The fairy dragon completed its latest quest and collected the reward with a feeling of satisfaction. Its new house could start being built at last. Finally its kitten would have a warm bed instead of having to curl up on the tree branch that had been its first home in "Living Jade Empire".

The fairy dragon's wings sparkled as it darted back through the treetops of the little fairy town that had recently been converted to another starting town for beginning fairies and half fairies. The fairy dragon had started the game in the fairy capital city, L'Arc En Ciel, but had switched home locations happily when a smaller, quieter town had been offered.

Not that the rainbow city of the fairies wasn't spectacular and interesting, but it was always bustling with activity. And like the fairies in tales and legends, the half pixie half human fairies weren't always nice. The fairy dragon had sort of been expecting fairies in "Living Jade Empire" to be the sweet sort from childhood cartoons, but real fairies were mischievous and sometimes actually malicious.

The fairy dragon hummed as it flew through the small peaceful mixed fairy town. Some people didn't like the restrictive non-combative rules the town of Windbur maintained, but the fairy dragon thought that it was the perfect place to live quietly and raise a kitten.

The fairy dragon settled down on the wide branch that had been its home up till now and pulled a small bowl of warm milk out of its inventory and set it beside the warm soft ball of fur that appeared to be sleeping soundly. A small pointed ear twitched, and the kitten casually stretched and yawned. The fairy dragon reached out and scratched its chin with a small claw. The kitten blinked and purred.

After a moment the kitten b.u.t.ted the fairy dragon's small clawed hand out of the way and stalked over to the bowl of milk. It lapped it up with its little pink tongue, and when it was finished, it sharpened its claws on the branch. A mild gust of wind s.h.i.+vered the branches overhead, and The fairy dragon said, "Our house is going to be so nice. I can't wait."

The kitten responded with a satisfied sounding, "mew."

"You're so much better than a human," Hearthdragon said smugly. ZipZing doesn't realize how much trouble her familiar is going to be.

--

The luck dragon dashed through the doorway with a rhythmic sound created by the thumps of its little dragon paw pads against the polished wood. The elf looked up and snapped, "No pets!"

"I'm not a pet," the young luck dragon replied. It shook its fur into place and sat up on its hind paws, and curled its tail neatly around its feet. "I'm a dragon," the luck dragon declared.

The elf pointed behind the half dragon and asked, "And what's that then?"

The luck dragon looked over its shoulder and suggested, "Really cute?" A little black lab puppy had followed it through the door. "But it's not mine. It would be really awkward to have a pet that can't fly."

The puppy looked at the luck dragon with big hopeful eyes.

The luck dragon sweated nervously and said, "I really have enough pets at home already, I don't need another puppy."

The elf rolled its eyes and said, "Whatever, just make your purchase already and go, so that your future pet will get out of my shop."

The luck dragon wanted to argue that it was serious about not keeping the puppy, but decided that it would be faster to just buy the spell components it needed and leave.

The luck dragon couldn't help but look back after it left the shop, and saw that the little black puppy had followed it out into the street. The luck dragon shook its head and told itself firmly, "I do not need another puppy!"

The luck dragon had just launched itself into the air when the carriage came around the corner at high speed. The puppy darted in front of the carriage toward the luck dragon. "No!" yelled the luck dragon.

The luck dragon darted down and s.n.a.t.c.hed up the puppy in its short foreclaws. The carriage rattled past below them. The puppy wriggled happily and tried to lick the luck dragon's face.

The luck dragon couldn't help telling the puppy, "You're so cute, and so dangerous."

"Thief!" shouted a small child from the pavement.

Someone grabbed the child and said hurriedly, "Don't annoy dragons Nan."

The luck dragon swooped down to the pavement in front of the child and asked, "What's its name?"

"Kitty!" Nan declared.

The luck dragon looked down at the puppy who wriggled harder at the sound of its name. After a moment the luck dragon held out the little black lab and said, "Take good care of Kitty Nan, don't let her run out into the road anymore."

"Are you a puppy angel?" Nan asked boldly. "You look like a really s.h.i.+ny golden puppy!"

"I'm sorry dragon, she's just a child," the adult who clutched Nan's shoulders said nervously.

The luck dragon nodded and told Nan seriously, "Yes, I'm a puppy angel. Half puppy and half celestial." The luck dragon launched itself back into the air and flew away quickly. It wasn't quite a lie, luck dragons were half dog and the Jade Emperor said that dragons were celestial beings after all.

"I knew it!" Nan squealed. She hugged kitty and waved goodbye until EmbersDragon was out of sight.

--

The little fish swam toward the waterfall again, and leapt with all its might. It hit the water stream about half of the way up the fall this time, and the water pushed it back down again.

The little fish circled around the pool of water, and thought back on the first quests it had done on its Dragon path. Looking back on it now, the first few challenges had been easy. Swim upstream. Swim up the rapids. Jump the stairs formed by the steeper rapids higher up the mountain.

Each task had been nearly impossibly difficult at the beginning, but the little fish with the optimistic name of Dreamheart Dragon had persevered. At the beginning it had had to edge its way upstream in the shallows, struggling mightily whenever some large obstacle forced it out into the stronger currents in the center. But over time it had gradually grown larger and stronger.

The little fish logged into "Living Jade Empire" each night after all the mundane tasks that living required of an ordinary human being had been completed. The fish hadn't been a fish in its first incarnation in the game, because at that time it had been stuck playing in its own default human form. It hadn't minded too much though, the game had been fun, and it had enjoyed a number of adventures before the Christmas Goblin Quest had been released.

The little fish wasn't normally the sort of player who enjoyed running around slaughtering monsters, but the quest had given an extra point of Karma for every goblin killed, and since the little fish's goal had always been to play a 1000 Karma dragon character, it had joined in the great expedition to destroy the goblin fortress… and in the end had died.

The little fish had actually had enough Karma saved up at that point to have resurrected in its human form and continued on, but when the Twin G.o.ddesses of memory had appeared they had asked, "Do you have any regrets to leave behind with this life?"

The fish had answered, "My only regret is that I'm still not a dragon."

The immortal G.o.ddess had asked, "Will you give up your chance at immortality to seek the path of the dragon?"

The fish had replied, "Of course I would?"

And the mortal G.o.ddess had asked, "Will you give up your chance at mortal happiness to seek the path of the dragon?"

The fish had hesitated for a moment, perhaps because happiness sounded more reasonable or more precious than immortality, but had answered firmly, "I will."

The twin G.o.ddesses had asked together, "Will you give up everything for the smallest of chances on the path of the dragon?"

"I will," the fish had declared, and then the G.o.ddesses crimson fire had enveloped it, and instead of painfully burning, it had warmly dissolved Dreamheart Dragon's boring human form.

The flames had asked, "What is your name?"

"Dreamheart Dragon," the fish had answered as usual, and then it had been reborn as a tiny fish in a dangerous waterway.

The fish knew the legends of course, even before its Dragon path began providing quests, it could guess what the final goal would be. If a fish could climb high enough, it could pa.s.s through the dragon gate and be reborn as a dragon. The fish circled the pool at the base of the waterfall again.

It was determined to grasp the smallest chance that the Twin G.o.ddesses had given it. It was patient. It was determined. It would eat more and grow larger. And then it would try to climb above the waterfall again.

--

The fox twitched its tails and narrowed its bright eyes as it closed the book with long delicate fingers. It patted the dragon embossed cover and said as usual, "Thanks for the chapter, I'm enjoying this story."