"Dad! He's like, eight!"

"Eight and a half, horsey!"

"Don't call me that!"

Indiana Jones winced as he thumbed through his bills of Chinese cash, coming up to the correct amount for the car dealer standing in front of him, "That's enough, you two."

"Dad!" Anna stomped a hoof, having landed right next to him to save her energy on flying and focus it on arguing, "You like- I'm like sixteen Dad! And you're letting this eight year old tag along!?"

"...You're actually fifteen..." Indiana frowned as he handed over the cash, taking the keys to a new vehicle in return.

"Did you give him four years of training with a gun and whip? Does he even know how to shoot!?" Anna fumed, staring up at her father, her eyebrows set and teeth grinding.

"I know kung fu!" Short Round mimed some weak slaps with his arms.

Indiana scratched the back of his head as he tossed the keys towards Short Round, "Anna, you gotta understand he's not my daughter."

Short Round flourished his nose as he walked past them towards the beige car sitting on the side of the road, "That's cause I'm a boy, Doctah Jones."

"So??? Shouldn't I deserve better!?" Anna shouted, ignoring Short Round.

Indiana gestured for Wu Han to get into the front seat, the latter man wisely ignoring the drama and pretending to look elsewhere as he did so, as Indiana got into the back, "You have a good, safe home to get back to. You have an education that I paid for. Short Round is much better off with me than where I found him."

Short Round found the ignition for the second hand car, before placing the keys inside and putting his feet up on the seat, "I no get shot all the time back in orphanage, Doctah Jones. Also can I get an education too Doctah Jones?"

"Yeah, you were just begging in the ditches and pickpocketing for a living instead," Indiana as he climbed into the back seat, gesturing for Anna to follow, "And if we pull this off you can earn your education."

Tying a knot on a pair of twine connected to two wooden blocks on the ends of his shoes, Short Round shrugged, "Okey dokey."

Wu Han leaned over the front seat as Anna slid into the back, "Doctor Jones. I've done some of that preliminary research you wired ahead about," he reached into a briefcase, holding out a stack of papers, "Copied them myself."

"Thanks," Indiana said, trying to take his eyes off of the death glare his daughter was giving him from the seat beside him, "We'll check into the hotel first and get dinner somewhere. We'll try and stay up as long as possible before getting some shuteye. We've had a long flight."

At least Anna could agree on that. The food they'd had on the airplane tasted strange, and hadn't been very filling either way. Sleeping also seemed like a good idea... her mind wandered to the stories her father told her, of adventure, ancient tombs, treasures beyond understanding... She could stand the unfairness of her situation if she could see a few wondrous places. Besides, there would be plenty of travelling, plenty of time to spend with her father. She took a breath as the automobile sped down the streets, sparing a moment of surprise that her father was allowing Short Round to pilot the car.

Looking over to her father, whose nose was in the research papers, she pointed towards Short Round. Her voice was more pleasant than her simmering anger before as she asked, "Hey, Dad. If he's allowed to drive, can I try driving when we get home?"

Indiana blinked as he was talked to, looking over to Anna with confusion, "Huh?"

"Can I learn to drive when we get home?" Anna repeated bluntly.

"Uh, sure," He dismissed looking back to the paper.

Short Round blasted the horn as the car came to a sudden stop at an intersection, a cart slowly rattling its way in front of him. Anna scratched at her winter coat as it chafed with the straps of her backpacks, "So... what's the plan, Dad?"

Indiana remained silent, papers shuffling as he exchanged one for another in front of him. Annoyance bubbled up in Anna as she reached over and tapped him on the side, "Dad?"

"What?" Indiana sighed as he answered, not taking his eyes off the paper.

"What's the plan!?" Anna raised her forehooves into a shrug as she asked.

"I already said," Indiana dismissed again with a shake of his head, exchanging papers again.

Anna felt the steam rising as she let her forelegs fall to the seat with an exaggerated slap, "Not that! About the whole, y'know, ashes thing!"

Indiana waved a hand in a shooing motion, "Not now. Can't you see I'm busy?"

Anna opened her mouth to answer, but shut it and folded her forehooves, looking away from her father as she stared out the window at the passing city streets around her. Still, she couldn't focus on taking in the details and the sights, her heart beating faster as her muscles twitched with rage. Maybe she should've stayed and gone with Marcus, at least the pleasant old man would talk to her when she was feeling lonely. She'd never seen this dimension of her own father, and she had to say that she didn't like it all that much.

The first voice to break the painful silence was Wu Han's, accompanied by a pointed finger towards a nearby street corner, "Pull up here, Mr. Round. There is good food here. Expensive but good service, and I know Mr. Jones will want to shout us a good meal for good fortune on our quest!"

