Ticky toc

Author's Note:

I made the dialogue with the spiders confusing because they don't have names and will randomly start talking. It's done on purpose, so don't worry about it, EEEEEH!

Ticky Toc. That's the sound the skittering legs of the veneighzuelan sad-faced spiders made while moving through the open plains. Tickity tac. That's the sound their legs made when skittering across pebbles, rocks, and gravel. Tick tick, and now they had reached a forest edge. A safe haven? A place of tranquility? Somewhere they can finally live and raise the eggs without problems? It sure looked like it, and the queen wanted to be sure, so she sent out a few scouts.

Thanks to the teeny tiny size of the blue spiders, they were capable of slipping into the cracks of the trees and bristles of the grass. Nary a sound was made when they skittered across the dry leaves and other, strange substances on the ground. One spider was perplexed after reaching a strange looking plant growing atop a circular mound overseeing a deepened crater from which several blue and yellow flowers grew. The giant plant itself seemed to consist of only green vines and not much else, and the deepness of the crater would make it a perfect place for a multi-layered colony, so the tiny blue spider skittered back to the edge of the forest after a lengthy observation of the surrounding area and reported back to the queen.

Like the regular spiders, the queen was blue and had four eyes, and on her abdomen were three black specs giving the impression of a saddened face, hence the name given to them in Veneighzuela. Of course, the queen had to be much more distinctive than her brood, and so she was much larger than they and sported a flowing white dress made from interwoven web silk, and it was not just for show.

The little scout climbed atop a tiny hill of dirt and towards its queen who laid upon a patch of grass. "I have news for you," the tiny spider said.

"What news would this be?"

"I have found what appears to be an ideal location for a multi-layered colony. Flowers grow everywhere and a gigantic vine plant is interwoven into them. It would be easy to hide within the plant."

"Does it sit upon the ground, surrounded by the trees? Is it hidden within a cave, where no light shines? Is it frequented by beasts and prey?"

"It does sit upon the ground, but I have observed that the creatures in this forest do not approach it and stay away. I think they might be afraid of the followers."

"Maybe it's dangerous to them?" another spider interjected.

"Hmmm. Take twenty soldiers with you to check the location and see if it is a proper area for a colony. I do not like it as it lays upon the ground. It is not safe," she mumbled in worry.

Twenty spiders crawled up from behind the queen and followed the scout like a tiny, fuzzy wave of water and entered the forest. Veneighzuelan sad-faced spiders had a good memory. It was necessary to ensure the survival of a colony to know very nook and cranny of the surrounding areas to better ambush prey but to also flee when a great danger approached them. A single trip was all that was needed, and most of the knowledge detailed to each spider with an individual task within the colony had their knowledge ingrained into their own dna.

"It's there," the scout pointed with one of its legs.

They were all standing on the branches of a nearby tree and watching any movement around them. They didn't want to be eaten let alone stomped on and crushed.

"We will return after having done a proper assessment. If we don't return, tell the queen it is not safe and to try one of the other scout's locations of interest," a soldier assured.

The scout watched its brothers and sisters from the long, dead tree branch hurry along the ground and rocks that dotted the landscape. The closer they went the bigger the crater seemed to become to the soldiers, but something seemed...off. This feeling prevented them from entering the crater where the flowers bloomed and climbed the vines growing outside of the circle. These vines were just tremendous in size for them and actually looked to be an ideal location for hiding, and if the few enormous bulbs were hollow, they would be good for temporary nests until they potentially blossomed, so the spiders began to communiated between each other.

"This looks like a good place."

"Vines are big and strong. Could dig through them. Make tunnels."

"Maybe make web traps along flowers on floor?"

"Multi-layered. Would trap biggest prey."

"Would only work temporarily until they start to avoid. Then it would be a good trap."

Thundering footsteps and the loud cracking of many dead branches and leaves on the rock alerted the spiders to a potential, incoming threat. They scampered around to look for the source and saw it. It was a gigantic, hairy biped with no face save for to yellow eyes hiding behind a dark canopy, and four digit claws in place of hands. Its feet were very draconic in shape judging by the three toes and scales, reminiscent of a dragon's hind legs. The tiny spiders hid away in the nooks of the vines, watching ever precise movement of the creature with their sharp eyes.

