Okay, recap time.
I take a moment to think as I do nothing but mindlessly run for my life away from the battle right next to where I spawned. Seriously? Who’s idea was it to plop newcomers right out in the open like that? Is it really so hard to give us a safe spawn? Maybe a nice locked room for us to get our bearings? I really need to have a chat with this “Omni” at some point. Give him a stern talking to about how you’re supposed to treat new players. You’re supposed to give them a space to feel welcome and get accustomed! Not throw them into the middle of a battle between a fire boob kitty, a demonic clown, and a combat refrigerator! Of course, though I say that, I know that if I even manage to talk to him, I’m probably not going to flip out on him. Omnipotent beings are just too scary...
Anyway back to the recap! So as I’m sure you’ve all noticed, I’m still a spider. More specifically, I’m pretty sure I’m back to being a Taratect if my pink legs were anything to go by. Not only has Omni managed to pick me up and throw me into a world of his own creation, he also managed to revert all of my evolutions. Which probably means my stats and powers as well. I mean, I know that already. I can’t talk to Miss Appraisal anymore, and my Parallel Wills are all gone. That can’t be the only thing he reverted, which means I’m probably as weak as I was back when I was first reincarnated in a new world. I’m going to have to play it safe until I know what I’m capable of. No unnecessary risks, no picking one-sided fights, no accepting candy from strangers, etc...
Aaaaand suddenly I realize my error in picking up some unknown goth loli that might have supreme mystical powers and could possibly tear me asunder with a wave of her hand. Nai wa... It doesn’t help that I can feel myself quickly wearing out as I skitter along towards... Oh hey look there’s actually something in this vast expanse of nothingness! In the distance, pressed against a wall of whiteness just as blank as the rest of this world, I can see what looks like an arch. Of course, it’s too far away to make anything of it, but at least it’s something. I slightly alter my trajectory to head straight for it.
Back to what I was saying... I’ve already got the goth loli in my grasp, and I am wearing out fast. I may not have lungs gasping for air, nor a heart pounding with exertion, but I can still feel my arachnid body running low on energy. I’m going to need to stop and rest soon, and when I do... Well, then I’ll have to stop and face the music. Maybe I’ll get lucky and she’ll be too drained from blood loss to try and kill me. The fact that she still doesn’t seem to be struggling in my grip offers me a little bit of hope. But... anyone with half a brain would realize that trying to kill the person ferrying you at... However fast I’m running, I can’t tell, is probably a bad idea.
...
Ahhh... That reminds me. She’s bleeding out right now.
...
That’s a thing people do. I’ve been a spider so long that I kinda forgot.
...
I should probably stop that bleeding. I’m sort of leaning towards saving her rather than eating her right now, and her being, you know, alive is kind of a big requirement for that. The wind rushing past us slowly begins to ebb as I slow down, my legs not pumping nearly as much as they were before. It’s all slowly of course. If it had just been me running away, then sure, I could stop on as many dimes as I felt like. Unfortunately, I can’t afford to jostle the loli on my back any more than I already have.
Finally, I manage to stop, as gently as was possible. Hah... Beautiful rest... Not enough of it though, my legs are still a bit shaky from the run, and the girl on my back, no matter how light she might be, is still wearing me out. With the front two of my eight legs placed around her thin waist, I gently lift her up from my back and lower her to the pure white ground. As expected from someone as close to death as she is, the drearily-colored loli collapses the moment her feet touch the ground, and in the end, I gently lower her to a sit, her gothic dress rumpling around beneath her.
Okay, what now? I cross one leg over my ‘chest,’ I guess you could call it, and prop my head up from below with another (a classic human ‘thinking’ position, if there ever was one), and peer closely at the girl I’d just saved? Kidnapped? Who knows. Either way, she seems a little bit intimidated at a spider nearly her size staring her down. Just a little bit though. Her eyes widen a little bit, and she fidgets with her dress using her one hand, but other than that, she’s doing a very good job of keeping calm. Better than I would do in her situation, certainly.
