Ridahne was tall and light on her feet, not to mention athletic. So it didn't take many long strides for her to reach Darin, though she was fairly confused about what she saw. Darin was astride a horse--and not Tsura--which was especially odd because the girl had said she didn't ride. And where did this horse come from anyway? And then she noticed the blood on her shoulder. 
"Ai!" She exclaimed as she ran up, looking like the stuff of nightmares come to life. She was spattered in blood, red mixing in with her black, white, and blue facial tattoos to make  grim patterns. She was alert, which, considering she already had a kind of intense air about her, made her outright intimidating. Intimidating, but graceful in her own right. Her sword appeared to weigh nothing in her hands, her feet were sure and confident, and she moved like flowing water. 

"There was another..." she said, mostly to herself as she looked around. Were they still there? She didn't see a body, though she did see a crushed bow nearby. Ridahne studied Darin again, eyes wandering to the strange horse. Blessed Tree, if it wasn't a magnificent horse. She knew something of horses, so she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that this one was of an incredibly high bloodline. And it seemed to like Darin an awful lot.

That's when it hit her.

Mark with his odd Teal eyes, the stallion, Ridahne's chance meeting with her in the wilderness. There was no longer any doubt in Ridahne's mind and no amount of reasoning would convince her otherwise: She had finally found The Gardener. The woman rounded on her, mouth still open, and though she was well out of range, Ridahne used her sword to point at Darin like it was an extension of her finger. "You..." she said slowly, eyes narrowing a little. "By the Tree, it's...you." She said the last part softly, not wanting to draw additional attention to them. Ridahne almost looked like, maybe, she could cry at any moment. "I finally...I mean...I've spent so long and I thought for sure it was hopeless but you're here and--" Her eyes widened and the sword came up again, pointing accusatorially at Darin. And though Ridahne scowled and looked a bloody mess, there was a distinct lack of true venom in her body language, her tone, and her expression. In fact, something about her almost seemed...jovial. Playful. "You held out on me!" she shouted, realizing that Darin knew this whole time why Ridahne had come here. "I told you my whole stupid sob story and you said nothing! You were gonna let me go wander the wilds until I withered away and died, weren't you! Ai!" 

Ridahne laughed incredulously, bringing one red, sticky hand to her forehead. "I had my suspicions but..." She let out the rest of her breath in a puff of air, shaking her head. She then began to speak rapidly in Azurian before taking a breath, straightening, and in a very formal tone she said softly, "On behalf of the elf tribes and of my Azurei kin, I name you [I]Ri'atal[/I]--the Hope of Many. I, Ridahne Torzinei, offer my life and my blade. I will sacrifice either so that you will succeed. Accept me as your guardian and I will guide you and protect you as best as I am able. Will you have me?"

In a moment she thought of her vision and its call to help Darin, but also to save the land she loved in the process. Without the tree, Azurei would fall. She knew it, everyone knew it. And in that moment, losing it felt like the most painful thing she could possibly imagine. Not only was Azurei her home, it was such a beautiful place, and though she hadn't been there for months now she could clearly recall its heat, the sand, the white-capped mountains to one side and the sparkling coast to the other...

[I]A very young, small Ridahne sat in the red sand of the shore, her feet digging little ruts in the moist section of beach. Beside her, a young Hadian lay back with his arms under his head. His face was swollen and the fresh black tattoo on the side of his jaw looked angry and red around the edges, but he was beaming. It was his first. The two watched the sun slip over the horizon, casting an orange hue over the already russet landscape, turning the land to flame. A sweet scent wafted on the sea breeze, mixing with salt and woodsmoke; the haeli flowers were in bloom this time of year.[/I]

A single tear did escape as she thought of home, of the events that had led her to this one moment, and she wiped it away briskly. Her finger came away smeared red and she realized that her face and her [I]ojih[/I] were probably covered in blood. "Oh!" she gasped, looking horrified. "My ojih! It's..." she made an attempt to wipe her face again but it only made it worse. "It isn't clean, I shouldn't have done this without it clean, ai! Water!" She looked around frantically and spotted a nearby rain barrel which she immediately used to scrub her face and her hands clean. "I'm sorry, that  was incredibly disrespectful of me..." Embarrassed, she added, "how's your shoulder? It doesn't look too bad but we might want to get it sewn up."