Mary heads back to camp, humming happily, her two dolls behind her walking proud after some hard work chopping down trees.

“Mado, Ib, we’re back!” The dolls let out a happy squeal of greeting as the two look over, smiling.

“Good to see you. How did it go?” Madotsuki asked.

“Great!” Mary directed the dolls to put the lumber away in the chest. “I think we’ll be okay for a while.”

“Good. Ib and I figured out what we’ll be doing next.” She points off into the forest Mary came from. “A bit of exploring. Ib said she ran into small village of strange pig-like people. I figure we should see it for ourselves. Plus, we might find something new if we look around.”

Mary smiles. “New stuff sounds good! I hope they’re not like that fish person though...”

“Hopefully not. Are we all ready to set out?”

“Yep!” Mary smiles and the dolls run over, ready to head out again. Ib nods and walks over too.

Madotsuki smiles. “Then lead the way, Ib.”

                                                             ______

Chara wasn’t going to just rush in and strike the Batter instantly- no, that would be too risky. Instead, he stalked the man, shadowing his footsteps and hiding out of sight, waiting for the right moment. After some battle when he had worn himself down. This promised an easier fight, and a better chance of success. However, it also promised a lot of time listening to Frisk nag at them.

“Chara, we don’t have to do this...” On and on Frisk talked, pleading, imploring, but Chara was unmoved. The problem with them both being as determined as they are was that when they couldn’t see eye to eye, it was nearly impossible to change that. “Why don’t we try talking to him again? I can change his mind!”

“You know that won’t work. Why are you trying to protect him anyway?” They could feel Frisk’s exasperation at the question.

“Because we shouldn’t have to kill people! It’s wrong! It would be like if you hurt Toriel!”

Chara growled and stopped walking, gripping their knife tightly, but there was nothing to cut, no where to vent their anger. “Don’t you dare say that, Frisk! You know I would never...”

“Then why now? Those animals I didn’t mind… because they weren’t people. But this...”

“Because he wouldn’t care! J-Just… think about it. You know that rabbit village we’ve been staying in?”

Both their thoughts turned toward that; a small village of large rabbit-like creatures. They were friendly enough, and had let them stay with them, gave them shelter from the elements and kept the beasts at bay. Friendly, but not very bright, and they seemed to have a seething hatred for meat and could smell it on you. It made eating a bit awkward when they wanted something less green for lunch, they had to make a fire outside and eat alone. But still, they were friends.

“Well, what do you think he would do if he ran into them?” Frisk had nothing to say to that. “He’s tried to attack everything he sees. There’s no way he wouldn’t kill them too. So, for your sake and theirs… this has to be done.”

“Then why are you so… excited about it?” Now it was Chara’s turn to be silent. “I can tell, you know. You really seem to enjoy...”  They couldn’t bring themselves to say it, but Chara knew what was meant.

“I’m not sure. There’s just something exciting about hunting prey down. Finishing it off. Seeing it die… that he needs to die is a bonus.” They found themselves wondering how The Batter would fight back, what sort of struggle could be expected, what sort of items he had on him… then the pleasant idea that they could take his stuff after he died. Frisk made a noise of disgust.

“He’s not just another animal, he’s a person!”

“True. But he’s an enemy, and that’s all that matters. It just makes things more challenging, in the end.”

Frisk was about to retort, but they saw the Batter start moving again, and they both quieted down as the chase continued.

                                                         ______

Ib lead her friends through the forest, retracing the path she had followed with the Batter previously. To her relief, she could see that the huts she saw before were still standing- though now there was one of the pig-men in plain sight, obviously acting as a watchman. It was probably a good thing they were more cautious, but it was still worrying.

On spotting them, the pig snorted. “YOU STOP.” They halted, and the pig looked them over, focusing on Ib. “YOU BRING MONKEY MAN HERE. NOW BRING MORE?”

Ib stares up at the pig, too frightened to speak. “I-I...”

Madotsuki pushed into the front, grabbing the pig’s attention. “Leave her alone. We aren’t here for a fight. That man isn’t with us.”

The pig stared for a bit, before snorting. “FINE. BUT CAUSE TROUBLE AND GIRLS GO SMASH.” He walked over the to fire between all of the huts, calling to the other pigs. The three followed somewhat warily, watching as two more joined him- Ib couldn’t help but notice one looked more wounded, probably because of the Batter. The three bellowed back and forth for a couple moments before seeing to reach a decision. Finally, the watchman looked at them. “WHY GIRLS HERE?”

Ib spoke up. “Well… I wanted to make sure you were okay after what happened.”

The pigs all look at each other. “GIRL WANT BE FRIEND?”

“Y-Yes...”

“MMM… GIRL BRING SOMETHING FOR PIGS?”

Now it was their turn to talk- they weren’t entirely sure what they could give them, but fish seemed like a good idea- they also offered some of the spider meat they had, just in case they might like it. The girls certainly didn’t.

The pigs seemed pleased with this offering and quickly started digging into the fish right in front of them. The spider meat, on the other hand, they seemed more wary of. They did accept it, however, and started to cook it over the fire. “SPIDER BAD. MEAT NEED FIRE TO BE GOOD. OR PIG TURN BAD LIKE SPIDER.”

With the meat roasted though, they dug into it just like they had the fish, happy. “YOU IS GOOD. GIRLS NOW PIG FRIENDS.”

Ib smiles in relief, glad they were getting along. Mary turned to talk to her dolls, giving them orders.

“WHAT BLUE THINGS?”

Mary looked up. “Just my dolls. I told them to look around that way.” She points to the west, and the pigs look that way.

“GHOSTS THAT WAY. SPOOKY...”

The dolls froze and look over, concerned. Mary flinched at the idea. “Mmm… maybe not then… what about the other way?” She points east.

“NICE FOOD. GOOD PLACE.”

“Great! Okay dolls, let’s check it out!”

Madotsuki tapped her on the shoulder. “Mary, I’m going to check out this ‘ghost’ they’re talking about. You and Ib can go east. We’ll meet up back here soon, alright?”

Mary frowns. “But Mado… what if something happens? You can’t go on your own!”

“Well, you can’t leave Ib alone either, can you?”

“I-I...” Mary slumps, looking defeated. “I don’t want to leave either of you alone...”

“GREEN GIRL NOT WORRY.” Mary turned and looked at the pig. “I FOLLOW NICE GIRL. YOU GO WITH SPOOKY GIRL.”

Mary looks relieved. “...okay then. Dolls, go with Ib too, got it?”

The dolls chimed affirmatively and ran to Ib’s side, while the pig who spoke did the same.

Ib looks to them. “You don’t have to do all this for me… are you sure you won’t need their help more?”

Madotsuki shook her head. “We’ll be fine. Like I said, we’ll go explore for a bit and meet up here, alright?”

Ib nods. “Okay. Stay safe.”

Mary smiles. “Don’t worry, I’ll keep her out of trouble!” She grabs Madotsuki’s hand and yanks her along as she starts walking. “Let’s go!”

Ib couldn’t help but giggle. So long as Mary could be that confident, she was sure they’d be alright.