The Tree sighed, “All you managed to do, Ridahne, was confirm to Darin that everyone she cares for will eventually leave. You yourself made assumptions so you cannot blame her for making this one. Her father left. While she did not leave physically her mother’s mind left. Darin thought that perhaps you wouldn’t. Then you did because you were afraid of the actions of a woman you barely knew. You must learn not to make rash judgements. And you must learn to not make choices for other people.” The Tree stepped towards the Elf and cupped her face in her hands, “Do you understand my wonderful Ridahne? Do you know what lesson you need to take from being Seed-Chained?”

Meanwhile Darin had traveled to the coasts of Astra and beyond, to the very tips of The Roots. She strained to see past them but the ‘sight’ she got from The Tree was different than her normal sight. She couldn’t see past the scope of The Tree’s domain. It was hard to believe that one day she would see beyond Astra with her own two eyes. It was hard to realize that there was truly no other path. She had told the truth to Ridahne and was not sure that the warrior had understood. Any farmer would had known in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, Darin couldn’t be any clearer than she already had been. This was not a truth that she could afford to let the population of Astra know just yet. Panicking would be inevitable, and war would surely follow. That will kill The Tree that much faster. Darin mentally shook her head before retreating back to the island of Astra. She wanted to end this night on a good note; not a melancholy one.

Darin ‘watched’ the Sirens as they prepared for their end of day. It wasn’t quite the same time of day on this side of Astra as it was on the other side. Astra was so large that as the sun traveled across the sky its light hit different parts of Astra at different times. Darin was getting a better sense of just how long this type of trip was going to take. When she had left home, she naively thought that she would be back home in maybe a year. Now it was looking like she was going to be walking and riding across Astra for maybe 3 years; if she did nothing but walk. That couldn’t be though. She had to stop and meet people. She had to stop and make friends. She wasn’t sure how easy that would be. It was exhausting just thinking about it.

Speaking of exhaustion Darin was tired. It had been a long day and she wanted to get an early start tomorrow. She couldn’t spend all her time at The Farm. Darin slowly made her way back though The Roots and towards The Tree. Once there she curled her spirit into The Trunk. She could rest her mind while she waited for The Tree and Ridahne to be done speaking. She had no desire to rush the two of them, but she was tired. She was going to rest her mind while she waited for them to be done. She hoped they were being nice to each other. They were two of the most important souls in her life. It was desperately important to Darin that they got along.