Author's note 1:

Welp, here we go again, boiiiiiiiissss.

This chapter is again another introductory one, I'd like to keep it steady before we go in Michael Bay style, y'know?

One sec.

"Knocks on a door before opening it slightly"

San! You're okay with this pattern, or not?

"Grabs gun behind his back just in case things go crazy"

Author-san (glaring): No, actually. I've had enough quite enough of your tomfoolery. [Chains around wrists clink as he points at Gino] I want me some action in this chapter! And better working conditi— [Notices gun and flinches] I-I mean, OF COURSE I'm fine with it! I'm 100% on board with any decision you make, chief!

Guud boi.

We'll be borrowing a concept from another story I've cited multiple times (duh).

"D" for days, "M" for months, "Y" for years.

Also, the SJ in the title means "Samuel's Journey", for multiple characters, aye?

Yep, we'll be dragging this thing for a while! And sorry for the delay (sad face).

Enjoy!

This was strange...

Normally, his vegetative state during sleeping brought dreams, fragments of memories, or even apprehensive lucid encounters. If dreams were a reflection of the human subconscious, which could very well wish to warn its host about a future event, then why wasn't he experiencing one? Where were his joys? His achievements? His fears? Especially his fears, reminding him of what value his minuscule life held in the grand scheme of things.

A void...

A perfectly empty, peaceful, calm, and black void.

Maybe he coul-

He gasped; or rather, an inner echo of himself did.

He stood before a burning village.

Small, broken, and burning huts littered the floor, and tiny insects scrambled through the air in a buzz to escape their imminent demise. The perpetrators?

Apes...

Apes wearing armour and wielding swords and spears fought each other, war paint of different kinds tinting their faces as if to indicate their tribe of origin. Apes screamed, apes roared, apes died.

He watched a particularly young-looking ape repell many attackers, showing unnatural skills a warrior of his age shouldn't possess.

But then...

SCHLK!

...A spear impaled the ape from behind, piercing through his lightweight armour. The mammal spat blood, surprised, and fell to his knees. The other warrior yanked his weapon out of his back, leaving him to rot in an accumulating puddle of his own making. He closed his eyes and let himself go, falling in front of the only unaffected spectator and finally accepting the call of his God.

"Let me out..." He croaked, his voice barely a whisper.

The cacophony increased in volume, drowning his ears.

"Let me out." He said, this time more clearly, gritting his teeth.

They wouldn't stop...

They were so, so, LOUD!

Suddenly, from the void in front of him, a monster appeared and drew near, its deep, purple eyes boring into him.

Death, Death, DEATH!

"LET ME OUT!"

He raised his hand and lunged for the creature's throat.

Everything in the next ten seconds or so was nothing more than a blurry mess. Samuel was suspended in a metaphorical void in one instance, and in the next, he was breathing deeply. Trying to accommodate his vision to the burst of natural light wasn't an easy task to begin with, and his abrupt awakening just made things worse.

When the world around him came into focus, he was greeted with... a forest with giant trees?

As he recollected the memories of the previous night, Samuel almost mistook the environment for a forest in Colorado. However, this forest appeared more brown-ish when it came to the trees' texture, and this factor, combined with the unnatural light, pushed the security guard into classifying the area as a swamp.

A swamp...

How the hell did he end up in a swamp?

Before he could reflect further, his eyes caught sight of something baffling. Samuel frowned. Are those... giant mushrooms?

Unless he had somehow absorbed narcotic substances, those were indeed giant mushroom towers. They stood tall and protruded high into the air, casting great shadows onto the ground. Samuel had never played Super Mario in his teenage years; those Nintendo platform games required too much brain for his tastes.

Unless it was Crash Bandicoot or Spyro the Dragon, that is...

Only then did he notice the fabric of something obscuring a bit of his vision; Samuel ran his hands on the material and recognized a certain silkiness. He raised his arms and was met with a deep shade of green. Lowering his vision further, he noticed grey pants and brown shoes. The realization finally dawned on him, and it only increased his confusion.

