Planet Zar: Nexus

:: It's lucky L'ledax found the planet at all, really. So small and not a stitch of long-range communication technology. The dragons- What were they called, Abiel? ::

"Udraku, I think, is the closest interpretation."

:: Udraku, right. They're telepathic, but I don't know any dragon - apart from those xenos - that can mind send at an interplanetary range. The poor dears. ::

The usual hustle and bustle of Zeskod's Tasty Cods (freshest sushi on the Refugium) is what drew Agaric to the little shop, set brightly on Janos' main eatery district. It was off hours, well past the lunchtime peak, and Agaric often returned to dawdling along the streets enjoying the brush of passer-bys and the electric hum of conversation well before now. But he liked the mind-brush of telepaths more than anything, and the murdon-dragon pair seated at the bar oozed the comforting closeness of psionics. So Agaric stayed, swirling their fingers in the last drips of wasabi and garlic, and perked their ears toward their conversation.

Zeskod occasionally shot them a bemused glance but made no gesture to hurry them along. If the conversation wasn't meant to be eavesdropped on, Abiel and Ilexbi would be having it out in a public place.

"Gonna be eggs on the sands from these ones, you think?" said Zeskod, his voice like water rolling under sand.

"Oh yes," Abiel replied between delicate bites of her sashimi. "I think there already are a few clutches, but the Udraku are highly defensive of their nests."

:: We'll send the riders out for candidates when the clutch mothers are a little more settled. ::

"Still, a shame about the rest of their world. I saw photo stills. They have the most beautiful bioluminescent mushrooms-"

A strangled gasp wrenched itself through the conversation and it took Agaric many long seconds before they realized the abhorrent noise had come from them. They stumbled from their stool and pinwheeled an ungainly arc toward Abiel and her dragon companion. The chatter stopped and all eyes turned to Agaric.

"Mushrooms!" Agaric gasped.

Abiel's eyes flicked up and down Agaric's tiny frame - no doubt making note that their entire (visible) insides were spilling with red-caps and lichen. "Yes..." she responded, tight and careful.

"There's mushrooms and the planet's hurt?"

:: Dying, sadly :: Ilexbi lowered her massive head to Agaric's level. :: You're quite distressed. ::

As she said it, an invasive shiver of cheer wound its way through Agaric's middle, replacing the sudden rush of panic with- Well, not with calm, exactly, but a purposeful optimism they didn't often feel. The muddle of panicked emotions unknotted itself until a plan coalesced.

"The Refugium can help them!"

"Them? The mushrooms?" said Abiel, casting a questioning glance at her bond.

"Yes!" Agaric clutched at her leg and tossed their shaggy bangs out of their eyes to plead all the better. "They can live in a biodome, can't they?"

"I suppose they- the mushrooms-" she added it like a question, as if she needed to be absolutely certain that was the topic of conversation," - could survive here."

"They'll come, then?" said Agaric.

"The Udraku are already here," replied Abiel, as if that explained everything.

:: We've already returned from the mission. There's no ships on that planet. We saved the dragons and whoever else we could. ::

But not the mushrooms. "They're alive too," said Agaric, flashing teeth, their tail twisting with worry against their thigh. "They should get a chance."

Abiel and Ilexbi exchanged another look, their expressions shifting with a silent conversation between their two minds. Agaric tapped a foot, impatient. Finally, Abiel slid out of her seat and knelt closer to Agaric, her expression placid and placating.

"You're right, of course," she said. "But the Refugium's resources are more heavily dedicated to draconic species. Something, perhaps, we should look into better. If you can find a ship willing to head out to that sect, I'll make arrangements to be sure these mushrooms are welcome here. Is that acceptable to you?"

Agaric wasn't anyone of import on the Refugium, but like a mycelial network their connections branched through Janos city and beyond. They'd make something work.

Agaric nodded resolutely.

--

When one has braved the vast emptiness of space for countless years, floating in the void with nothing but one's own thoughts for company, one comes to loathe the taste of solitude. Rest eluded Chrysothrix until he felt the throb of heartbeats around him, the creak and stretch of cell growth and movement, the quiet thrum of vocal cords vibrating through the roots and dirt. The wild throes of the bustling city were as peaceful to him as the forest glade and it's thousand tiny, crawling things. Laying upon the tender ground of the woodland biodome, Chrysothrix welcomed the spread of plant and creature over his massive form until he resembled nothing so much as a grassy mound between the twisting trees. From here, he could feel the vibration of life around him and the steady hum of the Refugium itself.

He felt the steady trek of tiny footsteps toward him long before the quivering creature at his side piped up; "Someone's coming."

"Agaric," Chrysothrix rumbled. The burst of mushrooms springing to life followed as Agaric neared them, the tell-tale signature of their approach. Chrysothrix wiggled his face free of dirt and seedlings but otherwise remained placid and prone on the ground. He could talk just as well like this.

Eliro - Chrysothrix' near constant companion since the pair found one another on the Refugium - leapt on his shoulder then off again in a series of worried fidgets. "You're sure?" he peeped.

