Beast In The Woods

Spiders, Bombs, and More!

With a stretch and a yawn that showed off all his perfect white teeth, Izuku got up from the futon. He did go to sleep with his wings out but they got in the way of lying down. He also poked Mina a few too many times so he retracted them. She got up at the same time, grumbling about it being too early but she followed her Mate out of bed. She wore a too-large shirt they had found in the dresser of the house they claimed. The shorts were baggy on her too but she seemed comfortable in them.

The house they slept in was in the village area of the simulation. It was nice with three bedrooms. Toshi and Shoji shared one with Jirou and Yaoyorozu taking the other one while Izuku and Mina claimed the biggest room. The rest of the pack took houses nearby for safety and also because the four creatures Izuku created roamed the area at night when they slept.

First Skal duplicated, or reproduced asexually Izuku wasn't sure, to make Daal. Then the two scavenged the remains of the griffin and two more joined the pack of apex predators. Kiel, the one with many spines on his body was a frontline fighter. He had durable scales under the spines and four tendrils for lashing on his back when Izuku examined him the night before. Oriel was slim and designed for longer-range combat. He had crossbows Izuku sometimes used but they were much larger and attached to his body. The bone bolts were longer and looked like they could punch through trees. His claws were also interesting since they resembled more of a prey bird than a canine with backward-facing talons for gripping onto many surfaces. Izuku didn't look too deep into the anatomy of Oriel before he went to sleep but he was interested in how his body produced the bolts.

The six teens scavenged around the unfamiliar kitchen for breakfast to start their day. Toshi was grumbling all the while. When asked about his mood, he told them he didn't have his phone. The phone he often used to entertain himself when he lay sleepless due to his insomnia. They teased him about being too attached to his phone as they ate what they found.

They turned from their food when they heard a ruckus outside but when the sounds stopped and everyone heard four howls they looked at each other. They wandered outside to see what had happened. Behind one of the houses closer to the forest was a large corpse of a spider, it was the size of a truck. Jirou turned back inside with a quiet 'nope' and went back to her breakfast.

The pack of dogs, Izuku knew weren't dogs but they looked like dogs so they were dogs, sniffed at the spider. Multiple legs of the spider were broken, bone bolts were stuck in its body, and many lacerations covered the monster. Oriel lept on the spider's back and absorbed the bone bolts into his body. Daal nibbled on one of the cracked legs but shook his head and backed away, likely at the bad taste. Skal was on the rooftops scanning the area and sniffing the air for more threats. And Kiel sat proudly in front of his kill, his tendrils waving like tails on a dog.

"That's a big fuck off spider," Toshi said under his breath. "Ruzo, you think you can make some fire bombs or something?" He batted the tendril from Izuku that was poking him for saying a curse word.

Yaoyorozu stared at the spider and shivered. "Those kinds of spiders shouldn't wander from their web."

Izuku and Shoji got closer to the enormous arachnid so get a closer look. The four hunters saw Izuku's approach and gathered for attention. He obliged and praised each one for the good work protecting the pack. He rubbed Skal's head, patted Daal's thick hide, scratched Kiel's cheeks, and stroked Oriel's head in congratulations. They were happy and trotted beside Izuku to look over the spider. Yaoyorozu was right, this type of spider usually waited in their webs with their large bulbous abdomen and thin legs. Like a black widow but without the red hourglass and longer body.

"You think there are more?" Shoji asked the Hunter.

"Most likely." Izuku nodded. He examined the fangs of the spider which were the size of his hands. "If their nest is nearby, then we will have to hunt them down."