Darian stood in the main chamber, gaze fixed on the motionless form of Caretaker who had cradled him protectively as he mutated into his human-centric form. It felt like forever since he heard the gentle yet authoritative tone of his guide. To other races, Caretaker would appear merely a decorative fixture in the core of the nest, but with Darian’s hive-sight, he felt the life flowing into and back out of his colossal companion. The pulses of energy were weak, no more than a flicker, but it assured him that Caretaker was most certainly alive, if not very well.

“I’ve done what you wanted, my friend,” Darian began, his voice soft and carried the weight of loss. “At least… I think I have?” Pacing back and forth before what most closely resembled his only friend, he continued, “I have spawned many more drones to keep up with the demands of our hive.” Darian closed his eyes and the world around him burst into life, every ember of essence lighting up the caverns with a dull yellow glow as he watched his workers carry out their commands. Several were working on digging out the well that had begun to produce a steady flow of clean water, others were carving out a new chamber to store the ever-growing supply of eggs he had produced this morning.

Amidst the mass of yellow orbs that marched about, lay a single blue light, motionless but shimmering with an intensity none of his minions could match. It lay within Fayne’s chambers, immobile but very much alive. “Our ward is still defying us,” Darian sighed. “She answers my questions and satisfies my curiosity, but something is wrong with her, she will not eat and it is becoming more difficult to water her adequately. I have provided her with everything needed to thrive, and yet her death seems imminent. I know not what to do Caretaker. I can not… caretake her much longer.”

Sobs echoed throughout the nest and Darian perked up at the disturbance. “I apologize Caretaker, something has happened, and I must address it. I will check in on you later. Thank you for everything,” and with that Darian dashed off to Fayne’s chambers to observe her peculiar actions.

In the days that followed, Fayne discovered that though she was confined to the Hive of her captor, she did still possess free reign within the fleshy tunnels. This, of course, led to her being captured multiple times as she made attempt after attempt to escape to the surface. Eventually, the leader must have decided that this was too much of a hassle and caved in the entrance, denying her any hope of escape. It wasn’t just the fact that she was trapped in this dark, humid hellscape, but RangerDanger hadn’t even bothered to return. Ranger’s absence weighed heavily on her.

As she thought about Ranger, she grew more and more concerned. Typically a player would only require a few hours at their level to respawn at their most recent checkpoint, but it had clearly been days since he perished, and she had yet to hear anything of his rescue attempts. Time meant little to her, as Fayne was only able to judge the days by the instances she grew too tired to move on and collapsed in her own personal chamber. Darian had instructed, or so she assumed, the drones to clear out a new chamber for her to dwell in. It was no more or less comfortable than any other section of the cave, but she couldn’t help but notice when in her chamber, she was never disturbed. Despite his incessant prying into what it was to be a human, and asking why she was so hostile toward him when she was in her chamber, he left her alone with no questions asked. This was as close to home as she could hope for while she waited for Ranger to come to her rescue.

Darian marched through his tunnels, his actions neurotic and disturbed, absorbed in his own thoughts. He returned to the main chamber and after glancing around to verify that his human companion was nowhere to be seen, he picked the last bit of flesh from the male intruder’s bones, savoring the flavor and focusing deeply on its genetic contributions. The Vescarid thoughts were running in the background of his mind, while the forefront was consumed by his guest. He couldn’t help but wonder why she was harming herself, why she wouldn’t eat. He could understand that some creatures had specific dietary concerns, but that explained nothing about this human who would refuse to share any personal details with him.

He offered her flesh of the intruder, he offered her flesh from his personal stockpile, hell, he even offered her the newly formed Nutrimoss that recently sprouted along fleshy nodes on the floor. He tried some himself, and it was delightful. The moss seemed to creep along the floor, covering every surface it came in contact with, creating a fuzzy texture to the floor that provided him with a constant source of sustenance without hindering his vibrational sense. Tiny mushrooms sprouted within the moss, adding to its value, as they seeped a warm purple jelly that seemed to have a revitalizing property. There was no reason for her to starve herself, and this disturbed Darian a great deal.

