-All names, if found on the real game, are pure coincidence. I hold no right to World of Warcraft(TM) or Blizzard Entertainment Co. for that matter.-

(Rated M for language and later Chapters)

The Red Spider Lily

There is always some madness in love. But there is also always some reason in madness.
-Friedrich Nietzsche

Chapter One: Lycoris

We met over 15 years ago in what became Ghostlands later in time. She was just a four year old, while I was only five.

She was the daughter of our Lord, whom my father and mother had just begun to work for, his wife had returned from Silvermoon as well bringing with her their child at the time of our own arrival.

I would be lying if I didn't think that child was a cute one back then, she these had big blue eyes that showed even more with her black hair and pale skin. And her smile would always bring warmth even to the coldest hearts...

We stared at each other for what seemed hours that day, but quickly the little girl took a liking towards me as I had to her and we soon became the best of friends. Her name you ask?

Her name was, Lycoris.

"Three, two... One! Ready or not here I come!" A young High Elf child said as she spun around from the tree she had been facing for over 100 counts. Her blue eyes squinted as she began to walk around a luscious garden looking for someone.

She was wearing a little white sundress with some blue tread and silver, her black hair was too short to pull up so it always hung down around her shoulders. Her little blue sandals made a distinct sound on the cool stone pavement.

"Ah-ha!" she said as she looked under a bench only to find a cat napping.

"Ah-ha!" she said as she looking behind a pillar only to find a broom sweeping away.

The little Elf pouted as she sat down on a box. She looked around one more time when she smiled, jumped off the box, turned to face it and - "Ah-ha!" it was empty. She pouted even more, shut the box close again and began to sadly walk to a fountain in the middle of the garden.

"Arnak! I don't want to play anymore!" She cried out almost in tears now, she was so upset that she didn't noticed the figure creeping up behind her until-

"BOO!"

"AHHH!"

-Splash!-

"Lycoris!" A voice from a little boy ran on her ears as she pulled back up from the water of the fountain. "Lycoris I'm sorry!" She opened her eyes and saw another High Elf child, a boy, over her pulling her from the water.

He had a worried look on his face, and who wouldn't the water wasn't that deep for all he knew she could've hit her head on the stone! Thank the Sunwell she didn't.

He was taller than her by around few inches, he was wearing a black shirt and brown pants along with some brown booties, he had fair skin, not to pale like her but not to tanned that contrasted well with his blue eyes and brown hair.

"Found you?" she coughed out some water as she poked him in the chest. The boy only looked at her but smiled and nodded as she looked down at herself and the puddle of water that was made at her feet from how wet she gotten.

"Yeah you did... come, Mom will get you dry before you catch a cold!" She smiled at him as he placed his little arm around her shoulders and lead her onto a small yet elegant house around the garden.

My Mother became Lycoris' nanny since her own would often leave for Dalaran a lot.

Our Lady, Lycoris' Mother, was a high ranking Mage who often was called to teach new apprentices the art of the Arcane when others could not. Her Father, our Lord of the villa we lived in, was a Paladin who was always in Silvermoon or helping the Alliance in Lordaeron it was so often that Lycoris and her mother could not see him for almost a year at times.

Their names were Lord A'rathomer and Lady Mystearia Lightsong.

Their sudden trips also left my Father in charge of the villa while the Lord and Lady where off somewhere doing business or helping others, after all he and my mother were hired as the Caretakers to begin with.

Even with both her parents there, sometimes Lycoris would ask to stay over at our house, she usually stayed alone in the bigger mansion of the villa with a few maids but still now and then slept with me in my room like a sister and brother would. Of course the lord and lady did not oblige since after all I was her only friend.

Sadly when I turned eight, the Lord saw I had potential as a Ranger and decided I would begin training as one, My Father did as well, but with our low social status training was too expensive, you see only Nobles or those who had the means could train in any art they pleased... My father and mother did not train for anything during their young years, but still they did held some knowledge of magic that they used to get us by in life.

When Lord A'rathomer heard of this he just laughed it off and paid for my training himself, to this day I still owe him this favor. He never asked for any gold in return or hard labor from my Father and Mother. Only to me he just said;

"You will pay me with your hard training and become a powerful Ranger, for I want you and Lycoris to become the next Lord and Lady of this land."

