Sumeru · Pardis Dhyai.
The sky was clear for thousands of miles, and the sunlight spilled onto the clear pond water, rippling into a sheet of shattered gold.
And then—
A flash of green light suddenly appeared in the sky!
Two small figures appeared out of thin air and then fell straight down!
“Bi—!”
Amid let out a terrified scream.
His limbs flailed and his tiny wings fluttered wildly, but he had no intention of flying at all—in fact, he had completely forgotten that he even had wings.
‘What’s going on, what’s going on, what’s going on?!’
‘Why are we in the sky?!’
‘Isn’t Teleport supposed to transport you to the ground?!’
He complained frantically in his heart as he watched himself in free fall.
The wind whistled past his ears, and the pond water below got closer and closer—
Then, a pair of hands caught him.
Amid felt his body suddenly come to a stop.
It wasn’t the kind of stop from falling, but rather being held steadily, suspended in mid-air.
He looked up and saw Nahida’s face.
She was holding him, her small body floating above the pond, stepping on an invisible staircase.
The sunlight shone from behind her, gilding the strands of her hair with a golden edge.
“Bi~” Amid let out a long sigh of relief.
‘That was close, I almost became a drowned Celebi.’
Nahida looked down at him, her eyes curving into two crescent moons.
“Amid, you’re really amazing.”
She said softly, her voice carrying an irrepressible surprise and pride.
“To actually be able to use transport.
That’s a very advanced ability.”
Amid felt a bit floaty from the praise and puffed out his little chest.
‘Of course, I am a Celebi!’
But Nahida’s next sentence made his puffed-up chest deflate again.
“But…” Nahida tilted her head, a look of sincere confusion on her face.
“Don’t you have wings?
Why didn’t you fly just now?”
Amid froze.
Wings?
He had wings?
He turned his head to look at the pair of transparent little wings on his back—thin and small, shimmering with a faint iridescent light in the sun.
Oh, right.
He had wings.
Why didn’t he use his wings just now?
Amid stared at the pair of wings in shock, as if discovering their existence for the first time.
“Bi!” He let out a Growl of disbelief.
‘I actually forgot I had wings?!’
Looking at his “how could I be so stupid” expression, Nahida couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
She held Amid a bit higher, leaning in to carefully examine the rich changes in expression on his tiny face, finding it more interesting the more she looked.
“Let me think…” She tilted her head, her eyes filled with that unique, gentle contemplation.
“It’s like a tree that clearly has countless leaves to catch the sunlight, yet always thinks it lives in the shadows,” she said softly.
“Or like a flower that clearly knows how to bloom on its own, yet is always waiting for someone to water it.”
Amid listened, completely dazed.
Nahida reached out a finger and gently tapped his little nose.
“Little Amid, you were that tree and that flower just now,” she said with a smile.
“You clearly have wings, yet you forgot you could fly.”
Amid blinked.
Even though he didn’t quite understand those words, they seemed…
to make a lot of sense?
Suddenly, his stomach let out a rumble.
It was very loud.
It was very clear.
“Bi…” Amid clutched his stomach, his little face turning a bit red.
‘Hungry.’
He had just hatched and hadn’t eaten anything yet.
He had just used Teleport, which consumed a massive amount of stamina.
Now he was so hungry his stomach was sticking to his back; he was really going to turn into a Celebi slice.
Nahida heard that rumble too.
She looked down at Amid clutching his little belly, her gaze instantly becoming soft and serious.
“Right, you were just born and haven’t eaten anything yet.”
She looked up and surveyed the surroundings.
Around Pardis Dhyai was a dense forest, and the shadows of several fruit trees could be seen in the distance.
Holding Amid, Nahida flew up gently and headed toward the shore.
As she flew, she pondered.
‘Little Amid was just born, he should probably drink milk,’ she thought seriously.
Although she had read childcare manuals, they were all for humans, and Amid was a species she had never seen before, so she couldn’t rely on theory.
She recalled the newborn young she had seen in the Akasha; they all snuggled in their mothers’ arms to drink milk.
Although little Amid came from an egg…
it should be about the same.
‘Milk…
milk…’
Her gaze searched the forest.
Where were there animals currently in their lactation period?
‘It should be okay to ask them for a little milk, right?’
Thinking this, she picked up Amid and began to fly slowly at a low altitude.
Nestled in her arms, Amid didn’t realize the severity of the problem at first.
But he soon noticed that Nahida’s gaze always lingered on animals with young, her eyes filled with a serious deliberation on “how to ask to borrow milk.”
‘Wait.’
Amid suddenly had a bad premonition.
‘Mother Nahida couldn’t be…
looking for a milk source, could she?’
‘For me?’
‘Beast milk?’
He looked down at his tiny body, then at those fluffy Sumpter Beasts and Shroomboars.
‘No…
don’t…’
He shook his head frantically.
