Darin pointed at Ridahne as the Elf mentioned the leather, “Good! He got my other shoulder. If I don’t do something soon then Taja will rip at least one arm off. Maybe even both of them!” Taja let out a screech and Darin scowled at him, “You hush! I like my arms! It would be like if you lost a wing. Which, by the way, I can’t fix if I’m missing an arm.”

Taja looked at the human with a baleful eye. Then he let out a screech before fluttering towards the travel basket that was currently on her lap. Darin let out a small hiss of pain as his claws left her skin. This was not going to be a pleasant six weeks. Darin supposed it might not take that long, but that was a good estimate. Darin reached over to make sure that Taja was in the basket comfortably. When that was taken care of, she looked at her shoulder. The injuries were not wide, but they were deep. In addition, her new shirt was already ruined. Darin resisted the urge to sigh. It certainly wouldn’t help. She studied her shoulder until Talbot stopped. Darin looked up to see that Ravi was standing smiling at her.

Darin smiled back, “Goodbye Overseer Ravi.” She laughed lightly, “Despite our differences it was an honor to meet you.”

Ravi reached out with a hand that Darin gladly took, “It was an honor to meet you Seed-Bearer.” He was being surprisingly serious, “You take all of the hope of Astra with you. It is grand task, but I have faith in you.” He looked at her dead in the eyes, “If you learn nothing else learn to have that same faith in yourself. You are simply marvelous. You must learn to believe that.”

Darin chuckled nervously, “I guess I can try.”

Ravi’s laugh was much more genuine, “In the end that’s all any of us can do. But if we try with all our hearts and all our strength, we may just do instead of just try.” He then turned his attention to Ridahne, “You have been called to a grand task young Guardian. You too must learn to have faith in who you are rather than what your face claims you are.” Ravi held out his free hand for Ridahne to take, “Darin my carry our hope, but you protect it. This is not a job for the faint of heart. Go with courage. Go with determination. Go with every ounce of strength you have and then find some more. Darin will not succeed without you, so do not think that you can be used as a sacrifice.”

Well Darin agreed with that one. She didn’t think that she would get very far without the Azurei. She didn’t want to even fathom trying. It had still been less than a week since she meet Ridahne, yet she already couldn’t not imagine doing this without her. In the end she didn’t think she and Ravi were actually that different. They just had different ways to see the world. That did not make either one of them wrong, and if the Overseer was willing to agree that Ridahne was someone that couldn’t just be thrown away Darin supposed that she could at least try to understand him better.

When Ridahne and Ravi was done speaking Darin sat up straight and looked at the gathered Workers, “And we are off! Thank you so much for your hospitality. May The Tree Bless you. Until we meet again whenever and wherever that may be.” She looked over to Ridahne with a smile on her face, “Are we ready to go? The day is still early. We should be able to cover a fair distance before the sun begins to set.”