It had no one but itself.

Virosa had run its mouth raw explaining itself, biting its tongue until it bled. Performing and playing and trying desperately to be respected. It had spent too long from the Forge, from the true Spire. It had spent too long trying to belong amidst Gembound who wanted it out.

Eridanus was free. It was driven further down the tunnels. Good.

Foliage was sparse in this area. It'd stopped halfway to find a stray colony of Order, hidden in a crevice. It reached out to cleanse it, but -

Oh. A rat. It skittered away from its talons, no doubt infected. It let the little creature scramble its way to freedom, too quick to catch. But maybe it didn't need to snatch it now.

Virosa began to sow, the dark crawlers sprouting eagerly where its talons touched. But it did not purge what the Hive had left, instead tucking the new growth along the sides of the cave. Now, when a lesser (or better yet, a drone) came to tend to this node, All Virosa would need to do, is lie in wait.

It tucked itself amidst the ragged walls to do just that.

@Jinyi come into my entirely normal and untrapped tunnel

Withdraw. Lay low. Do not be seen.

Jinyi obeyed, as good Drones did. However, he still ventured out from Ursa sometimes. He was just careful not to attract attention; his days of loudly and proudly spreading fungus with a certain flying Drone or starting vehement arguments (although he hadn't intended that in the beginning) in the middle of Polaris with cats under the influence of certain crystals were behind him. For now. Still, he wandered through the rooms, leaving bags of chips here and there, collecting samples and supplies, absorbing the environment around him and occasionally being struck with inspiration.

One of the Hosts had passed through this area recently. Smashing up some bones and crystals, inexplicably, and making some... he thought they had intended to make stew? Although he didn't think that ended up happening? someplace beyond. Anyway, Jinyi wasn't after the stew. He was after the interesting new cave that nobody had seen before. Perhaps he could find something useful there.

His richly-colored robes had regrown since his last unfortunate encounter in Eridanus, enveloping him in red-and-gold brocade as if nothing had happened. Wasn't that nice?

@Virosa

Movement. The plants quivered. Virosa tensed.

Something large, larger than the rat at least. Not heavy. Two legs, stepping lightly on the flat ground. Bipedal? please be bipedal. Another Greater. A new friend.

Like a tripwire, the second Jinyi got close to a tainted patch, it shot forward to twine around whatever it could reach. It was a little more lethargic than the Valkhound had hoped, but perhaps it'd do.

In tandem, Virosa stepped out onto the main path to admire its catch. He wasn't hard to spot amidst the low, purple walls. "Ohhh." Its teeth clacked, interest heightened. "It's you!"

@Jinyi

Poor, innocent Drone. Walking directly into the snare a Valkhound had so carefully laid.

"AH!" Jinyi made a noise like someone tripping and falling onto the keys of a pipe organ. Corrupted vines shot up, tangling around his legs and pulling him down, a dripping black mockery of nature. A surge of Ordered magic stopped their growth further up, but wasn't enough to make them loosen their grip around what they'd already seized. He was still weakened from his trial, Jinyi realized in a moment of bright panic.

A looming, skeletal figure emerged, its voice oddly cheerful. Again. This one AGAIN!? Jinyi did not feel cheerful. Jinyi could barely think around the buzz of dread and not again in his ribcage. "What," he managed. What was it this time? Or was it the same every time?

+1 corruption point (total 3)
@Virosa

Yes! This one again. What a fortunate coincidence.

Virosa strode languidly towards Jinyi, noting how the corruption struggled to take. He was not defenseless, as previous encounters had proven. He was likely more proficient with his element - caution was necessary, even if it had the clear advantage now. How lovely to catch the drone off-guard again, still.

Higher spirits means stronger magic, it supposed. The rotten ivy doubled its efforts, emboldened by the weak-willed attempt to suppress its spread. It threatened to overtake him entirely, in fact. If further unimpeded, Jinyi would end up resembling an oddly-shaped bush.

Virosa took the time to sniff at his robes (at some distance, just in case). "Any... More snacks?" It smelled the strong, artificial flavouring on his person, but Jinyi also naturally smelled of cheesy goodness. (Important edit: because of the chip bags, specifically. Jinyi is both scentless and clean of cheese.)

@Jinyi

If Jinyi could hear Virosa's thoughts about his smell right then, he would have been really offended. FIRST OF ALL, his chips were flavored with NATURAL AND artificial ingredients!!! Second of all, he did NOT smell!!!

Fortunately, it seemed that the Valkhound had been smitten by his natural and artificially flavored chips. Perhaps there was a way to make it out of this alive still. The vines crawled further up his body and tightened their grip. Their growth was reduced to a sluggish pace by another half-frantic burst of Ordered magic, but the magic from the Valkhound was powerful and Jinyi didn't think he could hold them off for long.

Its hollow red eyes bored into him. "Sure. Several bags, in fact." He didn't make a move to retrieve them, instead scrabbling at the ivy at his chest, trying to jam a few fingers in between the vines and his exoskeleton to loosen them. His expression seemed comically distressed, a line of dramatic holographic tears streaming down from the 'eyes'. "Mind letting go?"

