Reality.

A few hours later, Kair's left arm twitched. 

Slowly regaining his consciousness, Kair's eyelids fluttered before opening fully. 

'Ah, why does my entire body feel so heavy? What the ff-AHH!' 

His thoughts were immediately cut off by the sight of a monstrously large eagle laying on top of him, the weight continuing to crush him. 

'G-GET THIS SHIT OFF OF ME!' 

Scared to death, Kair twisted and turned in a frenzy, desperately trying to squeeze his way out from under the bird. 

After a few seconds of trying, he finally was able to lift the bird up just enough for him to slide out of the way. Then, he got up quickly, shakily balling his fists whilst staring intently at the bird. 

However, he soon noticed something wrong. 

'Why isn't it moving? Also, why are there so many feathers around it?' 

Before he could question this further though, another thought managed to gain his attention.

He looked down at his chest and brough his right arm close to it, examining them both incredulously. 

'What..? Weren't my ribs crushed by the eagle's impact? Wasn't my arm slashed open by its claws? Why aren't there any signs...'

The pain Kair had felt was definitely real. So real, that he had almost fainted for it, before being overwhelmed by the fear he felt which in turn finished the job. 

'This.. has got to be my dreams. Right, how could I be injured in a dream?'

Kair chalked it up to him dreaming, then turned his attention to the bird. 

'It's also not.. could it be dead?' 

Walking up to it, Kair hesitated before stretching his arm out and touching the bird. His finger dug through the feathers and made contact with the bird's cold skin. 

He walked towards the front of the bird, gently moving his fingers to its eye and prying it open. 

It was devoid of life. 

Though it had tried to kill him, Kair felt a pang of sadness as he looked at the once magnificent creature, now laying on the ground covered in dirt and blood. 

'Wait, blood?'

There was blood covering the rear side of the eagle just below its two long and furry tails.

Kair approached that part of the eagle, seeing something moving underneath all the skin. Scared of what it could be Kair thought to distance himself, but his curiosity overcame him and he cautiously neared the rear side of the eagle. 

Due to somehow feeling his senses being amplified in this 'dream' of his, he could make out light but desperate chirping noises emanating from in there. 

'No way, is it an egg? Fuck! Did it get damaged when the eagle crashed into me?!'

Since quite a young age, Kair had loved animals. Selfless in this aspect he'd go to considerable lengths to preserve one's life, even at the cost of his own convenience. So, sensing the struggle the baby bird was going through, Kaid made up his mind. 

Putting aside his disgust he reached into the eagles rear, not knowing what to expect. Suddenly, he felt a bloody pair of moving, furry limbs which he quickly realized to be the distressed baby.

He tried pulling it out gently, but the chirping got even louder and more erratic. He realized that the shell was probably splintered and was preventing the baby from exiting its late mother painlessly.

So, pulling himself together Kair pushed with all his might in an attempt to not only pull the baby out, but also the shell it was in as to not hurt it. 

After multiple attempts, Kair succeeded in popping out the shell with the baby in it, his entire torso and both his arms covered in blood. 

A moment of clarity befell Kair, and he realized how dumb what he had just done was. 

"Saving a fucking baby in a dream.. I have problems." Kair muttered under his breath, sighing.

Standing there, Kair was at a loss for what to do. Here he was wholly naked with blood covering his entire torso and his arms. To finish it off, he was holding a baby bird the size of a fully grown American eagle in his hands, which was also now passed out. 

'Aren't I aware that I'm dreaming? Why isn't this turning into a lucid dream, or something? Shouldn't I basically be god in a lucid dream?' Kair wondered. From all he had heard, once one entered a lucid dream, they could do anything they wanted. After all, the dream was a fabrication of one's own imagination.

So, why wasn't the same happening to him? 

'Whatever, I can't be thinking about this right now.'

Only far later would Kair come to realize the peculiarity with which he had behaved just now. Dismissing such an important piece of information was completely unlike him, yet here was, throwing it away on a whim? 

Not knowing what do to, Kair started walking. Where to? Not even he knew. However, he was certain that standing around a dead animal which was leaking blood whilst being covered in blood himself was probably not a great idea. 

After a few minutes of walking in random directions, he heard the sound of rushing water. 

Elated, he started running towards it, the baby Starry Eagle stirring in his arms. 

After a few seconds of sprinting, he finally saw a river with vibrant blue water. Not even giving it a second thought, Kair jumped into the River with the baby eagle still in his arms, which was startled awake at the sensation of the cold, refreshing water.

Kair laughed happily for the first time in what felt like forever to him. The freezing yet clean water woke him up and made him feel more energized than he had in a long time, even before his accident. 

Meanwhile the eagle was squirming about, not being used to the coldness, a direct contrast from the warmth of his mother's womb. 

After a few seconds, realization hit Kair like a truck.

