Okay, it shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that I love the art  darkzeus does. And that I love his characters. But well sometime around the start of this year I felt like writing a story featuring one of them. Webster! A shy anthro spider who after overcoming difficulties finally found his place in the world as a knight in the Kingdom of Lost Time.

This is a different version to the one you can find on Zeus’ page here though. This one featuring a decidedly less fatal outcome in the end.

EDIT: Accidently posted the fatal version at first. Fixed now. Apologies.

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Saved by a Knight

Markus didn't know what to do in the situation he'd found himself in. With his arms and legs immobilized by the thick strings of what he deduced to be a giant spider web he really couldn’t do much.

Normally he wouldn't have given the sticky trap a second glance; spider webs never seemed particularly repulsive or fascinating to him after all. But now as he hung there Markus couldn't help but appreciate just how effective this thing was.

His gaze trailed over the room below and he sighed, the rest of this place seemed lived in: a neatly made bed, a wardrobe, a table, several chairs… There was even a carpet covering the stone brick floor. All of it seemed occupied, recently used even! Yet there was nobody around and so Markus couldn’t even call for help, left hanging in one of the several cobwebs that littered the ceiling.

The young man sighed. He had already come to terms with the fact that he was in an unfamiliar gigantic world, the thought of that, while terrifying, paled in comparison to being ensnared in an arachnid's death trap. Markus shook his head, enjoying his last moments of peace and quiet before the inevitable would happen. He could already guess this story probably wouldn't have a happy ending.

And as if on cue he heard light clattering, the sound of something crawling along the wall, followed by a low hiss-like noise directing the helpless human's gaze towards the fearsome beast that had finally arrived for him.

Had Markus not been already paralyzed, the terror he felt at that moment would surely have corrected that. The eight eyes staring at him the rapid skittering of its legs as it made its way over to the human made Markus' skin crawl and left him with an uncomfortable nauseating feeling. He realized he was helpless, that he wouldn't be able to resist whatever the oversized arachnid would decide to do with him.

In just a few moments the spider was over him clicking its mandibles in anticipation. The human would freeze, twitching only once one of the slightly hairy legs finally came in contact with him.

And it was at that moment that Markus finally yelled out, his terrified shriek carrying through the air of the enormous room as little more than a meek squeal.

After a few moments of spinning and being poked and prodded by the spider the human found himself engulfed in a cocoon of sorts with the spider's web covering pretty much his entire body save for the head. Markus would try to struggle against his binds but to no avail. The cocoon was far too tight and sticky for the human to even move, much less break free.

It was at that moment that the massive door into the room creaked and swung open, sending a gentle gust of wind through the room. A gentle gust that made the entire spider web waver, though the beast itself did not seem deterred by that in the least. And neither did the massive armored figure that stepped through the door, metal boots clacking loudly against the stone floor.

For one reason or another the newly arrived giant stopped and quickly glanced around the room as if looking for something

Taking this moment Markus gasped for air while he still could and shouted for help as loud as his position would let him.

“HEEEEEEEELP!!!”

The knight's hooded head snapped upwards looking for the source of the sound and before Markus knew it, two metal-clad fingers grasped him gently by the sides and pulled him out of the web and away from its eight-eyed owner.

For a few moments Markus hung there trying to subdue his panic and catch his breath. Meanwhile the giant remained quiet as he stared at the little one in his hand, giving him a moment of time to calm down.

"Are you... okay little guy?" A soft voice called out after a few moments slipped by.

Markus’ eyes were still focused on the death trap he was stuck in just mere moments ago. He forced his eyes shut and finally managed an answer. "Y-yeah." A slight shiver came from his body as he struggled a little against his silky binds. "Just about. Th-thank you sir. I owe you my life."

"Don't mention it." The stranger nodded in response. "It is my duty to protect the innocent after all." There was an slight air of confidence about those words that caught Markus’ attention even in his current state. "Especially if it concerns my little friend." He added leaving Markus somewhat confused. "Now, let's set you free of these binds." He said carefully scraping the silky trap off of the little guy. Markus braced himself as the huge metal-clad fingers tore into the strands and pulled them apart with ease that the little man could only dream of.

