Aash and the squishy spider
Posted: Tue May 10, 2011 8:48 pm
Most of this is the embellished truth. Of the four hunters I started after 4.0 dropped, none of the other pets were as, well, squishy.
I couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t right. For starters, I hated this city. Undercity, the sprawling, stinking pit under Lorderan that was home to the Forsaken, made me uneasy. Like the abandoned ruins above us were going to crush us all. I always felt better the minute I got off the elevator at the surface.
The annoying skittering hiss from next to me made me scowl. The black and red spider was a gift from the recruiters that worked with us when we were risen, bred at the will of the Banshee Queen herself. It wasn’t right. Hunters weren’t assigned companions. We chose them. Not that I hadn’t seen most of the others make them work. A lot of my fellow undead hunters were even proud of them, bragging they were gifts from our new leader. This ‘gift’ was a cheap imitation of our companions from our living days.
I had begun calling mine Squishy. I had lost count of the times I had seen mindless zombies and argent idiots alike stomp holes in it’s head as if there was no resistance. I hadn’t ever had to resurrect a companion as much as I had to resurrect this spider. It was like it was rotten inside. After seeing some of the things I had in Undercity and Silverpine Forest, I was beginning to believe that rot started with Sylvanas.
I had a hound, a demon dog that I had found around the lake. He was a different color than the others that infested the place, and had held himself differently from the others. The moment I saw him, I knew I had to have him. I had lost track of him when I had to take Squishy back to the stables to rest. He had led me on a merry chase, but standing in that lake, feeding my new friend, seeing the intelligence there, I knew it was worth it.
I didn’t have that connection with the spider.
I knew that the damn thing wasn’t normal. I had a spider in my life before. In fact, it had been with me when I had been killed during the fighting in Silverpine. I had been a defender in Gilneas when the wall cracked so I was probably fighting the Forsaken. And Ariados was next to me.
It was time to see if she had survived.
I had heard about a infestation of strange undead spiders in the eastern half of the forest. I was a betting woman, and my gut was telling me to look there. I would have preferred to take Houndoom with me, but quite frankly, if I did find Aria, I didn’t want to have to choose between the two. With Squishy, there would be no choice. Aria was jealous of me. There were no other spiders aloud with me. The two would fight to the death. Either Squishy would find a way to be useful, or I would have Ariados back with me. It was a win-win situation.
That was if I found her, though.
The trip there was short and uneventful, if you don’t count the orcs with weird accents that the spiders were munching on. Before my death, I would have been more disturbed by their plight. Now, I just wanted to do what I needed to and get out of there. If I helped some of them, it was just collateral do gooding. Except it shouldn’t have been, so as long as I didn’t have to go out of my way, I saved them. And the fact that I was sure these spiders had been… furrier and bulkier before. The Plague, perhaps? Or something else?
The lack of emotion about it was more unnerving than the sights that awaited me at the abandoned mine. I don’t remember being this cold before. I was a hunter, a defender of my people. Who were they again? Something tells me it may matter, but I don’t want to dwell on it now. They were sentient creatures, though, and deserved more than waiting in terror to die. Even if that meant putting them quickly out of their misery.
The first time I went to Silverpine since I had risen, I saw a beautiful, dangerous beast. It caught me gawking, and promptly tore Squishy and me to shreds. As I lay there, reaching for my arm, I laughed. I knew I had to have him, this bright, vicious star among the darkness. I dumped Squishy back in Brill, I still don’t know why, and hurried back in time to watch him tear apart another wolf. He fought me hard, leaving chunks of me everywhere. And then, my hand slipped in the entrails of the other wolf, and realized his true intent. He had put down a pack member, healthy to the naked eye but rotting within, out of its misery. I held the rotten gore up to him, and he stopped. He met my eyes again, and understood that I understood.
He didn’t argue with me again, until I re-introduced him to Squishy. Any time he was around the spider, Mightyena growled nonstop. The wolf got along fine with Doom, but sensed something wrong with that damn spider. We would see if he was wrong.
There was something oddly beautiful about these bone spiders. Their grace and resilience seemed almost supernatural. I actually felt sorry for having to kill them. They were definitely a step up from my red and black nemesis by my side, nursing it’s wounds. I decided that even if I didn’t find Ariados, I wasn’t leaving here without a new pet.
The mine was dark, dry, and full of spiders and scared orcs. It gave me the creeps, which, in a twisted way, made me feel happy. More alive. In fact, I hadn’t felt this alive since I left that mass grave. Except when I had tamed Doom and Mighty. I felt my lips raise in a satisfied half-smile.
My trainer’s voice echoed though my head. “A hunter can be many things, but when everything is stripped down, a good hunter isn’t defined by people, but by their companions. Any hunter can tame a pet. A great hunter chooses an animal, bonds with it, makes it want to serve him. And in turn, he will do whatever he can to see to the well-being of that companion at the expense of what other people see as important. When it all ends, it’s these bonds that will define ya, lass.”
