Virosa was a little worse for ware, fatigued by its previous encounter but also getting closer to its need to stabilise. It wouldn't be able to hold off on the journey much longer, the plants growing from its skin now so thick the Valkhound beneath was barely visible. It was forced to take breaks for food, drink and rest more often, and the sleep it found was brief, tormented, and grew shorter in length every day.

"Overseer." It emerged again from the underbrush, branches crackling underfoot. The ground beneath grew dark, stained with oil, and the surround mold began its retreat. It glanced at the smaller cougar beside her. "Hello."

It wouldn't ask if its help was needed - that was a given. "The infection is stubborn. The Hive... Even more so." They would not let this cave go easily.

@Tectus

Tectus continued her work, it wasn't careful anymore, but more like just grabbing large clawfuls of the infested stuff and shoving it into the tree. This was going to be a good plan, she knew it.

She was preparing to ask Rift more about the Sanctuary - she was interested to know - but then Virosa stepped out of the trees. She turned her head, relieved to have someone here that could actually purge the infection. Perhaps it would make their little plan her redundant, but this was easier. "Virosa. Good to see you."

But then she glanced at Rift and saw him take a step back, something unsure written in his eyes. It was hard to tell his expression behind the mask, but she realized then that the two...may not mix well.

"This is Rift," she introduced him quickly to the valkhound as she continued working. "He protects a sanctuary some ways back. He helped during the fire." Kind of. "And Rift this is Virosa - it was made to combat the Hive's infection." There. Intros out of the way. Now please get along.

At this point, the log was getting full. Rift leaned over quickly to see if there was room left - there was, a bit. He turned to another tree, preparing to step forward to do the same thing as the others, but then he starled and hopped back a bit, as a dark shape stepped out of the trees.

Eyes flicked towards the oil and corruption spilling out into the ground and instantly crinkled his nose under his mask from the smell. Thankfully, none of his disgust showed on his face, the mask made sure his emotions didn't physically make it out into the world.

He looked to Tectus and listened to the introduction, trying to be polite and nodding his head, but he couldn't help but look towards where the ground around it was withering away into inky black, mold and grass alike. He suddenly felt a wave of protectiveness - he did not want this one near the sanctuary.

"Hello," he was quiet, and hesitant. "It is. I've been working it for a while. Um. What are you doing to it?" he pointed his nose towards where things were decaying. He hoped that wasn't permanent.

@Virosa

It noted Rift's immediate reaction, the way he shrank from its presence. It would be on the backfoot, here, as it often was. It could not hide its nature. Even Tectus' introduction felt like an apology.

The chaos was getting to it, Virosa assumed. The oil made it jump to conclusions. It's piercing gaze bore into Rift for a beat too long, before it drifted back to its feet.

"I'm killing it." The ground began to sprout black plants, crawlers that twisted their way further through the patches. "Life - plants - prefer Chaos. Order is... unnatural. Or less so..." If it'd existed this long, then there must be something natural about it.

"Chaos overpowers it. But it does not live long. It grows quick. Dies quicker. Like fire."

"Without a source, it disappears. Corruption is the same."

@Tectus

Virosa was a tricky one for Tectus. She couldn't tell if it was more sensitive then most Valkhounds she knew or so obsessed with its own work that everything else slid off its hide like oil. She turned and hid her uncertainty with a swipe of her claws that cleaved a large swath of fungus and mold from the ground, which she turned and deposited into the tree, letting it drip off of her claws like blood.

"Here, Virosa," she gestured to the hollowed-out tree log that they had stuffed with mold and rot. "We were going to take it elsewhere to dispose but it will be easier with you here." A quick spell would corrupt it all quickly, being so packed in a single spot.

She nodded, looking to Rift. "Order seeks only to take and control and sterilize. Chaos ruins, destroys, but in the wake of destruction, life flourishes. Nothing new comes from Order." And that was the point of it all, wasn't it? Chaos and Order were opposing because Order wished to conserve and perfect, while Chaos sought to change and learn. How much of all this did Rift know, she wondered?

Rift had little experience working with Valkhounds. He knew them from the fire activities, but he had never been particularly friendly with one, although neither had he experienced their hostilities.

He looked at the corruption Virosa spread, and although its words made sense, he found himself disliking it as much as the infestation. It seemed to be doing more then killing the fungus, but twisting the plant-life into something else, something wrong. He hadn't touched it, but he could feel something off about it from where he was.

Is it better to have then the fungus, though? Maybe. If it was telling the truth, and it was like fire, then he supposed there was no harm in the end, right?

His own magic pulled more shrooms out of the ground this time, which he continued to swipe away and toss into the leg. "Yeah, I suppose so," he replied to Virosa. I'd call this stuff...like false nature. It looks like mushrooms, grows like mold, yet its not really either."

He paused and thought for a moment. "I mean...I don't think nature prefers either. It's a balance of both. It grows and changes, but its not entirely unpredictable. If you plant a tulip, you can expect it to grow into a flower, bloom, and then wither. And then it blooms again and withers. Again, and withers. Predictable, but always growing again and again."

@Virosa

Virosa actually disagreed with Tectus, somewhat. It understood the importance of appearances, especially since its own was so immediately divisive. But it disliked misrepresenting the truth in the process, even in small ways. It could not lie - why try to?

"Order is the circle. Chaos, the shape of the line. Both are natural... Both take effort to sustain. But one is dependent. Nature has no preference. Nature is."

It extended a hand to the log, plants twisting off of its fingers and reaching into the hollow. The concentration of fungus made it challenging for the corruption to take, but the little sprout sunk its claws into the white tufts. Virosa shook it free.

@Tectus

It seemed they were about to delve into a philosophical debate, as Tectus found herself mildly disagreeing with Virosa. At least...in regards to effort. For a moment, she forgot Rift was there, turning her head to the valkhound and tilting her head.

"If you speak of their nature, Chaos is all the ways to draw the circle and the ways in which it is used. But the circle always remains the same, Order draws the circle and Chaos iterates upon it. By its very nature, it should not spread or change. It is sterile, a template. Order is not unnatural. But this... An order infested rat suddenly streaked by her, white eyes wide with terror and her claw slammed down just a bit too late.

She sighed. "Unnatural. This is not the way things should be."

To be honest, Rift didn't quite comprehend what Virosa was trying to say. Were Chaos and Order not like a "two sides of the same coin" kind of deal? (He didn't know what a coin was.) Were they not opposing forces of a sort?

But...it said something that made much more sense to him. "Nature is," he agreed. Nature is the natural state. Allow things time on their own and they will flourish. They will find a way to live. Is that not nature? A bit of chaos and order both?

Why can't they just get along, he grumbled to himself as he continued pulling the mycelia out of the soil. Fruiting bodies quickly snipped, quickly tossed into the log alongside the rest. He knew why - chaos and order could mix, but not when they were on opposite sides. "Nature needs a bit of both."

@Virosa

Virosa found itself arguing past Rift to the Overseer herself, which was... Unexpected. Wouldn't they be aligned?

It noted now that its own shape bore a closer similarity to Rift, than Tectus. They were thin, agile, crowned with long horns. They were closely aligned with the world around them, more so than others.

The rat that had darted past the Overseer's claws made its way past Virosa, and while it's own limbs were a split-second too late to catch it, it suddenly sprouted a fifth from its arm that wrenched the creature back by its tail.

It raised it to its face, watching as it squealed and spat and writhed. It was withered by the infection, its existence optimised to spread Order as far as it could. Worked to the bone.

"Aren't I unnatural, Overseer?"

@Tectus