Along Came a Spider... :: 4/10 :: Arthur/Melari

[Arthur Forthwind]

Her scream was what brought him down from the tower. It was still early in the morning and Arthur had a few hours left before sleep began to claim him. And anything interesting enough to make a woman scream might just be worthy of investigation. The servants, too, had heard the commotion and hurried down the halls to one of the bedrooms. Who the room belonged to, Arthur couldn't really say. He hadn't slept in this part of the castle for years, as the thick mattress rolled out in his study was more than enough comfort for a few hours rest.

Arthur pushed his way past the two or three maids cluster at the door, trying to catch a glimpse of what had caused the commotion.

"What's all this, then? Someone has a good excuse for all this noise, I hope."

Then he saw it curled on a web in the corner: a jet black spider with thin, pointed legs, and a red spot emblazoned on its back. Arthur took a step into the room, ignoring the other people clustered around the scene. He felt his pulse speed up and a smile begin to snake its way across his face. What a marvelous find, indeed....

[Melari Forthwind]

Melari was shuddering in a heap in the middle of her bed, arms curled tightly around her legs as she stared at the spider in the corner. It was huge. And it had eight legs and more than two eyes and pincers and it was right there! What if it jumped? What if it moved and she didn't know where it was anymore; what if she woke up with the hiss of an armored leg scraping past her ear?

The thought repulsed her and she moved even further back on the bed, hitting her pillow and jumping at the touch. There were probably more. Maybe there were even babies, tucked into the crevices of her bed and the walls and the floorboards, all working tiny pincers dripping with venom...

Someone walked into the bedroom, and Melari was so blinded by tears she didn't see who it was. She didn't care. "Please get it out," she pleaded. "I don't care what you do; just get it away from me!"

[Arthur Forthwind]

Oh, fantastic. The bedroom belonged to one of his cousins, who seemed to believe the best response to the situation was sitting on her bed and bawling like a baby. Arthur shot her an annoyed glance.

"Stop blubbering," he told her. "It won't move unless it feels forced to, so I suggest you quit wailing and compose yourself. The noise will only make it nervous."

Arthur took another step forward and crouched down to get a better look at the creature in the corner. Yes, the markings were unmistakable.

"And if it's bitten you already, I wouldn't worry too much," he called back to her. "Increasing your heart rate will only kill you faster. Did you know the venom this species produces in extremely lethal?"

[Melari Forthwind]

Lethal?!

Melari froze, squeezing her eyes shut and burying her face in her knees. It was just like Arthur to tell her something of that sort when she was in distress, a character trait that brought out the girl's stubborn side. "...It hasn't bitten me."

She still felt like throwing up, but she wasn't going to give her bratty cousin the satisfaction. "What species is it?"

[Arthur Forthwind]

Arthur turned his head and sized up the spider's abdomen.

"I can't be certain just by looking at it here, but the genus is undoubtedly Latrodectus. Strange, though, it isn't often they're found so far north this time of year. They prefer warmer climates." Another thought occurred to him, but the smile and the laugh that followed were anything but good natured. "Maybe it's come in place of my father."

Arthur motioned for one of the maids at the door, but after the comment he'd made earlier none of the girls seemed to want to get anywhere near the spider. He would make sure they were punished later. At the present moment, however, he had other concerns.

"Go down to the kitchen and get a glass jar. One of the ones used for the jams," he commanded, a mix of anger and anticipation in his voice. He didn't want to let an opportunity like this go to waste.

[Melari Forthwind]

Arthur's laugh made Mel's scalp prickle, but she chose to ignore his comment. After all, what could she say? Melari made a mental note of the incident, debating whether or not his father should know about it, but for now there was no point in being concerned. "...It's a widow spider, then." The girl's voice had no heart in it, and she peeked over her knees just in time to see the maids scurrying away. Poor things, she couldn't blame them. For their sakes Mel found her voice, lifting it up to issue a quiet command as she moved cautiously out of bed. "Girls, your assistance isn't needed here. Thank you."

She sounded a lot calmer than she felt, and Mel followed them out only to go to the kitchen and get a jar. It was hard forcing herself to go back to the room now tainted by the hideous spider in the corner, but worry about Arthur made her pick up her pace and return quickly. The lady stood well back, offering him the jar at arm's length. "This should be large enough."

[Arthur Forthwind]

Arthur didn't move to take the jar, but held out his hand for her to bring it to him. "It will do. Come on, hurry up then." If his cousin wanted to act the maid today, he might as well let her. And maids obeyed their master's wishes.

"I'll also need one of your handkerchiefs. Nothing frilly or embroidered half to death, though. Something simple."

[Melari Forthwind]

Mel glared at him, turning wordlessly to pick up an as-yet unembroidered handkerchief. She darted forward and thrust the objects into his hands, then scurried back to be as close to the door as possible. "There."

[Arthur Forthwind]

He took the jar and the handkerchief with a growing feeling of anticipation. Nearly all of his thoughts about his cousin, for better or worse, were pushed out of his head by the tantalizing prospect of the work ahead. Her presence still lurked in the back of his mind, however, and there was one more thing he needed before the operation could begin.

He tried to remember which one she was. They were all the same, anyway. "Thank you, Serai. Now close the door. We don't want it slipping away if it decides to run."

He readied the jar in one hand and the handkerchief in the other. Speed and precision were of the utmost importance now.

[Melari Forthwind]

"I'm Melari," she snapped, although despite herself she couldn't help a twinge of worry. Brat or not, Arthur was still her cousin. "Please, Arthur, maybe this isn't such a good idea. What if it bites you?"

