Shinichi went to his next job and Danika went home. She scooted onto her familiar floor with relief. It was good to have gotten to go out with Shinichi, it was good to have talked to her father after so long. It was even better to have finally discovered why he hadn"t been able to face her for so long. But it was all very tiring.She didn"t even attempt her exercises or do any of the ch.o.r.es she might have, she just pulled herself into the VR-medi pod and logged into "Living Jade Empire". She didn"t immediately start anything there either, just removed the pebble that held her garden and whispered, "Dragonheart."
Her pet firefly followed her in and circled her cheerfully. Her little apple tree looked healthy and cast an inviting shadow under the illusory sky. The distant mountains beyond Logical Heart"s reflecting pool looked cool and blue. Various flowers bloomed around the edges of her little round garden. A new crop of small mountain strawberries was ripening and adding their own sweet scent to the air. Her little colony of bees hummed busily and darted to and fro.
Danika stretched out on one of the stone dragon prints that Aishin had added to her garden. The little vines that twined around them were blooming too. Outside her garden the season was still late summer, but the world fragment that held her garden acted like a greenhouse with its static environment. Although outside of the game it was spring, and there"d been quite a few flowers in borders and pots across the city.
Aishin teleported to her after she"d been laying there for awhile. "Practicing skills?" he questioned in the flat tones that indicated that he was using text.
She sat up and admitted a little guiltily, "No, just resting."
He flashed her a smile and suggested, "Then just keep resting. I"ll only have a few minutes at a time anyway, but let me know if there"s anything you"d like me to be doing."
"Ok," she agreed.
His character plopped down on the stone beside hers and he began to do the breathing exercises that were a mini game on the mobile version and would increase his meditation skill. They sat there in companionable silence for awhile.
He didn"t seem surprised that she was tired and she wondered if he were tired too. After awhile doing nothing became a little boring, despite the peaceful surroundings and relaxing company, and Danika pulled up her menus.
The forums were quite busy, and even "The First Dwarven Smith" had made some speculations on the new expansion. It was so tempting to comment, but she thought of Justin"s warning and resisted. More official information had been released too, although nothing that directly said that there wouldn"t be pre-built cities.
When she finished reading she saw that there was a new guild mission available to recover a toy that some monkeys had stolen. She could see why MatchlessMinion said that his personal quests usually paid more. There was a chance that the monkeys were a type that she hadn"t gathered hair from yet though.
"I"m going to take the new guild quest," Danika announced.
Aishin"s response was delayed, but he said, "OK, Things are about to get busy here, but you can still message if you need a rescue."
"Alright," she agreed happily.
--
She ran into the traveling merchant on her way to the village that the monkeys had stolen the toy from, and eyed his cheerful face a little warily. As she"d suspected, after a minute of cordial conversation he said, "By the way, if you run into the local troop of monkeys, you might watch for a bright red hood."
"Is the hooded monkey dangerous?" Danika questioned.
The merchant paused for a moment, like it was a question he hadn"t expected, and then he replied with amus.e.m.e.nt, "No more dangerous than it"s fellows I expect, but if one of the monkeys is actually wearing the hood it is pretty decent armor and reduces the effects of breath attacks."
"Am I supposed to steal the hood?"she asked suspiciously.
"Recover, like the toy you"re already looking for?" the merchant suggested. "It belongs to a young girl who was quite distressed by its loss and is offering a fair sum of coin for its return before her family member discovers that she had carelessly laid it where the monkeys could steal it."
"Are there wolves involved?" Danika asked wryly.
The merchant gazed at her with respect and asked, "How did you guess that her brother is a half wolf?"
She blinked at him and then replied vaguely, "Ah, little girls with red hoods have trouble with wolves and grandmothers in one tale."
The merchant nodded seriously. "Grandmothers can be very tricky," he agreed.
Danika felt like the conversation was getting a little weird and quickly agreed to watch for the hood as well. After a brief farewell she zipped away from the merchant toward the little village.
--
The little NPC boy had seriously, and in great detail described the figure of the dwarven warrior that the monkeys had s.n.a.t.c.hed, and complained vigorously, "If I can"t get him back the elves will outnumber us and win the next battle for the treehouse!"
Danika wondered what kind of battles the children in this little village were having, but promised solemnly, "I"ll do my best to find the figurine."
In its apparently shining armor, it didn"t sound too difficult to spot in the forest compared to the kinds of toys she"d been imagining. She zipped into the forest and called out Hikaru to help her spot the monkey troop. It would have been very convenient if any of the monkeys had had a famous name, but neither the merchant nor the local NPCs had admitted to knowing of any named individuals among the local troop.
After awhile she decided that she"d underestimated the colorful environment of the deep wet forest that she"d wandered into. Golden furred monkeys sounded bright and easy to spot, as did red hoods and shiny toys, but… she had zipped up to a lot of brightly colored flowers, leaves and mushrooms so far. The birds here were also very colorful.
Borrowing Aishin"s "Lifelight" vision skill that let him detect nearby lifeforms wasn"t much help either. Although she did actually learn it for herself, which would be useful later. There were an incredible number of nearly invisible creatures all over the place, and the vision skill reminded her of using infrared goggles, except that it detected cold lizards as easily as warm blooded mammals.
When she finally located the monkeys, she felt a bit disgusted with herself. She"d been asking the wrong questions of the locals. She found them enjoying an evening bath time at a local hotspring, with quite a few villagers in attendance as well.
She spotted the little dwarven figure first. A young monkey was playing with it in much the same manner that a young human child would. She suddenly felt a bit bad about trying to steal it back. After a while she decided that since she wasn"t in a hurry and she hadn"t spotted the cloak yet, so she"d just wait. If the little monkey was like a human child, it would get bored or distracted and leave the toy lying unguarded eventually.
It really took a long time. The little monkey was surprisingly careful with its new toy. Although sometimes it seemed like she"d mostly been learning magical skills, she made a pretty good thief too. She followed the monkeys back into the forest to what was apparently their usual home, judging by the way the red hood had been hung like a banner.
After most of the monkeys had fallen asleep she snuck close enough to s.n.a.t.c.h the toy and the cloak, although she left a pile of strawberries where the cloak had lain, and a shiny coin beside the little monkey. The last thing she did was pluck a couple of long golden hairs from an older monkey"s tail.
As she zipped away from the resulting commotion, she wondered if this were how legends of things like tooth fairies started.