The creature seemed unaccustomed to the Everfree forest as it ignored almost everything around it and took extreme caution with every slow step it made, occasionally sniffing the air around it to ensure that nothing dangerous was around it and it didn't need to flee or stand its ground. However, it didn't pay attention to the crater in front of it and, not expecting there to be a plummet, fell forward and face planted onto the flowers. The creature did not move for a while but eventually regained its bearings and stood up. It looked around in curiosity and rubbed its head. The spiders started to stress when the vines began to vibrate and move. They started to rise and twist around, exposing the tiny arachnids but mainly garnering the attention of the creature in the garden. The bulbs all started to move as well and blossomed into several different heads with tri and quad-jawed mouths. Several of them had drooping, blue petals soaked in a blue liquid while others had sharp, yellow petals on their heads. The largest head, raised in the middle of the swarm of vines, had both sets of petals on its head.

The beast roared at the plant to demonstrate its strength, but the plant did not yield. In fact, it seemed even angrier. A flurry of yellow petals shot forth and sliced through the beast's coat, embedding themselves within its hide. It retaliated with a slash to one of the vines, but the blue-petaled head dodged the attack and clamped itself onto the head of the monster who started flailing its arms in retaliation.

Seeing this as an opportunity to flee, the little spiders scampered away into the garden and towards the trees. However, just stepping onto that ground brought the attention of a blue-petaled head who turned to face the little arachnids. Its mouth opened up in three ways when it roared, and it proceeded to start spitting blue poisonous acid at the arachnids. Try as they might, the acid was always mere millimeters from the impact points, and thirteen ended up being dissolved by the poison before the remainders managed to flee into the forest and towards the plains. Strangely enough, the acid had not damaged any of the flowers in the crater despite being spat everywhere.

"Dangerous spot. No good for colony. Must leave and find other, suitable area," the scout thought.

Another glimpse showed the monster that attacked the plant was now just a pile of sludge. It was gruesome, but it wasn't something the spiders had never seen, and in nature, others needed to feed. Back at the plains, the queen looked at her ilk with indifference.

"The first area was unacceptable. We require a proper home. Where are the other scouts?"

"They have not returned. It is probable they have been eaten," the first scout reported.

A second scout came out of the woodwork and approached the queen with only seven legs. "I lost my leg from a fall," it said.

"It is no matter. It shall grow back with the next molt. Have you found a possible home?"

"It is within a small hole within an enormous boulder. It has been dug through like the ground. Many tunnels span its interior. I did not delve in too deep."

"Was it living? Did it move?"

"No."

"Was there anything living within?"

"No."

"Then send five workers to explore the tunnels and see if they can be better dug into and modified."

As quickly as the soldiers before, the workers and scout skittered along through the ground and hid under the leaves and almost immediately found themselves metaphorically atop the giant boulder-like construct. Gray and ashy, the spiders' steps kicked up a little bit of the substance into the air while they skittered towards the holes. As before, the scout waited nearby in safety and watched attentively.

The workers moving through the tunnels noticed that they were extremely tight and when one tried to dig through the substance saw them nearly plummet, as though they were digging through sand. The others were extremely cautious considering what happened with the previous group but, no matter how much they went through the tunnels, they encountered absolutely nothing. No monsters, no traps, no nothing, so the workers began to talk.

"The object is too soft."

"It's not efficient for a home."

"Too fragile. Tunnels will collapse in if disturbed"

"Must leave."

They skittered towards the tunnels, only to be halted by a giant, insectoid eye staring at them. From the scout's perspective, it was looking at a single changeling staring into the rock through curiosity, but it did not linger and left immediately after, calmly strutting through the woods. Unfortunately for the changeling, it was not alone. Crawling behind it was a large, six-legged lizard with three eyes. It was extremely flexible and its body twisted with ease around the rocks and fallen trees dotting the landscape. It even briefly twirled around the tree the scout was on, causing the branches to shake and tremble with every movement it made.

