Rock. That was the name by which everyone knew that strange man who had been washed ashore unconscious one morning on the beach, when he was a young boy.
When they managed to wake him up, he didn't remember anything prior to the moment he opened his eyes. He didn't know even his own name.
But, without being aware of it, he had achieved something historic. He had been the first stranger to step on the New World, which would be discovered by Spanish explorers years later and named America.
...
Rock had been found by a native tribe.
Firstly, they thought he was an enemy, and they tried to kill him.
But then, a kid whose name was Bangoo stood up for him. He said he hadn't seen that man doing anything bad, and he convinced the men of the tribe to accept Rock as one of their own.
Rock appreciated what Bangoo had done for him, and soon the kid became the main link between Rock and the tribe.
Bangoo helped Rock to learn the customs of the tribe.
After a few months, Rock was completely a part of it.
...
One night, a wild jaguar came into the tribe's camp.
It was hungry and it was looking for food. Human food.
The whole tribe suddenly woke up when they heard the desperate screaming of a child.
The jaguar had leapt on the hut where Bangoo's family lived.
Before someone could do anything, Bangoo's parents had been fatally wounded by the animal.
Bangoo was about to share the same fate but, at that moment, Rock pounced on the jaguar.
After a fierce fight, Rock managed to knock the jaguar out. Just with his bare hands.
From that moment on, Rock's life changed completely.
On the one hand, he decided to take care of Bangoo. On the other one, the tribe's hunters' chief had seen the whole fight against the jaguar, and he knew that Rock was perfect for joining them.
Rock was forced to go through a hard training, but he became the tribe's stronger and most powerful man. Everybody said his muscles were as hard as a rock, and so he earned his nickname.
...
Rock had managed to be a happy man living amongst the tribe. But, of course, something would happen which would endanger his happy life.
The tribe's medicine-man (who was not much more than a doctor) had prepared a potion which he thought would be helpful for regaining memories, and Rock was the perfect guinea pig.
So, one night, Rock drank the potion. At first, it didn't seem to work.
The medicine-man was very disappointed, and Rock went to sleep like any other day.
But the potion did, in fact, work.
That night, Rock had a dream. It was a vague dream, but it looked quite real somehow.
He was in somewhere like a ship's hold.
Suddenly, two men entered in and started looking for something, not seeing him. They finally found what they were looking for. It was a sword with an eye in the middle of its blade. A living eye.
The two men left the hold.
At that moment, he heard two gunshots. He didn't know why, but that sound made him feel really sad.
Rock decided to go on deck to see what had happened.
He stuck his head out slightly so nobody could see him. A pirate had just killed a man and a woman, and the pirate crew was surrounding them.
Then, something really strange happened. The pirates and the corpses vanished and Rock suddenly felt cold in his feet. He looked down and discovered the reason. His feet were underwater. The ship was sinking.
At that moment, Rock suddenly woke up in his hut, awaking Bangoo in the process.
- What happens? – asked the sleepy boy, who was now a teenager.
- Don't worry, Bangoo. It's just…a nightmare. Go back to sleep.
- Ok, but don't wake me up again. – complained Bangoo.
Bangoo lay in bed again but Rock remained awake for a while, thinking about the dream he had just had.
The couple which had been murdered by the pirate looked quite familiar to him…and for some reason, he felt really sorry about their death.
He decided that he'd better not think very much about it and soon after he fell asleep.
...
The next morning, Rock told the medicine-man about his dream.
When he listened to Rock's words, he smiled really pleased. He explained that he thought that it hadn't been a dream, but a memory. A memory brought back by the potion.
Rock wasn't pretty sure about that, but he decided to find out more, so he asked the medicine-man to test the potion one more time.
And that night, Rock dreamed again.
This time, the dream was clearer and more pleasant.
He was on the deck of the same ship he had dreamed of the previous night. He was looking at the sea, illuminated by the midday sun, leaning on the rail.
His ears weren't focused on the sound of the sea waves, but on the conversation between two people near him.
- Listen to me, Catherine. I had been looking for something like this for years. Now I've finally found it.
- But don't you think it could be dangerous?
- Come on, woman, it is not alive.
- I'm just saying that maybe it is not a good idea to carry it in here, so close to our son.
- Nonsense! With this I can make the deal of my life. There's nothing more to be said. I'm putting it in the held.
Rock then turned around and saw what was worrying Catherine so much.
The man was heading down to the held. And he was holding a sword. A sword with an eye in the middle of its blade. The same sword that would be taken away by pirates that same night, not before killing the couple which had just argued.
Rock was lost in thought when the woman approached him and said:
- William, son, lunch is almost ready.
Once again, Rock suddenly woke up alongside Bangoo, back in America, in the present.
Fortunately, this time Bangoo remained asleep.
Now Rock remembered everything.
The couple arguing on the ship were his own parents, who would be killed by Cervantes, the pirate, that same night, just in order to get the sword which had excited his father so much.
And, what is more, Rock had had a real name. His name was William. William Adams.
He felt really furious.
The thought of Cervantes in front of his parents' bodies broke his heart.
Rock decided he had to do something.
He was willing to go in search of the pirate and the sword. His greatest wish at that moment was to kill the man who had murdered his parents, and to recover the treasure he had stolen from them.
With all these thoughts in his mind, he looked at Bangoo, who was quietly sleeping.
But that didn't make him doubt about his will. On the contrary, he was motivated by the fact of having someone to come back with when he fulfilled his goal. Someone to be happy with.
Rock was determined. Nothing could stop him.
Nothing...but the huge ocean separating him from the continent where the sword presumably was.