Darin took the waterskin good naturedly, but the slight smile soon dropped as the Elf joked about falling into ravines. After muttering something about being back soon Darin slipped off of Talbot and went in pursuit of the river. The horse followed and the human found that she was okay with that. Maybe with Talbot with her she wouldn’t get lost as easily. It was worth a shot. Even if she did get lost at least she wouldn’t be alone. Being alone was not the best thing to be right now. Darin had to admit, at least to herself, what she had done last night was pretty dumb. It wouldn’t due for her to get in anymore trouble like what had happened at Greyrock.

It was just that Ridahne was … difficult to travel with. Secrets were a new concept for Darin. With all the gossip in her village they just couldn’t exist. Yet the Elf had at least one that the young girl was fairly positive would impact her journey to find the right place to plant The Seed sooner or later. Then there was the joke about the ravine. Were such jokes common among the Azurei? Darin wasn’t sure she had like the joke about her natural clumsiness and lack of a sense of direction. Darin felt worse about it because she knew, logically, Ridahne hadn’t meant any harm by it. At least Darin didn’t think that the warrior meant any harm by it. That didn’t change the fact that it still hurt. The human focused on not tripping as she tried to let those feelings go. They would serve no purpose. There were bigger things at stake than her hurt feelings.

Darin had reached the small stream while she had been thinking. She quickly determined that the water was safe to drink before submerging Ridahne’s waterskin to fill it. While she did that, she used her other hand to pull out hers. It was the same one she had used while working in the field back home. It was only slightly smaller that the Elf’s though it was clear that they were made by two different types of people. Ridahne’s was painted in the colors Darin had come to recognized as Azurei colors. Hers was simply cured. Once the first one was full Darin switched the two. Next to her Talbot was drinking his fill.

Filling the waterskins did not take as long as she would have liked. Darin found herself standing slowly as she took the reins off of Talbot. He pushed at her and with a small laugh she let herself be moved in the direction of Ridahne. There was a small little camp that Darin approved of. Right before they got there Darin noticed the Elf rapidly move from sitting to brushing her horse. That meant the Elf was hiding something. Darin wasn’t a complete idiot. The Elf had been crying or something similar.

Darin spoke softly as she handed the Elf her waterskin, “Whatever it is, is fine.”

It seemed they were both trying new things today. Darin had no idea what curry was and the smell of it was making her eyes water slightly. The human elected not to mention it though. She didn’t want to cause another fight, and she already felt badly for thinking bad of Ridahne. It was made worse with the knowledge that the Elf had been crying. It shouldn’t have been surprising. Darin missed home terrible, but she had left home on mostly good terms. The Elders were not sad to see her go, but if she ever did make it home, they wouldn’t turn her away. Ridahne had been exiled. She couldn’t go home to open arms ever again. Darin couldn’t even imagine that. She supposed she should try to be nicer to Ridahne. It wasn’t like Darin was the only one suffering.

Darin moved to pull her own horse brush out of her pack. Talbot pushed softly at her hand to hurry her along. Darin turned to the task with a determination that anyone who knew her would recognize. Darin was going to do this job so well that no one would be able to critique it. It wasn’t something Darin had too much practice with. She would brush Heath whenever Rolland lent him to Darin. That wasn’t often enough for Darin to call herself an expert at horse brushing. Until she knew what she was doing, she wasn’t going to take any chances. Talbot seem to be enjoying the attention. 

As she worked the girl sand a song without really paying attention to the words. It was as song the people of Darin’s home sang as they finished the day’s tasks and moved into the evening. There was a song for each time of day and Darin couldn’t remember learning any of them. The people of both her village and Lively learned them from such a young age it was like learning to walk. They heard the words over and over until one day the just joined in.

[i]“Come now. The sun sets soon. See the sky is orange and burning red. 
Come now. Remember, don’t work until work until you’re dead. 
Finish what can be done. Pause the ongoing tasks. 
Eat your meal and wash your face. Your outside work is past. 
The Tree is watching over you to protect you from the wrong. So, slow on down and rest your mind and sing this little song. 
The sun is beyond your sight the moon comes into view. 
It’s time to rest. It’s time to learn. I’ll tell you what to do. 
Patch that patch and sew that sock; all the tiny things. Find that pin and that shirt and those little things. 
Then when that is done, and the stars glow bright. 
Tell the world and your family: Rest well and now good night.”[/i]