Prologue - And it begins
It was surprising that Vayne was able to find some humor in her situation, even when the most optimistic of people would have plundered into despair. But what Vayne found funny was how she had ended up in her little predicament, trapped like a silly fly in a clever spiders web, though the aforementioned web was more fit for catching elephants or more topically humans than capturing flies but that was beside the point completely, at least for the moment.
What Vayne found funny was that she had blundered into this trap because she had been very busily trying to avoid another trap. In hindsight, the patch of spines she had sidestepped might not have actually been a trap, and might have just been native plants of the shadow isles. Vayne however had no way of telling and right now it really didn't matter and as hilarious as her situation may be, she really would like to not be stuck in this web.
So Vayne did what any sensible woman would in her position, she struggled, she squirmed, and she thrashed, trying to free herself from this sticky substance that clung to every inch of her that it made contact with, limiting her movements. She bet she made a real entertaining show for any hidden predator that may be watching her.
Hope they enjoy watching me break free and escape she thought snidely as she continued to struggle in an effort that quickly proved futile as she began to tire. Surprisingly she had worked up a sweat, as if she had been working out for hours. That thought frightened her a bit, evident in the way it made her grasp at her internal clock, begging it for a reference because she no longer had any clue how long she had been stuck here. The rational parts of her brain argued with her rising panic, assuring her that it couldn't have been too long, and her fatigue came more from the weight of the web than time spent fighting.
Though the silk strands in question seemed very much weightless, it wasn't a heavy sort of weight. They had a persistence to them like swimming or even walking in a pool. Every movement was slowed and met with resistance, and over time it just seemed to build up.
"I hate spiders." Vayne groaned to herself, or at least she thought she was talking to herself; however a round of laughter disproved that thought.
"Who goes!" Vayne shouted, suddenly very alert. She cursed herself for allowing herself to get distracted and lose track of her surroundings. Her eyes scanned the darkened tree line. A tree line that offered no response to her question, the eerie quiet began to gnaw at her calm. "Answer me!" She ordered, glad that her voice remained firm, even when she was starting to fall apart.
"Patience…"
When she was finally met with an answer, she really wished that the other had remained quiet. Really, she should have known.
"Elise." Vayne said, a bit of dread sinking into her stomach as she recognized the half spider's hissed tone, which signaled to Vayne that the other was in her spider form. Of all the webs to be trapped in, she had to be stuck in that of the spider queen. Trapped like a rat prey to the very being that she had been hunting.
"Shauna." Elise responded still not showing herself. Vayne winced at the use of her first name, it sounded too personal coming from the spider queen. "Usually I only encounter you on the rift, to what do I owe this honor?" She hissed, crawling into view, her eight legs carrying her swiftly and easily onto her web next to Vayne who was now struggling to not cringe and flinch away she didn't want to show her fear.
"I'll tell you why I'm here, but you will have to release me first." Vayne attempted she knew this to be a feeble attempt at bartering. It was lukewarm at best but she had to try.
The spider's response was to laugh. "Oh Shuana, you of all people should know that nothing escapes my web, especially not you." Elise said.
Vayne had been expecting that, but still something about it irked her, causing her to clench her jaw. "Stop calling me Shauna." Vayne bit out and the spider laughed again before shifting into her human form with a purplish surge of magic.
"Ah." She sounded. Vayne had seen this transformation numerous times before on the rift and Elise had always made sounds of relief, and it truly made Vayne wonder why, what was it that she was being relieved from? Genuinely curios as she was Vayne didn't ask.
"What exactly is it about me that makes you so hesitant to release me." She asked instead. Shameful as it was to admit, Vayne didn't have much of a plan. She was trying to keep Elise talking now. She hoped to have an opportunity to escape present itself while they spoke, or at the very least she wanted to delay the inevitable.
"I know what you do, Vayne." she said this time putting emphasis on the name she preferred to go by. "I'd rather not have to deal with dodging silver bolts today"
As she spoke, Elise made herself more comfortable on the webs, moving a bit closer to Vayne. If she could, Vayne would move away from Elise, but of course the web was making that impossible.
"Besides," Elise said, folding her hands under her chin leaning even closer to her captive. "Where's the fun in simply letting you go after I've only just captured you?" No, I plan to utilize all of the time that we have together to the fullest." Elise said.
Vayne visibly cringed now. "So you plan or torturing and killing me I take it?" Vayne asked her expression hardening.
She was disgusted that this would be her end.
Elise laughed at that, throwing her head back as she did so, Vayne would admit that her laughter in this form was a lot more appealing for lack of a better word, she doubted however, that this fact would make her bite any more appealing. Elise reigned in her mirth a bit, but still she grinned at Vayne her fangs flashing in her sharkish smile.
"I won't torture you too much, unless you force my hand and as far as killing you goes, well sorry dear but you missed the pilgrimage and I don't have much of a taste for human meat." Elise said with a nonchalant shrug that caused Vayne to grit her teeth.
"Besides Shauna," Vayne flinched, "I just want a bit of company is all?" The concept of that seemed so unlikely that it actually caused Vayne to scoff which was the closest thing to laughter that she was going to get given her predicament.
"Please, you have plenty of other monsters to talk to around here." Vayne spat not convinced by Elise's reasoning.
