The forest was still and calm in the early evening. Long, violet tendrils of light reached through the trees to illuminate the rough ground below. The soft cry of a lone bird, not originally native to the island, sounded far off in the woods. The ground stirred slightly, then suddenly peeled back to reveal a large, webbed burrow. The gray woman strode from it on six legs. Her normal lower half was replaced with a smooth gray carapace and the long limbs bearing her from her new hiding place. She'd spent the day "communing with nature", as she saw it, by hollowing out a place to bring some prey to and getting in touch with the arachnids she felt an odd affinity for. Her yellow eyes were hardened, lacked irises, and had at some point decided to split into a collection of eight across her face. She looked slowly around the area she'd established for herself and smiled. It was a wonderful little hiding place, and close to the trail as well. Her legs skittered up a strong tree and hands gripped at the trunk as she went off in search of prey to bring to her new home.

Whether it was coincidence or not, Clarice foudn herself back in the woods...alone once more. She gets the unnerving feeling that monsters lurk around every corner, which probably wouldn't be to far off. It was almost like she was asking for trouble or an ambush. But the clearing was a few steps away.

Its where she normally trained her powers without having to worry about the student body brooding over 'accidents'. Things like burn marks on the walls, the way her hair had been tangled together by massive winds, and her bed completely soaking were rather hard and tedious to explain. Especially with rumors going around f her and Kanoe as an item didn't make it easier. Bormanlly she could ignore the rumors, but when they weren't answered it was left with many girls to make assumptions. They were starting to grow more erotic each time she didn't answer. She wondered if Kanoe had heard some rumors as well...

But it really made no difference. She would only have to deal with it for the next three and a half grueling years. How annoying, though it was. She was becoming slightly confident she had been caught yet. She was nearing the clearing she usually visits. But she wasn't about to think it was all clear. Irony seemed to hate her.

Despite having designed and crafted them herself, Steel still wasn't quite used to the workings of her new eyes. Thus it was that the young woman was almost directly beneath her by the time she espied her. A cruel grin creased her lips as her body tensed against the tree she was hiding upon. Another moment and she could start her little chase.

Just as Clarice passed the tree, the gray and black creature above uncoiled her legs and leaped fast down towards her pray. She landed with a heavy thud and the crunch of soil and twigs behind the blond woman. A strange hissing noise, pleased and hungry, escaped her lips as she reared back to resettle herself on half a dozen clattering limbs. With a wordless cry, she sprang forward with arms outstretched, intentionally keeping herself slow to allow an escape.

Upon reaching the tree, she found little to disturb her thoughts for a moment. That was until she felt that chilling feeling run up and down her spine. Whether she had sensed it or not, she wasn't as alone as she had once thought. The wind picked up behind her, making her whirl around to see the sight she had dreaded to think of. A monster had found her of course.

And not just any monster...a spider. Her teeth chattered at the horrific sight. She never liked bugs, but this thing whatever it was made ehr freeze on the spot. When it leapt up to attack her she saw an oppurtunity. She was unsure if the creature was just slow or toying with her, but it gave her plenty of time to tumble out of the way before it landed. Her heart raced with fear of being caught, and the fact she had actually managed to dodge something for once boosted her confidence.

Since it had attacked first, she could at least use self defense. Quickly she mummbled a few incoherent words to allow her not so perfect ball of fire and through it at the monster before taking off quickly to run. Her hand seared slightly from her lack of concentration. She scoffed it off and hoped she would find a way to get back to the school. She doubted her magic made much of a dent if any. Its never worked before, but then again she had never actually escaped the clutches of a monster like this.

But where should she go? The school was to far away, she didn't think she would make it by running in the clearing. But there was little choice, she had to keep going. Summoning up her courage she continued to bolt as fast as she could. Even though she might make it to the school, she was scared inside. Doubts followed her mind with every step.

~Its catching up~Its catching up~

How long could she keep running like this? Well, even if she did get caught, at least she had maunuvered once...just once had she slipped passed. It was good enough, but she wasn't about to stop because she was proud of that little stunt. No doubt the spider would be mad for her attacking it.