The lizard did something that intrigued but also scared the scout somewhat. It jumped off the tree and the audible noises of cracking bones and tearing flesh resonated through the air as it shrunk down and two more limbs sprouted outwards. It had transformed into a giant arachnid much larger than even the changeling, and pounced onto it, digging its fangs into the insect's neck. The arachnid wrapped its two front legs around the changeling then scuttled backwards into some bushes far away, probably to enjoy its new meal. The creature was, in fact, a Throos. An extremely rare arachnid that is known for its abilities of transformation and hunting changelings, but it had other uses as well. This didn't bode well for the surrounding area, as a throos was quite territorial. The forest wouldn't do for a colony. If the third scout did not come with news of a potentially safe area, then they would need to travel again, and it's doubtful that their colony would survive another trip.

Once returning to the queen, the workers rejoined their kind and the scout reported the throos' presence, which shouldn't have been there in the first place. The queen was unhappy.

"This forest is unsuitable for our kind. I have sent other scouts and they have reported the existence of moving trees, spirits, and folding water. There are other strange beasts, some which have eaten our kind, and I grow tired of this. We must leave and find another place."

"If we leave, we will never survive."

There was a long pause for the queen who contemplated every possibility imaginable, but she could not think of anything.

"Our prey is here, but so are our predators, and they know where to find us in this living forest of death. They have been here longer than we.

"I have found a building my by the ponies," a scout interrupted.

The arachnid's sudden arrival and announcement elicited much hope within the colony.

"Is it...inhabited? By anything?"

"No. It is near the edge of the forest. It could be a way to dissuade our predators from coming."

"I suppose...We have no choice in the matter. We must all move now or we will all perish regardless. We will follow you."

The spiders all hurried through the forest, keeping themselves well separated along the way to prevent mass...devouring. The forest was bigger than anticipated and took a few hours to reach the edge of the forest, but when they did, they were astounded to see a giant wooden house that had practically broken down over time. They had come up from the back of the house and could not see the front of the house, not that it mattered. The roof shingles were practically hanging by a thread, many vines grew along the walls like veins and appeared to be the support for the building instead of its pillars. With what they could see, the yard had been poorly tended to over time and had grown into a faint, decayed green extension through the ground. Several cracks had eaten away at the wooden planks, freeing a way for the spiders to enter.

"The dead trees around could be good spot around for scouting and secondary clusters," a scout suggested.

"Yes, but let us first enter the construct and evaluate the viability," the queen said.

Several months passed by since the spiders found the house. A few creatures had entered the lower floors since they arrived and the queen decided that choosing the attic for the colony's home was the best decision. It was the best place to catch prey, bring them to the colony, and make sure nothing dangerous was coming by, and webs had been extended towards the dead trees outside where the scouts would alert the colony to a potential threat by strumming on the strings, and strum on them they did.

Today, however, the strings started strumming quite violently on every web extension, startling the colony and causing the babies to panic and scatter all over the place. Several other webs started to vibrate because of the panic, causing the workers to shake and fall onto the ground.

"What is going on? What is this panic?" the queen shouted through her webs.

"A...thing comes towards the construct, accompanied by a white pony," a scout said.

The queen crawled along her webs to look through a hole in the wood and observed the incoming intruders. She could see the white pony, but the other entity...it was...strange. It had the shape of a brown pony, but her eyes could see something else. Something sinister. Something...that shouldn't exist. It was strange and made the hairs on the spiders' body stand on end. They felt something gripping at them as if they were in the presence of a great beast waiting to eat them all in massive bites, but the queen stood firmly despite these feelings.

"What a peculiar creature. What is it, and why isn't the white pony scared of it?" the queen wondered.

"Maybe it is part of it?"

"No. It's not the same. It doesn't see it."

"Then what do we do?"

"We do nothing," the queen commanded. "Unless it approaches us or does anything to harm us, it is not a threat. It only disturbs us."

"Do we continue to follow it?"

"...Yes, just in-case."

"It's approaching the snapping plants and not being attacked by them...it is not attacking them either."

Several hundred of the spiders vibrated the webs slightly from their intrigue.

The spiders watched the brown pony slowly refurbish the house with an abnormally giant one and eventually inhabit the house. Strangely enough, no creatures, especially the prey of the spiders, never approached the building. They steered clear on every occasion.

"We have not lost a single sibling to the prey when going to hunt around here."

"They prey does not approach us in any way since the strange being has come into the construct."

"Maybe keeping it alive as much as we can could help our survival?"

"No. Leave it be. While this respite is useful for us, it certainly won't last long. Something like it tends to...not last very long."

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