He was wearing the same outfit he brought with him as he headed towards the military base.

Energy- or matter, in this case -could not be destroyed or created; even Samuel knew this basic law of physics. If someone had suddenly decided to change his clothes and leave him stranded below this giant tree, it was a sick joke for sure. However, this couldn't possibly be the correct explanation. Where was the guy who did this? It made absolutely no sense.

Looking to his left, Samuel's worries slightly dissipated; Bullet was laying on the ground, still unconscious but alive, as indicated by the dog's chest expanding and compressing. If Bullet was there too, then the portal must have really done some crazy stuff and transported them to God-knew where. The security guard hoped this wouldn't take a turn for the worse, like those old SCI-FI movies from the 80-90s.

At least he wasn't alone...

Sudden movement in front of him awakened the rest of his senses. Samuel shifted his gaze on the cause, and his eyes widened. To say he was experiencing a total black-out would be an understatement... because he was so fucking confused.

It couldn't be possible...

An ape (Samuel had no other species in mind to classify the animal with), was standing in an almost erect posture about fifteen meters from his position, watching him with such a humanized expression. It wore armour and sported a sheathed spear on its back. Strange markings adorned its face, composed of colours such as yellow, light-blue, and white. The upper part was simply purple, the original shade of its skin, perhaps.

Am I in Planet of the Apes or something?

Other than the attire reminiscent of humans from past centuries and the peculiar gaze the animal displayed, no other sign of intelligence was immediately obvious. Its species appeared to vary between a chimp and a bonobo; judging from a few of its hidden muscles, it must have had at least the strength of a gorilla, give or take. It also possessed a long tail, which only made it harder to properly catalogue it.

It was only when Samuel took a step back, that something unforeseeable happened.

The animal's mouth opened. "W-what are you?" It asked.

Samuel froze in place, his brain frying as it tried to process what he had just witnessed. It hadn't been his imagination, right? The ape really set those canines of his into motion and exploited the vibrations of his throat to produce words? And not just words, but human words. The language was clearly English, he could recognize it anywhere. Not only was this ape evolved enough to stand upright, but it could also speak as coherently as any other member of Samuel's kind.

Without thinking about it, the security guard snatched his P-90 from the ground and aimed it at the animal. "Stay back!" He barked. Am I really talking to an ape? I must be going insane. "Take another step, and I'll blow your brains out!" He must have looked stupid, holding a rifle while wearing the poncho. But looks certainly didn't matter in front of the ape, not that it could understand the meaning behind the black and white gear Samuel previously wore.

Perhaps the ape was more confused than him, seeing how it blinked several times in response to Samuel's threat. "Your club doesn't seem effective, creature. My spear will beat that easily."

Really? First alien contact on both sides, and this is where the conversation was headed?

"It's not a club. It's... it's..." Samuel paused to think of a suitable explanation. "It's a boom-stick." He shook his head, mentally sighing. Was he really explaining how a rifle worked to a fucking ape? "Just know that if I press the trigger, it'll shoot a tiny arrow many times faster than a bow. You won't have time to react, trust me." He shifted his stance. "Now, where the fuck am I?"

The ape licked its lips, more out of nervousness than it staring at a nice meal. "You are in the Swamps. South-East from the Valley of Avalar."

What kind of bull-shit answer was that? Still, it led Samuel to connect the dots and realize that he and Bullet had somehow crossed the portal and were stranded God-knew where. If this was another universe, then he could have potentially just threatened one of the few 'people' willing to listen and maybe help him.

"Not the inner location." Samuel attempted to correct, voice shaking from the recent realization. "What planet is this? Are we still on Earth? Is that what you people call it?"

The ape scratched the back of its head in confusion and coughed. "I'm... not really sure what you're asking me, creature."

Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck. FUCK!

He was stranded, away from everything he knew and held dear. But there had to be a way back, right? Maybe he had been spat a few kilometers away from the portal? Or... maybe this ape had already brought him here from there? Was this animal responsible his abrupt awakening? A brief surge of anger made him tighten his grip on the rifle, but it dissipated as his rational side won the infuriating battle.

Samuel opened his mouth to explain... though not a single word was uttered out. He realized he couldn't just ask about a giant white portal leading to another dimension. The technological disparity between his species and the apes could be in the hundreds of years. If Katherine's lessons were accurate, Samuel could very well classify the armour as medieval equipment; the design matched the materials used at the time, even if the markings were more akin to tribe-like origins.

The spear looked less developed, perhaps belonging to cave-men; although the angle didn't allow Samuel to take a better look at it, so he settled on the medieval period for it as well.

The human realized the ape had been speaking a bit too late, for he missed a chunk of the first sentence.

"...so, look..." It offered a nervous grin, yellow canines glinting. Samuel almost vomited at how bad and dirty they appeared; they would have surely been a nightmare even for the most patient of dentists. "Maybe we got off on the wrong foot. You seem to be civilized and well-mannered. Plus, you haven't freaked out at the mere sight of me like those scalies often do. Except for throwing me against that tree-" It pointed its thumb behind it. "-over there, that is... How strong is your species anyway?" It wiggled its hands left and right. "Bah! Sorry for my ramblings. My name's Kalop, and you are?"

Up until now, their conversation had been 'a little' embarassing and out of this world (quite literally). What if he could play it right, though? 'Kalop', as the ape designated itself- or himself, rather; he sounded and looked male enough- could be the key to survive out there. Hell, Samuel could even ask if he had met or spotted other humans. The security guard couldn't possibly be the only expatriate, right?

But the last part of Kalop's rambling caught Samuel's attention. What did the ape mean when he said the human had thrown him against a tree? Did drugs exist in this universe too, and the primate had decided to smoke some good stuff before meeting the Homo Sapiens? Humans weren't strong, being the weakest great ape and one of the weakest animals in general. Whatever shortcomings Samuel's species suffered from, their intelligence would cover through craftsmanship.

Still, he let that strange remark go, and swallowed his saliva before properly answering. "Samuel, Samuel O'Connell."

"Huh." The primate tilted his head. "You have two names? Fascinating..."

For fuck's sake.

"Just... call me Samuel."

Kalop's gaze wandered up and down. He seemed to be closely scrutinizing the man. "You're similar to apes, but you're balder; there's little to no fur on your body, save for the head, from what I can see. A... furless ape, I guess. Forgive my question, but... what are you?"

"I am a human."

"A hooman?"

Samuel sighed. "No, it's pronounced 'human.'" Understanding Kalop wouldn't be so much a threat, the man fully lowered his weapon and checked his pockets. He still retained most of the equipment the base had ensured him: a few painkillers should a gunfight ensue, magazines for his P-90, a flashlight, and a flare gun. It was one of those guns specifically created to shoot coloured flares in the air; in Samuel's case, it was red. He had about three shots in total; not much, but he could always find a use for them.

"I have never seen your kind before."

Samuel kneeled beside Bullet, he ran a hand over the dog's chest and nodded. "I... my species have always preferred isolation. W-we live far away from these lands." Time to release the bait. "My team and I were tasked to explore new landmarks, but-I lost contact with them, and woke up here. Can't remember much of what happened."

"Are you talking about those two other humans we found while entering the swamp?"

The human's eyes shifted on the ape immediately.

Bingo.

"Yeah!" His tone was sincere now. "There were actually a few more with me, but that's a good start. Where are they?"

He didn't like the wince on Kalop's face, not one bit. "The Followers reached them before we could. Th-they are gone." Kalop produced something from his leathered pocket. Slowly, with Samuel's permission, the ape walked closer to the human. He laid his palm open, and let Samuel gather the bloodied object.

