A Tale of Spiders and the Optimistic

	Meryl scudded her feet along the dirt path, fighting to keep her eyes open and straining to see through the darkness.  She found herself unable to focus on anything, staring off into nothingness whenever she could pry her eyelids apart.  “Four in the morning,” She grumbled.  “Why does it have to be four in the morning?”
	The robed figure behind her piped up.  “I’unno, Sis.  Me ‘n Ellie were up earlier to chase off some foxes and we were both wide awake.  Had enough time to get some wheat in from the fields, too!”  The pudgy, girlish body beside her nodded and made a few simple, charade-esque motions.
	“Shaddup, Zette,” Meryl said dismissively, prompting a deep chuckle to sound behind the two girls.  “Shaddup, Marty.”
	“Sorry, Meryl,” the boy quipped.  “Just, you’re usually the one that’s all excited to get a job done.  What’s your excuse this time?”
	Zette prodded Meryl in the back.  “Yea, what happened to that big-hero-sister of mine?  Thought you’d be looking forward to work for once!”
	“Right now, she’s asleep,” Meryl griped as she waved her hand behind her in a futile attempt at smacking her little sister across the face.  How fun it would be to slap that snide, little…
	Ellie tapped Zette on the shoulder and gestured at the bags on her hips and back, mimicking a sipping motion.  Zette prodded her sister in the back again.  “Ellie’s got some coffee beans if ya wanna make somethin’ once we’re inside, Meryl.”
	Meryl ran her palms down her cheeks, still struggling to stay focused on the path ahead.  “Y’think I brought my cooking pot?  She brought all her stuff…and she’s not half dead.  Couldja make some for us, Ellie?”  Ellie nodded, and dug through her bags to pull out a compact pot and a ladle.  She looked back at Marty and wiggled her fingers, puffing out her cheeks.  Woooosh.  He ruffled her hair and smiled.  “Yeah, I gotcha covered.”
	Just a few more steps, Meryl kept telling herself.  Just a few…few more…just…
	She tripped over a rock, landing face-first in the dirt.  Zette grabbed Meryl’s arm and began dragging her along the ground.  “C’mon, sleepy face.”
	The four eventually reached a small opening to a cave.  The entrance was tall enough to fit two people, and wide enough for six.  A dim light emanated from the entrance.  “C’mon, Sis,” Zette grunted, pulling Meryl to her feet.  “Don’t wanna drag ya across a stone floor.”  Meryl stumbled to her feet, awkwardly fumbling her steps as she walked inside, following the other three.
	Inside, torches were mounted to the walls, burning bright enough to seem newly lit.  A statue of a winged woman, kneeling and resting a sword on a pedestal was in the middle of the room.  This small area looked as though it had been cleaned for a guest to visit, or possibly to host a party.  Not a grain of dust or dirt was visible in the room, and the statue was in perfect shape – not a chip or crack in sight.
	Meryl faltered over to a corner and plopped down, resting back against the wall and dusting her face and clothes off.  It was awkward, sitting down for her; she had multiple straps on her back and around her waist, each holding at least one potential weapon.  Around her small hips, her belt held two identical swords and a quiver, which contained a hefty amount of bolts.  Slung on her back was a sword, longer than she was tall, with the name “Lina” engraved on its sheath, and a simple crossbow, left to dangle off of the sword’s pommel.  Her long, white hair had been caught inside the sheath of her sword and the lock on her crossbow that morning as she forced herself out the door.  Her pearly skin and deep blue eyes shone in the warm light of the torches above and around her.
	Marty knelt in front of the statue and silently prayed, his brown eyes and greasy, brown hair shimmering in the torchlight.  “We will cleanse this domain in your name, my goddess.”   He stood up and touched his hand to the winged woman’s, gently cupping it and embracing the cold stone.
	Ellie wandered over to Meryl, setting up her pot down and rummaging through her bags.  Meryl reached over and idly flicked at a few strands of Ellie’s soft, light brown hair that had managed to escape the ponytail that held them.  She used to tease Ellie about her hair turning frizzy when it was humid back when they were little.  Zette would always intervene and defend her.  Though, Meryl had grown to enjoy toying with the loose strands over time, and hadn’t teased Ellie about her hair for years at this point.
	Ellie pulled out a glass bottle and a small leather pouch, emptying the bottle of water and a small sack of brown beans into the pot.  Meryl always found it amusing Ellie kept pouches within her bags, and would always think to herself about how silly the notion was.  Heh, bags inside bags.  Heheheheh.  Ellie whistled over at Marty, getting his attention and motioning him over.  He plodded over, as requested, and held his hand under the pot.
	A small snap of his fingers, and a spark jolted from his fingertips; a small flame had appeared under the pot.  Ellie waved her hands frantically at Marty, shaking them higher and higher.  He understood, and tensely curled his fingers, causing the flame to intensify.  During this, Zette busied herself with a small book of hers, intrigued by the intricate patterns and sketches on every other page of the old tome.
