The sound of Mary’s shouting grabbed Madotsuki’s attention quickly, and she changed course to find her. Mary seemed to be under attack by shadows, no doubt the same pack chasing Ib. The dreamer pulled out her own knife and slashed at the closest one from behind. The beast staggered in pain, alerting the rest. The monsters soon gather closer together to try and watch both fighters at once, but they were quickly cornered and starting to lose more and more of their numbers as the girls closed in.

Finally, the remaining creatures back away and let out a furious roar, vanishing into the ground. The two keep their knives out for a moment, looking around, but it seemed the danger had passed… for now. Madotsuki found the black splotches they left behind interesting- she had a feeling she could use them for something. But it wasn’t as if their spoils were going anywhere, and they had more pressing matters.

“Mary, I think Ib ran this way. Did you see her?”

Mary nodded. “Yeah, my doll took her back to camp.”

Madotsuki sighed in relief, smiling. “Well, let's go check on her. Hopefully she didn't run off again. That doll didn’t look strong enough to stop her.”

The painter shot her a glare. “My dolls are stronger than you’d think! What kind of shoddy work do you think I’m making?”

The Batter was tired. His body was still functioning properly, but even as steadfast and focused as he was, his mind was starting to suffer. He had not slept in days, and he was starting to realize he should. The longer he stayed awake, the harder it became to think. The more the shadow creatures attacked. By now he had left behind practically a trail of broken and beaten monsters, but he knew there would be more soon. They would not leave him alone for long, and every night that woman’s voice would taunt him again and again as they showed up in even greater numbers.

As he wearily walked onward, he spotted something different- a cave entrance. Though obviously dark inside, if it was a small one, maybe he could stop here and rest for a while. After that, surely he would be fine… As he entered the cave he started to stumble a bit, his lack of vision and focus making his eyes swim.

He held onto the cave wall for support, but his weariness now that he was somewhere seemingly safe was overpowering him. The rush of energy and constant paranoia that had been fueling him was finally failing. He collapsed soon after, already asleep, with a sliver of daylight shining down on him from the cave mouth, and the unknown lurking just ahead.

Ib fell on her hands and knees, a bit off balance from just how fast that little doll was. As she got up and looked around, she recognized the walls at least, so this must be their camp. The ground was soft grass, and there was a soft purple blanket on the ground, apparently for one of the two to sleep under. All in all, it was a lot like her own, but though she tried to focus on the camp, she couldn’t help but fixate on the doll.

It was looking out of the camp’s entrance, occasionally looking back at her. Making sure she didn’t run, Ib supposed. She wondered what Mary would do after she came back. She thought back to that knife in Mary’s hand, but she couldn’t ignore the fact that if Mary wanted to hurt her, she wouldn’t have taken her somewhere safe. And Madotsuki apparently trusted her. Maybe she had been a bit hasty. And dumb, to just run off into more trouble…

Given this would be the second time Mary saved her, Ib supposed she at least talk to her. This resolve in mind, she looked at the doll again, watching it not out of fear, but a flickering curiosity. Taking in its expression, she was surprised to see it worried every time it looked out. Seeing how they had left Mary fighting a bunch of monsters, Ib supposed the doll must be concerned. She didn’t even know they could feel something like that, caring for someone else.

“Mary… Mary will be okay.” The doll looked over, making a small noise of surprise. “She will come back.” Ib tried to smile for the little monster. It smiled back, looking just a little reassured. Maybe they weren’t as scary as Ib thought.

Mary and Madotsuki arrived back at the camp, going slowly to be sure nothing was following them. As far as they could tell, the shadows had retreated for now. As they got closer to the camp, they heard the doll letting out a cheer and dashing out to greet them, bouncing happily. 

Mary smiled and picked it up, hugging it. “Did you take her back here?”

The doll nods and points to the camp.

Madotsuki sighed in relief. “Good. It’s about time we got her to safety.”

“No thanks to me...” Mary muttered.

“It’s hardly your fault she ran off. If anything it should be my fault, since I didn’t tell her you were there.”

Mary was going to keep arguing the point, but then Ib poked her head out from the entrance and the artist quieted down nervously. Madotsuki smiled and walked over while Mary was frozen in place. “Are you okay, Ib? Did those shadows hurt you?”

The girl shook her head silently, focusing her eyes on Mary.

“Good. It's fine, you can come out. Mary is my friend, and I promise you she won’t hurt you.”

“Friend...” Ib whispered, before coming out of hiding. “I’m sorry… Mary. I shouldn’t have run off.”

Mary looks up in surprise. “But I-”

“No. When we got here, you wanted me to stay with you, so we’d both be safer, and you and Madotsuki saved me from those shadows… you’ve been nothing but good. And I’m sorry.”

Mary shakes her head. “I’m not a good person. Even if I look human, I’m still-”

Ib stepped closer, making Mary back away timidly. “I don’t care about that. A lot happened before, but you still saved me. So… I'm going to try and trust you. Okay?”

Mary looks away, opening her mouth to object, but no words would come out. Finally she just said, “...Okay.”

Madotsuki smiles and takes both their hands. “Alright then, we’d best get inside and get the fire going. It will be dark soon.”