The state of Eridanus was very concerning lately. Constant ambushes by the forces of Chaos on Drones, random corrupted patches of plants and oily, malevolent fungi that Yellow kept running into during their foraging, and the fact that they could practically feel Order's hold on Eridanus weakening. Yellow missed the days when their days were carefree, peacefully picking fruit and tending to the nodes without rude interruption, but now a new urgency filled their actions. It was a race between Order and Chaos to keep Eridanus pure, pristine, and protected before the creeping corruption worked its way back in.
An attempt to call up a jetstream to help them spread the fungus coughed up nothing but a slight warm breeze, sending Yellow's heart falling farther into disappointment. Order, they reminded themselves before anything resembling frustration could flare up. They did not have all the time in the world anymore, but they would also not achieve it if they let their heart descend into disordered emotions first.
There was always something to do. Growth required nutrients, so they'd turn their magic into the food the Hive needed. A sparkling yellow banana manifested in their hands, which they carefully peeled, dividing the peel into four neat stripes. Pieces of the fleshy interior were pinched off and carefully tucked one by one into the fungus blanketing the moss.
The song of a Caroller caught Yellow's attention and they looked up, searching for the source among the jungle's tangled branches. The bird was half-hidden behind a cluster of leaves, and as it sang Yellow saw that its eyes were dark, not clouded with the telltale white of Mother's fungus.
They could try to bring this one into the family. Yellow started toward the tree it was perched on, but hesitated. They didn't want the bird to fly away before they could bring it their gift. They sent a soft wave of magic out to the Caroller, and heard its song drop into silent as it entered its own sweet dream.
Slowly so as to not break their concentration, Yellow tucked fungus into a last piece of banana and climbed up to meet the Caroller. Still mesmerized by whatever reverie the magic showed it—maybe a feast full of fruit and seeds from the way its beak nibbled softly at air?—it did not struggle as Yellow prodded the fungus-laced banana into its mouth. Perhaps it even though that this was part of the sweet dream. When it woke from the spell with Yellow hopping to the next perch already, it would be to Mother's loving embrace.
As Yellow moved between the treetops, it would be an already-Hive bird that showed itself next. This Rainbow Spinner was weak, its colors dull. It had not eaten well in its fervor to serve Mother and help her feed her nodes and surveil her domain (How responsible! What a good child! Yellow thought sadly), and its last meal was something it should likely not have eaten.
Yellow sent a wave of cleansing, supportive magic toward it, easing its illness. The strength of the spell should allow it to recover easily, they thought.
Jinyi's support was met with a sense of appreciation, though Yellow was too focused on their work to really say anything. They were happy, though, that there was family here with them. They never liked to be alone.
Another banana manifested in their hands. This one was crushed and smeared onto the bark of a tree. Though it had not hosted Mother's fungus before, Yellow plucked a bunch of it from their own body when they were done spreading the banana paste and planted it onto the newly-supplemented substrate.
They leaped to the next branch forward, intending to repeat the process, when they saw that not far a huge tree had fallen down. Claw marks were all over and there were spots of Oil dripped next to it. "Oh," they whispered out loud, devastated. The fungus on that tree must have taken cycles to grow, and the tree itself tens or hundreds more. And now all of it was gone, destroyed at the claws of those violent beasts.
They were grateful to the Drone for his support, doing what they could not achieve themselves. They tried the same spell again, calling up a wind that was sluggish at first, and then rapidly strengthened as the power of the Hive bolstered their own magic. "Thanks," they whispered. Though they could talk through the link, it still felt... just a bit awkward to work there in complete silence.
Now that the jetstream was established, they took sheets of fungus hanging from the branches where there were plenty and tore it up into small pieces, tossing it into the current and directing the wind to seed the fungus and its spores where there was less of it. "We grow. Eat that, Valkhounds."