Indiana chuckled as there was another page shuffle from his direction. Anna, willing her ears to rotate away from the two men and back to its defiantly flattened position on top of her head, took a heated breath as she squeezed herself harder against the door, panning her eyes to the place that Wu Han had been pointing. A cloth shade covered the sidewalk in front of the restaurant, which featured a glass facade and a wooden panelled interior. It seemed to be mildly busy, considering the time of day, with people sitting at most of the tables inside. A sign outside was written in Chinese, but subtitled in English: "NAN YANG"

The car came to a stop near the restaurant, the engine going silent as Short Round retrieved the keys from the ignition. Anna's ear flicked as she could almost feel Indiana finally take his eyes off his work and look at her, only for the door on his side to open as everyone got out of the car. With a sigh, she did so as well, pushing off with her hind legs into flight as she prepared to take off her backpack and throw it into the car behind her.

"No do that, Horsey," Short Round's voice came from her right, making her already sour frown deepen, "It get stolen like that!"

"Don't. Call. Me. That," Anna growled as she readjusted the strap on her shoulder.

Indiana walked around the hood of the car as Wu Han walked off towards the restaurant. To Anna's token relief, poked Short Round in the shoulder, "Don't call her that. Her name's Anna."

"But that we she is," Short Round held out a hand towards Anna, before the older man grabbed him by the other arm and dragged him along.

Grumbling softly to herself, Anna leaned forward, flapping her wings to brush by the two of them to the middle of the group. As they reached the restaurant, she was immersed in the sounds of babbled Chinese conversations, the sounds of cooking from an open window into the kitchen, and the smells of foreign foods and the faint must of mold. Wu Han gave her a glance as she hovered in place in the throughcourse of the restaurant, before sitting down at a table nearby with enough spare seats for the four of them.

Indiana Jones let Short Round take the far seat as he sat at the close one, across from Anna. Taking off his fedora and placing it on the table, he winced, "Hey. There a bathroom here?"

Wu Han nodded, pointing towards a door on the opposite end of the eating area.

With a thankful nod, Indiana stood up again and walked off towards the bathroom. Leaving the three of them as a waiter came over and gave them their menus, stalking off towards another table shortly after. Anna watched him as he went, humming to herself as she noted how many European-style clothes the people of Shanghai wore.. and ignoring all the stares she was attracting, "I thought folks here would be wearing more, like, Chinese stuff."

Wu Han smiled and shook his head, "In the big cities like Shanghai, not much traditional culture remains. I fear one day every man on the street will speak English and mutter in broken Mandarin."

Anna looked down at the menu in front of her, trying to distract herself from her heated thoughts as they encroached back on the edges of her mind. Most of the menu was written in Chinese, and she could only make out bits and pieces from her studies. She was about to look up towards Wu Han to inquire about what the menu meant when Short Round's voice interrupted her thoughts again, his whining voice causing her to immediately lock onto him with a glare.

The content of his speech, however, gave her pause, "Sorry for calling you Horsey, Anna. That was mean," Short Round said, his eyes practically on level with hers across the table despite the age difference.

Anna folded her forelegs, maintaining her frown, "Sure, yeah. Apology accepted or whatever."

Short Round paused for a moment before rubbing his nose and pressing onwards, "No-no. I sorry, I mean it very much. You look strange so I call you first thing I know, thought it would be cool nickname. I no mean it, okie dokie? You Doctah Jones's daughter, you are friend of mine. Got it?" the kid stuck his hand out across the table towards her.

Anna leaned her head to the side to see his palm, watching for a blotch of ink or some sort of trick. Finding nothing, she relented and shook his hand, "Thanks... for being honest, that is."

Withdrawing his hand, Short Round nodded before leaning an elbow on the table, "So, what you do for fun?"

"I like reading," Anna leaned back in her seat, "Flying, birdwatching..."

"How high you fly?" Short Round leaned forward slightly, "Can you lift me?"

"I've flown above the clouds before. They float around sixteen... twenty thousand feet. It gets hard to breathe higher than that," Anna looked the kid up and down and hummed, "I could probably carry you, since you're light."

"Cool! We gotta try! Soon!" Short Round was almost standing on his chair from the excitement, but was broken up suddenly by the return of Indiana Jones.

Anna's anger recalled from the depths of her heart as she suddenly remembered she was mad, her eyes sharply watched Indiana as he walked back from the bathroom and took his seat again. Sighing, he took the menu and said, "Starving. You guys thought of anything yet?"

