Unlike a real opponent, Ridahne did not exploit her student's fall by charging in while she was down. If she was much more advanced, she would have, but she had decided long ago that the way to teach Darin was not brutality. Her first move was to hold out a hand for Darin to take, but the girl didn't seem inclined to get up, so she dropped it and squatted down beside her.

"Not bad, human," Ridahne teased with a smile. "You've got to work on keeping your feet, but I'll make a defender out of you yet." Ridahne did not say fighter, for she knew Darin was not and never would be. It had nothing to do with skill but everything to do with personality. Ridahne was the type to jump headlong into a fight whereas Darin wasn't generally inclined to unless she felt like she had to. Ridahne got the impression the human girl would rather fight for someone who could not fight for themselves rather than fight for its own sake. That was admirable.

The elf smiled somewhat reflectively and said, "You remind me of Hadian. I think you will like him when you meet him someday. He is like me, but yet unlike me in many ways. I am fire and he is water. He is a man of the sea, which is as close to farm work as we get in Azurei. Anyway. I think you'll like him." She didn't say 'better than you like me' but she did think it, and without any bitterness either. She knew they were different people. She understood. But she really did think Darin and Hadian would get along.

Ridahne sat down and wordlessly took Darin's injured arm, undoing the leather brace to inspect the wound. Satisfied that it had done its job, she put it back on. "Keep that on for a while, it will keep it protected. Might be good to have for Taja, too, until you make yourself some real falconry leathers." 

Darin talked about the legend of Ravi and Ridahne had to laugh. Not at the story itself, but at how different hers was. The heart of it was similar, but it reflected her culture for sure. "I heard a different story. Ravi was a good man who loved a woman, a good woman, but one day she died in some tragedy, and he could never bear losing her. And so one night he saw her ghost and thought she was real in his desperation to have her back. So he followed her into the Dust Sea and got lost. It is a very very bad place to get lost. He became dehydrated, he had blisters on his skin from the sun, and he was very hungry. And in his final moments he begged that no one would ever get lost in the Dust Sea or anywhere ever again. So he begged his ancestors to save others from this fate somehow. So as he died, his soul went to the night sky and he became a star, but his body stayed behind and became a pillar of rock. I have seen Ravi's Pillar myself, I have used it to navigate many times. It is known for being a shelter for those crossing the Dust Sea because there is a tiny, tiny spring beneath the rock that comes up and out so that if you know where to look, you can get water even in the desert. I wonder what the Siren's legend is concerning Ravi..."

Ridahne laid on her back, one knee propped up and studied the stars too. "We're being watched..." she said with a dry sigh. "Should I bark at him like a good dog until he goes away?" Ridahne actually snorted with laughter at her own joke.