Ridahne laughed again. "What? Dogs are good animals. They're smart, fierce, keen eyed..." She shrugged, though she did shoot a glance in the direction she'd heard Ravi as if to say 'I know you're here' and absently plucked a piece of grass that lingered under her hand. She was surprised when Darin sprang up and told her to follow and that there was something she should see. Her stomach twisted a little. She wasn't sure exactly why, it wasn't like she suspected anything bad, but part of her had a suspicion  that it was going to be something...important. Maybe she was just nervous, or excited, or something. 

Ridahne got up and followed Darin, surefooted in the darkness even without shoes. She never once stumbled or yelped about stepping on a stone, as her feet had thick callouses from a hundred years of running around barefoot. As they walked Darin described crop rotation. Ridahne had kind of heard something about it but she never knew why they did it and guessed it was only a ritual or a lack of space to plant different things at once. She did wonder what she meant by rotating trees. Was her seed different than the tree?

The Tree.

Ridahne pulled up short suddenly. It was the first glimpse she had of it in real life and it was just...so much to take in. It did not look quite like it did in her vision and for that she was grateful, but it wasn't what she expected. And she could feel it. She didn't know how, but she could. Darin urged her forward with encouraging words and held out a hand.

"It...what?" Were her hands shaking? Oh, Great Tree, they were. There was a look on her face that might have been confused for horror at first glance, but it was just shock. [I]"Tunairuk...?"[/I] She didn't mean to slip into her own language but it happened on occasion when she was caught off guard. Tears reflected the moonlight then as they came down her face. She had a look like she'd had the air punched out of her, then explained in a voice as timid as the breeze, "No one has ever said...not..in words, that they are..." she swallowed. "Proud of me. Not, you know, not that I can remember. Darin...I found out today that the woman who's life I saved found out the real story of what happened and the reason she still lives. She knows. And they tell everyone the real story about...me. About what I did. They defend me. I don't know if you know what that means to me but...it's a lot. And this too?" She gave a very genuine tear-choked laugh. "It's like...I'm whole again for the first time since..."

She said nothing more, just wiped her face and took Darin's hand. She was ready.