'Dammit, it's a newborn baby! Obviously it can't survive in these freezing waters!'

With a clear mind, scrambling to get out of the water which was now dyed red, Kair climbed onto the riverbank, the baby bird shivering in his arms. 

Though they were now both completely clean, there were three problems at hand.

'Okay, let me get this straight. I don't know where the fuck I am, I am still naked, we have no food and night's about to fall which means it'll probably be much colder now.' Kair sighed to himself, liking his situation not one bit. 

There were in fact four problems at hand now.

'Following the river would probably be my safest bet. If anything, this is probably my only chance at finding civilization.' 

Subconsciously treating his 'dream' more and more like reality, he began following the riverbank. Though walking for what seemed like multiple hours at a maintained pace without breaks, Kair strangely didn't feel tired at all. 

His limbs weren't in protest and the invitation of sleep had yet to arrive. 

Of course, the baby bird kept sleeping in Kair's arms, calmed by the warmth his body provided. 

He kept walking, the night crawling closer and closer. He looked up to see a bright, slivery moon climbing up from the horizon. The two suns had already vanished, the remains of light being the only trace of their existence on this side of wherever he currently was. 

A couple of times along the way, Kair had felt as though the air had been.. strange. He didn't know how to describe it, it had just felt like the air there had been more dense, more energizing in a way. 

Engrossed in his own thoughts, Kair didn't seem to realize that a small city had entered his sights. He did however realize this soon after, seeing the grass under his feet starting to slowly shift into rubble.

He looked up to find a city. Well, it was wrong to call it a city, it really looked like a megacity. Every home looked like a penthouse from the 21st century back on earth and even the pedestrians walking there were dressed lavishly, with futuristic looking clothing.

All this however was locked behind a see-through wall almost 10 meters tall, made of some unrecognizable material with two guards stationed at the gates of the city. By this time it was already late at night so the city lights were clearly visible, illuminating the surroundings.

The two guards also soon noticed a disheveled boy of no more than 16 years of age, walking towards them completely naked with a grey, furry creature in his arms. 

"Again? Fuck, these kids really don't know what's best for them. Always going out to the beast domains, overestimating themselves." The guard standing on the right complained, an irritated look on his face. 

"Oh yeah? What exactly were you doing when you were 16, hm?" Other guard reprimanded him, smiling towards Kair with and understanding look. 

Kair reached the two guards, about to say something when the guard standing on the left put up his hand to stop him from speaking.

"It's fine, really. No explanation needed." He passed a small rectangular device which looked kind of like a credit card form earth, but completely black and without any markings on it. 

Kair took the card in his hands, its aesthetics suddenly reminding him of the spatial storage cards from his novel. 

'Can't hurt to try it, right? But wait, if it really is from 'Chaos', the guard needs to unlock it first.' Kair raised an eyebrow, looking at the guard who gave him the card.

"Thank you, but don't you need to authorize it first?" He asked in a polite tone. 

The guard's eyes flashed, surprise showing on his face. 

"Usually people don't know that and try doing it by themselves. You seem knowledgeable, though. Had one of these before?" asked the guard, taking the card from Kair and using a chisel to carve something on the card's surface. 

Kair shrugged, coming up with a lie almost instantly. 

"Yeah, I lost it when I was attacked by the mother of this baby." he finally motioned towards his arms, where the bird still still slept, breathing steadily. 

"Oh, that's unfortunate. A cute creature though, I tell you." the guard chuckled. The fact that Kair was starkly naked didn't seem to bother them too much and soon Kair had his card. He pulled a fresh pair of clothes and shoes out of them and put them on, courtesy of whatever government was running the area. 

"Okay.. so to confirm, you lost your identity card too when you were attacked, correct?" The guard on the left asked. 

"Yeah, unfortunately. I think the eagle that attacked me may have swallowed it.." Kair shook his head dejectedly, letting out a sigh. 

"Okay, but in that case, how did you manage to get its baby? Especially one that seems extremely comfortable around you?" The guard asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Ah, yeah... I found it dead a while later and approached it to see if I could find any hints on where my belongings actually were. However, this little guy was apparently still alive. So, I helped him out and made a run for it." Kair replied, chuckling lightly.

The guard also laughed. 

"Alright, that checks out. We've heard similar reports from victims of the beasts from the wind domain, so you'll be allowed into the city." 

"W-wait, what? Wind do-" Kair stuttered, but was cut off by the guard sticking out his hand towards Kair. 

"My name is Miles Kolb. This is my colleague, Nick Gray. Nice to meet you." 

Kair took the guard's hand, still bewildered. 

"K-Kair Rivia. Likewise."

The guard smiled, taking back his hand and gesturing towards the gates which had now opened.

"Welcome to Cilica City. I hope you enjoy your time here."