The beginning of the pair's journey to the Undercity was fraught with tension. More than once did Shadow try to flee. He was caught every time by the persistent Plate. The lack of their need for sleep didn't give Shadow a lot of opportunities, but he made the most of every chance he got. After the fourth time Shadow tried to run, he turned on Plate and tried to fight again. Before Shadow could try for as much as a swipe of his dagger, Plate grabbed him by the arm and flipped him to the ground. Plate stood on Shadow's throat, and knelt down to the rogue's face.

"Damnit, this is getting pretty old. Why are you so insistent on running away? Would it really be so bad if you came with me? You might even find some other purpose for your life, other than killing wayward travelers for no reason." He sighed.

Shadow sputtered as he tried to respond, but Plate put more weight on his throat. "It's a strange thing, this unlife we have. See, we don't feel pain, or remorse, or joy, or anything really. Yet, bodily injuries will still hurt us, even if we can't feel them. For example…" Plate continued, drawing his sword. Taking the weapon in both hands, Plate swung the massive blade and lopped off Shadow's right arm. "I'll bet that didn't hurt a bit, but it sure is an inconvenience. I suppose you'd have to have someone heal that. Won't be me, that's for sure. I make things dead, not help them live. No, we'd better get you to a city. Perhaps a city that was under something? Maybe one that was full of undead like us? Sound good to you, Shadow?" He asked, removing his foot from Shadow's throat.

"I despise you. What can't you just leave me alone?" Shadow hissed, his voice as toxic as any venom.

"It's a waste. You could be helping our people, but instead you kill indiscriminately. It's stupid, and is only going to lead to your death. I'd put you to use. I'd put that bloodlust into a constructive outlet."

"Whatever, how much further until we reach this Undercity of yours?"

"You must remember the old capital of Lordearon."

"I was a citizen of Lordaeron. The scourge took the city when Arthas slew his own father. I personally killed dozens of royal guards. There's no way the Forsaken could live in those ruins, there's nowhere to hide. No defensible positions among that wreckage. Their enemies would have driven them out long ago." Shadow protested, standing.

"All true, but perhaps you'll think about the name again."

Shadow dwelled on it for a moment. "Undercity? How… The sewers?"

"Precisely!" Plateslash cheered, clapping enthusiastically.

"You have no idea how much I hate you. At any rate, if we're headed to the ruins of Lordaeron, we're almost there. We've come almost to the border of Silverpine; Lordaeron should be visible within the next few hours."

Shadow picked up his severed arm, sparing a spiteful glare toward Plate. The warrior shrugged and smiled disarmingly, a perturbing sight from a living corpse. "Sorry about that, but I hoped you'd see reason if I started doing damage. Each time you try to flee from now on, I'm taking another limb." He warned, the smile shifting suddenly into a glower.

The two of them continued on into Silverpine. The silence was made all the eerier by the plagued animals that kept just out of sight. "So, who were you before you were raised? You mentioned you were a citizen of Lordaeron." Plate eventually asked.

"That's none of your business, besides who I was died that day."

"Then you should have no problem telling me about him, if he isn't around anymore."

"Why can you never let a subject drop?" Shadow groaned exasperatedly.

"Why can you never give me a straight answer?" Plate countered.

"There's not much to tell. I was a human farmer. I lived with my family, but when the scourge came I was killed and raised."

"I see. I'm assuming your family was raised too?"

"Yes."

"You didn't die first did you?" Shadow's silence answered the question. Plateslash laughed heartily at the thought. "THAT is a sad story."

"I suppose so. I imagine I should be distraught, but…"

"All you feel is anger? It is one of the many curses inherent to our condition, as far as I can tell. I'm surprised you answered me for once."

"You were annoying me. I figured if I told you, you might leave me alone."

"My apologies, it's just I've never met another undead with free will. I've been careful to avoid settlements and such since regaining my own. Well, barring one incident."

"Then how do you know about the Undercity?" Shadow asked, suspicion coloring his voice.

Plate chuckled. "Why would I try to betray you to the Scourge? One soldier is of no value to an army who can make an ally out of every fallen enemy. No, how I heard of the Undercity is a bit of a long story."

Shadow peered ahead, sighting the tops of the tallest towers of Lordaeron, the ones left standing anyway. "We've got time."

"Oh? How strange, you suddenly found the will to converse." Plate mused.

