"WE'RE CAUGHT UP IN THE CROSSFIRE OF HEAVEN AND HELL."

Iona wasn’t glad they were walking, but she was relieved.  She still didn’t trust Iver’s grip to hold on long enough for sustained flight, regardless of how tangled he got himself in her mane. So it was an opportunity for both of them to visit the Basin, one of the few places in Helovia that the painted mare had yet to travel.  When Aly had mentioned that she was planning on visiting - Iona had seized the opportunity to see the northernmost kingdom.  She had done a lot of traveling in the south of late looking for any signs of Kaos, but felt she had been neglecting the North. She’d have to remedy that in the later months of Tallsun and the early months of Orangemoon while it was still tolerable to patrol the northern areas. 

The mountains of the Basin were often visible from Iona’s aerial patrols on days when the mists were blown inland.  Walking around made the trip considerably longer, but helped the mare familiarize herself with territory perhaps overlooked from above.  The painted mare kept a wary eye on her surroundings as they walked, as she always did no matter the circumstances.  Iona was pleased when the trip proved to be uneventful and the party moved quickly over well-worn paths leading to the Basin.  The air was colder here, yes, but it wasn’t unpleasant.  Iona didn’t want to know what the place was like during the coldest months of Frostfall, and was silently thankful that they’d decided to take care of all things diplomatic during Tallsun. 

Iona had her own reasons for wanting to come to the north, aside from her own curiosities about this place. But she wanted to gauge what leadership was like here before making any offers. But she knew that the threat of Kaos was something that, theoretically, united all three of the remaining herds. The mare drew to a halt next to her twin when they approached the Basin’s borders. Her eye was certainly drawn to the metal behemoth standing there.   “Subtle,” she said, flatly, of the giant unicorn standing guard at the border. But she nodded her head to Aly regardless and fixed her emerald gaze towards the border, keeping watch for the welcoming party that was sure to come. 

- I O N A -