[ABANDONED] Another Series of Oneshots

Songbird's First Attempt (Circus Performers)

"Songbird!" Sjoln's yell echoed through the forest. Songbird paid him no mind. She kept running. Her feet pounded in rhythm with her heartbeat. She was finally free. She tried to breathe quietly as she tore through the brush and dodged branches. Of course, that didn't happen. But at least it wasn't as loud as her thoughts, filled with elation and fear.

Behind her, Sjoln gave chase. His size gave him less maneuverability, but he had the strength to break through the branches Songbird had ducked under. Songbird glanced back. To her horror, he was gaining on her easily. Maybe having that many legs had its advantages. She winded through the trees, hoping to shake him. For a moment, she seemed to have lost him, too, until she tripped.

Songbird looked back to see what tripped her, and could only watch as two tree roots wrapped themselves around her ankles. Her eyes widened, and she reached to try to break the roots.

"No, no, no," she whispered as she struggled with the roots. This wasn't supposed to happen. Why would the trees turn on her like this?

Sjoln walked into view; seven feet tall, half man, half centipede, and all demon. He breathed heavily, his hair strewn back, and he seemed to have lost his tall black hat in the chase. He glared at Songbird at first, but couldn't help smiling as he watched her try to break the tree roots.

"Well, that was an interesting chase," he said as he approached.

"What did you do?" Songbird yelled at him. Somewhere nearby, birds flew out of the trees, startled.

"Ah, I suppose nobody has told you yet," Sjoln said. "Magic permeates my being. It's a little hard to use when we're near the train, due to its influence. But out here, plants bend to my will."

Songbird stared at him, still nearly gasping for breath, but now for a different reason. An idea hit her, and she began to crawl away. Sjoln was quick in grabbing her and tossing her onto his shoulder. Songbird pounded her fists against his back, but it felt like nothing on his black carapace. He began to walk back to the train.

"Say, little Songbird, have you been rubbing your makeup recently?" Sjoln asked, picking up his hat and inspecting it. He blew off the dirt and put it back on. Songbird refused to answer. "Tell me the truth."

She sighed, "Yes, I have been. It itches and I don't like it."

"Don't do that. It's supposed to last a long time, and I'm starting to run low on the colors I used for you. I can't have more until we get to Orenheim."

Songbird stayed silent throughout the rest of their walk, occasionally reaching to rub the makeup, but something always stopped her. She quietly hated Sjoln and his influence, and everyone who supported him in his circus.

"We are here!" Sjoln announced to nobody in particular when he and Songbird entered the train car. The only one who heard was Sera, the naga incubus. She had been inspecting her claws and knife, and thinking about vengeance against those who wronged her.

"Oh good, how was your run?" she asked absently.

"Quite fun," Sjoln replied cheerily, "for me at least. We both learned things about each other and our little Songbird is still with us."

Sera grunted, remembering Songbird's first performance and how she had managed to break one of Sera's claws, an action that still angered her weeks later.

Sensing how little Sera cared at that moment, Sjoln decided to quietly, or as quietly as he could, take Songbird to a certain car on the train. He opened the door just enough to slip through it, though not enough to account for Songbird's arm scraping against the frame.

The car they arrived in was covered in spider webs. Thick strands of webbing hung from the ceiling, striped the walls, and stuck to the floor. A sheet of webbing separated the two halves of the car, and in the corner a human sized spider web stood with a small pile of strands.

Songbird knew immediately she had to get out of there. She struggled, but Sjoln's grip on her legs grew tighter.

"Don't even think about it," he hissed and maneuvered her so she was facing forward and his arms were around her chest. Her feet couldn't touch the ground like this. Sjoln switched back to his lively tone, "Galia? Are you awake? I have a special visitor for you."

The webs in the other half of the train car shifted, and the barrier was parted to reveal a giant, four-legged, eyeless spider. Songbird stared at the spider in horror, it was almost big enough to eat Sjoln, let alone her. Even worse, the spider's mouth parted, and a woman, from the waist up, pulled herself out of the spider's mouth. She had four arms and four black beady eyes. Long black hair fell to the end of her human half, and was still wet and sticky from the liquid within the spider half, as was the rest of her body.

"Oh great Snake God," Songbird whispered as Galia approached.

"Sjoln! It has been so long!" Galia exclaimed and threw her arms around Sjoln and Songbird.

"It has only been a week," Sjoln replied.

"Yes, but I get very lonely," Galia admitted and withdrew from her hug. "It's why I sleep so much, so that I don't have to feel the loneliness.

"Oh! Is this our newest member?" She leaned forward to get a better look at Songbird, who was paralyzed in fear. She couldn't help noticing the split down Galia's chin, and wondered where she got that from. "She must have tried to escape us, then."

"Correct," Sjoln said. "You can see where my magic became helpful."

"Oh, that is no way to treat a human! You know how uncomfortable tree roots are. Give her to me." Sjoln handed Songbird off while she shook her head in protest.

"No, no please..." Songbird started saying, but was cut off by Galia.

"Shh, it'll be okay human. I know how to properly bind someone. It's too bad Sjoln doesn't have silk, or an extra pair of arms..." She snapped the roots holding Songbird's ankles together, then held her wrists together while she tried to pull away. Galia's chin split open, and with her remaining two arms, she pulled out a thick strand of silk and tied Songbird's wrists together. Then, she pushed Songbird onto the floor and tied up her ankles, and then began to wrap her like a spider would. Songbird desperately tried to struggle out of Galia's grip as it alternated between the upper and lower arms, but she was too strong.

Sjoln watched all of this with his hands clasped behind his back and a neutral expression on his face. He knew better than to interrupt Galia when she was binding someone. It took a surprising amount of concentration to use all four of her arms to keep someone still and the silk moving at the same time.

Soon enough, Songbird was covered feet to neck in two layers of silk, one sticky and one tough. She couldn't move, despite her efforts. As she kept trying, she could fear tears of frustration welling up, and she tried to blink them away.

"Please, let me go!" she begged. "I won't try to escape again, I swear. Just please don't leave me like this."

Galia scooped her up and placed her in the web in the corner while Sjoln spoke, "It'll only be for a day or two. Don't worry, just think about how much you're willing to risk for freedom, and decide whether that is worth the punishments you'll receive when we catch you."

With that, he left. Galia hummed as she began constructing a hood out of her tough silk, and Songbird wondered what other punishments they might have. She decided to ask.

"Oh, I'm not really at liberty to say," Galia told her. "But I can tell you that when Serat was still with us, he would make escapees fall asleep and give them horrible nightmares, and we used to give Lon permission to saw off fingers and limbs, until he left too. But we still have plenty of options even without them."

Songbird swallowed. Galia finished her hood and approached her, explaining how it would help Songbird sleep. She shook her head, but that wasn't enough to deter Galia from putting it over her head, leaving her in darkness.

"Sleep well, little human," Galia said before retiring to her half of the train car. Her human half retreated into the spider's mouth and she climbed into the webbing. Songbird tried to throw the hood off her head, but only succeeded in popping her neck. She sighed and thought maybe sleeping wasn't such a bad idea, after all. She closed her eyes and started to drift off, dreaming of bugs and running.