6 Runs Out of Ink
by Zeakari
Shuffle, shuffle. "Ohhhh no..." Crash! Shuffle, shuffle.
"What the..?" 5 stopped at the noises coming from nearby. He backed up from his original trek toward the bucket elevator and turned the other way. The scuffling sounds were easy enough to follow, as whoever was causing the noise was making no effort at all to block it. It quickly became apparent who was making the noise.
"6?" 5 called as he neared the artist's niche. He peaked through the opening and saw the doll darting around the room, throwing anything and everything out of his way with no regard as to where it was going to land. "What are you doing?"
6 finally turned to 5. His breathing was quick and his fingers twitched as he held onto a piece of paper. He was usually so careful with his drawings. Yet there he was, his ink nib fingers tearing right through the sheet. Other than the apparent panic, there seemed to be something off about him that 5 could not quite put his finger on. The younger doll released his grip from the paper and flicked his wrist when it stuck to his hand. When it did not come loose right away he let out a shout and ripped it apart with his free hand.
"Woah, jeez 6!" 5 rushed inside and gripped him by the shoulders. "Calm down, it's just a little stuck..." He carefully reached down with one hand, keeping the other firmly gripped on the striped shoulder, and pulled the paper off of his hand. That was when he noticed just what it was that seemed different. His fingers were dry, the ink already chipping away. "What's going on?"
"Ink. I need ink," 6 said pointedly. He gripped his key and twisted his hands against the metal. "I can't find any ink."
5 felt a surge of relief. Here he had thought it was something serious. He was about to chuckle, but 6 showed no sign of this being a joke, or anything less than disastrous. He thought for a moment. 6 had long ago hoarded away any and all bottles of ink to be found within the cathedral. He had lost count how many times he had tediously picked through everything within the building to 'double-check' for more. It was quite a long time ago when he had actually found an overlooked one. So if there were no full bottles in 6's room, then there were no full bottles.
He bit his lip. No, that was a lie. There just were no bottles in the cathedral. He knew of a place where they could find some, but he was hesitant to mention it.
"Hey... well, maybe this is a sign that you should take a break from sitting alone and drawing all the time?" 5 suggested lamely.
6's mouth dropped open and his head dropped slightly. "What?" he sounded absolutely appalled. "But that's... You're crazy!"
5 did not miss the irony in that statement.
He roughly shrugged 5's hands off from his shoulders and turned his back to him, returning to his search with renewed determination.
"Look, 6..."
"No, no, no, no," he scattered some papers. The sheets rustled loudly and tacks clattered to the floor. It was obvious that he was purposefully making noise while he searched. He then proceeded in a frustrated yet sing-song tone, "I'm not listening to you!"
"If you would just..."
"I can't just not, there's gotta be some in here!" he tossed a bottle in 5's direction. 5 just managed to throw his arms up in time to catch it, surprised at the force behind the throw.
"Wait!"
"I'm not-ah!" He had been about to rush to the other side of the room when 5 suddenly yanked him back by his key. In his haste, he had forgotten the scattered tacks. Thanks to 5, he had just barely escaped having some rather painful puncture wounds. Despite this, 6 could not bring himself to feel any better at what he had said about him drawing.
"Look, I think I know where you can find some ink."
At that, he was immediately interested. He whirled around, gripped him tightly by the shoulders, and leaned in close enough that their optics clinked together. He was obviously too panicked to remember about personal space. "Where?"
5 winced and pulled at 6's hands. The nibs were digging painfully into his fabric. "It's dangerous to go there, though... and 1 might not..."
"Please tell me!"
"It's... I'm pretty sure I've seen some bottles in the nearby library."
He was almost knocked off of his feet when 6 suddenly let him go and ran out of the room.
"Wait! 6! I'll go with you!" He quickly righted himself and bolted after the striped doll.
The bucket elevator was already in motion by the time he dived in. Much to 6's dismay, he gripped the pulley and refused to let go. He tugged as best as he could, but despite his sudden, panic-induced strength, he was ultimately weaker than 5.
"Calm down, okay?" 5 tried to sound as stern as he could. "You can draw as much as you like as soon as we get ink, but you need to promise me you'll slow down. You won't run off ahead of me. You won't get yourself hurt."
