Reto Mason awoke as sunlight pierced through the veil of their eyelids, jerking up with a sudden motion yet not making a sound. As they blearily looked around themselves, they quickly realised that something was wrong, primarily because they could have sworn they left the curtains closed.

This swiftly dropped to second place on the list of reasons they know something is wrong when they noticed that they were not on a bed, as they left themselves, but in fact almost imperceptibly sliding off of the edge of a mountain.

What the f-heck?

Mentally stifling a swear out of habit, they quickly scrambled backwards until all of their limbs were placed firmly on smooth ground, probably a path up the mountain they appeared at.

Where the fuck am I? A fucking mountain? The fuck? I’ve never even seen a mountain before! Well, that’s barely relevant seeing as I could live near one without seeing it, but that’s beside the point. Is this some sort of Isekai? Like, portals and stuff?

As their mind continued to whirl with possibilities, they were also looking out over the landscape they could see. Whilst they could hear the sound of rapids coming down the mountainside, they couldn’t actually see anything of the sort. Instead, at least in this direction, it seemed to be largely a desiccated wasteland. That is, disregarding the sparse trees that seem to be collating into a forest somewhere to the right.

Based on the sun, I guess east? I could never remember that stuff though, and I have no idea whether it’s close to setting or just risen.

It indeed seemed as though it were either almost dusk or just past dawn, though truly it doesn’t matter much at the moment compared to where they should go next. Whilst they were currently on a mountain road, it seemed disused, as much as Reto could tell with that sort of thing anyway.

The only way is up I guess? Or in this case, down.

And so, they started to carefully pick their way down the mountain, on occasion stumbling until, as they walked past an outcropping, they heard a sound that given their current location could only be assumed to be an avalanche. This was only confirmed when they saw a few large rocks start rolling down from the higher reaches of the mountain, and they as a result calmly approached the outcropping to try achieve some semblance of cover.

Shit shit shit shit shit. Fuck-shit damn no fuck shit.

Breathing heavily more from the panic than the negligible distance travelled, they pushed themselves as far into the wall as they could manage, ignoring the sharp pain of rock biting into their back. When the sound stalled for almost an entire minute they started to relax, until it picked back up again when a dozen rocks started rolling down the mountain past them.

Their eyes tracked the rocks, bewildered, as they seemed to curve along the path, kicking up dust and small pebbles as they went. One near the front of the bizarre procession almost slipped off the edge before happenstance caused the boulder behind it rolled a little faster and nudged it back on track, before slowing and falling back in line.

Even 10 minutes after their passing, Reto stayed, stock still and barely even thinking, until they could be sure nothing else would pass by.

What the fuck! What is actually happening right now. There is no way that happens normally, right? Is there some kind of wizard living atop this fucking mountain, or am I just over reacting to another completely normal occurrence? I mean, it can’t be impossible given I just saw it happen in front of my eyes, right?

Having re-firmed their world view, Reto decided to continue to venture down the mountain. They, whilst not the most acrobatic, have if nothing else always had perfect balance. The one time they could recall tripping, they hit their head on the pavement and had to go to the hospital, which means either they never fall, or one time they remember also damaged their brain. They decided to go with the former long ago.

Nonetheless, they didn’t trip over any loose rocks or roots and, whilst there were other paths they could have taken, they stayed steadfast in spite of their growing curiosity and boredom. Rather, the most significant impediment to their progress came in the form of a chasm. It looked as though climbing down seems plausible on the other side, for some reason it curves inward on this one, so they’ll have to find another way across. With some wise considerations-

Fuck!

-They continued around it.

They expected to be down sooner, but apparently that was wishful thinking. Despite continuing to walk around the circumference of the mountain for what felt like hours they were unable to find anything, and eventually came to the realisation that they had been travelling for a frankly absurd length of time considering their lack of preparation when they experienced a stabbing pain in their stomach. Soon, faced with one of their bodies pains, they came to realise the numerous other issues one would face after walking down a mountain as long as they did.

How is this even possible? I mean, sure, a mountain can have a chasm on it all it wants, but it can’t be this big, surely? I must have been walking for at least 4 hours, and given my above average walking speed that would be like 24 kilometres! A chasm cannot curve so regularly around a mountain like that, surely? At the very least it explains the lack of wildlife, I can’t imagine many creatures would have much reason to go around an entire mountain for nothing.

Mentally grumbling, they stomped onwards, wincing each time they hit the ground but unwilling to stop, until they found a good enough place to rest further along the trail, a small cave. Really more just a hole in the wall honestly.

And another thing! Why was there even a path there? It just lead straight into the chasm, and unless there’s some way that could have formed after people made paths and cut it off, that’s where it was intended to go. How stupid is that?

And with that last thought, and the sun setting ahead of them, they slowly fell into a fitful and uncomfortable slumber.

And then they woke up. For just a second they forgot where they were, and then the soreness from the previous days travels caught up with them and they groaned in pain. After taking a short period of time to acclimate, looking wistfully at the forest creeping up to the chasm, they started moving again.

What’s it take to get something to eat around here anyway? And more importantly, drink, because I don’t have much time left before I die of thirst, and less before being incapacitated. ‘Specially given my bad habits in regards to the whole ‘eating food’ thing.

On that note, they picked up the pace, worry suddenly brought to the forefront of their mind.

How far will I have to travel anyway? Looking at the base of the mountain, I don’t look like I’m that far up it so the circumference of this level of the mountain is probably quite big. It’s probably pretty old based off the angle, I think that the oldest mountains are at like 20 degrees for most of the base? So this is probably pretty similar to that, then. Ah, I can’t be bothered to do maths when I don’t even have all of the measurements. I’ll just guess like 40 kilometres total, and assuming I did get as far as I thought I had, that means like half of it left. I guess I could do that, especially because I’m sure the chasm doesn’t go all the way around.

Thankfully for their sanity, and legs, something came into sight as they rounded a rock that almost put them precariously close to falling off the edge. A stone wall, twice as high as themselves, spanned the length of the path they were taking, with what looks to be an iron gate barring access to the other side.

I’d say this is left over from a castle or fort or something, but it’s far too good quality condition for that, right? Or maybe not, actually.

Stepping closer, there doesn’t appear to be any way of calling for someone or opening the gate from this side, so they’ll have to hope that someone comes to look at it, or else climb up the mountain somewhat to get over the top. Really, it doesn’t seem capable of preventing any determined attackers through, so it can’t be for actual defenc-

“Halt! State your name and classification if you have one!”

…

Fuck.