ORIGIN - it's a real fun-guy

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That was even more food for thought. Did she want it destroyed? Lichen, truthfully, didn't know. With a deep sigh, she tried to put these thoughts into words. "I don't know, my friend." She began, idly toying with the soil beneath her claws.

"I'm not certain I should have the power to choose if something should live or die. Perhaps, there are others out there who have that power, but not me." A beat passes. "I'm not certain what it is. My instincts don't like it, but-- I don't know if that's reason enough to destroy something." Lichen turns her head towards the tree, or at least where she thinks it is, where the heart of her friend is buried.

"I think that's a choice you should make, if you meet it." She presses her beak-tips together. What would Aurelle say? "I think, I don't want to see you hurt. But, I'm not someone who can give orders on what should live or not. I don't think that's fair for you, or for me."

Lichen, despite the inner turmoil, preened a little at her own words. Perhaps Aurelle would be proud of her diplomatic words; it was certainly an improvement over a much younger Lichen who may have just said 'I don't care, kill it if you want'.

At least the second request was much easier to handle. It held much less moral weight. "There's a place not far from Orion. It's like nowhere I've been before; it smells warm. And they heat food there, they make it all warm for you to eat. But, you have to give them coins for it." Lichen began patting herself down, before remembering she hadn't allowed herself the responsibility of carrying the coins. "Perhaps, I could bring you something from there, too. I have a friend, Aurelle, she really likes the hot food from that cave. Maybe you'll like it too."

@The Chorus

Lichen's words had the voices of the Chorus thinking. They quietly whispered to each other as they considered the same queries she presented. Should they have the power over life and death? What gave them the right to decide? At what point does power dictate that you should have that power?

Abdicus was asked many times, yet it did not form a full answer. Not until one of the voices on the fringes - Varien, brought up a good point - they had the right, for they were brave. If they saw a competitor, they devoured it. If they saw roots, they burrowed. They were strong enough to rip their enemies from the soil and pull their roots apart. Did that not give them the right over life and death, for they had the will to do so?

The central voice echoed this sentiment - very right, just as others had power over life and death in regards to them. It was fair, then, that an enemy with thoughts of vengeance would be able to rip them out of the ground and pull their strands apart with ease, for they had that power over them. Willpower to enact, strength to follow through. Is that not what gave one the power over life and death?

They reached out to Lichen with their resolution - "If they do not threaten us, or our home, we shall leave them be. But if they do, and we have the power to remove them, we shall. We think that is what gives us the right - a reason and a will." It is, after all, what separated the Chorus from other fungi. They had thought and they had will. That was more then enough.

"Do not fear for us," they whispered, almost a laugh. "We are tenacious. If we are overwhelmed, we can simply cut off those in danger and regrow them. Our only danger is our heart...which is why we shall tell no one else where to find it. As long as it remains safe...we will survive."

They listened to Lichen's description with joy, some of the voices trying to replicate for the others what Lichen was describing, chemical signals replicating a gentle heat. The sound of murmuring voices. The concept of taste (although that was a little beyond their ability to understand). "We appreciate it...we would like to see how it feels. Alas, we do not taste as you do. But we would like to know the joy of it..."

@Lichen

The dragon slumped down into the soil as she allowed the Fungi time to consider all she'd said. She wasn't foolish enough to consider that these things may need time for something so young to consider.

That, in itself, was enough to give her pause. No one expected youngsters to have grand philosophical revelations; most youngsters she knew of were playing and discovering the world around them. As was the right of the young, freedom to discover the world they'd been thrust into. To experience elation and joy whilst they learned what to expect from this world of theirs. Perhaps thoughts of life, death and the right to take and give life were too much for an organism so young.

Though this one was truly spectacular, perhaps it had little need to play. Did they play? They learned. Were their experiences so different that true empathy could never be achieved? Or was that too a learned skill?

Lichen shook her head, as if to clear the thoughts away. "That's.. very noble of you." She uttered and found she believed it to be true, "you're wise for your age."

The corners of her eyes wrinkled with a faint amusement, more so at herself. It wasn't every day she was schooled by fungi. "Yes, yes, you're right. I think I have to learn that.. losing part of a body-- or uh, self, is different for both of us."

"And that you do not taste as I do," she added quietly. After a moment of consideration she asks, "do you feel the cold?"

@The Chorus

Noble? The fungi conversed. Were they noble? Was their protectiveness of their homeland noble? Was their desire to rip out a scourge of nature noble? They did not really know what nobility was. They had no known one that they would define "noble". Perhaps Lichen was noble, they wouldn't know. They whispered to each other, thinking, considering. How would they describe themselves?

As some of them talked and continued to think, the rest reached back out to Lichen to explain - "We...do not know if that is nobility. We think we are...protective. And ambitious. We have goals. We will remove what threatens us."

There was amusement at the claim of wisdom. That, they could agree on. "Yes...we do little day to day but speak with each other. Think and consider and grow. We are many yet one. We do not have strength of body or mobility, so we must have strength of mind and thought."