It was Grant's ID, and if the blood was anything worthwhile to consider, then he was truly gone.

"Who was the other one?"

"Not sure. He was dressed in a strange green attire, similar to yours."

Must be Heckler, then.

A soft whine caught their attention. Bullet raised his snout and licked his chops, yawning in the process. "Hey, boy." Samuel scratched his chin, making the shepherd fully wake up and rumble in appreciation of the kind gesture. However, as soon as his sharp eyes landed on the ape crouched beside his owner, the dog jumped to his four feet and growled. Kalop coughed, not expecting such a hostile reaction, and walked backwards a few steps.

"Stand down, Bullet. He's not a threat."

Bullet glanced at his owner; after a moment he shut his mouth and plopped his butt down on the ground. He settled for sniffing the air and analyzing their strange surroundings.

Noticing the expression on the ape's face and expecting the same question from before, Samuel anticipated him by answering. "He's a german shepherd, a dog. Man's best friend." Bullet barked at his master, as if voicing his agreement with his remark.

"Listen..." The man sighed. "I'm stranded in unknown territory, maybe other members of my expedition are alive and I don't know where they could be. Do you think you could help me by offering me a refuge? Where I come from, we have this thing called the 'Right of political asylum'. It's a bit of an old concept, but basically, if someone ever finds themselves persecuted, by their own rulers, they can seek refuge under another sovereign authority. In my case, it's about representing another species which could be persecuted by others. I heard you mentioning how many 'scalies' would freak out at the mere sight of you." Samuel narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean by scalies, anyway?"

"Boy, you must be from very far away!" Kalop pointed a finger at his chest. "You are in the Dragon Realms, home of the dragons and the Purple Dragon himself, saviour of this reality."

Oh.

Ohhhhhh.

Well...

"By Purple Dragon, do you mean..."

"Yes, sir! Spyro, Spyro the Dragon, wielder of all elements..." Kalop shrugged. "Well, maybe not all elements, but... you get the idea."

...shit.

It wasn't bad enough he was transported into another world by a band of crazy knock-off scientists coming straight from a SCI-FI movie, Samuel had also been transported into a fucking video game. Spyro, Spyro the Dragon. The name invoked memories from Samuel's late teen-hood, memories of him starting to explore other parts of his life, like drinking and sex, but also memories of standing until past mid-night with his friends in front of a PS2 or Xbox.

One of the games his past self had quite enjoyed was, in fact, Spyro the Dragon. Samuel had always fancied story-based products, whether they may have been video games or books. In that aspect, he regarded the Legend of Spyro trilogy superior to the original version, while the original had better mechanics and less boring combat. Roasting enemies in two or three shots could certainly be funnier instead of mindlessly punching the circle button to slap enemies.

"Hey, how do you know him if you said your team was exploring unknown territory?"

He gritted his teeth together in response.

"Figurately speaking. No land touched by my kind is considered unexplored and thus unknown. What about my request?"

Kalop glanced elsewhere. "What you described sounds like aimed politics out of my reach. I'm a soldier, not a noble. We could always guide you to Kodak and let the Council or our King decide."

"Kodak? What's that?"

The ape's eyes lit up. "Kodak is our sanctuary, the last safe fortress for apes to live their lives as they best see fit. Our community is still growing, barely reaching two thousand members. However, more apes are joining our ranks each day. We're a peaceful force, fighting only when it's required to protect our future."

"I thought the Dark Master was your boss?"

Kalop chuckled. "We may despise the Purple Dragon for all the death he has caused, but we thank him for gifting us with the most important thing: free will. We're no puppets, we don't serve anyone. We'd rather die than going back to the old days. The Council is going to try and establish contact with the dragons someday. It's going to be a challenge attempting to communicate after all we've done, but it's either that or another war. My kind is tired, Samuel. We just want peace."

