Hanako puffed out a sigh as she pressed her ribs against one of the many trees that sheltered the Grande. The weather had looked pretty nasty when she'd set out earlier, but foolishly she'd hoped it would pass, like all bad things were supposed to. Except naturally it hadn't. Nestled beneath her shelter it was hard to say whether it was rain or hail, all she knew was that it was falling hard. More than to make the surface of the Grande ripple and splish, casting circles across the water's surface in captivating patterns. Winter, by far, was her least favourite season and the weather seemed to be determined to double down on her negativity. If nothing else, she sought to find solace in the fact it wasn't as bad as last year.

Hopefully nothing could get as bad as it used to be. Onwards and upwards, as they say.

Except Hanako wasn't really feeling all that optimistic as of now. Ultimately she'd gotten what she had wanted, so then why did it feel as though the recompense was a bitter pill to swallow? Glancing up to the tree branches above, Hanako watched as Ruri groomed her iridescent feathers. At least she wasn't alone, her companions had returned to her side along with her freedom to roam and wander. Though if the weather was as nasty as this from here on out maybe she'd stay closer to the Armada till spring came.

"Speech"

The rain hadn't bothered Torrent so much as she made her way back towards Fireside's lands. It was cold, and as it seeped through her fur to completely soak her it chilled her to the bone, but she set her jaw and endured it. She'd be home to get warm and dry soon enough. Wet, miserable clear through, she trudged on. But when the rain suddenly began to be accompanied by hail - sent from the clouds to slam into head and ribs and shoulders and hips with indiscriminately bruising force - Torrent snarled out a curse and raised her head to peer through the rain for some form of shelter. Only to be stunned and sent reeling when one smacked her head. She shook off the hit and dove for the first sheltering tree she saw without pausing any longer to check if it was already occupied. If it was, they could deal with it or get out, because Torrent was not going back out there.

As she dove in she had to jerk back, pulling up short in her headlong rush that had nearly smashed her face into a smaller female's own face, and she skidded to a stop with her weight back on her hocks. Her hackles automatically rising she stared down at the small multicolored thing with an affront that said clearly that it was the stranger's fault they were in this predicament.