Oddly enough, the creature was far from displeased with the young woman's show of power. The heat washed smoothly over Steel's body and singed bits of her still-long hair, but she was otherwise unwounded by the attack. The pain of it, though, still lingered over her barely covered breasts and stung at her unblinking eyes. The sting brought pleasure to the spider and inspired her to chase the girl faster.

The thrill of a hunt charged Steel's mind and body. The scent and taste of the terror building in her prey intoxicated her more than the pain could. She wanted more of it all. This one would feed her well before the night was through. The chase was making for a delicious appetizer.

The six legs slid and skittered fast over the forest floor after Clarice. The gray woman was gaining easily on the fleeing student. Hands gripped at a tree as the thin legs carried her up it. She pounced to one side of her prey to try and direct the path of the chase. Up ahead, hidden in a small cluster of trees, a strong web lay strung across the narrow path. Each step of the spindly legs measured itself against the girl's path to try and drive her towards the trap. The speed of the chase was likewise measured to prolong the thrill of it for as long as possible. There was no reason to close the last few inches between outstretched hands and their prey, and no reason that Clarice had to run into the trap on a direct path.

Once more, the legs carried Steel up along a tree for a hard pounce towards the fleeing woman. Fingers brushed barely over her back as the carapace serving as the gray woman's lower body crashed into the ground and stilled for the barest flicker of a moment.

To her distress and fearful dismay, her assumptions had come true. She had been completely turned around in the forest and had now lost which way was to the school. The fear of being caught was becoming more real to her. Her teeth chattered from it while she continued to try and slip passed the monster's grip. To her shock she was actually missing when the creature made a jump at her, but she wondered if it truly was trying. It was catching up to her so easily and yet it missed when it went to grab her.

Realization sunk in quickly-it was just toying with her.

It could've easily caught her already, but it seemed to be enjoying her fruitless efforts at escaping. Worse yet Clarice was tiring. She cursed her lower body for not have much leg strength. Whenever she need it so far it had failed miserably.

Her thoughts were shattered when the spider had jumped infront of her and hissed with those narrowing eyes. Upon instinct Clair screamed in fear. She skidded to a hault and lost her footing for a moment. Her hands came in contact to the dirt while her legs picked herself back up in running away again. This was becoming ridiculous! She had no idea where she was running and her legs were throbbing from lack of oxygen. Finally she had to stop for a moment, wheezing and panting heavily to catch her breath. She couldn't go anymore without rest. Sweat glistened her forehead and most likely her entire body. Whether this was being toyed with or not, she wodnered if she would be allowed to rest before starting up the chase once more. Whether it would or not was not ehr fault. She was just out of breath.

"Please...ma-make it....leave me...alone..." she mummbles to God or any entity that controlled this world, still between pants.

The forest went suddenly silent and still around Clarice at her muttered prayer as if it had been answered. The spider did not close the final gap as the woman paused to catch her breath hard. It had, in fact, vanished from apparent sight in the moment of her stumbling fall. The calm held for a long moment, then was broken by the creak of a branch directly above the exhausted girl.

From directly above, the creature slid down on a long, solid thread of webbing. In her hands, she carried a hastily constructed bundle of the stuff, which she cast down directly at her prey. Yellow eyes shone bright with hunger as the net spread out in an attempt to ensnare the young woman. If it didn't catch, the gray woman knew that she'd led the student close to the other, less visible web and needed only to scatter her in the proper direction.

With that in mind, a flicker before the net landed, the cord bearing the strange aberration downward was severed by a sharp flick of a leg, and Steel landed in a tumbling heap to place Clarice directly between herself and the other web. It took her a long pause to fight back to her six limbs, as she'd landed poorly, and her entire body writhed along the ground to try and get the limbs beneath herself. A harsh cry of anger and frustration slid from her lips, and the answering screech of an intrusive flock of birds answered distantly as they instinctively fled the source of the noise.

Quick to any hearing, Clair suddenly raised her head to the horrific sight of the spider once more. Eyes widen in shock and caused her to hesitate long enough for the bundling net to draw close. In a flicker she was jumping to the side to avoid the snaring. But alas, her moment of hesitation caused the net to fall to the lower half of her body. Her legs now ensnared made her fall with a rather sickening thud. Pain shot up her arms and torso and made her cry out upon impact with the ground.