Now as for her hand... Yup, it’s missing alright. Her right hand is just... gone just beneath the wrist. All that’s left is a mangled wound. Honestly, if I hadn’t gotten used to seeing such things due to being a spider, this would have squicked me out a bit. Strangely enough, it doesn’t seem to be bleeding. I can see that it was bleeding at some point, given that her dress is stained with red. Not only on her right sleeve, where the cuff is absolutely soaked, but also a nice big splotch right around her gut, presumably where she held it there, trying to stem the bleeding. Also her face is pale. I mean, goth lolis are supposed to be pale and doll-like, but this isn’t the pristine, porcelain paleness of a doll. It’s something drained of life, sickly in a way. She’s clearly missing a lot of blood.
But as for her wound? I can see the glistening red of her stump, it’s clearly fresh blood and should be bleeding, but isn’t for some reason. It isn’t scabbed over her seared shut or anything of the like, it just seems to be frozen in stasis. Weird. Well anyway! Enough thinking about that. I need to get that thing bandaged up just in case. If I’m lucky, this’ll get her to trust me. Maybe even get her on my side?
Ah, I can imagine it already... Just gotta get her to change her outfit to something more... spider-themed. Change out those roses in her twintails for little spider pins, maybe some webbing patterns around the frills of her dress... Turn her into that sort of goth loli instead of what she is right now. Get her some web-themed spells, make myself my own cute, gothic-themed outfit...
Well, all that’s just a pipe dream for now! I can’t let that distract me from current matters. I quickly motion with four of my legs, two in the common ‘stay here’ push, while the other two mimic a bandaging motion. Unfortunately, the girl doesn’t respond to my charades at all, leaving me to wonder whether she actually understood it at all. It couldn’t have been that hard, right? Stay here, I’ll bandage that arm right up.
I can’t just keep trying to make her understand, however. I really want to get this wrapped up (heh) and get on our way to that arch I saw in the distance. So I stop gesturing and start spinning up some silk. She’s just gonna have to live with worry for now, I guess. At least she doesn’t try to run as I start, or back away, or really do anything other than look very nervous. And here I was, worried that she was the one who was going to beat me up.
Taking my silk in hand (leg?), I quickly scuttle the last few steps up to her and start wrapping it around her missing hand, covering the wound in a thick cocoon of soft silk. If she starts bleeding again, the bandage I’m giving her should easily be able to soak up the blood and stem the bleeding. Probably. I don’t actually know first aid I’m just sort of guessing here. Anyway! With my deft legs, I quickly get that wrapped up and...
“Thanks...” the small girl’s voice is almost a whisper, and she nods nearly imperceptibly at me. I freeze up for a moment. Oh, um... Right, I guess I sort of appear intelligent right now, given that I’m bandaging up her wound. No wait I am intelligent, I don’t just appear so. Yeah. It only makes sense that she’d see if I can understand her language. Yeah, sure, don’t mention it, kid. I nod right back at her. That counts as acknowledging her thanks, right?
ARGH!
ANYWAY!
“I am Viola,” the girl continues, giving me what I assume is her name. Her voice is just as soft as before, but now it becomes apparent to me that it’s not from blood loss or dizziness (though that does play a part). She’s one of those quiet types. You know the type. The calm, calculating, monotonous character. That type. As my erratic thoughts consume me, the goth loli just keeps staring, calmly, placidly, almost no emotion showing. Why’s she just...
ARGH!
AGAIN!
I need to introduce myself! Right! That’s a thing that people do! Um... Yes, hi, my name is... I quickly think back to the statuses Miss Appraisal gave me. Come on, what was the name I always saw there... ‘Nameless Small Taratect.’ ‘Nameless Small Poison Taratect,’ ‘Nameless Zoa Ere...’ Okay! Just call me ‘Kumoko’ I guess! Apparently I’m nothing but a small spider anyway so I might as well be that in name too!
...
Oh, right, she can’t hear me. It takes every ounce of my willpower to not cringe myself into a black hole. Or roll around on the floor and let my sheer stupidity consume me and make an even bigger fool of myself. Okay stop thinking of that stop thinking of that stop thinking of that. My name. How do I tell you what to call me, small child? Let me just... spell it out in the air I guess? ‘Kumo’ for ‘spider,’ ‘ko’ for ‘child.’ Works for me. I roughly spell out how it’s supposed to look with my legs, all the while Viola is nodding along, her head barely moving.
“Kumoko?” she repeats slowly, enunciating carefully, trying to nail down the pronunciation given that I can’t help her with that at all. Yup! Good enough! Perfect, even! I nod slowly and sagely, trying not to let my anxiety show through in my actions. Good good, introductions are out of the way, can we go now?
