With a surprised gasp, Rift inhaled the sprig of Bilberry that he had been tucking into his heavily laden wings and began a hacking cough. After several moments of choking on the very plants that he was harvesting to heal the denizens of Helovia, the scarlet stallion spat out the offending glob of herb. As the glob landed with a wet thud near his hooves, Rift raised his gaze to that of a soot stained mare and her companion. As his jeweled eyes landed on the spiraling horn that grew from her forehead, Rift felt himself tense, his herb-laden wings pressing ever tighter to his thin sides.

Moments of silence passed and Rift's heart began to slow; the mare held no anger in her eyes and her companion seemed calm enough. Unclenching his jaw, the scarlet pegasus forced himself to take a few steps toward the stranger and toward the hulking machine that stood guard to the Aurora Basin. His breath was coming fast and shallow as the shadow of the sentinel fell over him; did this mare have power over the monstrous thing? Would she be angry that he was harvesting herbs and set the machine on him? He had never exactly had a way with mares.

Swallowing, Rift dragged his gaze back to the sooty Basiner and gave a hesitant bow before forcing words past the lump of fear in his throat. "Hhhh.... Hhhhe..." His jaw clenched for a moment and a shiver wracked him - though from the cold or from fear, he did not know, "Hello? Hello. Hi. Um." Looking down at his hooves, Rift found that he could speak easier as long as the sentinel was not in his line of sight, "I'm Rift, I'm from the Dragon's Throat and I came here to harvest some herbs that only grow in your lands."

Eyes widened in horror at his own words and he nearly tripped over his words in a rush to explain, "I don't mean that I was trespassing, I made sure to stay outside the borders, I promise. I would never, yanno. I would never..." Raising his head just enough to where he could see the stranger's hooves, Rift was rescued from having to further butcher the situation by his own name being called. Head snapping up, the copper stallion registered the buttermilk hide of Eldala, a mare he had met in the Threshold.

A grin softened the edges of his surprise and he risked a few steps closer to the pair of Basiners, relief flooding him and making his words spill from lips unharried, "Eldala, it is good to see you! I have been collecting herbs for the stockpile back home. How are you finding the Basin?" Ruby eyes sparkled faintly with something akin to happiness as he took in the youth who was quickly growing into a mare. He was glad to see that she was being treated well here.