As much as Niko wanted to be able to watch the entire show, he knew that he wasn’t going to be able to approach the bulk of the battle between the tier four mushroom lizard and the rest of the Dawr encampment. The last sight he had seen, however, was that of another mob of hobs and a handful of champions still not bringing the thing down. Niko swallowed hard at the thought of such a thing chasing after them, and wondered if Mithel had anything in her repertoire that could even begin to slow it down.

‘Definitely dodged a bullet, there,’ Niko thought, before looking in the direction of the carnage that had been wrought, ‘Hopefully it doesn’t have any way to detect these at range… We’re definitely going to have to get a second opinion on them when we get back.’

The rest of the mushrooms in question were still in their stashed packs, which Niko was currently putting on. They’d been prepared to completely abandon them, but it seemed the lizard truly couldn’t detect it anymore, otherwise he figured they would have been first on its list, given they were closer to the exterior of the camp than the food pot had been.

Just as he was finishing up, he felt asoft motion of air move near him, and the connection between himself and Skye deepen. Were it not for the latter, the former would have made his feathers stand on end.

Without turning, he asked, “Ready to go?”

Skye snorted, “You cheated. You felt it was me through the connection, didn’t you?”

“Of course not,” Niko bold-faced lied as he turned to her, “It was the sound of your steps and your scent.”

She frowned at that, before turning her head and sniffing herself. Her look of doubt deepened, “I smell like leaves, Niko.”

Momentarily he wanted to keep up the joke but decided that their current situation demanded a little more seriousness from him. “Yeah, you do. It was the connection,” he shrugged, “It’s funny that I can’t detect you that easily, though. Is that a trick you picked up?”

With a small nod, she patted her pouch, “It’s not as good as Mithey’s stuff, but I have a salve that can help. It works better when I have time to tailor it to the environment, but…” She mimicked his shrug then, “It masks my scent with tree pine and leaves, that’s good enough for most things.”

Niko had to admit that for the most part, that was completely true. Even for him, with his enhanced senses, Niko might not always equate some random semi out of place plant scent to being a problem. Peck, only at the height of his paranoia did it even occur to him.

Though, admittedly, he was much less willing to overlook such things now, whenever he consciously detected them.

“Did you find a good map?” Niko changed the topic, standing up to nearly his full height, newly re-burdened by the packs stuffed with loot. Skye had her own, and after a quick rummaging, pulled out a surprisingly high quality map.

“Looks like, and a lot more besides,” Skye answered grimly, “We need to double time it to Riizen. We’re going to be headed back on a southwest orientation from here, so we can stop in at Charlotte’s for rest. There’s a way up not far from her place.”

Niko blinked at that, turning his gaze down to the map before he could ask how she knew all of that. With just a glance, Niko couldn’t help but cluck in admiration of the quality of their newest map. The last one may as well have been drawn in crayon by an overly enthusiastic two year old, whereas this one was clearly done by an experienced cartographer. It was complete with demarcations of distance, direction, and much more detail. Riizen sat roughly in the center, and the presumed location of the encampment was highlighted with additional notation. That was important to distinguish, because he realized there were four more in other locations in what he guessed were similar locations throughout the titanwood.

‘No wonder Skye was so grim about it…’ Niko’s expression soured as he saw the camps. He looked to Skye seriously, “Alright, hop on. As much as I want to see how they deal with the lizard, I don’t wanna be around for a bunch of angry Dawr to stumble across.”

“Unfortunately, I think they’re going to do fine. They’ve got a lot of power concentrated here.” Skye mused, “Though, that would be an excellent way to deal with these tribes. Just annoy enough tier four monsters like that one into fighting them, win-win, I think.”

“Except for the stronger survivors,” Niko pointed out, “Especially what with the whole blood energy thing…”

She grunted at that, likely acknowledging the point. Without further delay, Niko bolted off into the underbrush and roots, bounding over them quickly, but not as recklessly as they’d been forced to do before. He pushed his stealth pattern to the limit, trying to mask every trace of their passing as they went. Skye could use the forest to her advantage for such things, but Niko felt that his method was superior. While he felt the term ‘altering reality’ was a touch too grandiose for what it was used for, he couldn’t help but keep coming around to that description.