"I always get the pork here," Wu Han said in his usual calm, collected voice as he placed his menu back on the table.

"Wonton and egg prawn!" Short Round exclaimed as he looked up to Indiana, almost in search of approval.

Indiana's eyes went to Anna next over the top of his menu, prompting her to finally consider her meal again. Shrugging, she said, "Can't read the menu."

Wu Han's arm crossed in front of Anna's vision as he began to point at the various menu items, speaking their names out loud. With a muted sigh, she listened as he listed off the foreign foods. The closest she'd come to Chinese cuisine were vague memories of noodles in Chicago, as there wasn't very many interesting non-American eateries in Bedford. They also, unfortunately, all majorly included meats of some kind. Over the years, they'd found she could eat bits and pieces of meats here and there, but too much made her nauseous (the small amounts she did eat weren't very appetizing anyway).

Eventually, she decided, "Guess I'll try the veggie noodles?"

"Pretty much the only thing on here you can eat," Indiana mumbled as he lowered his own menu, declaring, "I'll try the bao and some of that pork."

A quick visit from the waiter later to collect their orders, and the menus were ferried away as they were left alone to talk. Instantly, Indiana took the opportunity to lean forward with a grin towards Wu Han, "Alright. You got some good stuff here. It's not in Peking anymore?"

Anna leaned forward slightly as well, ears perking as she heard word of the quest ahead of them. Her eyes diverted to Wu Han as he responded, "Stolen in 1905, yes. Makes sense. Lao Che wouldn't hire an archaeologist to steal from a palace."

Short Round shook his head, "Lao Che do all kinds of crazy things. Wouldn't surprise me."

Indiana took one of the research papers from his jacket pocket, "He might be surprised at what places I can get myself into. Anyway, I think we'll do some follow-up in the library. See if we can't find where the thieves took it."

"We may find luck in the old newspapers,. A week or two, maybe," Wu Han nodded.

Anna's ears flopped to her skull, "The... library? A week or two?"

Indiana chuckled as he rapped his fingers against the table, "Isn't all whipcracking and shooting, Anna. You think I became a doctorate of archaeology just to never use any of the knowledge and go and cowboy around all the time?"

Anna slid back from the table, having used her forehooves to lean forward, head flopping back onto the seat back of the chair, "...Guess not."

The men's voices became distant mumbles as Anna sat. The exhaustion of the long flight, the repeated snubbing she'd experienced from her father, being called names, being in a far away place, and facing over a month more of it... it instilled her with a feeling of impending desperation and hopelessness that she feared. Her mind shrunk away and dreaded the fact that her fears of destitution and boredom during this excursion would all turn out to be true.

"Toughen up, Anna. You didn't run away from home just to come here and mope," she thought as she leaned forward onto the table, shutting her eyes. A voice responded from the back of her head, shouting that her self-comfort was unhelpful at best.

A hand patted her on the back, and she opened her eyes to see the Wu Han with his hand on her back and a waiter standing over them with her meal. She took deep whiffs of the aromatic food as the deep plate of steamy, weird-smelling noodles clattered in front of her. Greens, yellows, oranges, and light brown noodles filled the bowl, along with a pair of chopsticks. She looked up to the waiter and opened her mouth to complain, but her father's voice interrupted her, "Xiānshēng, tā xūyào yī bǎ chāzi."

Anna recognized the word 'Fork' somewhere in the foreign soup. On many of her previous experiences, Anna found that she struggled to use chopsticks with her hooves, whatever force she used to manipulate tools usually being unable to quite figure out how to use the sticks like humans did.

The waiter clucked his tongue as he stepped back, shaking his head as he turned around and stalked off, muttering something only Anna could hear, "Měiguó rén..."

Eventually, the waiter returned with Western silverware, finally allowing Anna to dig in after stewing in her hunger for a few minutes. The food was good and very little conversation was shared as they ate. Even at home, Indy wasn't one to talk all too much while eating. It seemed neither of the Chinese members of the table were interested in doing so either. The only real interaction were a couple of questions thrown Wu Han's way as Indy flipped through his research document.

"Where are you staying?" Wu Han asked.

"Cathay," Indiana said, not looking up from his books and prodding the last of his pork with his chopsticks, "You should stay with us."

"I am living in a friend's home just outside the British settlement," Wu Han responded, pushing back his plate as he finished off, picking up a napkin to clean up his face.

Indiana finally looked up, eyes fixing on Wu Han as he leaned closely and lowered his voice, "All likelihood we're being tailed. We should stay in the same building, slightly safer to be together than be picked off alone," he whispered, though Anna's ears picking up his words past the noise.

