Darin was about to say hello to Ridahne when Mrixe leaned over the table to stare her straight in the eye, "It's not always about you." He jerked his head towards the human, "Is it?"

Darin found herself staring at Mrixie. Logically she knew that was a reference to the conversation that the two of them had while she had been feeding pastries to the horses this morning. As such she didn’t need to understand it completely. Yet, she couldn’t help but feel like it was directed at her. She had been chewing a bite of her roll, but slowly stopped to just stare at the guard so quick to promise things he didn’t truly understand because it was right. He was right. He was beyond right. It wasn’t about her. She wanted to kick herself because of how stupid she had been acting lately.

She dropped the last bit of her roll as she quickly swallowed, “Excuse me a moment. I’ll be right back.”

With that Darin all but ran out of the inn. She didn’t see Ulice get up to follow only to have Mrixie quickly grab her arm to prevent her from doing so. He quickly shot another glance at RIdahne to keep her from doing the same. Then he grabbed the last bit of the roll and another one to follow the young adult. When he exited, he realized that he couldn’t see her due to the swiftness of her retreat. With a scowl he returned to his place on the bench. He wrapped both of the roll in a napkin.

He asked the warrior, “Is this a habit of hers? To run off in order to avoid showing emotion in front of others?”

Meanwhile Darin had run pass the city and deeper in the forest. A swarm of uloia followed to provide light. Darin collapsed as she wrapped her arms around the trunk of the nearest tree. She then proceeded to be sick. How could she have been so stupid? How could she have been so self-centered? It wasn’t about her. It had never been about her. She wasn’t The Seed-Bearer for her. She was The Seed-Bearer for Astra, for the Children of Astra, for The Gardener and The Tree. She had spent the last however long worried that she was doing it wrong, about what it would be like to be alone, to live practically forever. It wasn’t about that. It was about ensuring that Astra, that the Children of Astra, had the best chance to survive. She couldn’t worry about whether or not she was doing it wrong. She had to worry about what was best for Astra and what she was doing, what she had planned, was what was best of the Children of Astra. That would have to be enough. She slowly got back to her feet. It would have to be enough. She couldn’t start doubting herself now. She couldn’t start worrying about her future now. It wasn’t about her. It was about others, her mother, Ridahne, Thomas and Milla, all the people she thought she might love.

She stood on shaky feet and regretted being sick. Her mouth tasted horrible. She also regretted her desperate flight away from the inn and so deep into the forest. She had no idea how long she had been running and had no idea where she was. Thankfully the trees of Lihaelen were more than willing to lean slightly in the right direction as the uloia floated ahead to light the way. What was she going to tell Ridahne? She needed to stop just running off. It was odd the that the warrior hadn’t followed though it was possible that Mrixie had stopped her. Darin wasn’t sure what to think about that. It seemed to take forever to get back, but that could be because of the fact that she was walking rather than running this time around. That didn’t change the fact that soon she was back at the inn. She lingered for a moment, unsure if she wanted to go in. Would there still be enough time for the Oijh tonight?

That was another thing that wasn’t about her. She had asked for it, and Ridahne had been willing to do the work, to make the change, to risk the ire of the Sols and her people. Darin should be more than willing to do the first strike of that was what Ridahne requested. She should be overjoyed. She should be honored beyond all measured. Yet she couldn’t get rid of the feeling of apprehension that she would do something horrifically wrong. What if she dropped the needle? She had seen them before while RIdahne worked on the tattoo on her calf. There were tiny! Even smaller than the quill she hated. Or what if she accidently poked to hard or not hard enough? Or what if she slipped and poked in the wrong place? Darin began pacing a short distance as she constantly reminded herself that this was an honor. She was not going back in the inn until she believed it.