Relief washed over Markus in a pleasant wave that resonated through his body as he stretched his arms and legs before allowing himself to fall limp in the knight's palm.

The hand shifted position a little to accommodate the tiny man as an amused giggle came from the knight making Markus open his eyes and finally take a look at his savior's face.

Immediately Markus felt a slight chill run down his back as he realized that just like the creature that threatened him a minute ago his savior was spider, albeit an anthropomorphic one.

Markus' face displayed confusion and distress. Having noticed this, the giant spider knight grew flustered; a slight blush showed on his face as all eight of his eyes shyly looked away from Markus.

"Sorry..." The spider said. "I know I'm a little scary."

"N-n-no!" Markus was quick to object. "I was j-just a little surprised." His worried expression turned into a friendly smile; he didn't wish to offend his savior after all. "You really don't seem like a scary guy to me."

"Thank you." The knight couldn't help but smile too. "My name is Webster. I am a knight of the Kingdom of Lost Time in service to King Klotz." He introduced himself.

"Wowie..." The human hesitated. "That's... That's actually really cool!" He suddenly leaned forward, hands balled into fists and tucked close to his chest. "And my name is Markus! Nice to meet you, sir Webster! And thank you again for rescuing me!" The little human exclaimed and stood up in the Webster's hand just to give him a proper bow.

The giant's other hand moved up, the palm facing Markus as the knight tried to be modest about his feat. "R-really it's my job, Markus. Don't worry about it." He tried again and then looked at the spider still clinging to its web in the corner.

Webster lowered Markus and gently set him down on the table nearby. "Please excuse me for a moment." He said and stepped on over to the spider.

What Markus witnessed next made him chuckle, even despite the seriousness of his earlier predicament.

Webster gave the spider a disappointed look. "How many times do I have to tell you not to eat micros? They're citizens of this kingdom too you know!" Webster chastised the little spider. "You know I always bring you something for dinner." He added and then carefully placed a small scrap of meat in the web. "You're such a silly little guy." Webster said and stroked along the spider's back with one finger.

Markus couldn't help but smile at the sight. "You really care about that... uhh… little guy, don't you?" The human asked feeling a little weird seeing as that 'little guy' nearly ate him alive.

"He's not so bad if you get to know him." Webster replied as he made his way back to Markus and crouched in front of the table to be face-to-face with the little human. "I'm really sorry you had to meet him like that."

Markus gave a nervous look to the spider who was already feasting on the treat that Webster got him. "Uhm... It's okay, I suppose. No harm, no foul, right?"

Webster nodded. "You have my thanks too then, Markus." He was glad Markus didn't seem to share the same prejudice against spiders as most other people did. "So what are you doing here Markus? Were you lost?"

"S-something like that. It's a bit of a long story." Markus responded awkwardly scratching the back of his head. He didn’t seem too eager to talk about it just yet. Webster noticed that and decided not to pry.

"Ah, alright.” The knight nodded and carefully lowered his palm in front of Markus. “Maybe for now you should just get some rest then.” His fingers curled slightly as if to create railing for Markus, a sort of invitation for him to get on board.

“I… I think I could use that yeah.” Carefully Markus grabbed hold of one of the giant fingers for balance and stepped onto the palm again. “Thank you, Webster.”

“Think nothing of it.” The giant was quick to respond. He lifted his hand up and in just a few strides crossed the distance to the bed. It would have taken Markus a little while to get as far as he did.

Webster slowly lowered his hand down to the pillow and tilted it, having Markus gently slide of onto the soft surface. “Go ahead and rest up now, little guy. I need to take care of some things around the castle but I will be back to check on you.”

“Uhm… I don’t mean to be rude but… what about him?” Markus said as he pointed a shaky hand at the beastie still sitting quietly in its web. “He won’t… try anything, will he?”