Wu Han eventually seemed to cede to the wisdom of the idea, "Can we go to my house, then? Pick up some things before we go to the hotel?"

"Sure," Indiana said, leaning back and quickly finishing off the last of his meal.

Anna took the sign to do the same as the waiter was quickly summoned for the bill, which was paid by her father. Her energy was rapidly dwindling as they made their way back to their car, but she was urged to stay awake until they reached the hotel. The closer they could get to sleeping on time, the better off they were the coming days. As they trundled off towards the borders of the International Settlement, Anna popped open her watch, reading the time as 2PM.

Her brain failed to register fully most of what happened for the rest of the trip as she simply fought to stay awake. After leaving the bounds of the British settlement, their car wove through tight alleyways, flanked by more traditional architecture and older buildings. Eventually, they stopped somewhere, with Wu Han and Indy getting out to walk to a house to get something.

She was shaken violently by Indiana's hand, reached in through the window. When she finally turned her half-lidded eyes up towards her father, he said, "Watch out for anyone trying to come to the car."

However, when she just muttered a barely audible reply and rubbed her eyes, it seemed her father changed his mind and decided to remain by the car, leaning against its boot while Wu Han carried out a few bags of luggage on his own. Finally, they had the car turned around and heading back towards the International Settlement, an hour later. Anna didn't get to appreciate the journey back, however, as before she knew it she was once again shaken awake as they arrived.

She managed to drag herself into the lobby, even Indiana showing signs of exhaustion as he reached the desk and called in their reservation for three rooms. She was informed that they would be staying in connected rooms, while Wu Han had his own across the hall.

When they finally arrived, Anna was begrudgingly convinced to take a quick shower before finally going to sleep. As she made a beeline for the bathroom, she heard Short Round's voice from behind her, "This what American houses like?"

"No, Shorty," Indiana muttered, unpacking his suitcase. The rest of the conversation was cut off as Anna slammed the door shut behind her and opened the shower faucets.

Anna, fresh from the shower, hung up her towel on a rack beside the bathroom door as she re-entered the hotel room proper. She was practically already falling asleep on her hooves, and the satin sheets of the luxurious hotel room bed reached their cloth tendrils out towards her as she lazily flapped her wings to hop up over the side of the mattress. Before she could shimmy beneath the covers, though, a knock came from the door, followed by the deep voice of her father.

"Hey, Anna. Can I come in for a second?" Indiana's voice called from the other side of the door.

Anna rubbed her eyes, not wanting to even bother walking to the door and back, "Dad. I'm so tired that I'm barely functional."

"Right..." Indiana's voice came back through the door, "...Uh. Anna, I just wanted to say I'm sorry. I didn't treat you very nicely today, I'm just under a lot of stress."

"Ugh," Anna quietly moaned as she flopped backwards onto the pillows, pausing only to remove the topmost pillow so that it didn't crick her neck. Raising her voice, she responded, "Sure, Dad. Whatever. Apology accepted, can you leave me alone now?"

The subtle sound of the door creaking as, she assumed, her father stopped leaning on it followed by footsteps leading away told her all she needed to know. Shuffling against the sheets, she pulled the blanket over herself and fell asleep almost instantly.

The public library of Shanghai, while nothing to sneeze at, also wasn't that special to Anna. Generally, she'd be okay with finding a few books and reading, but almost every single interesting-looking book in the library was written in Chinese. Things in the imported sections, written in English mostly, were all utilitarian books. Textbooks, law journals, scientific manuals, etcetera. Nothing she was even vaguely interested. She couldn't even continue her recounting of her father's adventures in Marrakesh without her typewriter or stationery, which were counted as too heavy and bulky for the light packing they'd done.

At first, she'd tried sitting at the table where Indiana and Wu Han were conducting their business. However, not only could she not read what they were reading, but their progress was so slow that she quickly grew impatient and began twiddling her hooves while looking up at the oversized clockface that overlooked the library interior, just counting the minutes. She swore that watching the time tick by actively on the clock, slowly wearing down the ten hours or so they had until the library closed and they did something else, just made time go slower.

Short Round had been posted near the entrance in order to 'Watch out for trouble'. How exactly the little tyke was going to warn them of anything if thugs burst through the door before they silenced him was beyond her. However, trying to talk with the raggedy kid was a whole hell of a lot better than sitting around while the two men mumbled things in Chinese to themselves, absorbed in their research. Besides, they'd probably hardly notice her gone... if Indiana's track record was anything to go off of.

Walking between the library stacks towards the entrance, Anna spotted Short Round's baseball cap as he sat on the floor, leaning against the end of a bookshelf. He noticed her approaching, and gave her a nod, "Hello Anna."

