" - and I'm not gonna take your word for it - look, what's your name -"

"Haven't got one," it says, tossing its head.

"What do people call you?"

"Segda."

"Okay. Segda, I would be happy to teach you magic, even though you are kind of a brat. I do not want to get killed because someone disagreed with me on teaching you magic, and you are the first individual of your race who I have met, and so I don't know what sorts of things will get me killed and actually this place is strikingly devoid of things that are trying to kill me so far and it has me leaping at shadows a little bit."

Segda blinks at her.

"Who should I talk to to get permission to teach you magic?"

"Me. I want it."

"If you explode, who will be mad at me?"

"Town probably."

"Then I want to talk to them first. I'm sorry."

Segda produces a loud yelping "yark"-ish sound, which one might assume from context is upset, and it gets up and runs off.

Well that was not spectacular. She continues on, a bit more nervously.

It eventually transpires that Segda is following her. Or, presumably Segda. A similarly sized and dressed stranger.

Okay.

She stops and sits down.

Segda climbs a tree a few yards back, peers at her from between leaves.

"I'm not trying to be a jerk, here."

Segda doesn't answer her.

"If someone came to where I'm from when I was - of your approximate level of emotional maturity - and told me I could learn magic, I'd have gone "yay!". And if there'd been an accident and they'd gotten me killed then my grandfather would probably have killed them. Does that make sense?"

"No."

"Okay, fair. If someone killed me being careless, my family would kill them, does that part make sense?"

"No."

"What would Town do if I tried to teach you magic and you died."

"Nothing probably."

"Great. Okay. I'd still rather explain to them first, they might know things we don't about how safe it is."