Webster’s gaze slowly followed his little charge’s index finger and came to a stop on the spider who let out a quiet, surprisingly friendly-sounding hiss right on cue. “You, mister…” Webster poked a finger at the spider. “You’re coming with me.” He announced sternly and walked over to the cobweb his friend occupied. “We need to give Markus some space and you will promise me that you won’t try to hurt him again.” Webster said assertively.

Another hiss came from the little spider before he obediently hopped down onto the knight’s shoulder. Webster was unable to suppress a chuckle at that and gave the little spider another gentle pat before turning to Markus. “I’ll be back later, okay?”

“Okay.” Markus nodded as he settled down in the drastically oversized bed. “And… Thanks again, Webster.”

“Heh heh… Rest well, Markus.” The knight responded with a smile. About half-way through the door he turned back and gave Markus a little wave. “See you.”

“See you.” Markus responded just before the door clicked shut and the human was left to himself once again. He felt weird occupying such a massive bed, tucked in right next to the enormous pillow. But given just how eventful his afternoon was, Markus had no trouble falling asleep.


---


By the time Markus came to, Webster was already in the room. He had changed out of his armor and pulled up a chair to sit down next to the little human sleeping on the bed.

When Webster noticed the little guy yawning and opening his eyes, he couldn’t help but giggle again. “Sorry.” He apologized. “I didn’t mean to stare I just… didn’t want to wake you up.”

“It’s alright, Webster.” Markus assured him before taking a look at the window. The sky outside was dark and painted in shades of orange as the day was slowly coming to a close. “Mmm… It’s that late already, huh?”

“Yes.” Webster admitted with a slightly guilty look as one of his six arms reached behind his head and rubbed the back of it. Markus found it funny that he didn’t take note of that particular feature earlier; perhaps he was too shocked after the entire ordeal. He wasn’t surprised though, after all Webster was a spider and counting his legs that made eight limbs in total. “Again, I’m sorry for not waking you up. You’ll probably have trouble sleeping now.”

“It’s alright. You did the right thing Webster.” Markus responded with reassuring smile.

“Really?”

“Yeah. I think I needed to calm down then and… I suppose going to bed a little late won’t really hurt me. I’m just glad to see you’re here again.”

Webster blushed and reached one finger to playfully ruffle Markus’ hair. “You’re too sweet, little guy.”

Markus laughed and lowered his head a little under the giant’s finger before speaking up. “But what about you? You were probably going to go to sleep soon, right?”

“I was planning to.” He admitted. “Though if you’re worried about occupying my bed, there’s no need to.” It was only when Webster’s head gestured at the nightstand nearby that Markus noticed another addition to the room.

“Is that… a tiny bed?” He asked, looking at it with a look of surprise and confusion on his face.

“Yes. I brought it for you since my own bed is probably not that comfortable for someone of your size.”

“Webster…” Markus said, almost tearing up. “Where did you even get that?”

“Heh heh… The knights of this kingdom have their ways.” He said with a proud smile as he crossed two of his arms proudly in front of himself with another pair promptly locking behind his head. “I also brought you some food, it’s not much but… I thought you’d get hungry by now.” Webster said as he handed Markus a tiny, tiny sandwich, a little misshaped but obviously made with a lot of care.

“You’re a real sweetheart, you know that?” Markus smiled and gladly accepted the snack much to Webster’s delight.


---


A bit of time had passed. Markus sat on his new bed and looked out at the moon which drifted into his view about twenty minutes ago. Webster was peacefully snoring just nearby. He was like a mountain on the horizon for the little guy, raising and falling with every breath.

Webster felt bad about leaving Markus awake alone at first, but the little guy insisted, knights needed their sleep too after all. The spider from earlier had showed up a little while back though aside from exchanging a look with Markus didn’t do much else. Markus was grateful for that fact yet even so he felt a little lonely, not to mention lost.

In truth he didn’t remember how he got caught up in the web earlier or even why he was tiny. And the thought of having to find that out by himself was daunting. And he didn’t want to trouble the sweet spider knight about it either. He sighed and leaned back on the bed with a quiet groan.

