Nether

Fungi came out cursed - that's how they call warped funguswalkers, who were born with overabundance of overworld energy in them. Hoglins are scared of them even more than usual, but then they also prone to get attacked by skeletons (who usually just ignore funguswalkers). They also quite often don't fit in into the community and choose the path of scouts, or just straight up leave to never be seen. Mycelium villagers just assume they die, get withered or shot by skeletons or succumb to many other dangers of the Nether, which is often not wrong. But not always.

Fungi knew that there is something more to their condition than just being weird. Throughout their life they kept seeing those strange dreams, where 'up' is always changing, where the ground is full of new colors and textures and all kinds of fantastic creatures lurk below and above. They always were wery abrupt and fuzzy, until one day on the mission they found a broken overworld portal. They knew this structure was special. They became even more sure about it when they fell asleep beside it and saw one of their usual 'weird' dreams. But this time it was different. It was so real, Fungi could feel the ground vegetation clinging onto their legs, the mighty leaps of air, they could hear all those unfamilliar sounds from the creatures.

Then they woke up they knew that this place is real. And they were determined to find it.

So once they left for good. Most of their village knew it was coming and already buried them in their minds, so it wasn't hard. Now they had to figure out what makes those obsidian structures so special, and how do they get there .

Captive

Despite onse being one species, funguswalkers grown to have their differences. Different poison in spores, amount of lava in their veins, and, finally - different magic print. Warped fungus, being corrupted by overworld energy, terrifies hoglins, which spares blue funguswalkers from one of the powerful enemies. Crimson funguswalkers don't have this luxury and have to deal with huge beasts hunting them for food. Some adaptations can be... Dire.

Many crimson villages have one or two warped funguswalkers living with them and scaring hoglins away, but rarely warped ones do this voluntarily. More often crimson walkers just catch the lonely scouts and keep them captive. This is exactly what happened to Fungi, being caught on their sole mission and escorted to the village. Being small and relatively nonviolent, Fungi usually relied on their spores and fast legs, but they were useless now. So they resighned. They were assighed a guard to protect them and make sure they won't escape. And over time, they build some kind of friendly relationship with their constant company.

One day they were taken on a mission with a party of crimson scouts who wanted to explore the fortress. Being cursed, Fungi honestly considered themselves more of a hazard than help in a giant structure filled with wither skeletons, but crimsons, being unaware of the warped lore, thought that they are just being a coward, so Fungi were taken despite their warnings.

And the party was attacked once they have gone deep enough. Spores were usless, wither strikes were deadly. The only ones who survived were Fungi and their guard, who listened to them when they asked them to run and hide, and two other crimson scouts, who barely escaped the carnage. The leader of the party, once catched up to Fungi and the guard, who were waiting for them in the safety, started shouting and blaming Fungi for all the deaths. They wanted to throw Fungi out in the lava, but then the Guard protested. Fungi clearly warned them about skeleton attack and did all they could to prevent this, which is not much, considering them being hold captive, so it would be simply unfair to blame them. In a chaos of throwing hands and insults the Leader was thrown in the lava instead, and the last crimson scout ran. Now the Guard became a traitor for their own village. They had nothing left, so might as well follow the only person who will tolerate them.

After long searches and troubles The Cursed and The Guard eventually found a mostly intact overworld portal and stole enough obsidian from piglins to repair it. Now the only worry is what awaits them on the other side.

Overworld

Other side is dark, but still brighter than the homeworld, and is considerably cold. There is all kinds of new noises and creatures crawling beneath and above. The first instinct is to leave this weird, alien place, and the Guard even backs up, but Fungi is determined. They step forward

Eventually they found something - no, someone, who looks familliar. Both Fungi and the Guard saw those black purple-eyed creatures before - it's an enderman. Her name is Oak and she is still a child, and her endarian is weird, but still understandable. Fungi, who loved spending time with endermen at home, quickly finds some common ground with the kid, and she seems so happy to see someone new that she actually brings them home, offering shelter in exchange for friendship, what is totally okay with the funguswalkers. Oak's caretaker, older enderman named Darkwood, seems not so pleased with strangers in their lair, but he has to come to terms with it at the end. It doesn't mean he will go easy on them, though.

Neither of the funguswalkers seem to be comfortable with telling or being called their old names - clearly, "Cursed one" and "Guard" carry some traumatic memories, so Oak gives them new and fresh ones. And this is how Fungi and Shroom found their new home.