I was too young to understand what he meant by that but I agreed, I trained for weeks or sometimes months away from home leaving Lycoris alone to play... And let the titans strike me dead if I lied about how I missed her during those days... For I truly did...

A young elf was wearing dark green leather gear with dark brown outlines here and there, which would be that like a uniform for Rangers, his hair was now long so he had to tie it back or it would get on the way of his archery training.

"Arnak!" A young girl's voice rang out as the now ten year old boy walked up to his home. He looked behind him and got tackled by a girl of only nine to the stone road.

"You're back!" The boy opened his eyes and saw a young girl with blue eyes and black hair on top of him smiling.

The boy laughed as she hugged him more. "Hi, Lycoris"

She was wearing a dress that was pale yellow almost white along with brown boots with gold ornaments, her hair had grown much longer from last they saw each other, so much that now she had to tie it in a pony tail as well as him and hold her bangs with a few golden hair clips.

"I missed you!" She pouted as she pulled from the hug and got up from him to help the boy up. "It's boring when all you have to do is read old books..." He laughed even more at her comment.

"Training at home?" He teased as he got up from the ground with her help. She pouted,

"Father says he wants me to become a mage like Mother, and plans on sending me to Dalaran but..." Lycoris began, "I want to be a Ranger like you so we're always together!" She said looking at him with a smile. Arnak just blushed.

"No?" She asked sadly at his silence, the boy just coughed out the embarrassment and nodded his head,

"Yeah! I mean, I'm the only student there after all, a lot of the others didn't make it or already left." he said as she smiled, "It's fun I bet," they began to walk up the path to the large villa in the forest.

"Shooting targets, and learning to blend with nature!" Lycoris said all too happy. "Not like this mage stuff, all I can do is make a little puff of smoke." Arnak laughed.

"Besides, Dalaran is too far, almost two weeks on mount! Or so Mama says... But Ranger school is just half a day's worth with a Hawkstrider...And I wouldn't get to visit you as I would like to begin with." They reached the villa when the boy noticed the decorations and ornaments, Lycoris kept on walking as he stopped at the entrance looking around the place.

"Arnak?" the girl called to him, "What's wrong?"

"Huh? N-nothing, hey what's today's occasion?" she looked around and saw what he meant. Lycoris blinked at him, "Did you forget?" She cried out surprised, "Today is my birthday! I'm turning ten today!"

Arnak just paled, by the Sunwell he had forgotten! In fact a few days before he had been saving up gold to buy her a gift but he just skipped that idea when it was time for him to leave back home...

"Ha-ha... no! I wouldn't forget, I was just testing you!" Lycoris cocked her head to the side in confusion but giggled none the less. He was in a panic in his mind.

"Well I have to go get ready for the party, Papa and Mama are coming back from Lordaeron tonight to celebrate and Nanny wants me to look pretty for them." She waved him bye and turned around to leave.

"What for? You're already pretty..." Arnak whispered as she ran to the bigger mansion of the villa, he then saw a maid walk past him with a large box in wrapper- "Ugh, her gift!" He remembered face palming his self for his stupidity.

I remember that night.

When she said her parents where in Lordaeron, she meant the news of the plague that had infected many Humans. I had heard that Prince Arthas Menethil, a paladin, and Lady Jaina Proudmoore, a powerful mage, were fighting along with many others to contain it and eradicate it completely...

I ,after all, was only a kid. I did not worry much about such things. Ha-ha, that day I was mostly worried about her gift than anything else.

But now that I remember; My teacher would often say how one day if they failed I would have to used all I have learned to protect our homeland... I wouldn't have thought that day would come sooner rather than later...

"There!" Arnak said as he held up a little white orb in his hand. The young Elf had spent hours making an old magic orb that functioned as a music box, his mother had taught him how for before they had moved in with the Lightsong for this is how they earned a living.

"I hope she likes it..." He smiled proudly at his work. He looked out the window of his room and saw the sun going down. Arnak got up from his desk and stretched his body, the young elf walked to his bed and picked up a suit his mother had prepared for him.

It was a black tuxedo, he groaned.

He fixed his hair, and put on his black shoes, grabbed the little orb and placed it in his pocket to finally walk out the door.

