He watched Rift press a paw to the ground and coax out the mold that infested so much of Eridanus. He felt a little nauseous just watching it. He felt even more nauseous imagining that happening to him. Threads of mycelium being forced out his nose, his mouth, the pores of his skin. He was almost grateful that Rift's spell hadn't worked.

No. He wasn't grateful. He didn't want his mind, his will, to be subsumed by Mother. He didn't want that fake love that kept pressing up against the back of his mind. He wanted whatever this was out of his brain.

"If the fungus isn't in me, then what is?!" He felt hysterical. He tries to calm down, to breath, but there's nowhere safe to look. If he looks at the ground he can see the infested remnants of his own chrysalis, and if he looks up at the trees he can see how mold has consumed this entire cave. He ends up pressing his palms to his face, feeling the pressure of his hands against his face and the soft, thin fur of his face underneath his palms. He took long, deep breaths of Eridanus's earthy air, trying not to dwell on the undertone of fungal rot that hid beneath.

He missed a lot of Rift was saying, but caught the tail end of it as the panic finally settled. He finally removes his hands from his face and opens his eyes. "Is the Arborspire nearby?" He asks, "I don't want to stay in this cave- The infection is everywhere. but if it's close then its worth a shot." Rift's magic hadn't worked, so who knows if the Arborspire would help, either, but... it was worth a shot. He needed somewhere to just.. calm down. Process everything. Try to figure out what to do.

"Its fine." No its not. But it could be, if he just relaxed- "I mean, it's not your fault. You tried to help me.. But whatever this is, it isn't normal infection. I just- I just hope I can find another way to remove it."

@Rift

Rift stared at the knight, eyes brimming with sadness. He felt Cyneweard's pain as if it were his own. He had met Drones and Hosts before, and he did not know how to feel about them. They had seemed...taken. Completely. Mindless. But Cyneweard was different, because he could still think and he most certainly didn't want all of this. Yet there was nothing he could do that Rift understood. Nothing that he could do, anyways.

"I don't...I'm sorry I really don't know. I don't know how it works. I didn't know there was a way to be infected without the fungus." And that was very concerning. He would look carefully to see how Cyneweard reacted entering the borders of the Arborspire. And... yes, something else he could see.

He turned to a tree and found a liana climbing on its trunk and reached forward to pull some of it off. He moved it over to the chrysalis and called magic to encourage the vine to wrap itself around one of the stone, with enough handle so that he could drag it. He glanced up at Cyneweard - he should probably explain himself. "I just want to see how it reacts when we enter the Sanctuary." He blinked slowly. "It's not far. Hopefully, it will give you some peace of mind. I am sorry there's isn't much more I can do for you right now, but I can offer you this, at least." He reached down to take the vine in his mouth and began leading the way.

Indeed, the Arborspire was close, only a few minutes walk from where they were. As Rift approached, he glanced back to watch Cyneweard's reaction as they passed over the edge of the Sacntuary's border. He also kept an eye on the stone, to see if anything happened to it in range of the Arborspire.

@Cyneweard

He could see the pity clear on Rift's face and he felt a strange sense of embarrassment. It wasn't like he would blame anyone else for freaking out in a situation like this. He just. He didn't want to think about this, right now. But it was impossible NOT to think about it because it was literally in his brain. And NOT thinking and pretending everything was fine was what it wanted. But blind panic wasn't helping him, either.

There had to be something, anything he could do about this.

He watched with fascination as Rift used magic to compel a vine to wrap around one of the infected-spinel shards. It reminded him a lot of someone he'd met when he still lived in Cepheus. Rift was awfully reminiscent of her, actually. Well, kind of. They were both green and liked plants.

He'd nod at Rift's explanation. It made sense- his gemstone was hidden in his body, so they wouldn't be able to see if anything happened to the infection within it. "Lets- Lets just go. Hopefully it'll help." He'd follow dutifully behind as Rift lead the way, and he couldn't help but feel relief as he spotted the clearing up ahead, completely devoid of the infection consuming the rest of Eridanus.

Its a strange feeling, enough to stop him in his tracks as he nears The Arborspire. The faint murmers of Mother's voice fade even further, but unease and a strange exhaustion prick at the edge of his mind. Its not much worse than the sheer panic he'd been feeling previously, and the weakening of the link is enough relief to make it bearable. "I can still feel the Hive's influence, but it's weaker." He tells Rift, when he notices him staring. He walks over to a large root and sits down, leaning against it. "Thank you for bringing me here. It's really pretty." Did the rest of Eridanus look like this, once? Would it ever return to this state, free from infection?

@Rift

He watched him as he passed through, relieved that there wasn't any kind of negative effects. He had been worried that there might be some kind of minor harm that a Drone felt upon entering this space, but he felt oddly relieved that they could enter, at least.

