In pure dark lonesome silence.
Silence—disrupted only by a singular tremor.
A tremor that reverberated through one thread, then jumped over to another, and another, traveling up a tapestry of white, finely woven threads one by one, until it finally reached a lone cocoon hanging from the ceiling.
This cocoon was unmoving and oval in shape as it hung there, just a meter above a web that connected to it at several points.
Until… the tremor finally reached it, traveling across these numerous connections and penetrating its hull.
Crack
A silent cracking sound of tearing started to reverberate throughout the cave a moment later, as the unmoving cocoon finally… moved.
Each movement reverberated, with the sound of cracks and rips as their intensity increased by the moment.
Rip!
An arm, layered in silk, suddenly cut through the cocoon as it emerged from within.
***
In a flash, a white, strained young man's eyes opened, a golden spark quickly fading from the iris of his eyes, as the golden luster was replaced by a lightless black abyss.
Moving his arm upward, partially constricted within the silky cocoon in which he was lying in a fetal position. He did not bother to unthread the tightly sewn shut exit.
First, his arm shot through where once the nsp of the exit was, the resistance so brittle that it might as well not have been there. Then he placed his index finger and thumb together, very used to the motion.
When the two fingers distanced themselves once more, a particularly sharp thread connected the two, with which he then quickly cut open the uterus like cocoon from the inside.
Emerging from the cacon, a silent yawn escaped his lips, containing a sort of bored annoyance at the disturbance of his sleep.
First, he sat down on the web below, then simply started halfheartedly lying on his side, a particularly thick thread used as a balance. He looked down boredly, his eyes unable to pierce the darkness, and still, Noctis could tell something was moving towards him, disturbing the threads he had so carefully laid out beforehand.
Judging from the strength and consistency and where the vibrations came from, he could guess the size, weight, and speed of the creature's approach.
It seemed to wander on four legs, with some kind of pelt covering its body, judging from the many smaller ripples combined with the larger, stronger ones, its size barely allowed it to enter the cave.
With a hint of apathy and laziness, the man stretched out a hand, touched a triangular root that seemed to grow out of the ceiling, and broke it off.
Turning most of his attention downwards as the creature continuously approached, he simultaneously weaved a few threads into the broken root, crafting something.
As a bluish luster began to illuminate the darkness below, foretelling the invaders' coming, Noctis decided on how to proceed.
The beast closed in with a rumbling sound that encompassed every step before fully coming into view.
It seemed to be a huge Ape, with giant white tusks jutting from its lower jaw, two large, muscular arms in front, and a dark, silvery pelt overgrowing its body, with a few star-shaped glowing symbols covering its pelt.
Staring at the motionless, mangled centipede carcass, which was clearly a bit bigger than the new arrival, it stopped.
Raaaaagh
Boom Boom Boom
Making itself tall, it started growling and drumming on its chest—the loud drumming sound echoed throughout the cave.
The ape was trying to probe if its contender was still alive or had already fallen.
Seeing this, a slight smile graced Noctis's scarred lips as he extended a hand forward over the rim of the web. Resting his head on his other hand, his bored expression remained ever present, yet a spark of amusement found its way into his eyes.
Moving the fingers of his outstretched hand, he felt pain flare up from his barely healed wounds. A certain strain was exerted on his body.
The fingers moved slowly as if pulling something, veins bulging, as he clearly strained with each movement.
Beneath him, the soulless centipede's body lay there motionless and lifeless. Until it didn't.
A slight tremor could be felt in all the threads surrounding him, growing tougher by the second, straining under some great force.
Then the head of the giant long centipede slowly lifted one lifeless eye after another, opening as two long pincers met and scraped against one another, creating a grating, clicking sound.
The ape, in response, took a step back. A clear surprise was evident in its eyes, yet as it stared at its competitor's body, wounds covering every inch, confidence seemed to bubble up once more.
Watching this with a detached expression as if the conflict had nothing to do with him, an inaudible sigh escaped his lips as he sat up.
Placing the branch that had now changed form to a certain extent, ten threads strung up in the middle of it, forming a sort of improvised harp, into his lap, he extended a second hand forward, his now freed ten fingers making differing tugging motions.
A few breaths later, the corpse of the centipede first shakily, then with more confidence, stood up, revealing its long-lost might one final time.
Each segment of its long body was propping itself up one by one.
Now that the centipede stood in all of its glory, its true size could finally be seen as it lifted the first few of its legs off the floor, propelling itself up even more, making it seem larger than it truly was, dwarfing the Ape by a few heads, almost reaching the web hanging above.
The lightless eyes and exoskeleton stood in sharp contrast to the Apeish creature awash in a stary glow, as both seemed to prepare for battle, neither planning to submit.
The spectator above moved his left arm carefully, not wanting to disturb the illusion below, towards the harp clenched in between his legs.
