Deep in the valley stood a small mountain. Nature enveloped the landscape, stretching as far over the horizon, and was home to many living things. The sky was painted a bright orange by the sun as it was setting above the trees. At the highest peak of the mountain was a young man, he was unconscious, lying in a patch of grass.

...

...Ugh... the nameless man grunts as he slowly opens his eyes.

"Ugh, my head." he mumbled while rising up. "Hey, where am I, and what am I doing here? The last thing I remember is- ow..." his thought was abruptly stopped by a sudden pain in his head. "Wait a minute, why can't I remember anything?" he said while rubbing the back of his head.

Confused, he immediately looked around to get his bearings. In front of him was a grassy downward hill with a small dirt trail. He turned around to be greeted by a foreboding cliff with a steep drop. "What the hell!?" He took a step back from the edge and soon came to the realization that he was at the summit of a mountain and that he has been sleeping near its edge the whole time.

"What am I doing all the way up here? he exclaimed while taking another step back. "This doesn't make any sense, where am I?" Desperate he started calling out for help. "Hey can anybody hear me!?" he yelled as the sound echoed across the valley. "Hey somebody, anybody!?" he shouted once more into the distant. No one answered. "What the heck is going on and why can't I remember anything?" 

He soon turned his attention towards the setting sun. While it was a beautiful sight to behold at first, being lost atop a mountaintop at night quickly came to mind. He scratched his head thinking of what to do next. "I can't just sit here and wait, I need to find some help or at least some shelter before the sun sets. Who knows what could be lurking in the dark and I don't want to find out. Answers can wait for now."

Remembering the dirt trail from earlier, he knew that it was his only option. So he took a deep breath, and started following the path down. It was better than just standing around. A short distance away from the start, there was peculiar pond surrounded by a bed of flowers just right off the path.

"What's a pond doing all the way up here?" he wondered as he walked closer to try and take a closer look. Upon reaching the pond, he stared at his still reflection in the crystal blue water. Only now did he notice what he actually looked liked. Dark hair, with dark brown eyes, with very distinct eyebrows. Apparently wearing blue overalls with a white shirt, almost like a farmer he thought.

Suddenly, an eerie feeling began to creep on his shoulders, a gnawing feeling that he was being watched. "It's just my reflection, but why does it feel like something is staring right back." he said with unease.

Eventually unnerved, he went back on the path and tried to forget about it. It was the least of his worries. Continuing down the path he was immediately stopped again, this time by two diverging paths. At the center was a sign with two arrows, each pointing in their respective direction, one leading left and one leading right. Both seemed to lead down the path, but the words on the sign were faded, making it difficult to tell which one could lead to a town. 

Where do these go, do both lead to a town or to something else? he wondered, but was soon frustrated as he realized time was ticking. "Aw not this, why do you have to do this to me?" he said with despair. "I can't waste any more time choosing, and I only have enough time to explore one of them. Both probably lead to civilization so I'll just need to pick one. So how will I choose?"

He first thought of doing a coin flip and then quickly realized that perhaps he has a wallet that can tell give some information about himself. He immediately started checking his pockets for spare change or a wallet, only to pull out some lint. Frustrated he threw the lint in anger, but soon started to look at his arms with an idea. "Let's see, I'm pretty sure I'm right handed, as I used my right hand first to check my pocket, so I should go right." 

...

He paused for a moment. "Then again, the pond was on the left side of the path, so maybe that's some sign that civilization is that way? he said with uncertainty. "Gah I hate this!" placing his hands on his head in frustration. "I hate choosing!"

Realizing he was wasting more time by being indecisive, he made his choice out of random. However for some unknown reason, and seemingly by instinct he pulled his upper body back and stretched his legs into a weird exaggerated pose pointing towards the left path while uttering, "Alright then! I've made my choice! The left path it is!"

...

"Why did I do that?" he muttered with concern and a bit of embarrassment. Brushing off the awkwardness he started trekking down the mountain. Wandering down the path, he couldn't help but admire the scenery around him. Just like the summit nature was abundant with trees and flowers scattered about. He passed by a small river flowing near the path, and eventually reached a stone bridge which overlapped the river.

"Oh finally some progress!" he exclaimed with glee. "Someone must've built this stone bridge and if someone built it then there must be a town nearby for people who use it! I knew I'd make the right choice on the first try!" (Sure you did.)

Relieved he found evidence of civilization he immediately sighed and sat down on the bridge to rest. While resting, there were some animals nearby. He spotted a bunny hopping over the river, chirping of birds, butterflies pollinating flowers and sounds of other creatures in the distance.

"Man this place is beautiful. It's comforting to know that I at least ended up somewhere peaceful. Maybe there's nothing to worry about, I mean it seems so peaceful here." For a moment everything was fine... but only just for a moment. Just as he got on his feet, there was a small brown blob he couldn't make out, blocking the path.

"Eh, what the heck is that?" He squinted his eyes to try and make sense of it, and while it was hard to tell what it was, he did notice that it was getting bigger. As it got bigger and bigger, he realized something. 

It wasn't actually getting bigger, it was getting closer. Also, it wasn't a blob it was in fact a 400 pound bear running full force towards the bridge.

