Aida’s ears were plugged by the sound of her own breathing. Behind the giant spider that had kidnapped her was an army of smaller spiders, all leisurely making their way down webs that spanned between trees. The mass rippling of spiky legs made Aida’s skin crawl.
Aida was beginning to feel overwhelmed, and struggled to keep her eyes from darting everywhere, instead focusing on the creature in front of her to avoid watching the approaching terrors. Blinking rapidly, she tried to calm herself, focusing on her breathing - only to notice how rapidly her heart was beating.
Focus on what’s in front of you. Summoning all her willpower, Aida crammed her fear into that familiar little corner of her mind where she stashed all her problems for later. The same place where she shoved Ezra’s attack into, along with every other worry and concern she had no control over.
Her heart thudded as silver flashed in front of her eyes - but it was just a tiny spider - ironic, calling a spider the size of her head tiny - dropping down from the trees above to inspect her at close range, its thick cord of silk glinting as it caught the speckled light peeking through the leaves.
A scream bubbled out of her throat, refusing to be contained. Aida thrashed her head, squeezing her eyes shut. Spiders at home never bothered her; she actually took comfort in seeing them hang out in the corners of her bedroom ceiling, reassured that her docile roommates would help keep her room free from pesky intruders.
But now, she was the pesky intruder. And they were clearly planning to feed soon.
“AIDA!” A scream pierced the clearing, and a wave of powerful, fiery mana swept through them all. The spider in front of Aida would have brushed her nose as the wave gently pushed it, if Aida hadn’t strained her neck in an attempt to avoid the horrid thing.
“Kuri!” Aida gasped, her voice hitching from all the screaming she’d been doing.
“Come on!” Kuri bellowed at the spiders, rampaging through the crowd of smaller spiders near her. “Come at me!”
Aida watched her, terrified and relieved at the same time. I’m going to be okay!
The thought whisked away as soon as a deep, foghorn-like belch rumbled through, accompanied by an earth-shaking THUMP.
Kuri flew through the air, taking advantage of the tremor sending everything that wasn’t secured flying, her burning blue eyes fixed directly on Aida. She spun herself around, planting her heel on the spider that was still dangling in front of Aida’s face and knocking it off its silk cable. Aida thought she heard a gentle crunch and a tiny squeal as the spider flew away, its legs convulsing, but she couldn’t be sure with the pandemonium that had now taken over the clearing.
Kuri clung to the sticky mass that covered Aida, her face inches away and furrowed in concentration. She had her wand pointed at Aida’s sternum, and Aida smelled something burning as smoke tickled her nostrils.
“We don’t have too much time,” Kuri shouted over the cacophony of screeches from the spiders mingling with several deep roars. She clamped her wand between her teeth and grabbed Aida’s fist, wrenching her arm free of the congealed goo. Kuri had apparently sliced through the webbing somehow while Aida was overwhelmed by everything that was happening. “I’m going to have to fight - can you free the rest of yourself?”
“I-I think so,” Aida stammered. Her newly-freed arm felt like jello, and if it weren’t for the mass of glue still on her hand, she was certain she would have dropped her wand already.
“Good! Do that, while I keep the spiders and the doublehabs off of us!” With that last instruction, Kuri did a backflip off the tree and plummeted towards the forest floor, tight streaks of blue fire spitting out from her small stature and setting the spiders that were crawling towards Aida ablaze. Aida was left to her own devices.
Aida tugged at the rest of her body, but was still firmly stuck. How did she do it? Scrambling to get her mana in order, Aida focused on the semisolid goo still holding her against the tree.
Success - there were still traces of mana running through it, though it was beginning to still and fade. Watching the flow congeal reminded Aida of the inert mana stored in all the dried ingredients she helped Healer Luk prepare. Should I try to bring some of this back to her?
With how thin the still-flowing strands of mana had gotten, Aida was able to slice through the remaining bonds - and Mana Surge helped her break free of the stiffened shell.
“Kuri!” Aida fell through the air towards the woman spinning like a tornado on the forest floor, barely managing to land on her feet. She caught herself on her hands and knees, breathing heavily.
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“Aida! We can’t fight them all, so we’re going to try to escape in the chaos - stay as close to me as you can!” Kuri reached down and pulled Aida roughly to her feet, pointing towards the thick of the fighting. “Hide among the spiders so the doublehabs don’t target you - never leave yourself exposed as a single target!”
Aida gaped at the doublehab Kuri was pointing at - it looked like a giant frog, its skin glistening and gooey even in the dim light. She wasn’t sure if it was just a trick of the light, but the creature seemed semi-transparent, its internals a confusing mass of throbbing organs; its throat was pulsing, sending out a warbling that left the spiders closest to it stumbling. Several small blobs of acid shot out from its back, indiscriminately leaving splotches of dissolved spiders on the floor.
