Symbiotic: Chapter 13

Sara tried to wrap her head around what was happening, but the incongruity of it all had her truly thrown.

*Ping* [Regrowth Location 1 of 3: Life Fields Authorized.]

*Ping* [The Glorious Lion Who Roars at the Sun (Territory Controller) has requested an Empathic Connection, Lesser, with you. Accept? Y/N]

“I.. Who… Whaaaaaaa?”, Sara stammered. Her mind was racing with a thousand different ways her situation might end, but she hadn’t gotten anywhere near to this one in her imagining. “Um, Accept?”

*Ping* [Empathic Connection, Lesser, activated.]

And somewhere, deep within the Mycorrhizal Network that was Sara Bloom, she felt a fraction of a voice. It spoke not with words, but with emotion and fuzzy images. At first it was just jumbles of color and shape and emotion, but quickly Sara was able to adapt to the connection. The swell. The push and pull that she immediately decided to title Statement and Query.

The Glorious Lion Who Roars at the Sun: Statement: Concern. Safe Friend. Danger Death.

Query: Hunter, Pride, or Prey?

Sara focused inward on the connection. Unable to understand exactly what or how to send, she tried to push thoughts of her name, and that she was Not a Danger. That she was not a hunter or a prey, and Not a Danger. That she was just passing through to the valley beyond, and Not a Danger. She Really hoped that The Glorious Lion who…. No, she’d just call him Glory or she’d never manage a conversation.

Sara: Statement. Sara. Not Hunter. Not Prey. Not Danger. Just passing to valley.

Glory: Query. Two leg Valley? Statement: Guard travel. Statement: Danger Death.

Thoughout this strange Empathic back and forth, the giant golden Lion's eyes never left Sara even for a second, and it's massive paw with its dagger sized claws sat poissed to strike. Getting an answer, or Query, whong here would seem to be a very, very, bad idea.

Sara: Statement: Yes, Two Leg Valley is goal. Query: Guard for Sara Or Guard Against Sara?

Glory: Statement: Friend Safe. Danger Death. Query: Sara Friend/Danger?

The massive Lion, Glory, suddenly chuffed and leaned in further until his head loomed over Sara like a furry golden gazebo. Glory sniffed deeply and Sara realized he was sniffing at the spores misting from her robe.

Glory bumped Sara with his head, confused but excited: Query: Sara Pride? Sara Self? Smell Sara Pride? Statement: The Glorious Lion Who Roars at the Sun Pride. Query: Sara Pride?

Sara paused. Did he sense her Network in the Spores? Sara nodded but then remembered to focus for her response. Statement: Sara Network. Sara Pride? She tried to make herself sound more sure of her answer than she was.

Glory stepped back and Roared, the sound shaking Sara’s very bones at the depth and volume. Before she could begin to react, a dozen lions raced forward to press in around her from all sides. Starting to freak out, and unsure how to react, Sara was shocked to see the light mist of her robe spores expand and cloud the area to touch each of the Lions encircling her.

[Empathic Connection, Lesser increased to Empathic Bond]

[Cost 100 Microbes. Remaining Network 1000 of 1500]

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Sara gasped as her connection to Glory was suddenly... More. Like her Mycorrhizal Network had linked, through Glory, to another outside network. She could just barely make out what felt like dozens of presences, ghostly and ephemeral in her mind. Weak and fragile as they each were, they empowered her connection to Glory, and through that connection flowed concepts and thoughts rather than base feeling and blurred images.

Glory: "Statement: It true. You are Pride. Sara Pride, not Glory Pride, but Pride."

Sara laughed at the joy she felt in Glory’s connection. Like a person lost on an island realizing they are not alone. “Yes”, she said aloud, then back to the connection. "Statement: Sara Pride. Sara Pride greets Glory Pride. Sara Pride Safe. Friend!"

Minute by minute as they shared thoughts and intentions through the connection, the bond expanded until, some unknown time later, Sara realized they were truly conversing.

“Glory’s Pride bids you welcome in our Territory, Sara. Until such a time as you prove yourself a foe, the Pride welcomes you. You are travelling to the Valley of the Two Legs? We shall accompany you and any that stand against you stand against the Pride.”

Sara smiled at Glory’s words. “Thank you, Glorious Lion Who Roars at the Sun. May I call you Glory?" Glory chuffed and she recognized affirmation in the noise. "I must ask. Does your Pride claim the valley as your Territory? For my intention was to claim it as mine. But if you already call it yours, I will look elsewhere. I truly wish only to be friends, and never a danger to you or yours.”

