Scene 125 — "Someone Who Should Have Been Dead"
The hidden world remained quiet.
Silver rivers flowed beneath crystal branches.
Ancient flowers swayed gently in the glowing breeze.
Two days had passed.
Nothing had disturbed the place where the Traveler had fallen.
Not the rivers.
Not the forests.
Not even the creatures that occasionally wandered through the silver fields.
The unconscious figure remained exactly where he had collapsed.
Motionless.
Silent.
As though sleeping.
Then—
a faint sound drifted through the flowers.
Footsteps.
Light.
Unhurried.
Someone was approaching.
The silver flowers parted.
A young girl emerged from between the glowing fields.
She carried a woven basket at her side.
Several strange blue fruits rested inside.
Her pace was casual.
Relaxed.
Until she noticed something ahead.
The girl stopped.
Immediately.
Her eyes narrowed.
A figure lay among the flowers.
Someone she had never seen before.
For several moments she simply stood there.
Watching.
Waiting.
The hidden world was isolated.
Quiet.
Forgotten.
Strangers did not simply appear here.
Especially not unconscious ones.
Curiosity slowly overcame caution.
The girl took a step forward.
Then another.
The white-haired stranger remained motionless.
His clothes were torn.
Dried blood stained portions of the fabric.
The silver flowers surrounding him had been flattened where he fell.
The girl crouched several paces away.
Studying him.
Human.
At least he appeared human.
Yet something felt unusual.
She couldn't explain it.
The sensation wasn't fear.
It was the feeling of finding something where it did not belong.
Like discovering a door standing alone in the middle of a forest.
The girl looked around.
No footprints.
No signs of travel.
No explanation.
Only the unconscious stranger.
The flowers swayed gently.
The rivers whispered nearby.
The stranger remained asleep.
Eventually curiosity won completely.
The girl moved closer.
Much closer.
Her eyes fell toward his chest.
Then she froze.
The smile vanished from her face.
The curiosity vanished as well.
Only confusion remained.
There was a wound.
A terrible wound.
Even after two days it remained visible beneath the damaged clothing.
The girl stared.
Her expression slowly changed.
Confusion became disbelief.
Disbelief became shock.
She leaned forward.
Examining it carefully.
No mistake.
The injury was real.
Deep.
Violent.
Lethal.
The kind of wound that should have ended a life.
Immediately.
Yet the stranger was breathing.
Slowly.
Weakly.
But breathing.
The girl's eyes widened.
She checked again.
Then again.
As though expecting the wound to suddenly make sense.
It never did.
A normal human would not survive this.
Not for hours.
Certainly not for two entire days.
The hidden world became quiet around her.
The girl slowly sat back.
Still staring.
The white-haired stranger remained unconscious.
A faint breeze moved through his hair.
Nothing else.
No reaction.
No movement.
The girl swallowed.
"...Who are you?"
The question drifted softly across the flowers.
No answer came.
Only silence.
The rivers continued flowing.
The crystal forests continued swaying.
The stranger remained asleep.
Yet something about him continued bothering her.
The wound.
The blood.
The impossible survival.
None of it fit together.
Then—
for a fraction of a second—
the stranger's fingers twitched.
The girl immediately froze.
Her heart skipped.
The movement was small.
Almost imperceptible.
Yet she saw it.
The white-haired stranger remained unconscious.
But he had moved.
The girl stared.
Waiting.
The hidden world listened.
Nothing happened.
Then she slowly reached toward him.
Carefully.
Cautiously.
Intending to check whether the stranger was burning with fever.
Whether he was truly alive.
Whether this was even real.
Her hand moved closer.
Closer.
Until only inches remained.
Then—
the silver flowers surrounding them suddenly bowed.
All at once.
The girl froze.
The flowers remained lowered.
The rivers became still.
The glowing breeze disappeared.
The hidden world itself seemed to be listening.
Waiting.
Watching.
And for reasons she could not explain—
the girl suddenly felt that touching the stranger might change everything.