"I'll have you know," The spider queen started in a tone that had Vayne suddenly regretting her words. "I am nothing like the filth that roams these isles, and I will not have you look down upon me as such Night Hunter." Elise hissed, before calming down considerably.
"But I'm curious. Who is it that you think I can talk to around here? Hm? Hecarim? Thresh? Yorick?" Elise asked. Vayne remained quiet.
"S'what I thought."
Vayne knew that her position didn't exactly leave herself open to get snarky with her captor, that to be compliant and to just take Elise's sarcasm on the chin would be for the best since survival was her first concern. But Vayne had made it her job to make sure that vile scum didn't get the best of her ever since the day her family had been killed.
"Why don't you talk with some of your friends from the Black Rose?" Vayne spat, her face twisted into a snarl.
It was pointless bravado, a counter to the pathetic rise of fear that Elise had made her feel moments prior. This was something Vayne had trained herself to suppress years ago, because bravado got you killed. She had also taught herself to suppress her fear, but all of her training was seeming to go right out the window now.
"In an alternate universe I'm sure your words would queue the line: 'You know too much.' "
Elise said almost comically, so Vayne had to ask.
"And in this universe?"
Else looked at her and she grinned showing all of her pearly white teeth, venom soaked fangs glistening in the pale moonlight, and crimson eyes almost glowing in the perpetual darkness that was the Shadow Isles.
"You still know too much."
The look Vayne tried to give Elise in response to her words could be described as menacing. But it was hard to really represent a threat in her furrowed brow and dangerous glare. She wasn't exactly in the position to make good on any move to violence.
"But I believe I already told you that I don't plan on killing you."
Hard as it may be to fathom. Vayne wasn't buying that. Elise had said in her own words that Vayne knew too much.
"I would appreciate it if you didn't try to play me for a fool." Vayne snapped irritated.
The way Elise had been looking at Vayne since she had revealed herself had been slowly but consistently grating on Vayne's nerves. She had been trying to control the fury that was bubbling in her stomach, but control was one of the very things she lacked in this situation.
It was also one of the things she needed. Ever since she became The NightHunter she'd lived off of absolute control, even in situations that she couldn't completely predict, she still made sure to never lose her handle on it all. There could be no worry with control, no fear. This however was so far out of Vayne's element that she couldn't keep a hold of the control she so strived for. To be held captive by someone whom she knew would be her eventual killer was a bit too much for her, and she knew better than to believe Elise's lies. She'd promise her safety, but it'd only make it so much sweeter for the spider queen when she finally ended Vayne's life.
"I'd appreciate it if you didn't assume that everything I'm saying to you is a lie."
Elise countered with a nonchalant shrug, not showing much of a reaction to Vayne's anger.
"But that's okay. You'll soon learn tha-"
Elise cut herself off mid speech, sitting up suddenly her head turning towards the dark tree line as if she had heard something. Something that perhaps Vayne had missed, or not missed but had been unable to hear herself. As though it were on a frequency that her ears couldn't pick up.
"Well, I guess we can continue this conversation later." Elise said finally, she settled back into the webbing again, and rested her hand on Vayne's armored forearms. She made a slight sound of annoyance shaking her head tsking.
"This could have been easier without the armguards." Elise commented, rolling on top of Vayne, she nudged Vayne's chin upwards with her nose, forcing Vayne to expose more of her neck. No sooner than Vayne had allowed the motion did she attempt to fight it, trying to force her chin back downwards, but the webs had caught her by her tightly bound hair and kept her head in place.
Elise moved her face into Vayne's neck, and panic began to surge in the Night Hunter causing her breath to quicken, she could feel her heart beat quicken, could hear it pounding in her ears, adding volume to the deathly quiet Shadow Isles. With the beating of her heart and the panic on her breath. Vayne could feel terror beginning to pool into her gut. Terror that she hadn't felt since she had hid away while her family had been slaughtered, terror that she promised she would never allow herself to feel again.
"You…." Vayne hated herself for how meek she sounded.
"You promised me that you wouldn't…." Vayne forced her eyes shut and bit her tongue. She wasn't going to beg this creature for her life, she had more pride than that.
Vayne felt Elise's tongue against the side of her neck, wet and warm leaving a rapidly cooling trail of saliva in its wake. Vayne cringed at the feeling, wishing that she could move to jerk away.
"I did," Elise spoke. "And I won't. I just need you to sleep."
It felt as though she were speaking against the area she had just licked but Vayne couldn't fully tell. It was like the area was slowly growing numb as though Elise's saliva was acting as a topical anesthetic.
Whatever numbing qualities her saliva may have, they didn't completely stop Vayne from feeling what came next. The press of Elise's fangs into her neck was anything but comfortable, but it wasn't overly painful, it was the same as taking a needle from a doctor when giving blood, that sharp pinch and the burning before it was over. Elise was pulling away, and Vayne could feel her licking her neck again.
"I would like to grow your trust in me Shauna."
Vayne was beyond expressing annoyance at Elise's use of her first name. Her vision was swimming, and it felt as though her consciousness was leaving her, as if she were being put to sleep. Just as Elise had wanted.
"So I will promise you that you will wake up from this sleep in one piece. So relax, don't be afraid. Just let it….."
Vayne was out cold before Elise even finished talking.