AN:the winner has been decided, if you want to find out who, it's in the previous thread, titled 'The Winner Decided!'

this chapters melody is...

https://youtu.be/0EcGCchi4ys

enjoy this chapter,

killing spree. ^-^

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splat.

splat.

crunch.

over and over.

Shielin was getting tired of hearing the same sounds, over and over.

'time for some fresh meat...'

traveling. climbing. descending. all blurred together, the only thing that seemed to remain independent from the rest was the killing. but it wasn't making me any stronger.

'weak, weak, weak.'

everything i found was either too easy to kill, or ran away the moment it saw me.

'cowards. weaklings. not worthy to live.'

i left shadowpelt... i don't know how long ago. even the days seem to blend together.

yesterday i killed foxes.

today i killed wolves.

not egains wolves, those were off-limits. just some runts i found frolicking in the trees. at least, thats what i call their 'hunting'.

'pathetic creatures.'

why don't they put up more of a fight? why don't they die faster if they aren't going to help me get more powerful? the logic of these insects eludes me.

'how dare they walk the same earth as shadowpelt...'

more wolves. they usually come in packs of three-five, but this time another group was waiting nearby, and must have heard their fellows pathetic demise.

the first one ran at me, and leapt through the air.

'stupid, jumping in the air where you can't dodge.'

at first, fighting had been difficult, but as i learned various tricks, they all seemed to end too quickly.

i shot my right front leg forward, impaling it. it was large, for a wolf, but i had exceeded how big a bear would get, in terms of weight, i totally outclassed it, and stopping it's forward momentum was simple.

the other four fanned out, growling in rage at my casual murder of their comrade.

all at once, the four of them converged on me, not jumping this time having learned from their companions fate.

i felt the wolves breath on my webs, strung under their feet.

i pulled the appropriate strings tight, and all four of them were hoisted into the air, encased in sacks spun out of web. i had laid out the trap incase the first group proved difficult, and i needed to incapacitate them.

i watched the wolves struggle uselessly in their webs, and suppressed a grin. i've been having to suppress the urge more often, and i don't know why. a lady shouldn't smile in the face of death.

'but shadowpelt does...'

i will have to rethink my personal urges, and discard those that are of no use.

i approached the sacks one by one, and impaled the occupant each time, until all four were still, but for the dripping.

'this is useless. i need something of more worth to kill...'

how do you find something of worth to kill? what defines the 'worth' of a kill?

'shadowpelt killed the queen... then the king...'

where do i find one or both of those?

i need information.

'or...'

i could hear the voices. who, what us spiders called voices. for the most part, they were the run-of-mill spiderlings, with the occasional higher evolution speaking up. but, there was one that commanded them.

'but... to kill my own kind?'

'is that something i'm willing to do?'

i thought about shadowpelt, and what it meant to serve him, and made my choice.

'it doesn't matter what they are. i will kill them, be it friend, family, or lover, should shadowpelt command.'

my choice made, i investigated the place from where i heard the voice...

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Chelse's POV

'bring that back.'

'kill that.'

i sighed, thinking how difficult running the nest was.

'i could really use a vacation...

"what was that queen?"

i flinched. i hadn't meant to send that.

'nothing. just thinking to myself.'

i felt the nod of acquiescence through the bond all members of a nest share, and relaxed.

'it goes to show you how tired i am, to let an unintentional message get sent through the Nest Mind.

suddenly, i perked up.

there was another member of the nest!

but... she felt different.

i tried sending her a message, but she didn't respond.

'is her mind damaged?'

'you three, go meet the child. bring her back.'

i felt the nod of understanding from my children, and they went to find the lost one.

i paid close attention to their Nest Minds, something that only queens can do. normal members of the nest can only hear messages sent to them, and the occasional strong emotion. but queens can actually feel the mind of their child, and filter it as they wish. i couldn't look into the lost ones, though.

for some reason, it felt closed off. like it was denying me entry...

that shouldn't be possible. only other queens can deny access to their minds. and the lost one had no children. i could tell by the fact that no string of Nest Mind extended from the lost one. if it had any children, it would be in constant contact with them, whether it was speaking or not.

'strange. very strange.'

after some time, the lost one arrived, led by my three children.

i tried greeting it, but found myself rebuffed once more. maybe she wanted to talk out loud?

"greetings, Lost One. what are you doing without a nest?"

she looked at me, in a lazy fashion. no, not lazy.

just uncaring.

