He clumsily makes his way through the dense tropical foliage of the jungle, his bare feet gently touching the mud and grass. He does not want to make a sound, for fear of alerting a tiger, python or other predator. It had been a couple days since the last time he had found any prey for his clan, and he can already feel his stomach rumbling.
He is called Aka by his people, though only being capable of making a few sounds, they do not quite have language as modern people would understand. And while they are capable of making fire and stone tools, they do not yet know of weapons or clothing. Whatever prey he catches, he needs to take down with his bare hands. And his clan, especially his mates, enjoy the taste of meat.
For a while, he sits in the bushes, hoping for a small deer or other game animal to come near. Aka is not especially fast, but he doesn't need to be. He is strong, and if he ambushes something, he can easily overpower it. But there is no sign of prey today.
It is also very hot out. Too hot, in fact, for Aka. His people have lived in the jungles of what will one day be called Asia for as long as they can remember, but every year, the climate has been changing. With the heat and flies getting to him, Aka begins to turn back. He knows that there is a cool river behind him where he can drink some water and rest in the cool shade.
But just then, he hears something treading through the clearing. He wheels around sharply and ducks to the ground, his natural instincts taking over. After an unbearable stretch of silence, he slowly creeps forward, his curiosity piqued. Perhaps it was some animal he could bring back to his clan for food! But no, what Aka finds behind the bush greatly surprises him.
He knows of other creatures that can walk on two legs like man... the black bear, the great bamboo-eating apes, and the small monkeys that leap and frolic through the trees. But the strange creatures that he sees walking through the clearing look far more like men him, and yet at the same time, look nothing like any of the people he has ever seen.