	Meryl watched as the water began to simmer and Ellie began squishing at the beans with her ladle in an attempt to crush them.  Meryl focused on the water boiling, watching the bubbles…start to…
	She slumped over, eyes closed and cheek pressed against the side of the pot.
	With a start, Meryl’s eyes shot open as she jumped back against her corner, yelling in shock as she grabbed her face and kicked her legs frantically.  Marty jumped, startled, flipping the pot over and onto the ground in his panic splashing the water in the pot against the wall.  Ellie laughed silently to herself, leaving her ladle to rest on the overturned pot before walking over to Zette and playing with her thick, braided white hair and peeking at her book.  It seemed that Zette didn’t notice the commotion, or possibly just didn’t care enough to look.
	Meryl took a sigh in an attempt to calm herself.  “Linaaaa,” She groaned at nothing in particular.  The pommel of her gigantic sword glowed dimly.  “Yes, Master!” A small girl’s voice was heard as a small glow covered Meryl’s new burn mark.  She wiped at her face, making the light fade and revealing her cheek had been mended; no mark was left as evidence of the recent incident.  She stood up and stretched, shaking her legs out.  “Alright, alright, I’m awake.”
	Marty scratched his head, looking Meryl’s face over.  “Good as new, I’d say.  She’s getting better at that.  You taught her?”
	Meryl nodded, satisfied.  “Yup.  But, I gotta avoid getting messed up for about a day, now.  Lina’s not exactly thorough when she has to heal someone up a lot of different times.  Ready to go?”  Marty nodded, looking over to Ellie and Zette.  They were laying down, Zette resting her head on Ellie’s stomach.  She didn’t want to admit it, but she liked Ellie’s new figure, simply because it was soft.  He smiled warmly at the two.  “D’aww.  Do we have to interrupt them?”
	Meryl rolled her eyes and trotted over, pulling Zette up roughly.  “C’mon, you two.  Chubby-cuddles can wait.”  Zette frowned and lightly socked her sister in the arm.
	“Bluh, fine.  C’mon, Ellie,” Zette called and helped Ellie up.  Meryl had already been at an even smaller entrance at the other side of the room, Marty catching up to her.
	Marty whispered covertly to her, “Is it really fair if you make the losers of your cooking contests eat everything that was made?”  She shrugged, refusing to say why.  Truth was, she just wanted to make Zette happy, though at Ellie’s waist’s expense.
	The four cautiously paced down the narrow corridor, examining the walls and floor for any abnormalities.  The floor was damp; puddles had formed in every small crevice that was available.  Cobwebs dangled and crawled down from the ceiling and across walls, hiding nests of transparent eggs from plain sight.  Still, along the walls at regular intervals, were torches; they all seemed as though they were newly lit, despite their possible age.  The air was musty, and felt like a challenge to strain any clean air out of it.  Water droplets formed at the ceiling and dropped onto (seemingly only) Meryl’s head continuously.  “Spiders.  What’s so bad about spiders?”  She protested.  “They’re tiny.  The ones here aren’t even poisonous.”
	Marty shrugged.  “They’re big enough to cause concern, apparently.  I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw some the size of dogs or something.”  Ellie kicked at Marty’s calf and glared at him.  “Ow!  Uh…sorry, Ellie.  Don’t mean to freak you out any more then you are.”  Ellie was never was fond of spiders.  They always seemed to enjoy leaving welts on her feet whenever she slept, making walking a difficulty for her on occasion.
	They came to a clearing – a large, spacious room bordered by small rivers.  The air smelled of rotten meat, weighing heavily in the fours’ lungs.  The ceiling was obscured by a thick layer of fog floating overhead, possibly created by the streams evaporating.  The room was devoid of any life but the four young adults.  In the center of the room, about twenty paces away, was a simple chest, lacking any locks or hinges for the lid.
	Meryl approached the chest and studied it for a small moment.  After kicking and prodding it a few times, she shrugged.  “Hey, no spiders, but free stuff!”  She shoved the lid off of the chest and onto the ground, revealing nothing inside the box.  “Or not.  What a bust,” she complained, disappointed.
	A small rock fell and landed on Meryl’s head.
	She exclaimed and rubbed her head, looking up.
	Her arms dropped to her sides as she stared blankly upward at the large, bulbous, red figure just a dozen or so feet above her.
	The other three looked at her, minds boggled.  Simultaneously, they all looked up towards the ceiling, jaws dropping as they saw what Meryl had seen.
	Meryl reached behind her, taking her crossbow in hand and freeing her hair as she prepared to aim it upward.  She squeezed the release, sending the bolt hurdling toward the mass of whatever-it-was.
	A loud, piercing shriek was heard as the colossal body dropped to the ground, landing with a room-shaking thud.  Its legs flailed frantically as it tried to upright itself.
	A giant spider.
	The size of two adult bears.
