If there was one roo that could find something new and bizarre amidst the underbrush it was Gobi.

While the young roo hadn't intended to eavesdrop, curiosity often meant they found themselves amongst the chatter of other groups. Sometimes he overheard day-to-day chatter, other times he heard a secret or two he would promptly try to forget, and then sometimes... well sometimes he heard about something interesting. Peculiar.

It was worth his curiosity.

And this time he happened to overhear Johnno mentioning odd eggs in the underbrush; they were strange colors and patterns, unusual and new. Unrecognizable as any bird, reptile, or other egg-like thing fenroos might have been more familiar with. Of course this talk piqued Gobi's attention immediately. If it was a bird egg, not so interesting... but if it turned out to belong to some reptile...? Then that might have Gobi's attention.

With curious ears perked the young fenroo listened a bit longer as Johnno talked about the odd finds; he wanted clues.

And clues he got.

They were colorful, striped, and the current thought was their appearance had come with the rain. That was enough information for Gobi and with a quick stop at home to gather some supplies he set out. If the rain truly brought whatever left the eggs out of hiding then surely he was looking for locations cool and damp; any place that didn't risk drying out beneath Veld's harsh sunlight.

"The river is an idea... any shady spots to..." The young roo began to talk to themselves and address the lizard that sat on top of his head. "Maybe where I even first found you!" He spoke aloud, eyes glancing up and ears flicking as the lizard that had nestled in for the trip chirped.

"Keep your eyes out, ok?" Gobi gave a request, childhood imagination that fell on deaf ears. He knew Squeak wouldn't help look, but he could pretend he wasn't trekking out alone.

Then a thought occurred...

Just how far would he have to go?

He was certain others were looking as they were assigned the task while Gobi had merely overheard the request and gave in to curiosity.

"I did not think through how many snacks we might need..." An idle thought said out loud, the the worry in tone was minor at best. "To the river, it is then- at least then I can snack on any berries growing and cool off in the water!" With that he finally set a more exact course and began to wander southward; hopeful that the bank of the river might have good places to check and remedy some of the young roo's lack in foresight.

With a more solid idea in mind, he made for the river; Gobi was moving quickly to make it there before the day grew too warm or his stomach began to rumble.

One trek later and the spotted roo found themselves at the bend in the river; it was a little spot that was usually popular- unusually quiet today, however. Likely everyone was too busy or it was simply too hot; not everyone had the boundless energy of younger roos- or well, at least not as much energy as Gobi. The young had proven time and time again his energy didn't falter much until it was spent entirely.

Still, it was a hot day.

"Thank the rains we made it to the shade," Gobi spoke before collapsing beneath a shady canopy. The day had proven warmer than usual which might prove problematic as he still wasn't entirely sure what eggs he might be looking for. He had an idea based on what he overheard but... it's not like he saw one.

Would they be big? Small? Would the shell be soft or harder like a bird egg?

A few wonderings went through the young roo's head before, finally, he pulled out his journal. While still lazing beneath the shade he began to skim through the pages- just in case he had sketched something out of the ordinary before.

He had sketches of snake nests and their oblong off-white eggs.

A sketch of a nest on a branch; the eggs speckled blue.

Bubble nests formed by small river fish.

Even a nest that looked almost cocoon-like in nature; it belonged to the largest spider he had ever seen. Gobie remembered quickly retreating once its guardian grew too annoyed by his presence.

Nothing that stuck out as the described oddity Gobi overheard talk of, however.

"Colorful and striped huh...? Don't remember seeing anything like that before Squeak..." The spotted fenroo had finished leafing through their journal; no luck in some odd hope maybe they had seen such an oddity and simply forgotten. With a sigh, they closed the journal and glanced down at the gecko that had now moved to rest on their shoulder, "Guess we'll have to get searching huh?" They perked their ears, giving an excited grin.

He had rested in the shade long enough; it was time to get his paws dirty.

"If they started showing up cause of the rain we should check along the river first... it should have lots of shady spots that won't dry out so quickly." He spoke aloud, but paused his thought, "Though what if the rain caused whatever had it to lay it and then it needs the sun after to keep warm...?"

A pause.

"Maybe I should have asked Johnno some questions instead of just snooping..."

Another pause, before finally packing their journal away.

"Bah! Worst comes to worst we go back empty-handed and try again tomorrow" Gobi wouldn't let the thought of failure deter him from today.

After all, he was already out here.

Now that he had cooled off and possessed some renewed resolve he would really begin his search. If he was lucky he would find one; though he did have to think of what he would do... Should he leave it and mark down where it is? Bring it back...? The youngster hadn't thought that far ahead...

