Going outside had not helped Darin the way that it was supposed to help. She still felt like she couldn’t breath. She still felt like she was shaking uncontrollably. She didn’t know what to do. She didn’t know that she wanted to do anything. Then Ridahne’s hand came to clasp her shoulder and it was such a jarring difference from the inner turmoil that Darin was facing that the human found herself focusing on that. The Azurei’s hand acted as a focus to ground her in to the here and now as she slowly remembered how to breath. It appeared that try as she might Darin just couldn’t hide her panic from Ridahne.

She started to speak, “It’s just that.”

She trailed off without finishing. What was she saying? Hadn’t Ridahne talked her down from her panic about being The Seed-Bearer just last night? It wasn’t fair of Darin to expect her to do it again so soon. Besides she was panicking over something so stupid. It didn’t make sense to worry about something so many countless of years from now, especially since getting to that point depended solely on Darin not screwing up any time soon. Darin had to be honest. She was trying her best but that didn’t seem to be good enough. So far the only things she had managed to do right was freak people out by causing nature to do things it really wasn’t supposed to do and practically bully an exile into changing her entire cultural just to suit her silly whims. Those didn’t seem like things The Gardener would do, and wasn’t she suppose to be emulating him?

So, Darin just smiled even though the grin was kind of shaky, “It’s nothing I was just being.” There was another pause, “Silly. I was just being silly.”

Something, Darin, wasn’t sure what, told her that Ridahne wouldn’t react well to the human calling herself stupid. Darin wasn’t sure what to make of that thought. For some reason she found herself thinking of the night she had introduced Ridahne to The Tree and the sudden hug that had come after that meeting. Darin still didn’t know what that conversation had been about, but Ridahne had been more confident ever since. In fact, Ridahne seemed more confident ever since they left the Farm. Darin just felt like she was floundering over and over again. How could so many people have faith in her when she had so little in herself.

Darin laughed lightly and deflected just a bit, “I’ve never used a quill before. It’s thinner than the writing instruments I’ve used before.” She rubbed at her hand, “Using those hurt and the quill was just worse.” Her smile grew wider as she held up her hands and flexed her fingers, “I can write, but I’m no good at it. My hands are meant for hoes and shovels and digging in the dirt, not quills and ink and writing on paper.” She jokingly poked Ridahne in the shoulder, “Just another way you out class me isn’t it?”