Over the last few days, he had learned that she needed her space, and never took it upon himself to intrude in the portion of the hive he had constructed specifically for her. She was a unique prize, something that could help him learn more about this world and its inhabitants, but as time passed, he found less value in her existence. Sure, she didn’t eat much; she didn’t eat anything actually. It was due to this particular trait that he didn’t simply use her to fuel the hive, for she wasn’t stripping them of anything other than his attention. There were many nights that Darian would stand at the entrance to her room and simply watch her for hours on end. Unsure what to make of this stubborn creature.

Fayne rested with her back against the wall of her chamber. She dared not move, for between the aches of her muscles and the cramps in her stomach, every moment was suffering. She wasn’t sure how many days it had been, but it felt like forever since she had eaten. Resigned to die, she figured it wouldn’t be much longer until she faded into oblivion. The thought of suicide had been in the forefront of her mind, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. She felt cowardly, not being able to resist drinking from the watering hole the creatures had established, but starving; as slow as it was, she could deal with starving.

It must have been day five, or maybe it was day seven when the semblance of an idea began to break through her foggy mind. Despite the collapsed tunnel, despite the roaming drones, despite everything stacked against her, it was possible for her to escape. It wouldn’t be an easy task, and she needed to prepare, as in her current condition even if she could get out of the nest, she wouldn’t make it far. Recalling what the creature referred to as Nutrimoss, Fayne sought out the disgusting fungus and was thankful for their bioluminescent attribute providing her simple human eyes some sight. On her hands and knees, she crawled to a patch that had begun growing in her room and hovered over it, inspecting the strange oozing fauna, native only to these accursed tunnels.

Carefully, and with great hesitance, she plucked one of the caps from the node and held it before her. The smell was musty and putrid, but upon analyzing it, there were no notifications that told her it would cause any harm. That was little comfort, as she had received no notifications at all since being captured and was certain that any connection she had to the game had long since been severed. However, the worst-case scenario was that this would take her down the last leg of life and deliver her to the end of her journey, which didn’t sound so bad after how her week had gone.

Taking a deep breath and plugging her nose, Fayne popped the mushroom into her mouth and began to chew. She couldn’t tell if it was simply not that awful, or if her body was bypassing her tastebuds in a mad dash to put any nutrients into her and keep the woman alive another day, but she managed to eat it with little trouble. By the next morning, the fungi had not only regrown but spread a bit further into her chamber and it was this second time that she truly experienced the flavor.

What little she consumed from the previous day had done wonders for her vitality and for one brief moment, she had believed that this was a miracle food. Today was a different day, and the appeal had quickly worn off. Her senses were in full swing as she pinched off another helping and hesitated, her hand trembling involuntarily as the aroma hit her like a freight train. Her hunger gnawed at her insides, urging her to eat, but her mind rebelled. Finally, she forced the piece into her mouth.

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The taste was far worse than the smell and she was overcome with a wave of nausea. The mushroom had a bitter, metallic, and vaguely moldy bouquet of flavors. Her tongue recoiled instinctively, but she pressed on, biting down. The texture was even worse; it clung to her teeth and the roof of her mouth, a sticky, fibrous paste that resisted swallowing. The slimy purple material seemed to find purchase in every crevice of her mouth, forcing her to pry her fingers under her lips and scoop out the gunk.

She gagged, her throat convulsing in protest. A sour aftertaste bloomed as the mushroom slid down her throat, her body shuddering as though rejecting the intrusion.

Fayne closed her eyes, breathing shallowly through her mouth to stave off the nausea. The taste lingered, refusing to fade, but she reached for another piece. Each bite was a battle, but the hope of escape was stronger.

By the time she finished, her stomach churned with the alien food, but it was hard to argue with the effects. It was day two of eating this gruel and she nearly felt as she did before that fateful day she wandered into this place; at least physically. She slumped back, her body weak but her resolve stronger than ever.

“If I can eat this, she thought, I can do anything,” Fayne assured herself, running through the plan one last time before she took her shot.

Having regained some semblance of her strength, Fayne decided that if the hive was open to her, she would wander it. Her attempts were valiant, but otherwise in vain as she stumbled around the corridors and felt her way by touch, her hands constantly grazing the disgusting fleshy membrane that coated the walls.