It was a conversation they had many times. Chrysothrix was always sure, but it was no mind at all to reassure the little avandraya. Eliro was so very tiny, after all, and so very worried about a great deal many things.

"I'm sure."

Eliro's frantic pacing paused a moment. His ears flicked forward and back, muscles tense and tail flicking nervously about his hocks. He was a prey animal, ready to spring into flight at the earliest sign of danger, even though there was no danger here. Not at the Refugium, and certainly not beneath Chrysothrix' gaze.

"Oh, it is Agaric!" Eliro chirped.

"Hello Eliro," said Agaric, dreary and dragging their vowels, as was their custom. "Hallo, Chrysothrix."

Chrysothrix rumbled a greeting in return and Eliro tumbled toward Agaric in a flurry of joyous bounds. Eliro was always pleased to be around creatures his own size.

"Are you upset?" said Eliro, pausing suddenly. His ears pinned back and he lowered himself, glancing wildly from side to side. "Has something happened?"

"Yes." Agaric nodded and marched to Chrysothrix' head, arms crossed and brow furrowed. "I need to save a species."

Leaves along Chrysothrix's throat and back quivered and curled, turning painfully crisp as they browned along the edges. A slurry of guilt and apprehension whirled through him but he kept his face perfectly passive in the same grandfatherly smile he liked to wear. Saving species brought to mind all the failures Chrysothrix caused in his long life - the destruction of his home and the few meager genera he'd been able to save before casting himself into the void of space. So many species were brought to extinction. So many he (couldn't) didn't save.

"That's terribly exciting!" said Eliro, his ears jerking up and down with painful ambivalence.

"It's sad." Agaric stomped a foot. "Dragons get saved all the time but not the little things like plants and mushrooms."

Chrysothrix' heart ached. "What do you need, Agaric?"

"I was told there's no way to fund a trip back to the planet but I know there's got to be a way to get there and scoop up some spores. There's got to be, right? Maybe a search rider or... or... I don't know." Their ears drooped. "I don't have credits."

That was one of the trade-offs of living on the Refugium. Necessities were taken care of, entertainment and recreational facilities often free of cost in Janos city and beyond, but purchasing imports or the services of visitors became difficult when one had no need to make credits of their own.

Fortunately, favors were in abundance.

"I thought you could help." Agaric dropped his head and scuffed the dirt. "You have m-magic and things..."

"Not directly," rumbled Chrysothrix. He rose, joints creaking and groaning like splintered timber as he folded himself into an upright position. Eliro leapt nimbly into his lap and curled there, content. "I can arrange something for you."

But he would not, could not visit this planet himself. To hear the voices of a thousand lost species, to feel their roots reaching for him, grasping for his powers for one last chance to bloom, burst, thrive. It might kill him. He could not save a planet's worth of species, but if he set foot on the dying giant he would need to. His powers could not stretch between galaxies.

"I will make inquiries, but rest assured my small friend, we will save your mushrooms."

Agaric beamed at him.

--

"You're very brave," Eliro whispered, eyes darting between the swirling glass portals in front of him and the massive wingless dragon to his right. It wasn't often he left the safety of the temperate biodome and Chrysothrix' watchful gaze, but this felt like A Very Important Moment, and he couldn't leave Agaric to wander strange planets on his own. Or, well... With a stranger.

Ashglade - the wingless dragon whose most prominent trait was probably that she was on fire, wreathed in flickering lime-green light that cast a sickly sheen over everything around - was a face Eliro recognized, but not someone he'd ever conversed with. She was a regular companion of Chrysothrix but Eliro made himself scarce when she appeared. She had a mouthful of carnivorous teeth and was large enough to gobble Eliro up without chewing. Best to avoid things like that, really.

Agaric was much the same size as Eliro and just as squishy. They'd barely make a snack for Ashglade.

"You're both very brave," said Ashglade, rumbling and grumbling with a predator's terrifying voice. She lowered her head.

Eliro's legs quivered and he slunk low to the ground. Agaric patted his neck and stepped forward. The touch was somewhat muted by the insulating life-support suit the pair were currently wearing. Eliro didn't mind it much, apart from being so shiny and attention-grabbing, but Agaric picked and prodded at it since they'd biffed it on.

"We're all ready," said Agaric, puffing their chest out.

Ashglade touched the glass-portal and the image shimmered. At first, Elrio thought she'd broken it. The picture when dark, black-blue and unmoving, but slowly flickers of neon fluorescense bloomed to life in pinpricks across its surface.

"Is it going to be dangerous?" Eliro asked, side-eyeing Ashglade with all the trepidation of a tiny prey animal.

"Outside of the suit? Of course," she replied. "For the rest, I'll be with you."

Agaric nodded, resolute, and stepped through the portal. Eliro scrambled after him, unwilling to be left alone with a predator many times his size. Ashglade's flickering green shadow loomed after him until the three tumbled onto the dying planet. The ground vibrated, cracking and rumbling with a hundred micro-fissures every second. It was difficult to see even with all the bioluminescent plants glittering around them. A smog settled over the ground, catching colors and lighting up like an earth-bound aurora borealis.

