Webfarmer squirmed along the tunnel on knees and elbows, following the cave spider and trying not to kick the small excited goblin child in the face when it followed too close.
\u201cAre you sure I\u2019ll fit?\u201d She asked. \u201cGoblins aren\u2019t as small as spiders, even very big ones.\u201d
The spider looked back at her as it continued on its corkscrew path, somehow rolling its eyes. The child prodded her foot.
\u201cFound this tunnel ages ago!\u201d It announced proudly. \u201cGoes all the way to the outside.\u201d
\u201cI am beginning to think,\u201d Webfarmer muttered, \u201cThat we need to keep a better eye on what the children are doing and where they\u2019re going.\u201d
The spider paused, turning back slightly, then pointed a leg at her and nodded in what could surely only be a gesture of agreement.
\u2014\u2013
The trio emerged onto a shallow ledge, level with the treetops, looking out towards the last rays of the setting sun. The cave spider chittered in annoyance and scuttled into the shade behind Webfarmer, who held out a fold of robe as a sunshade.
\u201cHere you go; Does this help?\u201d
The spider crept into the pocket of shade and chittered again, somehow in a more positive tone, twisting to look up at Webfarmer.
\u201cYou\u2019re welcome.\u201d
They looked down on the cave entrance, directly below them.
\u201cWhat in the Sleeping One\u2019s name happened here?\u201d Muttered Webfarmer. \u201cOr is still happening here, I suppose.\u201d
The goblin child and the cave spider both started to speak, or chitter in the spider\u2019s case. The paused, looked at each other, and the spider gestured to the child with a leg in a clear \u2018Go ahead\u2019 gesture.
\u201cInvaders cut tree and fought big bugs!\u201d The child pointed. \u201cThen spiders and bees and moss and toadstools fought big bugs!\u201d
The spider tapped Webfarmer on the ankle and pointed down. Following the line of its leg, she could just make out the remains of the hornet nest.
\u201cThose aren\u2019t part of the Sleeping One\u2019s domain, are they?\u201d She asked. \u201cThey\u2019re invaders of a sort?\u201d
An emphatic nod from the spider.
\u201cAnd the trees aren\u2019t part of it either, so \u2026\u201d She paused for thought. \u201cDid they think they were gathering but got the wrong place?\u201d
\u201cTried gathering inside, but gathered toadstools!\u201d The child contributed, then made exaggerated vomiting noises.
The cave spider nodded, then made a noise somewhere between a chitter and a snigger at the child\u2019s antics, using a couple of legs to produce a very expressive vomiting gesture. Webfarmer chuckled, then went still and silent as she spotted movement below.
One of the figures by the fire, roused by the noises, had twisted around to look up. As she watched, it spotted her and stumbled to its feet, clumsily shrugging off a blanket and grabbing an axe.
\u201cShhhh!\u201d Webfarmer hissed, pushing the child down into a crouch. \u201cStay down, stay quiet!\u201d
The figure frantically looked all around, eyes wide, trying to simultaneously watch Webfarmer and look into every shadow and at every tree. It raised the axe in a far too tight grip and glanced at the other blanket wrapped figures, then into the cave.
Webfarmer slowly raised her hands and tried to make gentle calming motions. The axe welding figure relaxed slightly. As though the weather had been waiting for a signal, it started to rain.
After a few moments in the rain, both Webfarmer and the figure slumped slightly, sharing a look of annoyance. The figure took one hand off its axe and pointed towards the cave mouth, shrugging. Webfarmer pointed behind her to the tunnel, also shrugging.
Slowly, clearly waiting for something to happen, the figure moved back towards the shelter of the cave mouth, then darted back out into the clearing, waving upward.
Webfarmer leaned out to look, as the figure gestured wildly out towards the dark forest outside the cave.
\u201cI have no idea what this thing means.\u201d She muttered to the spider and the child as the rain got heavier. \u201cGet inside, you idiot.\u201d
She made eye contact, pointed firmly at the figure, then at the others still dozing by their fire, then towards the cave mouth below her.
As the figure nodded and walked into the cave mouth, nudging the others awake, the cave spider uncoiled from it\u2019s crouch and stared at the air above the clearing, making a loud hissing noise, then twisted to look up at Webfarmer.
\u201cWhat?\u201d She asked.
The spider prodded Webfarmer and the child back towards the tunnel, turning for a last look at the dark clearing before following them in.
\u2014\u2013
The group of goblins stared as the cave spider chittered and pointed. There was a long pause.
\u201cI\u2019m sorry,\u201d Said Webfarmer. \u201cBut I didn\u2019t understand any of that.\u201d
She looked around the group.
\u201cAnyone?\u201d She asked the ring of baffled faces, getting a series of serious looks and shaken heads.
\u201cSomething in the air, going into the cave?\u201d
\u201cMaybe it\u2019s describing the hornets you mentioned.\u201d
\u201cOr the new people; It\u2019s the biggest cave spider I\u2019ve ever seen, but it\u2019s still shorter than them.\u201d
With an exasperated sigh, the goblin child squatted down in front of Webfarmer, facing the spider.
\u201cYou lead, I follow?\u201d
The spider chittered and climbed up the wall, vanishing into a crack in the roof. A moment later a leg stuck out and made a beckoning motion.
\u201cWhere does that one go, \u2026 Uhhh \u2026\u201d Webfarmer was still blanking on the child\u2019s name.
\u201cBig cavern, by toadstools.\u201d Came the reply as the child grabbed he sleeve and started leading her. \u201cWe go this way.\u201d
\u201cIs this going to be another tunnel I need to crawl through?\u201d Webfarmer sighed. \u201cOr can we walk like regular goblins?\u201d
\u201cYes!\u201d Came the enthusiastic response.
\u201cVery well then, \u2026 \u201d She paused for the child\u2019s name, annoyed. \u201cVery well then, Tunnelfinder; Show us the way.\u201d
Webfarmer grinned to herself as the goblin child stood up straighter and started marching with obvious pride at having been given a proper Name.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Webfarmer squirmed along the tunnel on knees and elbows, following the cave spider and trying not to kick the small excited goblin child in the face when it followed too close. \u201cAre you sure I\u2019ll fit?\u201d She asked. \u201cGoblins aren\u2019t as small as spiders, even very big ones.\u201d The spider looked back at her as it continued on its corkscrew path, somehow rolling its\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","categories":[8],"tags":[],"fcn_genre":[],"fcn_fandom":[],"fcn_character":[],"fcn_content_warning":[],"class_list":["post-63","fcn_chapter","type-fcn_chapter","status-publish","hentry","category-shelter-in-a-sleeping-cave"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hoarde.net\/scribblings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/fcn_chapter\/63","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hoarde.net\/scribblings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/fcn_chapter"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hoarde.net\/scribblings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/fcn_chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hoarde.net\/scribblings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hoarde.net\/scribblings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.hoarde.net\/scribblings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/fcn_chapter\/63\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":64,"href":"https:\/\/www.hoarde.net\/scribblings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/fcn_chapter\/63\/revisions\/64"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hoarde.net\/scribblings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hoarde.net\/scribblings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hoarde.net\/scribblings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63"},{"taxonomy":"fcn_genre","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hoarde.net\/scribblings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/fcn_genre?post=63"},{"taxonomy":"fcn_fandom","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hoarde.net\/scribblings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/fcn_fandom?post=63"},{"taxonomy":"fcn_character","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hoarde.net\/scribblings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/fcn_character?post=63"},{"taxonomy":"fcn_content_warning","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hoarde.net\/scribblings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/fcn_content_warning?post=63"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}