Severa dipped her head under the water, rinsing her long red hair that clung to her shoulders as she re-emerged. The Shepherds, having found a sprawling cave system filled with pools of water, decided to camp just outside it as they continued their march. A female and male area was allotted for bathing and general relaxation, though the size meant each had to use the water in groups. One might imagine that Severa would be bothered to be the last in the water, but due to the odd number placement, she got the last shift of the evening all to herself. She let out a sigh of relief as she wrung out her hair and tossed it behind her back. As pleasant as it was, the sun was nearly set, and the lantern kept by the water was clearly running low on oil. Opting to cut her time short rather than be caught in darkness, she got out of the water and headed for her clothes folded neatly on a nearby rock.

The entrance to the cave was small, and a wall of rock kept a direct view into the system obscure. She silently thanked the gods for that, as she quickly dressed herself. She heard muffled conversation down a narrow tunnel where the male pool was, and heard the splashing water sound of someone getting out. The lantern by the male pool cast its light on a wall that Severa could see, and a shadow of someone made itself known. Severa grabbed her sword that laid nearby, understanding perfectly well the shadow probably posed no threat, but conditioned her whole life to never take any chances.

The figure stepped into the tunnel, where its short blond hair made its wearer obvious. Owain fiddled with his shirt, and upon seeing Severa let a large smile appear on his face. "Greetings, my severe companion!" he said in his usual theatrical voice. A small giggle escaped from him as he looked back at her. "Did you get...did you see what I did there?"

Severa could have rolled her eyes, but if she did that every time Owain made that joke they would have long since rolled out of her head. She let a huff of annoyance convey the message for her.

"Ah!" he said, lifting up his hands in mock defense. "The woman casts her icy glare at the noble warrior! He feels the energy fading from his very form! But, o, what is this? A surge of energy, the last of his very being, flows to his trusty sword hand, ready to liberate..."

"Enough, Owain. Are you coming back to camp or what?"

"Alright, alright," he said. "It's just that Inigo is staying behind for a few more minutes. As formidable a swordsman as he may be, it brings my heart worry to leave him behind in darkened cave system whose deepest recesses have yet to be explored."

Severa knew that Owain and Inigo were close. They were first cousins after all, Owain only a year older than that incorrigible flirt with the royal blue hair. She was perfectly willing to leave without them, when she noticed Owain bouncing softly from one foot to the other, realizing he was without shoes. "Owain," she said, "where are your shoes?"

Owain sheepishly grinned and rubbed the back of his head. "I was in such a hurry to come, I may have left them in my tent."

"Hurry?" she said, "You and Inigo were the last men to go in!"

"True, my dear!" He said, speaking with his hands in sweeping gestures, looking absolutely ridiculous as he continued to shift from one foot to another, the cold of the stones evidently getting to him. "But, when Owain, master of the sword, is tempted with a warm soak to ease the tension of his impressive physique, he can be made to forget trivial matters such as mere boots and buckles!"

Severa let out a huff. "Just go back to camp. I'll wait for Inigo, if it will make you feel better." She said, though her closed eyes and frown displayed an annoyed resignation more than a kind offer.

Owain smiled again, prepared to make another speech, before he felt Severa's hands push his back toward the cave entrance. He walked out, quickening his pace to reach the grass and dirt that had been warmed by the still setting sun. Severa crossed her arms and leaned back against the wall, still seeing light from the lantern by the male pool, and hearing soft splashing that she assumed was Inigo's bathing. She tapped her foot impatiently as she waited for the man to finally get on with it and get out there, mentally scolding herself for offering to stay when she knew Inigo was the biggest night owl in the Shepherds. There was no telling how long he might stay in the water.

Just as she was beginning to debate whether or not to just bring him out herself, or at the very least call for him. She heard his voice softly waver and echo down the tunnel. It moved up and down, some words sustained, some words short. Was he...was he singing?

"Dark red roses in a honeyed wind swinging,
Silk-soft hollyhock, colored like the moon;"

She perked up and stood up straight as his voice bounced from the cold stone into her ears. It was a warm tenor voice, one that was clearly his, but at the same time unlike anything she expected his singing voice to sound like.

"Larks high overhead lost in light, and singing;
That's the way of June."

She stepped closer quietly, her mouth open in surprise as she crept near the bend in the tunnel where the male pool's lantern continued to shine. She noticed a shadow that must be him, moving his arms in gestures that were hard to make out from her angle.

"Dark red roses in the warm wind falling,
Velvet leaf by velvet leaf, all the breathless noon;
Far off sea waves calling, calling, calling;
That's the way of June."

He was getting more involved, his voice going louder, his gestures wider, his enthusiasm far greater in this second verse. His soft humming of a brief, simple instrumental carried the same tenor notes to Severa, who frankly could not believe what she was hearing. In all the time she had known Inigo (and what a long time that had been), she never heard him sing. To hear it now, and for it to be so...

"Sweet as scarlet strawberry, under wet leaves hidden,
Honey'd as the damask rose, lavish as the moon,"

His voice picked up and speed and power, clearly reaching its crescendo, and Severa gripped the rocky wall feeling its power rush over her in chills as he reached the finale.

"Shedding lovely light on things forgotten, hope forbidden,
That's the way of June;
The way, the way, of June!"

The echo of that last "June" reverberated through the cave walls, and by extension, Severa herself. She stood in complete silence, entranced by the fading sound of the most beautiful singing she had ever heard. It did not matter that the song itself was far from complex, or that the lyrics were far more flowery than she would normally care for. His voice transcended the song, whose melody he continued to hum as he rose from the water, and stepped out of the pool, dripping wet on the cold stone ground. Severa heard his movement, and silently creeped away, her heart still racing. She she slipped outside the cave walls and saw the sun was now entirely gone, the light of the moon and the Shepherds' campfires now the only remaining light as she stepped quickly toward camp.

Meanwhile, Inigo, dressed and with his lantern in hand, made his way down the narrow tunnel toward the exit. He realized no light was coming from outside, meaning he must have stayed quite a bit longer than the few minutes he promised Owain earlier. However, he had had this one stain of dirt near a sensitive area that refused to come off, and as a chance to bathe does not come every day when on the road, he had to take care of it now. Even if Owain was his cousin, rubbing an area like that to get the stain out would have been too much for the shy flirt to handle. He still hummed the song that he had sung earlier. He knew he was far from the best singer, but the acoustics were too great with the echo not to try at least one song.

He continued toward the entrance when he saw the lantern Severa had left behind in her haste, a tiny flame still flickering in desperate need of oil. Inigo saw the flame, and looked around for anyone. "Hello?" he called, to no answer. For a moment, a chill ran over him as he imagined some one had listened in to him singing. His face went flush with bashfulness at the mere thought. Sure, he could hold a note, and practice had given him breath control for a song like "June," but to actually be heard by anyone (with one notable exception) would be terribly embarrassing.

He took a moment to compose himself. He reasoned that whoever was the last one in the female pool must have simply forgotten it, and that he was totally alone. The relief he felt then was overshadowed by the realization that he was totally alone. In the middle of a cave system. In the middle of the night. With a fading lantern. By himself.

He grabbed the other lantern and made quick work for the cave door, thankful for the moonlight as he made his way to the camp.