…

“... I am sorry to have worried you.”

“I... really really like you, okay? You’re my partner...”

“Madam...”

“Madam!”

A strained voice suddenly yelled out as Shroomsworth returned to consciousness, laid flat on his front in the grass. His mind swirled with various things before then... he wasn’t even sure if he was still alive, until this very moment. The moment where he awoke, and felt just what had happened to his body.

Pain. His head must have impacted against the cliff on the way down, as it was pounding quite fiercely. Opening his eyes, he found he was seeing double. His monocle lay near his face, still attached by the string, but busted. “Oh, goodness..!”

As Shroomsworth attempted to pull himself to his feet, he groaned loudly and slipped, crashing down on his front once more. His left leg did not take the pressure of his weight very well. It already hurt to begin with, but attempting to stand on it caused a sharp, shooting pain through his entire body.

With the misty falls rushing just next to him, Shroomsworth couldn’t see or hear any sign of Slasher. It wasn’t as dark here, with no canopy of trees close to the waterfall’s bottom, so things were at least somewhat visible to him. Most importantly, the waterfall’s base seemed to be populated by many solid, jagged rocks.

At least that was something positive about his landing.

Stubbornly, the Breloom tried picking himself up once more, taking great care not to place much weight upon his weakened leg. The pain was still greatly distracting, but he was able to make it to his feet, using his tail as leverage and putting a good bit of his weight upon it. His monocle hung down to his neck, useless in its current state.

“What a... cowardly... headstrong maneuver..!” Shroomsworth complained under his breath as he limped his way away from the misty, noisy falls. Each step on his bad leg was slowed down as he lowered his powerful, springy tail enough to rest most of the initial weight upon it, like a crutch of sorts.

“I cannot do this...”

Walking this way just wouldn’t work. Everything from his wounds to the cold weather was working against him. The most he could do was make his way to a nearby tree and slump against it sideways. “Am I to let this wretch control me yet again? First through blackmail, now through injury?”

“Havin’ a problem, dandy?”

Shroomsworth turned his head up to see Slasher himself, seated casually in a branch of the tree he was leaning on. He didn’t seem to be injured in the slightest. He did his best to hide his weariness, putting on a stoic face. “How are you unscathed after such a fall?”

The Weavile simply chuckled, shrugging his arms and openly showing his fangs in a wide grin. “I had practice. Now that it’s you and me, we can have a little chat. No interference either way.” Slasher reclined sideways upon the same branch, resting his head on his palm. “You’re in luck, ‘cause I’ve got a deal you might like. I don’t usually make deals, y’know?”

=========

Third excerpt from Ch3 of Resignation by

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