His attention was drawn to the slight shuffling beneath the sheets though and he turned just in time to see Webster’s two-toed feet slip from under the blanket making Markus giggle as he watched his enormous friend wiggle his toes in his sleep.

For a moment he hesitated but then, reflecting on the fact that he almost died that day anyway, stood up and hopped down onto the bed, beginning his trek towards Webster’s feet.

By the time he arrived the two legs were crossed one over the other, with Webster’s toes still twitching slightly in his sleep. Even with the two soles stacking up higher than Markus himself, the little guy found them adorable. He couldn’t help himself as he took a few steps closer and lay down next to Webster’s soles leaning against them and humming softly at the pleasant warmth they radiated.

Soon enough and without any warning sleep snuck up on the little human. He yawned and closed his eyes resolving to stay awake and get back to his bed in just a few minutes. Yet before he could, the little guy simply fell asleep in the comforting presence of his savior’s soles.


---


Morning came rather abruptly for both of them. Having come to, Webster began to stir in his bed, with his feet wrapping around some sort of soft tiny object and squeezing at it gently as the spider stretched his back before opening his eyes.

All that motion caused the little human to snap awake himself and yelp as his little body was squeezed between two lovely feet.

“Gyaaah!”

Suddenly Webster realized what the little object was and immediately let go, just as surprised as the little guy had been.

“Markus?” He called out, leaning over to find the tiny human in his sheets. “What are you doing down there?”

“I… uhh…” The little guy blushed and flipped onto his back to face Webster. “I kind of went to... take a closer look at your feet and… I accidently fell asleep there, I think.” He blushed and looked down, feeling rather ashamed of himself. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay. I’m just glad I didn’t hurt you little guy.” The knight smiled reaching down and gently pressing down on Markus’ chest, rubbing it with his finger. “So you like my feet then?” He asked, genuinely curious.

“Uhm… Yeah I know it’s a little weird but-“

“No, it’s alright. I was just wondering if you’d want some more time with them?” Webster asked as a small smirked appeared on his face.

“You… You don’t mind?”

Webster just chuckled. “Not at all. I think I could actually use a morning footrub from a little guy like you.” He teased, nudging little Markus with one of his toes.

Markus chuckled as the toe made him fall over. “I’d be happy to do that.”

Webster nodded and carefully scooped the little human up. He turned and put his feet down on the carpet before setting the little human just in front of them. “Enjoy yourself, little guy.” Webster smiled and raised one of his soles to give Markus a good view of the appendages he seemed to like so much.

The human himself fell silent as he took a few steps forward and looked up. He saw Webster looking down at him with a mixture of happiness and fascination. Markus faced forward once again and took a few more steps to get under the twin-toed foot. He’d seen it last night but to actually find himself under it was a wholly different thing.

Without warning, yet rather still very gently Webster lowered his foot, trapping Markus’ head between his toes and chuckling as he did. “I got you!” He teased.

Markus couldn’t help but blush as he found his view of the spider knight framed by the arch of his gigantic toes.

Carefully Webster began sliding his foot back and forth as if grinding Markus into the carpet. “You really like that, don’t you Markus?”

Beet-red with blush the human nodded. “Y-yeah.” He admitted and closed his eyes as he allowed the motion overtake him. He felt the wide heavy sole gently pressing down onto him, forcing him into the carpet and he couldn’t help but moan in pleasure.

“Hehe… I knew it!” Webster exclaimed raising his foot but not allowing Markus a reprieve as one of the spider’s toes carefully placed itself atop his face. “You can lick it if you want.” He offered and chuckled as he felt Markus’ tongue lap at the toe, immediately jumping at the opportunity.

Webster allowed this to go on for a bit but then moved his foot away, putting both of them on either side of Markus instead. Slowly, trying not to scare the little guy, Webster moved them together, locking Markus in-between the two warm walls of flesh.

