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They were running from tree to tree making little to no sounds in a fast-paced manner. The tree man whom they later knew as Kamilos-the forest guardian, indeed led them towards where their cousins were being held captive by the Daughters of Arachne. Their cousins were wrapped tightly with silk web made by the spiders from their feet up to their mouth like a butterfly is to a cocoon… an incomplete cocoon that is.
With their mouths covered by the silky thread, they could not shout for help—let alone escape to save their lives. Upon noticing their rescuer’s presence, the lot abruptly made moving motions to announce their places. Cyclone indeed noticed them, and he bet Hurricane and Jade did too.
What with all the wriggling worm-like motions they kept on doing…it’s obviously a big tell. All three of them decided to separate for a while to investigate the place… only to return a few minutes later to share what each of them discovered.

And that is: One, Hurricane found out that the enemies are nowhere in sight. Maybe they were still out at hunt for food—which is good, for it would make their rescue mission a lot easier.

Two, Cyclone observed that their cousins were not the only choice on the menu. Other species of creature—either beastly looking or tamed, predator or prey, were also stuck along the spider’s lard all waiting for their demise. He was already weighing the impact of how saving the others would affect their mission…and there were two possible outcomes: One, they had come out as a hero—salvation to all those other creatures who are about to be spider food. On the other hand, however, they would all end up as the prey—another ungrateful creature’s food instead. So, what will it be, Heroism or Survival? He pondered with a sigh.
The third information, which Jade pressed from Kamilos—who opted to remain behind and rest because of old age… was a crucial one. In fact, it could be considered a game-changer, that Hurricane almost punched Jade for not telling them earlier. The web that enclosed their cousins and the other creatures that held them was not merely a contraption or design. The sticky larder was supposed to trap creatures, while the cocoon-like web dissolves the creature into nothing but a juicy substance that would become the spider’s food. But that won’t happen for hours, and they also can’t just up and save their cousins without calculating the impending risks.
Kamilos also omitted another information later that these spiders have a high level of intelligence—which furthermore threw them into a state of helplessness.
The cruel fact that their cousins are almost a hundred feet high above the ground, and their archery and throwing the dagger and other weapon skills still cannot be relied upon, they needed their enemy’s help to hoist them up above. In short, they would have to pawn themselves at the tip of the fishhooks and be spider food. It was decided that they must distract the enemies by using their weakness against them and then proceed to act out the rescue mission.
With Grub acting as the lookout, they decided to temporarily hide beneath the bushes to mask their scents while they wait for nighttime.
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“They’re back.” Cyclone uttered the moment he went back from exploring the place. He was tasked to find easy exits and plan a fast getaway in case their situation goes awry. And he did. He got it all planned out—their escape plan will be flawless… it had to be, for all their sakes.
Jade and Hurricane in return, planned the whole ‘act then attack’ idea. Jade was supposed to pose as a lost traveler who happened to stumble upon such an unfortunate place.
Jade was ready, she knew she had it in her—for not only is their cousins’ lives at stake but her sisters as well. The plan had to work. She was about to reveal herself from the bushes when Cyclone stopped her. She threw them a questioning look.
“When Kamilos said they were intelligent creatures… He was not joking. I thought we were just about to fight giant spiders… but now it’s different.” Cyclone said in a worried tone.
“How different?” Jade asked.
“Try, half-human—half-spider different. They are smart creatures—heck, they even lighted torches in every corner to illuminate the place!” Cyclone.
“Really? That’s great then!!!” Jade replied jubilantly.
Hurricane and Cyclone frowned at her sudden perkiness—they threw her a questioning look.
“How is that great?” Hurricane retort.
“It’s great because we could use the torches to light the whole darned place! It would make our job much easier. But that is… we have to be on the ground before we do it first.” Jade explained.
The calamity siblings nodded in understanding. It was an ingenious idea indeed.
That is when they knew it, it was time. It’s show time.
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“Hey? Is anybody there? I am lost. Will you help me? I know you are in there somewhere… I could see torches alight from down here!” Jade shouted for effect. She was the one in charge of calling the creature’s attention. “Halooooo! Yuhooooo!” she continued to shout.
She heard rustling not too far away from her. “Who goes there?” a scratchy voice screeched.
Sounds of incoming thuds hit the ground, it was fast approaching… Jade thought as she readied herself in a protective stance. She knew what she was going to face, Cyclone already briefed her… But standing in all her eight hairy legs was a human-half spider.
Her face was adorned with eight red rimmed-black orbs as eyes—all staring at her like she’s a delectable meal about to be devoured. She probably will be if their plan goes wrong.
“A friend I see…” The spider woman said. Her voice dripping with undisguised venom.
“Oh, I bet you do.” Jade retorted sarcastically, temporarily forgetting her act. She suddenly felt a pebble hit her left leg—she threw the perpetrator a dangerous look but retreated when she noticed it was just Hurricane, who’s currently concealed by the thicket. Hurricane slowly shook her head, warning her not to forget their agenda. Jade replied with a shrewd smile before returning her attention towards the creature a few meters away from her.