Skye guided him through the trees, and a few times Niko detoured wide around a hidden tier four threat. Now that he’d gotten an up close and personal look of the ambushing tier four Thimurge from before, Niko was much better at finding them. Even the more experienced of them left tell-tale signs, as if many of them shared the same drawback, or tick, that left a specific trace in the essence around them. For the Thimurge, it was almost like there was a wrinkle in the essence, something he’d entirely missed previously, but now seemed as obvious as a grasping arm sticking out of a closet. Unsettling and quite obvious from any standpoint, and generally something that Niko would kick shut cawing wildly about at the time.

Of course, he just stayed well away, but that’s what it was like every time he saw one now, and he was more than happy to avoid them.

And just like that, hours had passed, and Niko and Skye were both daring to think that maybe things were going to be smooth sailing from thereon. Neither vocalized it, for once not remotely interested in tempting fate – or the pilgrimage, for that matter – to change the board on them once more.

Finally, a somewhat familiar rocky outcropping loomed out of the fog and from between the trees. Niko slowed his steps, looking around with his enhanced eyes to ensure there wasn’t anything especially concerning around. It seemed as though this area was lighter on any tier four predators, but he supposed that could just mean that in the game of hide and sneak, he was on the losing end.

‘That’s a dark thought,’ Niko shook his head, focusing fully on the stone outcropping ahead.

“That looks like it,” Skye said aloud, “So… Do we knock?”

Niko blinked at that, realizing he hadn’t really thought about it. He shrugged lightly, trying to keep from jostling Skye too much on his back, “May as well start somewhere, right?”

The two reached the underside of the outcropping, a deceptive slope that from a distance met directly with the ground, rather than giving a space besides the stone. It took him less than a minute to find where the entrance was, but even with his Aether Sight, he had to admit that web-sealed stone was very well obscured.

He tapped at it firmly with his beak, before giving a light caw, “Charlotte, you home?”

For several seconds, nothing happened, and Niko was about to knock again, slightly louder.

Instead, a grinding sound rumbled out, and Niko was left watching a circular stone slab rotate, nearly invisible seams becoming apparent only as it did. The slab didn’t descend, instead rising only fractionally before getting stuck. That was enough, though, for a view slit to be revealed, and Niko realized that the spider must have cleverly engineered the stone to be openable only by dropping down and not being pressed upwards.

Several beady eyes, one of which was colored green from a wound healed incorrectly – the water spray from the flood when they’d all sheltered together had been very pressurized – peered at him through the crack suspiciously.

“Hey, Charlotte,” Niko cawed a low, cheerful greeting, “Can we come in?”

He heard something vaguely between a hiss, chitter, and excited rustle as the stone spun and dropped back down into place with a loud thunk. Niko blinked in confusion at that, uncertain of the exact meaning of that response.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“She seemed… excited?” Skye hedged, raising an eyebrow to Niko.

With a look over his shoulder, Niko said, “I… hope? I have no idea, I’m not exactly an expert in spider, y’know?”

The stone ground out again, this time in the opposite direction. He stepped back as the slab fell, slowed and stalled by the thick strand of webbing that kept it from bashing into the ground. The many legged spider stuck itself out of the hole, many fuzzy antennae bobbing and dancing about energetically as a tone of essence sounded out from the spider.

“Friends!” The not-quite-voice seemed to say, nevertheless catching Niko off guard.

“Who, cluck me, are you learning to talk?” Niko’s mouth raced, just as his gaze took in more of the spider. He realized that it looked slightly different from before, possessing three pairs of antennae now, and with shinier colorations streaked on its fur. Gem-like colors, like emerald, sapphire, and glinting streaks of amber overtook the previously ochre and drab colors she’d had previously.

