Ridahne looked at her briefly as she re-dipped the needle into the black ink. "You're wondering if...this," she gestured between the two of them, "Will go on my ojih someday, aren't you?" She gave a short, dry laugh that could only be described as casual. "I wouldn't, by the way. We don't have such a mark anyway. [I]But...[/I] assuming all goes well and we succeed and I make it back home, I would get another mark to partner with this one..." she pointed to one that seemed a little crisper than the rest on her face, more recent. It was between her brows and on the bridge of her nose, a kind of curved, three pointed mark in solid black. "That would be a 'redemption' mark, of sorts. To show that I proved myself worthy. But the thing about black ink, you can't cover over it. Ever. Blue and white, yes, but not black. What I've done will be on display until I die and the [I]Keeper[/I] judges me. Like the act that earned it, I cannot take it back or erase it. It just is. Always. It makes going home....complicated. Even after all this." She gave Darin a sad smile. 

Ridahne had been truthful when she once said that she had nothing left. Nothing but a thin hope. To her people, she was worse than dead, she was dishonored. Her future, ruined. What did she have left but this quest? But this one chance to prove to no one but herself that she had some worth? She would see it done. No matter the cost.

She cringed and gave Darin an awkward noise of discomfort, though she didn't immediately shake off the question. She racked her brain for something to give her and yet she wasn't sure what she ought to. Those that did not take the ojih were not supposed to know its secrets. "Errmm..." Another cringe. "I don't know how uh...to answer that. The question is...it's not...it's not rude. rude isn't the word. But it's like asking...ah..." she shook her head, unable to find a comparison. "But..I can tell you it would be...simple. And I can also tell you that you would have a mark like this..." she traced a black line from her ear, down her jawline and almost to her chin; it had other lines and branches from it but was essentially an ornamented, unbroken line. On hers, it was the most faded of all her tattoos. "It is...everyone who takes the ojih has one. And it is styled to suit you. And your first one is never done by your own hand--always by a master tattooer. It's tradition. is that...um...sat-is-fact-or-y?" she said the word slowly and clearly--obviously it was not one she used often and still felt foreign on her tongue. 

Ridahne smiled a little, looking mischievous. "Okay, you asked an awkward question. My turn. you don't have to answer though. Before your father left you...who did you want to be? What did you want to do? Did you know?"