Where is she taking me? Where is the village? How can she go so far from the village, and alone, no less? Was that man with her?
The questions piled up in his head, without answers. The system offered no help beyond the translation; and even that had appeared out of nowhere, without explanation. Why was it working now and not before? What was the logic behind it?
Hawke expected to see smoke from campfires, hear voices, some sign of civilization. Anything to indicate that they weren't just walking in circles through the endless forest. But there was only more forest. More giant ferns. More moss covering fallen trunks. More strange sounds coming from all directions; distant squeaks, flapping wings, occasional roars that made the ground tremble slightly.
Then Kaira stopped.
She raised her hand in a universal "wait a minute" gesture. Her amber eyes narrowed, focusing on something ahead. Then she crouched down, moving slowly among some dense bushes with a feline grace that contrasted with her curvaceous body.
Hawke followed her, mimicking the movement, frowning. What had she seen?
And then he saw.
A nest.
But it wasn't a bird's nest, no. It was enormous, the size of a dining table, made of thick branches intertwined with a technique that seemed almost architectural. Lined with broad leaves and soft moss, forming a deep and comfortable bed. And inside it...
Eggs.
Three of them, each the size greater than one basketball. The shell had a greenish hue with dark brown spots, almost like camouflage. From afar, they looked like stones, but the perfect oval shape gave away what they were.
Dinosaur eggs. Or some other large creature's. Very large.
Hawke's heart raced. Mother nearby? Father? Some angry parent who wouldn't like seeing strangers messing with the offspring? Kaira looked around with extreme care. Her eyes scanned the area in slow, methodical movements, searching for the mother, probably. Or the father. Anything that might be protecting the nest. Her ears picked up every sound.
Nothing. Just the normal sounds of the forest. Insects buzzing in the distance. Unknown birds singing high above. Wind rustling through the leaves.
She turned to Hawke and put her finger to her lips. Silence. Then she pointed at him, then at the ground. A signal for him to stay there, on watch.
'So that's it? She brought me here to steal eggs?'
It made sense, in a way. Eggs were good food. Lots of protein, relatively easy to transport, and you didn't need to hunt. In a primitive world, you got food wherever you found it. And dinosaur eggs probably fed a person well. Or several.
Kaira approached the nest with slow, careful movements. Each step was calculated, each landing testing the ground before transferring her weight. She looked like a predator closing in on its prey, only the prey was defenseless eggs.
Then, to Hawke's surprise, she put her hands between her breasts.
'Whoa. Wait, not here. Should I look away or…? What…'
Her enormous breasts moved with the gesture, and for a moment Hawke looked away out of pure social reflex, even knowing that there probably weren't any social rules in that world. When he looked back, she was pulling something.
A bag. Made of animal skin, with visible seams and a braided leather handle. Relatively large, but all crumpled, folded several times to fit into that tight space.
'Ah. That's what was giving it all that volume. An empty bag stuffed in there.'
The realization came with a relief at being right. Of course. That size couldn't be natural, even in a strange world, the laws of biology had to be minimally respected. It was a bag. Just a bag.
'Of course it was a bag. What else could it be?'
Kaira carefully opened the bag, revealing its dark and spacious interior. She began placing the eggs inside with precise movements. First, she added some branches and leaves. Then, she interspersed the eggs with moss from the nest to cushion them and prevent any breakage.
One egg slid inside with a soft "thump." Two eggs followed with another "thump." Finally, the last egg disappeared into the bag, which was now noticeably fuller.
All the eggs from the nest were now in the bag.
Kaira closed the bag's mouth, tying it with a leather strap that hung from the handle. Then she looked at the result with obvious satisfaction; a small smile appeared at the corner of her mouth, her eyes shining with accomplishment.
And the bag was now heavy. You could tell by the way she held it, her arms a little tense with the weight, her muscles outlined under her tanned skin. Three eggs that size must weigh a lot.
Hawke approached, extending his hands in a gesture of offer.
"Let me carry it. It's heavy."
She looked at him. Then at the bag. Then back at him.
And she pulled the bag close to her body, hugging it against her breasts, her eyes widening slightly. She even let out a slight growl, a low, guttural sound that came from deep in her throat.
'She thinks I'm going to steal?'
The reaction was kind of... offensive? But also kind of understandable. They had met about half an hour ago. In a world where violence seemed to be the norm, where the first human she saw besides those from the tribe had tried to drag her by the hair. And food was valuable; it was her food, her prey. She was the one who had found the nest. She was the one who had taken the risk. It made sense not to trust a stranger with something so precious.
"Okay, okay."
She raised her hands in a gesture of surrender, taking a step back. Then another, just to make sure the message had been received.
"You carry it. No problem."
She relaxed a little, but kept the bag tightly pressed against her body. The growl stopped, replaced by an expression of attentive vigilance. Kaira threw something with a strong smell into the nest, probably to avoid leaving any trace of herself.
She nodded, a sharp movement, and started walking back to the path.
'Now we're going to the village, right?' It has to be. She got the eggs, mission accomplished. Now she's going to take the food to the village. She lives in one, for sure. Or maybe…'
Hawke really wanted to believe in the existence of a village. The idea of living with more people, of not being the only human in a hostile world, gave a certain sense of security. Even if the others were different, even if they didn't speak the same language, the system would solve that, it would still be better than being alone.
What if this girl was lying and there was no village…
He didn't want to finish the thought.