“It’s nice to meet you...”
Yes it is, I’m a lovely person, er... spider. Alright now hop on we’ve got places to be. I tap at her leg gently, careful not to scare her. All the tiredness that used to be weighing my limbs down is suddenly gone and I’m ready to get moving. I guess that’s what adrenaline does to you. Or at least... whatever mimicry of adrenaline this arachnid body of mine has. Whatever it is, it’s working.
Luckily, Viola decides she wants to hop on my back without a fight. With only a little bit of help from me, she’s able to climb on, and once her light weight gets settled in, I can feel her small arms holding tightly onto my exoskeleton. Awesome! Now I can use all eight of my legs to run. A bit less energetically than last time, I turn to face the gate in the distance, and immediately I feel the strength drain right back out of my legs. Ugh... Is it really that far? I really only made it halfway in that sprint?
Ahhh I’m not running all that way. A brisk walk sounds nice. I’ll take my merry time until something decides that it wants either me or my charge for a snack. Then I’ll run. With that in mind, I start forward, my tired legs pumping beneath me, but not with nearly as much gusto as earlier. We’ll make it there in due time. It’ll just take a bit longer. Once we do, however, we'll just speed right on through that arch and to whatever’s on the other side of it! Hopefully somewhere with actual scenery we can admire and hide in...
Minutes pass, how many exactly, I don’t know. I was too zoned out through most of the trip to really pay attention. All I know is that the arch that I’d been skittering towards so lazily is now almost consuming my vision. I stare up, wide-eyed, at it’s rapidly approaching form, my legs never missing a beat as I march on endlessly. My chest starts to fill more and more with dread the closer I get. Smoke and heat pulse off of the smooth stone, and though I can’t see what lies beyond it, I know that that isn’t a good sign.
But it’s too late. I’ve already walked all this way. I just gotta hope that appearances are deceiving. My pace rapidly slows as I get within feet of it. I am not barrelling through this at full speed. Please don’t be a fire world please don’t be a fire world please don’t be a fire world...
I take a moment to think as I do nothing but mindlessly run for my life away from the battle right next to where I spawned. Seriously? Who’s idea was it to plop newcomers right out in the open like that? Is it really so hard to give us a safe spawn? Maybe a nice locked room for us to get our bearings? I really need to have a chat with this “Omni” at some point. Give him a stern talking to about how you’re supposed to treat new players. You’re supposed to give them a space to feel welcome and get accustomed! Not throw them into the middle of a battle between a fire boob kitty, a demonic clown, and a combat refrigerator! Of course, though I say that, I know that if I even manage to talk to him, I’m probably not going to flip out on him. Omnipotent beings are just too scary...
Anyway back to the recap! So as I’m sure you’ve all noticed, I’m still a spider. More specifically, I’m pretty sure I’m back to being a Taratect if my pink legs were anything to go by. Not only has Omni managed to pick me up and throw me into a world of his own creation, he also managed to revert all of my evolutions. Which probably means my stats and powers as well. I mean, I know that already. I can’t talk to Miss Appraisal anymore, and my Parallel Wills are all gone. That can’t be the only thing he reverted, which means I’m probably as weak as I was back when I was first reincarnated in a new world. I’m going to have to play it safe until I know what I’m capable of. No unnecessary risks, no picking one-sided fights, no accepting candy from strangers, etc...
Aaaaand suddenly I realize my error in picking up some unknown goth loli that might have supreme mystical powers and could possibly tear me asunder with a wave of her hand. Nai wa... It doesn’t help that I can feel myself quickly wearing out as I skitter along towards... Oh hey look there’s actually something in this vast expanse of nothingness! In the distance, pressed against a wall of whiteness just as blank as the rest of this world, I can see what looks like an arch. Of course, it’s too far away to make anything of it, but at least it’s something. I slightly alter my trajectory to head straight for it.
Back to what I was saying... I’ve already got the goth loli in my grasp, and I am wearing out fast. I may not have lungs gasping for air, nor a heart pounding with exertion, but I can still feel my arachnid body running low on energy. I’m going to need to stop and rest soon, and when I do... Well, then I’ll have to stop and face the music. Maybe I’ll get lucky and she’ll be too drained from blood loss to try and kill me. The fact that she still doesn’t seem to be struggling in my grip offers me a little bit of hope. But... anyone with half a brain would realize that trying to kill the person ferrying you at... However fast I’m running, I can’t tell, is probably a bad idea.
