Ib ran all the way back to her and Batter’s camp, worried that he would be after her for abandoning him, or maybe those pigmen would be just as eager to catch her after they were done with him. She finally stopped, panting at their firepit, with no sign of being followed. She fell to her knees, legs wobbly from the long run.

The last time she had run for that long was… back in the gallery, when all of those portrait monsters were after her and Garry. She had collapsed then, and had a terrible nightmare of the monsters closing in on her from all sides. She wasn’t quite tired enough to fall asleep, at least, and just as well; Garry wasn’t here to comfort or protect her if she drifted off now.

There was only the Batter and… Mary. That thought gave her pause. Those two and these pigmen were the only people she had seen in this world. She wasn’t sure where Batter came from, but there may be more people than the three of them that ended up here. Other people that, maybe, could help her. 

But first, she had to reach them before Batter got back here- now that she had stopped running and thought about it, she was sure he would, eventually, get away from the pigs and come looking for her, and this camp would be the first place to look.

But maybe it wouldn’t be here when he came back. Ib quickly fashioned a hammer together, then used it to destroy the Science Machine and the rest of their camp, packing everything she could into her backpack to take with her. Batter would return to find absolutely nothing to help him, or to track her with. Once she was done, with the camp destroyed and everything she could packed away, she set out. She wasn’t quite sure where to go, but she could only hope it would be somewhere better than this. She felt a little guilty, but she told herself as she walked on that this is what she had to do.

Mary’s doll proved quite helpful and friendly, despite its somewhat creepy appearance. The giggles and squeaks alerted them to whatever it found, whether creature or item, and an extra set of hands is never unhelpful, even if they couldn't hold as much. What they needed, Mary realized, was something to hold their items. Several ideas sprung to her instantly, but they needed to get back to camp to make them a reality, as well as logs.

Mary quickly made two axes from their twigs and flint, and handed one to Madotsuki. “We’re going to need some wood. Just a couple of trees should be fine.” Madotsuki didn’t know what she would be making this time, but she was starting to see the same sort of connections herself, now that she was thinking about it. She nods and takes the axe, getting to work.

As she progressed through the forest, however, she quickly realized what she thought from afar was just more trees was in fact more like a giant wall, made of several upright logs sharpened on top and tired together with rope. It extended quite far off on the left, but on the right she could see an entrance nearby.

“Mary! Look at this!”

Mary ran over, soon marveling at the structure. “A wall? So… someone made this, right? There’s people in here!” She ran to the entrance, her doll following behind.

“No wait-” Madotsuki shook her head and followed, drawing her knife. Just because there might be people didn’t mean they were friendly. The entrance opened up into a tight hallway of sorts made by the outer wall and an inner wall, which eventually came out to a wide area surrounded by walls.

This enclosure was littered with bones and brown fur of some sort, which Mary gathered up with no real concern, but there didn’t seem to be any sign of whoever made this place or what furry creatures had resided here. The ground itself was yellow instead of the green they were used to, and tall tufts of grass stuck out here and there. These two were grabbed- Mary wasn’t sure about the bones, but grass and fur she was certain could be made into more clothes and dolls. Hidden behind a large patch of grass, however, was a big wooden chest, perhaps belonging to whoever set this place up.

“Maybe we shouldn’t be taking this stuff then.” Mary reasoned. “Maybe they’ll come back here?”

The dreamer shook her head. “No. This place used to be a holding pen, but it seems the animals it was made for died long ago. Whoever made this, they either died, or left them behind.” Seeing Mary’s somber expression, she tried a smile. “Look on the bright side. We both have more stuff to work with. And whatever is in that chest too.”

The doll nodded firmly, and ran off to open it with a squeak. As it pushed open the lid, they saw a staff topped by a red gem- which promptly glowed and lit on fire, setting the chest on fire too. The doll ran away in panic, cowering behind Mary, who was frozen in fear. Before any of them could move further, the fire ignited something explosive in the box, making the entire thing detonate and light up the far wall- and it would soon spread to the rest of the area.

Mary and the doll were frozen in horror, but Madotsuki quickly picked up the doll and grabbed Mary’s hand, forcing her to follow her out. As they ran, she could have sworn she heard someone laughing from the flames, but she put it out of her mind.

They soon made their way out of the pen and back into the forest, but Madotsuki soon realized they weren’t safe yet- though the trees were sparse, there were a couple right next to the holding pen, and if they caught on fire the whole forest could go up in flames.

“Mary, chop down that tree there!” Madotsuki pointed to the tree, then got to work on the closest one to her.

She was still shock. “Wha- Huh?”

“Just do it!”

Mary squeaked and did as bidden, her eyes wide in uncomprehending fear. Soon the trees were down, and the dreamer lead them away, on the path back to camp. Much to their relief, the flames did not spread, just as Madotsuki predicted.

“You saved us...”

“Mm?” She looked over.

Mary was holding her doll, both scared stiff. “You saved us from the fire… thank you.”

“It was nothing really. You would have done the same, right?”

“If I could… fire is the worst thing...” The artist shivered, hugging the doll tighter.

Madotsuki was about to ask what made fire so terrible, but she remembered Mary reacted badly to her own campfire before, and on thinking about it, even if Mary is human now, she was once a painting of some sort. Pictures tend to be flammable.

She reached over and patted Mary’s arm. “I won’t let you get hurt, okay?”

The doll reached over and tapped her hand, and Mary smiled, just a little. “Okay… we trust you.”

The Batter panted as he slowly walked back to the camp, exhausted. One on one he was sure he could have defeated the pigmen, but when they ganged up on him it made things considerably harder. They seemed a bit smarter than the fishmen he had faced before, and actually were able to coordinate their attacks to catch him off guard. He wished he still had his Add-Ons; those strange ring creatures had been a great help in his old world, but he supposed they must have been destroyed with it.

No matter. With a new world came new chances to gain power. He would grow stronger, and the foes that troubled him now would soon not even be an afterthought. New power, and a new ally.

"Or," he thought, looking at the spot where their camp used to be, "perhaps she is just another enemy too." Looking at the sky and seeing how late it is getting, he decided to set up a fire right where the old one was. The Batter wasn’t worried about finding Ib. No, sooner or later they would run into each other again, and her true colors would show.