	None of them could believe it, and simply stared at it in wonder.  Meryl slung her crossbow on her back, and drew Lina from her sheath.  “You ready?”
	“Hell yeah!” The small girl’s voice was heard again.
	Meryl looked at the sword, unimpressed.  “Where’d you learn language like that?”
	The spider rocked itself side to side, flipping over to its front and faced the four.  Its mandibles open and shut furiously, its fangs jumping up and down frantically.  Its beady eyes glared at each of the aggressors, burning with hatred.
	“Well, nice knowing you guys,” Meryl said, newly terrified.
	A small pebble-like object flew and struck the spider in an eye.
	Zette had flung something – a pellet – no, a shard, at the spider.  A small ring of ice had formed around her, orbiting lazily around her body.  “We got a few more years, Sis, don’t worry.”
	The spider turned to charge toward Zette, when a short burst of water struck its leg with tremendous force, knocking it off balance.  Ellie had a glass cylinder slung under her arm, and stuck a small crystal inside.  She pounded a lever back and forth furiously, powdering the crystal and building up immense pressure inside the glass wrist-cannon.  She kept her sights trained on the spider’s legs, firing off bursts of water in rapid succession to keep it off balance.
	The spider shrieked and hissed, enraged as it became blinded and stumbled along, trying to chase and pin someone down.  Meryl slipped between the spider’s madly dancing legs, thrusting her sword upward and into its massive body and quickly sawing through its exoskeleton.
	The spider dropped down, allowing itself to fall onto Meryl in an attempt to crush her.  Marty sprinted forward and grabbed onto the spider’s head.  Jets of flames burst out of his palms, searing the spider’s mandibles and eyes, forcing it to stumble back and off of Meryl.  She had kept her grip on her sword, but not much else; she was dazed, and struggled to get her footing again.  Zette rushed over and helped her to her feet, leading her to a corner, hopefully away from the monstrosity that refused to flee or, preferably, die.  Lina had been left inside the spider’s abdomen.  “Hey!  You forgot meeeee!”  She cried, as the spider swayed and stomped.
	The spider skittered toward Ellie, stopping each time she sent a burst of water towards its legs.  It was too close; she couldn’t risk loading more into her cylinder.  She quickly reached into her bag and pulled out the first thing she could grab, swinging it at the spider’s face.  A pan struck the spider with a delightful spang, leaving it reeling back and shrieking from the blunt force it incurred.  She glanced at the pan in amazement for a moment, and then swung it downward on top of the spider’s head, causing it to drop to the ground and flail its legs frantically, trying to get itself back up.  “Eep!” Lina shrieked as her blade was driven further into the spider.
	Marty ran over and repeatedly stomped on the spider’s head, trying to get it to stay down.  “Meryl, get over here!  Now!”  The spider began staggering to its feet, to which Marty greeted with a quick burst of fire.  He formed a small O in front of his mouth and spat fire over the monstrosity’s eyes, forcing it back to the ground.
	Zette wrapped her arm around Meryl’s shoulders and drug her along, straining to get to the colossus as fast as possible.  Meryl hobbled along, not quite sure what was happening.  As she got within five strides to the spider, she snapped back to reality, grabbing the two blades at her hips.  She tore herself from Zette, sprinting for the last few feet to the spider, and drove her swords downward, through its cranium.  The behemoth’s legs flailed in agony and its body squirmed about, trying to wrench itself free from the ground.  Its movements slowly became lax, and eventually came to a halt.
	Meryl vigorously yanked her swords free, wiping them off on her pant legs and sheathing them with a bit of flair.  “Did I ever tell you guys,” She exclaimed triumphantly, “how much I love you?”
	Marty laughed heartily, taking Meryl’s hand as the two brought each other close, grinning broadly.  Ellie and Zette both flopped to the ground, Zette landing on Ellie’s stomach, exhausted and trying to get past the revelation of what they had just accomplished.  Meryl and Marty spun each other around, laughing carelessly until they fell to the ground.
	“So, Sis?”  Zette piped up.  “Still sure ya wanna join the paladins after this?”
	Meryl rolled over and stared her sister in the face.  “Zette, what in Hell makes you think I’ll change my mind about that?  Of course I’ll be a paladin!  I’m gonna be the best damn paladin the world’s ever known!”  She boasted proudly, making Zette giggle at her sister’s pride.
	A muffled sound came from the spider.  The four quickly sprung back up, ready to finish the beast off.  After a few awkward moments of muffling, Meryl curiously rolled the spider over onto its back, revealing Lina, still wedged into the spider’s abdomen.  “How’d ya forget me that easy, idiot?”  Meryl smiled sheepishly and quickly replaced Lina onto her back.
	The four exited the cave, going back down the dirt road they had followed before.  It was still dark out; there was no sign of the sun yet.  They all had agreed on lying out in the fields with the sheep until the sun rose, content with shooing foxes away from the fluffy sheep until noon came.