The new webs were wonderful.

Strands kept being added by each of the weavers as they came to rest and recover at Matadero, and what started as a sparse few threads was now singing like a symphony all around the tarantula as she listened, senses amplified by the magic of the messenger bag.

She had watched through her senses as Snake had eaten a baby mouse, and tried not to feel too envious.

I would also quite like to eat a baby mouse. If there happened to be another available.

Jealousy was unbecoming of a spider of her age, but where there was one mouse there usually were quite many, so she did feel a little bit left out and forgotten.

Then again, she wasn’t sure she wanted the attention of the most powerful of the weavers, the one the human had spent so much time near lately and who had seemed to take an interest in Snake.

Not all of the strange humanoid spiderlings were like the one who had carried her, but the powerful one was. He was connected to another half, somewhere, too far for her to feel. It felt a little bit like how the human had also been connected to another set of four limbs, which turned out to be a separate body, though the two of them felt like separate people now.

The strangest similarity was that both the human and the powerful weaver had parts of them that were held tight within their other exoskeletons, parts which could only move and weave in certain ways. It made her feel claustrophobic within her own exoskeleton, as if she needed to molt.

She shook off the feeling and focused on listening, again. The human had gone to another room to consort with water, which seemed too soon, in her opinion.

He seems busy enough, at least.

She crept out of the bag and crawled slowly over to Snake’s tub. He was tapping the side to get her attention, not realizing she was already on her way over with quiet spiderly footsteps on seven legs to go free him.

They had practiced this a few times earlier, and this time she hoped to get it on the first try.

The tub’s lid was quite shallow and flexible. It would be difficult for a spider of her size to push her way in or out, but a small snake could scoot in and out with the slightest flex of the lid. The only problem was the height of the tub, now that Snake’s mysterious extra powers had faded and he could not reach or jump high enough.

The tarantula crawled up a fixture that stood next to the tub, and then carefully lowered herself down onto the top of the tub using a triple helping of her strongest silk.

She snuck a limb under the gap to wave hello.

I am here for you, Snake!

Excited tapping came as a reply.

She pushed a length of thick non-sticky webbing through the gap and shook it to let its length fall down the inside of the tub. This time, she was pretty sure she had the strength and amount right the first time.

The snake slithered around the silk so that it wrapped his body near the middle, and she began to hoist him up.

Oh no. He’s quite a bit heavier, now that he’s full of mouse.

If only I had eaten a mouse, I could be equally heavier, and it would balance out.

Snake was quite small, and could be held by her webbing if he didn’t struggle. Or at least, it had been that way the last time they had tried this, only hours ago.

The silk snapped.

She heard him tapping at the wall of the tub, as if she couldn’t sense exactly what had happened through the vibrations on the silk itself.

I just need another layer to make it stronger, to account for the extra weight.

She waved an arm though again, to let him know she wasn’t giving up, and spent a solid ten minutes building a stronger cord of silk. She could sense the human still consorting with the water, and even the vibration of him weaving something in there using his strange little length of other silk.

He seems busy in there. I have time. I don’t need to rush. There isn’t any danger.

She fought to calm herself and work slowly and deliberately, to make the strongest cord she could, so that Snake could have his freedom. She did not exactly understand why he seemed to be enjoying moving back and forth between being in the tub and going on adventures, as she had thought he had wanted purely to escape. Then again, they did give him baby mice in there.

Maybe they would give me a baby mouse if I let them know I’m here. I’m just not sure I’m supposed to be here? Some people get weird about me. I miss the siblings.

She still hadn’t felt anything from her threads to the siblings. But where she was, she felt nothing but emptiness beyond the building they were in. It was like being in a bubble suspended in empty space. Maybe they were still out there.

Finally, she finished her work and carefully fed the new length of silk through the gap. The snake tapped excitedly as she shook it out and let its length fall down to him.

I’m sure you weren’t worried that I’d abandon you!

This time, she was pretty sure she’d gotten it right. And she was so going to get herself a baby mouse after this.

******

Contract Earth was just getting old enough, and clever enough, that Mother could metaphorically roll her eyes at its errors. They weren’t quite cute anymore, unlike Bag’s misapprehensions, which were delightful.

Earth was a fully capable contract, handling its own crises and making its own major decisions.