Eliro hurried close to Agaric's side.

"Do you know where to find the mushrooms?" Eliro chirped. He felt every dancing light like a pair of eyes, predators looming in the dark.

Agaric stopped and closed their eyes, curling their uniformed feet in the soft soil. Lights flickered at their ankles and branched away into the fog, a glittering rainbow trail leading into the deeper, darker parts of the woods.

"This way," said Agaric. "The mushrooms are telling me."

A useful sort of map, Eliro thought, as long as the things telling you where to go were friendly. He knew of deep sea predators that would shine lights in the dark to attract their prey. He hoped this wasn't something of the same. But Ashglade followed behind them - still dangerous, but at least known and less likely to eat them - and she was large enough to take on most kinds of carnivores, wasn't she? Eliro hadn't seen the Udraku and nor did he wish to run into any of them, but they couldn't be much bigger than a phlegethon beast, could they? Were there even any Udraku left on the planet?

He followed quick behind Agaric's footsteps, quiet as he could manage without putting distance between them. He couldn't lose sight of Agaric, not in this darkness and the technicolor smog. Ashglade's flame light created a hazy green circle around them but did little to penetrate the mist.

The ground was too soft for his toes, walking was like sinking into mud. They were leaving footprints and Eliro desperately wanted to dive into the undergrowth and zigzag over branch and bramble to scramble their path. Agaric's march was straight and steady and all Eliro could do was dip his head and worry. The trekked in silence until Eliro's hooves ached and his suit was damp with sweat. He wouldn't complain, though. Making Agaric feel terrible would only twist Eliro's nerves further. He needed to help his friend.

The mist grew brighter and the foliage parted to an open mudhole. The light beamed bright white intensity and Eliro perked his ears, frozen in place.

Agaric let out a startled cry - "They're here!" - and rushed ahead. Eliro scrambled to follow him. He bolted to a stop as the shimmering white light bathed his head.

Voices garbled at him. A hundred of them, maybe a thousand, speaking a cacophony of words that Eliro couldn't decipher. Ashglade grunted and snarled behind them and he felt the heat of her flames lower as she folded herself to the ground.

Agaric's dark outline drifted away, sinking to their knees as they were consumed by the light, the voices, the void.

"I'm here to help," said Agaric. "Let me take you."

The voice chimed agreement, pleasure and hope riding through Eliro in frightening waves.

"I can't save all of you, though. I can't carry that much," Agaric continued.

~~ one of us is all of us ~~ whispered a million tiny voices, piercing Eliro's ears like a million tiny bee stings.

~~ we will grow ~~ the multitude crooned.

Agaric fisted the light and stepped away showered in it.

"Tell them to stop," said Eliro, teeth grit and eyes mere slits. "It hurts our heads."

Agaric's eyes widened in alarm. They muttered, too quiet for Eliro to hear, and the light dimmed. The voices quieted until they were nothing more than a suggestion of noise; a feeling of community surrounding them.

"I've got them," said Agaric, their voice hushed and reverent. Glowing spirals of fungus spilled from their hands. "We can go."

--

Mushrooms were not Geda's specialty, they barely fell under the realm of botany (being, as they were, not plants at all), but he'd popped into the swamp biodome now and again to check on the Refugium's new charges. Amasia had already flown ahead and appeared to be deep in conversation with the strange little gorgi, Agaric. The poor fellow had barely left the swamp since they returned with the mushrooms and the solitude seemed taxing. It wasn't as if the swamp was without inhabitants, of course, there's a reason it existed. Geda had seen several of the new Udraku laying in the murk and there were various friendlier swamp goers too. But none of them were Agaric's usual companions.

A shadow loomed over Geda, accompanied by the creak of old wood and the squelch of too-fine shoes sucking at mud. "We visit them when we can."

Geda lifted a broad smile to Chrysothrix. "But you have a great many duties here, it's not your job to keep the little fellow and their mushrooms company."

"I didn't know they'd need the swamp," squeaked Eliro, huddled between Chrysothrix' ankles. "It's far too scary here."

"They don't regret saving the mushrooms," said Chrysothrix. "But it would be better if they had steadier companionship."

Amasia returned in a flurry of gleaming emerald and settled herself around Geda's neck. He buckled a little under her weight. Since she'd grown into her colors she'd be a might bit more hefty and soon he wouldn't be able to carry her around at all.

:: There's a swamp clutch at Lantessama, I read about it on the interweb. ::

"That's certainly an idea," said Chrysothrix, nodding. "Agaric wouldn't lack for company with a proper bond."

Geda smiled warmly at Amasia. "No, they certainly wouldn't."

"Are they scary?" piped Eliro, peeking his head around Chrysothrix' tree-trunk legs.

:: I don't think so. :: said Amasia. :: Some of them are even quite small, like us gem dragons. ::

"That doesn't sound too frightening." Eliro lowered his head, brow furrowed in thought.

"Perhaps..." said Chrysothrix, stroking his wizened chin," ... we should all make a trip of it."