Well... I haven't updated this story collection in quite a while. Let's change that shall we? Next chapter for Broken Wings should be out relatively soon, but in the mean time here's something to keep you all satisfied!

Spiders, Why'd it Have to be Spiders?

Deep in the eternally dusk covered lands of what was once the greater part of the majestic forests of Eversong, with only the occasional sounds of crows to show the forest was not completely dead, two figures knelt by a large cave, both covered by long black cloaks that bore the symbol of the Ebon Blade upon their backs.

"Wrath are you sure it's a good idea to be out in this part of the forest while its so dark out?" Blake asked as she watched the elven Death Knight work from under the hood of her cloak. Only a few hours beforehand, Wrath had awoken her from a particularly restful sleep, only saying that the two of them had to go out quickly to retrieve something important.

"Of course, I can't find what I'm looking for otherwise. It only appears early in the morning when there aren't too many travelers strolling around." He replied as he dug around a small hole around the size of the average persons head, occasionally pulling out various bits of brush and scraps, tossing them to the side before sticking his hand right back in the hole.

"Which reminds me, you never actually told me what we're out here to get.." Blake pointed out, watching as Wrath smirked in satisfaction, watching as he pulled a box out of his cloak with his free hand before stuffing...something into the open lid, which he closed almost just as quickly as it had been opened. "Care to fill me in?"

"Oh... You'll see."

A few hours later, in the gardens just behind Varimas' residence, the warlock in question let out a content sigh as he quietly read a book, lounging back in a chair while Yang, still bound in a chair, played fetch with Carcharoth.

Varimas glanced up at the two for a moment before letting a low chuckle reverberate in the back of his throat.

The two of them definitely seemed to be getting along. The demon was certainly thrilled to have a playmate. Usually at this time of the day Carcharoth would resign himself to a corner of Varimas' study before dozing off until dinner or until he felt like chasing the city guard around.

Yes, the peace was a nice change. A change Varimas could get used to.

Unfortunately, if Varimas was planning on soaking up the peaceful atmosphere any further, then he would be severely disappointed, for not a few seconds after glancing up from his book, a loud clatter rang out as Wrath flung open the small ornately decorated gate that separated the small garden Varimas kept from the rest of Silvermoon City. He was soon followed by Blake, who was carrying a rather large unmarked box in her hands, and judging by the face she was making as she carried it, she was none the wiser as to the contents than Varimas.

"We're back!" Wrath called out as he and Blake drew up to the Warlock, who's shoulders visibly slouched as he realized his peaceful morning had just come to what would no doubt be either horrifying or flat out violent end.

Not wanting to convey his France however, Varimas turning his head over towards the blue eyed elf and his Faunus companion. "It's about time. Where in the world did you two run off to so early? It's not even close to when you usually drag your lazy skull out of bed."

"Just to the forest. I just needed to grab something." Wrath replied cryptically.

"You know, you could've just as easily 'grabbed' at Blake's 'things' during the night. You're sleeping in the same room after all." The Warlock muttered, seemingly uninterested in whatever Wrath could possibly be planning.

"Firstly, I'm sleeping on the floor, she's the one sleeping in the bed amni'rimaase." Wrath spat as he turned to retrieved the unmarked box from Blake, holding it proudly in front of himself. "Second, I grabbed something for you."

"Oh? This should be entertaining." Varimas muttered, ignoring Wrath's rather crude insult in favor of watching as said elf plopped the box down on the table before his friend.

Yang and Carcharoth soon made their way over, their respective curiosities piqued, while Blake stood there and sighed. She had happened to sneak a peak into box while she and Wrath were heading back to Silvermoon, and knowing the content of said box made the twisting feeling in her gut that the whole situation would end horribly all the more powerful.

"Alright Varimas... Now answer me this... What are you most afraid of in this world?" Wrath asked with a smug expression on his face as Varimas leaned back in his lawn chair.

