Ch: 8 Nocturnes hierarchy of needs
The start of day 3 was stocking supplies for camp, gathering logs, finding a water source, while Typhus kept an eye out for any precious metals in the surrounding cliff faces. Sophia would accompany him often making the trips much more pleasant while walking she would point out interesting plants or places that Typhus would definitely have ignored otherwise.
Outside of their hovel, the silver barked trees were easy to trek through with eerie silence and a feeling of being watched cascading over them with each step. Reaching the boundary of the forest, dead trees were spread out sparsely with large distances between them.Red grass grew in size from being ankle height to as tall as Typhus, not allowing him to see past the long blades. He remembered seeing the grass move when climbing down the cliff face, indicating other people or more likely, creatures were active within it. Long black roots approached the red grass but none crossed the boundary into it.
Sophia was silent as got to a knee and inspected the black roots. "How odd, what could make these roots just… Stop? Macronutrient exchange disruption?". Typhus would have answered with his guess but it was clear she was not asking for an answer, more thinking aloud. He walked up to the boundary, chest high in the grass before his vision went blurry for a split second. His stomach growled and his mouth felt DRY. He leapt back from the grass thinking he was under attack or some kind of spell, nothing chased him or changed in the slightest causing Sophia to look towards him with a concerned expression. "Nohting, sorry I thought I felt something but I must have imagined it…". He said, staring daggers into the grass, as if that were the enemy itself.
Moving back towards their camp in a 20 minute walk through the forest Sophia and Typhus spotted a massive overturned log that caught their attention. "We should check it out, there is likely to be mushrooms or edible plants there." Typhus said while holding a pile of firewood. "No offense Mr. Survival guy, but I doubt eating mushrooms in this death trap of an environment is a good idea…" Sophia responded almost hesitantly. "Fair point, but I moreso meant animals have to eat, meaning if the plants can't be eaten by us, something else will be able to digest them, and that is what we want."
Encircling the log the pair inspected the moist soil that long thick tendrils of roots appeared to be ripped out of. Memories of helping with the family business invaded Typhus's mind from the earthy smell that was present in the air. The sun was hanging at a mid morning temperature with dew sending vibrant shades of pinks and reds in the reflections of the blood colored grass. Snapping his focus back into place they reconvened at the base of the log, both held questioning looks.
"Does this seem… Weird to you?" Sophia asked louder than normal due to the mud underfoot making loud squish noises. "Not really, if a really strong storm passed by this area before we arrived I could see that pushing over this tree, but with that said, the surrounding trees don't appear damaged or ruined" Typhus contradicted himself as the thought expanded in both his response and his own mind.
"Right, and also the roots don't look like they were torn or broken, which begs the question, how did this tree topple over in the first place?" Sophia asked.
Ripping mushrooms from the log Typhus stopped with a puzzled look making Sophia approach to get a glance over his shoulder. Small but deep purple mushrooms surrounded the log almost glowing despite the sunlight directly on top of it. What stuck out the most were long black tendrils for 'roots'. "What in the hell?" Typhus went to hand it to Sophia when the tendrils gripped his arms to the point he could feel his blood being cut off to his hand.
In a panic Typhus grabbed the mushroom cap and threw it off his arm, exploding on the ground in a plume of spores that drifted slowly on the wind. "Interesting…" Sophia said quietly while placing a hand below her chin in thought. Taking a few samples they put them in a large basket Nocturne had helped craft by hollowing out a smaller tree resembling a bucket. So long as they didn't touch them no reaction occurred when moving them, making collecting them straightforward with tools or covering their hands in gloves.
"What do you think is causing them to be so aggressive?" Typhus asked while staring into the wooden bucket. "I don't think they are 'aggressive' necessarily as that implies they are choosing when to attack…" Sophia responded by letting the sentence hang on the wind instead of giving a poorly thought out reply. "What does that even mean? Are you trying to sound wise?" he answered while stringing a vine through the top of the bucket to ensure he could carry it out of reach of the malevolent mushrooms. "No I don't have to try to do that unlike some people. What I mean is there doesn't appear to be a decision making organ, or way for the fungi to coordinate a response to external conditions, as in, there is only 'if then' sequence of events. Paradoxically, if you touch it, the fungi responds to the stimulation of… Something, heat of your skin maybe? Leading theory, but regardless, its not making a decision to attack so much as responding to a 'if then'"
Typhus didn't know exactly what she had meant by that but, uncaring of sounding dumb he pressed on, "Okay can you explain it like a caveman for me?". For the first time Sophia looked at him like he was fallible since coming back, "So, let's say it's more of a natural reaction. Like if someone punched you, theoretically you could respond by questioning why they did so, or you could just punch them back, giving you two different avenues of response, right?" she left the explanation half finished ensuring Typhus had time to catch up, "Right!" He answered with enthusiasm.