...
Ahhh... That reminds me. She’s bleeding out right now.
...
That’s a thing people do. I’ve been a spider so long that I kinda forgot.
...
I should probably stop that bleeding. I’m sort of leaning towards saving her rather than eating her right now, and her being, you know, alive is kind of a big requirement for that. The wind rushing past us slowly begins to ebb as I slow down, my legs not pumping nearly as much as they were before. It’s all slowly of course. If it had just been me running away, then sure, I could stop on as many dimes as I felt like. Unfortunately, I can’t afford to jostle the loli on my back any more than I already have.
Finally, I manage to stop, as gently as was possible. Hah... Beautiful rest... Not enough of it though, my legs are still a bit shaky from the run, and the girl on my back, no matter how light she might be, is still wearing me out. With the front two of my eight legs placed around her thin waist, I gently lift her up from my back and lower her to the pure white ground. As expected from someone as close to death as she is, the drearily-colored loli collapses the moment her feet touch the ground, and in the end, I gently lower her to a sit, her gothic dress rumpling around beneath her.
Okay, what now? I cross one leg over my ‘chest,’ I guess you could call it, and prop my head up from below with another (a classic human ‘thinking’ position, if there ever was one), and peer closely at the girl I’d just saved? Kidnapped? Who knows. Either way, she seems a little bit intimidated at a spider nearly her size staring her down. Just a little bit though. Her eyes widen a little bit, and she fidgets with her dress using her one hand, but other than that, she’s doing a very good job of keeping calm. Better than I would do in her situation, certainly.
Now as for her hand... Yup, it’s missing alright. Her right hand is just... gone just beneath the wrist. All that’s left is a mangled wound. Honestly, if I hadn’t gotten used to seeing such things due to being a spider, this would have squicked me out a bit. Strangely enough, it doesn’t seem to be bleeding. I can see that it was bleeding at some point, given that her dress is stained with red. Not only on her right sleeve, where the cuff is absolutely soaked, but also a nice big splotch right around her gut, presumably where she held it there, trying to stem the bleeding. Also her face is pale. I mean, goth lolis are supposed to be pale and doll-like, but this isn’t the pristine, porcelain paleness of a doll. It’s something drained of life, sickly in a way. She’s clearly missing a lot of blood.
But as for her wound? I can see the glistening red of her stump, it’s clearly fresh blood and should be bleeding, but isn’t for some reason. It isn’t scabbed over her seared shut or anything of the like, it just seems to be frozen in stasis. Weird. Well anyway! Enough thinking about that. I need to get that thing bandaged up just in case. If I’m lucky, this’ll get her to trust me. Maybe even get her on my side?
Ah, I can imagine it already... Just gotta get her to change her outfit to something more... spider-themed. Change out those roses in her twintails for little spider pins, maybe some webbing patterns around the frills of her dress... Turn her into that sort of goth loli instead of what she is right now. Get her some web-themed spells, make myself my own cute, gothic-themed outfit...
Well, all that’s just a pipe dream for now! I can’t let that distract me from current matters. I quickly motion with four of my legs, two in the common ‘stay here’ push, while the other two mimic a bandaging motion. Unfortunately, the girl doesn’t respond to my charades at all, leaving me to wonder whether she actually understood it at all. It couldn’t have been that hard, right? Stay here, I’ll bandage that arm right up.
I can’t just keep trying to make her understand, however. I really want to get this wrapped up (heh) and get on our way to that arch I saw in the distance. So I stop gesturing and start spinning up some silk. She’s just gonna have to live with worry for now, I guess. At least she doesn’t try to run as I start, or back away, or really do anything other than look very nervous. And here I was, worried that she was the one who was going to beat me up.
Taking my silk in hand (leg?), I quickly scuttle the last few steps up to her and start wrapping it around her missing hand, covering the wound in a thick cocoon of soft silk. If she starts bleeding again, the bandage I’m giving her should easily be able to soak up the blood and stem the bleeding. Probably. I don’t actually know first aid I’m just sort of guessing here. Anyway! With my deft legs, I quickly get that wrapped up and...