"Your need to swing sharp things around to compensate for something."

Wrath could only glare at his companion. "No."

"The thought of you actually succeeding in a social situation without either insulting someone of great societal standing or embarrassing yourself?"

"No Varimas..."

"Well there was that one time you accidentally covered Sylvanas in a barrel full of honey you were stealing when we were kids." Varimas chuckled, remembering that day well, in particular how fast Sylvanas had put the fear of the Titans in Wrath. "That was a pretty scary sight. She hunted you for Weeks."

"Just look in the damn box..."

Varimas gave a small sigh before his curiosity finally won out over his better judgment, prompting him to tentatively lean over to peer into the box.

That movement was that of a slug however compared to his next, as he suddenly lurched back, nearly falling over his chair in the process. "WRATH!"

"Spiders!" Wrath cheered and he threw his arms out to the his sides.

"Spiders?" Yang asked, peering over the edge of the box. True to Wrath's word, inside the box a large hairy spider around the size of her fist was looking back up at her, seemingly confused as to why it was there.

"GET THAT THING OUT OF MY SIGHT THIS INSTANT!" Varimas ordered as he slowly backed away from the box, his fingers alight with green felfire that crackled brightly even in the early morning sunshine.

"Nope!" Wrath replied, taking a small lesson from Ruby in the hidden art of not so subtle denials. "See, I had this idea!"

"Oh fucking Fantastic!..."

"Glad you agree, so-..."

"I was being sarcastic you twit!"

"Shut up." Wrath reprimanded, half tempted to just throw the box at Varimas. "So as I was saying, since you've been afraid of spiders for as long as I can remember, so I thought 'Hey, why don't we cure Varimas of his fears'!"

Varimas watched with increasing trepidation as Wrath stuck his hand in the box, not breaking line of sight from the warlock, just in case he attempted to make a break for the garden gate.

"So here's what's going to happen. First person to remove their hand from the box gives the other about a hundred gold!" Wrath explained, ushering Varimas over with his free hand.

"A hundred gold?! Why would I put my hand in a box with a massive spider in it for a hundred gold?!" Varimas asked in utter disbelief, to which Wrath only adopted an irritated expression for a moment.

"1000..."

Suddenly, as if Wrath's increase in the bet was just enough to sway his fear, Varimas stiffened his shoulders before making his way over to the box. "Very well."

With that, the Warlock put his hand into the box without a hint of hesitation, never even breaking his gaze on the Death Knight before him.

As he stood there watching Varimas stick his hand into the box, Wrath couldn't help but overhear Yang and Blake snickering in the background but chose to ignore it for the sake of his own sanity. Those two probably just thought they were being strange or something.

"Well, that certainly made you change your mind quickly." Wrath asked with a smug smile on his face, though under that smug mask, the Death Knight couldn't seem to believe just how quickly Varimas had been swayed. "Did we finally find our courage there Varimas?"

"No, no." Varimas disagreed, propping his other hand against his hip and chuckling before speaking up once more. "The spider just tends to be a little less intimidating when it's crawling up your arm."

"Wait what?" Wrath darted his gaze to his arm, only to see the spider carefully crawling up the dark purple armor that covered the limb. "SHIT!"

Wrath quickly jumped back and began to flail his arm around as he attempted to remove the spider, firing off bolts of runic magic in every which way, nailing a few unlucky garden fixtures in the process.

Varimas was soon watching in glee, laughing as the Death Knight embarrassed himself in ways only he could. "That's what you-... Huh?..."

Both his laughter and joy vanished in an instant as Varimas suddenly felt a pretense on his arm. Without thinking, the Warlock glanced down and saw none other than another spider, almost just as large as the one clinging onto Wrath for dear life, halfway up his arm, it's beady eyes staring holes into his soul.

Silence passed over the garden for that one moment. The last moment of silence those gardens and the rest of the city would hear for the rest of the morning.

Varimas screamed.

