[TWELVE MINUTES LATER]
The figure tilted its head, the moonlight catching just enough of a smirk to betray satisfaction. A soft "hmm" escaped their lips— half a hum, half a sinister smile, before they turned and disappeared into the trees, their steps fading like whispers swallowed by the wind.
Down below, chaos had already settled into stillness.
The fall had been brutal. Rocks, branches, water— all one blur of agony and noise.
When Bulb's body hit the river, it felt like slamming into a wall of glass. He blacked out for seconds that stretched like hours. Then, slowly, his lungs burned for air, and his eyes cracked open to darkness.
The water around him shimmered faintly from the fragments of his power, dim embers dancing across the surface.
He groaned, dragging himself up against a slick stone at the riverbank. His clothes clung to him like wet armor.
