章 442: Daunting a Dragon
Endless Song's Captain carried the guild members within her stone space through the portal, to the island in the northwest ocean. ZipZing didn't stop beside the portal, she zipped directly to the new dock to meet the boat that she'd arranged earlier, in case the little flying pig couldn't stay airborne as long as a fairy dragon. The village that had started here was expanding into an established city far more quickly than the one SaltySiamese was developing on the southern coast.
The boatman seemed confused by their party. He was another player, who had taken the quest to transport them, so he lacked an NPC's blind acceptance. In Living Jade Empire's artificial economy it was generally less expensive to hire other players through the quest system, though it meant coordinating with other people's schedules, but they weren't really in a hurry. He was polite though, and didn't ask many questions, even though Danika's instructions were simply, "Go east until we meet the dolphin."
Jade was the only member who couldn't fly at all, and the members of Endless Song treated the small boat like a convenient perch as they flitted back and forth over the waves. Penname's transformation time was limited, but she had already raised her skill level enough to stay transformed into a fairy dragon for an entire hour, and she zipped to and fro while asking Thimblepot excitedly, "Isn't the sea the best!?"
Thimblepot dodged a sudden waterspout with the evasion skill that ZipZing had managed to impart to the little pig finally, thanks to her assistant's repetitive teaching while Danika was working, and exclaimed, "The sea is very amazing! It is very vast!"
Kit called down from her higher vantage point in the air, "I have always loved how free the wind feels at the ocean. It makes me want to take a vacation!"
"Do you hear a song?" Danika asked suddenly. A sound that she couldn't quite hear seemed to be tickling her ears.
A moment later a familiar dolphin leapt out of the water beside the boat and shouted, "ZipZing my friend!"
"Sea Song Tione! Were you singing just now?" Danika asked laughingly.
"Yes!" the dolphin replied cheerfully.
Jade turned toward the dolphin and Danika added quickly, "Don't be alarmed if Jade seems to be targeting you, he's not trying to attack, he just can't see normally."
The dolphin studied Jade intently for a moment and then reported a little sadly, "I do not think you can learn to see the sound of the world either Jade Jade Hand."
Penname giggled when she heard Jade addressed that way and shouted, "Jade is Jade Jade!"
Jade told the dolphin politely, "I cannot see the sound of the world here, but it was a good idea. My thanks to the great bard."
"The great bard is already here?" Thimblepot asked in the distance, and the hum of its wings deepened as the pig turned and sped back toward the boat.
"Yes!" Danika called back. She quickly made the introductions as soon as the little flying pig was close enough for conversation.
Sea Song Tione seemed very excited about meeting Thimblepot, the dolphin exclaimed, "Wow! You have such great luck! And you have even gotten to join Endless Song, I am so envious!"
"Envious? Of me?" Thimblepot asked incredulously.
"Isn't it great!?" Penname demanded.
"It is very great!" Sea Song Tione agreed.
"It is so great!" Thimblepot agreed excitedly.
"Did you want to join Endless Song?" Danika asked the dolphin curiously.
"I still do!" the dolphin replied instantly.
A system notification popped up, and Danika blinked and then tapped accept.
"I must compose a song of great rejoicing!" the dolphin exclaimed. "A new song for Endless Song!"
Danika gazed at the ecstatic dolphin in surprise and questioned a little uncertainly, "I am surprised by your enthusiasm even though we don't adventure together often? Won't you swiftly grow tired of your membership?"
"I would love to go on more of your adventures ZipZing! I think Thimblepot's adventures will be very exciting too? But I have rarely gone for an entire week without exchanging messages with members of Endless Song, our compatibility is very good!" Sea Song Tione assured her.
"Thimblepot really does have lots of exciting adventures," Penname told the dolphin agreeably.
"I would like to hear all of the songs about ZipZing's adventures," Thimblepot said hopefully.
"I will sing them all!" the dolphin replied joyfully.
Danika winced, and then wondered if the two NPCs could actually maintain each others membership if they interacted every day. She didn't have long to wonder about it as Kit landed on the boat beside Jade and transformed back into her own human shape. The sky began to darken as she announced, "A storm is blowing up!"
"Do you think it is chased by a dragon seeking revenge?" Jade asked curiously.
"How exciting!" Sea Song Tione chimed in.
Danika eyed the sky through her menu lens and wondered. There were actually several players up there in the storm, but they weren't showing their guild tags. One of the lightning elementals had a familiar name, but Danika had never met that player, it had just been the name attached to the bug report.
Kit exclaimed, "Oh, it didn't even occur to me! I'll go ask!" A moment later she transformed into her small celestial dragon form and drifted upward into the storm.
Danika hovered indecisively and then zipped upward after Kit, with Penname and Thimblepot following close behind. The cold mist of the storm clouds closed in around them, and bright flashes of light crackled in the foggy depths where the electric elementals danced.
"Hey you! Back off! This is my storm!" an angry voice shouted.
"I'm not trying to take your storm, I'm here to ask why you're chasing Endless Song?" Kit called back.
"Endless Song? Do I look like I'm crazy? Go away!" the voice hidden in the storm shrieked.
A lightning bolt streaked past Kit's nose and came to a halt in front of her. The little lightning elemental flickered and shouted at Kit, "We aren't chasing anyone! Venerable is just helping my tribe!"
"Can dragons steal storms from each other?" Penname asked curiously, I thought storms in this world were just the effect of having a lot of dragons close together?
"Dragons can push clouds around," Kit replied.
Danika zipped up beside Kit and asked, "Helping your tribe? You mean he's recharging all of you with this storm? Like taking a flock out to graze?"
Xing Xing snapped, "We aren't sheep!"
A very large form loomed behind her as the misty cloud bank seemed to coalesce into a much larger dragon than Kit. Venerable Sky Dragon was a Summoner with an accumulated level of 73, and still a Novice by a couple of points. "We are really just passing by, please let us go!" the large dragon begged. "It won't take very long if you stop slowing down the winds."
Kit gazed at him with a confused expression and Danika sighed. "Kit, maybe your form is anchoring his storm somehow?" she suggested.
Another lighting elemental player flashed into existence beside XingXing and exclaimed excitedly, "Are we going to fight them? I think maybe I could light that boat on fire!" This one only had an accumulated level of 36.
"I can just blast it to pieces," Xing Xing threatened.
"Don't! They are from Endless Song," Venerable Sky Dragon interrupted.
"We don't want to fight," Kit replied quickly. "But I'm curious about how you are playing a full blooded dragon?"
"What are you then?" the dragon asked crossly.
Kit glanced at ZipZing and then transformed into a fairy dragon so that Endless Song's airborne party consisted of three tiny fairy dragons, and a flying pig who was struggling against the wind with a low pitched buzz. Danika wasn't sure that it made them any less intimidating though, since except for Thimblepot, all of their accumulated levels were far higher than those of the dragon and elementals.
"I'm a human that can shapeshift," Kit explained.
"Me too!" Penname volunteered breathlessly.
"I'm actually a fairy dragon," Danika said when everyone looked at her.
"I am a flying pig!" Thimblepot gasped tiredly.
Danika turned to look at the little pig and advised, "You should go back and rest."
"I promised the great bard that I would remember your words with the dragon for him," Thimblepot wheezed. "Since he can't fly."
Danika glanced at the members of her guild and silently added, 'yet.'
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