"Ah what the he-" his voice was drowned out by the booming roar of the bear. Unsure about how to deal with such a beast, he quickly turned around and made a beeline back up the path. Eventually the bear's roar started to fade in the distance. Once it seemed safe from the bear's range he stopped in his tracks, and bent down to put his hands on his legs to catch his breath.

Looking back up he noticed that he had run all the way back to the crossroads. "Aw...hah... you got to be...hah...kidding me! A bear...seriously!" he said, still breathing heavy. "So much for a flawless first pick, looks like I'm taking the other way, there's no way I'm going back there." As soon as he stood up, he was immediately caught off guard by someone near the pond he found earlier.

"Whoa, hey is that...?" at first he was glad to see another face, but was quickly skeptical to what they were doing. The person seemed to have short orange hair so they might be a girl, and she was clasping her hands as if she's praying. She seems to be dressed in white robes with light blue accents.

While he did want to ask her for help he didn't know how to approach her and was afraid of her. "I still don't know where I am and I have no idea who she is, for all I can know she might not be friendly." he thought doubting himself. However a second glance at the young girl, he noticed she was rather...small, in fact she didn't seem really threatening at all. Actually she looks like she'd be more scared of him than the other way around. Then again what if she's armed?

"Well I guess there's no other way to find out than to ask her directly." He decides that the best approach was with caution, this way he can keep a safe distance while not coming off as threatening. "Um hello, excuse me miss could I ask you something." The girl turned around and stared back with curiosity in her eyes. She took one step forward, and said in a gentle voice, "Oh, hello, who are you?" 

It was relief to know that she was friendly, but soon he also felt bad to thinking she was the type to be up to no good. "Yes, can you please tell me where this place is?" 

She appeared a bit confused at the question. "Oh I see, are you new here? I don't think I've ever seen you in town before. Perhaps you are a visitor from another town?" She said with intrigue.

Struggling to come up with a response, he tried his best to try and explain his situation. "Well not exactly...this might seem strange, but you see..." He began by pointing at the patch of grass he found himself in earlier. "I woke just over there in that pile of grass with no idea of what happened or who I am. I tried to find help by going down the mountain, but ended up getting chased by a bear back up here."

"Oh that sounds awful...I think you have what's called amnesia. I heard that it sometimes happens to people who hit their head hard enough. Does your head hurt?" her face looking worried.

"Oh, yeah it was earlier when I first woke up, but I couldn't feel any bumps or bruises." He began to feel his head to see if he missed any bruises to find nothing. "Now that you mention it, I don't think I'm injured at all, apart from not remembering anything." He soon began to think of skeptical his story was, this seems more like a scam than anything. However the girl seemed to think otherwise.

"This is very serious, if what you're saying is true why not stay at our town for tonight? It's dangerous to be alone at night especially in your condition."

"Really? That sounds great thank you very much!" he said with glee. 

"Okay please, follow me. My village is down here on the right." as she started walking towards the right pathway she noticed the man grumbling to himself.

"Is something the matter?"

"Oh no it's nothing don't worry, heh heh." he stated while shuddering over the mere thought of the beast.

The two began their trek down the mountain, seemingly with no issue...and no bear. Further down they came across a rickety bridge just off the path. Curious the nameless man walked towards the bridge to take a closer look. Leaning towards the side of the bridge, there was a small pond with rocks scattered about below his feet.

"Wait please be careful!" yelled the girl.

"Guahck!" surprised by the sudden outburst he fell flat on his bottom. 

The girl breathed a sigh of relief. "Sorry about that, but the town is this way. Besides I wouldn't want you to fall into the water."

"What makes you think I'll fall into the water?" he asserted, before coming to the realization that his curiosity is probably what caused him to be in this predicament.

"This bridge is old and unstable, our carpenter is still getting around on replacing the planks. If you fell in I don't think I'd be strong enough to save you." 

"Good point...sorry I'll try to be more careful next time around." he said while scratching his head.

Further down the path the sun was nearing the horizon, which caused the young man to look up at the horizon. He looked too much in fact that he didn't notice he had briefly stopped in his tracks, which the girl noticed.

"Oh would you like to watch the sun set before we head into town?" she asked. "We're almost at the town, but we can watch the sun set before we head inside. I like watching the sun set too." she said with a smile on her face.

"Uh okay sure." He then followed her to spot nearby that was underneath an oak tree. There was no chairs to sit on so the grass had to do.

"You know, whenever I go up into the mountains to pray to the Harvest Goddess I like watching the sun set on the way down." said the girl.

"Harvest goddess?" he asked with curiosity.

She appeared shocked at his remark. "You don't know about her? Well to put simply, the Harvest Goddess is the protector of nature itself, and I am one of her servants. I climb the mountain every so often to pray by her pond."

"Huh, okay that explains the creepy pond." he muttered.  

"The creepy what?" she asked.

"Oh it's nothing...uh." he paused for a moment. He remembered that he never asked the girl for her name. She was already being kind with helping him yet, he didn't have the common courtesy to ask for her name.

"Hey that reminds me... what did you say your name was?" he sheepishly asked.

"Oh I'm sorry, I forgot to introduce myself, my name is Alisa, nice to meet you."