"Hi," Anna sighed as she reached up and ran a hoof through her mane, "I'm bored to death, and you're the only one who'll talk to me. How are you not bored, just sitting around here?"

Short Round shrugged, "I like to imagine I'm somewhere else. Also I get paid for do nothing, so it better."

Anna frowned as she remembered a time where she could completely immerse herself in her own imaginary world. Now that she thought of it, she wasn't all that sure when she stopped being able to do so, "So... Dad told me that you and him met a year ago?"

"I try to pickpocket him, but he too clever. I think he take me to the police, but he pay me instead. You very lucky to have Doctah Jones as father, he very good man," Short Round expressed, putting his hands on his knees and leaning forward slightly.

Anna cringed slightly at Short Round's broken English, before sighing as she fell to her haunches next to him, "Glad you think so. He's been a real ass so far."

"What is ass?" Short Round shuffled again, turning his head towards her.

"Uh... it's like, a mixture of stupid and mean. Annoying, I guess?" Anna shrugged, "He keeps leaving to go on his wild adventures for months at a time, sometimes even half the entire year. I need to go be with my uncle during that time, and like- I like him, but he's kinda old and boring. Dad ends up misses birthdays, Christmases..." she trailed off as she realized she'd started rambling about her deep feelings to a literal eight year old.

Short Round, fortunately, didn't seem to mind all that much, "To me having father even half the year sounds good. Three year ago, Japanese kill my mother and father. Two year ago, my brother Chu die because he got sick drinking water from the ditch."

Anna's ears flattened against her skull as she cringed again, "Ah... right. Uh, makes sense. Guess that's- guess that's pretty rough."

"Yep," Short Round nodded in a manner that Anna wasn't sure if he was mocking her soberness, "But I survive. I get money now working for Doctah Jones. Then I go to school, I learn mathematics. Then I go work as taxi driver and make big money, and then I'll live on top of one of those big towers," he pointed out a nearby window to one of Shanghai's taller buildings, "Or maybe move to America. Or maybe England. Got to have good- better English for that though."

"It's too rainy in England. I've been there," Anna shrugged, "But it's cool to be above the clouds when it's raining, but like-" she flexed her wings, "It's gonna rain here soon too."

"It is?" Short Round looked up to the slowly rolling dark clouds overhead, "You can tell?"

"Yeah uh... One of my uncles, Johan, he's a scientist. He says I can detect pressure changes really well, better than the lab equipment," Anna explained, shuffling her wings back to her sides and leaning on a forehoof.

"Whoah," Short Round's eyes became wide as he looked back out the window, then back to her, "You said you fly with me? Can you lift?"

"I think so," Anna said, looking the kid up and down, "You wanna try?"

Short Round leapt to his feet as he waved an arm for her to follow along as he clambered down the stairs leading down to the front doors, "Come on! I want go fly!"

Anna spared one last look towards Indiana and Wu Han at their study desk. Fortunately, just as before, they were too absorbed in their reading to even notice them abandoning their posts. They weren't gonna go that far away anyway.

The square outside the library was swarming with the crowds going to and from the various public forums in the area, the library included. Short Round stopped a few yards clear of the sides of the library and its overhang, with the darkening sky clearly above them. A few birds flocked to and from nearby buildings, mostly gulls from the nearby seafront and pigeons nesting in the buildings.

Anna tittered slightly as she made a short hop from one of the steps of the gradual stairs leading down the plaza, spreading her wings and going into a hover. Approaching Short Round, she put out her forehooves straight out to her sides, "Stretch out your arms and I'll grab you."

Short Round nodded eagerly, spreading out his arms. Maneuvering behind him, she hooked her hooves under his armpits and gave an experimental lift. Being a skinny kid and half her age, he could only really be around half her weight. Without her luggage, or any other supplementary weight, she could fly at full speed with only a small amount of added effort.

"Alright. We're gonna start flying up," Anna looked up, spotting the top of a thunderhead nearby, watching as it started to precipitate on the far end of the city, "Ready?"

"O-Okie dokie!" Short Round breathed as he dangled his legs a few inches off the ground.

With an extra strong flap, Anna let her barrel come flush with Short Round's back as she aimed straight upwards and flew. Slightly slower than usual, she gained distance from the ground. She tightened her grip under Short's right arm as he reached up and clutched onto his hat, the first bout of wind threatening to blow it off already. They rocketed higher and higher, eventually clearing the rooftop of the library, then the rooftops of many of its surrounding high-rise buildings.

