Kraven hunts again

Lara awoke alongside D'yanna and Barb'ra, bound to a post, staring at a smiling Kraven and a woman she'd never met. A tall, attractive woman, her skin adorned with spots like those of a cheetah. Cat-like claws adorned the ends of her fingers, and just as strange, she had a tail. Who -- what -- was she?

"Letting your guard down. I expected better from you," Kraven gloated.

"Kraven... arggh..." Lara grunted, struggling against the ropes that bound her.

"Good. I'd hoped you'd have some fight left in you," Kraven grinned. "Maybe there's still some hope for a good hunt."

Lara's eyes were drawn to the woman -- she wasn't like the tribeswomen Lara had met so far in the Savage Land. She was obviously a hunter, like Kraven, but Lara could tell by looking at her that her motivations for hunting were very different. In her brief interactions with Kraven, Lara immediately could tell that he hunted for sport -- that he loved the thrill, the challenge, the glory -- but this Cheetah-like woman hunted for other reasons. Bloodlust, perhaps? Or maybe just plain lust? Lara wondered what it would be like to be hunted and conquered as a sexual prize by the woman for a brief moment, and was surprised to find the idea turned her on. Of course, it was also a possibility that this woman hunted for the kill, which was a far less appealing situation to Lara. Best not to get caught and find out -- this Cheetah had some nasty looking claws.

Kraven spoke up once again. "Now, I suppose I could claim your head as a trophy right now, explorer, but I won't. I prefer a challenge, a real hunt."

The hunter cut the ropes for each woman, leaving them with one hand free. "I'll be leaving now. You have fifteen minutes, and then I begin the hunt. Don't disappoint me."

Kraven disappeared into the thick brush. Cheetah looked over the three women before following.

Lara managed to untie herself first, helping unbind the Bat-Girl and Wonder-Woman from their posts.

"You OK, loves?" Lara asked. "Can you move?"

Barb'ra stood up and stretched. "I'm fine, Lara."

"Me too," D'yanna echoed. "We should get moving. That woman -- Cheetah -- is as vicious as they come. If she's joined forces with Kraven..."

The three women began to move once again. From the looks of things, Barb'ra had deduced that Kraven & Cheetah had carried them back into the Valley of the Web... and making things worse, Kraven had no doubt set traps to snare the outsider.

It wasn't long before Bat-Girl's hunch was proven correct, as a volley of poison darts was triggered as D'yanna passed a tripwire. Fortunately, the Wonder-Woman's reflexes were sharp, and her bracelet deflected the darts away.

"That's an impressive tripwire," Wonder-Woman observed, kneeling down to check out the device. "It's not even noticeable."

"We need to keep moving," Lara urged. "We're at a disadvantage here."

The trio decided to head to higher ground, where they could get a better sense of where Kraven had taken them. Navigating Kraven's traps was difficult, but they managed to successfully find their way to a clearing at a top of a hill.

Barb'ra pointed to a mountain in the distance. "X Mountain. You'll find the Village of the X at its base. Assuming Kraven doesn't have any more surprises for us, it should take about a day and a half to reach it..."

The Bat-Girl was interrupted as a large group of giant spiders surrounded the trio, as Kraven emerged from his nearby hiding place. Lara felt her skin crawl -- She really hoped she wouldn't have to deal with more of those things. To make matters worse, she and her friends were unarmed.

"I'm impressed," Kraven smirked. "I honestly wondered if you'd get out of my little obstacle course alive. But it ends here. A shame, really. You've been most fascinating prey."

Lara had always been lucky when staring down certain ****, but without any means to defend themselves, the situation looked grim... but once again, luck would prevail, when two women jumped to the women's aid, seeming from out of nowhere.

"The She-Devils..."