Peek: Tiny's Part

Today will be  interesting for the large spider scion.  Something big is coming, and even Weaver Thedeim has noticed.  Not that he's bad at sensing the threads of fate, but it's more like he works them without even realizing it, so it's always interesting when he does notice.

Tiny, of course, refused to give him much detail, lest he influence the Weaver's work.  He did at least concede to tell him it's nothing bad, though Thedeim still checked the various potential troubles anyway.  It's good for him to reinforce those particular threads periodically anyway.

The next couple hours were spent simply tending to the maze, harrying and hurrying the delvers who would like to get at the various bounties hidden in his domain.  Not long before noon, though, he felt something new in his webbing.  Movement on top of the maze?

He follows the vibration to eventually find several familiar faces, though from a perspective he hasn't in quite some time.  Looking up through the webbing, he sees the two green children, and can feel the work of the Weaver all around them, now that he's looking.  But what are they doing?

"Uh... hey Tiny.  We're not trying to cheat the maze.  We're doing something else."

The large spider squints as well as he can at the two, still not sure what they're actually doing.  It wouldn't be like them to try to cheat, but he can't think of anything else they might be up to on top of his maze.

“See, we’re trying to get our classes, and asked Thedeim for help.  So he wants us to try to track down and capture Vernew, who is getting Queen’s help!  Freddie thinks our best bet is to try to hide up here and hope she comes by to visit you.”

Tiny considers that for a few moments.  If Vernew is going to be on the move and not simply hunting, there is a very good chance she'll come by.  The spiderkin always puts up a brave face, but she's still coming to terms with her place in the world and the weave.  She often will visit or simply watch as he works.

He shrugs and allows them to stay on top of his maze.  He starts to turn to leave them to it, when the goblin speaks up once more.

“Oh, and if she does come by, can you try to keep her distracted?”

He's inclined to politely decline, but the children and their spiders are perfectly willing to use every advantage they have at their disposal, and give him innocent pleading looks.  He knows it's a ruse, and he's pretty sure they know he knows, yet they try anyway.  He can't help but respect the moxie that takes, so nods, much to their elation.

They move to hide among the webbed branches over his lair, and he moves to capture a woodsman who is trying to get a bit more than usual.  He almost gets away, too, but his heavy load slows him just enough for Tiny to capture him and relieve him of his wood, as well as what seems to be a nice chisel, before he leads him outside the maze, tied up.

Later, he feels new and familiar feet atop his maze, and so he heads to his lair to greet her.  He can't help but enjoy her nervous core that peeks through her confident and calm mask as they exchange greetings.  The specifics of his greeting to her are rather lost in translation, but he gets across his general point with her most of the time.  It doesn't take her long to get to why she's there.

“I was hoping for some wisdom?  Or maybe just to see you work?  The Weaver has given me a task, and-”

Tiny taps into his Fate affinity, weaving a subtle little vision of her at work, along with a questioning feeling.  If the Weaver has given her a task, why isn't she doing it?

“I am doing it!  I’m supposed to test the two green children by forcing them to catch me!  It’s not my fault they’re not…!”

Tiny grins as a spider does as the children attack, and he settles in to watch the show.  He's gotten glimpses of something the Weaver calls popcorn before, and it seems like it would be the perfect snack for watching something like this.

There is surprisingly little fate magic involved in the fight, too.  Just a few subtle little nudges to help the children with their plan, the magic slowly settling around them and changing to something else: the basic framework of their classes.

Once the fight is over and everyone is tangled in the ball of his webbing, Tiny stands to help extract them, and add his own little nudges.  Oh, nothing so crass as actually trying to direct their growth into their classes, no.  He just snips a frayed bit here, smooths a corner there, just a couple small things to help the children be what they should be.

He's reminded of something else that has drifted through the bond, usually when Thedeim is designing some new challenge like the maze or the gauntlet.  Thedeim wishes to help the delvers grow, and there is a strange bit of wisdom from... a short foxkin?  Tiny isn't certain, and he's never bothered to try to ask Teemo for clarification on the origin.  The wisdom is clear: don't try to turn your students into you, but rather help them grow into themselves.