Winston's Works ~ The Singing Shield
Continued from here.
Winston's world had suddenly turned dark and chaotic. One moment, he was nestled behind the safety of the rock as his magical Singing Shield guarded a delectable whipped cream cake in the serene clearing within Sweetwine Forest. The next thing he knew, he was tumbling through a void of sensation, his world consumed by shadows and his limbs bumped and thumped as he tumbled through the ground.
As consciousness gradually returned, Winston found himself in a place he could never have imagined ~ a dimly lit underground cave. He had no idea how long he'd been down here. It could have been breaks, but he was not frozen stiff, so he decided it had only probably been moments.
The air was thick with a musty, earthy scent and the faint sound of water dripping echoed through the rocky chamber. His small, furry body was nestled amidst a jumble of moss-covered stones and mud, half buried and
quite bruised but fortunately
, not seriously hurt thanks to his tumbling and rolling. He patted the ground around him, searching for his goggles, which he found, dented and lagged in mud, but there none the less.There was light coming from above, in tiny shards, that cut down into the cave like strands of energy. Still it was too dark to see anything clearly, but he could just about make out shapes in the dim light and the glint of something from time to time.
He turned to free himself from the mud and rubble, his bottom and back crying in pain from the impacts they had just received, when he noticed something terrifying! As he glanced up, he was looking into the face of a giant spider! He looked down to find his hand was placed upon one of its enormous mandibles and as he fell over backwards in the dark, it loomed over him. "AAAHHHH!" He cried out in terror as he scrambled to get away, but it didn't move... It was frozen in place. His hand hit something sticky and stringy and he flinched reflexively away from it.
It was web, spider web... Giant spider web. He tugged and struggled, but the stuff just kept tangling more and more into his matted fur, pinching at his fingers and pulling his fur from his hand as he panicked.
It took a few moments, but he eventually composed himself enough to take a hunting knife from his belt and cut his hand free.
His newfound sense of unease was quickly replaced by some relief as he managed to notice that the spider in-front of him had been crushed to... Death? He was taking no chances. He needed to find his pack and get out of here and making sure this spider was dead before he did these things would ensure he could do so more safely. He crept up to where he had landed and searched for his
pack
. It had been thrown free of him in the tumble and lay, half buried by the creature's rear end, a short distance from where he was.He moved over to the pack and opened it, summoning a long length of metal. The chitanouse exoscelingtone of the large creature was obviously going to prevent him dispatching it easily, but the eyes... Eyes are always squishy... Right?
He climbed up the creature, placing one end of the pole on it's dull, lifeless eye, and pressed with all his might. As he did, it lurched in pain and his hands slid down the pole as he failed to hold it tight enough. The spike only entering an inch or so before it stopped with a shudder. Cursing himself and crying out in surprise he held on tight as the creature struggled to right itself as several of its legs were bent at unnatural angles.
Holding on to the pole and moving along it to grab with his arm and legs he desperately attempted to remain attached. It was no easy, as the creature let out a chattering sound that quite clearly threatened the ferret. He clutched his eyes tight and attempted to summon his Song Forged lightening as his legs fell free of the poll as he failed to ramin securely attached.
The spider had now clambered entirely upright and was beginning to get it's wits about it again. Winston had a very small window in which to make the post of this opportunity and so with everything he could muster, he let loose a lightning bolt into the rod, that protruded from it's eye.
The giant convulsed, a thunderous shock having been delivered to the inside of its skull. Its legs contracted (the ones that still worked) and it let out a screech the likes of which Winston had never before heard. "One mar far gud luck?!" He cried as he pulled himself back up on top of the creature and attempted to thrust the rod deeper into the creatures eye socket a second time and a third, until eventually with a sickening squelch the creature stopped twitching and the encounter was over.
He caught his breath and shrugged. "Oh well, me guess et's reeeeaaally ded naw." He said to noone in particular as he looked around, making sure he was still alone. The cave appeard to have been cut off from wherever it went during the collapse.
He tried to pull the metal poll back out, but it was not budging. With a shrug, he left it with the spider's corpse, standing sentinel over it's decay.
He was just turning to leave when a thought struck him...
The Devil on My Shoulder
Curiosity: Are you just going to LEAVE it there?
Winston: De poll? Yeah, me 'ave dozens af dem.
Curiosity: No you dufus. The SPIDER! Just think of the things we might be abel to do with it's body parts!
Winston: Oooooohhhhh.... Yeah, dat es true. Et's a pretty big spider doh. Me don't tink me cun carry et... I mean, et's big even far a biggun!
Curiosity: You don't need to carry it all, just hack a few bits off and throw them in your bag.
Winston: OK... Bot me reeeaaaaly shud be findin' a way out naw doh. Dear might be odda spidas.
Curiosity: Nah, it'll be fine. Just harvest a few choice bits then be off. I mean, just ONE of them plates of chitin would cover your whole body and a mandible full of poison... OH! The silk sack... Get the sack that produces the silk.
Winston: OOOoooooooo.... Yeah, dat might beh cool.
Curiosity: Are you just going to LEAVE it there?
Winston: De poll? Yeah, me 'ave dozens af dem.
Curiosity: No you dufus. The SPIDER! Just think of the things we might be abel to do with it's body parts!