"My, my! Look at how handsome you are!" Arnak looked at his mother who was wearing a black dress, and her white hair flowed around her shoulders. "I am sure, Lycoris would agree," She laughed when the young elf blushed but glared at her.

They walked to the door but then Arnak asked, "Where is Father?" His mother looked down at him and smiled, "The Lord and Lady are running late, so he decided to look for them at the gates." He nodded as she walked out the door and he soon followed.

The party was spectacular, enchanters had placed floating lanterns around the trees and walls of the garden where it was being held. They shone with blues and silvers, the fountain was adorned with flowers of every kind, as well as every nook and cranny of the garden. Maids walked about with trays of treats and wines. The music filled the night Arnak wondered if he would hear it nonstop for hours tonight.

His mother walked from his side and headed towards a group of High Elves that was just arriving. Arnak looked around as he walked to a tree and stood there as he tried to find a little elven girl through the sea of much older ones.

It was not long when he did, Lycoris was standing next to the fountain playing with a flower that was floating about in its water, he blushed and smiled at the same time at her sight. The young Elf held a crush towards the other you see; She was wearing a white woolen dress, and her hair was down, it curled here and there around a hair band made from aquamarines and gold.

"Lycoris!" he called as the elf boy walked to her, hand in pocket ready to pull out the orb gift. Said girl looked up and saw him struggle to walk through the older elven, she beamed and got up from the fountain making her way to meet him.

"Arnak, you look.." She laughed softly, it wasn't everyday you saw your friend wearing a tuxedo after all, "Good..!" He sighed at her but smiled, "Hey I have something to show you!" The boy grabbed her hand and pulled her to the tree he had been standing by a few moments ago.

Lycoris looked at him as he pulled the orb from his pocket and placed it in her hand he was grabbing. "Happy Birthday, Lycoris" He said with a huge grin as she gasped at the gift.

"It's so pretty!" Her eyes were wide with excitement. "Well It's not like those other better gifts, everyone else got you," Arnak said as he looked at her. "Here this is how to turn it on," He pushed a small button almost hard to see on top of the orb, making it open up into a red flower shape and play a sweet melody.

"It's a Red Spider Lily, I heard they're called Lycoris too." He said sweetly, as she looked at him.

Lycoris gasped in excitement then smiled even more and hugged the boy, "Thank you! This is way better than anything in the world!" Arnak hugged her back, when they pulled away she grabbed his hand and began to pull him over to his mother, "I want Nanny to see it too!" But before they made it-

"AHHH!"

Everything stopped, the two youngsters along with the older Elven turned to the scream and saw a Red Hawkstrider carrying someone, someone walked towards the other being carried as another elf took the large bird away.

"It's Ethorne!" Arnak gasped and Lycoris let go of his hand, "Father!" He ran towards him but was stopped by an older male, but he still saw what was wrong-

"He is wounded!" Everyone began to whisper and gasp; Arnak saw that his father, Ethorne Firestrike, had been stabbed by.. something both in the chest and abdomen. His mother ran to him in and when she saw her beloved husband she broke down in tears.

"Ethorne, what happened?" She cried out, as she cradled his head in her legs. "We...we were ambushed... Lord A'rathomer was killed..." Arnak's face paled and quickly turned to Lycoris with wide eyes as she stood there, frozen and with a confused face, the music orb in her hands close to her chest.

"T-the lady... They tore her apart, in front.. of us." Lycoris' shook her head and Arnak ran to her, "He lies..." She whispered. "They ate her..."

"He lies!" Arnak hugged the girl when she began to cry. "Mama, Papa!" Lycoris cried hard in his chest. He himself was crying just as her, but he wanted to be strong for her..

"Who? Who are they?" Arnak's mother began to scream, as her husband coughed up blood. "Amarisa..." He whispered her name. "Who?" she cried softly, her tears falling on his wounds, "Who..." She placed her forehead on his.

"Run."

Lord A'rathomer was beheaded after being stabbed from behind, a clean cut. Some claimed they say his head impaled on a flag.

Lady Mystearia was apparently torn apart while still alive, her remains were scattered around the other mutilated corpses, with flesh torn away as if eaten by many creatures at once.

My father died from the deep wounds, someone said they could see his heart beating...

Rangers began to fall protecting the gates to our lands while the Elves tried to escape. But luck was against us that night...The creatures reached us before we got out of the villa...

