User blog:Redknight910/WWYD Arachne ExdeathsBagel

I've been training and working towards this for some time now, and I made my desicion the night before.

"I will serve the Pillar of the Arachne." The captain smiled.

"Very well. It's good to see someone who has thought about this before arriving at my office. You'd be surprised how many leave it to last minute." He directed me towards the pillar, and I made my way there.

Really, directions weren't needed to find any of the pillars, since they each had a litteral pillar with a statue of their respective mamono atop them. As I approach the arachne pillar, the scenery begins to change, as it does for each pillar. The number of buildings multiply, and grow more compact, creating narrow streets and alleys. Here and there I spot webbing covering a door or window, sometimes even creating a tripwire that I need to step over.

I fail to spot one trap, a snare that lifts me into the air.

"Well, well, well, what have we here?" Comes a feminine voice from one of the alleys. I look around but can't see the owner of the voice, until a whistle draws my eyes up. There's an arachne with a dark blue lower body, wearing a matching silken shirt and hood, standing on the edge of a rooftop, holding a loop of webbing.

"You one of the new knights?" I nod, opening my mouth to speak before she holds up a hand. "No no no, no need to talk. I'm Captain Dirasha, and you are the newest member of my unit." My confusion must be written on my face, since she laughs after a few moments.

After pulling me up to the rooftop with her, my new captain explains how in the arachne pillar, any soldier who wants to become a captain must capture their own troops, to ensure they are worthy of being the captain of said soldiers. She motions down to the maze of buildings.

"Anyone who makes it all the way into the pillar without being caught is put under the direct command of Lady Niss, our leader." I look around, spotting several others sitting in wait on different rooftops, waiting for their traps to spring. I look out and notice the pillar isn't far from the rooftop we're sitting on.

"So, is there any rhyme or reason to who get's to set up where?"

"Other than you need a recommendation from your current captain? It's all about the unit you want. If you want a big unit, you set up near the edge of the grounds, if you want a good unit, you set up further in and hope it's been a skilled year." I look towards the pillar and notice only a few arachne are set up further in.

"What's you're name soldier?"

" Arais  Tythir." She nods and writes my name down on a piece of paper.

"With you I just need one more to qualify for a captaincy. There's a tunnel underneath the buildings, you can get to the pillar safely through there." Her smiling face turns serious as she takes in a breath.

"Now report to the pillar soldier." She says with all the authority she can muster. "Oh, and... wish me luck?" She adds with another goofy grin.

I walk down through the building, apparently also set with traps and obstacles, and continue towards the pillar, noticing there are many more people down here than there were topside. When we reach the end of the tunnel there are a few guards waiting for us.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"Follow me to the assignment office." One of the guards leads a group of us towards one of several large tents near the base of the pillar. Each one is a dull brown, scattered with boards and dirt around it. We line up and get given a name, then pointed towards the barracks to find our partner. When I approach the bench the man sitting at the table looks at a list.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"Name?" He asks, his face stern and emotionless.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">" Arais  Tythir." He looks down the list and crosses something out, presumably my name.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"You're partner is Mythia Tyrei, black body, pale skin, wears a bow in her hair." He hands me the note with her name on it before pointing me towards the northern barracks.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">I make my way to the barracks, along with a half dozen other knights. When we open the doors we're greeted by quite the sight. Rows of hammocks are hung from rods on the walls, and a set of stairs leads to floors below the ground. I look for my partner, but don't see anyone matching her description. I get one of the arachne's attention and ask if I can find her here. She looks me over, then smiles mischeviously.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"Yeah, she's on the third floor, just call for her, it'll be easier that way." I follow her instructions, the crowd thins considerably as I go deeper into the barracks. When I get to the third floor I call for Mythia, only to be hauled into the air. Mythia is standing on a web built from the roof, smile wide on her face.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"So, your my partner, huh?" She pulls me into the web and cuts the string holding me up. "We'll need to do something about this armour, it's going to clang like a kitchen in an earthquake, not to mention the shine of the metal."

