It waited, patiently, while its holder investigated the soil and searched for the ideal place. It had appreciation for the attention and care with which it went about its task - a good place for its heart would ensure a fruitful future - it, perhaps, was the most important thing to this being.
They stopped moving (how strange it was to move so quickly too!) and the vibrations alerted it to the place Lichen had chosen. And then cool, damp dirt was being pressed to it, to give it a sense before it was buried for good. With its own physical senses, it tasted the soil for its nutrients and was delighted to find there were many. Healthy life existed here, the dampness was a good level, enough to encourage its growth without drowning. It was the soil from the base of a tree, from the presence and lack of chemicals signals. While it did not know about the other plants here, it trusted that this creature had found the right spot.
So excited it was in the moment to declare this the perfect spot, the magic it cast was a little too enthusiastic, and instead of connecting to the dragon in front of it, it instead touched the mind of a songbird in the trees above, which fluttered away in a panic as the odd voice spoke in its ear. This escaped the fungus's notice.
The dirt was dropped when Lichen startled at the bird above. It took a beat longer than expected, but she cupped a hand over the amber; she wasn't going through all this trouble just to have it snatched up by another creature. Not that she could see where it was, or knew what had caused the beast to move. A beat longer as Lichen strained, listening for anything else nearby; upon deciding the poor bundle wouldn't be snatched up, she removed her claws from covering the being.
...The dirt just kept falling back into the burrow she was trying to make under the tree. Filling itself back in before she'd made any decent headway. Admittedly, she'd never made a burrow before, but the hubris of 'how hard could it be' apparently couldn't compensate for skill.
Confusion overtook it a bit when its holder responded in a way as if it hadn't heard. Yes, it also thought the soil was nice, hadn't it just said? Perhaps something had disconnected between the two, or it had attuned to fungal channels instead of sentient ones. Ah, well, it could feel the warm earth below it shifting and moving as the creature dug. Deeply, hopefully, or deep enough at least. Where nobody could dig it up again.
It was less patient now, with the anticipation of its hope so close ahead, but it could do nothing to hurry the thing along. At least, though - at last!! - it was being lowered into the soil. If it could make noise it would have squealed in delight or sighed in relief as all the fungal strands were engulfed by soil, leaving a single hole to the outside before it was buried for good. It could hear the thrumming of a tree's roots nearby, so close. It could probably get there in a day or two.
Its magic reached Lichen this time, still disjointed and fading in and out, yet joyful and bright.
It had no choice but to trust this one with this location. While it would have preferred for its vulnerability to be a secret from everyone, with its situation it simply wasn't possible. Before the spell faded, it sent a last few words through to impart the importance of this -
Lichen felt oddly, proud. It wasn't everyday she'd aid another, but it was a good feeling in her chest, especially when the being sounded so delighted. Yet, that feeling quickly turned sour. Completely defenceless? Relying on only the hope that no one would find it? Any creature could go digging for roots and accidentally or purposefully find its way to The Being.
With a deep scowl she leaned upwards, patting her packs for the fruits for her previous task; food.
Eventually, she pulls out what she's looking for, a few loose grassy shoots, a meagre handful of berries and a scraggily already half-rotten cave rat leg. The less delicious finds of her search for food. With a large amount of hesitation, she eventually puts the items into her maw, chewing them into a paste. After spitting the paste out, she stuck the cave rat leg into it, then set to mixing it with some of the soil she'd dug out of the hole.
The dragon sat back on her haunches, gathering the soil to gently push it towards the hole, to cover what she'd buried. Uncertain if The Being could even hear her, she still spoke.
No one could know about this. Not for the sake of her sanity. Yet, this Being was easier to talk to than most people she'd met, it told her what it wanted and seemed pleased when it happened. It was nice. It'd be a shame for this to be the last time she'd see it, whether due to it being eaten or it simply being forgotten here.
@The Chorus
Again the being found itself confused - the soil was not covering it yet. The walking one was talking of something else and doing something it could not see. Yes, it knew it had to grow quickly - it had the plan in mind already - it would grow towards the tree and latch onto the roots and with the energy and nutrients, it would fortify its heart. For a few days, it would be vulnerable, but if it worked quickly, it would soon tangle its heart deep into the threads of mycelium. Too hard and too protected for anything less then a purposeful attack to penetrate.
No accidental creatures digging it out, it would be too tangled, too thickly buried within its own fortified body. They would give up quickly, or give it enough time for magic to scare it away. No other fungus in the forest would be able to resist or break through either. In its mind, the plan would work. If only it could get into the tree quickly...
Ah, but the walking one had thought of that already! Into the hole came a mixture of the soil and other things, mashed fruits and grass, and a bit of meat that was well-thought but would unfortunately go uneaten. A bit of the berries juices already pressed against the fungal strands and it immediately began to feed on it. Without even having to grow itself to reach! Ah, this would help it along - give it an extra few days to fortify its heart before it truly began to expand.
The kindness of this creature delighted the young fungus. While it had lost direct contact with it, calculating vibrations and chemical signals in the soil, and hearing its voice still above, it knew it was in the same spot it had been before and reached for it again with magic.
It doubted that the walking one would understand its meaning. After all, it was so small now. Barely more then an inch in size. But when it grew...oh, it had a vision. Ambition. One day she would see.
Lichen's movements only paused to listen. She sincerely hoped that would be enough, and that The Being's words came to fruition. That one day it would be big enough to make do so easily on its own. That this small thing would persevere.
With clawed hands she scoops soil, cupping it and pushing it back into the hole to fill it. The work is methodical, made easier knowing that she was needed; though she would no doubt be exhausted later..
She'd sensed the wrongness that lingered within the mycelial networks here. Though, she could never put a claw on what exactly made it wrong, she didn't like it. Some distant part of her hoped that this Being would grow and set Eridanus back to rightness. After all, a fungus-gem-thing would surely be a formidable force in the fungi world. She couldn't remember the last time she'd encountered any fungus with talent, let alone such latent magic. Still, those were distant hopes.
With a gentle press on the loose soil, her work is complete and the hole is filled back up. Then, as an afterthought, she scoops up some of the scattered leaf litter. Then, pushes it over the recently filled in hole. She could only hope it looked natural, after all, she couldn't actually see her work. With a final, fond pat on filled hole, she rises to leave.
What a strange day.
,,exit
No more words were exchanged between the two and the being preferred that. It was exhausted by the effort of its magic and it had much work ahead of it. It could feel the pressure increasing as more and more soil was pressed on top and at last it felt safe. Protected by a barrier of earth, where it was quiet and cool and brimming with nutrients just waiting for it to feast upon. For now, it began to set its sights on the slurry surrounding it, the strange conglomeration of chewed berries and grass. This would sustain it while it fortified its heart.
It felt the vibrations above as the walking one stepped away. While she had never imparted her name, the being did not think it needed one. It would recognize the exact tenor of her steps, the chemical signals it felt on her form. The levels of her voice and the exact way its vibrations touched its hyphae. It would not forget - there was nothing it would forget.
Gratitude was one of the first things it knew. She had done a great service to the young life, however trivial it seemed to her. It would return this gratitude one day. This, it promised.
*exit