"AHH!"

A glass shattering scream filled the night, as everything around Amarisa and the two young elven children burned.

"Arnak, Lycoris! Hurry!" The boy had his bow with him to protect his mother and friend as they ran around the flames, and screams. Creatures from death had attacked the villa after Ethorne reached them, they followed him to it and began to kill everyone in their path.

A man in a dead horse charged around stabbing those who survived the monsters. Even larger ones soon followed, their stench was that of hundreds of bodies combined. The three were running into the halls of the large mansion, everything outside was smoke and blood red, everything else inside was just screaming and death, Amarisa held the children's hands as she looked for a way out.

Arnak looked at Lycoris who still held the musical sphere he had given her. But her face showed no fear or grief, she was emotionless in his eyes, but hers still shed tears even if her body did not follow their feeling.

"Ah!" Amarisa stopped when a monster began to run her way and others followed behind, "Quickly get in here!" She saw a door and pushed the two children inside, "Mother?" Arnak cried out when she began to push the door back close, "Stay with Lycoris my son!" He saw her tears as she began desperately... "You're the only thing each other have now.."

"Get out of here! Go to Silvermoon!" She finally closed the door and stood surrounded by the death.

"Mother!" Arnak screamed and banged the door with his fists. "Mother!" Her cries began to fill the place as the two children saw blood seep in from under the door...

Lycoris gasped making Arnak turn to her, with tears in his eyes. "Arnak...!" She screamed when the door began to thud and bang from outside. "Run!" She nodded as he took her hand and began to run down the room which was a dark hallway. It lead to a large room that had balcony which faced the ocean.

"Dead end!" He began in desperation. The elven boy looked around the balcony for some way down but the only way was to climb down some vines that lead straight into the ocean, but last he checked:

"Lycoris can you swim?"

"No..."

She can't swim.

The boy growled as he looked for another way that did not lead down into the sea while Lycoris looked back at the hallway door that was being banged to no end. She began to hyperventilate from the fear that was building up. She was sure she could hear their claws scratching the wooden door making her fears even greater.

"Arnak, hurry!" She cried out as she turned to the boy who was still looking over the balcony.

-Bam!/Crash!-

"Here!" He yelled after what felt ages! Arnak grabbed Lycoris' hand and pulled her towards where he was.

"These vines, they will take you to a ledge and when you get there, run!" He said just as the door began to give way behind them. Lycoris looked at him confused and frighten but nodded. The boy helped her over the stone railing.

"Wait!" She turned to him carefully making him stop, "What about you?" Arnak looked at the creatures closing in behind them then faced the girl. "Lycoris..."

"Come down too!" She begged, "They will kill you if you stay here!" The boy grabbed her shoulders and hugged her tight. "I will be right behind you don't worry, now go!" He said as they parted, Lycoris just bit her lip worried as he began to turn back to the creatures, bow in his hand. She hesitated as she saw how many of the death dealers had actually been trying to catch them.

"Arnak-!"

"Lycoris go!"

What happened next happened so fast even they would hardly ever remember the actual events...

A creature, which was in fact a skeleton, brought up a bow made from bones and shot an arrow at the two; It grazed Arnak's cheek cutting him almost close to his eye, this in turn made the boy flinch and fall back bumping into Lycoris who had stayed there behind him.

"Ahh!" The elven girl fell back from the sudden push-

"Lycoris!" Arnak turned around in time to grab her hand as she fell from the balcony's edge; "Hang on!" The girl could only look down onto the raging waves that crashed into the rocks right below her. The next thing she knew was that Arnak's hand had let her own slip.

"Arnak!"

'Arnak!'

That was the last thing I remember ever hearing from Lycoris that night... I had taken her hand and tried to pull her back up! But-

I woke up what I was told were days later in Silvermoon City, I was taken in by an old Elf who ran an orphanage there. She told me of how another, younger female elf, had found me in the beach bleeding from a blow to the head. I asked for Lycoris, if she was fine, where was she!-

-I remember crying my eyes out when she got up from the chair at the side of my bed and walked out without anything to say...

