Aishin suggested, "Since you can use my skills, why don't you try doing it yourself while I talk to Shrubbery?"

"Oh, true, I can do that," Danika agreed a little doubtfully.

Shrubbery said teasingly, "She's afraid to leave you alone with me."

"No I'm not!" Danika protested. "What's the druid's name?"

"Mark Bounds," Shrubbery replied with amusement.

"That's the most normal sounding name ever compared to the NPCs in my vale," Danika said with amazement. "They were all named things related to their path like woodcutter Treebane, smith Ironstone, and hunter Highstrung."

Aishin laughed and asked, "Don't druids deal with boundaries? It's the same."

"I guess so," Danika agreed. She pulled up her skills and swiped to Aishin's skills and then paused and asked, "Target Trace or Whereabouts?"

"Whereabouts," Aishin replied. "It'll ask for a name, and then it'll give you a compass like the party compass. Pay attention to your surroundings when you're following it, and call for help if it seems like you have to cross any dangerous areas, I don't want you to die," he instructed.

"Isn't turnabout fair play?" Danika muttered as she entered Mark Bounds into the skill dialogue box.

Shrubbery suggested thoughtfully, "He was an elf, so if the compass says he's toward elven territory, maybe portalling to the capital would be faster?"

Danika looked at the compass that appeared. "Ugh it is pointing that way I think. Going back to Tamworth makes me nervous, but probably so," she agreed.

"ZipZing," Aishin said softly. Danika looked up at him. "Thank you. I'll catch up as soon as I can, and stay up late if you want."

Danika gazed at him with a puzzled expression. He sounded like he was trying to say something really important, but it wasn't like returning to Tamworth was something he was asking of her since she was the one looking for a druid. "I'll be waiting for your rescue if I get captured then? But it'll probably be fine, we didn't have any trouble when we went there during the goblin event," she replied hopefully.

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"Ok, and I'll bring your pebble with me," he said with amusement.

"Thanks," she said as she exited her garden.

ZipZing sparkled into existence on the busy city street a moment later. A child pointed at her and laughed, but no one else seemed to take any particular notice. Danika looked around the busy street with surprise, it had been nearly empty when she'd placed the little pebble inconspicuously near the curb.

She activated her new Analyze Target passive skill and the labels on the passersby revealed that most of the crowd were NPCs. She glanced at the sky and saw that evening was approaching, and then glanced at the people around her again. Many of them were carrying bags or baskets with foodstuffs, and leading children, and after a moment she decided that perhaps this was the evening rush hour.

Danika rose higher into the air and zipped toward the market and the portal daises. The direction indicated on the Whereabouts compass didn't change as she moved around, so her target was probably quite a distance away, and using the portal was probably the best idea. She zipped up to the vine carved portal to Tamworth, took a deep breath, and reached out with one little clawed hand to touch the portal and bring up the dialogue that asked for the 1 Karma fee.

When she appeared in the elven city, she activated her Elven Language skill. With it activated too her energy was slowly, but noticeably dropping, but she thought that being able to shout 'help' in elvish might be worth the cost.

An elf nearby gazed at her with interest and said to it's companion, "N'ataya creature?" The faint word "onna" hummed beneath the translated word creature.

Danika replied hopefully, "I'm a fairy dragon." There was a faint hum beneath the word dragon.

The elf laughed and replied, "Tiny one."

"Yeah," Danika admitted. The elves seemed friendlier when they could kind of understand each other. She zipped into the city, following the direction the Whereabout compass indicated.

The elaborate and classically elven city with it's elegant and organically designed buildings gave way to natural forest after she had followed the compass for a while. Danika zipped higher into the air, and spun slowly, trying to pick out some large landmarks to orient herself with later. Tamworth had some larger trees, but little else that distinguished it from a distance from the forests and fields that surrounded it.

The compass direction was indicating more east than north, so Danika was fairly certain that she wouldn't be crossing the road that they'd followed to the coast on her last visit to elven territory. There were gently rolling forested hills and fields that were backed by distant mountains in almost every direction except north where she knew the ocean bordered the elven territories. A map function would be really useful.

There were paths that had map skills, but even though ZipZing wasn't limited by a path, she could still only work on learning one skill at a time, and she needed the 'Weaving Moonlight' skill to go with her new Shapeshifting skill. She hadn't given up on learning Illusion either. She just needed more time!

She also needed more energy. She deactivated her Elven language skill to conserve energy, and kept an eye on the forest below for edible berries. Fall had come to Living Jade Empire and was edging into winter already. The woodlands were a riot of colors, like the landscape was holding a festival.

Danika got lucky and spotted a blackberry bramble patch not long after beginning her search. She zipped down and began alternately stuffing berries into her mouth and the embroidered pouch that could hold as many as she wanted to spend time picking. She was so focused on the delicious dark berries that she didn't notice the black bear until they were nose to nose.

Her heart leapt into her throat when the bear grunted at her. It's nose wrinkled and it glared. Its dark fur was heavy and glossy and it was plump looking. Danika thought nervously that it was probably stuffing itself with berries and preparing to hibernate.

She zipped upward out of reach, and the bear rocked back onto its hind legs and gazed upward at her with interest. It had a white V of fur on its chest, and its ears seemed large and almost comically round to Danika. The bear watched her intently, but Danika had to admit that she was also staring at it. There didn't seem to be any reason for her to stay and aggravate it, so after a moment she abandoned the rest of the berries and flew onward.

Danika followed the compass to what could only be described as a classic druidic grove. A circle of trees that her Identify Plants skill told her were oak, ash, blackthorn and hawthorn stood around an oddly difficult to look at clearing. The space seemed to waver.