting her for any signs of malformity or obvious indicators that she specifically - and humans in general - would be unsuitable to breed. Finding none, he positioned himself behind her, his pedipalps holding her hips steady while he explored her petite, palm-sized breasts with his hands. He appreciated their soft, pert, firmness, and wondered how they might change if he bred the human.

Satisfied with her chest, his hands moved downwards, gently exploring her subtle curves, then inward over her pussy. She bucked with a muffled scream, trying to throw off his hand, but he just gripped her tighter with his pedipalps and swept a finger through the lips of her sex. He felt the hard nub at the apex of her pussy, and the shudder she gave in response to the touch there. He rubbed there again, and she squealed, trying to squirm away again ineffectually. Intrigued by the further similarities to agiaths, Zirase continued to rub the hard nub, which his brain eventually labeled as her clitoris. After barely a minute, the female went stiff, then began to shudder with her whole body, the low, guttural moan which started in her throat quickly escalating to a wail as the athiagan continued the stimulation.

Zirase didn't stop, even after her obvious orgasm - he was both curious to see how far he could push the female, from a scientific standpoint, but also simply aroused by the prospect of having such a responsive, vibrant breeder. The next orgasm came only a couple dozen seconds after the first, this time with a sobbing moan. The third was only six seconds later, and the moan morphed into a loud, high-pitched scream as she began to buck even more violently than before, throwing her head side to side.

The athiagan eased his rubbing, lightly circling the human's sensitive clitoris with one finger, causing shivers and whimpers, but not quite forcing her into another orgasm. She weakly turned her head, looking at him out of the corner of her eyes, a plea in her expression.

"Do you want me to... stop?" he asked.

Her eyes widened as she nodded urgently. Zirase smiled sympathetically, but shook his head. "I... must investigate your... endurance. Our... mating is... long and... harsh. It would be a... shame for you to... die... during it."

A pathetic, terrified whimper answered him, and the female's eyes got even wider, then squeezed shut as he once again began to explore her sex, two long, thin fingers slipping into her hole and caressing her inner walls, mapping the folds and ridges within her pussy.

A gasp, jump, and clenching of her inner muscles brought Zirase's attention to a spot towards the front of her vaginal passage, which he began to gently rub. The girl whined, trembling once again, then wailed as his thumb began to rub her raw, sensitive clit in time with his fingers. "What... exquisite... sensitivity," he said, his free hand sliding up to toy with one of her nipples. She let out a long, shuddering moan, her whole body shaking weakly as she came a fourth time only a couple dozen seconds after the athiagan resumed playing with her body. Her fifth orgasm was special, as a combination of greater pressure on her 'G-spot,' a pinch of her clitoris, and a pinch and twist on her nipple caused the human to ejaculate, her body going taut and arching delightfully as she squealed in exhausted euphoria.

Her orgasmic 'squirt' only intrigued Zirase's curious mind further, and he repeated the circumstances twice more, wringing out two weaker and weaker squirting orgasms from the nearly-mindless girl. Her panting, haggard breaths sounded almost like that of an animal, and she hung limply in her bondage when the athiagan released her body.

Zirase circled around in front of her and squatted down, closely inspecting her soaked, flushed sex. After gently examining it with his fingers, the athiagan sniffed the stringy, musky juices that clung to his fingers, then cautiously tasted it. His eyes went wide in surprise at the delectable taste, and he leaned in and sealed his mouth over her hot, leaky pussy, his long tongue eagerly scooping up every trace of her wetness that it could find. The stimulation made the girl moan weakly in a mixture of arousal and delirious plea for mercy, but Zirase ignored her, and she came for a seventh time with a long, drawn-out, and weak whine, before going completely limp.

Zirase anxiously checked her, and sighed in relief when he found that she had only passed out. Her stamina needs to improve, he mused to himself, sucking the last traces of her juices from his fingers after shoveling what had gotten onto his face to his mouth. Seven climaxes isn't very many for a breeder.

Tenderly, the athiagan lowered the female from her bondage, then gently bound her up in a tight cocoon of his asiyn silk and used egiel to secure her to a wall. After a moment of thought, he also gagged her with some more silk - she seemed liable to shout in anger like she had before, and if he left her alone that could end poorly for her. He then retrieved her bag - her backpack - from the ceiling and rifled through it, sorting the various objects inside. Clothes. Canned food and the can opener. Lighter, knife, matches, other survival supplies. All in all, not a whole lot. The athiagan packed the clothing and supplies away, but left out the food and took several minutes to examine the cans closely while he reflected on his memories since the Convergence. Sorting through scents and sounds and sights, he tried to recall if he had ever encountered a place where such food had been stored.