Sagiri must have underestimated the desert because the place was much bigger than he had expected. He needed food and water. Seya was right. Sagiri paused and unzipped his bag. There was a desert hat, some water, and some food.

After eating, Sagiri started moving south again. The sun was going to be relentless now, and he would need dawn the following day to touch civilization, according to Seya. The sand guardian had his bases across the place, but it was easy for Sagiri to avoid each one.

Suddenly, however, something stirred in the archive, and Sagiri stopped. Something tumbled out of the archive right at that moment. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

Myama’s offspring.

The egg had been acting weird ever since they moved south. It had grown bigger and bigger each day and stirred randomly or just jumped out. Sagiri let it rest in the sand for a little while.

"Really? You want to busk in the sun right now? We have to leave, you know," Sagiri huffed. "If your mother could see your childish behavior now, what would she think?"

He made a move to grab the egg, but it rolled away. It had never done that before, but it seemed like it was in a mood for mischief.

"You little delinquent!! I will leave you here!" Sagiri threatened, rubbing his brows in frustration. He started to move away, expecting the egg to jump into the archive pocket, but it remained steady. He could not abandon Myama’s offspring, no matter how troublesome it was getting.

He turned back and glared at it.

"I should cook you and forget about you!" Sagiri cursed and crouched low. He was going to pretend to give up the chase, and when the egg calmed down, he would jump for it. Sagiri’s eye twitched as he snuck a peek at the egg from the side of his eye. Any moment now. Three heartbeats and he would grab the little delinquent.

Three...

Dum!

Two...

Dum!

one!

He jumped across the sand, hands open. Only his hands grabbed nothing, and instead, he grabbed a handful of sand, and another mouthful went into his mouth in the awkward position he fell into.

You, little!

Sagiri did not count this time and kept jumping round and round. Before Sagiri realised it, it had turned into a game of cat and mouse, and the little rat did not want to be caught. By the end of it, Sagiri looked like he had used the sand to shower.

Sagiri finally stopped chasing the egg, and it sat proudly in the sand as if to mock him. The sun was starting to peek through the horizon. The first rays touched the egg, and Sagiri’s eyes widened. This was the first time he had seen it out under the sun. There were small, invisible cracks around the shell that were now even more visible. Not only that, but the shell was reflecting the sun and absorbing its light.

It reflected off in different colours that were so beautiful to see.

"Wow..." Sagiri marveled.

"Why didn’t you just say you wanted to bask in the sun?" Sagiri said in a breathless voice. The egg was beautiful indeed. He sat down and kept his eyes on the egg. The cracks on it grew bigger and bigger, and then they broke and curved inwards.

Wait! Sagiri’s eyes widened.

A little thing emerged from the shell in that moment with small amber eyes.

Its body was coated with small scales that glowed silently with every touch of the sun. Its slit eyes looked around before they rested on Sagiri. Sagiri did not move. He couldn’t. He was too busy staring at Myama’s offspring. Such a little beauty.

"Such a beauty..." Sagiri gasped again. It was difficult to look away from the little thing. He did not realize it, but a tear had formed at the edge of his eye, and he let it fall. He still remembered Myama’s farewell, and now seeing her offspring made his heart swell.

"Myama... You have a child." Sagiri whispered.

The little snake crawled out of its enormous shell. By the size of the shell, Sagiri had thought that it could be bigger, but it looked to be the size of his middle finger in length and even thinner. Sagiri could not even begin to think the little beast could grow to be Myama’s size. Sand poured from inside the shell before the entire shell dissolved to become uniform with the sand.

"Come now, let’s go then," Sagiri said after a while of the little shit not moving towards him.

"I know you can hear me, Myama’s offspring." It turned to him slightly but looked away again.

"You want a name?" Sagiri said after seeing how much attitude the little snake was giving him. It was only a few seconds old, and it was already making him suffer.

The snake turned to him when he said that. Now what name should I give you? Sagiri thought.

"You are beautiful even with your bad attitude. Maybe I should call you beauty," Sagiri said, and he could have sworn the little shit rolled its eyes.

"Zaira!" Sagiri called. It means beauty.

The little snake turned to him fully as if it could not believe his bad taste in naming, but the next second, it was wrapped around his middle finger. Sagiri had almost forgotten that it could not stay in the archive pocket any longer now that it needed to breathe.

"You are going to be trouble, and I feel it. What do you even eat?" Sagiri asked, but the little delinquent did not even stir, and in fact, it shut its eyes.

"I am going to give you to Koru once I find him. I can’t babysit you until you grow some manners, at least." Sagiri chastised, but he knew deep down he was now attached to beauty.

Sagiri started to move again, a bit slower this time. He did not even make it far before he heard the cry of a bird.

"Perhaps I should let this eagle eat you," Sagiri taunted. Even so, he did not stop. It was a bit odd for an eagle to be this deep in the forest, especially this type, but well, what did he know about birds? The bird, however, kept following him for another hour or two. Slowing down when he did and moving fast when he did.

That was now odd.

Finally, Sagiri stooped, and the bird came to a stop too.

"Are you following me? I am not going to let you eat Zaira. Maybe in the future. Now go away." Sagiri said, but the bird flew even lower before it came to perch in front of him. Now that it was not airborne, he could see a little collar on its neck, and a note was attached to it. Not only that, but he also recognized the bird.

Pavire’s bird.

"It is you. You are awfully far from Tagayia," Sagiri said. Why was every beast trying to slow his journey down?

The bird bowed its head, making the note even more visible, and Sagiri went to strip it. It did not even wait for him to read before it rose and took flight.

Now what is it?

Sagiri unraveled the note and groaned deeply.

How bad could the timing of everyone be!