The spider danced around, antennae fumbling together and producing a mishmash of sound and meaning that made Niko’s head hurt as Alterra’s gift attempted to translate. After the headache grew, it faded, and instead of parsing meaning, he got the feeling that the blessing had given up the ghost, rather than try to make sense of what it was being fed.

“Niko… did she… evolve?” Skye asked, a slight note of wariness in her voice.

Niko cringed and nodded, “Yeah, looks like. She’s trying to actually talk, too. And uhm…” he looked at the now very attentive and expectant spider, who he had the feeling was listening closely to what he was saying. He cleared his throat, “She’s doing really well! Yeah, definitely.”

The spider seemed to vibrate at that, before shuffling around on its many legs in a display that Niko struggled to find cute, rather than vaguely disturbing.

“She’s actually pretty adorable, isn’t she?” Skye chuckled through their connection, “The fact that she can talk at all suddenly is a big deal. You realize that, right?”

Niko sighed through their connection, “So, this doesn’t just spontaneously happen?”

Skye snorted, “No, not just like that. You did name her though, so maybe your chosen status is doing something, here?”

“What, like she’s my underling or something, now?” Niko balked at that, not liking the idea that he – or more specifically, other Chosen – could go around declaring names for beasts and monsters and changing them.

“Ish, more like a family-acolyte type thing? At least, that’s what most people are told. The only ones who actually know are the Chosen. So… do you feel like you have sway over what she does?” Skye asked, bringing up an important question.

Niko looked to the spider, before trying to feel if they had some kind of connection with one another. For a few seconds, he happily found nothing, and then, suddenly, he felt the thread coming from his core. He groaned aloud at that, sensing its source from deep inside of his soul, and tried to follow it out from himself. Perhaps it was only because of their proximity, but Niko could tell that it was certainly attached to Charlotte.

Yet, that was it. He could vaguely tell where she was, but that was all, he had no other sensation to speak of coming over the line, nor did he feel as though it actively gave him anything. His initial fear faded somewhat as he found nothing telling him that they were in any way bound together more than a simple marker.

“Actually… no, seems more or less innocuous.” Niko tilted his head as he examined the spider, before realizing said spider was beginning to shuffle on its feet nervously for some reason.

Then he and Skye both remembered that they’d been communicating silently with one another for half a minute while just staring at the spider.

“Oh, uh, sorry about that, Charlotte,” Niko cleared his throat, “I was just… inspecting your fur! Yeah, it looks really pretty now!”

“Smooth.” Skye whispered amusedly, even as the arachnid seemed to preen at the attention. It flexed, seemingly quite pleased with the compliment, even if Niko had just thrown it out there. After all, he did think that her gemstone colored fur was a dramatic improvement! His own feathers were amazing, so of course, he believed that everything pretty should look like them.

The spider then chittered at them, before moving up the rope of webbing, though Niko was certain she didn’t need to move that ponderously. He briefly amused himself with the thought of a giant spider on a fashion runway, pointedly not thinking about the fact that likely every single person in the room would have fled in abject terror at such a sight on Earth. Niko braced for a jump while Skye pressed herself flat against his back. They easily cleared the space, and Charlotte pulled the rope on a simple, primitive pulley system to seal the rock once more. She manually twisted the stone, but Niko figured he could do the same, albeit with a little more finagling, given the lack of multiple points of contact and leverage.

The spider made more noises at him, and while Niko’s headache had largely subsided, he felt Alterra’s blessing begrudgingly get to work on decoding it, feeling every bit like an underpaid overtime worker. It was mid chitter about something or other when it let out a low screech and rapidly trotted over to the other side of the building.

Niko felt his feathers rise, fearing an attack, before Skye burst out laughing on his back.

“What, what? What did I miss?” Niko blinked rapidly, nonplussed at her response and the seeming franticness the spider had.

“Oh, it’s nothing much, just… Stay over here while she deals with her things, okay?” Skye said, patting him on the head before waving over to Charlotte. Niko felt even more lost as he heard a seemingly grateful chitter come from the spider, and Skye directed him slightly with her knees on his sides.