Short Round craned his neck to see below him as his legs dangled and kicked. His, probably unintentional, struggles didn't make Anna's job of flying any easier, but she still rose higher and higher. One of her earliest, vague memories was of her first time flying high enough to see to the horizon.

No doubt, the strong, overwhelming thrill Anna associated with the memory was just coming over Short Round at that moment. She gave her first, genuine joyful smile since she left the United States, "How's the view, Short?"

Short Round tried to move his neck to look behind him at her, but couldn't, and instead just settled for shouting back, "THIS IS COOL!"

Lightning flashed across the sky ahead, followed by the explosive boom of thunder. Some of the clouds overhead began to spittle water onto them, "Hold on, Short! We're gonna go see that storm up close!" With that, she leaned her body weight forward, and caught the air in her wings, plunging them both towards the storm front and the towering cumulonimbus dead ahead.

Short Round reached up, catching his cap before it blasted off with the wind, clutching it in his right hand as he visibly squinted to keep the wind out of his eyes. Heavy turbulence blustered against the two of them, and Anna alternated between the occasional sprint with her wings, to moving parallel with the swirling storm to glide on the wind. Flying parallel with the ground meant that Short Round was treated to a direct view of the ground. She locked her legs underneath his to prevent her from flailing around beneath her, and to strengthen her grip as they started to get slicked with rainwater.

Thunder boomed as lightning flashed across them, almost blinding them with its fury. The closer they came to the thunderhead, the more and more turbulent the wind got. However, this was far from the first time Anna had dealt with flying near a storm, and she braked, glided, and flapped to keep her altitude constant as they reached towards the clouds. Suddenly, the rain stopped as they broke through a bank of clouds. The noonday sun beat down on them as they hovered near the cloud line. Still ahead of them, the giant thunderhead towered into the sky, dark and foreboding as lightning flashed and thunder boomed.

Anna's heart thundered in her ears, the exertion of carrying Short Round combined with the struggle of fighting the storm made her legs and wings burn. Gently, she looked down to the cloud below, intending to land on it as she gently lowered herself against the turbulence. Obeying her commands, the cloud supported her weight, and she landed carefully, still holding onto Short Round.

"Pull your legs up, sit on my lap," Anna sighed as she extended her hind legs in a more awkward, human-like sitting position in the cloud.

Short Round did so, sitting on her lap as his legs disappeared into the cloud below. His breathing was rapid, and he shivered as he looked around wildly. Stopping his rapid panting, he made a deep gasp for breath, before pointing towards his throat, "Anna, it hard for me to breathe."

Anna stopped for a moment, quirking an eyebrow. Eventually, she realized why. This being the first time she'd brought a passenger up to the clouds, rather than the clouds down to a passenger, she didn't realize that humans weren't exactly accustomed to breathing at this altitude, "Hey. It's okay. Keep calm and try and stay upright. I have to catch my breath before I go and fly you back down."

"O-Okay," Short Round panted as he looked up towards the thunderhead. Wind roared from it as the clouds subtly writhed and pulsed. Lightning coursed through it at intervals, and Anna could feel the static coming from it each time it pulsed. It was almost like sitting in a field in front of an exploding volcano.

It all happened at once. Lightning boomed from the thunderhead, coursing through the clouds towards them. The flash and the explosive crack of the lightning leaving the clouds and heading towards the ground stunned both passenger and flyer. A particularly strong gust of wind came, and Anna felt Short Round begin to roll off her hind legs, his arms flailing for balance as he fell backwards into the cloud.

She reached and grabbed for his arm, instead only grabbing the rim of the cap he held in his hands. With a scream, his grip slipped and he disappeared through the shifting cloud.

Immediately, Anna stuffed the cap into her mouth and jumped, kicking open a hole into the cloud and diving through. Wind blew through her tail and mane as she spread her wings and made a dead dive. The arms of the city reached up towards her as she dove towards a tiny, flailing grey dot that was rapidly consuming the 8,000 feet they had remaining to sea level.

She put more juice into her dive, her wings closing against her sides to reduce drag. Fortunately, Short Round flailing around increased his surface area, slowing him down as he plummeted. The air thickened rapidly beneath her, and Shanghai became larger and larger, closing around her peripherals as she raced the raindrops. She couldn't hear his screams, but she could definitely see his panic as he flipped back and forth in the air. Angling her wings, she attacked his position from below, braking just enough and spreading her forelegs to catch him.

His weight knocked into her like a bag of bricks, but aside from the stinging pain his shoulder had inflicted to her nose, she gripped him tight as she flapped her wings rapidly, arresting their decent speed. Their skydive stopped at what Anna estimated was around 1,000 feet, leaving them both to breath rapidly as they hovered, the wind and rain battering against them.