Winston: Oooooohhhhh.... Yeah, dat es true. Et's a pretty big spider doh. Me don't tink me cun carry et... I mean, et's big even far a biggun!
Curiosity: You don't need to carry it all, just hack a few bits off and throw them in your bag.
Winston: OK... Bot me reeeaaaaly shud be findin' a way out naw doh. Dear might be odda spidas.
Curiosity: Nah, it'll be fine. Just harvest a few choice bits then be off. I mean, just ONE of them plates of chitin would cover your whole body and a mandible full of poison... OH! The silk sack... Get the sack that produces the silk.
Winston: OOOoooooooo.... Yeah, dat might beh cool.
His eyes opened wide as he turned toward the 'spinning end' of the spider. "Mabey jost a littal bit, noh?" He said to himself as curiosity got the better of him. "Me need a littal light doh first. Waste nat want nat an' al dat."
He grabbed a torch from his pack, lit it and placed it into the ground. The light flickered and gave off an eerie orange glow. It was not ideal, but it would do for now. He'd been meaning to get hold of a lightstone at some point and make himself something more powerful to light the way, but as of yet, had failed to do so... He regretted not doing that now he found himself in this dark cave.
He lowered himself down and began to cut away at the joints in the already damaged spider, taking his hunting knife once agains from his belt. He was about to start cutting when Joe appeared beside him with a shout. "Winston!"
"BAH! GEEZE!" The ferret fell once again onto his bottom as his wits were scared clear out of his body. "Joe, mun, yuh scared me nearly tuh death!"
"Me? What about YOU! I've been looking for you! Are you OK?" The spirit was checking him over by way of floating all around him and scrutinising the many scratches and muddy patches. "Maan I'm glad youa re OK. I could not find you for a bit there."
Winston picked himself back up and brushed his side off. "Yeah, Joe, me es fine. A littal bruised, bot oh-kay."
"Sweet chocolate chillie-truffles! What the heck is THAT!" The Diri was looking at the giant corpse.
"Dat wud be a giant spider."
"OK. Yep. Got that. So we are leaving now, yes?"
"En a bit, yeah. Me jost want tuh grab some samples." He said as he returned to his work. Hacking off a mandible was simple enough. Then opening the underbelly to get at some of the insides was next.
"Far be it for me to tell you how to go about your job, chief. But is while you are lost in a dark and foreboding cave, perhaps a still infested by GIANT ferret-eating spiders cave, really the best time to be harvesting animal parts?"
He tried to focus on what he was doing as Joe rambled on, mostly succeeding, btu not entirly. "Becuase you know what? We coul... and this is just a suggestion... but we COULD just, liek... Leave and take this awsome story as our trophy. You know, Cassion will love it. All danger and survival and stuff. Yeah, lets do THAT thing. Cummon..."
The ferret didn't leave. "Yuh know wat? We will be outta 'ere soona ef meh cun cansentrate a littal bit..."
Joe reluctantly fell silent as his friend worked.
He didn't really know what he was looking at or for yet. It was all so messy and smelly, but amidst the rear parts of the beast was the spinner. It was massive. The size of his own hand as he attempted to cut it clean away from the rest of the creature. He didn't really know what it was yet, but his knife was adept and carving at the meat of a creature and so he followed his instincts as the organ came loose with a squelch and a splat.
He cut free a generous sample of the webbing also, forcing it all into his
pack
and so back over into Chest
.It was still quiet and he was still quite alone as he stood, put on his pack and looked for the best way out.
"Yay! Time to go! Let's go. Pleeeeaaase say it's time to go?"
The cave was large... Perhaps larger before sections of it collapsed, but still, large enough for him to move around freely. It was also covered in webbing, which was going to need him to be very careful, if he wanted to ever get out. "Yes Joe, et's time tuh leave. But first, tell meh, did me shield survive?"
The Diri pulled a face of reticence as he formulated his answer. "I don't know. You see, it kinda fell into the ground when you did, so we don't know where it is at the moment." He cringed as he awaited his companions reply.
"Ah, mun. Guess we shud look far dat first den, beffa we goh back op."
Joe took a deep exasperated breath before replying in resigned disbelief. "I was afraid you would say that..."
With a smile, the ferret started to wave the torch around the cave. It was damp and cold and not very well ventilated. Altogether, he'd not give it a good review, but amidst the dirt and webbing, he spotted a green edge.
"Looks like et's ova 'ere. Noh sign af da cake doh." He surmised with a slight smile. Wincing as he went and rubbing the sores on his legs and arms from the poll, he burnt and cut away the spider web until he reached and reclaimed the shield.
"Yuh know wat, Joe?"
"We should now leave without delay?" Joe asked eagerly.
"Yes, bot noh. Me wus tinkin' dat me really shud get meself sometin' tuh protect meself. Like a shield..."
The Diri nodded thoughtfully. "You know, you ARE a blacksmith. You could probably make yourself, I dunno, some armour?"
The ferret gave him a playful glare. "Yuh cud be right, dere Joe. Per'aps sometin' dat cun explode spiders."
The spirit sucked air in through his teeth. "Possibly a little too specific? But sure!"
With this agreed, the two of them made their way out, following the shards of light into the upper world once more and back into the fresh and open air of the Sweetwine Forrest.
