Data Dragon Danika

Kit took the envelope and peeked inside. "You already had one?" she asked with amazement.

"It might just be a fish scale though," Danika warned. "It's from the dragon that flew away after it transformed from a fish at the top of a mountain."

Kit looked into the envelope again and then shook her head and smiled. "I'm a master druid these days Zip, I can see its information. It's a celestial dragon scale."

"One might not be enough though," Danika warned.

"I know, but it's a chance, thank you," Kit replied happily.

Danika shrugged and glanced away as a flash of white caught her eye. It flashed by again as a very grouchy looking chinchillamin whipped past once more a few seconds later.

"What is he caught in?" Danika asked with amazement.

"A trap," MatchlessMinion replied dourly as he flashed by again.

"Um, sort of a clock, actually," Logical Heart replied.

"That's a really big clock?" Shrubbery questioned doubtfully.

"I did not step off the stairs by the way," MatchlessMinion complained as he flashed by again.

Logical Heart chuckled and agreed, "No, you probably detected the gold at the bottom of the storehouse, and pulled the lever at the access door without releasing the safety valve."

Danika turned and looked at the gnome doubtfully.

"I'd rather not shut it down, can you fly up and catch him at the top ZipZing?" he asked.

She zipped upward until she could see the enormous mechanism that MatchlessMinion was caught in. It didn't look like any kind of clock that she was familiar with, but she could see the wheel that the thief was caught on from here. From this angle she could see that there was actually only a narrow strip of forest between the stairs and a sheer stone cliff. The cliff had a complicated looking assembly of gears and wheels spinning at varying speeds sticking out from it.

The big wheel arched as high as the tallest trees beside the path and was spinning surprisingly fast. The chinchillamin wasn't tied to it or anything, he was gripping it with what looked like all his strength. He also looked rather slimy.

Danika asked dubiously, "What are you covered in?"

"Lubricant," he replied succinctly.

A gnome may have snickered from beyond the trees.

Danika sighed and zipped closer. She tried to fly with the rotation of the wheel and caught ahold as he caught up to her. He didn't even say anything. Just released the wheel with one hand and slapped it against the pebble on her back. "Dragonheart!" hung in the air as he vanished.

Danika released her hold on the wheel and was launched back into the air with a force that made her ask, as she flew back to her friends, "Would Kit be able to fly higher if you catapulted her upward first?"

Logical Heart rolled his eyes and replied, "You have no idea how to fly do you?"

--

Kit and Shrubbery logged off to go sleep before Logical Heart finished trying to explain flight mechanics in 'Living Jade Empire'.

MatchlessMinion was still online, but had gone in search of a chinchillamin friendly bathing facility.

Like most of the physics in the game, the rules were based off the real world. Things were simplified in some ways, and magic modified how things reacted to them in others, such as ZipZings ability to fly with her butterfly-like wings. Her wings were far smaller in comparison to her body than an actual butterfly's wings were.

Danika hoped that Kit would be successful in weaving the essence of a celestial dragon into her belt, because it turned out that they really were the only creatures in the Empire who could simply fly all the way to the top of the sky. Or rather, the largest of them could. According to Logical Heart the smallest of them probably couldn't fly a lot higher than she could with the help of her featherweight spell.

--

When more guild members started suggesting creative ways to launch Kit Tay to the top of the sky the next day, Josh Beagle wrote a help document outlining the mechanics of flight within the game and posted it in the public help section.

Danika was a little surprised that airships weren't a thing yet, but an inquiry on the forums got her a quick reply from The First Dwarven Smith: "Dragons. They're like cats who regard aerial balloons and other flying machine attempts as amusing toys to bat around. People who stay too high for too long on magic carpets or brooms run into them too."

--

Lin Hao almost gave Danika a heart attack when he popped into her workspace during the afternoon and asked suddenly, "You know, don't you?"

"About?" Danika asked cautiously after she recovered.

He folded his arms and gave her a look. "What are you planning to do to help Kit?" he asked instead.

"I was wondering if begging the King of Cats to let Kit's weaving be successful would work, since you said he's the God of Luck," Danika replied hopefully.

Lin Hao blinked at her and then shrugged. "I don't see why that wouldn't work, if he responds," he agreed. "But…" he hesitated and Danika gazed at him worriedly. "…well, go ahead and try. I can't really think of anything better aside from a series of flying carpets?"

"Seriously?" she questioned. It sounded like the kind of plan Nao1 had suggested that had made Josh write a flight help page.

"Well, each one could travel as far as the user could see, and another could be used right away to repeat it, I think," Lin Hao explained.

Danika glanced at him and then suggested diffidently, "I think that the incarnation with the match to Kit's ring and the King of Cats are either in the same place, or the merchant's new incarnation isn't always there either."

Lin Hao raised his eyebrows at her. "I can check that."

"Check who?" she asked quickly. She had her own suspicions, but she thought that Lin Hao would be a lot more upset if they were correct.

"Tsk tsk," he scolded with amusement. "I'll find out whether he's always present and if the cat is there."

Danika returned the look he'd given her earlier. Lin Hao obviously knew who Kit's ring linked to now. His words were also confirmation that there was actually an existing location that the ring was pointing to.

"Why doesn't he just come down to meet her?" Danika questioned.

Lin Hao waved a hand and grinned. "What kind of love story would that be?" he asked as he vanished.

"The logical kind?" Danika suggested to the empty air.

--

Danika went to talk to the King of Cats after Lin Hao sent: "They both seem to be consistently present, but only the cat is in an always active mode."

The King of Cats was suspiciously nearby, since she found him lazing around in one of the island gardens of the Jade Emperor's palace. If he could see the layer where the celestial work spaces existed, he'd probably be able to watch both Devon Yu and Lin Hao from there. He didn't look terribly active, but his eyes followed her from the instant she stepped onto the island.

When she asked him to help Kit, he seemed to ignore her, but she was certain that he'd at least heard her request. No one else was visible in the little garden, and when Danika left it, she moved herself up to the throne room to peek at the Emperor. He wasn't there, but she didn't waste any more time looking for him.

That night Endless Song began collecting things that might help Kit climb into the upper atmosphere.