Eyes wide and alert from the restored oxygen levels, Short Round looked over into Anna's eyes, "...Whoah," he breathed.

"Wanna land now?" Anna said around the cap clutched in her teeth, mane and wind whipping in the wind.

"Uh huh!" Short Round nodded, both awe and trepidation in his eyes were now visible in the new position he rested in in Anna's forelegs.

Letting herself fall, Anna angled her wings and caught the momentum and wind from her dive to rocket back uptown. The wind had caused them to drift towards the other end of the city from the library, but Anna knew where she was going. Eventually, the unique orange shingles of the top of the library caught her eyes and she slowed her speed, gliding in a circular pattern down to the plaza at last.

The two were soaked to the bone when they finally re-entered the library. Short Round was obviously shivering and glad to have his own feet back on the ground, but to Anna's immense relief his big, dumb grin told her he wasn't upset or angered by the experience. A quick look back up to the clock above the door revealed that they'd spent about an hour in flight.

Short Round flicked his fingers, spraying water from his soaked jersey onto the floor as he peeked around a bookshelf at the study desk where Indiana and Wu Han had been sitting. Turning back around to Anna, he nodded, "Nobody come and steal Doctah Jones's organs while we gone. Good."

Anna felt the shiver deep within herself as she stepped in behind Short Round. Submitting herself to the instinct, she shook her body, water coming off in sprays as she spat out Short Round's cap onto the floor next to him. Finishing, she wiped her bangs out of her eyes as she grunted, "Did they even notice us gone?"

"They would be more worried if they notice. I thought it only be a few minutes, we lucky they never went for bathroom break and looked," Short Round put his back up to the bookshelf, sliding down into a sitting position again.

Anna fell to her haunches, before realizing she was smiling, "So. That was fun?"

Short Round nodded eagerly, "Lots of fun! We do again sometime! It even faster than driving car! I got scared when you drop me through the cloud, but then you catch me just in time! I thought I was gonna die!"

"I uh, didn't mean to drop you," Anna scratched the back of her head, slightly embarrassed, "The lightning and the wind knocked you off."

"You should drop me again and catch me, next time we go up! That was best part!" Short Round exclaimed.

"Okay," Anna chuckled, wiping her wet hooves on her even wetter beige shirt, "...Uh, so what now?"

Short Round patted himself down, an obvious look of relief on his face when he found that the item he was looking for did not, in fact, fly out of his pocket during his skydive. He pulled out a pack of playing cards, its container damp from the rain, "You know Poker?"

Anna, in fact, did not know Poker. Short Round was good enough to teach her, and also turned out to be excellent at the game itself. Fortunately, Anna didn't have any actual money to bet with, as she lost every single round over the next three hours. She would've quit, if it weren't for the boredom that awaited her when she had nothing else to do. Eventually though, the crowd in the library dispersed. The rain stopped outside, leaving nothing but an overcast sunset as the city rapidly grew dark.

Eventually, the sounds of familiar boots behind them caused Anna's ears to swivel. Indiana's voice came from behind her, "Playing poker? Also how'd you get so damp?"

Anna reached up a hoof to feel her mane, a small amount of moisture still hanging about in it, "We uh, we got caught in the rain," she aimed a subtle wink towards Short Round, who nodded along.

Indiana put his hands on his hips, "You won any games, Anna?"

Anna shook her head, "Nope."

"Your daughter just learning Doctah Jones," Short Round insisted, "No biggie."

Indiana stepped towards Short Round. Instinctively, he retracted his right arm, only for the larger man to grab it and fish a left finger into the sleeve. He pulled out a bunch of cards, "Anna's not learning, Shorty. You're cheating."

Anna threw down her cards, "Hey! Come on!"

"Come on, Shorty. Let's get back to the hotel. We'll try the newspaper archives tomorrow," Indiana pulled the kid to his feet as he lead him out the door, Short Round giving Anna an apologetic half-cringe half-smile as he was dragged away.

Anna felt mad for a moment, but then swept up the remaining cards on the floor and shoved them into her pocket. Short Round truly felt like a friend, even if he'd cheated a bit. He'd shown her kindness despite the situation, played a game with her, she felt she could actually talk to someone and at least relate on a few things. So, she swallowed her anger as she walked out the door behind Indiana and Wu Han, heading back out into the open air as the group made for the car.

On their fifth consecutive day of research, the Joneses were searching a newspaper archive. A quick bribe had gotten them into a newspaper company's archival area. Tapes of old radio broadcasts, a few film newsreels, and several aisles filled with filing cabinets of newspapers were what they were met with. Indiana Jones lead the group, counting the dates on the cabinets until they reached around 1900. The cabinets only went for a few more years before that.