“But, no, really, what is it?” Niko asked through their mind bridge, fighting the urge to turn his head and look at what was going on.

Skye answered in the same manner, joviality clearly radiating from her words, “She left her old carapace out, she must have finished molting not too long ago.”

Niko blinked at that, “And… That’s why she freaked out?”

The half-elf shrugged, “Stella always got the same way when she left out undergarments or, oddly enough, unfinished works that were private and someone came in. She eventually put those things away before letting people visit her, but it was immensely entertaining when we were growing up. Consider it a quirk of some people.”

The Phorus nodded slowly at that, still not exactly understanding it, but figuring that he didn’t need to. If it was a personal quirk, explanations wouldn’t always be logical anyways.

Only a minute later, Charlotte chittered at them, and Niko turned to see that there wasn’t anything especially out of place on that side of the room, save for a new, thickly stuffed cocoon of webbing in the corner. He guessed whatever other refuse or unmentionables were likely in there, too, because he felt like there were less items scattered around over all.

They settled in, and Niko did his best to pantomime and charades their way to describing why they were back through, and ask for shelter. Charlotte, for her part, did seem to understand the gravitas of the possibility that they were being pursued, but nevertheless didn’t want them to leave. In fact, she seemed confident in her abode, though Niko wasn’t explicitly certain why. He turned his eyes to the walls, only really noting that they were webbed in the seams of the stone, and that the whole thing was rugged, but nothing unnaturally so. Still, it wasn’t as though Niko and Skye had a better idea.

The only issue was telling Charlotte what came after.

“No, I mean, we’re leaving the forest floor,” Niko stressed the word, “We might come back someday, but it won’t be for a while. We’ll be going to Riizen – that’s the beast city above – where the rest of our friends—”

“Friends!” Charlotte declared with the word, more insistently than was necessary.

This time, Niko felt his head ache for an entirely different reason.

“It’s not as if she can’t actually come with us, you know.” Skye said, to which the spider did a very short jig before surreptitiously turning seriously towards Niko.

“Friends!” She declared once more, and Niko couldn’t help but feel immensely frustrated at the language barrier. Then again, perhaps she was perfectly aware of what leaving entailed, and he was being the difficult one. She hadn’t exactly enjoyed it when they’d gone off on what apparently amounted to what might sound like an adventure to the spider when they left.

‘Actually, that kind of counts, doesn’t it?...’ Niko hummed to himself, trying to think of what the right option was. He looked around at the inside of the cave, how long the spider must have been there, and was about to say something about how she’d be leaving it all behind when another sharp sound cut him off.

“Friends! Friends, friends, friends!” Charlotte gesticulated at the many things around the cave with its many limbs, leaving Niko sighing aloud, helplessly. On the one talon, he didn’t exactly think it was a problem if the spider met the beasts above. And, on the other, they would likely end up needing help getting through the exit point, if their luck had anything to say about it, and while he didn’t know what Charlotte could do, he figured having her along would be better than not. After all, she lived down here.

Finally, he said, “Fine! Just… remember things are going to be different up there, you’ll have to listen to u—She’s not even listening now.” Niko stopped himself, seeing the spider bolt up, cheering and waving her pedipalps and limbs in the air. She was clearly overjoyed and was darting around the cave whilst stuffing things into woven web sacks that she seemingly pulled out of cracks and crevices that Niko hadn’t even noticed were there.

“This is going to be hilarious.” Skye remarked, “I’m pretty sure Dachna’s an arachnophobe.”

Niko grinned mischievously then, “Hey, Charlotte, there’s another friend of mine that I want you to give a biiiiig hug when you meet him, okay?”

Skye’s cackle echoed in the space as the spider continued to frantically pack objects while they prepared their meal. ‘Well, hopefully giant spiders aren’t that uncommon as semi-sapient beasts. Might get a bit of a response from people at first…’ Niko grinned, stretching out and relaxing as much as he could on a fibrous bed of plants and webbing.