She slowly rises to her knees and peers back with terrified eyes. She had been caught it seemed. Her head to turns back to the ground as she damns herself for being caught like a fly. Her teeth grit together as she appears to grow angry with herself. She had been so close, atleast in her mind. Her lower half had not suffered as badly as her legs did in the net. They were completely entangled with the sticky webbing when she fell. Parts of the net seemed to stick close to the ground and upon her trying to budge it didn't falter and held her still.

Realizing how stupid she had truly been she slams her fist into the ground, eyes shut with anger and despair. Even more shaprp pain lifts into her hand she punched. It was the same hand she had used her magic with. Still on all fours she lifts her hand to inspect the damage while the spider gatehred itself together. Soot and blood was all she could make out. As if being caught like this didn't do her pride a blow, her hand had now become all but a slow agonizing mess.

With a soft curse, the gray hands shoved quickly over the creature's upper body to try and clear the dirt marring her smooth skin. She'd lost her composure with the tumble, though the dull thwack of the ground had been nice. She reached back to shake out her long, dark gray hair and stepped carefully towards her fallen prey.

She paused for the briefest moment to take in the defeat raging in the student's emotions. The wounded hand called to her like a siren, but she ignored it with a quick wrench of will. She had to get the girl back to her lair. There would be enough time to torment her prey later.

"Blast. I'd hoped you would make it a little further." Her body resettled itself on four legs as the other two reached forward and began carefully gathering the scattered edges of the net. Bits of it were cut away when necessary, but the section holding Clarice's legs was lifted and curled slightly about her limbs to bind them tightly together. Without concern for her freed upper arms, the blond woman was hauled up by her feet to be slung over the large back of the spider's body.

She had no way of getting up or kicking off the net around her legs, it just stuck to her as if it were glue. She should've expected as much since it was a spider after all. She blinked at the creature flailing for a short moment before regaining its composure. Seems she wasn't the only having problems with falling gracefully.

Her eyes narrow in a glare when the monster commented, like she had expected her to dodge the net with ease. It enraged her pride, and she was tempted in trying another quick fire ball. Her other hand hadn't been singed so it might work this time around if she concentrated. Suddenly the world turned sideways as she's lifted with little effort onto the spider's back.

Her eyes widen at the thought she was taking her back to her lair. Fear would've been an understatement if you peered in her eyes. She began to struggle incredibly for freedom. She didn't care if she had no chance of escaping, she just had to try. An idea came to mind and with much effort from her current position, she wondered if she should try to burn the webbing from her legs. No-that would only cause her pain as well. It may be her magic at work, but she had never tried something so close to her skin. If her hand had been singed from merely conjuring it she shivered at the thought of what the damage could be. But still she flailed and pulled this way and that.

Her eyes advert to the walking legs infront of her face. They were moving in sink with eachother. She looks back to the spider and finds her options were slim. So with quite abit of courage, her hand grasps the leg and she tries pulling to make the spider lose its balance and fall, possibly knocking her off as well. She just didn't know what to do but she wasn't about to just sit back and allow herself to be hauled wherever without a fight.

"Let.Me.GO!" she growls between yanks and pulls.

With the sticky web pressed into the spider's carapace, Clarice's struggling only succeeded in reorienting her upper body uncomfortably. Hands flicked back in a meagre attempt to reposition the trapped woman and still her struggles. Having been hauled up feet first, blond hair spilled across the shiny black surface near the point where the gray skin slid into it comfortably.

The six legs picked their way more slowly along the forest now, careful not to spill Steel's cargo. That terrifying revelation had changed the student's flavor pleasantly, and the spider smiled as she drank it in so close. She was trying to remain indifferent to her prey, as if this were a routine thing, as a show of confidence and certainty in her control of things.