He looked back at the chrysalis shard, but unfortunately nothing about it seemed to change. He hadn't really expected much to happen, but it was as much a moment of learning as anything. The white stone of the Hive, then, was not affected.

He dropped the vine and pushed the chrysalis shard outside of the bounds, back into the infected forest, and then turned to join Cyneweard by the Arborspire. In the distance, the statue-like figure of The Shepherd watched them with a watchful, but neutral, gaze.

Rift jumped up onto another root of the tree and sat down, quickly licking down a stray tuft of fur on his chest. "I'm glad it can help. The Hive's fungus cannot reach past its limits and I think the infected Lessers can't see it, because they don't enter. You are welcome here, as long as you are peaceful. I am sorry I can't do anything further for you, though." And he did, shuffling his paws a bit on the wood beneath him. "I don't...think the Hive is all evil, but I understand why you are scared. I would be too." He...hoped he wasn't saying the wrong thing. Rift had never played therapist before.

He blinked, good ear twitching. "Is there...anything else I can do to help? Do you want company or would you rather be alone?"

@Cyneweard

He is unreasonably tired, considering he just woke up. His eyes close for a brief moment, basking a bit in relief of the weakened link. If it can be dampened, then it can be broken completely, can't it? Its different from the fungus, it'd take some experimentation, some work, but he wasn't doomed. It was okay. He was okay.

He looks up at Rift as he perches nearby. "Thank you," He feels like he's been saying that a lot but he is genuinely thankful for Rift's help. Even his company is a welcome relief to the hive's now barely present pressure. "I'll be sure to protect this place. Do you know why The Hive is weakened here?" He's admiring The Arborspire itself, now, and noticing the veins of blue gemstone woven through its bark. It reminds him vaguely of The Spire in Polaris- maybe that's a hint towards a cure?

I don't...think the Hive is all evil. He feels two competing instinctual thoughts at that. Of course they're evil! One of the hive's drones had killed him, and quite brutally at that. He'd seen everything they'd done- to this cave, and to others. The zombified lessers that shambled about, survival instinct stripped as they mindlessly tended to the fungus, heeding only Mother's commands. He did not want that fate. He did not want that at all.

But.. Not all of the damage to Eridanus had been caused by The Hive. A lot of it had been caused by the burnings, by reckless attempts to exterminate her from these caves. And those who'd been infected by The Hive.. however mindless they might be, they were just trying to live their lives, weren't they? And, at one point, they must've felt like him, right? There was a certain kinsh-

NO. He wasn't interested in sympathizing with Her. Not now. Not when he was sure how much of was him and how much of it was what she'd rather have him believe.

"I just want it out of my head. I never asked for this." That, at least, he knew to be true. "I- I don't think so. You've done a lot just by showing me this place. And I don't know if you're- uhm- busy." It certainly seemed like a 'Guardian of Eridanus' would be busy considering the state it was currently in. He felt a sting of pity. "But its nice been talking to you. And if you have the time it'd be nice to keep talking- although maybe about something unrelated to The Hive?" He had stories he could share, and he was sure that Rift had some too. And it'd been some time since he'd had a nice conversation like this.

Well. Most of this circumstance was far from nice, but Rift was, at least. Maybe they could be friends after all of this was resolved.

@Rift [exit thread?]

He shook his head gently, tail flicking towards the tree, where indeed Cyneweard was noticing the Skystone streaks. "No. Some magical power changed it - The Hive and Chaos are both weak here." He smiles, glad to have another protector of this special place, if Cyneweard means it. He glances towards the Shepherd, statuesque and not looking at either one of them. "Protect it or make use of its space, you are welcome to come and go as you please." As long as he didn't bring violence or destruction here, but he didn't feel the need to tell him that.

He nodded. "I understand. I know." He didn't push any issue of the Hive further, his own complicated feelings aside and unimportant right now. His tail curled around his side as he adjusted to be more comfortable.

Him, busy? He snorted. "I try to keep busy. But its an ailing task alone, whatever I remove grows back the next day. Maybe eventually others will help in more force, but I've just taken to keeping the Sanctuary clean and healthy for anyone passing through." He looked to the side, a ways off of where they were sitting, watching a family of jungle deer that had stepped into the Sanctuary's protection and were grazing on the grasses. It wasn't just him and the Shepherd here, but all the Lessers who's homes and lives had been uprooted.

"I'm happy to talk." And he did look happy, bright eyes looking back at Cyneweard. "So, you said you're a knight...what is that?"

And he would be happy to speak on his own life, here in the jungle with the Shepherd by his side, although he held off on any mentions of his resurrection, a topic that had gotten tangled in his own history with the Hive. But he would sit as long as Cyneweard liked to chat and offer food, comfort, and rest.

@Cyneweard (for visibility, exit)