The two of them stared for a moment before 6 finally nodded. He ended up letting go of the lever completely when 5 started rotating it himself.
"We're going up," said 6 after a little while.
"I know," 5 replied simply.
"We're going more up."
"Yes. I'm getting some equipment," he explained. "I refuse to go out there unarmed. It's not safe."
6 was about to protest, but at 5's look, he closed his mouth. He had to leave the bucket with him, as 5 was afraid of leaving him alone in there. If 6 had his way, he would already be out there, running through the dangerous landscape with no way to protect himself. The first thing he grabbed was his spear. He was admittedly not very experienced with it, but it was the best weapon he had at the moment. He was working on making more, but this was the only finished one. He also decided to take his bag. You never know what you could find out there, 2 always liked to say.
Speaking of 2, he wondered if he should find him and have him come along with them. He glanced at 6 and realized that that was not going to be an option. 6 was obviously getting impatient, there was no way he would be able to wait long enough for them to find the elderly doll. To 6's relief, they made there way back to the bucket elevator and started down again.
5 kept his eye on the younger doll. He was scratching at the inner wall of the bucket with one of his sharp fingers in an attempt to make a drawing. He always wondered why it was that he had such a compulsive need to draw. He was very good at it. Heck, he was amazing at it. But why did he feel he needed to draw? It was similar to the twins, now that he thought about it. Except instead of absorbing everything there was to see, he expelled it. He wondered what that felt like; being unable to release what only he could see.
When they finally reached the exit, 6 looked about to throw himself out of the bucket. He managed to catch himself, though, and gathered enough self-restraint to wait for 5 to step out first.
He was followed very closely by the artist, and 5 was glad for it. He was afraid of being out there, out from the safety of the cathedral. But he was more afraid of allowing his friend to go out alone. 5 was no master of weaponry like 7 was, but he was not nearly as helpless as 6. Well, not completely helpless...he smirked slightly, glancing at the light puncture-marks that 6 had accidentally left with his sharp fingers.
They moved fast, stopping here and there within and behind debris. 6 was glad for the quick movement in-between, but ended up fidgeting whenever 5 stopped to hide. He could not help it. He felt as though he had to be extra careful, especially with the nature of the person he was with. In this situation, he was the one in charge, and that frightened him. When he would go out with 2 to collect junk, he was afraid as well. But he felt safe with 2. He started to regret not asking him to come along.
He felt cold shock run through him at the sound of scratching. He frantically gripped his makeshift spear and whirled around, only to slump in relief against the tire they had stopped at. 6 had apparently decided to entertain himself by scratching symbols into the dirt. He couldn't help but smile. The artist didn't look as happy as he did with ink and paper, but at least he had managed to find a temporary outlet.
"Let's go," he uttered, and made a dart for a pile of rubble.
He noted that 6 followed in an awkward slump, dragging his fingers against the ground. There was no way running like that was very comfortable for him.
At long last, they made it to the library. He had no idea how the twins could make such a perilous trek all the time. It reality, the distance between the library and the cathedral was not really all that much, but it was enough. It was out in the open, it was exposed to hostile eyes. At least he had found a few interesting odds and ends during their stops that he could take back with him.
As soon as they had set foot inside, 6 darted off. 5 was about to shout after him, but quickly decided against it. He figured that so long as they were inside, it was safe. At least, as long as he didn't make any loud noises to attract unwanted attention.
He sighed and slowly began to make his way forward. Even in just the first room, he felt a little overwhelmed at just how many books there were. There was no way that these all were from the same room. The shelves were nearly full, yet the floor before him was covered in books. 3 and 4 had certainly been busy. He wondered if they were there now. Probably not. He remembered seeing them back at the cathedral earlier.
Curious, 5 decided to take a look inside one of the books. He decided on a rather large one. He figured that the bigger the book, the more things in it that were bound to catch his interest. He only glanced at the spine, not caring much about the title. He grunted softly as he lifted the heavy cover and pushed it aside. He began to read.
