Fine, minus the interruption.

"Do you think He minds us just... covering Him with stuff a couple times a year?" Pan asked as she held the ladder.

Tythere was at the top, tying delicate ribbons to Celladryn's branches. The skirt of her white cotton shift flowed in the breeze, sparing glimpses of the fair, soft skin of her legs. Pan would have been enchanted, if not for her intense focus on holding the ladder steady. She had worked so hard this week on the preparations for the Solstice, and she would not let Tythere ruin that for her by becoming a splat! stain in the dirt.

"Mm, I don't think so," Tythere answered, giving one of her ribbons a testing tug. "If it were me, I'd feel loved. It's nice to know someone cares enough to give you gifts and make sure you look your best, right?"

"I guess. Though I still say we should have convinced Lucen to do this for us."

"Then it wouldn't be the same," Tythere chided. "It's important we do it ourselves. That way, it comes from the heart."

"You're such a sap," Pan teased.

Tythere swooned, touching the back of her hand to her forehead in dramatic fashion. "I see romance truly is dead. What else to do then, but fling myself down and be done with this wretched world!"

"H-hey now, be careful," Pan fretted. "Stop wiggling or you will fall."

Tythere only laughed before coming down the ladder. It lifted Pan's heart, like they were just girls again. Mollina's condition had not improved, and other witches were starting to notice. Despite the upcoming festivities, the mood around the village had been acutely dim. Though Pan knew Tythere worried, she had not once seen her friend's cheeriness waver. Tythere radiated positivity wherever she went, and it was infectious.

"Oh, I have an idea!" Tythere clapped her hands together for emphasis. "Let's use violet petals for the path this year. I found a couple patches yesterday-"

Pan! Pan! Help me!

Tasmin's voice ripped through her mind, startling her. Panic bloomed in a twisted knot behind her ribs as Tasmin's emotions flooded into her: fear, pain, confusion. She had sent him out early that morning to scout out some silverweed patches, and their communication had been sporadic throughout the day. Now it was as if the full weight of his consciousness had slammed into hers, and the **** left her reeling. She stumbled into Tythere. Her eyes were wide as she frantically whipped her head about in all directions, trying in vain to pinpoint where he might be.

"Where are you?" Pan called out in her mind. "What's happening?"

Something has my foot. I can't move. Please, Pan. It hurts.

Pan closed her eyes, reaching the out to Tasmin through their shared connection. When her eyes opened, she was in the woods, looking down at small black paws. Pan saw on of his paws was caught in a wire. As Tasmin struggled to tear himself free, the wire only tightened. Pan could see an oozing red ring of broken skin.

"You're in a snare," she warned him. "You have to stop moving, it'll just make it worse."

I'm scared.

"I know. I'll be there soon. Whatever happens, just don't move."

When her senses returned to her, she opened her eyes to Tythere's worried expression.

"Tas is in a trap, I have to go," she said, gently pulling away from her friend.

"Wait, the trapper might be-"

But Pan did not catch the rest of Tythere's warning. Turning on her heel, she ran into the forest, reaching out as far as she could to latch onto Tasmin's aura.

***

It did not take Pan long to find her injured familiar. Their aura's sought each other, coming together in a way that led her right to him. Rage flooded her senses when she came upon the scene; even Lorelai never used snares. This was the work of a stupid, thoughtless hunter, one with no regard for the lives taken by his hand.

Pan made quick work of cutting the snare with the small knife she kept on her at all times. Once she had some slack, Pan gingerly untied Tasmin's paw. Though he whimpered and whined, he held completely still, and Pan was grateful for a familiar's ability to reason. Still, his pain and fear throbbed against her consciousness, and it took all of her focus to not accidentally hurt him.

"What is thing?" He asked. "It's horrible."

"It's a snare trap, Tas," she said blandly, before it hit her: "Wait, you don't know what a trap is?"

"I know what a trap is, I'm not stupid," he huffed. "But I don't know much about humans, or their tools. I've never seen anything like this before. And I'd rather not see it aga- shh. Someone's coming."

Just as he said, a human man appeared from the brush. He was tall, and handsome by Pan's limited standards. He blinked his hazel eyes in confusion at the scene before him, brushing a few stray chestnut locks from his forehead. He shifted from one foot to the other, glancing around before speaking.

"Ah, Miss? Is there some way I can help you?"

Pan herself was caught off guard. She had lived in the Celadon Wilds her whole life, never meeting a human from the surrounding villages. He spoke to her so casually, as if he had merely brushed past her on the road. No ceremony, no decorum. Nothing to mark this as something out of the ordinary.

"Did you set this trap?" She demanded, her tone harsher than she intended, for all the wonder she was feeling.

"Well, yes, I-"

"How dare you?" She snapped, standing then. "You have no right to hunt in this forest. Look at what you've done!"

She gestured down at her injured familiar. The man looked taken aback by her outburst, but ultimately he seemed more confused than chastened. Tasmin whined lowly, probably for the man's benefit, before touching Pan's mind.

"Careful, Pan. He doesn't need to know.”

"It... looks like I caught a fox?" The man said, putting emphasis on Tasmin's point.

Pan grit her teeth. Tas was right. It would be unwise to say too much in front of an outsider. She wondered how close he had come to the village, though by his surprise at finding her she surmised that he had not come across anyone else. That was a good sign.

"You caught my fox, actually. I ought to hurt you back for what you put him through," she huffed. She scooped Tasmin into her arms and turned sharply on her heel.

"Wait! Miss, I'm sorry for hurting your... pet? But it's dangerous out here. Please, let me walk you back," he said, taking strides to keep up with her.

"I'll do just fine on my own, thanks."

Pan continued on without sparing him a second glance. Still, he persisted. A part of her was nervous, though he did not seem aggressive or commanding. More like a stray dog than anything, really.

"My name is Theodore, but everyone just calls me Theo," he said. "What's your name?"

"Don't worry about it."

"But I-"

"He's not going anywhere, Pan. You're going to have to lose him."

Once again, Tas was right. Pan took a sharp turn behind a tree, and exhaled slowly. The world began to shimmer as a thin veil of magic manifested around them. Pan stood with her back to the tree, Tas clutched firmly against her chest. The man, or Theo, passed right by her. She watched him as he searched high and low for her, calling out to her by the stand-in name of "Miss." Cautiously, she skirted around him as he wandered in circles, moving the veil along with her. When she could no longer see him and his calls faded into the distance, only then did she drop the spell.

"What if he makes it to the village?" Tasmin murmured.

“He won't."

In her heart, she was not sure. She could only hope that, with the Solstice just a day away, that this strange man found his way home before he managed to trap something that would not be so forgiving.