Crawler's nest

Stratus silently wondered how long he had been practicing. The constant glow of the cavern gave him no sense of time. Even if he could see the sky, it was would be dark as night. Time was impossible to track unlike the human world. And down beneath the surface it seemed even harder. All that he knew was that he was tired and hungry. Time was irrelevant, hunger is all that mattered. He wondered what exactly he was supposed to eat. As Moldale had told him this world was home to hollows. He figured that meant that there was no human prey to devour. It slightly saddened him, the hunting of humans was quite enjoyable. In the underground where they were hiding even greater monsters existed. Was he expected to feed on them? It was best he ask his gracious host.
"Moldale!" Stratus bellowed, but there was no response. He opened his senses trying to catch a hint the small hollow's signal. The signals he felt wear faint. It seemed the cave walls themselves gave off a faint signal too. He hadn't noticed that before. So long had he been training he had lost track of the tunnel he had entered this chamber from. "Moldale" he shouted again this time abit desperate. There were many tunnels, which one would lead him to the big cavern? He opened his senses again, but nothing had changed. Finally he sighed fixated on a small signal he had found.
"That could be him." He said to himself. He picked a tunnel pointing in the direction. He took one last look at the training area, then stepped into the darkness.

The tunnel he picked wasn't completely dark. There were patches of dim stone that lit points along it. Had he come this way before? He really couldn't remember. The tunnel go narrow and he had to bend slightly to get through. He definitely hadn't come this way. It was dark so using his hand as a guide he turned around and went back. He suddenly came into a cavern. How was that possible he hadn't gone that far. Had the tunnel branched while in darkness? It was possible he had taken a fork without even noticing. "Damnit!" The new cavern wasn't as brightly lit as the last two, but it was bright enough for him to make out other tunnels on the other wall. But these other tunnels were much larger than the one he just exited. He thought about the size of the large hollow that accompanied Moldale. Could it be used by him? He opened his senses again. He could sense the signal again, but this time it was more than one. And all of them came from the direction of the large tunnel mouth. Judging by the signal they were weak, but numerous. Perhaps he had found himself a snack without Moldale's help. He recalled his first taste of hollow flesh, it wasn't very appetizing. His hunger stirred with the thought of food, he couldn't be too picky at this point. He exited the tunnel, then stopped. There were other tunnels lining the wall. He didn't want to get lost again. Against the mouth of the tunnel scratched an "X" into the floor. The stone was hard to penetrate, so a scratch was the best he could do in his slightly weakened state. He then crossed the chamber to the large tunnel entrance.

The tunnel looked big than him from afar, it looked even larger up close. He was not sure it wasn't from the snake. The signals he felt further in hadn't moved. He tried to walk quietly in the darkness, suppressing his own signal as much as possible. He felt something brush his face in the darkness and he grabbed it without a thought. It felt like hair, a spider web? Did insects exist in this world of hollows? As he came to the cave exit he got his answer. The room was barely lit like the last, but what light available showed the whole room covered in spiderwebs. Vertical and horizontal strings wove about the room. The room was larger than he had expected it seemed to be as large as a football field. The white webs covered everything. Stratus didn't like, but slowly stepped forward. The signals were close, and soon the source could be seen. As he made his way through the room, he tried no to disturb the webbing. It was slow progress, the stuff was a sticky as his own slime. If not careful he would be caught up and in a bad situation. Some of the webs were so thick they made a wall, dividing up the cavern. He stopped by one of these web walls. The signals were coming from within. He strained his hearing, but there was no sound. He poked a finger slowly though the webbing and then peered inside. It was dark due to the other walls, but he could faintly make out several round shapes. Very odd. He tore the spy hole wide making a large rip in the webbing. He moved inside. As his eyes got used to the darkness the shapes became more clear. While they were mostly round they weren't the same sizes. Some were larger than others, they didn't move he moved between them. He could feel the faint signals from all of them. And they were warm to the touch. They were all made of webbing, but not as sticky as the rest had been. Stratus stood over an average size orb and tore into it with his claws. The webbing was packed together nearly solid, but gave way under his sharp talons. A form emerged as he dug away, and he took a step back. It was a body of a hollow. He poked the prone body, but it didn't respond. It wasn't breathing, but Stratus wasn't sure hollows needed to breath or if it was a reflex. He cut across the hollow's flesh, a fresh stream of blood came out, but it made no sound. Alive yet dead it seemed. The smell of blood reignited his hunger, and logic was forgotten. His mouth opened and he feasted on the warm body before him. As expected the taste wasn't great. But felt good to his empty stomach. Still hungry he opened another orb, yet another hollow body awaited within. From that orb he opened another to eat. The beast of hunger sedated, what little logic he possessed came back. He should leave. Whatever was storing these bodies might come back, and it wouldn't like him taking it's food. In the near darkness he could make out the hole he had made. He was about to crawl out when he heard a noise just outside the wall.

