Mister Mushroom

...Yes, communication is the heart of it. The grandest boasts and the tiniest murmurings all have their meanings...

...Your point is well made. Even the flowers have their stories to tell. Light can be cast anywhere...

Hornet

I’ve no desire to interrupt your meditations, Herald, but I am eager to speak with you, if you would listen...

...Take note of it all, render it in line, you’ll be glad that you did. You can take the journey home with you...

...Oh. Excuse me.

...Great strides move the world, but small steps shouldn’t be overlooked...

...One mystery leads to another. Scrutinising the belly of the thing will prove useful...

Hornet

The meaning behind your musings is as opaque as ever. Would you converse with me directly, sir?

...Trust yourself. And each other. The solution is always within grasp...

...Crossed weapons, sleeping of course, but shaped unlike any you’ve seen before...

...To travel underneath is one thing, but travelling up above may require a different sort of sight...

Hornet

Sir Herald... It seems rare coincidence for us to meet in this distant land. Unless, perhaps, you followed me here?

...A path that meets itself is an ill portent indeed. Those who peer sideways know well enough...

...The elements do not conspire against you. They have their own desires...

...When one spies a great peak, the natural inclination is to begin climbing...

...The little left-behind... you’ve decided, then? A companion for the journey...

...Oh. Wyrm child. No surprise it’s you who meets me here.

Following me are you? Or calling me? It is true I would not have sought the lands below if not for your grand actions within them.

But now, having journeyed their breadth, what singular sights I beheld... Flaming lakes, tangled woods, caves consumed by sand and frost...

Remarkable things all, though given their void claimed state it seems you and I may be the last to hold those memories.

Hornet

I cannot allow that outcome, Herald. I act now to save that place, both for myself and for those bugs still alive within.

Hornet

As one who has seen so much, tell me simply, do you believe my efforts in vain?

Me? Certainly you can ask, but I cannot provide good answer. I’ve no mind for outcomes. Always my vision is too clouded by the present.

Only the journey... the now. For myself, that is the purpose, and as far as my sight can see.

If any other could come to understand that state, Wyrm child, I suspect it may be you...

Though maybe not yet, not this present, hmmm? Maybe in a future far, when your actions might hail me so again?

Alas, from these quaking caves it is past time I made my swift exit. Ours each may be long and winding roads, but I hope you too come to know the many joys upon the path...

...Do they realise it would only be the beginning? If they cleave themselves free, they would need to find their way anew...

...One can visit the past, but then memories become contradictory...

...When the call rings out again, will you let your previous actions cloud your vision?

...By claw, by voice... History always rises to meet us...

...At the bottom of a well, you can only look up. The past is hidden from those who look forward...

...Those echoes may guide you still. Yes, that’s true. For the kind-hearted, a weapon can also be a friend...

...You’re so eager to follow in her footsteps. But what are you leaving for those who come next?