Ridahne awoke a bit sore from sleeping on stones and still a little damp, which made her very displeased. She rolled over with a groan, then looked around for her human companion. She figured if she'd come back Ridahne would have heard it (she had impeccable hearing) but there was some chance she could have missed her. Nothing. Aside from Mitaja, who was very unhappy about being disturbed, Ridahne was alone in the cave. The elf let out a long, slow sigh. "Protect the seed-bearer, they said. I swear I'll see it done, I said, whatever it takes, I said. And then I go and lose her. Great job, Ridahne. Absolutely stellar." She looked miserably at Mitaja and stroked her silky belly as the cat stretched languidly. "You made a [I]great[/I] choice, Ancestors. Truly top-notch." Perhaps it was stupid to have gotten all heated last night, and perhaps she shouldn't have been so stubborn and should have at least sent Mitaja after her to keep an eye. 

Feeling a small sting of regret, Ridahne began to pack up camp but didn't yet mount up and leave. Talbot and her things were still there, and Darin wouldn't get far without them. Something about that encouraged her, made her hope she'd come back. So she waited. And waited. And waited. The sun got higher and higher and soon she was pacing. Now what? She supposed she ought to go look for her, though if she did she would have to leave some kind of sign in case Darin wound up back here after all. Or maybe she'd just bolted and Ridahne had already failed. 

Talbot suddenly moved, going to scoop up Darin's pack and trotted off; Ridahne was quick to the uptake and leapt swiftly onto Tsura. She whistled once and Mitaja perked up from where she'd been lounging and smoothly trotted after her, seeming to pick up on a trail that Ridahne could not yet sense. If she was honest, there was a pang of anxiety deep within her that something had happened while Darin was off on her own, something awful, but when she began to hear the calls she knew the truth. Darin had gotten lost. She actually sighed and rolled her eyes, partially at herself and partially at the humor of the situation. Sure enough, she rode up to a little gully to find Darin at the bottom of it with Talbot with twigs and leaves in her short hair from a short tumble. 

Ridahne folded her arms and leaned back in the saddle, looking so casual on the back of Tsura that it seemed like they were one and had always been one. "Well well well..." she said, a teasing tone to her voice and a little glimmer in her eyes. "A little lost, are we? It's a good thing you've got Talbot, he's the one who found you. I merely followed." From her tone and demeanor, it was as if nothing had ever happened the night before. That was the way with Ridahne and with most Azurei in general; Shouting matches and small spats were common enough that they didn't weight to heavy on them, so once all parties were cooled off, they brushed it off. Ridahne liked it that way. Things were dealt with up front and people got things out that they needed to, then moved on. It was a good way of going about it, she thought. But she didn't think all humans operated by the same rules, in fact she remembered loosely that they tended to have more subterfuge. 

"No hard feelings about last night?" She offered. "I know I am...reactive. It doesn't take much to get my blood up and in Azurei it's more common for us to shout about things than I think it is here. And I never meant to disrespect your friends. I didn't know." She bowed slightly in the saddle, a gesture of humility. As she did it, Tsura dipped his head and lifted a foreleg in unison, making the gesture a little more grand. She had taught him to do this at her signal so she could give proper respect to someone while mounted. "And..." she looked away, obviously uncomfortable as she fiddled with her reins. "If you ask it of me I will tell you more of what it means to be an Eija. More of what it meant for me. It's not a good truth," she warned. "You won't think highly of me after I tell you, whether you did before or not. But..." She couldn't even look at her. This was very difficult for her and that was obvious, but she soldiered on anyway. "You should know what kind of person you have at your side. In part I thought that if I told you, you would not want me anymore and would send me away. It's probably what I deserve but I hoped I could show you that I am more than my past before I told you everything. Anyway. The choice is yours. If you want to know, I will tell you now." 

Ridahne still couldn't look at her, couldn't meet her eyes. She had so much shame and that was beginning to show in the way she studied the stitching of her saddle, the way she wrung her hands tight in the worn leather reins until her dark skin went nearly white, the way she couldn't sit still. She'd made up her mind sometime in the night but now that it came to it, it was so much harder to even tell her just that than she imagined.