Dinosaurs. There are living dinosaurs here.
That was a fact. He had seen them personally. Even run from a T. rex, probably, and jumped off a cliff because of it. The giant herbivores in the lagoon confirmed it. This world was full of creatures that, according to everything he knew, or thought he knew, should have been extinct millions of years ago.
Primitive, tribal humans coexisted with dinosaurs during the same period here. Kaira was living proof of this assertion, as was the brute. There were people here who lived much like cavemen, donning furs and wielding clubs, all without any visible technology. However, something about this scenario felt off. Dinosaurs and humans were not supposed to have lived side by side.
Even without clear memories, he knew this. He knew that humans dominated the planet in one era, and dinosaurs in another. He wasn't sure who came first; his intuition told him it was the dinosaurs, who came much earlier, but he knew, with an almost instinctive certainty, that the two didn't coexist at the same time.
There was no way the two species could coexist.
Unless...
'Unless I haven't gone back in time.'
The thought stopped him mid-step.
Kaira noticed he had stopped and turned, her eyebrows furrowed in a silent question. Her mouth opened, and her voice came out, heavy with concern.
"Everything alright, Hok?"
Hawke nodded distractedly, his mind still processing the revelation.
"Yes, but the correct spelling is Hawke." He corrected automatically, without really paying attention to what he was saying. "Haw-ke."
Kaira frowned, focused. "Ho... ki?"
"Hawke."
"Rauque?"
She was getting closer. "Almost right. Let's go."
She nodded, satisfied with the approval, and they continued walking. But now, as they walked, she tried to pronounce his name correctly, repeating it softly as she walked.
"Rauque... Rauque..., Hok is easier and cooler."
Hawke almost laughed. She was negotiating with herself which version to use.
'If I didn't go back in time... then where the hell am I?'
It wasn't Earth's prehistory. It couldn't be. The timeline didn't match. Dinosaurs and humans together were impossible in the context of Earth's evolution, unless all the science he knew was wrong, which was unlikely.
Another world.
The conclusion hit him like a punch in the gut.
I'm in another world. Literally another planet. Another reality. Somewhere completely different.
It made horribly perfect sense at the same time. It explained the dinosaurs. It explained the giant plants. It explained why everything seemed primitive but not exactly the same as the prehistory he knew from documentaries.
Because it wasn't prehistory. It was a completely different place, with its own rules, its own history, its own creatures.
'But how? How did I end up here?'
The question had no answer. It only generated more questions, in an endless spiral. That stone tomb? Magic? Advanced technology? Experiment gone wrong? Punishment? Accident?
And the system. That damned bugged system.
Hawke mentally activated the interface, and it floated in the corner of his vision as always.
```
EVOLVE! NEW LANGUAGE LEARNED
KAI'AN LANGUAGE; 79% PROFICIENCY
```
Still there. Nothing more was added except the language learned. Useless as always; except for the translation function, which had finally decided to work. But now, knowing that it at least translated languages, relieved him a little. It wasn't totally useless. It had some utility.
'This is part of how I ended up here. It has to be. This system, where it came from and what it's for, is the answer.'
Kaira made a low noise, drawing attention. She pointed ahead again, her eyebrows raised in a silent question. Her amber eyes met his with an intensity that was hard to ignore.
"Shall we go? We're almost there."
Hawke shook his head, pushing away the spiraling thoughts. There was no point in getting lost in theories now. He needed to focus on the present, on what lay ahead.
"Sorry. I'm coming."
Kaira turned and continued walking, but Hawke noticed she slowed her pace slightly. Adapting her rhythm to his. A small gesture, but significant. She wanted him to keep up. She wanted him to catch up.
Hawke continued, the club firm in his hand, his eyes attentive to every movement in the surrounding vegetation. The forest here was different, a little more open, with fewer ferns and more low bushes. The ground was firmer, more compacted. It almost looked like a trail.
"Another world. It can only be that."
The revelation was too great to fully process. Besides, he wouldn't be able to solve anything by thinking about it now. So he saved it for later, in a mental drawer called "investigate when you're not about to encounter an unknown tribe."
He had more immediate things to worry about.
Like getting to know Kaira's tribe. And hoping they wouldn't try to kill him in the process. Or that she wasn't leading him into an ambush.
'No paranoia. She doesn't seem like a liar. She seems... trustworthy, but as they say, appearances can be deceiving.'
He continued following her through the unusual forest, each step leading deeper into an environment, a world that wasn't his. Every tree, every plant, every sound was a reminder that he was far from home; if he ever had a home.
If he ever had a world that was his.
The memories remained empty. No familiar faces came to mind. No house, no city, no sense of belonging. Only the name: William Hawke. And loose knowledge, without context, like knowing what a dinosaur was, but not remembering having seen one before today.
But at least now some things were beginning to make sense. He had a name: Hawke. He had a companion: Kaira. He had a goal: to survive. And he had clues: dinosaurs, another world, a system that translated languages.
It was a good start.
Kaira suddenly stopped in front of him, her hand rising in a clear gesture: wait.
Hawke froze instantly, his senses on high alert. What was it? Another dinosaur? Had the brute woken up and followed them? Something worse?
But Kaira just pointed ahead, a proud smile on her face.
Hawke looked.
And saw.
Among the trees, a little clearing opened up. And in it...
Finally.