Deviation Actions
Literature Text
"Who's Nicole?" Enigma asked, realising she probably should have been paying attention to both Kirai and Joshua.
Joshua let out a laugh. Kirai gave Joshua a grin and hugged his neck. "Nicole is an old friend of mine...who happens to be an arachne. Basically, she's a spider-taur. A young girl with the upper body of a human, but the lower body of a spider." Joshua fingered the dress that Kirai was wearing. "She's a seamstress, and she made most of Kirai's clothes, as well as a few of mine."
Enigma shuddered imperceptibly, "Sounds awesome!"
Joshua nodded. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a photograph. The photo showed a cave perched over the side of a mountain top.
"This is where she is right now...if we could teleport there, I'm sure she wouldn't mind meeting you."
"Danielle!" Enigma said holding up the picture.
She ported over and took the picture out of Enigma's hand.
"What part of the world is this?" Danielle asked.
"That would be India." Joshua said. "That's not a problem is it? If it is, I can always just have a plane take us there."
"Plane, I can't port that far. Several miles yes otherwise no," Danielle replied.
Joshua pulled out his phone and dialed up a number. He placed the phone to his ear and smiled as it rang.
"Hey, John...I need a favor."
In a matter of hours, the team had been loaded onto a plane and were flown halfway across the world to the Indian mountain ranges.
"Beautiful," Enigma whispered.
Joshua pulled out the photo again and showed it to Danielle.
"This cave should be about 8 miles from here...can you get us there?"
"We need to be a little closer as the altitude will figure in," Danielle replied apologetically.
Joshua sighed and nodded.
"Very well...let's go. I'll take us halfway, if you teleport the rest of the way." He said. Joshua picked up Kirai and walked off onto a trail towards the mountains.
"That'll be good," Danielle said.
A few minutes later they ported off the trail and to the cave.
"Please let this be the right cave." By then Danielle was turning a lovely shade of chartreuse.
"Yes, this is it." Joshua said with a grin. "Notice the giant webs hanging around the entrance...this is the home of an arachne...and I know the arachne that lives here." He then turned around to face the rest of the team, handing Kirai over to Enigma.
"Listen...Nicole is an arachne, which means that she doesn't have human legs...her lower body is that of a giant spider. However, she is a very dear friend of mine. She is very sensitive about her appearance and...I will ask you nicely not to try to hurt her or treat her differently." Before they could answer, Joshua wondered into the cave.
"I'll follow," *gag* "in a minute." Danielle rushed out gagging the whole way.
"Poor kid," Enigma said before following Joshua in with the remaining members of her team.
Joshua wondered carefully into the cave.
"Arachne aren't very well liked by society...most fear them and most shun them, so they tend to prefer being left alone. They live by themselves in dark, cold, and often wet places. They don't normally eat humans...usually mountain goats and deer." Joshua explained.
"Nicole and I met...when she was still just a hatchling." Joshua said. "See, back when I was still just a kid, I was 13 years old at the time...and I stumbled across this very cave and this arachne was outside, begging for help..." Joshua suddenly paused and laughed.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to start rambling like that...if you don't want to hear this story, you don't have to."
"As long as she wouldn't mind you telling it I'm actually curious as to how you two met," Enigma replied. Frankie, Sarah, and Erik nodded in agreement.
Joshua smiled.
"Well, this arachne was lovely, but I had never seen an arachne before so I didn't know what to say or do about her. She saw me coming and rushed to meet me. She started screaming bloody murder about something, so I followed her into her home. I was worried at first that she was going to eat me or something...but then I saw what the problem was." Joshua said.
"She took me inside to show me a little arachne hatchling lying on the ground. The child was about as big as Kirai, and just as sweet...but she was sick and dying. That arachne hatchling had fallen out of her nesting area and had hurt herself...and her injury had gotten infected. I gave the child medical attention and I was just in time to save her." Joshua continued. "That child was Nicole...and the two of us became friends ever since."
"Sounds kinda like how Enigma and I met," Erik chuckled.
"No it doesn't..." Enigma said raising an eyebrow curiously at her partner's statement.
"Killjoy," Erik replied sticking his tongue out playfully.
Joshua shook his head. "Well, Nicole's mother...that arachne who came to fetch me, was so grateful that she actually let me live with her for a few weeks...and there are few things more protective than an arachne mother. However, Nicole has moved out and now lives by herself." Suddenly the team noticed movements in the back of the cave.
"Nicole?" Joshua shouted. "Is that you?" There was a shuffling of movement.
"Joshy?" a young female voice asked. "Who are these other people?" The accent was Indian, and it sounded very shy.
"Friends of mine, Nicole." Joshua shouted. "They're okay...I want you to meet them."
Suddenly, out of the shadows came a creature like the team had never seen. She had the lower body of a large black spider with thin spiny legs that lifted her off the ground, but where the head of the spider should have been was a human torso that was very tan and had beautiful long black hair and brown eyes. She looked nervously at the Enigma team.
"Hello Nicole, I'm Enigma and this is my team Frankie, Erik, Sarah, and Danielle will be returning as soon as she's done revisiting lunch."
Nicole looked around nervously and began fidgeting with her hair strands.
"It's nice to meet you all...but what are you doing here?" She asked. Joshua stepped up and smiled.
"They're with me, Nicole." Joshua said reassuringly. "They helped me out on a job recently...and they saved my life, along with Kirai's." Nicole smiled and then looked back at the team.
"Well, if you are friends of Joshua's then you are friends of mine." She said kindly. However, she still looked a bit nervous.
"Don't be nervous, we're harmless," Sarah said hoping to reassure Nicole a little.
