The visitors are as surprised as anyone that their ship has gone missing. There is some concern, as a slightly panicked bat charges across the clearing and trips in the brook. Hotspur fishes him out, and asks if he is all right. The bat is wet, but unharmed.
The clearing they find is not that different from any other, but the foreigners stop and stare at the empty space. Annifred and Hotspur both become concerned and ask if everything is all right. Larrikan wanders along the edge of the clearing, playing his recorder.
Everyone looks for clues. It only takes Larrikan a moment to follow the tracks to see what happened, but they are clear enough everyone can see.
While Annifred and Hotspur offer commiserations and help to recover the lost ship, Larrikan listens to the bad news and says, “That’s too bad.” He brightens, and adds, “I’ll be able to spend more time with you!” and gives her a quick peck on the cheek. He resumes circling the clearing, playing music.
The spacefarers confer. They realize they will need translators. Hotspur suggests the dryads might know, and that Larrikan can talk to them, and Aykuh can if the fox won’t.
Sakura returns to Larrikan, and asks him, “Larrikan-kun, can you speak with dryads?”
Larrikan smiles and stops playing his recorder. He tells her, “When they will talk to me, I can talk to them.”
Sakura asks Larrikan to help, to ask the dryads if they saw anything. He knows he will do this for her, but he lets her know it will be slow, and may reveal little. She encourages him with a kiss on his cheek, so he skips off into the trees, still playing his happy tune.
Talking to dryads is not a chore, but it is never fast. Larrikan wanders the edge of the clearing, playing, until he catches a tree listening. That one, he plays more for, then sits and starts talking about the weather this season, in dryadish.
“The spring has been wet, so maybe we won’t have as many wildfires,” he babbles.
“No, that only holds true if it stays wet. It is drying out, and we could see fires this summer,” replies a dryad. She is naked, as most are, and has stepped just out of her tree to correct the fox.
“Hello there, wise Oak,” replies Larrikan, “Thank you for your thoughtful observation. I am sure you are right.” He shamelessly butters her up.
This works, as he knew it would, and he continues to talk, letting the dryad show off her wisdom to the silly short-lived folk. This is actually easy, as most dryads are really wise, once you get them talking to you and believing you will listen. To do this, Larrikan listens to a lot of talk.
After an afternoon and evening of talk, which Larrikan gently guided to the thing in the clearing, Larrikan has little information. The dryad saw it, and looks now to see it has gone. The Shy Folk thanks her for her wisdom, and returns to the now sleeping camp. Hotspur, guarding, sees him approach, and says nothing, so he cuddles up with Sakura for the rest of the night.
In the morning, the group returns to the Silver Egg. There is conversation and the tale is told to Vash and Zildjian. Larrikan shares that the dryads had nothing related to say to him. Another trip is planned, this one with Aykuh, who will be happy to talk to her sisters.