Pick a Pack of Pickled...Shrooms?

Balian

He couldn't deny that the world's behavior was setting him on edge for the last few weeks. Plants were glowing. Animals were glowing. The stars didn't look right, and everything was dark. He didn't like it. But that was mostly due to the fact that horse vision just wasn't that great in the dark. He snorted as he walked across the valley, listening to nothing but the sound of his hooves and the monkey on his back chewing on a piece of wheatgrass.

He found a stream, though he had to locate it more by scent than anything. What he was met with, however, were tons of ̸̾͌m̴͑̋û̸́s̵̀͒h̸̏̒r̶̍͒o̷̢͊o̷͊̀ṁ̴̃s growing along the bank and all up the sides of the stream. He hadn't yet tried to eat one of the ̸̾͌m̴͑̋û̸́s̵̀͒h̸̏̒r̶̍͒o̷̢͊o̷͊̀ṁ̴̃s...though he briefly wondered how they'd taste...maybe it wouldn't be too farfetche'd to eat one, right? What was the worst that could happen, anyway? A stomachache? Glowing teeth? maybe an itchy tongue? While he knew some ̸̾͌m̴͑̋û̸́s̵̀͒h̸̏̒r̶̍͒o̷̢͊o̷͊̀ṁ̴̃s could be poisonous, he knew there were edible species, too. He nickered for the monkey on his back to come down and investigate the ̸̾͌m̴͑̋û̸́s̵̀͒h̸̏̒r̶̍͒o̷̢͊o̷͊̀ṁ̴̃s first. The primate sighed, disgruntled that the horse had made her come down from her perch. But when she noticed the ̸̾͌m̴͑̋û̸́s̵̀͒h̸̏̒r̶̍͒o̷̢͊o̷͊̀ṁ̴̃s, her eyes lit up and she couldn't help but to poke one.

The ̸̾͌m̴͑̋û̸́s̵̀͒h̸̏̒r̶̍͒o̷̢͊o̷͊̀ṁ̴̃ wobbled, its g̷͑̂ľ̵̌o̵̺͂ẘ̶̀ pulsing erraticaly after she touched it. Balian was thrown for a loop when he saw that, but he had to admit it was pretty fascinating. Delighted, the howler monkey snatched the ̸̾͌m̴͑̋û̸́s̵̀͒h̸̏̒r̶̍͒o̷̢͊o̷͊̀ṁ̴̃ from the ground and stuffed it in her mouth without a second thought, eyes lighting up as she practically seemed to swallow it whole.

Balian watched her intently, wondering if she would start glowing, too. After a few moments, however, he couldn't see anything different about her. Snorting, he took a step back and decided it was safe to try one for himself. He first touched a bouncing purple ̸̾͌m̴͑̋û̸́s̵̀͒h̸̏̒r̶̍͒o̷̢͊o̷͊̀ṁ̴̃ with his nose, noting that it was cold to the touch. It bounced and wiggled under his nose, tickling his nostrils as tiny spores released into the wind and drifted in all directions. He started to slowly grasp it with his lips before ultimately deciding to inhale it. He grabbed it in his teeth and chewed, ears flicking as he did so.

So far, it didn't taste too bad. Chewy, but it tasted sweet and he asked himself why he hadn't tried these sooner. He swallowed the ̸̾͌m̴͑̋û̸́s̵̀͒h̸̏̒r̶̍͒o̷̢͊o̷͊̀ṁ̴̃, then moved on to eat another one. This time, a lime green ̸̾͌m̴͑̋û̸́s̵̀͒h̸̏̒r̶̍͒o̷̢͊o̷͊̀ṁ̴̃ that also bounced under his touch, but this one felt hot to the touch. Throwing all caution to the wind, he ate the green ̸̾͌m̴͑̋û̸́s̵̀͒h̸̏̒r̶̍͒o̷̢͊o̷͊̀ṁ̴̃, then a blue one, then another purple one. He had eaten at least a dozen ̸̾͌m̴͑̋û̸́s̵̀͒h̸̏̒r̶̍͒o̷̢͊o̷͊̀ṁ̴̃s at this point before he felt like he'd had enough. And by the time he was done, he could see thousands of little glowing spores floating around in the air, settling in his mane and his coat.

"They're not so bad, are they Idu?" He nickered in delight as he went to reach for another one, but stopped himself. She hadn't responded, which was unusual for her. Peering at his companion, he noticed she was sitting stock still. He tilted his head, nudging her with his nose but still, she did not respond. "Idu?" He brought his head really close to her in an effort to see if she was breathing, and of course, she was. He could see the plumes of mist coming from her nose with each breath, but upon closer inspection, she stared wide-eyed and unblinking as if she were staring off into space.

Was...was that an effect from the ̸̾͌m̴͑̋û̸́s̵̀͒h̸̏̒r̶̍͒o̷̢͊o̷͊̀ṁ̴̃ she had eaten? Oh no...he glanced at the stumps from the ones he had eaten, and when he looked back at Idu, she seemed normal for a moment until...

Well...until her head slowly swiveled to look at him. Only, her head swiveled completely around like an owl! At first, he thought he was just imagining things. But then she suddenly sprouted two other sets of arms beneath her normal ones, another tail, and her eyes looked like they were glowing the same color as the ̸̾͌m̴͑̋û̸́s̵̀͒h̸̏̒r̶̍͒o̷̢͊o̷͊̀ṁ̴̃ she had eaten.

He reared and let loose a terrified bellow that was filled with both surprise and fright. "S-S-Spider monkey!" He cried out as he practically fell over from what he was seeing. Idu started to crawl towards him, all 8 legs creeping along the ground. He neighed in terror as he instinctively kicked at the little creature before he managed to stumble to his feet. The world around him felt like it was turning upside down with fireflies and ̸̾͌m̴͑̋û̸́s̵̀͒h̸̏̒r̶̍͒o̷̢͊o̷͊̀ṁ̴̃s floating around him and the streaking stars above seemed to swirl around him.

He stumbled into the stream, though before he could get back to his feet he froze. He felt something creeping up his back, and he was a little terrified to see what it was. "This isn't real! This isn't real! This isn't real!" He exclaimed over and over again. But of course, when he turned around, Idu was right there clinging to his back. Ominous eyes glowing a neon green and her three pairs of arms clinging to his mane. He found his feet again and bolted, bucking every which way in an attempt to throw the little monster off of him.

He ran up the stream, screaming in terror as he desperately tried to run from the nightmare he was in. Where was his other companion? Where were all the wolves that roamed the lands? All of a sudden he felt like he was the only one in the world. Just him and this nightmare fueled monkey-beast posing as his loyal companion, Idu.

To anyone watching from an outsiders perspective, Balian was simply lying on his side with legs moving as if he were running, but the stallion was most definitely just tripping from the mushrooms he'd eaten. Likewise, his companion simply sat there motionless as she too, was lost in her own little world.

WC: 1,025
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