I had prepared for this. Before leaving camp, I had taken a moment to approach Miss Samhelna. "Do you have the sports gear with you?" I had asked.

She had given me a curious look but nodded, handing me the compact, collapsible safety device. "Why do you need this?"

"Just a precaution," I answered smoothly.

Now, that precaution was about to be tested.

We neared the cliff.

I kicked a stone backward intentionally but ensuring that it feels accidental

It banged right at the target I was aiming at, Shishta’s ankle. It struck.

She groaned a bit and eventually lost balance. The pathway was narrow so she couldn’t regain her balance.

Off, she fell.

The moment unfolded exactly as I had foreseen. But this time, it is fair to say it moved according to my will.

I yanked the sports gear from my pocket and hurled it toward her. She hesitated, and must have been wondering ‘how?’ but soon the realisation of time ticking got her and She reached for it, fingers brushing against the material. A sharp click and she pushed it near her neck.

The device expanded and warped around her neck and head extending till her elbows and back

Her descent slowed.

She landed fifteen feet below, battered but alive.I scrambled down after her, my breath ragged. "Shishta!"

She was on her side, hands and ankles scraped, but her eyes were still burning. She met my gaze and then—

She shoved my hand away.

"I’m fine. Go get Dhrithra."

"But—"

"Go! Dhrithra Needs you more..”

I realised the primary purpose of all. I need to bring that Idiot to my side so he don’t make my life any more difficult than it already is.

The night air burned my lungs as I sprinted through the dense forest, my legs trembling from exhaustion. My mind reeled from what had just happened, Shishta had fallen, but not the way I had foreseen.

I had changed the future.

Not entirely. Not enough to erase the fall. But enough to shift its course, enough to ensure she survived.

Which meant fate wasn’t absolute. It could be bent. Twisted. Redirected.

And if I could do it once, maybe just maybe, I could do it again.

But first, I had to find Dhrithra.

My breath came in ragged gasps as I pushed through the undergrowth, guided by the knowledge I shouldn’t have had.

And then I saw him.

A lone figure curled at the foot of a massive tree, his frame shuddering with quiet sobs. The boy who had always carried arrogance like a shield, now stripped of it, reduced to nothing but raw fear and loneliness.

"Dhrithra!"

His head snapped up at the sound of my voice.

For a fleeting second, his teary eyes widened in disbelief. Then, before I could brace myself, he lunged at me, his arms locking around me with desperate force.

His grip was crushing, clinging as if I were the last solid thing in a world that had just collapsed beneath him.

"I—I’m glad you’re here."

His voice cracked between heavy, uneven sobs. His breath trembled against my shoulder, and for the first time, there was no arrogance, no sneer—just a boy who had been utterly, terrifyingly alone.

No one had ever seen Dhrithra like this. No one had ever held him like this.

So I did.

I held him until the shaking subsided, until the quiet hiccups of his sobs faded into deep, steady breaths. Until his grip loosened, though he never truly let go.

And in that silence, something shifted.

Something neither of us spoke about.

But we both felt it. By the time we made our way back, Shishta was waiting.

She had somehow managed to sit up despite the bruises, her body battle-worn but her spirit unyielding. The moment she saw us, she exhaled sharply, shaking her head as if to say, Finally.

She was strong in ways I couldn’t yet comprehend.

A warrior, through and through.

Dhrithra and I helped her to her feet, and together, the three of us trudged back toward the camp, the weight of the night still clinging to our skin.

The moment we crossed the threshold, the teachers pounced.

Miss Samhelna’s face was a storm of worry and fury, while Mr. Dhyan’s usually stern expression darkened further. The scolding rained down on us like relentless blows, words of disappointment, of recklessness, of how we could have gotten ourselves killed.

Dhrithra stood beside me, silent, shoulders hunched. Shishta, even in her wounded state, took it head-on, unflinching.

In the end, our punishment was set.

Dhrithra and I were confined to our tents for an entire day.

A small price to pay for what we had gained.

That night, as we sat inside the dimly lit tent, the air thick with the weight of everything that had happened, Dhrithra spoke.

"You came for me."

It wasn’t a question. Just a realization.

I didn’t respond immediately. I wasn’t sure what to say.