Glory roared in what Sara realized was laughter. “The Pride claims the golden fields of Lifewheat as our own, but we do not lay claim to the Two Leg Valley.” Glory’s mental voice grew more solemn as he continued. “There has been… Friction between the Two Legs and the Pride for many seasons. Unruly and untrustworthy, they have proven to be time and again. If the Sara Pride would claim Ownership and see an end to the hostilities, the Pride of The Glorious Lion Who Roars at the Sun would consider that a debt worth paying in kind. The Pride would much rather be Friend than Foe to Sara Pride.”

Butting her chest with his massive head, Glory proclaimed, “Claim your valley, Sara Pride of the Two Legs. Prove the Two Legs friends of the Pride, and the Pride will extend our protection to you and yours when they travel the Lifewheat Fields.”

With a Roar from Glory, the other lions disappeared into the Lifewheat stalks like ghosts and, when Sara looked back, even Glory himself was gone, with only the torso sized paw prints in the dirt as proof he was ever there.

“Thank you, Glorious Lion Who Roars at the Sun”, Sara thought as she felt the bond unthreading inside her. “I will do what I can to honor your trust.”

And, with that promise made, Sara continued her way through the Lifewheat fields towards the valley she had seed from across the river, curious what she would find when she reached this Two Legs Valley, and already feeling the loneliness of being alone after having felt the bizarre Empathic Bond connection.

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Sara found her way to the entrance of the valley without much issue. Mostly because though she caught not a single glimpse of them, she would hear a growl or a chuff in the right direction anytime she strayed too far off course. She didn’t see them, but she knew that Glory’s Pride was watching her.

Twice she heard shrieks or screams of something other than the Lions in the nearby stalks, but the shrieks were cut off almost instantly and never repeated. What dangers she skirted by unseen she didn’t know, but she was thankful once again for having met Glory and his Pride.

From one step to the next, the chest high stalks of Lifewheat simply ended, and suddenly she was face to face with the small dip between the mountain slopes that signaled the entry to the valley she had chosen as her destination.

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The flat fields behind gave way to stone and slope ahead, the Lifewheat a wall of golden stalks behind her, until the land narrowed between two mountain ridges. The valley beyond was small, almost hidden, as though tucked away deliberately.

From the entrance, Sara saw a scattering of dwellings. Simple wooden houses with smoke curling faintly from their chimneys. A central well stood in the open square, its stone rim worn smooth by countless hands. Beyond the houses, a few farmsteads stretched into the valley floor, their crops neat and orderly, far less wild than the Lifewheat she had just crossed.

At the far end, the mountainside loomed. A black tunnel yawned open there, unlit and unwelcoming, its edges reinforced with timber beams, with nothing and no one nearby. Even from here, Sara felt the faint hum of the System around it. There was a story there, definitely.

The village itself was quiet but not lifeless. People moved about their tasks: a woman drawing water from the well, a man tending to a small field of vegetables, children chasing each other near the houses. They looked ordinary, but Sara’s [Identify] whispered otherwise:

[System Notice: Citizens Detected]

Type: NCP (Non Challenger Personnel)

Status: Bound to System.

Role: Valley Inhabitants.

Disposition: Neutral.

These were not Inductees like her. Not challengers, not players. These were the Citizens of the System she had been told about in the initial Tutorial deluge of data. Living pieces of the world, bound to its rules.

Eager, but anxious to see how it would go, Sara cautiously made her way into Haven Valley, her spores drifting faintly around her as she took in the sight of the settlement. Though not a bustling hive of population the valley was alive with movement with villagers and farmers going about their day, the hum of ordinary life a stark contrast to the Tutorial’s silence broken by screams.

Most of the people she saw were human, dressed in simple tunics and work clothes, carrying baskets of produce or tools. A pair of children darted past her, laughing as they chased each other with sticks, while an older man leaned against a fence, chewing on a stalk of grain as he watched them with a tired smile.

At the well in the center of the square, a birdfolk woman stood gracefully, feathers shimmering in the sunlight as she hauled up a bucket of water. Her plumage was a soft bronze, wings folded neatly against her back, and Sara found herself staring for a moment at how effortlessly she balanced the heavy bucket with one clawed hand.

On a shaded porch nearby, two molefolk lounged in the deep shadow, their small eyes squinting against the brightness of the day. Their broad hands rested on their knees, claws dulled from work, and they seemed content to sit in silence, watching the bustle of the valley from their cool refuge.

