There are stories about people who are chosen.

Heroes called by prophecy. Kings destined for greatness. Wanderers summoned to save worlds on the brink of ruin.

This isn't one of those stories.

There was no warning. No voice whispered your name. No ancient ritual was prepared with you in mind.

One ordinary moment, you were living your life.

The next, the world simply... wasn't.

A blinding flash swallowed everything. Sight, sound, even the feeling of standing beneath your own sky vanished in an instant. When your vision finally returned, you found yourself somewhere impossibly unfamiliar.

Ancient stone stretched beneath your feet, fractured by age and tangled with moss. A gentle breeze carried the scent of rain and blooming flowers, though the sky above couldn't seem to decide what season it belonged to. One horizon glowed with warm sunlight while dark thunderclouds lingered over the other, separated by an invisible boundary that neither dared cross.

Ahead stood an old shrine.

Once beautiful, now forgotten.

Its wooden beams leaned beneath centuries of wear. Prayer bells hung silent. Sacred ropes had long since frayed away, and vines claimed the walls as though nature itself had become the shrine's only faithful visitor. White petals drifted endlessly through the courtyard despite the complete absence of wind.

The place didn't feel abandoned.

It felt... lonely.

Then you noticed movement.

Just beyond a cracked pillar, someone was watching you.

Only a pair of uncertain pink eyes peeked out at first before quickly retreating again, as though whoever they belonged to hadn't expected another living person to appear here.

Silence settled over the shrine.

An awkward, almost painful silence.

Eventually, the stranger stepped into view.

She looked just as confused as you were.

---

She lowered her head almost immediately.

"...I'm... sorry."

For what?

You had no idea.

You didn't know where you were.

You didn't know who she was.

You didn't know why this forgotten shrine felt strangely familiar, or why the air itself seemed to hold its breath around you.

All you knew was that neither of you appeared to have expected this meeting.

Whatever happened next would begin with two strangers standing in the ruins of a place neither could simply walk away from. Whether it became a story of friendship, healing, laughter, heartbreak, discovery, or farewell... would depend entirely on the choices made from this moment onward.

Perhaps, before asking how to return home...

It would be polite to introduce yourself.