Dread had planned to slip away to visit his father, but a look from Halo had encouraged Deluge to poke around in the general vicinity of the Armada until they made their way south on her mother's errand. The sound of crashing water dragged her through the changing foliage of Waterfall peak, dried leaves audibly crunching underfoot as she poked around, casual, not scoping anything out no-siree. She was totally meant to be this far north thank you very much. The bottles over her hips clinked as she slid on loose leaves down an incline and closer to a shallow stream that branched off from the main pool at the base of the falls. It'd probably be wonderful in summer, but now the weather was turning, it left a chill in the air.

“Speech”

Caedes had little patience for distractions, especially when he had a task at hand. Yet, within the dense forest, where the falls were a distant noise he was able to tune out, in search of the herb he sought, he couldn't ignore the presence of the strange woman. Her arrival had been marked by the clinking of bottles, disruptive and sharp. He tried to focus on scanning the ground, the shady areas, the unsettled soil – but his focus was disjointed.

She seemed out of place, like a clashing between her and the rugged surroundings. The sound of her movements grated on his nerves, each careless step a reminder of the time he was wasting. Of what he could not have. He was usually a touch more patient, more indifferent, but his herb alluded him – and he had not been able to slip away to see Mariah for a week now.

He couldn't care less about her reasons for being there; all he wanted was to be left alone to complete his task. With a rise to his full height and a stare, he found himself mentally wishing the stranger away. But he did not speak, no, he simply gave an apathetic expression, watching and waiting for her to pass him by.

"speaking"

Sakana had known she wouldn't go south straight away. Whether Halo had given her up or he just knew her well enough to know she would do all within her power to extend her leave from the pack, to be free from her mother's influence. So when he had asked if she happened to be near the falls and stumbled across some valerian would she mind.... After all, it's addition to her mother's tea was one of the few things keeping the bitch level and if anyone knew how much it was needed, it was her.

As she continued her search down closer to the waters edge, she began to hum, the sound soon replaced with words as she went about her work, oblivious to the looming shadow that clearly did not appreciate her racket. “Sailors round their candles, share their bitter thrall... Gotcha!” She bounded forward to the familiar shaped leaves. There were no flowers this time of year but it was the root she was after and based on the height of the plant, it should serve well enough. She could even send it home with her lapwing and save herself the trip, it wouldn't be a heavy burden. She set to scraping the soil aside, continuing to hum to herself as she went about her work, bottles clinking as her back end bobbed along with her tune.

“Speech”

The woman's obliviousness to his silent urging only added fuel to Caedes's smoldering frustration. As she continued her humming and careless movements, he felt a surge of irritation rise within him like a tidal wave threatening to consume his composure. “Sailors round their candles, share their bitter thrall... Gotcha!” Her words drifted through the air, mingling with the rustle of leaves and the distant murmur of the falls. Caedes clenched his jaw, his irritation mounting with each note of her tune. Must she be so disruptive?

As she bounded forward and set to work digging at soil, Caedes’s ears began to ring with the god forsaken noise of bottles clinking and her continued tune that threatened his very sanity. And like a taut string snapping under pressure, his patience finally gave way. Pushing through the foliage with determined strides, he confronted the idiotically loud woman head-on. “Normally, I couldn’t care less about what anyone else does. But damn it all, woman, shut your mouth.” The obsidian brute boomed, his exasperation palpable. The woman's incessant noise had drained him of every ounce of patience he possessed, leaving him with no choice but to voice his frustration in no uncertain terms.

"speaking"