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"Yeah, nice to meet you too." She laughs at my grumpiness.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"Oh, sorry. We're each meant to make our partners clothing, so I was just trying to get a measure of your gear." She holds out a black chitin-covered hand. "Mythia Tyrei, ninth generation knight of Arachne." I raise an eyebrow, getting a sullen look from her. "Most people are impressed..." With a sigh I take her hand.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"It is an impressive record.   Arais  Tythir. I guess your ancestors have quite the list of accomplishments?" Her smile returns with a new brightness.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"My great grandmother was on of Lay Niss' own elites. She's... kind of our families mark to beat." I chuckle at the description.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"So, your family competes for a legacy?" She turns to me, blushing slightly.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"Oh, no, nothing like that. I mean she's like... our goal to beat, kind of like a record holder for the family." I nod, starting to understand her family's competitive spirit.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"Hey! Mythi, get your butt down here! Captaincy presentation's starting in two!" The girl looked down to see an ushi-oni calling her.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"Right, we'll be down in  moment Shi!" She grabs me and throws me onto her back, before leaping from the web, sliding down a rope of webbing to land with a surprisingly soft grace. We make our way out, Shira walking alongside us with her partner, Nathiel.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">When we get out there's a stage set up around the pillar, with five arachne and their partners standing atop it. I recognised the one that had caught me standing with a dark skinned man, both of them trying and failing to hide giddy smiles.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">A dark crimson arachne, wearing a flowing set of black and red robes with a matching veil was looking out over the crowd.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"Attention." Her voice was soft as silk, but commanded a respect few could refuse. "As per the pillar of the arachne code, we have five new captains to announce." She turned to the ten people standing on the stage.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"Atha and Thirys Remai, you captured twelve knights from the fourth row." Another pair approached and handed them a pair of shawls, which they promptly placed over their shoulders, drawing the hoods to cover their eyes.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"Rima and Wesar, you captured eight knights, from the ninth row." The process repeated, and the names were called, until the last was the one that had captured me.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"Narine and Fathos Tyrei, you captured six knights from the twenty-fourth row." The pair were handed their shawls and they accepted them, their smiles only growing wider. Mythia cheered from the crowd.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"I knew she could do it." She whispered happily.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"What's the relationship? Is she your sister?" Mythi looked at me, blushing.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"Aunt. Way to make me feel old." Now I blush.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"Sorry, just wondering who we're going to be taking orders from." She turns to me, eyes narrowing, before springing back open in surprise.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"You mean..." There's a call to silence again and our attention is brought back to the crimson arachne.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"To all who were captured by a captain who did not meet the requirements, report to your captor, and they will take you to your new captain." With that the woman turned and walked off of the stage, while the new captains began calling names off of a list. My name was called, and Mythia was all but dragging me towards them.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"Aunt Nari!" She called, getting a surprised look from the newly proclaimed captain. She handed the list over to her partner, before wrapping her arms around my new partner.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"Mythi! Come to congratulate your aunt?" She had a cheeky smile on her face, as did Mythia.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"Nope. Reporting in with my partner, Arais." Narine looked down at me, and her smile widened.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"Well, what are the chances? Hope you don't expect special favours for being family." Mythia giggled, giving a salute.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"Never dream of it, captain." They both broke into a laughing fit.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"Um, dear?" Fathos, grabbed his wife's arm to get her attention, when she turned her eyes went wide. When I saw what they were looking at my jaw practically hit the ground. The tallest ushi-oni I'd ever seen was standing before us, her body covered in a dark purple hair, while her talons were like onyx.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"Dinyar and Faroth, reporting in." Our new captains shook off their surprise and nodded.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"Well, at least we'll be well equipped for ambush missions." Narine said with a smile, holding out a hand. It looked like a child's in comparison to the ushi's.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"Dinyar Rifos, at your command." She said with a smile.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"Faroth Eishos, ready to serve." Her partner bowed, holding an arm over his chest.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">After all names had been called we numbered three arachne, two joro-gumo, and the ushi-oni. Narine seemed quite pleased with the team she'd assembled.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"Alright everyone. As your new captains, I'd like to start by commending you for reaching us so close to the pillar. We'll have you all equipped for operations by the end of the week, then our first mission begins." She gives us all a smile and Fathos gives a fist pump.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"Let's make this captaincy a great one!" He shouted with a grin, getting a round of cheers from everyone.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"One last thing." He grabs a box, opening it to produce a set of twelve badges, all bearing a moon with a pair of dark blue fangs crossed over it. "Welcome to the Lunar Fangs."