Samuel at least knew he could trust this specific branch of the apes. He remembered how Kalop talked about the 'Followers'. The past is never forgotten, never fully left behind. Ideas spread like a virus; they infect people and plague them for the rest of their life. And when someone dies? They convince their progeny to follow said ideas first.

Still, he could seek shelter amongst these apes and gather ideas before he could begin searching for the other members of his team. And then, he'd do everything in his power to aid the eggheads as they sought a way back home. He had to return to his family. Nothing else mattered.

Making his decision, he rose to his full height and nodded at the ape. "Lead the way." Samuel was one to recognize when he simply had no choice.

"My expedition is probably waiting for my return. I was tasked with making sure no Follower would ambush us on the path ahead." Kalop walked a few steps before stopping and looking over his shoulder. "This way. It will be hard to explain your arrival, but... new surprises just happen to arrive every day."

Samuel took a deep breath; calling Bullet to his side, he stuck close to Kalop.

Thankfully, the hood of his poncho shielded him from the sun above.

If he had to be honest, the absence of modern technology did not re-awaken ancient animal instincts and an inner sense of peace as many had speculated. Samuel had often participated in such circles, wondering if a return to worse living conditions would actually benefit humanity. Or as Italians say, 'It was better when we lived worse'.

In some ways, the security guard agreed. He'd like to still be a monkey (not unlike his new found companion), climb trees, eat bananas, and simply feel free. Yet, he was a slave of fashion, just like the rest of his generation. And even though Samuel had promised not to ever follow them, a choice always presented itself when you least expected it: 'Evolve, or remain free and eat bananas on trees'.

But one instinct was shared across the entire animal kingdom, which the humans still retained to this day: curiosity.

Samuel and Kalop hopped over a fallen log, while Bullet ran around it and immediately returned to his master's side, panting heavily. The former cocked his hood at the ape. "Heard you muttering about a 'Yarath' a few times. Who's that?"

"Ah!" Kalop sent him a sharp, toothy grin. "Yarath is our deity. We call him 'The First Ape', our creator and God. The scalies might not accept this side of the story, but Yarath actually made a deal with their Ancestors during the Dawn of Time. When the world as we know it came to be, our species were put on opposite sides. Each faction knew a war would be inevitable, although the Shamans always received precise instructions. When conflicts between our kinds ceased, we'd know the time to unite would be upon us. Do you see the mark on my face?" He pointed a finger at his cheeks. "This is Yarath's mark. The Followers deem us traitors and heretics; for them, the mark shall be used only when the dragons are eradicated. They purposely misread the Prophecy for their twisted ideals and goals. But Kodak knows peace is more than just a fleeting possibility."

"So, you're monotheists?"

"Mono-what?"

The human chuckled. Here comes the first cultural barrier with different words crafted by us.

"Monotheism. It means you believe in a single deity. The contrary is Polytheism; a word used to describe a cultural group believing in multiple Gods."

"Huh, never heard of that term." Kalop gesticulated with his hands. "I suppose, then, that yes. We are monotheists."

Discussing radical differences between their two species certainly satiated the human's curiosity, for while he wasn't a researcher, this sentiment still brought every Homo Sapiens together. The hunger for knowledge was what eventually enabled the humans to populate the entire planet and establish their position at the top of the food chain. Samuel's species could only march forward and make progress; there was no other logical path available.

He was about to ask another question regarding the apes' culture when a strange and glinting object caught his attention.

A cluster of crystals, pink and triangular, rested beside a rock. It was quite different from the specimen the military base had previously acquired during their first expedition. Samuel remembered the moments before his blackout: his duty, his fears, his pain... his nightmares. A normal individual would have reacted with apprehension or fear. So he did not know what had compelled him to rotate his gun of 180 degrees and pound it on the crystal.