"Ahh... You know Nathanos, there are days a small part of me misses these glorious streets." Lady Sylvanas Windrunner, Banshee Queen of the Forsaken, sighed as she and an undead human strolled through the lush and brightly lit street of Silvermoon. She had been meaning to take a small vacation back in her homeland once relations between the Alliance and Horde had settled to an acceptable point.

"Of course M'Lady." Nathanos, the undead human that strode by her side, responded in a manner that would have been almost robotic had the small smirk not apprised on his face to accompany his words.

"It certainly seems more peaceful than when I was a child though..." Sylvanas muttered as she scanned around the city, though she couldn't be sure if she was really looking for something out of place or if she was just overwhelmed from all the recent political arrangements with the Alliance. "I can't... Quite place why however..."

As if on cue specifically to ruin the Banshee Queen's day, an explosion of Felfire suddenly blasted through the courtyard in which she and Nathanos stood, sending a few pieces of masonry surrounding the explosion to the ground, shattering as they impacted the pavement.

Sylvanas quickly drew her bow with practiced precision and nocked a black tipped arrow while Nathanos drew his two blades, both ready to face whatever had just eradicated half a city block.

Suddenly Wrath and Varimas came running by through the smoke of the explosion, blasting spells on themselves and each other, aiming for the spiders, which seemed to dodge every attack with ease.

"Oh... Right... Those two..." Sylvanas muttered in resigned frustration. Nathanos watched the display in absolute utter confusion while Sylvanas merely sighed and retrieved another arrow from her quiver, also nocking it on her bowstring.

Without another word she quickly yanked her bowstring back before taking aim, loosing the two arrows a moment later, nailing both spiders just as Wrath and Varimas launch spells at each other underneath a pillar, causing the roof to collapse on top of them in a loud cacophony of crumbling stone and Varimas' squeals of terror.

After a moment of silence after the dust settled Wrath dug himself out, also revealing a shivering Varimas, who was curled in a fetal position, his masked face darting around in every which direction, petrified another spider would make itself known and lodge itself on his mask.

"...Thanks Sylv..." Wrath muttered as he leaned against a particularly large section of broken pillar, picking out smaller pieces of shattered masonry from his rough ponytail, a scowl on his face.

"Spiders... Spiders... No... No more spiders..." Varimas muttered, still tucked away in his small foxhole made of stone, twitching erratically.

Sylvanas pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed in exasperation once more before turning away from the scene, walking away with a confused Nathanos in tow, not even bothering to acknowledge that she knew the two destructive elves.

Once the two Forsaken leaders were long gone Blake finally appeared, running down the alley from which Wrath and Varimas had first reveal themselves from.

Spotting the two was almost too easy, and the moment she was over by Wrath"/ side, she knelt over and gave Wrath the patronizing look, the 'I told you so' expression written so clearly on her face that words weren't even necessary. Still though, she felt like this would be a good lesson for the elf. "I told you it wasn't a good idea..."

"Yeah, yeah..." Wrath went silent for a moment before glancing up at the Faunus, curiosity present in his gaze. "Hey, uh, Blake?"

"What?"

"Did you happen see who took their hand out first by any chance?"

Blake could only at Wrath for a moment before she slowly shook her head and brought herself to her feet, strolling away before Wrath even realized what she was doing.

"What?!... Blake?!" Wrath called out as he watched the Faunus vanished into one of the many in damaged alleyways that surrounded the courtyard. "Damn it."

"Wrath..." Varimas' voice echoed from his makeshift foxhole, causing the Death Knight to glance back in the direction of his companion.

"Hmm?"

"I take back what I said..."

"Take back what?"

"Spiders aren't the most terrifying thing in the world for me..." The Warlock coughed as he dragged himself from the wreckage of the once beautiful construction. "It's your feldamned plans..."

"Yeah..." Wrath agreed. "Yeah... Same here.."

Don't ask what Wrath said. It wasn't very nice.