Beauty and the Beasts

Bai Qingqing joked. “The older one has to work harder. Your younger brother’s catching up!”

No idea if it was because her words served as motivation’s purpose, but another few cracks sounded repeatedly. One could tell from the fast tempo that it was a powerful eagle.

But too bad, the motivation target seemed to be mixed up, for these sounds came from the egg on the right.

Now let’s replay the scene: The first time a crack sounded, a crack appeared in the center of the egg. The second time, a new crack appeared right next to that first crack. The third crack appeared beside the second crack…

After ten-odd rhythmic cracks sounded, a coil-shaped crack could be seen at the top of the egg, occupying half of the egg’s surface, a much bigger area than what was seen on the egg on the left.

Bai Qingqing gasped and clutched Muir’s hand. Surely the younger brother wouldn’t come out first, right?

Thankfully, those ten-odd pecks had depleted quite a bit of energy from the one on the right. Now, it had quietened down.

Crack! Another crisp sound rang in the air.

Bai Qingqing was so nervous that she nearly yelped out loud. Fixing her gaze, thank god, this time the crack came from the one on the left.

But with this comparison, she couldn’t help but wonder why the difference was so great between the two baby eagles. Even the younger brother knew to peck around the same spot. Why was the older brother going about it in such a haphazard fashion?

Just as she relaxed, another crisp “Crack!” sounded. Following that, a splat could be heard as the broken eggshell bits spread out.

The side most crack on the egg on the right curled up before slowly opening from the inside.

Bai Qingqing watched with bated breath and widened eyes.

As the eggshell cracked open, the baby eagle’s body was exposed before his parents’ eyes.

He had a small pinkish body and a little pinkish mouth, yet his eyes were greenish-grey. His eyeballs were still rolling around, like a panda that hadn’t slept a wink for several days and nights.

When he tilted his body sideways, the egg tilted as well. He seemed to be stretching out his legs, and his body burst out from the lower half of the egg. At the same time, he opened his beak falteringly, as though he was yawning.

Bai Qingqing’s heart melted. She didn’t know how to describe her feelings at this moment.

The baby eagle’s mouth was so big, and it looked even bigger than his head when he yawned.

His head was big as well, like a tumbler. Especially when he shook his head, as his head swung from the left to the right, Bai Qingqing worried he would twist his neck.

So it turned out that the greyish color wasn’t his fur, but his eyes?

Why was his body pink? Would it change color as he grew up?

He looked so soft and weak. How did he manage to peck open the shell? Was he really the one who made those vigorous pecking noises earlier?

The baby eagle’s chest was visibly heaving up and down, his fur in a half-dry state. Also, it looked like there was hot air emitting from him.

Bai Qingqing reached out a slender finger and gingerly poked at the baby eagle’s claw.

She dared not touch other spots, afraid she would accidentally hurt her baby.

The baby eagle tightened his claws instantly. Those little claws were curled up like a human’s fingers, making Bai Qingqing let out another astonished gasp.

“So tiny!” Bai Qingqing ultimately came up with this conclusion.

Unlike the baby snakes who could bite and protect themselves right from birth, baby eagles likely wouldn’t survive a day without the care.

Muir also snapped out of his trance and marveled. “Yeah!”

The baby eagle closed his eyes and laid on the ground, looking like he was sprawling his last.

Neither Bai Qingqing nor Muir dared to touch him, so they moved a rock over to block the wind.

After the baby eagle on the right tossed and turned and completely broke free of his eggshell, the one on the left finally came out too, letting out a moan amid the crack sounds. This baby eagle looked even more feeble than the one on the right.