‘I don’t want to drink that!’
‘I’m a human—no, I was a human in my past life!
If I drink beast milk, where will my dignity go?!’
He wanted to tell Nahida that fruit would actually be fine; he wasn’t picky, he really wasn’t!
But as soon as he opened his mouth, he could only make “Bi~ Bi~” sounds.
Hearing his cries, Nahida looked down at him and soothed him gently:
“Don’t worry, we’ll find something to eat soon.”
Then she continued to seriously look for a milk source.
Amid: “…”
‘I am worried!
I’m very worried!
But not about that!’
Amid wanted to cry but had no tears.
‘That’s not the issue, Mother!’
‘I really don’t need to drink milk!’
‘I am a Celebi!
The God of the Forest!
Why would I drink milk!’
‘I must learn Telepathy as soon as possible!’
‘Otherwise, who knows what kind of misunderstandings will happen in the future!’
But Nahida, holding Amid, flew back and forth in the forest, seriously observing every animal she encountered.
This one is too big; it looks hard to talk to.
This one is too fierce; it might scare Amid.
This one…
Nahida searched for a long time and finally discovered with regret—there really didn’t seem to be any suitable lactating animals nearby.
She looked down at Amid, feeling a bit troubled.
“I couldn’t find any milk…” she said softly.
“Little Amid, can you endure it a bit longer?”
Amid nodded frantically.
‘I can, I can, I can!
I can endure as long as I need to!’
But just as he finished nodding, his stomach betrayed him with another rumble.
Amid: “…”
Looking at him, Nahida couldn’t help but smile.
“Alright, I’ll stop looking.” She gently rubbed his little belly.
“Let’s find something else to eat first.”
Those were a few zaytun peach trees, with bright red fruits hanging on the branches, plump and inviting.
Nahida flew over holding Amid and picked the reddest zaytun peach.
“You can eat this.
It tastes very sweet,” she said softly.
She held the zaytun peach to Amid’s mouth.
Looking at that bright red fruit and smelling the sweet fragrance, Amid’s eyes almost welled up.
‘Finally!
Finally, there’s food!’
He opened his mouth and took a big, fierce bite.
The sweet juice exploded in his mouth, and the soft flesh melted instantly.
Delicious!
So delicious!
Amid’s eyes lit up, and his little paws hugged the zaytun peach as he munched away greedily.
Watching him eat with such relish, the smile on Nahida’s lips grew more and more gentle.
She just sat there under a large tree, holding Amid in her arms like a baby, quietly watching him eat.
Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, falling on his small green figure, on his swaying antennae, and on his little face stained with fruit juice.
Nahida suddenly felt that this moment was more beautiful than any moment in the past five hundred years.
After eating three zaytun peaches in a row, Amid finally stopped, satisfied.
He patted his round little belly and let out a contented “Bi~”.
‘Full, I’m full.’
‘After eating, strength is surging back!’
He sat up in Nahida’s arms and vigorously stretched his little wings.
The fatigue from before was swept away, replaced by an itch to try something out.
‘Now that I have strength, it’s time to practice real flying.’
He looked up at Nahida.
Nahida seemed to understand his meaning, and her eyes curved.
“Do you want to try flying?” she asked softly.
Amid nodded.
Nahida lifted him from her arms and gently placed him on her palm.
“Go ahead,” she said tenderly.
“I’ll be right here watching you.”
Amid took a deep breath, and then—
Flapped his wings.
It was very unstable at first.
His little wings fluttered and fluttered, his body wobbled, and he started to fall as soon as he left Nahida’s palm.
Amid was startled and quickly fluttered a few more times, barely stabilizing his form.
Nahida’s hand remained extended right below him, ready to catch him at any moment.
“It’s okay,” she encouraged softly.
“Encore.
Take it slow.”
Amid composed himself and tried again.
This time, he found the feeling.
The rhythm of the wingbeats, the balance of his body, and that airflow that propped him up—
He was flying!
The tiny green figure rose wobblingly, further and further from Nahida’s palm, higher and higher.
Although it wasn’t very steady yet, he was indeed flying!
“Bi!” Amid cried out excitedly.
‘I’m flying, I’m flying!’
He tried to make a turn—and almost hit a branch.
He tried to fly a bit higher—and almost got blown away by the wind.
But each time, he managed to stabilize himself and continue flying.
Gradually, his movements became more skillful, and his wingbeats grew steadier.
He began to fly around Nahida.
One lap, two laps, three laps.
Like a happy Pokémon, he circled around her, occasionally letting out a few crisp cries.
“Bi~ Bi~ Bi~”
‘I can fly!
Hahaha!
This is so much fun!’
Sunlight fell on his wings, refracting into tiny iridescent lights.
Nahida sat under the tree, looking up at the little fellow flying around her.
Her smile was warmer than the sunlight.