Webster himself seemed to enjoy the process a lot as he began humming some kind of tune in synch with his toes booping Markus’ head one by one.


For a while this went on between the two of them, no words were said as Webster gently toyed with his little friend, rubbing him into the carpet, poking at him with his toes and resting his soles as he allowed the little guy to come over and give them a proper rub. Markus took happily to his task, putting a lot of effort into helping Webster’s feet relax and occasionally giving them a lick or two.


“You look so cute down there, I could eat you up!” Webster finally spoke up as he once again pinned Markus down against the floor.

“Actually… Uhm… Why don’t you?” The human suddenly asked, causing Webster to give him a surprised look. “I mean… I would… I would like you to eat me, Webster. I think I’d enjoy that a lot.” Markus outright admitted instead of trying to make up excuses.

The knight was taken aback for a moment. He lifted his foot off of Markus and looked down at him. “O-oh!” He exclaimed with a smile, a slight blush appearing on his face after a few moments. “Are you sure, little guy?” He added as he reached down a hand for Markus and brought the little guy up to his face.

“I mean, you could let me out sometime later, right?” The human asked, cocking one inquisitive eyebrow “W-would you enjoy something like that?”

“I could.” Webster responded with a nod and smiled. “And I think I would!” Excitement appeared on Webster’s face, lighting it up like the gentle rays of the morning sun. “But just in case, one more chance to back out?” He offered to which Markus just shook his head. “Alright then. Hold tight, little guy.”

Suddenly the human found a line of silk attached to his side which Webster swiftly wrapped around his body forming the same kind of cocoon as the one human found himself trapped in the other day.

Before Markus knew it, he was literally hanging by a thread, with one end attached to the cocoon that kept him immobilized and the other held carefully between Webster’s fingers.

The spider’s mandibles moved a little in anticipation of devouring his little snack. “Heheh… Thank you Markus. I hope you enjoy you stay.” With that, Webster lifted Markus up over his head, looked up and opened his mouth wide open. Slowly he began lowering the little human inside and before long Markus found himself immersed within the humid maw. He was left inside as Webster let the other end of the string go. Within moments Markus was covered in saliva but before he could even react to his new surroundings, Webster simply swallowed, pulling the little guy down into his stomach to temporarily erase the little man from the world, hide him from all outside troubles and keep him safe in the one place Webster knew he could guard no matter where he was.

The human slipped down the throat and eventually arrived within the stomach filled with slime and mucus. Markus was completely incapable of moving as he was laid flat on his back and looking at the fleshy walls revolving around him. The unmistakable gastric stench hung in the air around him, scents of formerly digested foods wafting back and forth around the tight space. But the little man knew no such fate would befall him; there was no doubt in his mind that he was safer here than anywhere else in the world.

Meanwhile on the outside Webster savored his little snack with a satisfied smirk as he lay back down on the bed for a bit. “Mmm… Do you like it there, little guy?” He asked and fell silent for a moment awaiting some sort of reply but found that soft wiggling from within would be all he’d get. “Heheh… Don’t worry. I knew I wouldn’t be able to hear you but I really do hope you like it there.” He smiled as he rubbed at his stomach in return, pressing at the little human trapped within. “You wouldn’t mind if I had some breakfast, would you?” Webster asked and then chuckled as nothing but more gentle pats came from within.


Soon Markus would feel the binds loosen around him. Slowly they fell apart and the human tore the last soggy bits of them off of his limbs. He looked at the remains of the formerly sturdy cocoon and realized that his own body didn’t even tingle like he’d expected it to. He lay down, the soft wet flesh giving away under his weight and partially engulfing him as all sorts of fluids pooled around him.

After giving his belly one last reassuring pat he spider knight stood up, put his armor on and turned to leave the room only to pause as he heard familiar hissing.

“Sorry, little guy.” He said as he looked up the spider sitting just above him on the wall. “I’ll bring you something from breakfast, alright?” He chuckled and left the room, smiling as he imagined Markus bobbing slightly within with every single step he made.