A few minutes later, he found himself slamming the book shut with surprising ease. For good measure, he placed another, though much smaller, book on top of it. He vowed to never read another book with the large word 'Poe' written on the spine. Or maybe he will never again read any book altogether.
He jumped at the sound of scraping. "6?" he called softly. He wanted to go back. It was safe in the cathedral. The twins could feel safe here all they wanted, he did not like it here much. They could move fast, and were very quite. He wasn't so lucky to have their agility, and he doubted that 6 did either. Speaking of 6...
"Come on, 6, haven't you found a bottle yet?" he called out, trying desperately to be quite, yet loud enough for his friend to hear him.
Sssskrrrrrtch.
There was that noise again. Was that the sound of a possibly-large ink bottle? He hoped so. If that were the case, then not only could they get out of there nice and quick, but also that feeling of dread would be just his paranoia. He made his way up onto a plank of wood that would help lead him to higher ground. Maybe he could catch sight of 6 and his new bottle of ink from there.
Hhhnnnnng...
He froze.
That was most definitely... unmistakably... without a doubt... not the sound of a bottle of ink scraping against the ground. It sounded a great deal more like a growl. A growl from something rather large. And hostile.
Again, 5 found himself gripping his spear. He did not feel safe with it. Having a spear meant that he would have to get close to whatever he wanted to damage with it. He tried hard to keep from making any noise, but his sudden inability to stop shaking was proving dangerous. He took a slow, deep breath.
A large, but somehow delicate-looking hand was placed on the doorway. Rubble kept the doors from moving very easily, so it came as no surprise when he saw it struggling with the door. As quickly as it appeared, it was gone.
5 waited. Was it going to come back? He closed his optics and listened carefully. He could hear the wind outside. Some rubble could be heard crumbling to the ground because of it. Was it because of the wind? No, it sounded so natural. Maybe it was just his imagination? His paranoia seemed to have gotten the best of-
CRASH!
He almost screamed when a large chain burst through a nearby wall that had apparently been weakened. He could hear the scraping noise once more. The hand came into view again. It gripped the floor and pulled a large body toward it. The teeth were the first things he found himself staring at. They were sharpened forks, but most definitely used by this thing as its teeth. Its body was a birdcage wrapped in canvas. Its face was stretched and intimidating, but the thing looked very clumsy. It did not really walk, so much as drag itself along on the head of a shovel.
5 blinked. The beast was just sitting there, unmoving. What was it waiting for?
For me to give myself away, he realized. He gulped. What was he going to do? He had to get out of there, but he had no idea where 6 was. Leaving him behind was not an option.
5 slowly lifted his leg and stepped back. He was quite enough, the creature had not heard him. He took another step back. Again, it had not heard. Slowly, he began to make his way up. Maybe he could make it up there, to the upper levels. Then he could find 6 and they could quietly get out of there without the beast ever catching sight of them. Surely, 6 could not argue against him with something like that waiting for them?
"Oh 5! Dear 5! Did you fall?"
5's legs nearly gave out when he heard 6's call. It would have been absurd to even halfway hope that the monster had not heard him. It let out a bellow and started in the direction of the voice. Without thinking, without hesitating, 5 bolted after it. Despite his initial thought of it being clumsy, it could still move fast. Not even the dragging chain impeded it much, as the hook would twist in whatever direction allowed it to not get caught in anything.
This gave him an idea. The hook may have been able to twist around, but what could a chain link do? He ran up a stack of books that lead him to the lower shelves. He managed to get above the monster. He would have to act fast, as he could only go so far before the shelves became wall. He leapt into the air, spear held high. The beast moved a bit too fast. He was going to miss the body completely. It was a good thing he was not aiming for it.
Through sheer dumb luck, 5's spear went right through the hole of one of the links at just the right angle. The beast let out a low yelp of surprise as it was suddenly stopped. 5 quickly ran along the chain, using it to climb up the body and get once more to higher ground. He heard something snap behind him as a hand just barely missed grabbing him. He leapt forward, hands outstretched to grab a hold of another shelf.
His body suddenly jerked backward. One hand may have missed, but it seemed as though the other was a bit more accurate. The creature snarled and slammed him into the ground hard.