Then Sara spotted him. A rabbitfolk farmer, ears tall and twitching as he strode toward the fields with a hoe slung over his shoulder. His gait was purposeful, but his ears flicked with every sound, betraying a constant alertness. Sara’s heart gave a little leap, an almost childish urge rising in her to rush over and pet those ears. She caught herself quickly, cheeks warming. That was probably a very bad idea without consent, and she forced her spores to settle, reminding herself she was here as a Challenger to claim the Valley, not a curious tourist.

The valley stretched out before her, a patchwork of tilled earth, wooden homes, and winding paths. Humans, birdfolk, molefolk, rabbitfolk, and others, all living side by side, their lives woven together in this haven. Sara smiled, the weight of the dungeon lifting slightly from her shoulders. For the first time in days, she felt the warmth of community, and it was dazzling.

As she stepped cautiously into the square, one of them approached. An older man, broad-shouldered but weathered, with a simple tunic and a staff that looked more for walking than fighting. His eyes were calm, assessing her without fear.

“Greetings Traveler,” he said, voice steady. “You’ve come through the fields unscathed. Few do.”

Behind him, others paused in their work, watching. Not hostile, but wary. Sara kept her hands low, her posture careful. She had learned enough to know that territory mattered, and she was stepping into theirs.

The man gestured toward the well, then toward the tunnel in the mountain. “Name’s Herman, of the village council. Welcome to Haven Valley. If you seek the mine, you’ll need to prove yourself first. The System does not open its doors lightly.”

Sara nodded and smiled, her eyes flicking to the dark tunnel, but then back to the man before her. She didn’t yet know what dungeon lay beyond, but the weight of the man’s words told her it would be no simple task.

For now, she was in the valley. She had made it. “Step One achieved”, she muttered to herself before lifting her gave back to her greeter. “Let’s go with brutal honesty and see how it goes. What’s the worst that coul….”, she thought to herself. “No…. Never saying that again! Last time it summoned a bear the size of a mountain and twice as angry!”

“Greetings in turn, good sir. I am Sara Bloom, and I’ve come to claim this as my Territory. If I understand correctly, this will benefit not only myself and my goals, but my fellow valley inhabitants as well.”, she said, trying not to make it sound like a question.

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The words hung heavy in the air.

The villagers had paused in their work and play, watching her with wary curiosity. The elder who had greeted her, Herman, broad-shouldered and even tempered, watched her with patient eyes

The villagers stirred. Murmurs rippled through the crowd as more people emerged from their homes and fields. Children were pulled closer to their parents, and the farmers set down their tools. They all knew what Territorial Authority meant. The possible benefits were undeniable. Growth, protection, resource amplification, the System’s favor. But so were the risks. If the one who claimed it was not strong enough, the Territory would become a beacon for predators, a death sentence for those who lived within.

Herman’s eyes narrowed, not in anger but in thought. He tapped his staff once against the ground, then turned to confer with two other elders who had stepped forward, a woman with silver hair braided down her back, and a lean man with sharp eyes. Their voices were low, but Sara could feel the weight of their deliberation.

Finally, Herman turned back to her. His voice was calm, but carried authority:

"We will not stand in your way. The valley is unclaimed, the System allows such declarations, and surely we could benefit greatly from such an action. But if you would anchor your Territory here, we must know you can hold it. Words are not enough. Resolve and proof are required."

He gestured toward the black tunnel in the mountainside, its mouth yawning like a wound.

"The mine lies beyond that gate. But the System has sealed it with a Dungeon. Until it is cleared, the mine remains closed, and the valley remains unable to make use of the weath and protection it could gain us. If you would claim this place, prove your ability by completing the Dungeon. Show us that you can protect what you would bind and not leave us vulnerable."

The crowd murmured again, but this time with a different tone, not fear, but expectation. The villagers’ eyes were on her, weighing her, judging whether she was the one who could bring strength to their valley.

Sara nodded slowly, her hands tightening at her sides. "Then I will clear the Dungeon," she said. "And when I return, this valley will be mine."

The elders inclined their heads. Herman’s gaze softened, though his voice remained firm:

"So be it. May the System judge you worthy."

The villagers dispersed, but their eyes lingered on her as she turned toward the dark tunnel. The valley had given her a path to Authority. Now she just had to walk it. “How hard could it… Damnit!”

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