He could feel the signal on the other side of the wall, something was on the other side. Stratus was caught with his hands in the cookie jar. He pushed his signal down even further. If he was lucky whatever on the other side wouldn't sense him among the other signals. He peek out the hole, but only saw a shadow, in seconds it was gone. Stratus breathed a sigh of relief. He had to get out of here before it was too late. He slowly pushed his head through the hole and looked around. Still no sign of the creature. As he pushed his body through the hole, he moves towards the exit.
"Why hello there." an icy voice comes from above stopping the gray hollow in his tracks. His head jerks up and is greeted by owner of the shadow he had seen. Hanging from the ceiling from octopus like tendrils was the master of the cavern. The first thing Stratus noticed was the white hollow mask. Two bug eyes on either side of a vertical mouth "Going to eat and run, my little friend?" Stratus keeps his eyes locked on the large creature while he slowly backs away. The large hollow suddenly moved, in blink he had jumped in front and cut off Stratus' avenue of escape.
"I can't have to go just yet." It's arms waved wildly around it. At a glance they truly looked like tentacles, even with the suction cup like growths on the bottom. It's egg shaped head rests on the waving arms, how can such a thing move so quickly. The monster is bigger than him and faster it seems. He doesn't feel good about the situation. His only choice is to run, but he the only way to go is deeper into the cavern. He needed to make an opening.

"I would love to stay, but I have a prior engagement." A look of surprise came on the creature's face, it hadn't expected Stratus to respond. "I was just passing through and found myself lost."
"Well is that so." The creature started to inch forward. "But that doesn't excuse you talking what's not yours." Stratus didn't retreat, he needed him to get closer.
"I apologize, I didn't know those belonged to anyone." Stratus held his arms up with his hands open. "But I guess I should give you something in return."
"And what wou_!" The monster was cut off by a burst of green slime covered his eyes and mouth. It's legs flailed at it's face trying to remove the glue. It screamed in anger. The arms that tried to remove the obstruction found themselves now bound to the head. The creature calmed down a little, but blinded Stratus made a run for the back of the cave. He ran without worrying about breaking webs trying to find another exit. What he found was only a dead end.

Behind him the screams of anguish turned to cackling laughter. The creature had stopped flailing it's arm and had backed up to the only exit of the cavern. As the arms moved he noticed a web beginning to form. It was making a wall behind itself sealing the chamber.
"You won't find a way out over there, you little bastard!" Hit's face was still was covered with slime, but it's mouth could open just enough to push out the words. Two of it's eight tentacles were stuck to it's face and both eyes sealed close by the green goo. Apparently it was using it's sense to track his location. Sitting at the exit meant the creature didn't need to see him, Stratus had to come to him.

Stratus sighed his two arms versus the six tentacles was hardly a fair match up. He knew his slime would hold for only so long, so he needed to act quickly. The creature couldn't see so that gave him a slight edge, but it wasn't much since they creature could sense where he was. His slime was effectively holding him, he could try to bind it's other arms. While a good idea, the main problem was getting past the creature. If he could tangle the arms maybe he could attack the head. It sounded too easy, but it was better than sitting doing nothing. Stratus studied the creature, he could see the webbing behind it that sealed the exit. He watched it's free arms wiggle. If he was going to attempt binding it's arms he would need to get closer. He dashed forward and towards it's left, only two free arms on that side. His advance brought him well within the creature's range. The arms from the right came at him. He quickly fired his slimy web. The two arms were caught in the splash, but still advanced on him. He dodged left to a void the right arms. Two of the right tendrils hit the stone floor and it shattered some of the stone with the impact. The other two tendrils swiped at the empty air. The left arms followed his dodge and came down, this time Stratus jumped backwards, and the two left arms slammed into the ground. The didn't rise, the creature grunted as it failed to pull it's left arms back up. It release another growl of rage. Only four arms remained, he had to act quickly. The monster realized what had happened and now spread it's arms apart, it wasn't going to let him catch his other arms so easily.

