"It's not Egypt, but it'll do..."

Thunk.

The sound of a heavy bag hitting the floor echoed through the cabin, and the girl nervously looked around, relieved that no one was with her. Sighing, she bent over her canvas bag, rummaging through it's contents until she found what she was looking for. She pulled it out and set it gently on the bed, next to the cage that held her snake, Halwir. It was a wooden case, with a leather handle and an inscription written in gold in the middle of it. The inscription read:


And in a smaller font, beneath that:


Ari wasn't particularly good at art, nor was it her favorite pastime, but her mother had given her this case, and she wasn't about to leave it in Egypt. Her mother. Tears welled up in her warm brown eyes as a fresh wave of grief washed over her, and she turned to the cage next to her, opening it and extracting Halwir from inside. She hung him around her neck, resting his head and tail on her shoulders. The snake let out a soft hiss, tickling her cheek with his tongue as he did so. Ari smiled faintly through the tears. Sometimes Halwir seemed to understand her, and once she had sworn he said Hello to her. It was crazy, but Hal was comforting, always knowing what to do to cheer her up.