There was a murmur of agrement, and some lament that they could not taste as Lichen did. They could not experience all that she could, although some argued that it was a tradeoff - she would never know the infinite feeling that their network allowed, the stretching of the consciousness over many beings, many voices, many sensations all at once.

"Indeed, we experience differently. Perhaps one day we will have the ability to show you what it is like to be Us. The cold? Yes, we feel that. We experience that which is important to our survival. We enjoy the damp. We like both warm and cool air. We have not know true cold yet...what does it feel like?"

@Lichen

Lichen hummed as she considered her Fungi-Friends. She supposed she considered those noble traits, she never had much in the way of ambition herself, but protective? She could see herself being protective, if in a somewhat less noble way. The sour feeling caused her to grimace.

"Your goals? Are those the same ones to grow? To see more of the caves?" Lichen asked, she hadn't considered that her friend may have more ambitious goals than even that. Though, that in itself was already extremely ambitious, or so she thought. She struggled to maintain her own tiny corner, but to spread throughout the caves would be.. impossible perhaps, for someone like her.

"You are strong in mind and thought." There was only a half-beat of consideration before she admitted, "you are wonderful to talk to. You all force us to think outside of what I know, which I think is a good thing." Lichen spoke gently, and just as before, found it to be true.

Then she considered her brief foray into Ursa. "It feels tingly on your edges. It makes you feel slow, and sleepy." Lichen tilted her head, then thought more of outside of her cold-blooded experiences. "It makes snow, I think it's frozen water, but its soft, not like ice which is hard."

"I don't think it's a place for me or yourself, but there's a cave just like that. Full of snow and ice and.. well, cold." Another pause to gather her thoughts. "It's very wet and you have to dig to find the soil and plants. I've always wondered what lives in a place like that."

@The Chorus

They were pleased with Lichen, that she understood. They figured she did, at least. She understood their ambition, which was so deeply rooted at their core of their being that they wondered if there was anything else there besides voices echoing facets of its desire. Growth. Expansion. Eyes everywhere, no part of the caves escaping from their watchful gaze.

So excited they were that they, for lack of a better word, stumbled on their cast to continue the conversation.

The central voice took a moment to resteady itself before sending magic through the network again to connect to Lichen. "Yes. We wish to grow. Beyond what you may think we are capable." It sounded innocent, and to the fungi it was. For now.

"Thank you. We also enjoy conversing with you. You are knowledgeable and kind. We will not forget that." They appreciated, again, that they had been lucky enough to emcounter this one before any other creature in the caves, one that not only have no intention of harming them, but was willing to bring them in their eternal seat. They were lucky. They would not have survived without both.

As for cold? Hmm....The Chorus considered. A few voices tried to replicate the feeling, although it was a poor imagination that brought on something akin to burning instead of freezing. Either way, it was unpleasant. "Hmmm...no, we do not think we would like that. Have you seen fungus growing in the cold? Perhaps they have some trick that we may learn from."

@Lichen

Lichen hummed, light and thoughtful with a hint of amusement. Perhaps there was nothing to be concerned about at all, after all, they were still young. They were all kind to her, so why would the Fungi-friends harm anyone else?

A blanket statement, she knew she shouldn't apply it, but did so anyway. Why? Why does anyone assume the best in others? To believe there's good in this world, that the innocence of new life would only want to better the lives of those around them. To become emotionally attached to something and be blinded to the signs that something is wrong, would that be so devastating? To have faith in someone (or in this case, several someones).

Not this once, she decided.

"Perhaps I'll have to look for you, and bring you what I find. Can you learn from another fungus if it brought?" Lichen asked, finally rising from her seat.

@The Chorus

They thought for a moment, wondering if they could. They had not tried it before, but they were sure they would be able to at least discover something from a sample she brought. "Hm....yes. If you find some, bring a few samples, just in case." Perhaps by then, it will have grown stronger and have new tricks, something that would make it easier to investigate the cold-fungus phenomenon (if it existed at all).

It was exciting to them, the prospect of learning of something that existed beyond their reach - quite far beyond. And potentially learning tricks that may increase their chances of growth and survival in the future.

"Thank you," they spoke again after a pause. "You are very kind to offer your assistance."

@Lichen

Then, her task was set. She would find what she could and bring it back, so long as her magic would allow the fungus to take to her.

A part of her idly wondered if she could bring that odd, symmetrical fungus back too. It wasn't difficult to identify; if anything, it stuck out startlingly so against the other groups of fungi within the caves. Internally, she promised she would see what she could manage. "You're welcome."

There was a half a beat before she spoke again, "I hope I get to see your prosper." The dragon murmured and surprised herself when it struck with a resounding clarity that it was true, she wanted to see this strange gembound prosper within these caves. It was less of an admission that she believed they'd fail, but that she may not be here to see it herself.

It was luck she'd survived this long, and stepping back into the light of others' lives was always dangerous...

But, with a bit more luck, that wouldn't be soon. "I'll find you again soon," she called as she rose to leave.

@The Chorus

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