“Thanks...” the small girl’s voice is almost a whisper, and she nods nearly imperceptibly at me. I freeze up for a moment. Oh, um... Right, I guess I sort of appear intelligent right now, given that I’m bandaging up her wound. No wait I am intelligent, I don’t just appear so. Yeah. It only makes sense that she’d see if I can understand her language. Yeah, sure, don’t mention it, kid. I nod right back at her. That counts as acknowledging her thanks, right?
ARGH!
ANYWAY!
“I am Viola,” the girl continues, giving me what I assume is her name. Her voice is just as soft as before, but now it becomes apparent to me that it’s not from blood loss or dizziness (though that does play a part). She’s one of those quiet types. You know the type. The calm, calculating, monotonous character. That type. As my erratic thoughts consume me, the goth loli just keeps staring, calmly, placidly, almost no emotion showing. Why’s she just...
ARGH!
AGAIN!
I need to introduce myself! Right! That’s a thing that people do! Um... Yes, hi, my name is... I quickly think back to the statuses Miss Appraisal gave me. Come on, what was the name I always saw there... ‘Nameless Small Taratect.’ ‘Nameless Small Poison Taratect,’ ‘Nameless Zoa Ere...’ Okay! Just call me ‘Kumoko’ I guess! Apparently I’m nothing but a small spider anyway so I might as well be that in name too!
...
Oh, right, she can’t hear me. It takes every ounce of my willpower to not cringe myself into a black hole. Or roll around on the floor and let my sheer stupidity consume me and make an even bigger fool of myself. Okay stop thinking of that stop thinking of that stop thinking of that. My name. How do I tell you what to call me, small child? Let me just... spell it out in the air I guess? ‘Kumo’ for ‘spider,’ ‘ko’ for ‘child.’ Works for me. I roughly spell out how it’s supposed to look with my legs, all the while Viola is nodding along, her head barely moving.
“Kumoko?” she repeats slowly, enunciating carefully, trying to nail down the pronunciation given that I can’t help her with that at all. Yup! Good enough! Perfect, even! I nod slowly and sagely, trying not to let my anxiety show through in my actions. Good good, introductions are out of the way, can we go now?
“It’s nice to meet you...”
Yes it is, I’m a lovely person, er... spider. Alright now hop on we’ve got places to be. I tap at her leg gently, careful not to scare her. All the tiredness that used to be weighing my limbs down is suddenly gone and I’m ready to get moving. I guess that’s what adrenaline does to you. Or at least... whatever mimicry of adrenaline this arachnid body of mine has. Whatever it is, it’s working.
Luckily, Viola decides she wants to hop on my back without a fight. With only a little bit of help from me, she’s able to climb on, and once her light weight gets settled in, I can feel her small arms holding tightly onto my exoskeleton. Awesome! Now I can use all eight of my legs to run. A bit less energetically than last time, I turn to face the gate in the distance, and immediately I feel the strength drain right back out of my legs. Ugh... Is it really that far? I really only made it halfway in that sprint?
Ahhh I’m not running all that way. A brisk walk sounds nice. I’ll take my merry time until something decides that it wants either me or my charge for a snack. Then I’ll run. With that in mind, I start forward, my tired legs pumping beneath me, but not with nearly as much gusto as earlier. We’ll make it there in due time. It’ll just take a bit longer. Once we do, however, we'll just speed right on through that arch and to whatever’s on the other side of it! Hopefully somewhere with actual scenery we can admire and hide in...
Minutes pass, how many exactly, I don’t know. I was too zoned out through most of the trip to really pay attention. All I know is that the arch that I’d been skittering towards so lazily is now almost consuming my vision. I stare up, wide-eyed, at it’s rapidly approaching form, my legs never missing a beat as I march on endlessly. My chest starts to fill more and more with dread the closer I get. Smoke and heat pulse off of the smooth stone, and though I can’t see what lies beyond it, I know that that isn’t a good sign.
But it’s too late. I’ve already walked all this way. I just gotta hope that appearances are deceiving. My pace rapidly slows as I get within feet of it. I am not barrelling through this at full speed. Please don’t be a fire world please don’t be a fire world please don’t be a fire world...
![[Image: 1NDUEKD.png?1]](https://i.imgur.com/1NDUEKD.png?1)