By the time the sun had begun to set, Ib had made some good distance, setting up a fire for the coming night. This area seemed to be covered in yellow grass, with tall tufts sticking out, ready to be used. Aside from that, it mostly seemed to be populated by birds and rabbits, which was just fine for Ib. No danger in sight. There also didn’t seem to be much in the way of food- unless she wanted to take a shot at the animals, but she had no such goal.

She wasn’t too far away from the forest she had left as of yet, and could make a quick trip when her supplies ran low. And if she really had to get something quickly, for some reason there seemed to be seeds here and there, mostly fed on by the birds, but she was sure she could eat them too… it suddenly occurred to her that seeds generally grew into plants when buried and such. Perhaps they could make better food if she did that?

A good idea, and more than enough reason to snatch as many seeds as she could in the remaining daylight.

Since the fire, Mary had been very busy. Seeing the walls and chest hidden within them made her realize she could create walls for their camp to keep them safe from monsters and threats, and of course chests were useful for holding things they didn’t want to carry around. But to make both of these, they needed a lot of wood, so the three of them spent more time heading into the forest to chop down trees, even uprooting the stumps with shovels.

Neither of them were really quite sure what to do with the pine cones the trees dropped. For one, they didn’t actually know what they were, or what they did. Mary was sure Madotsuki would have some clue, but she said they were a new type of tree to her. And despite having ideas or inklings about most things, here it was just blank. But they collected them anyway- surely a use would present itself eventually. And if they really had to use them for it, they could at least be fire fuel.

By now they had constructed some walls around their little camp, and the day was dwindling. Madotsuki looked over Mary’s work; as is the walls didn’t offer much protection, but it was a start. It would do for the night. “Mary, lets take a break.”

Mary frowned stubbornly. “But it’s not really a wall yet. It just needs a bit more work...”

The dreamer shook her head and grabbed Mary’s arm before she could get back to it. “Those shadows may show up again, and if they do, we need to be ready. So rest.”

Mary grumbled, but set her tools sat down, the doll scurrying into Mary’s lap once she was settled. “Sorry, I just got really into it. I could see what it was going to be! I really like drawing and making things.”

Madotsuki smiled a little. “I think I get it. I used to write down my dreams, and draw pictures of what I saw. It was a nice feeling. Sort of like...” She paused to try and grasp the word. “Like I was bringing my dreams to life by putting them into words.”

Mary nodded enthusiastically. “Exactly, you get it! Making art is great!”

“Well, I don’t know if it was really art… but it was fun.”

Mary closed her eyes in thought for a moment, then gasped. “I’ll get more paper! And then you can show me!”

The dreamer blinked in surprise. “If you want I suppose… it wasn’t really anything special. Anyway, I’d need something to write with too.”

“I can make something, just you wait! Oh, this will be great!”

“Well... something to look forward to.” She she couldn't help but laugh at little at Mary's entusiasm. “Of course, first we have to make it to tomorrow, so stay alert, got it?”

“Got it!”

The Batter sat quietly in his circle of firelight, occasionally feeding the fire a twig as he watched unblinking for any threats. Throughout his vigil he kept hearing strange whispering noises and odd sounds, but it was nothing new to him. In the old world he had traveled through there was the Nothingness between the Zones, full of whispers and voices, created from the insane babbling of specters and the lamentations of the souls they tormented. All it meant for him was that something like those foul creatures was drawing close.

He gripped his bat and stood, ready to fend off anything that came. But rather than a monster appearing, instead he started hearing an odd tune, like a very slow music box. The shadows seemed to elongate in front of him, forming into a hand. The Batter raised his bat defensively, but it didn’t attack him, instead stretching out and reaching for his fire. It was trying to destroy his light. He swung down at the shadow’s long wrist, making the music skip a note and the hand itself lurch backwards before reaching out again, but the Batter wouldn’t give it the chance, beating it back until it retreated from his firelight and vanished entirely.

However, there was no time to relax, because as soon as that hand vanished, the tune started up again and two more were coming. Distracted as the Batter was by all this, the louder whispering and other noises went entirely unnoticed. At least, until the hands were dispatched and he turned around to see two shadow beasts standing in front of him. One was a large spiky entity on many legs, like some giant insect, but the other seemed to be almost entirely composed of a massive jaw and fangs, held up on a long slender body and tiny legs.

Despite their very different shapes, they both seemed very fast at charging in for a strike, forcing the Batter to dodge backwards, almost stumbling out of the light before he managed to swing back at them. A hit from his bat made both monsters vanish, but they reappeared almost on top of the fire. The light didn’t seem to phase them in the slightest, and judging from the sudden music, more hands were preparing to snuff it out and give these beasts the advantage.

The Batter charged in to slay the beasts and close the distance on the hands, but rather than stand its ground, the insect-like shadow moved out of the way, while the one with the giant mouth tried to snap down on him with its jaws. It was struck again for its efforts, but the second shadow used this opportunity to strike from behind, tearing into Batter’s shoulder with its teeth.

There was no flesh wound, but it still dug into him regardless, before Batter managed to smash it between the eyes with his bat, making it turn loose and kneel over, limp and lifeless. He looked around for the second shadow, but before he could spot it, the hands found their target and snuffed out his fire. The light was gone, and the eyes of the shadow creatures stared at him from all directions.

Yet despite all that, he knew something worse was coming. That voice that hurt him in the shadows. He quickly started running, not caring where, as he hastily tried to construct a torch. He managed one just in time, but it illuminated more shadow beings ready to face him, and he simply had to keep running. That voice, that woman’s laughter, followed him all through the night.