Here we go again (Sharaku)

At last, the final Shadow went down. Naomi would bend over and place her hands on her knees, letting out exaggerated breaths as she tried to gather herself, “I’m kind of tired after that. It was much harder than the last group.” Intertwined would go up to her and climb onto her back so they could rub it. It wasn’t exactly what she needed, but it made her feel slightly better, “Thank you, you two.” She’d stand straight up again and put on a cheerful face, “I think that’s enough for today. I don’t know about you, but I don’t think I could handle another fight. I’m glad we could do this much, at least.” She’d motion for Intertwined to move forward, which they would. Once they had, she grabbed them each in a separate arm and nuzzle against them, “You two really are great. Sorry for making you work so hard. I’m sure you guys are tired too.” The two would look up at her with their usual stitched on grins and wave their hands as if they were cheering.

She would finally begin walking back towards the entrance hey had come in through, “At least we’re all done, and the way seems to be clear for us. It’s nice not to have to worry anymore after working so hard.” The two bears seemed to clap in approval as she spoke with Sharaku, “Thank you again for coming out with me. I’m glad we were able to get in so much training. I think we managed to learn a lot about fighting and about the Shadows. Thankfully, we didn’t seem to be in that much trouble.” Considering some of the other times they had fought, this time went rather well. She was so excited that they managed to fight without causing too much of an issue. All things considered, that could have gone a lot worse. That was a pessimistic thought. She would shake that thought out of her mind and she continued to walk forward, “I hope all of us can get even stronger, so that we can fight whatever is going on.” She recalled that the Shadows weren’t the only things that they had to fight. There was that woman that had apparently told hem to go looking around. That meant there were probably other things they had to fight, and they would be much stronger as time went on. She was a little afraid, but getting stronger calmed her nerves.

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Naomi would look at the portal she had once entered through and turned around to face Sharaku again. She’d give a small salute, “Thank you once against for coming with me. I hope this wasn’t too much of a burden on you.” She didn’t want to think she had completely wasted his time. That would make her feel terrible. Still, despite the long trek and the fighting, she was smiling. She could feel it deep down. She had learned something from all of this. It felt nice inside. Intertwined would vanish from her arms as she called them back to her subconscious, “I think it would be best for us to rest for a while. If we push ourselves anymore, we’ll die of exhaustion.” That comment would make her laugh. With one more nod, she would walk over to the portal, saying one last thing to Sharaku before she went in, “Stay safe and take care of yourself.” She stepped in and returned to their world with that statement. It was time she headed home.

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