Well, it hadn’t ended for me. I wasn’t dead yet, which meant that I had a responsibility to find my old companions as well as new ones. The memory gave me confidence that I wasn’t wasting my time. And Aria was first on the list to reunite with.
I reached a ledge overlooking a tunnel that descended into a large chamber. There were no more spiders in sight except Squishy. There were more cocoons in there than any other area so far. Still, the hairs on the back of my neck were starting to stand up. I jumped down off the ledge, and the damn spider jumped with me. It squeaked in distress when it landed, and I turned back to see it pick itself back up off the floor. I sighed, then notched an arrow, and began creeping inside.
A deep voice groaned, and I fired at the pillar of white silk it came from. The emaciated orc fell out before Squishy made it to him. I didn’t have time to be disgusted before an arachnid shriek came from above. I watched in awe as the large gray spider descended as if in slow motion to drop, not on the freed sailor, but on the stunned spider in the middle of the room.
The sailor clamored back up the ramp as I stared while the bone spider stabbed and stomped Squishy into a greasy spot on the floor. I felt something as light as thread break inside me, and shrugged it of. She then turned her beautiful lavender eyes on me. Harlot!, she screamed, shocking my system. How had I not noticed it before? I should have been able to hear them all, and yet, it had been silence until now. She had restored a part of me that shouldn’t have been missing. Like that thing had closed me off.
“I’m sorry,” I said, holding out a piece of wolf meat, her favorite. “I got lost.”
Well, it’s about time you got here. I’ve been waiting. What was up with that… thing?
I looked back at the remains of my gift, now smelling bad in a way no recently dead healthy spider should smell. “It was given to me when I first got back. It was never good enough to even match you, though.” I said, cutting open the other cocoons. “Could you make a drag net?”
With that, we got the few other orcs out, including the one that had slipped past me during the attack. Doom and Mighty were waiting for me at the stable. About time she got rid of the rot, the wolf said to the dog.
Indeed. She might be worth keeping after all, the demon hound replied.
She’s better than you know, Ariados said.
“I can hear you all, you know,” I said.
The canines looked at me in surprise, then at Aria. You can stay, Mighty said, his tongue hanging out of his mouth. Doom nodded his agreement.
You can, too, Aria replied haughtily, and I had to laugh. There were four other companions of mine out there that I needed to find, and new ones to meet. There was also a war being fought, and decisions to be made.
Just another day in Silverpine.
I couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t right. For starters, I hated this city. Undercity, the sprawling, stinking pit under Lorderan that was home to the Forsaken, made me uneasy. Like the abandoned ruins above us were going to crush us all. I always felt better the minute I got off the elevator at the surface.
The annoying skittering hiss from next to me made me scowl. The black and red spider was a gift from the recruiters that worked with us when we were risen, bred at the will of the Banshee Queen herself. It wasn’t right. Hunters weren’t assigned companions. We chose them. Not that I hadn’t seen most of the others make them work. A lot of my fellow undead hunters were even proud of them, bragging they were gifts from our new leader. This ‘gift’ was a cheap imitation of our companions from our living days.
I had begun calling mine Squishy. I had lost count of the times I had seen mindless zombies and argent idiots alike stomp holes in it’s head as if there was no resistance. I hadn’t ever had to resurrect a companion as much as I had to resurrect this spider. It was like it was rotten inside. After seeing some of the things I had in Undercity and Silverpine Forest, I was beginning to believe that rot started with Sylvanas.
I had a hound, a demon dog that I had found around the lake. He was a different color than the others that infested the place, and had held himself differently from the others. The moment I saw him, I knew I had to have him. I had lost track of him when I had to take Squishy back to the stables to rest. He had led me on a merry chase, but standing in that lake, feeding my new friend, seeing the intelligence there, I knew it was worth it.
I didn’t have that connection with the spider.
I knew that the damn thing wasn’t normal. I had a spider in my life before. In fact, it had been with me when I had been killed during the fighting in Silverpine. I had been a defender in Gilneas when the wall cracked so I was probably fighting the Forsaken. And Ariados was next to me.
It was time to see if she had survived.
I had heard about a infestation of strange undead spiders in the eastern half of the forest. I was a betting woman, and my gut was telling me to look there. I would have preferred to take Houndoom with me, but quite frankly, if I did find Aria, I didn’t want to have to choose between the two. With Squishy, there would be no choice. Aria was jealous of me. There were no other spiders aloud with me. The two would fight to the death. Either Squishy would find a way to be useful, or I would have Ariados back with me. It was a win-win situation.
That was if I found her, though.