“Just - follow my lead, and stay as close as you can!” Barely giving Aida a chance to process, Kuri grabbed Aida’s arm and began sprinting right towards the doublehab.
As soon as Aida got her own legs working, Kuri let go of her and the two of them darted through the spiders that were battling the massive, see-through beast. The giant arachnid that brought Aida here was moving with incredible alacrity, jumping from tree to tree and shooting balls of gunk onto the doublehab, making the creature look like it was molting.
The closer they approached the doublehab, the more precise Kuri’s footwork became - and the more difficult it was for Aida to keep step with her. She didn’t have time to wait and observe how Kuri handled avoiding spider fangs and acid showers - she ended up depending more and more on her own mana senses, which led her to become less and less certain of what exactly was going on around her as she avoided clearly obvious danger as she tried to continue heading in the same direction.
“Look out!” Aida’s focus was broken as she felt herself tackled, flying in a completely different direction.
They landed with a whuff, Aida’s breath completely gone. She heard a groan from her stomach, before feeling the pressure on her belly ease.
“Hey, you got any mana in you for a Heal?” Kuri mumbled, pushing herself up onto shaking arms.
“Y-Yes!” Aida clambered to a sitting position, letting out a strangled gasp as she saw the state Kuri was in.
The entirety of Kuri’s upper and mid back was exposed, and the skin was red, raw, and in some patches, completely gone. Acid burns - from the doublehab, maybe?
Remembering what she learned from Healer Bokar, Aida quickly examined Kuri’s injuries under the Detox lens - fortunately, the acid didn’t have any lingering effects, leaving Kuri’s wounds quite clean. Relieved, Aida swiftly Healed Kuri’s back, watching as skin began to knit itself together.
Kuri sighed in relief as her pain subsided. She glanced over her shoulder at the main fight, before nodding back towards Aida. “We need to get going.”
Not bothering to object, Aida helped Kuri climb to her feet, taking the young woman’s arm over her shoulders as they trudged in the direction Kuri pointed towards.
“I used most of my mana to save you,” Kuri said softly, her breathing labored. “But if we stick around for too long some stragglers may come after us.”
“Should I use my Regen on you?” Aida asked, concerned. She started walking faster, with no complaints from Kuri other than heavier breathing.
“That might be good,” Kuri gritted out. “But later. We’re still too close.”
Aida shut up, focusing on getting the two of them further away from the scene of carnage while Mana Cycling. She could feel Kuri Cycling as well, though she continued to send her mana out in sharp spikes, keeping tabs on the predators.
“The path…up there. Safer,” Kuri whispered, pointing limply in another direction. Aida turned them in that direction, completely disregarding the need for stealth in her haste to get them closer to civilization. They crushed twigs and dried leaves underfoot, forcing themselves through brush, to finally reach the main path.
“Can we rest for a bit?” Aida asked, setting Kuri down on her knees without waiting for an answer. She turned her Regen on, observing Kuri’s sluggish mana flow.
Kuri’s overall health was similar to Sue and the boys’, but she had clearly overexerted herself during her rescue mission. She had huge blockages throughout her whole body. If she was bubble wrap, she’d provide hours of fun.
Delicately placing her fingers against Kuri’s newly-healed skin, Aida sent mana through the biggest blockages in her back. Kuri moaned in relief as Aida methodically worked through the largest nodes, clearing the pathways for her mana to begin moving on its own again.
“I guess it wouldn’t have been a terrible idea to stop in the forest just for that Regen,” Kuri said, smiling at Aida tremulously. “I’m so sorry about that. I didn’t expect so many monsters to come from that incense. Are you okay?”
“A little traumatized, but otherwise I can’t complain,” Aida said, sinking down next to her. “I hate giant spiders,” she added, making Kuri chuckle weakly.
“Yeah, that Matriarch showing up was unexpected. When she snatched you…” Kuri’s face crumpled, and she quickly pressed her hands over her face. The rest of her words came out muffled. “…I knew I messed up. I didn’t listen to you when you said you weren’t confident in your combat abilities. And I should have just told you what to look for in order to improve your Crit Up more quickly. I thought you would learn best by grinding out the ability yourself, but…you could have died because of my arrogance.”
Aida felt ashamed at Kuri’s words, even though she knew she had no reason to. Kuri was the professional, and should have had the skill to protect and mentor her charge safely. But she couldn’t help thinking that she had plenty of opportunities to speak up and advocate for her own safety as well. I could have insisted she just tell me the secret when my attempts didn’t go well…If I had just said no to this mission in the first place…
“Hey, at least we survived,” Aida said weakly, punching Kuri in the shoulder lightly. “And I did figure out what the weaknesses for the spiders are…”