If it was any other time, Ridahne might have laughed in surprise at the use of the ancient Azurian dialect. She knew it, and some remote clans still used it regularly. But it wasn't the time for that, and she did not spare it any more thought before switching to it herself. "Trees can...do that?" She was stunned, though she supposed she shouldn't be, considering both of them were tightly wound in the fate of a highly powerful, magical, sentient tree. But that was [I]the[/I] tree, not just any tree....right? Ridahne's two khukri blades softly reflected the glow of nearby uloia, and in that soft light they did not look so sinister as when they reflected moonlight in the hands of their ghostly owner in the dark. They seemed things of beauty, like poetry in metal form, and yet they still had a dangerous air. Ridahne was not keen to lower them. "I'll put them down when this [I]brick[/I] takes a step back..." she hissed. The warrior was bristling like a challenged wolf. Her training had a lot to do with it, but so did their run in with the Red Hand. That experience had changed her, even if just a little. She stared down the burly man who'd come forward and a memory unbidden came of hands around her neck. She took a breath. This was Lihaelen, not the road, and the man did not appear armed. Ridahne shook off the feeling, or tried to. She seemed to have a change of heart about her blades, though, and slowly, hesitantly, brought them behind her back to skillfully slip them into their quiet leather sheathes under her shirt. It was like she never had them. Her hands, though, stayed down. Down, and very close to the hidden handles of her knives. "If we need a diversion, and to give them all something else to talk about, I can always tell them that I am Ridahne Sol-Slayer, Oathbreaker. That will give them all something to chew on for a long time, and encourage them all to leave us alone out of fear. Besides, they might assume that the Seed-Bearer wouldn't associate with someone so heinous and rule you out. Say the word and I'll do it." Ridahne left the option in Darin's hands. Ridahne took a step forward towards the stranger; though he was large, she was just barely taller, albeit a great deal slimmer. "It's not wise to harass an Azurei's apprentice. Forgive my unfriendliness," she said with a bit of an edge, "But we've had a hard road, and my trust in strangers is thin. My apprentice and I are passing through Lihaelen. We did not come to cause trouble with its residents...but all the same, I advise that you [I]keep your distance.[/I] There's no reason for either of us to do anything rash, after all." It was an attempt at a cover as to why she'd reacted as she did, and it was true enough. Even if these people were not agents of the Red Hand, Ridahne saw no reason why they couldn't cause mischief of their own. She just wanted to get herself and Darin back inside, but turning and bolting wouldn't help their case either.