The daughter of Arachne, with her human upper half, was giving Jade a malicious smile. It’s as if it truly believed she already had Jade at the palm of her hands—not knowing it was the other way around. Jade gave a rueful smile and stared at the creature in question.
“W-would you perhaps help me? I kind of lost my way.” Jade said pleadingly like a truly troubled person would. The spider-woman smiled horrifyingly.
“I’d be glad too. I’ll even give you a grand accommodation if you want.” It said in an overly excited manner. Jade bobbed her head approvingly.
“Oh, you bet I will…” Jade said-her attention intently trained on someone behind the creature.
It was Cyclone and Hurricane working their way on cutting the web her spidery friend used to slide down to the ground. After cutting the thick rope-like silk thread the spider eliminated from its body with Cyclone’s dagger, Hurricane showed the cut portion to Jade signaling her to act her part and end the creature quietly like they planned. Jade gave the creature a menacing smile. She noticed the creature’s attention was fixed intently on something behind her...
something’s not right. She tried waving her hand in the air to catch the creature’s attention. But it seemed to be in vain—the dratted creature was blind! Instead of using the bow in targeting the monster, Jade opted for a close encounter and swift kill. Returning the Bow in its place, she picked the makeshift arrow made from a sturdy twig and plunged one of the poisonous berries on the sharpened tip. Then she eased herself in an offensive stance.
The daughter of Arachne noticed Jade’s sudden silence and felt threatened by it.

“Having second thoughts?” The creature asked cryptically.
“Nope. I’m just admiring the place...” Jade replied with a smirk. The creature stared around her dubiously. “Speaking of… what are those wormlike creatures implanted on the webs?” Jade asked the creature.
“Food. You wanna know something else?” the creature’s demeanor suddenly shifted dangerously.

“What is it?” Jade replied.
“You will also join them there when I’m done with you.” the spider woman said with confidence before charging towards Jade at an amazing speed. Jade in return held the wood in a firm grip, ready to attack if necessary. The spider missed on her first try. Jade almost shouted in disappointment. She was already anticipating a fight to happen, but her opponent seems to have trouble recognizing the foe.
“Be firm and tough like the earth. Feel the ground and use it to your advantage elemental… Your foe may be nothing but short on sight, but the poison it brings still hold fatality to your kind.” She heard the deep voice spoke once again.
Jade closed her eyes and decided to once again follow the voice without question. So her opponent is short-sighted? She glanced at her cousins who are looking agitated at the delay. She decided to act fast and charged towards the monster, each foot pushing towards the ground to further propel her towards the monster’s direction at an amazing speed. Letting out a battle cry, she plunged the poisoned wood at the creature’s waist. Sensing that the creature was about to let out a distress call, she covered its mouth with her hands in an attempt to shut it… she saw the life in its eyes slowly fading away before it dropped to the ground with a soft thud. Then she turned and sauntered towards her cousins with a triumphant smile pasted on her face.
Hurricane grunted as she hoisted her weight against the rope-like web they were climbing to. Jade and Cyclone were just below her, following her every move. They were hanging almost twenty feet above the ground and there is still quite a distance they have to climb to arrive at the top.
“Something told me our opponent is short-sighted,” Jade whispered in between grunts. Since their foe is only afflicted in the sight part, and not in the hearing sense. Jade was careful not to talk in a loud voice in fear of being found out.
“Something? You meant that strange voice that kept whispering to you again?” Cyclone retorted in the same hushed tone.
Jade bobbed her head. “Wait. So all these ideas and info that helped us were from your subconscious intel?” Cyclone clarified. Jade nodded again. “Yes. It started back at the apple orchard.”
“Maybe it’s your guardian angel or something?” Cyclone asked instead. Jade just shrugged, unsure of what to answer.

