He shook the snow from his shoulders and wings, the frigid flakes falling in spite of the sun's presence. The journey had been long and he was weary, it had taken the scarlet stallion the better part of a day without rest to reach the borders of the Aurora Basin and Rift could feel the exhaustion leaking into his bones. He could have stopped to rest along the way, visited Brisa at the Falls, but recent patrols along the Frostbreath Steppe had reported that snow had begun to fall in large amounts.

So here he was, digging through snow banks in hopes of finding the four herbs that grew exclusively in the Aurora Basin. As he searched, Rift glanced up from time to time at the imposing machine that stood frozen and menacing at the territory's entrance; he had heard tales of the horrors that the metal beast could inflict and prayed that he would not push the mechanism into action. Plunging his front hooves into the snow, the sorrel pegasus dug toward the earth, hardened by ice and frost. As he pushed away at the last layer of frozen crystals, he spied the distinct low-lying greenery of Caribou Moss.

A soft grunt rose from the stallion at his small victory; at last! Reaching down and snatching up as many sprigs and lengths of the spongy herb that he could without killing the plant, Rift tucked his trophies securely into the feathers toward the base of his wings. Ducking down once more, the scarlet rogue continued his search, letting loose a quiet woop each time he discovered another herb sprig of berries.

After some time, Rift straightened and stretched his neck, wings held tightly to his sides so as to ensure that the herbs would stay tucked within his feathers. He had been fortunate enough to find at least five doses of each herb, and while he was thankful for the bounty, Rift held some apprehension toward what was going to be a long and flightless journey back to the Throat. Looking about to check his location, Rift was relieved to find that neither he nor his search had strayed into official Basin territory.

It was not a secret what happened to those who entered the frozen land without escort.

The aspiring-healer shivered, though not from the cold, and ducked his head once more to continue his search; fear could not drive him away from helping those in need.