At the same time, his right hand made some small, precise movements, the mouth of the centipede mechanically opening as a result of them. A tremble now in his arms, he used all his might to prop up the beast even further, scratching over the harp simultaneously mimicking a beast's intimidating scream.
"Scaraaaaaatchaaa"
Quickly reacting, the ape stepped back and seemed intimidated, yet still suddenly threw a punch. The beast was clearly too far to reach the centipede properly, yet the punch landed with a loud crash, and one of the markings on the beast's fur lit up even more than before, giving off a bright, starry light.
Bracing for the impact, the man above connected the Centipead at multiple points in the cave, lessening his control to some extent but also taking off the burden of holding the beast's ginormous corpse in place.
Boom.
The fist had not come from in front but from the back, through a starry rift. It made contact with the centipede's hard skull almost immediately.
By luck—or foresight—the threads were set up to take this hit perfectly.
The centipede's head barely moved.
The Ape pulled back its fist from the rift, which had appeared from nowhere, a bit befudled by the little effect of its punch.
It looked at its fist, then at the centipede with its hard, metal-like armor, which had barely moved. The once glowing mark on its fur now looked dim and lifeless.
Scraaaatschatcha"
Letting out another loud screeching sound, the Ape seemed truly intimidated this time, most likely considering retreat.
Seeing this, the spectator's forehead now beaded with sweat, he made his marionette walk forward by simply moving his fingers slightly.
The Centipede walked slowly, adopting the stance it had used to attack before its demise, which gave it the final air of realism to truly fool the ape.
Beasts fought for food, and if the food would be more trouble than it was worth, they'd leave most of the time.
Seeing this display of strength, the Ape who had already contemplated retreat no longer hesitated, as it made itself big, stretching out its chest as if driven by pride, not wanting to back down.
"Shit"
Others had less common sense.
"Dont worry"
Hearing a voice in his head, he watched with bated breath, ready to abandon the current strategy for a more combat-oriented approach.
Yet to his delight, a rift opened behind the Ape in the next moment, which it jumped through the next moment, leaving visible cracks in its wake.
"Told you so."
Hearing the voice once more, Noctis replied half-heartedly.
"Sure, sure, you were right.
It was gone, just like that, nowhere to be found, the fight averted, before it even truly began.
Relinquishing control over the threads, the colossal body of the centipede fell to the ground, lifeless once more. Finally, he had a moment's reprieve as he wove his fingers, letting them rest.
"Is it a good day to go out?" He suddenly asked out loud.
Getting silence as a response, he waited for a few more moments until his patience ran out.
"Helloo!!"
"Yes—yes, I've understood. You know how difficult it is to read it. Stop being so hectic...
From the looks of it, it should be fine to at least scout it out."
Nodding in understanding, the Noctis took out a cup of blue liquid. He had pulled it up before the ape's arrival. He then gulped down its contents in one go.
It did not really quench his hunger, but at least it made it more bearable.
"I truly do not envy that job of yours."
Throwing slightly at the voice's words that sounded just like his own.
He jumped down the web, slowing down his descent with a few threads he held in an attempt to soften his fall.
Throwing a glance at the centipede, which once more lay there lifeless as it was.
Well, looking would have been an overstatement, as with the ape's departure, the light that it brought had gone as well.
Stroking the centipede's head where the ape's hit landed, he felt a few cracks in the chitinous armor with a slight cave in where the ape's hit landed.
Not particularly surprised, after all, he knew that the Notium that had once made the armor so indestructible had already been mostly drained by his own hand. Placing the cup below the new wound, where a blue liquid was flowing out, he let it slowly fill once more, and turned his back as he intended to leave for the cave's exit.
Following the threads that functioned as an extension of his senses in the lightless cave. Step by step, he followed them—the lightless abyss slowly gave way to a golden luster as light shone through cracks in the cave's walls and then finally through its entrance.
Taking his first step out of the cave, a familiar lightless sky greeted him, with a black hole, a red halo surrounding it, but now with another color finding its way into its luster, a light gold. But the black hole was not the origin of the golden light that was now illuminating this part of the world, no, far from it.
Averting his eyes from the sky, as they wandered towards an endless expanse of lustrous forest surrounding him for miles to come, shades of blue starry light emitted from many of the plants, creating an image of a sea of stars.
Far in the distance beyond all the flourishing plant life, most striking for the eye, there was a gigantic, long golden line emanating a golden luster, mirroring a tree cleanly cut at its base, slowly untangling and falling apart.
Now splitting into many more golden lines, as the main strand of it all extended up to the heavens into something that could only be described as a rip in reality.
A rip in the realm Barrier.
It looked like a shattered window, shattering the sky, as pieces of crystallized space broke off the crack, descending towards the earth, like pure crystal tears.
As he watched the wondrous sight, a primordial hunger slowly arose from deep within, a smile gracing his lips.
He muttered, the first true emotions finding their way into his voice in a long while. "Truly beautiful"
His time to sleep was over, and he would now face the perils of the jungle.