"I could even give you a tour of the factory. If you asked nicely."

@Virosa

Virosa stopped to stare back at the projection on Jinyi's head, before beginning to slowly circle. "Hm. I'll let you go." It slinked behind him.

"If," it continued, completing its first rotation. "You stop lying."

It did not believe there was a factory. If there were such a thing, and the Hive had any sense, it'd kill any Valkhound who got close to it. The vines ensnaring him began to creep further inward, peeling away the outer layers of his garb in an effort to reveal any items he might have on his person.

"If you continue... To bore me, I will do,"- It paused to clack its teeth, a sudden, sharp sound - "As my Master commands."

@Jinyi

'Hm. I'll let you go,' it said, while its vines curled and grew further. Liar, Jinyi thought vehemently. What right did it have to call him out when it was a hypocrite through and through? It took all the restraint he could muster not to crane his head to try to follow its slinking path around him, though he was tense and almost expecting it to pounce from right behind him. Clearly, it wanted to mess with him.

"I'm not lying," he hissed when it came back around in front of him. About the first or the second, technically, although it had long since strayed from anything resembling asking nicely, so it was one path and one path only for it if it ever tried to enter the Hive for real.

Frustration burned in his chest, and it wasn't clear whether it was his own righteous anger at being snared and toyed with like this driving what he did next or the dripping corruption making it metamorphose into something more reckless. He reached in the pockets of his robes and drew out two bags of cheesy chips, throwing them with more force than strictly necessary at the Valkhound's feet. He'd intended to follow them up with a spark of something extra, to see how it liked being frozen in place by magic, but just as it had the first time they met, something went wrong. He'd thought he'd gotten a better control over the magic in the cycles since then, but the stress or the lingering exhaustion from the trail must have thrown him off. Icy magic blasted backward, encasing the Drone's entire arm in a glassy amber-like substance.

Carefully, Jinyi's expression did not change. "So you can let go now," he said pointedly instead of acknowledging anything else that had just happened. Indignation was an easy cover-up for humiliation or fear.

@Virosa

Virosa lingered in front of him again. "You have, before. So... Forgive the suspicion."

It watched a hand rummage through his hair-robe, and it's neck straightened. Snack? Snack?? For ME??? It tried to suppress the excitement blazing through it - it's ever-hungry stomach roared at the thought of food. Instead of skittering around and smattering drool everywhere, as it was tempted to do, it kept its eyes on the drone, body stiff. Wait. Waiiiitt.

It even hesitated for a moment, after the bags had hit the ground. Virosa's eyes flicked briefly to chitin forming on his arm, before it snapped downward to eat the Dontas, bag and all.

Its thick black tongue swiped all the way across its muzzle, cleaning any leftover dust and replacing it with a thick coating of Oil all around its mouth. When it swallowed, you could hear the slime coagulating in its throat. "I will let go. You will be free. But... I like to talk."

On cue, the restraints tightened slowly. "I have met..." Virosa raised a withered hand, and took a moment to count on its fingers. It took it another second to realise it'd need two hands. "Seven. Seven others, to talk to. All of them... Disappointing. Tied to the work. Tied to the Creator. Or... A Creator."

"But you. You are fun. Not different, but... Fun. Full of tricks. Full of snacks. Aren't you curious? About the other side? I am."

"We cultivate. We are called infection. Unnatural. I tire of it." It settled on its haunches, forelimbs kept politely together as another glob of Oil splattered on the ground. "So let's talk, about something else. For once. I'll start."

"My name is Virosa. Yours?"

@Jinyi

The way the Valkhound's hungry stare fixed on him gave Jinyi a distinct feeling that he might be the next thing on the menu. The chip bags he'd thrown at it were the flimsiest of shields, and in the brief moment of hesitation before it lunged for the chips, he thought they wouldn't keep its oily jaws from crunching down on his chitin at all.

The Dontas disappeared down its inky gullet, sparkling dust swallowed up by thick black slime. Jinyi had a visceral vision of how that might be him two seconds later and tried not to flinch, straining back against the corrupted growth that held him. He'd be free, it promised, but the wash of malevolent magic that crept up the vines said otherwise. Jinyi ground his teeth. He didn't want to talk! Not to it of all creatures, and least of all while tied up like this!!!

Fueled by sheer outrage, a defiant wave of opposing magic sent the newest ivy growth withering and falling away in dead, etiolated tendrils. He didn't care if others thought it was unnatural. He didn't want to hear its perspective (unnecessary in the first place) when it had brought its friends to attack him and now ambushed him and tied him up. Jinyi didn't believe it was going to let him go. Everything it was doing led him to believe it would have whatever conversation it wanted, then probably try to kill him anyway. If the violence was going to happen anyway, it didn't get to use him as some kind of fun conversation prop first.

"Virosa," he hissed. "I've never heard of a friendly talk happening while one party is tied up. Let me go." He braced one foot against the ground and strained against the ivy's hold, managing the barest step forward.

@Virosa