That first day that she tried to navigate, she made sure to insist to her captor that there be some sort of light source. It informed her that fire was out of the question, as much of his hive was highly flammable, but he would look into light sources for creatures with limited night vision. She wasn’t listening terribly close, but it mentioned something about the benefits of spawning diurnal creatures, and how illumination would aid them in their time underground. She had no idea what diurnal was, but it reminded her of nocturnal, so she figured it must have been the opposite; either way, it made no difference to her, so long as she had some way to move around without crashing into the walls.

The days passed slowly as Fayne made her way to the watering hole, now illuminated by a bioluminescent trail of nutrimoss that she picked from to snack on before taking her morning drink. It was disturbing how natural this routine had become. If it weren’t for the fact that she had absolutely nothing to stimulate her mind other than the incessant questions from the insect creature, she would have gone mad. Fayne decided it was now or never, and made her way to the main chamber that Darian always seemed to spend his time in. It was that chamber with the massive statue of a terrifying creature, possibly a god they worshiped? She had no idea, but she would be happy when some distance was put between it and her.

Fayne picked a mushroom cap and winced as the thick jelly oozed out and around her hands, before she rounded the corner to check if her captor was where he typically was, and to no surprise, he was actively facing her direction as though he anticipated her arrival. “There’s something he knows that I don’t,” she muttered to herself, pausing momentarily before pressing forward to greet him.

“Good morning…” she stopped to think about the phrase before continuing, “Or afternoon, or night; I must admit I have no idea what time it is,” her tone was bashful, an act of course, but she truly had no idea what the time was.

“Greetings,” he responded, not taking the bait, merely happy to have her out and about. “You are eating?” he inquired, taking note of the mushroom in her hand.

Fayne looked around a moment before turning her gaze to the mushroom in her hand, “Well, yes, I suppose I am,” she lifted the sustenance to her mouth and took a bite, having since grown accustomed to the flavor. “I would have died days ago if I hadn’t eaten something,” her words dripped with spite but she tried to hide it. “Thank you for not making me eat my friend,” she figured was a fair recovery, taking another bite of the bitter food.

“I… am sorry,” if Darian could blush he would be glowing pink, “I should… Not, have offered you the huma… Elf meat. Your customs… foreign to me.” He struggled. If only he could speak to her in Vescarid, maybe they could work out their differences. Alas, this was what he had to work with, and he would do his best.

Fayne was about to get to the point when Darian interrupted. “I… Sorry.” he was trying to stay out of her mind and use verbal communication, but it was clearly rough on her ears. “I eat… Elf,” he turned his gaze from her in shame, “It… teach much… Understand… the hunt, and… new words” he was proud of this, but shame still tainted his visage.

“That’s fine” she lied, just wanting to progress her plan, “I understand, but that’s not why I am here,” Fayne was uneasy, she knew she only had one, maybe two shots at landing the proposal. The thought of failure might as well have been the thought of death. “I’m sorry, you can call me Fayne, that’s what…” she trailed off, remembering the one friend she really had, and how she would never hear him say her name again.

“Never mind, It’s not just food and water that I need to talk about,” Fayne continued, clutching what was left of the mushroom she brought. “I need sunlight. Without it, no amount of food and water will keep me going. Humans need the sun, we’re… Diurnal,” that word still threw her off. How could something that barely grasped her language, be suddenly throwing out scientific terms? This was neither the time nor the place to question the creature's language capabilities though.

“I see…” he responded, his eyes unmoving, but clearly staring into her very soul. “You may call me Darian, the name of my donor,” he stated with a bow. “So… The surface… is your home?” Darian asked, his curious nature breaking through as left the behemoth of a statue behind him and walked over to face Fayne.

“Yes, that is where I belong, that is the best for me. If I must stay here, with you, to teach you, I need to spend some time outside, soaking in the sun’s rays. My body needs it.” she pleaded, trying not to sound too desperate, but knowing that this was her chance.

There was a long silence between them, broken only by the faint skittering of drones in the distance. Fayne forced herself to maintain eye contact, her grip tightening on the mushroom until its jelly oozed through her fingers.

Finally, Darian nodded. “I… will consider. The surface… must be scouted first. Safe paths found.”

“That’s all I ask,” Fayne said, her relief genuine despite her underlying intentions. She softened her expression, letting gratitude seep into her voice. “Thank you, Darian. I mean it.”

Darian gave a curt nod, rising to his full height. “Prepare. It… will take time.”