Chapter 397: 40: Airship Down

The lightning sparked back into existence across the metallic surface of the ship as ShinZing approached, and he shouted at the strange plant that he wore. This time, Danika could see the leaves multiply and wrap around him. He smacked into the ship half a meter from the hole he'd made before, but before he could move, Hikaru darted away from him.

Danika held her breath, but the little firefly wasn't zapped before it zipped into the hole, because ShinZing reacted far faster than Danika could have. He threw his sword out to meet the arc of lightning that bent toward the firefly. The metal sparkled like a wire fed welding gun as the sword fell.

Danika was blinded for a moment, and when her vision cleared, the pixie was gone. She trusted that he had teleported to the firefly inside the ship, and quickly returned the mirror to her storage ring. She removed a seed from her inventory, and shot it toward the hole with a wind slash buffed by accurate swing.

She got lucky, or the hole was a bit bigger than it seemed from this distance, and the seed reached its destination. She sent her growth spell zinging after it on a light cantrip. It wouldn't be as strong as the rest of the airship's skin, but she thought maybe it would prevent the air already inside from just jetting out as the cat expanded.

She pulled the mirror back out, and a moment later ShinZing reappeared beside her and began gulping down a health potion. He obviously hadn't fully healed from his first teleport, because his health was just a speck. His sword returned to him a minute later.

They hovered in the sky while nothing happened for a worrisome amount of time. Suddenly, with a loud noise that startled her despite her expectation, the ship in front of them exploded in a great puff of pale white cloud. The white cloud condensed back into a large, but recognizable form as the pieces of the ship began to fall out of the sky.

The cloud cat continued to shrink as it romped joyfully through the air toward them. "I did it! I exploded the ship! We will be rich enough!" it exclaimed joyously.

"Rich enough?" Danika asked, as a small mouse clutching a paper airplane, and a firefly both popped out of the pebble that contained her garden.

Dame Mouse drifted downward, and the cat continued to shrink while circling lower to catch her. "Excellently done my friend!" the mouse shouted.

"Now you can afford to be very merciful for a long time," the cloud cat purred with satisfaction. Even with their small communication barrier, the two strange friends were obviously in harmony with each other.

A parachute popped out of one of the largest pieces of debris and slowed the cup shaped object's fall before it reached the treetops below. The cat's eyes seemed to glitter as he followed it with his gaze.

"I don't think you need to blow that piece up," Danika said firmly in cat. "I think you've done your job well enough."

--

Swaths of expensive looking silky fabric were tangled and torn in the trees around the crashed compartment.

The airship's pilot wasn't the Smith, but he didn't reveal which group had crafted the airship when the members of Endless Song crowded around to hear the resolution of the bet. The promised coin had actually been loaded inside the ship, and was handed over immediately.

The dwarf shook his head, again, in disbelief. "You really did it," he repeated. "I was sure we had it this time."

Danika zipped forward and told him encouragingly, "If it helps, I don't think a regular storm could do that!"

"There are no regular storms in this game," the dwarf muttered with a glance at the cloud cat.

Danika didn't know what else to say, so she retreated. ShinZing grinned at her and reached out to pat her shoulder.

Dame Mouse strode forward and announced, "Good dwarf, the notorious fairy dragon has wrested victory from even the gods of this world! If she thinks your ship sturdy enough, you can have the confidence to rebuild."

Danika thought that she could argue with each of those statements, but the dwarf seemed quite cheered by the mouse's words, so she didn't. He managed to send out at least six messenger animals before they were out of sight, and bustled around the wreckage busily.

--

They got a decent amount of Karma from the quest, but all of the coin went into the guild fund. Endless Song, like its Captain, seemed to be perpetually short on funds. Danika hoped that the entertainment venue would at least start bringing in enough for its own maintenance. She could kind of understand why MatchlessMinion had even been trying to get his sister to contribute.

"Haven't the gods only helped you out so far?" Nao1 asked after they returned to their cozy guild hall tree. At ZipZing's blank look, she added, "I think you can only wrest victory from someone who opposes you."

"Oh, yeah, pretty much!" Danika agreed laughingly.

SilentSky looked at ShinZing and asked a little plaintively, "Do you need me for anything else?"

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"Nope, thanks though," Shinichi said quickly.

"Sleeping," SilentSky stated, and vanished as he logged off.

"Dinner for me!" Saaki announced and logged off too.

ShinZing turned toward ZipZing and asked a little diffidently, "Would you mind coming down now, and making something to eat?"

"I don't mind!" Danika insisted quickly.

"Make extra," Nao1 commanded.

"Hey," ShinZing objected.

"Buy the pool's next replacement filter," Danika countered.

"Sure," Nao1 agreed without hesitation.

"Do you know how much it costs?" ShinZing asked with amusement.

"Do you?" Nao1 asked crossly, and then coughed.

"It's not that bad," Danika said quickly. "Probably less than you spend on meals out all week."

"Ouch, dinner better be awesome," Nao1 muttered.

"Wasn't lunch?" Shinichi countered dryly.

Danika logged out so that she could get started, instead of hovering there while they argued.

She could hear that Shinichi was still talking to Naoki through the game interface as she started pulling out ingredients in the kitchen a while later. He heard her and told Naoki, "Later."

Danika was startled when he took the things she was holding and knelt to hug her in the middle of the kitchen space for several minutes. "Are you okay?" she questioned a little worriedly.

He snorted and straightened up to grin at her. "Do I cling to you so rarely now that you think I'm not okay just because I want to cuddle you for a minute?"

"But you asked for food," she pointed out.

He sighed and then reached out to ruffle her hair. "Yeah," he agreed. "I guess I'm pretty demanding. Food and cuddles!"

She laughed and hugged him. "Why don't you help me then?" she suggested. "Less cuddly maybe, but more time together?"

He grinned at her and agreed, "Alright. What should I do first?"

Danika grinned back at him. "I thought a shipwreck casserole seemed appropriate, and it should be done in about an hour," she explained. "It will leave me time to make a dessert too, so we just need to wash and slice the vegetables you set on the counter to get it started."

Shinichi laughed and asked, "Seriously?! Is it really from a real recipe?"

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