A few minutes later, Dani's eyes fluttered open.
He blinked, disoriented, as the world swayed around him. His body ached—every muscle, every joint—and a dull ringing pulsed in his head. He pushed himself up onto shaking arms, confusion clouding his thoughts.
He looked around. The forest was unrecognizable—trees charred down to stumps, ash swirling in the faint breeze. The ground was cracked and blackened, like the earth itself had been burned alive. Smoke rose lazily in the distance, carrying the acrid stench of tinder and a strange metallic tang that still lingered in his nostrils.
He stared at the scorched soil beneath his fingers, trying to anchor himself in the moment. But something tugged at the edges of his mind—an elusive sense that he was missing something important.
'I feel like… I'm forgetting something,' he thought, frowning. 'Well whatever… probably just a dumb déjà.'
