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 had sensed one of the Hosts working nearby, and now made his way over to join them. He remembered Yellow--they had helped him with part of his craft project for Juggernaut not too long ago, and he wanted to show his appreciation to them. It's a good idea to heal the Lessers, he thought. They've been going through a lot with all the misguided or outright malicious attempts to remove us from this room.

While the sifaka roamed the treetops, Jinyi worked on the ground--for now, at least. While he could fly, he was not as agile as Yellow and felt he could do better work below them. Still, he'd offer his companionship--and his magic if anyone turned up to try to stop them again.

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.

Jinyi felt the wave of distress through the Hivemind and looked without turning, through Yellow's own eyes. The same disappointment ran through him, but he did his best not to let the negativity magnify and multiply. It's very unfortunate, he thought. But we won't let it go to waste. A comforting image shown to the sifaka, of an old rotting log becoming a birthplace and nursery for far more life. We can bring Order back to the destruction they've wrought.

His previous spell had been lackluster, but he tried again now. Glassy Order spread through the soil, radiating from his feet. It will strengthen Us.

Jinyi's words did bring them some reassurance, but only barely. It would've been true had there only been one tree, and they could've let their sadness go and accept its new fate, but this was happening all over Eridanus. "If they keep going at it like this," they whispered, "there will be nothing left. The trees will be gone faster than they can grow back."

It made them furious. Who did these Valkhounds think they were to keep barging into Eridanus and ruining everything? Yellow couldn't wait until the Hive was strong enough to kill them all. Their hands twitched, thinking of the gun back in their den, but using it wasn't what they were here for today.

Again they tried to call up a warm jetstream to spread fungus in the air. Again the wind would not come to them. Yellow began to grind their teeth and leaped down to the fallen tree. Fine; they would do this manually.

He did not quite share the sifaka's attachment to the flora of Eridanus, beyond the purpose which they served as substrate for the Hive fungus, but Jinyi tried not to let this show through. Instead he tried as best he could to support Yellow, and understand their feelings through his own lens. The fungus--yes, that could be analogous. If they removed the fungus quickly and repeatedly, it too would not grow back. This made him feel... yes, he understood now, though he was not as quick to jump to thoughts of violence as the small Host.

He felt their frustration as their magic faltered again, too, and he tried to help with this as well. Try it again, he encouraged, approaching the same fallen log as Yellow and calling his magic up to support them. The Hive is behind you.

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."