Larrikan watches the work being done around the edge of the clearing. The woman called Coldwillow is apparently directing several teams of people who are hanging lights from ropes tied to the trees in the clearing. Getting ropes to where the lights need to go is apparently tricky. Coldwillow seems grumpy, which puts Larrikan off. After watching and waiting for what he hopes is a lull in the work, the fox skulks around to where Coldwillow is, and, having gathered all his courage, speaks to the second – no, third – stranger in one day. “Excuse me, ma’am?” he asks.
Coldwillow looks at Larrikan, says, “What?” and turns away to another person for a moment. It seems to take her a moment but she turns back to Larrikan, appearing a bit startled to see the fox there. She adds, “What are you doing here?”
Despite the question being asked with genuine curiosity, Larrikan takes a step back, and says, “I’m sorry to bother you! I can come back at a better time!”
Coldwillow shrugs, and says, “What did you need?” as another person, a bulky young man, comes up and says, “I’m done. What’s next?”
Larrikan gets out, “I want to talk to you about magic.”
Coldwillow looks intrigued, but bristles at yet another interruption. She holds her hand up to the fox, and tells the young man, “Go hang lamp baskets there, and along that row.” She points, and he says, “Okay”, and wanders that way.
Once the interruption is dealt with, she looks back to the fox, and asks, “What about magic?”
Larrikan is interrupted by a sharp clacking of the ladder being banged around. Both he and Coldwillow look, as the young man struggles awkwardly with the ladder. Coldwillow sighs, and asks, “What’s your name, fox?”
That, Larrikan knows, and he tells her, “I am Larrikan of the…” but that is all he gets out, looking somewhat discomfited at not sharing his clans.
Coldwillow on the other hand, is fine with that, and points to the young man struggling with the ladder, and says, “We won’t have a moment of peace until these lights are up. Go help Fray there with the lights, and we’ll talk later.” The older woman shoos Larrikan towards the struggling Fray and hurries off to direct some other groups.
Larrikan blinks twice, then goes over to Fray, who says, “Hi! Hold the ladder for me!” and starts climbing it. Larrikan holds on, as directed.