Surprisingly, the material was crushed rather easily, as the human expected it to be as resilient as stone. Smaller pieces fell on the ground, each possessing a different colour, varying from green, red, and blue. He bent down and scanned the objects, attempting to associate them with the base's sample.

But not a single crystal matched with what they obtained...

"Ah, yes." Kalop glanced at the artifacts in annoyance, rolling his eyes and waving his hand. "The gift of the scalies' Ancestors. On that front, I'm quite jealous; why couldn't Yarath have done the same? Then again, the Shamans came to the conclusion that Yarath wished for us to demonstrate our honour without holy intervention. I deem us apes as more honourable fighters in that regard."

The security guard's quadruped companion tip-toed to his owner's side; Bullet inclined his posture so he could examine the broken pieces while also standing up. He finished his check-up by sniffing and raising his head back up to whine. It wasn't a scared whine by any means, it was merely an inquisitive noise to express his concern over something he couldn't possibly understand.

Samuel slowly reached out and clutched onto the nearest red crystal. If his memories were anything worthy to consider, he expected the swirling energy inside of the artifact to travel across his arm like the specimen back at the military base had done. Instead, as fifteen seconds passed, he realized the colour hadn't shifted into a dull grey. He didn't feel any different from before; no changes in his health, no strange abilities coming straight out of a 'fanfiction' or something, and most importantly (and thankfully), no excruciating pain wracking his body.

"Sorry to disappoint you, Samuel." The human looked over his shoulder and crossed gazes with a grinning Kalop, sharp teeth glinting in the spectral atmosphere. "But the Spirit Gems can only be consumed by dragons. We tried everything to harness their power for ourselves and for Malefor. However, it seems that they are soul-bound to their species."

Sighing in both relief and disappointment, the security guard left the shard right where it fell. He joined the ape and continued walking with him, often attempting to formulate an idea of how he had changed clothes to pass the time and kill boredom. It was one thing to enter a portal and being spat elsewhere, but it was another to casually switch clothes. And not just random clothes, but clothes he had previously wore too.

Samuel's favourite colour was green; he didn't know why, but green always stuck with him since his youth. Among the other colours he despised, there was purple. Quite the poetic choice, for he had lots of fun as a sixteen-year-old boy playing Spyro the Dragon and other games on the PS2. For Samuel, the poncho he wore wasn't merely a garment to cover his body with...

It was a fortress, and the green only allowed him to feel stronger and more confident in himself.

His thoughts were abruptly cut short by Kalop raising his arm over the human's belly. The ape was trying to put a barrier between Samuel and whatever resided on the other side of the bushes. The result left much to be desired... in fact, it was one-hundred percent comical. The animal's height plateaued at Samuel's pelvis, a height that made him a dwarf compared to Samuel.

"They are over there." Kalop lowered his arm. "I'll try to talk to them and explain the situation. You and... uh, Bullet, right?" At a nod, he continued. "Just wait until I call you over, alright?"

Samuel exploited the moment to sit his ass down and massaging his sore feet from the great distance he and Kalop had crossed in such a small window of time. His german shepherd simply licked his chops and posed his snout over his crossed legs, the human slowly tracing patterns over Bullet's forehead as to do literally anything while waiting. Movement eventually pigued his interest, and he inclined his face forward to watch a multitude of apes conversing with each other, spotting Kalop gesticulating to a giant of a primate.

Now that he could properly scan each member of Kalop's species, the Homo Sapiens could discern small, medium, and big primates. The biggest one was the leader, holding what he could only classify as a sort-of magical sledge-hammer, the upper side swirling with fire energy. Samuel saw them talking in plain English, while also emitting grunts, chirps, or hoots, as apes back home would do.

The humanoid display brought melancholy to the security guard. He was a simple man, nothing more, who wanted to re-embrace his wife and infant son. In that moment, he was so fucking afraid; afraid of dying, afraid of losing everything that was dear to him, afraid of never seeing his family again...

...afraid of disappointing them.