The sudden tugging marred that control. The leg could easily have ripped itself free of her grasp, and the other five easily made up the slight shift in balance, but it was slowing her down noticeably. With a hard spin at the waist, the back of a gray hand crashed sharply into Clarice's cheek. "Stop that or I will, but after I've bound you and strung you up for something else to come along and find. I assure you, crueler things than me walk these woods." Her words ended with a soft, threatening hiss. With a huff, yellow eyes swiveled forward again as the leg tugged back at the grasp on it and the other five delicately continued to pick their way through the dense trees.

The light was starting to fade and reach more thinly amongst the branches. Soon, the Sun would be completely gone from view, and the air would turn colder. It promised to be a well lit night, though, ripe for the hunting of the forest's beasts.

Was it her or did these monster's intend to enjoy slapping her all the time? Upon impact with her cheek her grip was lossened to allow the leg to continue its job. She wouldn't doubt the spider's words if she were to be hung loosely on a branch for animal to come along. But the thought sounded more tempting then what this monster may plan to do with her. But to cause herself less pain and horror, she limply allows herself to be carries. She stares back at the path they were heading from. It struck home in causing her grief to what this creature planned to do with her.

She turns only her head this time to the arachnid's head and exhales deeply in defeat. She may be stupid soemtimes, but even in this predicament it would be best to just stop resisting and wait for her impending doom. Her cheek stung, but was easily ignore by the searing pain in her hand. This just wasn't her day. Even with some monster's she didn't have to get hurt. Now it was as if these monsters were becoming more ruethless and wild...just like animals. But at least animals would either take a bite and not like the taste and be on their merry way or kill you instantly by crushing your throat or skull.

"I guess I shouldn't ask where your taking me...or what your planning to do to me when we get there..." she says with her own hissing and venom. It probably wasn't as cold as the spider woman's though.

"What? Of course not. Those are both valid questions." The creature remains silent for a moment, as if she expects Clarice to ask again, then shakes her head slightly. "We're returning home - that's my home, not yours - and then I'm going to feed from you." Her words fell into the evening air like autumn leaves, graceful yet lifeless.

With her prey no longer struggling, Steel moves faster back towards the hollow she finished earlier. The trees rush quickly past the pair as the spider returns along thin, unmarked trails. She stops finally before a small opening in the brush and bends down to lift the webbed door coated in soil and refuse. Beyond is a dark place, barely visible in the fading light, coated in thick walls of tangled white web.

That is where Steel ducks to take her prey. As the trapdoor thuds shut behind Clarice, all visible light, save the faintest gray hints of the rounded walls, vanishes. The soft squish of moist soil fills the chamber as the six limbs carry the woman deeper beneath the surface. Suddenly, hands grab at her shoulders loosely and begin tugging her free of the carapace.

Her body tenses at being answered. F-feed from her? What the hell was that suppossed to mean? Her question is soon answered when they finally come upon her lair. Eyes widen in what seems to be a clip from a horror movie. She wasn't excellent with spider information, but once her prey was pulled into the trap door like this, it never came out. She began to shiver violently with fear of being eaten. Here she thought she was going to be ravaged and be done with it. No, this thing was going to shoot its fangs into her and her insides melt into liquid for her to eat. Her heart raced and thumped, tears of not being able to make it out of here alive were shed. She didn't want to die, not like this. She regretted many things, one in which...she would enever see Kanoe again.

Once light had faded when they enetered, Clarice shut her eyes for her impending doom. Adrenaline raced through her veins, but it did little good in calming her down. the fear of bein eaten by a spider continued to make her shivers obvious to anyone who could see in this darkened place. She felt any hints of the surface getting further and further away. This was just too much to handle, being devoured by this creature. She would've had a better chance with the animals outside. Atleast she could see the trees, the nighttime sky for comfort. This looked like hell, except she wasn't burning.

Her body tenses dramatically as the feel of hands on her shoulder. Eyes still squinted shut she pulls herself into a fetal position as best as she could. She was scared to death and dared not to look at what was pulling and tugging her off the spider. Tears run down her face from her quivering thoughts.

"A-a-are y-you g-going to-to....eat me...?" she stammered finally. It was the only question she would ask to not upset the beast or beasts if the other thing that was pulling her wasn't the eaight-legged woman.

Double Post.