"Ti to get up!" Cheeky, having gone to sleep earliest, was the first to wake. The mont it felt rested, it started squawking loudly, completely ignoring whether Shen Yibin and the others were still sleeping soundly.
’Just let sleep a little longer...’ Sylvie, half-asleep, must have thought she was back in the Royal Palace of Sokovia. She hugged Hah’Er’s arm, refusing to open her eyes.
Shen Yibin, on the other hand, hadn’t slept well, his mind a jumbled ss all night. Jarred awake by Cheeky’s racket, he figured he might as well get up. The mont he moved, Hah’Er stirred and got up too. With that, Sylvie naturally couldn’t stay asleep either.
"Let’s wash up, get a bite to eat, and then pack everything up. We need to get down there, fast." If everything went smoothly, they could find the pet and get out of these mountains before sunset. But if they couldn’t, they would have to go back, restock, and make another trip tomorrow.
Shen Yibin really didn’t want to go through all this trouble again. The mountain air might be fresh, but coming out for a bit of fun once or twice was one thing. He couldn’t stand being run ragged like this all day.
"These crackers again? Boss, can’t you get us sothing decent to eat?" They had been a novelty yesterday, but Sylvie was already sick of them today. It wasn’t just her. Even Hah’Er was holding a compressed cracker, making no move to put it in its mouth. Only Cheeky was exempt, humming a tune as it flew leisurely through the jungle, searching for fresh food.
They forced the crackers down with so bottled water and packed up yesterday’s trash in their bags—littering was not an option. After dismantling and packing away the tent, Shen Yibin shouldered his large pack and led them onward.
"Cheeky, fly up ahead and see if that path is clear, will you?" From their vantage point, parts of the trail were obscured by large boulders and trees. It would be a huge waste of ti and energy to hike all the way there only to find it blocked. Good thing they had Cheeky to scout ahead; that had saved them a lot of effort yesterday.
’...Soaring free, high above your heart, in the brilliant sun, forever I’ll fly...’ Cheeky started showing off again, even altering the song’s lyrics. It had spent most of the trip mocking the three poor souls who were stuck on their feet.
Flapping its wings, it flew ahead and returned a few monts later. "There was a small landslide, but you can still get through. At your pace, it’ll probably take an hour to reach the bottom. It’ll only take thirty seconds, though! I’m going to head down and wait for you guys. Hurry up!"
’Man, I wish I could fly,’ Shen Yibin thought, watching with envious eyes alongside Sylvie and Hah’Er. Cheeky leisurely soared down towards the cliff base, reaching the valley floor in no ti.
"Sigh. We’d better hurry, or we won’t make it back in ti." ’Can’t be helped,’ Shen Yibin thought with a sigh. ’It’s a species-specific talent. Envy won’t do us any good.’ He took the lead once more, forging ahead.
Hah’Er and Sylvie followed behind him. Sylvie finally piped up with a question. "Hey, Boss, why exactly did we co all the way out to this remote place?"
"Er... a client shipped a pet for to sell on consignnt, but the delivery guy ssed up the address and dropped it off here. We need to find it and bring it back," Shen Yibin explained honestly. However, he knew better than to reveal everything and made no ntion of the Future Pet Shop.
"They got the address wrong and delivered it *here*?" Sylvie’s eyes widened as she scanned their surroundings. "That’s a bit of a stretch, isn’t it? What, did they drop it from a helicopter or sothing?"
"Sigh. The guy’s a total flake. He’s always doing these weird, inexplicable things and putting through the wringer every single ti." Thinking back on the process of acquiring Hah’Er and selling Cheeky, Shen Yibin felt like crying.
"Enough talk. Let’s save our energy and get down there. The pet should be sowhere in the valley." Shen Yibin had noticed a pattern on the map. Even though the pet moved around a lot, its movents seed to follow a certain logic. It appeared to be circling a fixed point, never straying too far from it.
’That fixed point must be where the package is,’ Shen Yibin reasoned. ’If we can find the package, we should be close to finding the pet. I just wonder if the little guy is cooperative. It’ll be a real pain if it bolts the mont it sees . Judging by its speed on the map, I can’t guarantee I’d be able to catch it.’
The group pressed on. After another half hour, they ca to a relatively gentle, grassy slope that led down to the valley floor. "I’ll go first," Shen Yibin said. "Sylvie, you and Hah’Er follow behind ."
It didn’t look dangerous, but who knew what rocks or hidden pits were lurking in the tall grass. Shen Yibin decided to scout the path for the other two. Fortunately, there were no hidden hazards. He reached the bottom of the valley without incident and waved for them to co down.
Sylvie now put her mountain unit training on display, descending with a light and nimble grace. Soon, only Hah’Er remained at the top.
"Hah’Er, co on down! Do you need to co up and help?" Shen Yibin called out, seeing Hah’Er seemingly frozen in place.
"Hmph!" Hah’Er shook its big head, refusing Shen Yibin’s offer. It craned its neck to look down the grassy slope, seemingly pondering sothing. Just as Shen Yibin was growing impatient and about to hurry it along again, Hah’Er made its move.
It plopped down on its rump, covered its head with its front paws, and then started rolling. Its entire body, like a giant furball, went tumbling down the grassy slope. RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE.
’Holy crap, aren’t you afraid of getting hurt?!’ Shen Yibin quickly repositioned himself to intercept Hah’Er’s path. Then, with a loud THUMP, he was knocked flat on his back.
Hah’Er lowered its paws. Aside from a few blades of grass stuck to its fur, it seed perfectly fine. Shen Yibin, on the other hand, had taken a heavy hit. It took him a good while of rubbing his sore spots before he could get back to his feet.
"Hah’Er! Hah’Er! That was so aweso! Can you do it again? I didn’t get a picture in ti!" Sylvie rushed over, her face alight with excitent.
’One more ti and I’ll be paralyzed,’ Shen Yibin thought. He gave Hah’Er a light, exasperated rap on the head. "Don’t you ever do that again! What if you get hurt?" Hah’Er just tilted its head, looking completely unfazed. It seed this wasn’t its first ti rolling down a hill.
They followed the path along the valley floor. After a twenty-minute trek, they finally arrived at the location marked by the glowing dot on the map. Ahead of them, sitting squarely on a large rock, was a shipping crate. It looked to be about the sa size as the one Hah’Er had arrived in. There was a hole torn in the side of the box, and peering through it, they could see so kind of animal moving around inside.
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