Kalop eventually shrugged, and raised a finger to point at the bushes the human was exploiting as hideout. All the apes shifted their gazes onto them, expressions alternating between curiosity, confusion, and suspicion. "You can come out now! Both of you." The former ape called out, canines glinting in a toothy smirk as he glanced at his companions.

The main reaction as he walked out of the bushes was, as expected, shock. Shock at the reveal of a species so alien compared to what these apes knew, shock at how this specimen was very tall, and finally, shock at his virtual lack of fur. Samuel wasn't a reptilian fellow, nor was he a common mammal to this dimension.

A few strange looks were shot Bullet's way too, although most of the staring was reserved for the security guard alone.

Samuel counted about fifteen apes, Kalop included. Most of the group was composed of warriors carrying all sorts of weapons: from a rudimentary sledge-hammer (as in, one without incantations), to swords and spears. The leader of the group was probably the one in the middle: a giant primate, whose muscles would make envious even the most famous body builders back home. His proportions were unique, very much in contrast with the tiny subordinates he commanded... though, two or three of them were actually medium-sized.

The variations of the lesser categories were negligible as Samuel was still taller when standing fully erect.

He dropped his shoulders, shielded his P-90 from view behind the back of his grey pants (which was a pain in the ass to do), and raised his hand towards the tallest primate. "Hello. My name is Samuel." Despite residing in an alternate reality, manners were surely an important trait to retain. If Kalop's actions were a general example of his people's current mentality, honourable displays couldn't be any less cardinal for a proper first-contact scenario.

But the wide gap between their cultures became clear the moment Samuel realized the brute was simply staring at his furless hand. The ape almost appeared dumbstruck, eyes narrowed and mouth slightly agape. The rest of his kin adhered to this pattern, muttering at each other or individually grunting in pure confusion.

"It's a human custom." Samuel attempted to explain. "We usually do this with new acquaintances. T-to show mutual respect, that is. You just shake it up and down a bit."

Samuel's eyes widened when the free giant hand was brought up.

Maybe he had slightly miscalculated their different sizes...

His furless hand was slowly engulfed by the brute's bigger one. The primate did as he was asked, shaking them up and down.

The human gasped.

A flash of blinding light filled his vision-

It was an expansive room made of blood, sweat, and tears; built after their race had suffered so much in a meaningless, everlasting conflict.

Boris kneeled, a few of his smaller lieutenants standing at his sides doing the same.

Another ape with red-ish fur, a slightly bald forehead, and a giant oblique scar on his chest, huffed. "Remember your orders. They will save you."

"It shall be done, my Lord."

A single name echoed throughout this blurred landscape.

"SKAR."

Another flash brought him back to the present.

"My name is Boris."

Samuel jumped back, eyes frantically darting left and right in the aftershock. He was still there, the apes were still there, and Bullet was still there as well, the shepherd rushing to his master's side and barking at him. Whatever had happened to him, the dog seemed to have detected through some sort of inner instinct. Bullet was now nudging the security guard's hand with his snout, offering whatever small emotional support he could administer to the human.

"What have you done to him?"

"Nothing. I just did as he asked: I shook his hand."

"Did you apply too much pressure? You could have crushed it! For all we know, his species' durability could be low compared to ours."

The exchange wasn't registered by his brain, as it was too busy attempting to discern reality from the apparent lucid dream he had just waltzed into. Samuel shifted, gaze settling onto the palm of his hands. His clothes' green conjured positive emotions, a last-ditched effort to properly calm down his state of mind. However, the aftermath of this strange event fully kicked in, making chills travel down the human's spine.

When the human could finally think clearly, he took deep breaths and closed his eyes.

Keep it easy, man.

No matter how many times he tried to rationalize that strange vision, it simply did not make sense! However, what he could put together, was what triggered it. Samuel had visited magicians or wizards reading into someone's future through the rather simple act of playing with cards. He had also experienced a spiritual seance with those tacky and funny animated orbs producing fake smoke. Thirty-fucking-bucks for that shit, but at least Katherine had quite enjoyed it. So, he could let it pass.

