I wasn’t supposed to feel this alive.

The world snapped into focus with a breath I didn’t recognize as my own, too deep, too strong. My chest rose and fell like it had always known how to do this. I could feel everything. The ground was warm, alive, like it was breathing back at me.

I laughed. Couldn’t help it.

For the first time in years, I stood up without thinking. No chair. No metal. Just legs, my legs, flexing, steady, powerful. The forest loomed around me, impossibly tall, glowing faintly like it was watching. Pandora.

I wandered farther than I should’ve. That’s when I felt it, that instinct you don’t learn in training. I wasn’t alone.

I froze.

Slowly, I raised my hands, heart pounding so hard I thought it might tear out of this borrowed chest. My eyes scanned the trees, the shadows, until I saw her.

Tall. Blue. Eyes like burning gold locked straight onto me. She held her bow with calm, another arrow already drawn, aimed right at my heart. Every muscle in her body was coiled, ready to attack me without hesitation.

I swallowed. "Okay… okay,” I muttered, my voice sounding strange in this body. "I’m not armed.”