"i have lost my Queen, and my siblings have all stayed in the area where she died."

i thought a little, but could come to no conclusions as to why this one, out of all of her siblings, would leave, and not become the queen. usually, when a queen died, it was because she grew too old, and her children killed her, to make way for the new one. if so, why had this one not taken her place? she was nearly old enough, and by her looks she was strong.

'ah.'

i think i get what happened. another who was older and stronger had ousted her from the nest, so she couldn't usurp her power. that was a common enough occurrence, in a competitive nest. usually, when there were two or more candidates for queenship the nest just splits, and the two separate and find new territory.

sometimes though, a candidate gets possessive, and ousts other females, so that she can keep the whole nest for herself.

when that happens...

well, usually the losers die. that is the law of nature, that the weak die, and the strong feast.

sometimes though, even the enforcers of the law feel it's cruel.

"you poor thing. if you wish, you can stay in this nest, and when you have grown a little older you can take some of my children and start a nest of your own."

i think she smiled, maybe a little sadly.

"you are very kind, to offer such a thing to one who is no your family."

i shook my head.

"it is simple. some of my children starve when there isn't enough to be hunted, so you taking half will allow for the others to survive."

she looked even more sad.

"i would take you up on your offer, assuming i had no home to return to."

i was confused. if she had a home, then why did she leave?

she continued.

"but, i have something i need to do. something important. and nothing, will stop me from achieving it."

"well, if that is the case, you can rest here. you must be tired from traveling. you can continue your quest in the morning."

she kept smiling. then it grew wider. and wider.

and wider.

"oh, but if i'm sleeping, who's going to kill you?"

i was confused.

"wha? kill me?"

her grotesqe grin got even bigger, if that were possible. till her face seemed to split in two.

"exactly."

i felt a thud against my chest, and swiveled all eight of my eyes to look down, to see the lost one's leg buried in my flesh.

"wha...?" i trailed off, then slowly felt the darkness close in.

'but... i have to take care of the nest... who will direct them?'

she was talking again. i strained to hear it through the darkness slowly closing in.

"oh, and don't worry about your nest."

i smiled, and left them in the care of my killer.

'but... why did she kill me only to take my nest? she's not old enough to take them for her own...

why?

i caught one last sentance from her, before the sweet kiss of death drew me away from this plain of life.

"now, to do the same to every. last. other. spider in this forest."

my final view was a grinning murderer.

my final sound was a grunt of alarm.

the final thing i heard,

was laughter.

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AN:for this next part, you'll need a different kind of music...

https://youtu.be/DgC5vQzdF2I

p.s. touka-chan is so kawaii!!!!!

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Splat.

splat.

crunch.

the sounds that felt so repetitive earlier... were like music to my ears.

i felt like smiling. i felt like laughing. i felt like i could do anything! kill anyone! destroy anything!

i felt like my face would split in have from my smile.

i ran as fast as i could, and impaled two on my leg. i turned and smashed another against a tree.

oh, what fun killing was!

i bit anothers legs off, as it tried to defend itself, and instead of spitting out what was identical to my own limbs...

i ate them.

and they tasted wonderful!

i crawled up a tree, and started spinning. when others that had been contacted via the nest mind arrived, i felt down with my string, and hung them. others, i kept tightening the string until i heard cracking noises from the spiders carapace, then kept going, until they were sliced clean in two.

i crushed some, sliced others, ate a few, held them up against a tree until their bones broke, and more.

oh, how many wonderful ways there were to kill!

'shadowpelt... shadowpelt... i wish you could see me know!'

i felt like he would be proud of me if he could see the destruction i've wrought.

'and it's all because of you, that i've found such joy in killing!'

i chased down a group of seven, four of them being less than a month out of their egg, and killed them. killed them one-by-one, so that the others could feel terror, have the tingling up their spine that signaled it's imminent snapping. that bone-crushing horror that filled their tiny minds. i love it!

'more...more...more!'

i hunted down the ones too little to walk, and i ate them.

i hunted down the ones too old to move, and broke them.

i found the strongest fighters, and i annihilated them!

'is this what shadowpelt feels? is this what i can do to understand him?'

if that is the case, i would gladly do this again!

and again!

and again.

until all my foes lay broken and bleeding before me, and none but myself and shadowpelt stood at the top.

i let out a girlesh giggle, and was horrified.

'what the hell was that?!'

i watched myself closely for the rest of the massacere, and made sure that only bloodthirsty giggles came out.

there was no time for weakness. only strength.

i smiled, and continued the slaughter.

"i wonder how far i can bend your spine before it snaps?"

the weaklings shivered in fear.

i smiled even wider.

