There's just no telling how far I'll go...

[noimpulsecontrol]

It had been a long flight out east for the family, and Della had been in the extreme minority when it came to the vote of "should she and Launchpad split flying time?"... Sure, Della'd accepted Launchpad as someone with promise as a pilot. He really tried, and he could crash like nobody else. If he had to fly the Cloudslayer sometimes, she could live with that.

But he didn't have to fly when she was right there!

So once they'd landed in China, Della had needed some time to cool off from the stress of it all. And then, well, a series of distracting finds and interesting incidents had left her absolutely lost, and all those pictures she'd taken with her cellphone had drained the battery dry.

That left her with one option: Find the hangar where they'd landed and wait around there. The only problem? Well...

"Who made this map? I know I've passed this pond, like, four times already!"

Comments

[kawkaw]

He bit back a sigh as he followed her, his stride and height making it easier to catch up.

"So you're a visitor here, I take it."

[noimpulsecontrol]

Della grinned, nodding. "Heh, yeah. My uncle wanted my boys to see more of China than just Macaw. I guess they were there last year?" She felt a pang of regret that she'd missed that, as she did whenever she thought of adventures she'd missed with her children.

[kawkaw]

"I see...Though it is a bit of a surprise that he'd bring your family to such a remote part of China. This area isn't exactly known for any tourist spots."

[noimpulsecontrol]

Della's smile grew at that. "Oh, we're not regular tourists. Not my family. We're more... Adventurers-slash-treasure hunters-slash-explorers."

[kawkaw]

That gets a curious raise of the brow. "Oh? So what reason would a family like that decide to come here?"

He had an idea, of course. There were some treasures here that actually many people in China weren't aware of. But he wasn't going to mention it to her if she didn't know about them.

[noimpulsecontrol]

"Oh, my uncle always has his eye on something with these trips."

But like him, she wasn't about to give much away. Word spread fast, and they didn't need extra competition, as fun as that sounded, she had to admit.

"By the way, the name's Della."

[kawkaw]

He'll take that for now, but made a note to keep an eye on this family.

As she introduced herself, he then bowed. "Huang Jien," he said. "It's nice to meet you."

[noimpulsecontrol]

"Nice to meet you, too, Jien!" Della said, and hey, at least she got that much right today...?

[kawkaw]

He nodded, satisfied, and they continued on their way, following the path that eventually leads to a forest that was so thick that the sun could hardly filter through the trees.

There also seemed to be something heavy surrounding the forest, a feeling that was thick and almost unnatural. Jien hung back for a moment, glancing at Della.

"Are you sure you want to pass through here?" he asked. While he was more familiar with what lay in the forest, he always preferred to exercise caution.

[noimpulsecontrol]

While the strange appearance of the forest gave Crane reason to be cautious, it just excited Della. She looked dead ahead, clearly eager to get going.

"Yeah, sure I do. This place looks like an adventure."

[kawkaw]

He glanced at her for a moment, then pulled his rice hat down a bit to hide how he rolled his eyes.

Americans.

"All right," he finally said after a moment. "We better get going then."