NOD
Come home.
After centuries, home.
Troublesome Hound lands at port and I am at airlock when it opens. Remaining offspring at my feet.
Smell air of home. Rich, loamy. Rotting leaves of World Tree. New buds high in branches overhead. Scent of billion Druff.
World Tree vast. Covers entire landmass. Single organism. All other life serves it. Druff serve it.
Druff work, then rest.
Maintain fibres within Tree that carry nerve impulses and other information. Clear dead wood. Repair storm damage.
Druff work, then rest.
Work until dead, then fall into the mulch between the roots. Feed tree. Become one with World Tree. See again all ancestors that went before.
Nothing ever truly lost.
Younglings and I step down from Hound of Difficulty and feel soil of home against our feet.
First time for them.
Druff scattered all across stars now. Across whole Multiplicity. In engine rooms of ships. Human ships, Nymtoq ships, Hopper ships… Every race employs Druff.
Maintain ships.
Build nests.
Rest.
Sometimes come home to World Tree.
Come home to touch faces with family.
Introduce offspring.
Roll in soil.
Climb into highest branches and feel chill high-altitude winds shake creaking Tree.
Home.
Home good.
Love home.
Even if only for a little while.