"lets find out, shall we?"

"teehee."

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AN:i don't believe the music from the last part is appropriate for the rest of the chapter... listen to this instead.

https://youtu.be/2ijPDVaMnxg

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i yawned, and woke up.

it had been a long night, and quite active.

it had taken several hours to hunt down the entire nest, and after that i had gorged myself on their meat. cannibalism wasn't anything new to a spider like me, after all.

as i looked around the forest, i contemplated my next move.

i was unlikely to find anything stronger than the nest in this forest, and despite my joy in killing them, the members of the nest had wounded me.

i had lost two legs at some point, the lost appendages both being second from the back. they didn't make me incapable on moving, but they did hinder walking.

i had also received numerous scraps to my shell, and some deep and not-so deep cuts on the bottom of my abdomen, from cheeky bastards that thought they would be a hero.

being in the forest wasn't an option any longer. i would be attacked non-stop, by things that though i was weak, and have to waste time and energy killing them.

plus, there was always the possibility that i would make a mistake, one that could spell my death. i'd have to be careful.

then, i took a look at the mountains.

from what i had heard from shadowpelt, all sorts of interesting creatures lay in waiting inside them...

guess i'd have to find them, huh?

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Kat's POV

that cat bastard.

that cat bastard!

every morning, he'd jump on my foot and sink a claw into them, signaling that it was time to get up.

i mean, i would be late if he didn't do that...

but that's not the point! the point was that he did it... in a way!

shut up. i can't think of a word bad enough, without looking into my obscenity diary.

and yes, i do have one. i'm always on the lookout for more vocabulary, just like my father said. of course, he probably didn't mean curses...

but we're moving away from my point.

THAT F***ING CAT BASTARD!!!!!

not only would he sit on my shoulder the whole day, but at night he'd just abandon me and run off into the forest!

it's not like i wish he would stay nearby so i could cuddle...

i mean, he is cute.

still a bastard, though.

haaa, i'm going to get a migraine from thinking about him...

f***ing cat bastard!!!

i mean, he gives me a poke when i'm dozing off, and the teachers saying something important... and he chased away the lizard that i had summoned, but then been unable to command... and i know that kelly the bully always steps on eggshells when cat bastards around...

still a f***ing bastard!

i mean, i'm not trying to belittle him, or anything, i'm just saying he's a little inconsiderate.

i can't remember when... but...

he's not perfect, i swear!

he's not f***ing perfect.

f***!

...

is it just me, or have i started swearing more often since cat bastard showed up?

still...

anyway, the tournament.

*inhale* *exhale*

so far, i've seen about a quarter of the school sign up, and so far i've mapped out a few wizards who will be trouble.

first, there's the obvious one.

kelly.

the guys a douche. nuff said.

Clarkson.

this girl is a master of earth, and wields it almost as well as the teacher. to put it plainly, she's a genius. i could probably deal with her, but there is always the chance she'll think of something i didn't, and that could spell the end. i'll have to work on anti-earth magic, in order to face her with any surety of victory.

Katy.

a fire mage, like me. not too bright, nor inventive, but she can use a specific type of fire that's said to be quite rare, and powerful, and her mana pool's nothing to scoff at, either.

finally, there's Perry.

a water mage.

not much is known, outside of what he shows the class, but what he does is nothing short of extraordinary. calling him a 'genius' is like calling magma 'warm'.

an understatement, to be clear.

in terms of mana... the teacher said, when we were measuring our pools, that in about sixty-seventy years of constant practice and expanding, he'll achieve as much as the grandmaster.

that... is ridiculous. out of all the people in the school, no one even expects to get close to him. the rest of us are like ants compared to an elephant.. in a fight, our chances of touching him are nil.

but... i can hope for second, assuming he's not in the same block as me. i feel bad for those wizards who are going to the semi-finals, but get stomped on.

however, i can try. if he does end up in my block, then no one will blame me for losing. it's just a fact that he is better in every way than the rest of us.

some how, though, i get the feeling cat bastard wants me to win. i don't know what that whoreson's true intentions are, but i got the feeling from how he brushed up against my face when i wrote my name, and my hand was shaking, and how he gave kelly a death glare that sent him straight back to his room...

rumor was, he'd shat in his pants!

i think cat bastards officially my favorite cat.

but don't you dare, tell him that.

haaaa, such a headache.

i've also noticed i sigh more often.

and what is he doing now...

THAT BASTARD JUST STOLE MY CUPCAKE!!!