The words were embarra.s.singly sweet, but endearingly simple this time. Or at least, Danika felt like they were simple. It didn't say anything identifiable, like the Zip Zing or the Endless Song worked into the previous songs, but it still called to mind their recent adventures in the game.

The line she liked best was about how a day together from when dawn's colors lit the sky, until the stars rose was a dream to hold. When she told s.h.i.+nichi that he explained a bit shyly, "It's not just us, modern life really makes it hard for anyone to spend time together like that anymore, unless they can coordinate their vacations."

Danika thought about it briefly and then objected, "I don't think it's just modern life, unless by modern you mean since people took up agriculture?"

He laughed, and they talked until he regretfully admitted "I have to sleep or I'll be dead tomorrow. Might not have time to play much. I envy your new a.s.sistant."

"It is pretty cool," she agreed laughingly. Then they said their goodnights.

--

The next day after work Danika logged in to discover Song Solvin waiting for her like a messenger animal. The little NPC told her, "Yakim wishes to speak to you as soon as possible about the quest he submitted. If now is convenient I'll take you to him."

"OK," Danika agreed hopefully. It seemed that the player hadn't rejected the site immediately. She gasped when the Sittamin girl reached out and grabbed her, and then launched herself into the air. "I can fly on my own," she protested as the girl's green wings flashed their red under-feathers as they beat the air on either side.

"I will be faster," the NPC replied simply.

They flew into a puffy cloud a moment later and when the fog cleared they were no longer above the human capital, but above the farm site in the northern plains. "Wow!" Danika exclaimed. "Is that a skill? Can I learn it?"

The little half parrot answered, "I don't know, it is a skill I have to facilitate my duties as your guild representative."

"Can you use it whenever we ask?" Danika asked hopefully. Song Solvin shook her head. "Oh," Danika said with disappointment.

When they landed beside Yakim where he stood fis.h.i.+ng at the river bank, he turned to glare at them grumpily. Danika gulped, but flew a bit closer and said, "Our guild representative said that you wish to speak to me?"

He frowned at her, and then nodded. "What's the catch?" he demanded.

"Er? What? Are you asking what you can catch here?" Danika asked a bit blankly.

He seemed impatient, when he clarified, "No, I mean your representative tells me that this place will cost me a small fraction of anything that I was able to find, the river seems excellent. She even gave me those snail eggs," he stopped and pointed to a small wicker shelter that Danika hadn't noticed. It sheltered the now wilted leaves that the eggs had been laid on. He continued, "And a goblin already came by to ask how long it might be until I had giant snails for sale?"

"Oh, I'm sorry I don't have any idea how long it will take them to hatch or reach maturity," Danika apologized quickly.

He gave her a look, and then sighed and asked simply, "What's the bad part about this place?"

"Er, the goblins maybe?" Danika said a little nervously. "I mean, the ones I spoke to seemed quite reasonable, but… we are near the new town being built where the goblin fortress was destroyed."

"Oh, I see," he said thoughtfully. "Well, the obvious solution is to get myself a goblin wife then. Intermarrying with the locals is always the fastest way to truly end hostilities after a war."

Danika blinked at him. "Um, okay?" she agreed uncertainly.

He grinned and declared, "If that's all there is, I'll take it! And you guys 'Endless Song' or whatever will get a great rating from me."

"You won't mind having a goblin wife?" Danika asked a little doubtfully.

"Because of their ugly little faces, you mean?" Yakim asked challengingly.

"Some of them are kind of cute," Danika objected. "They're just not um…"

"They're not elves, with an automatic 25 percent 'beautification'," he said dryly. He shook his head and looked out across the river. But then he looked back at her and said wryly, "I admit, I'm just as brainwashed about what makes a woman pretty as the next guy, but this game is pretty cool. You can buy a solution for that."

"You're going to buy your wife appearance modifications?" Danika asked.

He shook his head, but then he grinned at her. "Silly kid," he scolded. "You shouldn't try to change people. I'll just buy myself a pair of rose colored gla.s.ses! They're not cheap, but their enchantment that boosts or reduces an avatar's beauty based on your relations.h.i.+p with them is something I wish I could carry out into the real world."

"Oh, so you just need to have a good relations.h.i.+p with your wife," Danika commented.

"Yup, which will be easy since you have to build a good relations.h.i.+p to get an NPC to marry you anyway," he agreed.

Danika hadn't a.s.sumed that he meant an NPC wife, and she wondered if the gla.s.ses functioned better on NPCs than players. It would be harder to quantify the quality of a relations.h.i.+p between players.

They finalized the transfer and completed the quest without any difficultly. And Song Solvin even carried ZipZing back to their temporary guild hall.

--

The next day pa.s.sed by in a bit of a blur. Not only was Danika working extra hours but she spent every bit of her free time on collecting the last few animal essences she needed. They included such fantastical creatures as a Hartebeest, a Sifaka, and even an adorable little Northern Glider. Her guildmates had helped when they could. Even Ryullusion gifted her the talon of a rare owl that she hadn't collected from already.

s.h.i.+nichi was extra busy too, finis.h.i.+ng up this and that with his band mates before they had their weekend off, and then left for their tour.

Danika triumphantly collected the last items she needed late Thursday night. She carefully stored the hairs from the Hairy Frog.

She hadn't quite believed the traveling merchant even though he'd always proven correct. The toenails she'd collected from a player who had a Frogmin character seemed so ordinary compared to the hairs of the strange frog species that actually existed somewhere.

She was tempted to rush off to find the Druid and finish the quest right away, but another yawn warned her that she should sleep in a way that her thrice dismissed alarm hadn't been able to.