Project: TheirWorld - Chapter 014 - Part 1

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Webspinner

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TheirWorld

From below her, she heard Teacher Povari call, “Did you find them, little Guin?”

“Ah - Yes!” Guin called back down to her.

“We will go now, Candidate Guin,” said the Veil Ant with red eyes. “Make haste to the Webspinner! I - we - wish you luck!” With that, the ants dispersed and went about their business, disappearing into the branches and leaves.

“Guin?” called Teacher Povari again.

“Yes! I’m coming down now!” Guin shouted, carefully shifting herself on the branch she was on, She got to a comfortable point, then swung herself down to the ground.

Teacher Povari clapped. “Good job! No stranger to climbing trees then, are you? Did you find the ants?”

“Yes!” answered Guin again, clapping her hands together. “Thank you so much, Teacher! I have learned a lot today!”

“Very good!” answered the woman warmly. “Next time we meet, why don’t I teach you about some medicinal plants?”

“Yes!” With that, Guin hopped down and ran out past the Gatekeeper - who was fast asleep at his post.

Trying to draw as little attention to herself as possible, she ran around behind the schoolhouse and dove into the woods, putting up her map as she did so. According to the map, the place where the Webspinner was supposed to be wasn’t far. Running straight towards it, she arrived within five minutes.

It was nice actually having the directions.

The area was a nice little clearing. Small, with a little pond sitting against the forest’s edge, and surrounded by balsams. The pond itself wasn’t very pretty - in fact, it looked as though it may have been one of those ponds that only formed after it rained. It had it’s own charm, though. Between Guin and the pond was a large, rotted tree stump that she assumed was the home of the webspinner.

As she walked up to it, however, she caught a glimpse of red out of the corner of her eye.

A familiar little fox stared at her from the edge of the clearing, it’s beady black eyes shining in the sun light.

Guin blinked. “Hey - you!” she said, trying not to frighten it, but it crouched and raised its paw when she took a step toward it. Putting her hands on her hips, Guin looked around and muttered, “Well now, this is a problem. Where is your mother?” The little fox’s ears drooped as it looked to the ground. Huh? “You…”

Before she could finish her thought, the fox shot off into the woods. Guin ran over to the edge and looked for it, but it was already too late. Where ever it was, it was long gone now. “Did it understand what I asked it?” she wondered aloud. If it did, she was afraid of what the little fox’s reaction implied. It’s probably useless to go searching for it now…

Guin looked over to the stump. The little fox bothered her, but maybe there was a way to find it by asking the spirits of the forest. Going over to the stump, she called: “Webspinner? Is this the home of the Webspinner?”

She looked around. Assuming that anything with the name of ‘Webspinner’ would predictably be a spider, she searched the beautiful, delicate webs that decorated the stump.

“You seek me child?” came an ethereal, feminine voice in guin’s head. A tiny blue spider came up and sat upon one of the broken, jagged edges of the stump. “Why do you seek me? Has someone sent you here? There are not many outside of the Veil who would call upon the Webspinner of White Fox Forest…”

“You are the Webspinner?” asked Guin.

“I am,” came the sweet voice inside her head. “I am Selestiana, Webspinner in the Wood, the Advisor. Have you come seeking your fate? If you have come without being granted introduction, I fear that I shall hold only fates of ill nature. You should turn back before mine curse takes hold.”

“Actually, Webspinner, I have been sent to you by the Veil Ant Ji-Or-Pon, who named himself as one of the guardians of the forest, and on the behalf of a horse named Giran Rune, whom Ji-Or-Pon called ‘The Watcher’,” Guin told her, her mouth fumbling a bit over the odd combinations of words.

The tiny spider tilted its head. “Then you are welcome here, child. But, for what reason would The Watcher and the Guardian have sent you to me? I can not read their fortunes outside of their presence…”

“It seems that Giran Rune had a meeting with Wise, the Great Owl, but doesn’t know where she is,” Guin explained, missing the old MMORPG system of just being able to turn a quest in for points. Remembering details and speaking such unfamiliars names was hard! “He sent me to the Veil Ants to ask where she might be, but Ji-Or-Pon said that she hadn’t been to his...It’s? Tree lately. So, he… it? Sent me here to you to ask where she might be.” How was she supposed to gender an ant? Or a spider, for that matter. She looked at the Webspinner. Her voice was feminine but… didn’t Ji-Or-Pon say the Webspinner was a ‘she’? Who cares? Guin shook her head.

“I see…” the Webspinner was saying. “Did Ji-Or-Pon say anything else?”

“Anything else?” Guin wondered aloud. “Only that I should ask you about Wise’s location. He also said that I should use his name to receive a reading - but I’m not sure what that means.”

The spider laughed in her head. “Then greetings be to the Candidate, then! I shall tell you where Wise is, for I surely know without even consulting the webs. However, allow me to read the web of your fate, first, lady Candidate. Might I have a taste of your blood?”

Guin blinked. “M-My blood?”

“Yes. I must taste the blood of the individual whose fate I am to spin. It is a small amount; a small bite, if you would permit. As long as you are who you say you are, it shall be over with quickly and painlessly,” said the Webspinner.

Given the fact that death was a non-factor in the tutorial instance, she felt like she didn’t have anything to lose. It was possible, she supposed, that she could be cursed forever, but it didn’t seem very likely. So, Guin put her finger up to the tiny blue spider hesitantly. Somehow, it felt like something around them smiled as the spider took the tiny bite into her flesh. It didn’t feel like much of anything, but she still felt the pressure.

“Now,” said the voice. “I shall send my spiders to search for you when my web is completed. It won’t take long, so you needn’t go far...”