“Let’s just sort that out later okay? You said they were short-sighted right?” Hurricane interrupted.
Jade bobbed her head in affirmation. “So that’s what all these torches are about. They need the light to see their prey.” Hurricane stated in theory.
Jade was about to agree when Hurricane gestured, they stop for a moment. Then she realized that they were already at the top. One of the mutated human-spider creatures passed above them, and in its target was their cousin Jethro who kept wriggling in delight as he saw them. Hurricane hoisted herself one last time-careful not to cause too much movement to the web so that they won’t be found out. Jade and Cyclone did the same, but their weight seemed to have caused the web to tremor and as a result, alerting the creature.
The creature turned and faced the intruders its face masked with a hateful expression. Then it screeched. Hurricane, Jade, and all had the same thought. It was calling for backup!
They immediately jumped into action, Hurricane stabbed the creature with a poison berry-tipped arrow-like what Jade did earlier—the spider creature was writhing in agony and lost its footing causing it to fall almost a hundred feet above the ground. With Hurricane engaging the incoming spiders in close impact combat, Cyclone freed the victims one by one. Jade, on the other hand, using the bow armed with poison berry-tipped arrows targeted the incoming opponents.

Jethro, like a released caged animal, immediately sprang into action—with the narrow sharp-tipped wood Hurricane gave him the moment he freed himself from confinement, and stabbed creature to creature. Some of the released victims, though weak from the poisonous substance in the web, helped them finish the ongoing fight against the Daughters of Arachne.
The other captors felt the rush of adrenaline and the suppressed need for vengeance. A need that had to be exacted. It seems understandable to Cyclone—after all, all of them were about to be spider feast-if not for them rescuing their cousins, and sudden heroic rush to save everybody. It seems that today was their lucky day. Some of these creatures were vaguely familiar to Cyclone.
They were mythical creatures that only exist in books, movies, and games with genres of fantasy.

There were a bunch of hulk-like bodied creatures—Ogres, who let out blow after blow of punch towards the enemy till they fell over. Some were a mutated mixture of humans and animals, they were agile and swift to attack. It seemed to Jethro that these creatures were not new to the idea of the fighting because he can see a few of them strategically aim for the legs.
The attacks were meant to impale and were executed with lethal precision. Jethro frowned at the confusing scene before him. How in the hell did they almost become monster food? Rampant malicious thoughts flooded his mind. One of the cursed spiders came after him without his notice.
“Watch out!!!” One of the freed mutated human-animal creatures said before her fist connected towards the enemy’s midsection. He noticed that she was mostly human in physical appearance—except for her elongated ears, a big red crystal rounded glass orb at her forehead, pastel green tresses that reach up to her knees, a brown tail that flares like fire at the ends, and her feet—it was that of a deer… a pair of hooves perhaps? He stared at the creature with an appalled expression.
She was truly a sight… he thought with a sigh.

“Hey, miss!” He said with a wave of his hand. But his greeting was ignored, instead, she focused on something behind him. “Duck!” She shouted yet again, and he complied—not missing a beat. With him merely out of her way, she hacked the spider with the pair of Sai she held in both hands.
It was a beautiful close-range weapon, and it seems to him that she was adept in using it to kill mercilessly. “My, hero…” Jethro uttered dreamily.
After freeing herself from the webs wrapped around her, Jullian went to help her remaining kid cousins free themselves and put each of them to safety by leading them towards the branches of the trees that held the webs securely. It wasn’t an easy task; the webs were trembling too much with all the commotion happening. She had to secure her cousins in a piggyback (Except Mint and Aqua), and with one arm latched onto the web, she trod the way to the branches back and forth. One with Emman, Yellow, Aqua, Mint, and Lucy—who were now huddled around the corner of the gigantic branch, while watching the fight ensue with attentive amused expressions.

After ensuring her cousins were put to safety, Jullian joined the fight-but not before whacking her twin on the head for gawking at a girl, therefore distracting himself. Easing herself in a stance, she waited as an incoming foe came charging towards her. The creature suddenly let out a white sticky substance—which she luckily dodged just in time. She glared at the spider who in return was leering at her before switching to offense. Then she signaled Jethro to prepare for their attack. She darted towards where the creature was standing distracting it by throwing unlimited punches at its gut before Jethro lodged the sharp-tipped twig at its chest. The creature let out a howl of pain before falling off the webs and into the ground.

It felt like almost an hour of slashing and stabbing and aiming before the fight came to its end.
With only a few casualties in their end, The Blacksmith children helped the other victims down the gigantic trees by making a makeshift basket out of the big webs with some other creature’s help.
Before parting ways, the Ogres and others thanked Cyclone and his cousins for rescuing them from the near-death experience. Cyclone smiled and thought about his choices once again… Heroism or Survival? Guess his choice was worth it in the end…
Though the experience was not something to be happy about, Emman smiled and shook his head—a mixture of disbelief and relief filled his entire being.