Danika hovered indecisively as the snow leopard stalked forward and placed one huge paw to either side of Kit and stared down into her face. Danika was certain that its fluffy body was larger than any real snow leopard could be, and it had the long fangs of a prehistoric saber toothed cat. Kit lay frozen in shock, gazing up into the fanged mouth of the mountain guardian.

Danika gasped and zipped forward, while activating her dazzle. The enormous cat looked up at her and narrowed its eyes. A low growl rumbled and Kit's body trembled, but she didn't move, and Danika wondered if the girl had forgotten that this was a game.

Danika demanded sharply, "What do you mean the human returned? My friend and I just arrived here!"

The big cat's nostrils flared, and then it roared, "Lies, you hide another human within your stone!"

Danika blinked in surprise, and a second later Aishin tumbled out of the stone into the snow between ZipZing and Kit. He looked around with an utterly confused expression, and stared at the enormous snow leopard with open mouthed surprise. The mountain guardian snarled.

Aishin just sat there, like Kit, without drawing his sword, and Danika wondered if he had lost his connection. She zipped even farther forward, so that she was almost touching the big cat's nose, and was positioned between it and her party members. She wasn't sure if it would do any good, since she wouldn't even be a full mouthful for the enormous snow leopard, but she yelled, "Neither of these are the humans you are angry with!" 

"Cub thieves, murderers, and poachers! What human is worth sparing you ridiculous little dragon?" the mountain guardian growled and lifted her head to show her long fangs which were thicker than the little apple tree in ZipZing's garden and longer than she was tall. 

Behind her, Aishin asked in someone else's voice, "It says I can't log out because I'm in combat?" 

Danika panicked. She huffed her little dragon breath into the big cat's nostrils, the snow leopard took a startled step backward. Danika zipped forward and huffed another breath. She repeated the action until her energy was empty, and the mountain guardian had sat back on its haunches with a dazed look. Even after more than half a dozen breaths, it wasn't enough to put the enormous cat to sleep.

Danika spun and demanded, "Who are you!?" 

Aishin jumped and replied, "Kobayashi Ryuske." He blinked and quickly added, "No! I mean, I've forgotten his character name, sorry, but he asked me to exit the garden and log out."

Danika zipped over to Aishin's figure, held out her pebble and demanded, "Go back inside, and you can take your time and figure out how to log out from there! Say dragonheart!"

The stranger repeated obediently, "Dragonheart?"

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

Danika wanted to scream with frustration but just darted down and shoved the pebble into his hand and instructed, "Repeat it while holding the stone!" 

The mountain guardian growled and staggered back to her feet. Danika glanced at Kit and exclaimed, "Don't just lay there, run away, or fly away, or help him Kit Tay!" 

Danika flew back toward the angry snow leopard and shouted a question, "How long ago was your cub stolen?"

The big cat blinked its eyes and sat again with a thump. She shook her head and blinked again, and then growled, "What does it matter, he is already gone?"

"He's dead?" Danika asked worriedly. She'd been hoping they could offer to search for the snow leopard kitten and escape safely.

Behind her, Kit finally crawled to her knees, but she was trembling too much to stand. The man wearing Aishin's avatar leapt nimbly to his feet and tried to assist her, but Kit looked up at him with a shocked face and screamed, "Don't touch me!"

Danika spun and watched as Kit curled into a ball and Aishin's figure froze, and he backed away slowly, and said gently in a stranger's deep voice, "It is ok child. You are ok. This game is incredibly detailed, but it is just a story." 

At her back, the mountain guardian said mournfully, "I do not know."

Danika wanted to agree with the big cat, she had no idea what was wrong with Kit, or what to do at this point.

Aishin's figure looked up at ZipZing and the man said gently in his deep voice, "I will follow your instruction, since it seems that I am unable to either complete my original task or to aid you with this. Dragonheart." He vanished and ZipZing's pebble fell into the snow beside Kit's shaking huddled form. 

Danika spun back to face the mountain guardian, whose body somehow expressed endless sorrow in place of the burning anger that had driven her moments ago. Danika drew in a deep breath and said firmly, "If you don't know, then there is hope."

The big cat raised her paw and lashed out at ZipZing, triggering her evasion. But it wasn't enough, and although she avoided the claws, the pad of the great cat's paw smacked into her and sent her spinning through the air until she smacked into a snowbank. "Foolish little dragon!" snarled the snow leopard. "You just sent away your only party member with tracking skills and you dare to offer the idea of hope?"

Danika lay in the snow bank and suddenly felt very hopeful indeed. The big cat's argument indicated that Aishin's character had been successfully logged out, and that with the right skills, there actually was some hope of rescuing the snow leopard kitten. She popped out of the snow and asked excitedly, "What do you know of the thieves, were they players or NPCs? And how long ago was he taken, and does he have any special markings?"

The mountain guardian blinked back at her, and then turned her gaze toward Kit's trembling form. Danika followed her gaze with a helpless feeling. The big cat huffed and turned her back to them. "Take this one and leave this place. There is nothing you can do here," she growled. Then she stalked away, leaving surprisingly light footprints given her size and enormous furry feet, as she climbed higher up the slope and vanished around a curve in the landscape.

Danika approached Kit, but didn't dare touch her. After a moment she said, "The mountain guardian has gone. We should go back down the mountain."

Kit didn't respond, and Danika landed in the snow beside her and dug with ZipZing's little claws until she reached her pebble. She picked it up and carried it over to Kit and touched her with the little stone. Kit shuddered again but didn't respond. "Say dragonheart and you'll be inside and I can carry you," she quoted loosely, "away from the long teeth, short temper, wide feet, and back to water." 

Kit's trembling eased, and after a moment she whispered, "dragonheart."