If he brought it back that might disturb research about where they are; if he left it then it might hatch or be eaten. In which case they might come back to no egg at all.

"I'll figure that part out if we even find one..." The young roo spoke to himself, bringing a paw up to scratch his gecko companion's chin, "Until then let's just look everywhere we can!" He gave a grin before bounding off into the underbrush of the Veld; the roos small form disappearing into the high grass. If one had been searching for him they might have thought he very well up and disappeared.

Which, to a wiser roo, might have also hinted at just how difficult this egg hunt might be.

A fact Gobi hadn't considered too fully until hours of no luck had passed; the sun hanging overhead and absolutely heating up the landscape until it was nigh unbearable.

"Awful..." The spotted youngster spoke out before collapsing on top of a stone that was tucked beneath a shade tree. "We've been at this for hours with no luck, Squeak..." Gobi felt the gecko crawl from the bag at his side to plop themselves down on top of his head. The small creature's curious eyes looked down at their companion's face.

Upside down; an attempt at cheering up.

Even if the gecko made for a sorry lookout they made for a decent laugh; much needed when luck had decided to make a specific task difficult.

"Maybe after a quick rest we'll try aga-" Gobi began to speak but soon enough a shuffle in the tall grass caught his attention. Curious the young roo went silent and continued to lay where he had flopped down. Something was shuffling closer in the nearby brush... he could allow himself to be a bit sidetracked.

Or he would have, had a huge monitor lizard not come into view- a multicolor-striped egg in its jaws... It looked like what Johnno had talked about and it was what Gobi had expected; at least it was for something he had never seen before.

So all this time while Gobi had been looking for a new discovery...

It seemed someone else had been hunting for their dinner.

"Hey!" The young roo jumped up with a start; he stood tall on the rock while pointing down at the egg in the lizard's mouth, "I think you've got something I need buddy!" Gobi gave an excited grin, with just a bit of mischief below the surface. In surprise the lizard halted; the monitor freezing in place as they were now faced with a loud creature that seemingly intended to take its prize.

For a moment neither party moved.

Then, in an instant, the chase was on.

As soon as the large monitor had turned tail to flee Gobi had hopped down from their place on the rock. In one fell swoop he even managed to scoop up Squeak and place them into the satchel at his side. The young roo bolted into a sprint as soon as his feet hit the ground. The high grass was seemingly no bother either; if anything it was proving to be a boon as when the lizard ran through the brush Gobi could tell exactly where they were.

He just hoped he could corner it and get the egg away in time.

Gobi also hoped it wouldn't get broken during the chase.

With every bob and weave through the brush the young roo was sure to keep on the monitor's tail. While he wasn't a big fan of taking the reptile's dinner he had set out to accomplish one specific thing; if he had to he'd leave the scaly monitor to find a new meal. Though the chase was proving to be difficult- the monitor was faster and shorter than Gobi. They were able to duck beneath branches or claw their way over slick stones much easier than the youngster could.

However, at some point, the lizard decided maybe this meal wasn't worth the trouble.

They dropped the egg and quickly scuttled away, almost causing Gobi to trip over the egg himself in the process!

But once it was secured the spotted roo wiped his brow and set down next to the end, letting out a winded huff. "Oh man... he gave me... a run for my denarii Squeak..." His words were broken up between breaths, but after a few moments of rest he could finally focus on what this hunt had been all about. Or, at least, what he hoped it had been all about.

There was a very real chance this wasn't the right type of egg...

Though it certainly looked correct...

"I think this is what Johnno was talking about... And if it's not, well, it's still a pretty cool find- eh?" Gobi chuckled, his gecko friend now poking their head out of the satchel at the roo's side. "Guess we got our answer to... I can't leave it, this probably isn't even where it came from anyhow..." A pause to ponder his thoughts...

If he left it there was a chance the monitor lizard would return.

Or something equally egg-hungry would get a hold of it.

He'd take it with them. After moving Squeak back to his shoulder Gobi took the time to shuffle a few things around in his bag- once enough space was made he placed the egg inside. Gently. It might be all shaken up from the chase so whatever care he could take from here on out the better- hoping to bring it back in one piece.

"Well, let's head back then... We have to show the others..." Gobi offered Squeak one scratch beneath the chin before finally beginning the trek back towards home.

While he was glad he had been successful in his hunt, Gobi was ready to be back. That lizard had well and truly given him the runaround and his bed sounded like a mighty comfy place to be right now.