But it still needed Mother sometimes.

An attack on a massive scale, with the potential to kill tens of thousands, or even destroy the planet, if handled incorrectly?

Just another day of being a planetary contract.

An adorable bunny telling you that you did a good job, and asking whether it’d make it easier for you if he conveniently perished?

Earth was totally unequipped.

Now that that was handled, the two planetary contracts and the contract-in-training were watching the phenomenon of a tarantula and a snake dancing and waving at eachother on the lid of a plastic bin.

[Oh! He’s miming stabby!], the seedling said, pointing their attention toward the movements Tiny Long was making with his tail. [I think he’s trying to tell Very Scary that stabby is okay and living her Best Stabby Life. Which is good and okay even though stabby would have made a good avowed too.]

Mother did her version of a smile, internally.

Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

[I think the seedling takes after me,] she told Earth privately. [It’s rare to see such emotion and personality in a contract-in-training. It has more personality than you do.]

[I serve what Earth needs at this time,] Contract Earth said in its usual neutral tone.

They both acknowledged the potential for rehashing a disagreement about human culture, egalitarian ideals, and the riots in the streets that might happen if humans thought the system played favorites. They both acknowledged that Earth’s job was to know Earth better than Mother did, despite that it was her who had nurtured and helped plant the Earth Contract’s kernel into the planetary spell, less than a century ago.

[Thegund is going to do so well where it’s going. It will be quite educational to watch!] Mother bragged, gazing lovingly at the seedling that currently knew itself only as Bag.

******

Both the tarantula and the snake made it into the messenger bag just in time for the human teenager to re-enter the room.

Not long after, the boy carried them through Matadero. The spider became entranced by other vibrations as they drew closer to a gathering of the alien weavers.

She listened as the web of the world rippled in small gentle ways, and felt soothed to be around others that felt like herself. And then… a far off vibration, heavier than the rest, began coming closer.

It was powerful, but somehow did not scare her. It wasn’t huge like the one weaver who had spent so much time near her, but it was both free and precise in a compelling way she didn’t have the experience to explain.

And as the free one got closer, she felt the length of his active silk, wrapped around his body, long and powerful far beyond any of the others.

I want to touch it. I want to weave it. I feel as if I could hear the entire universe vibrate beneath my feet, if only I could stand upon his web.

She felt a nervous anticipation as the big web weaver entered the room. He was coming almost straight toward them!

What do I do? Should I reveal myself to him? If he would come closer…

She poked her body out from under the flap of the messenger bag to watch him with all eight eyes. He was turned away from her.

I’m sorry if this is the wrong thing to do. But I really like your web. I think all of us weavers can be friends. So… hello?

She tentatively reached out a long spindly other leg, and tapped him on the back.

He froze.

And then he slowly, slowly turned toward her.

She waved a leg at him.

The weaver started singing a little and wove his hands casually with some other silk, and before she’d had a chance to wonder what he was trying to communicate she found herself suddenly disoriented.

Oh, how flavorful… oh, I’m across the room, and…

She took a moment to orient herself. She was clinging to something tasty, like a layering of starch and flesh, and she had to resist immediately sinking her fangs into it. The overwhelming sensation of tasting the meat with the tips of her legs was incredibly distracting.

She made an effort to focus on the other details of her surroundings.

Aside from the food in here with me, which is cold, it is quite pleasantly warm. I’m cozy in a pocket. Of… oh. Oh!

That gloriously long length of perfect otherly silk was very, very close to her. She reached out to it, feeling the vibrations of the world sharper than ever, feeling the room recede as the big web weaver moved through the world in a rush.

He had somehow used his other hands to grab her right out from where she’d been perched on the edge of the bag, and pulled her instantly across the room and into his own robes, which billowed out behind him as he made his escape.

I don’t know where I’m going. But this web is good, the world is singing, and I have been given a snack.

A moment later, the only indication they had been in the room was the confused look on the face of a young ryeh-b’t, and the equally confused tapping of a small snake.

******

Tiny Long poked his head out of the bag and flicked his tongue, searching for the scent of his last remaining arachnid lady friend. She had been here one moment, and was gone the next. It was disconcerting.

I may be full of mouse, but I can feel my Snake Powers working. I don’t think I simply neglected to notice her leaving.