A few weeks passed before my Ranger Teacher, Ranger Lucian Swiftwind, found my whereabouts and adopted me as his son. I begged him to go back to Silvermoon City or at least the Villa to find Lycoris but he would not agree! During that same night, I ran away from my new home in Eversong Woods and ran towards the beach where I was supposedly found. When I reached it I began to scream out for her in hope that she would answer and we would be together again.

"Lycoris!" Arnak's voice screamed for what seemed the billionth time that night. "Lycoris where are you?" His voice broke from the strain of his yelling and he held back his tears. Even the sound of the waves crashing on the sand along with some distant murlocs were not enough to drown out the yells of the young elven boy.

He was wearing the same ranger trainer uniform, that his new father had given him to compensate for the torn and bloodied tuxedo he had been wearing for what were days in the orphanage. Although he still wore a bandage around his head, and on his cheek where he had been cut by some arrow.

The moon had begun to show herself, she was unusually bright that night. She rose over the young Arnak looming, saddening, draining him of any hope to find his beloved friend alive... The minutes turned to hours and even if his voice did not want to go on, he kept on calling out the young girl's name.

"Arnak!" The boy turned around to see Lucian Swiftwind, his adoptive father, behind him. "Enough." He said coldly and grabbed the boy's arm. Arnak hissed at the grasp for Lucian was holding onto him with great force.

"Time to go back." The older male said as he began to pull Arnak back into Eversong Woods. But Lucian saw how Arnak begin to struggle at his grasp, his arm twist and pull from him making Lucian lose his patience at the boy. He was his only student, now his son, this young Elf will be a handful for him...

"Let go!" The young boy finally managed to pulled back his arm and ran into the sea behind them, the water reached his waist as he began to yell out of Lycoris again.

"Lycoris! Lycoris!" Lucian gasped at the child, but glared. "Arnak stop this nonsense! She is not here!" He stomped towards the kid into the water than in comparison barely reached his legs.

The young elf's screams began to turn into desperate cries as he finally broke down crying his heart out. Lucian sighed in frustration and grabbed Arnak by his waist and began to pull him back to the sand. Arnak on the other hand did not plan on letting his new father take him away and leaving without her, he kicked trying to pull from Lucian and into deeper water still calling out like a mad man, but without much luck since Lucian was much stronger than him, the older male pulled him onto the shore dropping him into the sand and looked as the boy kneeled crying making his tears wet the sand below him.

"Arnak... She is gone, start getting used to idea that she got killed or probably drowned!" He yelled at the young elf.

"No...!"

Arnak began to grab fistfuls of sand in desperation as he cried. He lost his father and mother only hours apart, and now he failed to follow her last wish to be with Lycoris as his mother had begged him... But wait-

"Huh?" The boy pulled his left hand from the fists of sand he had been grasping in sadness. Lucian looked at him as he played with the sand in his hand. "Arnak?" He asked confused as he walked closer to see.

Arnak looked at the object he just found and when the sand finally came off, his eyes when wide. "Her music orb..." He whispered shattering his young heart, slowly and with a shaking hand he pressed the tiny button on the top of the orb and it began to play the song he had made for her...

Lucian looked at the musical orb as it turned into a red flower and played its tune, he then looked at Arnak who froze looking out to the sea but his tears kept on flowing. In a sudden movement, the boy just shook as he rocked back and forth holding onto the red flower to his chest as he screamed out one final time-

"Lycoris!"

-An grown up male blood elf shot from his bed, his long brown hair stuck to his face from all of the sweating and tears staining his face. He began to gasp for air as he brought his hands to his face and laid back down on the red bed sheets.

"Lycoris...I'm sorry..." He whispered as more tears flowed freely from his eyes...

Well I hope you guys like this first chapter of my first story! :D if you do I'll make more chapters and update the rest soon! But I wish I would've had a tad-bit more imagination/time to build up a better suspense/drama during the Scourge attack and ending (...my cat doesn't like it when I type and sleeps on my keyboard...)

As well as the sound effects, dear Jesus I suck at sound effects. D: Also I decided to use a Friedrich Nietzsche quote to kinda sum up the story in a way lol

Oh yes, like I added at the very start of the chapter; all names here were actually just randomly popped in my head (except for Lycoris, its the name of my favorite flower lol) so if you run into someone in your server and such with these names, same race and class and such it's just purely a coincidence since you know, almost all of the entire world does play World of Warcraft ha-ha!

~Tasty-Salmon