Had Dandelion lived in Boreas for longer than she had, and had she not met a glowing unicorn before she met any other inhabitants of this land, she may have been more properly concerned about the fact that plants and animals had abruptly begun to show signs of glowing. After all, that was apparently normal here. She was, however, quite unsettled by the ever-full moon and the odd streaking stars, which made navigating quite a bit harder for her. The way they blurred in the sky made it difficult to judge exactly where in the sky they lay at that moment, and tended to make constellations blend oddly together so they were more difficult for her to pick out. She was, after all, a horse, and had the added constraint of a horse's vision, which was not super well suited to stargazing anyway.

She was travelling through this particular land slowly, eating her fill of the autumn-dried sweet grasses from beneath the snow as she went. Mostly she avoided any odd looking plants as she grazed, simply not in the mood to sample what she thought of as "local" cuisine, though she'd brushed against one nodding, mostly dead patch of glowing flowers that made the snow around them reflect bluely. The pollen left glowing blue dust in her mane that clung tenaciously to both the pale and dark strands in it. She didn't mind.

She did mind that every time she lifted her head to check for predators - she was a horse, after all - she couldn't help but glance warily at the stars again. It hadn't been like this when she'd first gotten here, but maybe it was a natural phenomenon in this area that only occurred in the winter? Given the propensity for her own kind to apparently sprout horns and glow, it wouldn't surprise her to learn that this was normal here, too, but as Taliesin had said, horses were few and far between here so she had yet to run into another she could ask. Maybe she'd need to take the risk of approaching a wolf, since the glowing stallion had said they were the power in the land. She snorted, still amused by the idea.

Strange occurrences had been hapening pretty frequently this winter season. Stars didn't wanna stay in their usual positions. Plants were glowing. And even now, he was being followed and constantly bothered by blue fireflies that just didn't seem to want to leave him alone. The monkey on his back would occasionally snag one, though before he could pop it into his mouth, they'd seemingly disappear. Yes...strange indeed.

He swished his tail at them in a vain attempt to keep them away, though it did little to deter the little blue annoyances. He slowly made his way across the basin, picking up bits of grass though he was wary of eating the glowing plants that littered the basin. They looked suspicious, though he couldn't help but wonder what would happen if he did eat them. The thought was tempting for sure, but he wasn't about to test it out.

Instead, he continued along until his hawk called out an alert to him. Raising his head, he spotted another figure not terribly far off. Ears perked towards the beast, and another call from his companion told him it was...a horse? Interesting. Curious, Balian made his way closer until he was within speaking distance, eyeing the smaller horse with curiosity. It wasn't often he came across other horses, at least not intelligent ones. Was this similar to him? Or was it a wilder cousin? "It's not often I see another horse out here, I swear the wolves have taken over the world."

Dandy jerked her head back up with a threatening squeal when a voice reached her unexpectedly while she was pulling up mouthfuls of grass, still carefully eating around the local glowing stuff. The voice belonged to another horse, surprisingly, and another stallion. Oh, great, was every member of her species here male? At least he was somewhat closer to what she was used to seeing, which was to say, not glowing. She eyed him warily. She was no more interested in being potentially coerced into his harem than she'd been Taliesin's. But given what the other stallion had said, she doubted that this stallion had a harem to worry about being dragged into, so likely she had less to worry about than she'd initially assumed. Well, she'd give him a few good kicks if he tried anything untoward and put an end to that nonsense real quick. Until then, she would just enjoy being in equine company again.

"I'm new in these lands," she told him. "Dandelion's my name. And at the risk of sounding like the country cousin - is your land always like this? You know... glowing plants, weird stars, glowing animals? In fact, you're the first normal horse I've met here. The last was glowing even more than that grass." She nodded her head in a gesture towards the soft glow of a clump of grass she'd uncovered and left uneaten.

He hadn't meant to surprise her, but maybe he had picked up from the wolves he'd been surrounded with more than he thought. They could be sneaky bastards, and he supposed he had picked up that particular trait from them. She introduced herself as Dandelion, and she asked questions about the lands and even mentioned he was the first normal horse she'd seen asides from the glowing one. He knew exactly who she was talking about, fancy that. "I didn't mean to surprise you. Balian's my name, and I see you met the stallion Tal. Interesting fellow, we met some time ago." He shook his head, a soft nicker leaving him in a soft chuckle. "No, I've never seen the flora and fauna glow like this, really. But strange things have happened in these lands before." Like the ice bridge that had appeared. The weird creatures that came across. He was sure stranger things had happened even before his arrival.

He looked up at the stars, though they seemed to blend together instead of the usual. He was wary of the glowing plants same as the mare, but perhaps it was more harmless than he thought. "Many things in these lands are strange...though perhaps these...plants aren't all that bad. Probably wouldn't hurt to take a nibble," He pawed the ground beneath him, causing the glowing plants around his feet to glow a little brighter. The fireflies that danced around him were now slowly making their way over to Dandelion, dancing around with a pulsing glow and honestly, Bal found it amusing.

Dandelion laughed softly when the stallion knew precisely who she was talking about. "I suppose it must be rare indeed to find one of our kikd here if you all know one another," she said in return. At least Balian seemed to find it all as strange as she did. He pawed at a glowing plant as if in an invitation for her to try it, making the glow flare brighter in response. She gave him a sidelong glance and an amused half-smile. "Hmmm, think its safe, do you? Then maybe you should give it a try and we can see." She chuckled, then snorted oit a breath through her nostrils to chase away the fireflies buzzing around her.

"There are very few of us that are...what you'd call intelligent. Our wild cousins are dim in comparison." He chuckled, "So yes, I've only met Tal and you so far. And one other mare a long time ago that I've not seen or heard from since." "Hmmm, think its safe, do you? Then maybe you should give it a try and we can see." He snorted in response, a grin showing as he accepted the challenge. It was his idea, after all, he should've expected her to not wanna go first. "Very well then, I'll go first." He rolled his shoulders before bending down and taking a nibble. Though truth be told, what he was tasting so far didn't taste any different than usual. The grasses were sweet, so he opted to take a mouthful and chewed up the glowing grass and when he was done, he nodded in thought. "Well, doesn't taste all that different and I haven't dropped dead." He flashed a playful smile, teeth now glowing from the grass he'd been eating.

Dandelion

Out of the corner of your eye, you see a fat rat scampering by. Wait - is it glowing? You also find 2 mushrooms. Maybe these are worth keeping…

Balian

Out of the corner of your eye, you see a small mouse scampering by. Wait - is it glowing? You also find 1 crystal. Maybe these are worth keeping…