Nicole glanced down and blushed, fiddling with her hair again. Joshua smiled and then walked over to Enigma.
"The two of us...we used to be girlfriend and boyfriend. However, when my father died and I had to move away, we kind of grew apart...but you can see why I liked her so much."
Nicole then leaned close to Joshua and began speaking in an strange Indian language. Joshua spoke back in the same language. He turned back and smiled.
"It's okay guys...she just is a little shy around people. There really is no reason to be afraid of each other." Joshua said.
Enigma gave him a strange look that clearly told him that none of them were actually afraid.
Joshua nodded and then turned to Nicole.
"So, Nicole...care to turn on a light in here?" Joshua asked. "It's awful gloomy." Nicole smiled and wandered off to go and light a few candles.
After Nicole left Danielle finally staggered into her place among the group. She was even paler than usual and a little shaky but otherwise fine.
Joshua turned to look at her as she came in.
"You feeling okay, Danielle?" He asked. "Do you need to sit down?"
"It'd be best if she didn't open her mouth," Enigma replied.
Suddenly a large number of candles ignited, bathing the cave in light. Upon closer inspection, the walls of the cave were covered in silk and webbing. It looked like a spiders lair. Nicole came walking back into the room.
"That's much better."
Danielle waved feebly at Nicole, trying her best to smile.
Joshua gave a concerned look to Enigma. "Is she okay? Is she sick?" Nicole walked next to Joshua and folded her hands in front of herself. She smiled but was still staring at the ground.
"She's sick from teleporting so far and so much, it happens from time to time," Enigma shrugged.
"I'll be fine in a minute," Danielle said, quickly shutting her mouth again as another wave of nausea ran through her.
Nicole looked around at the team and then at Joshua. "They are not normal, are they?" She asked. Joshua laughed.
"No...not normal...they're mutants. Genetic marvels." Joshua explained. "They're a lot like you are, Nicole...misunderstood by society." Nicole hung her head.
"They do not have 8 legs and a giant abdomen." Nicole muttered. Joshua sighed and then looked at Enigma.
"You'll have to forgive her...she's got very low self esteem...when she was young, I was her only real friend."
"No we don't have eight legs but we are all in our late sixties to early seventies and I have blue skin, wings, and canines that could rival a vampire's." Enigma, who looked no more than thirtyish, shifted back to her normal self. When she finished she smiled showing off her canines and ruffled her feathers, she longed to stretch her wings but in such tight quarters it wasn't a good idea.
"We're not the only mutants either, back where we're from there's quite a lot. So many a mutant by the name of Charles Francis Xavier decided to start a school for them, he's the reason why we're even alive today," Sarah added smiling softly.
Nicole looked around at the team and grinned.
"It is good to know that there are others out there who are different...but not evil. At times, it seems that the world refuses to accept people like us." Joshua nodded as she spoke. Nicole then turned and looked at Joshua. "The fact that you're here must mean that you heard the news." She said.
"What news is that?" Joshua asked. Nicole looked at him in shock, and then at the team. Joshua spoke softly and took Nicole's hands. "What's happened?" Nicole leaned close and whispered.
"There's been another attack...worse this time."
"Sounds like we're going on another mission. Kirai won't be too happy 'bout that...especially with how this last one ended," Erik said more to himself than anyone else.
Joshua's eyes widened.
"Near here?" He asked. Nicole nodded.
"I haven't seen it...but it's clearly hunting...and it's hungry." Joshua nodded and stood up.
"Kirai, you're going to stay here with Nicole for a little while." He then spun to face the team. "As for the rest of you...you do not have to accompany me on this hunt, but I would appreciate the company."
"I'm staying vith her." Danielle clearly wasn't ready for being on a mission yet and she knew it.
Joshua nodded and turned to the rest of the team. "And you? What will you do?" He asked. "This mission will be dangerous...I wasn't expecting to go on this hunt...but I don't know when this target will resurface again, so I need to strike while the iron's hot." Joshua picked up his equipment and looked around at the team. "It's your choice."
"I promised Kirai I'd keep an eye on you!" Enigma said walking over to his side.
"Like I said we Enigmas are a package deal," Frankie replied going over to stand next to Enigma followed by Sarah and Erik.
Nicole beamed as the team gathered next to Joshua.
"You really are friends of Joshua...then you are all welcome here, any time." Joshua smiled at Nicole and then turned to the team.
"We have no time to lose...the beast will have already scurried back to it's home...and we're going to find it." With that, Joshua took off out of the cave entrance.
The team took off after him, Danielle looking gloomy and miserable in their dust.
"Nein, danke. Nauseous...tea wouldn't do much good," Danielle replied sinking to the floor before the room could spin out from under her.
Nicole walked around her and smiled. Suddenly she turned around and began shooting silk out of her abdomen. Her hind legs worked fast in sewing and weaving the silk until it was made into a large white blanket. She turned and lay the blanket of silk out over Danielle so that it covered her body.
"This will keep you warm...and comfortable." Nicole said. "I hate to see you sit here in the cold."
"Thank you," Danielle said smiling weakly.
"Is there anything else I can do for you?" Nicole asked.
"Do you have anyvere to sit?"
Nicole lifts up Danielle carefully and carries her over to a small wooden chair over by the side of the cave.
"It's not cushioned...but it is where Joshua sits whenever he pays a visit."
Danielle nodded her thanks and fell asleep, hoping to sleep her nausea off.
Nicole smiled and then knelt down with Kirai, who was still worried about the team.
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A collab between ~GabrielRaven and I
Joshua, Kirai, Nicole, the monsters (specifics wise), and the minister belong to ~GabrielRaven
Everyone else belongs to me.