hey! I'm working on it ok! Sheesh...critics...
Chapter 9
As Spider and his clan walked into Khufa they couldn't help but notice the stares they were getting; the look of uneasiness was evident on locals. Sure Spider they could handle, as he lived here before, but all these others....
That uneasiness turned to hostility and fear in many once Goliath padded into view, a bit behind the others; a couple even turned and fled.
"What a nice warm fuzzy welcome for us..." Spider heard Delta grumble.
"Well an attitude like that won't help things Delta." Spider said, a slightly annoyed tone in his voice.
"Well why should we be the ones to clean up Goliath's mess!?" Delta growled as he run up in front of Spider and stopped, a challenging look on this face. "Why do we even bother keeping him with us!? He's sterile and can't help us fulfill the task our creators made us for! He can't even take care of himself! He's nothing but a burden to us!"
Spider stood with his head high and back straight, tail twitching slightly in annoyance and eyes narrowing. There was no hint of a warning. The next instant Delta found himself on his back pinned to the ground by one of Spider's handfeet. Spider's whole body posture had changed, now his head was low, back arched, tail was still twitching...only at a faster pace. The posture was a warning, a warning that Spider currently did not have the patience to put up with Delta's rebelliousness for long.
"You keep fergettin'..."Spider said, his voice calm and smooth, but with a dangerous edge to it, "that we take care of our own. No matter how much of a 'burden' they are on us. Everyone has a purpose...no matter how stupid they are."
Delta's scowl quickly disappeared when he realized just how dangerous a position he was in. Spider can be very violent if pushed too far...like he was in that fight with Malice. Though he doubted he would get that way with him, Delta didn't want to take that risk. So he let his body relax, the sign of submission when on ones back. Spider nodded in acceptance and let Delta up. Delta kept his head and body low as he rejoined the rest of the clan behind Spider, while Spider resumed his dominance pose.
Spider rumbled deeply, looking around at the villagers who backed up a couple of steps. It was almost like he was daring someone to challenge him or looking for a threat that wasn't there. Spider was having a power rush and he didn't realize it, that is until Shriek padded over to him and pounced on him, knocking him to the ground. Spider would have jumped up and attacked her if she hadn't started nuzzling him, purring softly. All hints of aggression immediately melted away as Spider relaxed and emitted a deep purr-like rumble and nuzzled Shriek in return.
"Welcome back to Oddworld." Shriek said softly, smiling.
"Thanks love." Spider said as he picked himself up, "I...never acted like that before."
"Let's hope you don't do that very often..." Lunic muttered.
"Yeah...that was a bit...freaky." Kilk added with a nod.
"Spider!" someone called and suddenly four sligs burst through the crowd. Shriek was barely able to scramble out of the way in time before they jumped Spider....
[ December 26, 2001: Message edited by: Dragadon ]
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