"I congratulate you on your clothing not sabotaging you!" she replies, just as cheerfully.

And yeah, they should. Actually, Vetareh similarly flips over to work mode and starts eyeing the place.

They're in some sort of arena or temple, a room made out of several flat wall sections arranged in a circle. One section of the circular walls is missing, probably being the erstwhile entrance to the temple before it was forcibly plucked from its original location and made to float in the middle of the gargantuan cave they're in, and the ceiling is missing. It's entirely empty except for a circular pedestal in the middle. However, there are suspiciously humanoid-shaped charred stains on the walls, and bloodstone-coloured scratches on the floor radiating from the pedestal. 

And there's the soft sound of someone clearing their throat coming from there, and a woman with green skin whose hair and clothes are made of leaves is standing there. "The source of the explosion?"

"...Caithe," says James, his voice suddenly much less warm than it's been towards Vetareh.

"Commander. And friend...?" she says, tilting her head in Vetareh's direction.

????? there was a ??? plant person??? hiding there this whole time????

She's going to pretend, for her own sanity, that this Caithe person has only been present for the banter part of her interaction with James, not the, uh. Crying. Part.

"Uh, hi. Vetareh."

"A pleasure."

"How long have you been there for?"

"Not long. You beat me here, and I was investigating the area downstairs until just now."

"I see." He's not sure how much he believes that, Caithe has always been hard to read and one of the few people who can lie to him. Occasionally. To Vetareh: "Vetareh, this is Caithe, she is—an ally." He could have displayed more confidence than this if he wanted, but he in fact did not want to. "Caithe, this is Vetareh. I found her in this cave."

"A friend of the Commander's is a friend of mine." Her expression really is quite hard to read, but she looks—contrite, or something. "You're investigating the explosion, then?"