Then, in the quiet, he muttered, "Thank you."

I turned toward him, half-expecting some kind of smirk, some attempt to rebuild his usual armor. But he only looked at me with something softer, something genuine.

Something I had never seen before.

From that moment on, Dhrithra wasn’t just a name attached to a past I had tried to ignore.

He was a friend.

And for the first time since my father, I felt like I had someone I could rely on.

Tso Moriri, Earth 14th June 2055

The laughter of my classmates echoed around me, the crisp mountain air carrying their voices as we stood by the serene expanse of Tso Moriri. The lake shimmered under the early morning sun, a picture of perfect tranquility. It felt real. Too real. But I knew better.

This wasn’t my reality.

I had traversed into another timeline.

The realization hit like a surge of static in my mind, this was my third awakening.

The first was premonition, the ability to foresee definitive events.
The second was precognition, the ability to foresee anything.
And now, the third traversing through parallel worlds.

I had woken up here, in this reality where things had shifted just enough to be different.

Our class stood assembled in front of our stay, a modest guest house with Tibetan-style architecture. The crisp air suddenly grew heavy as our professor, his face unusually grim, cleared his throat to make an announcement.

"The jeep trailing us was hijacked last night. Head Constable Pranay has been captured. His whereabouts are unknown."

The news struck like a thunderclap.

Chirjivan, usually one of the quieter students, let out a strangled sob. His hands trembled as he clutched the edge of his jacket. Pranay was his brother.

He had vanished into uncertainty.

A knot tightened in my stomach. The definitive event in this timeline wasn’t about me, Shishta, or even Dhrithra. It was Pranay’s capture.

I had tried to prevent it. I had tried to rewrite the script.

And yet, here we were.

My ability wasn’t omnipotent. I could alter variables, but the outcome always demanded balance. If I had saved more people in my original timeline, something had to give.

The thought chilled me.

How many lives had I truly changed? How many had I saved? And at what cost?

I clenched my fists. Unlike the previous two times, I was aware. Conscious. I wasn’t just a passive observer, I could think, act, influence.

But steering an entire reality? That was uncharted territory.

I needed to get back.

And the only person who could help me figure out what had happened in the original timeline was Dhrithra.

Wherever he was.

Original Timeline, Near by Tso Moriri 14th June 2055 About 4pm

Dhrithra’s senses returned in fragments.

A dull throbbing pulsed at the back of his skull, and his body felt like it had been wrung dry. The air around him was thick with antiseptics, sweat, and something faintly metallic, blood?

He forced his eyes open.

The canvas roof above him swayed slightly, casting restless shadows against the dim light. He could hear murmurs beyond the tent walls, hushed and urgent. The rustling of boots against gravel. The distant crackle of a walkie-talkie.

He tried to push himself up.

Pain flared through his limbs, sharp and unforgiving. Before he could move further, a voice sliced through the silence.

“Don’t move yet.”

The words sent an involuntary chill down his spine.

His gaze snapped sideways to meet the man who had spoken.

A towering figure stood before him, exuding raw authority. His white shirt, crisp and tucked neatly into khaki pants, barely creased. The boots, polished to a mirror shine, were planted firmly, as if he owned the ground beneath them. A thick mustache framed his hardened expression, and behind his black shades, Dhrithra could sense an unwavering, calculating gaze.

This wasn’t just some officer.

This man was someone high up. Someone dangerous.

Dhrithra swallowed, his throat dry.

His mind struggled to catch up, piecing together what had happened. 

Dhrithra’s breathing quickened. What happened? How did he end up here?

His eyes darted back to the man, who had yet to move, watching him with an unreadable expression.

“Who are you?” Dhrithra asked, his voice hoarse.

The man smirked. Slowly, he lowered his shades just enough for Dhrithra to see the sharp glint in his eyes. He leaned in slightly, his voice dropping to a near whisper.

"Let’s talk about how you got here, kid."

Dhrithra's pulse hammered in his ears. His breath was uneven, his body still reeling from exhaustion, but in that moment, one thing was crystal clear

Whatever had happened to him, whatever had changed...

It had put him in the crosshairs of something far bigger than he could have ever imagined. And then, with a slow, deliberate smirk, the officer added, 

“You definitely did wake up from the dead.”