All those exhibitionists shared a common trait: They had made skin contact with their clients.

However unrealistic it may have seemed, by touching Boris, he had generated a vision. His memories summoned the description of Kalop about a very specific trait of Kodak's society: the fact it was a monarchy. This King, this... Skar... was it really his name? Samuel closed his fists tight, slightly lifting his head to look at the bantering primates. His incredulity slowly morphed into fear; Kalop had mentioned how he was thrown across a great distance, and then he had asked how durable humans truly were.

Was the nightmare he experienced before waking up real? Had he wrapped his hand around Kalop's throat when he thought he was defending himself against a monster?

N-no. No, no, no. It can't be real... right?

He refused to believe it.

Despite all the evidence pointing towards a form of 'Extra Sensory Perception', and some kind of super-strength factor added on top of it, it was all an overused formula in fiction he had seen too many times already. Perhaps deep down he knew something had changed him during his arrival, but a man from the 21st century, no matter if a believer or an atheist, always accepted rational proofs first.

Samuel was a mundane human being.

No more, no less.

"I-It's okay." His smile was a slightly raised thin line. "You just squeezed my hand a little too hard." The last thing Samuel needed, was these apes to assume he was a batshit crazy motherfucker. He could worry about playing Jesus Christ later, especially when he needed all the help he could find.

Boris' throat rumbled. "So, you're a human, correct?" The brute did not wait for a confirmation to his redundant question. "And I've heard from Kalop that you have requested an audience with his highness, King Skar."

The human's eyes widened by a fraction, which thankfully was enough for Boris not to notice.

He bore his sharp teeth at the sky. "It's well over in the afternoon, and we're still stuck in this cursed swamp. We'll find a way out, construct a proper camp for us to rest, and talk about your demands then." The ape turned around. "Give the human something to drink; I do not wish for him to expire before we reach Kodak."

Only after a few seconds did he realize one of the smaller apes, carrying baskets on their backs, was offering him a waterskin.

The thirst finally caught him off-guard, so he snatched the object from the ape's hand, thanking him (and also being careful not to touch him), and gulped the liquid down...

...only to spit it out.

W-what the fuck?

Acid, all he could taste was acid... and another taste being a mix of sand and... dust? It rolled quite bad on his tongue, his taste buds were on fire. He sent an apologetic smile the little ape's way. "Heh, sorry. We-uh... we humans have invented devices to purify water from most of its natural bad elements. It's common back home, I've gotta..." Samuel paused. "I've gotta get used to it."

The little primate shrugged and nodded, joining his other buddy in counting the supplies they had accumulated.

Noticing the other apes- minus Kalop and a strange old primate beside him- giving him weird glances, he adjusted the hood of his poncho and kept drinking. Bullet whined below him, so he sighed in response and kneeled in front of the dog. "Yeah, yeah, you big mutt. Here."

Cultural differences and technological gaps were a bitch.

Author's note 2:

You know, I wanted to immediately execute a plot event, which will be crucial to the story as a whole, in this chapter. However, as I reached five thousand words, I thought to myself: "Why don't I simply make this its own thing, so we can get some revelations, action, etc., in the next one?"

Guess it is another exposition dump chapter!

We can at least see the first concepts for my version of an Isekai-ed human in Spyro.

But why the fuck don't people make a scene, when they write a Humans in Spyro story, where they show how resources are so fucking bad compared to ours? Like, water would be shit! And the food? Bleh.

Also, an important announcement!

I may have secured a sort of partnership with an artist to produce various pieces inspired by this story. I will soon update a temporarily Author's note acting as chapter with all the info before deleting it with the appropriate next chapter. So, expect big things ahead as we expand the signature lore of this fanfiction!

Until next time!

Gino out!