"I haven't had a conversation since before I died. I find it…oddly calming." Shadow admitted.

"Well, we wouldn't want to waste this moment of camaraderie would we? " Plate asked, flashing rotted teeth in a friendly smile.

"Tell your tale, warrior, before I tire of this and drop it."

"Well, I should begin by telling you who I was in life. I was a human. I lived in Dalaran and had a few apprentices."

"You were a mage? Then why don't you use magic instead of that sword?" Shadow interrupted.

Plate chuckled. "In due time. At any rate, were you witness to the Scourge's invasion of Dalaran?"

"I wasn't around that area, but I heard the plans being made through my link with the Lich King."

"Indeed. Well, we mages had prepared for the invasion. The wards were our first line of defense, but we knew they wouldn't be enough. I was one of the mages stationed to protect the first of the archmages, who maintained the first of the undead wards. The sight was horrifying, dozens of undead monstrosities charging through our spell designed to destroy them. Their flesh sizzled and burned as the magic eroded their very being, but still they pressed on. It was enough to break our lines. Wizards died all around me, and I found an abomination bearing down on me. I fled, and managed to hide and feign death out of sight of the creatures. I was a coward…" Plate explained, anger burning in his glowing eyes.

"The Scourge would have sensed you were still alive." Shadow pointed out.

"I subdued my vital signs through magic. It was sufficient to stave off the mindless hordes." Plate agreed.

"So where did it go wrong? You obviously didn't live…"

"Kel'Thuzad is where it went wrong. After the Scourge completed their mission, they were leaving. I was sure not to let my spell slip, but it didn't fool him. He sensed the magic right away, and had me brought before him. He mocked me, calling me a coward for hiding while my comrades died. I lost it then. I blasted the ghouls holding me in place with arcane bolts, and with a cry of fury and sadness and everything in between I attacked Kel'Thuzad himself."

Shadow laughed loudly. "How'd that go?"

"He froze me solid, keeping me alive. He hovered over to me and chuckled. He wanted to toy with me, but Arthas told him to hurry it up. He sated himself by ripping the magic from my body. Slowly, it seemed to me an eternity, but in reality it couldn't have been more than fifteen seconds. The strain killed me, of course. Kel'Thuzad left my resurrection to one of his innumerable lackeys, chasing Arthas's coattails like the dog he is…" Plate continued, the anger permeating his voice blooming into pure, unchecked rage.

Shadow wished fervently he had both his arms attached so he could draw a dagger if Plate went berserk, maybe he could use his arm as a club? The warrior calmed down quickly. "Apologies, I haven't really thought about that since it happened. Long story short, I was freed the same way you were and ran. The first humans I ran into happened to be members of the Scarlet Crusade. Seeing me running toward them shouting for help was the only reason I wasn't killed on sight. In hindsight, I could have picked better saviors. They did rigorous testing on me, forcing me to talk, fight, eat, what have you. I overheard them talking about others like me they'd captured. They mentioned 'a whole Light forsaken city of the monsters under the ruins of Lordaeron.' I figured I'd try to get to that city, and when they brought me to test combat against crusaders the next day, I escaped. Then some buffoon jumped out of the trees and stabbed me."

"Just like that? You escaped?" Shadow asked.

"Did I say it was easy? Long. Story. Short. Remember?"

"Still, how did they forge you from mage to warrior with just a few tests?"

"I never said I wasn't good with a blade before I died. I got better once the Scourge got its grip on me and I couldn't rely on magic."

The two of them walked in silence for a moment. "So which do you like better?" Shadow asked.

"Eh? Oh, well they both have their charms. Using magic really makes you feel…alive. No pun intended."

"And being a warrior?"

"I must admit, there comes a certain pride in seeing your opponents face as you beat him to death, that could just be the undeath talking though. The armor is nice too."

"What stopped you from wearing heavy armor as a mage?"

"Let's see you try and incant ancient tongues and make intricate hand movements when you're wearing a bucket over your face and your ass is being chafed by some piece of steel or another."

"Touche." Shadow smirked. "The ruins of Lordaeron are just ahead. I hadn't realized how good of time we'd made. So, what's the plan? Just walk in the sewers or what?"

"I guess. I hadn't really thought about it."

The two of them walked toward the looming entrance to the Lordaeron sewers, not sure what to expect.