Ridahne inwardly deflated, but years of training kept her exterior unchanging. Just a journey for her mother? Ridahne really hoped she could sort of shock the answer out of her, as she guessed the new Gardener would not be quick to reveal her identity to a stranger on the road, not with all the people out there who sought to hinder her, which was why she was even out here in the first place. It was also the only reason she was still alive, she told herself. It took her until then to remember that she was...well...intimidating. Not only were elves in general tall and could be described as 'exotic' by most humans, the Azurei clan were fierce, heavily tattooed, and generally a little rough around the edges. One had to be in order to survive the desert wastes. But even among her own clan, Ridahne was often described as a bit intense. She had a wild spirit to begin with but then growing up poor, losing her mother at an early age and then eventually her father, her warrior's training and the lifestyle that came with that, and all the time spent alone in the Dust Sea, hardened her. Life had seen fit to make her aggressive, loud, and blunt, and while it had saved her life before, at the moment it was getting in the way. 

She had to think through this differently.

"Oh..." she said letting some of her genuine defeat show through a bit. Her eyes still watched the girl's face, but with a short whistle she called off her hunting cat, who obediently left the human to go rub up against a tree. "And that's...all you're doing?" She hoped that wasn't the case. Ridahne wanted so desperately for this person to be the one she'd been looking for, she couldn't just give up that easily, even though she might be wrong about her. Except...no. She wasn't wrong. She knew it. Ridahne just knew it. But she had to get it out of her, she had to be certain. "Mm. How long have you been away?" 

Ridahne checked her saddlebags and the gear inside of them before deftly mounting her horse, Tsura. "Where are you headed?" she asked with a little bit of a resigned sigh. A real fear that the girl wasn't being evasive settled in her stomach. Maybe she wasn't the one. Maybe Ridahne had just been overeager. "I can take you as far as Greyrock, if you feel like giving your legs a rest. I figure I owe you a little for making Mitaja pin you down...sorry about that by the way. I don't normally jump strangers...it's just...I've spent a very long time in wild country looking for someone. Four months, actually. She needs my help, see. And for a moment I thought...I'd hoped..." She gave a very real sigh. This wasn't so much a ruse anymore; with every word she spoke she realized how ridiculous the idea sounded. What were the odds that she would actually stumble on this mystical Gardener, right here, right now? No matter what the stupid, accursed vision had said, Ridahne was beginning to believe that she'd never find what she'd been looking for. And the bitterness that had been clouding her all day slipped back into her chest. 

This was a fool's errand. And she was the chief fool. 

Head hung a little bit, she almost imperceptibly shook her head, dark waves swaying a little. "Forget it," she grumbled. "You want a ride or not?"