"So you do not operate based on conditionals since you can determine the response by nuance of situational awareness, meaning! You as a human are capable of more than simple sequences of response in the form of thought, uh…" her forehead creased almost painfully trying to 'Magic for Idiots' the thought. "Basically, since the mushroom is responding, something must be 'calling' aggression that takes nuance since a decision that is aggressive must be made, a decision lacking nuance is simply a decision-". Whether from being bored with the conversation's content or due to genuine excitement at understanding Typhus interrupted her, "So you are saying I pissed off the mushrooms in some way that activated that response?"
Sophia laughed inwardly at how simplistic he had put it but affirmed that was more or less what she was getting at before they decided 5 mushrooms were more than enough and continued on their walk around the perimeter of their small campsite. Nothing of note showed itself and the surroundings hardly changed making Typhus especially wary of how easy it would be to get lost in this new environment.
Sophia made constant observations and shotgun style questions, her inquisitive mind was a welcome surprise. Answering everything he could Typhus would give her his theories or questions of his own that had been left unanswered. Devolving into sporadic explanations of deeper concepts that fell into either of their perspective fields of expertise.
"So if death mana is 'corruptive' as you put it, could it be used as a…" Sophia froze in place as they approached the tiger trap base camp. Nocturne had been hard at work expanding the underground section making three tunnels on the opposite side of the entrance. With the skeleton nowhere to be found. "Holy shit…" Typhus said below his breath as they starred in awe of the amount of labor that had been accomplished in the few hours they had been out exploring. The leaf-filled floor was now ten meters deep with a ladder that led to the surface that was just scooped out dirt.
Jumping the last meter or so, Typhus landed with a mixture of squish and crunches. Rays of sunlight passed through the tree covered top which made the camp look like a Druid's cave more than a survival outpost. Nocturne definitely understood efficiency but ambience seemed to escape its limited capacity for understanding as the dirt piled high on some sections while being devoid in others.
Each tunnel was lit enough to see the end wall with fresh scratch marks and displacement from Nocturnes crude tools. "I see why you've kept the skeleton around, it looks like a construction crew had spent days here working with heavy equipment." Sophia remarked analytically choosing which tunnel she would claim without saying a word. "Where is Nocturne?" she asked once seemingly happy with her mental choice.
In response a shrill hum filled Typhus's mind before the sounds combined to form a unified voice in his mind,
'I've completed the task'
From the darkness of the central tunnel the purple skeleton walked forward with much more fluid movements than the days before.
"Wow, you've really found your stride huh buddy?" Typhus said, alerting Sophia to the monster's location. He could see in her eyes she held no love for his bone crafted companion but considering how close she came to joining the ranks of the undead he didn't hold that against her. She leaned close to his ear before asking in a hushed tone, "are you sure we should be celebrating that? Could this be like raising a tiger cub just for it to maul its owners?"
"Well, to start I wouldn't consider anyone their 'owner', Nocturne is just a variable, no offense" Typhus looked towards the undead with sympathetic eyes, "but, I think I could take Nocturne in a fight if it came down to it, with that said though I don't think that would be beneficial to anyone's survival, including theirs.". Taken back from the truth behind the answer Sophia could only grab her chin and look towards the dirt floor as the sun reached the highest point showing they were almost towards the end of day three, Sophia posed a question that had been gnawing at the back of her mind.
"Are you hungry? Or thirsty?" Typhus knit his eyebrows in thoughtful consideration at the question. "No… Not really, I feel like I've missed a few meals at most, but considering I should well into starvation and dehydration that feel, unnatural…" It was Typhus's turn to look towards the dirt in thought. "With that said however, we should make gathering a higher priority, but nothing in this area seems edible, or even non hostile."
"Then we should get moving!" Sophia found a renewed vigor in the opportunity to leave the cursed lands they were in. "I agree, but let's make a plan first, given what we learned on our walk, it looks like not many things around here enjoy the daylight, compared to how lively it seemed to be at night.", with a look of deep pity he turned towards Sophia, "I think we should try to find a way to transport water, and find a source of food, and then leave with more light to make the trip in one day instead of having to make a shelter halfway out of this forest."