The left side was now completely open for attack, but Stratus was still reluctant to go on offense. The thing was bigger than him, and it's range longer than expected. If the other tendrils got him, he was finished. Disable it, then go for the kill afterwords he could cut down the webbing. But he was too far back to try the net. Wait, why would he need to use the net? Stratus aim his arms and launched a barrage of baseball sized spheres of slime at the remaining arms. Although he couldn't show it, the creature was surprised as the first shots hit, it growled. It started to wave it's arms more, being ever so careful to avoid them touching. But Stratus has stopped firing the small spheres and now fired two long strands toward it's arms. They arms tangled quickly into the slimy strands and tangle with it. Stratus was quick to let the strands go least the beast pull him in. The right tentacles were not a jumbled mass of green slime trying to free itself. The creature howled again with rage. Perfect, Stratus once more jumped forward, it was time to end this. As he got closer the monster suddenly leaned back as if falling back. The underbelly of the monster came into view, and a spray of webs launched at Stratus. It was too close to dodge and the webs hit covering his face and shoulders. The creature must have planned for this. Stratus halted his advance and tried to cut the webbing off him, that moment was all the creature needed. It's right arms moved in mass, and slammed down on the halted hollow. Blinded it's accuracy wasn't perfect, but using all four arms at once it didn't matter. Stratus was crushed under the power of the blow. The slime on the tendril now fixed itself on the webbing that covered him. As the monster lifted it's arms Stratus was lifted with them. It quickly noticed this and slammed the arms down again. It started to laugh as it raised it's arms and brought them crashing down for another blow.

The pain was immense for Stratus. The power to pulverize stone was more than enough to break his body. After each hit he felt himself get pressed deeper and deeper into the stone floor. The ground was starting to break along with his limbs. His arm were crushed with the first blow, but he could still feel the pain with each blow. He tried to kick free, but they were broken in the next three blows that followed. He tasted blood as it filled his mouth, his chest felt like it was on fire and breathing became harder. There was little time to breathe anyway as the savage blows grew quicker. Stratus had lost count, but silently wondered how long til his mask broke under this force. He could feel the whole cavern shaking now with each blow. The white webbing that held him was now stained purplish red with his blood. Not that he could see it, as it blinded his vision, but he could smell it. Another hit, and more laughing. He was getting hit so hard and deep into the ground he couldn't hear the laughs til he was pulled back up. There was suddenly a thunderous sound as the creature pulled him up the next time. The next blow didn't come, but then the sound grew louder and he felt something fall on him. All the slamming into the floor had made the cave unstable, and it was now collapsing. More rocks fell, now the creature tried to free itself from Stratus by hitting him against the cave wall. It pray now forgotten it's own safety became the focus, but it was too late as stalactites and rocks cam crashing down. Everything went silent

In what felt like hours Stratus felt the fabric around him get cut free. Kneeling over his body in a dimly lit cave was Moldale.
"Body would you look at the shape of ya!" he spoke "What in the hells were you doing down in these parts!?" Stratus' body felt stiff, his arms wouldn't respond at first. Pain flooded through him with each attempt to breathe. Moldale pushed him down as he tried to move. "Rest kid, you had a day." Had Moldale dug him out? What of the big creature. He tried to move his head to look at the surroundings better.
"Don't worry none, he's not going to find us in the smaller tunnels." He chuckled "It's best you avoid the large spaces for awhile, he's gone be mighty pissed once he digs himself out." Stratus started to chuckle, but it quickly became a groan of pain.
"Rest kid." Moldale repeated. "Seeing you survived that, you got more guts than I'd imagine." Stratus leaned back down. Rest and hope he recovers just as quick as his arm did. He promised himself he'd show that squid some manners once his training was finished.