Using the keys the custodian had given him, Indiana opened the filing cabinet, dust spilling from the drawers as he searched the hundreds of pages of newspapers inside. Coughing slightly, he sighed, "Well. Let's get to work."

Back nearer to the entrance, Short Round and Anna sat next to each other.

"Okay, your turn. Teach me something else," Anna said as she played another card. After the whole cheating incident the other day, they played a decisively more passive game of go fish while they talked (it also helped that Indy had forbidden Anna to bet anything in games with Short Round, taking the wind out of the sails of any possibility of a poker game).

"Okie," Short Round played a card and drew his lips in thought, "...Nǐ de pímáo shì jīnsè de. It mean: Your fur is golden."

"Nǐ... de... pímáo... what was the rest of it?"

"Shì jīnsè de," Short Round nodded.

"shì jīnsè de... Nǐ de pímáo shì jīnsè de?" Anna said, "Also, uh... Nǐ yǒu shé me... nine of spades?"

"Hēi táo jiǔ. It mean nine of spade. And no, qù diàoyú," Short Round smiled as he shook his head.

Anna chuckled as she drew another card. While she was no means an expert, talking to Short Round had been much more useful for gaining familiarity for the language than 4 months of textbooks had been, "Okay, my turn."

"What the names for soft?" Short Round asked.

"What are the synonyms for soft," Anna corrected, "You can use gentle if you mean the opposite of rough. If you want to emphasize the use of soft, you can use smooth, silky, plush, stuff like that."

"What are the... syn-on-ims," Short Round repeated, looking down at his cards, "Nǐ yǒu hóngxīn wǔ ma?"

"Qoo diàoyú," Anna repeated, a smile spreading across her lips as Short Round drew from the deck again.

"Qù diàoyú, Anna," Short Round corrected.

Anna opened her mouth to have her turn at a question, when Indiana approached from between the archive stacks. Placing a rolled up piece of paper in his bag, he said, "Alright kids. We're packing up early today."

Anna blinked, "Why?"

Wu Han approached Indiana from behind, "We found a lead. A wrecked ship that went missing somewhere north of Ningpo. we think we have its location."

That statement did not clear up even the smallest thing for Anna. Her eyebrows settled as Short Round quickly packed up the cards and stuffed it into a pocket, "Why's that important?" Anna asked.

Indiana, scaling the stairs leading back out of the archives, stopped to allow the others to catch up as he explained, "I guess I didn't tell you. We're looking for the urn containing the ashes of a dead Emperor-"

"-A dead Emperor that Lao Che claims to be the ancestor of," Wu Han added.

Short Round raised a finger and shook it at Anna as he walked past her, "Lao Che very bad! He smuggle bad stuff and bribe many people!"

Anna finally got a move on, making up the tail of the group as they made their way out, "Lao Che is very bad," she corrected, "He smuggles bad stuff and bribes many people."

"Don't be smart, Anna, he didn't grow up learning English," Indiana scolded.

"It okay Doctah Jones, she teach me English while I teach her mandarin," Short Round said.

"Why're we working for this guy again?" Anna asked, raising an eyebrow, "Do we know if he's lying about this emperor being his ancestor?"

"If we get it, Lao Che says he will let me finally bury my ancestor's ashes," Wu Han said.

"And we'll get a diamond worth enough to get you all the way through college, debt-free," Indiana said, "The ashes were stolen from a palace a long time ago and smuggled out on a ship that promptly went missing. We think we know where it's wreck is, which is the best place to look."

"Might be a dud," Wu Han pointed out, "In that case we may be back in this library by the end of the week."

"At least we're going to be finally getting out of this city..." Anna mumbled, rolling her eyes as they ascended up the stairs towards the light of the mid-afternoon sun. Finding a shipwreck sounded cool. Maybe there was going to be more treasure on there than just the urn?

"Hey. Count yourself lucky, I've had research that's lasted months just to find a dead end," Indiana said as they arrived at the car, Short Round running past him to climb into the driver's seat, "At least there won't be any snakes in the middle of the ocean..."

At the mention of the ocean, Anna's knees wobbled a bit as she felt the feeling of slimy, tiny creatures swimming past her legs. She gulped. Ever since that one time at the old Hadley Mine, she'd never been a fan of fish.

She hated fish.

Author's Note

Daring Do, in the chapter books at least, is afraid of fish. She is in fact so much so that she's too afraid to even fly over a moat filled with them.