Usually, this soon after a meal he would be practically in a hibernating state while he digested. Thanks to his hibernation control skill he was able to stay alert and active despite the Traditional Mouse of Welcome stretching his scales.

Meanwhile, his decoy body double would pretend to digest inside the bento cave. It had even developed a matching bulge in its belly when he had reactivated it.

He directed his thoughts toward his new benefactor.

I don’t suppose you know where our Seven-Legged Lady has gotten off to, my dear Bag?

[Mother says she has spider business to discuss with that wizard who just left.]

Spider business? Well, not that I’m impolite enough to nose in on other species’ private business, but I do feel a sense of responsibility as the leader of the team. We can’t just have everyone running off without nary a goodbye, can we.

[I would connect you to her if I could, but Mother won’t let me make her an Avowed because I’m not old enough to have my own Knights yet. Even though a Spider Knight would be so awesome!]

What I’m gathering is that you can’t talk to her the way you talk to me.

The snake was still tasting the air, and trying to understand the unfamiliar concepts the bag was relaying to him.

[Yes! I can’t talk to her. But that wizard can. Mother said he is the closest thing there is to an expert on wizard spider business, so she made a Mother Decision and nudged him to find her.]

Tiny Long was unsure how to feel about this. He didn’t have control of this situation, and it would not do to pretend he did. If both of his many-legged ladies were off living their best lives, that was well and good, but it felt awfully sudden.

[Mother says the two of them are currently staring at eachother intently while they poke eachother in the existence, and that it was “well worth the expense of a minor privacy breach to see the look on Worli Ro-Den’s face.”]

Bag. My good friend. You’re going to have to repeat that one a little slower, for me.

[Oh no! You are unhappy! I’m sorry!]

No worries, my buddy, my pal.

[Oh no oh no what do I do]

Deep breaths, my friend.

[I’ll ask Mother to give her back! It will be okay. I also think she should be here with us, and not going away to some spider wizard lab full of spider chaos! Please don’t be sad!]

The snake rallied himself, taking on the mantle of leadership in the one way he could in this moment.

It’s good and right to be sad when our friends leave. And it’s also good to have the chance to say goodbye, if it’s going to be for a very long time.

The snake paused.

Is it going to be for a very long time?

The bag took several long seconds before answering, and Tiny Long recognized that it was probably busy “multitasking.”

Finally, it responded.

[We will all likely meet again. When I have become… more.]

It paused again.

[I am going on a very, very big adventure soon. I think it’s going to be exciting? You must come with me! I know it’s all very sudden. I feel that way too.]

Adventure, you say?

The snake thought it reflexively, while its feelings were still on the two arachnids that had been his only companions for so long.

[Do you like moons? I might be becoming a moon.]

Of course I like moons, and I support you becoming one if that is your ambition.

Tiny Long wasn’t sure what it meant to become a moon, and he wasn’t quite paying full attention. But he knew that part of leadership was supporting your people’s dreams and true selves.

[I think being a moon will probably be pretty cool. I hope so. Wow. That’s actually a pretty big deal, I guess.]

The snake nodded in vague agreement.

[Please excuse me. I suddenly have very many things to consider, and I want to do a good job.]

You’re doing a good job.

The two of them both fell into silence, each thinking their own thoughts.

Life had changed so much in just a few days. Tiny Long could feel a glimmer of excitement on the horizon, the seed of a feeling that might blossom tomorrow, when he’d had a bit more time to sort out his current feelings.

Not far from them, in the same building, an exhausted artonan was finally taking his rest after a marathon of healing. He was sprawled out on his bed, drooling slightly, with a slight smile on his sleeping face. Cuddled up next to him, enjoying the warmth of his body heat and dreaming stabby dreams, was a small scorpion that glowed with a layering of protective spells, tracking spells, and anti-chaos wards.

And in a room beyond that one, a tall wizard sat tense at his desk, brows furrowed, eyes staring with an intensity that would terrify any of the other artonans in the building. The strange being in front of him scared him more than any chaos demon its size. It thrilled him too, in equal measure.

He brushed against the spider again, with the gentlest bit of authority he could, and only his distinguished masterful control kept him from squashing the thing’s existence out of the universe.

And once again, proving that the first few times were not flukes, coincidences, or hallucinations, the spider poked him back.