The trip there was short and uneventful, if you don’t count the orcs with weird accents that the spiders were munching on. Before my death, I would have been more disturbed by their plight. Now, I just wanted to do what I needed to and get out of there. If I helped some of them, it was just collateral do gooding. Except it shouldn’t have been, so as long as I didn’t have to go out of my way, I saved them. And the fact that I was sure these spiders had been… furrier and bulkier before. The Plague, perhaps? Or something else?
The lack of emotion about it was more unnerving than the sights that awaited me at the abandoned mine. I don’t remember being this cold before. I was a hunter, a defender of my people. Who were they again? Something tells me it may matter, but I don’t want to dwell on it now. They were sentient creatures, though, and deserved more than waiting in terror to die. Even if that meant putting them quickly out of their misery.
The first time I went to Silverpine since I had risen, I saw a beautiful, dangerous beast. It caught me gawking, and promptly tore Squishy and me to shreds. As I lay there, reaching for my arm, I laughed. I knew I had to have him, this bright, vicious star among the darkness. I dumped Squishy back in Brill, I still don’t know why, and hurried back in time to watch him tear apart another wolf. He fought me hard, leaving chunks of me everywhere. And then, my hand slipped in the entrails of the other wolf, and realized his true intent. He had put down a pack member, healthy to the naked eye but rotting within, out of its misery. I held the rotten gore up to him, and he stopped. He met my eyes again, and understood that I understood.
He didn’t argue with me again, until I re-introduced him to Squishy. Any time he was around the spider, Mightyena growled nonstop. The wolf got along fine with Doom, but sensed something wrong with that damn spider. We would see if he was wrong.
There was something oddly beautiful about these bone spiders. Their grace and resilience seemed almost supernatural. I actually felt sorry for having to kill them. They were definitely a step up from my red and black nemesis by my side, nursing it’s wounds. I decided that even if I didn’t find Ariados, I wasn’t leaving here without a new pet.
The mine was dark, dry, and full of spiders and scared orcs. It gave me the creeps, which, in a twisted way, made me feel happy. More alive. In fact, I hadn’t felt this alive since I left that mass grave. Except when I had tamed Doom and Mighty. I felt my lips raise in a satisfied half-smile.
My trainer’s voice echoed though my head. “A hunter can be many things, but when everything is stripped down, a good hunter isn’t defined by people, but by their companions. Any hunter can tame a pet. A great hunter chooses an animal, bonds with it, makes it want to serve him. And in turn, he will do whatever he can to see to the well-being of that companion at the expense of what other people see as important. When it all ends, it’s these bonds that will define ya, lass.”
Well, it hadn’t ended for me. I wasn’t dead yet, which meant that I had a responsibility to find my old companions as well as new ones. The memory gave me confidence that I wasn’t wasting my time. And Aria was first on the list to reunite with.
I reached a ledge overlooking a tunnel that descended into a large chamber. There were no more spiders in sight except Squishy. There were more cocoons in there than any other area so far. Still, the hairs on the back of my neck were starting to stand up. I jumped down off the ledge, and the damn spider jumped with me. It squeaked in distress when it landed, and I turned back to see it pick itself back up off the floor. I sighed, then notched an arrow, and began creeping inside.
A deep voice groaned, and I fired at the pillar of white silk it came from. The emaciated orc fell out before Squishy made it to him. I didn’t have time to be disgusted before an arachnid shriek came from above. I watched in awe as the large gray spider descended as if in slow motion to drop, not on the freed sailor, but on the stunned spider in the middle of the room.
The sailor clamored back up the ramp as I stared while the bone spider stabbed and stomped Squishy into a greasy spot on the floor. I felt something as light as thread break inside me, and shrugged it of. She then turned her beautiful lavender eyes on me. Harlot!, she screamed, shocking my system. How had I not noticed it before? I should have been able to hear them all, and yet, it had been silence until now. She had restored a part of me that shouldn’t have been missing. Like that thing had closed me off.
“I’m sorry,” I said, holding out a piece of wolf meat, her favorite. “I got lost.”
Well, it’s about time you got here. I’ve been waiting. What was up with that… thing?
I looked back at the remains of my gift, now smelling bad in a way no recently dead healthy spider should smell. “It was given to me when I first got back. It was never good enough to even match you, though.” I said, cutting open the other cocoons. “Could you make a drag net?”
With that, we got the few other orcs out, including the one that had slipped past me during the attack. Doom and Mighty were waiting for me at the stable. About time she got rid of the rot, the wolf said to the dog.
Indeed. She might be worth keeping after all, the demon hound replied.
She’s better than you know, Ariados said.
“I can hear you all, you know,” I said.
The canines looked at me in surprise, then at Aria. You can stay, Mighty said, his tongue hanging out of his mouth. Doom nodded his agreement.
You can, too, Aria replied haughtily, and I had to laugh. There were four other companions of mine out there that I needed to find, and new ones to meet. There was also a war being fought, and decisions to be made.
Just another day in Silverpine.