[Arthur Forthwind]

The spider stirred, its legs adjusting to a new position on the trembling web. Arthur's eyes never left the small black form, nor did he turn his head when he replied to his cousin.

"Of course you are. Is the door shut yet?" He leaned forward inch-by-inch to slide the handkerchief directly under the web. "This isn't any more dangerous than bashing at it with a broom. As long as you know what you're doing, of course. Aren't you lucky that I'm just a call away?" True, the call had been a scream, but weren't they essentially the same thing?

With the handkerchief placed, he lined up the jar above the web. "If you're scared, you may want to close your eyes. And try not to cry. I'm going to do it."

He took a sharp breath. With both hands, he brought the jar down in a single sharp movement.

[Melari Forthwind]

Melari retreated even further and clung to the doorframe, closing her eyes with a shudder as Arthur creapt closer to his prize. If the young lord got himself killed, she didn't want to watch. There was a quiet "thud", and no cry of pain, so the young woman dared to open one eye. Her cousin was still alive and rosy, and she gave a sigh of audible relief despite Arthur's rudeness. "Oh, you aren't hurt!" Glory. But how was he going to get the jar off the ground? Surely the spider's fangs could pierce through the fabric, and he couldn't fit his hand beneath the jar anyway. Mel's heart sank, but she crept back into her room and over to the terrifying corner. "How are you going to turn it over?"

[Arthur Forthwind]

Arthur was so concentrated on the capture that he didn't even spare a moment for a small smile of triumph. The jar closed over the spider, just as he'd arranged it to. There was no point in celebrating the inevitable. He could congratulate himself later, when he was examining his new specimen under the magnifying glasses in his study.

He heard his cousin's sigh of relief, but he brushed her concern off without even a shrug of his shoulders. "Of course," he told her. "Like I said, I know what I'm doing. Turning it over is but a simple matter of making sure to keep the fabric taut."

Arthur adjusted his grip so that she could see what he was going from her position next to the door. The handkerchief was on the floor with the mouth of the jam jar pushed down securely on top. The spider's web had been destroyed by the momentum of the jar, and the creature itself scurried around inside the glass for a few moments before becoming still. Each new movement from Arthur's hand brought another bought of restlessness, but the spider had no way to escape from its new prison. With his free hand, Arthur took hold of two opposite edges of the handkerchief and pulled them tightly before flipping the jar up, his catch stuck inside. He made sure not to let his fingers anywhere near the bit of the handkerchief that had contact with the spider, but the force of gravity had caused the creature to tumble down into the bottom half of the glass anyway. It curled its legs closer to its body, trying to appear as small and non-threatening as possible.

Arthur stood to hold the jar up near his cousin's nose, finally letting himself smirk with the satisfaction of a job well done.

"See? It really is a tiny thing. It's amazing something so small can be so dangerous, isn't it?"

[Melari Forthwind]

The girl never thought she could feel sorry for a spider, but seeing it try to make itself small with nowhere to hide made Melari look at it with pity. "Poor little thing. It's as scared of you as I am of it."

She looked too closely, though, and had to shudder and pull back. Poor thing or not, it was still hideous. "What are you going to do with it?"

[Arthur Forthwind]

Arthur frowned and turned the jar to examine the cowering spider. "Scared? It can hardly feel scared. It can't feel much of anything, in fact. It's just an animal, doing as animals do when they're put at a disadvantage. It only makes itself appear small and weak to facilitate its own survival. I assure you, if we were a pair or moths fluttering by, it would spare no time ensnaring us and eating us alive. Predator eats prey; that is how the world works."

He sighed quietly when she retreated again, and lowered the jar to secure it in the crook of his arm. "I'll take it back to the tower and study it, of course. First deduce the species and record its individual characteristics in my notes. Then I suppose I'll do whatever strikes my fancy. It's my right as the predator, after all. Why, would you rather keep it in here with you?" He gave her a devilish smile. "Have you already grown attached to it already, cousin?"

[Melari Forthwind]

"Well, isn't that why we feel fear? Because we want to survive? I don't think it's much different..."

Mel gave her cousin a Look, disapproving. "Of course, humans differ from animals in that we can ascend base instincts and forget about things like the 'right as the predator'. That's just wrong."

Arthur's smile made her shudder, and Melari drew back. "I feel sorry for it. That's not the same as wanting it in my room!"

[Arthur Forthwind]

"I would say there's quite a difference, cousin. It lacks the faculties to process emotion. Any empirical observer can tell you that. But if you don't think so, I urge you to remember what you've said the next time a tasty bird or beast ends up on your plate. You'll certainly come around to the correct way of thing, unless you enjoy starving."

Arthur dropped the pretense of a smile. His errand was complete and he'd had his fun. Now her attempts to give a lecture on ethics only bored him. "Any man who denies his nature becomes a slave to it, cousin. It's the mark of a fool to think oneself above the laws of the world, you know."

He would have liked to leave, but she was blocking the doorway with all of her cowering. "Very well, I'll take it where you don't have to squeal about it anymore. If you'd kindly get the door, I'll be on my way."

[Melari Forthwind]

"I do feel badly for the animals I eat, you know. But humans can't survive without meat; I don't really have a choice about that..."

Ugh. Why was she even arguing with him? There was no way to win and he likely didn't care anyway. Mel bit her tongue and stepped out of the door, thanking her cousin as politely as she could manage. "Thank you for getting that out of my room."

[Arthur Forthwind]

Finally. He couldn't wait to get back to work. Arthur inclined his head, trying for a look of humility that he didn't feel in the slightest. "I do what I can, cousin. Good day to you."

He cradled the jar in his arms as he started up a brisk walk back to his tower.