Everything felt hazy, as though he were floating. He should probably get up, 2 might need his help with something. They were always working on something. What were they going to make today? Was he moving to get up? He wasn't sure. He couldn't really feel much of anything. He really should go and help 6. Wait, wasn't it supposed to be 2 he was helping? No, it seemed not. Was 6 wearing 2's hat? Oh, no, that's not it. He's holding up a bottle.
Reality jerked back into place as 5 was unceremoniously dropped to the ground. His optics fluttered erratically as his head spun. He forced himself upright, fighting the dizziness. There was a wet slap followed by a snarl, and 5 looked up to see 6 standing on a plank of wood bending downward from the upper floor. He had a bottle of ink under one arm, while the other was dripping with the black ooze. The beast scrubbed at its eyes, ink covering them and blinding it. 5 quickly took the opportunity to retrieve his spear. So long as it was blind, its ability to move was not as much of a problem, right?
He called up to the artist, who actually stopped to take the time to screw the cap back onto the bottle before making his way down. From what 5 could see, he had managed to find himself at least three bottles. He could barely hold them all up. Good. It would be a while until their next trip here.
The creature's chain shot up though the air, crashing into rubble from above and catching onto something solid. It began to pull itself up toward 6. It may have looked bulky, but it was hollow and did not weigh much. 6 scrambled to hold on to all three of the bottles while at the same time climbing back up to the second floor.
"No!" 5 shouted. There was no way he could get up there in time. What could he do, what could he do? He gasped. He scrambled in his small pack and pulled out an elastic band. He fell onto his back and wrapped it around his feet. He pulled the spear against the elastic and aimed. He had just turned himself into a makeshift crossbow. He let go of the spear's end and it went flying upward. It tore through the canvas, lodging into the creature. It screamed and its grip faltered. 5 let out a short cheer, but quickly searched out another sharp object. He had only hurt it a little, this was not the time to celebrate one measly hit.
The beast roared loudly as it was hit once again. It whirled around to identify its assailant. Instinctively, 5 dove out of sight. The beast turned back to climbing. He peaked his head out from behind his hiding place. Had he given 6 enough time to escape? No. The artist had given up running with the bottles altogether. Instead of just dropping them to save his life, he stopped completely and began to fling ink at it once more. This time it was ignoring the hits, becoming more and more angry rather than being deterred.
He could not just keep hitting it in the body like he was. He was obviously doing more damage than 6 was, but it was not enough. He found a pen and aimed once more. This time he aimed for something much smaller than the creature's body. He had to act fast, though, it was one good pull away from reaching 6. He bit his lip and fired. The creature roared in agony as its shoulder was pierced. It struggled frantically to get its arm moving again while at the same time keeping hold of its chain. 5 shot again. This time he hit its other hand. As it started to fall, 5 ran as fast as he could toward it. He snatched up any sharp object he could find as he went. He leapt to the monster just as it reached the end of his chain, pulling it just short of a full impact to the ground. There were many things he could have taken from it, but he only took back his spear. He scaled the chain, ignoring the shaking as the beast began to recover.
When he reached the top, he grabbed 6's key, as his arms were full, and led him away from the edge. He weaved between books and rubble, trying to put as much distance as possible between them. The roar he heard confirmed that he had, in fact, not defeated it.
Dammit, 5, why couldn't you have just followed 6 like you were supposed to? he mentally scolded himself. If he had been with him, they could have quietly snuck out another way. But no, now they had a beast chasing them thanks to his negligence. There was a crashing noise from behind them, followed by a loud roar. It sounded like it had finally managed to climb the rest of the way up. Now they needed a good place to hide.
He gasped when he suddenly felt 6 tug back. "What are you doing?" he asked frantically, trying not to yell.
"It's like you," 6 responded.
What? What could he possibly mean by that?
"Shoot it in the eye, it's only got one good one," 6 explained, as though he had read his mind.
He looked back. The monster was in sight now. 6 was right, only one of the eyes was glowing. The other was just an empty socket. He did not dare hope that it had not seen them yet. Its movement was jerky and awkward thanks to the injuries it had received, but it was still moving fast.
He pushed 6 behind him, further away from the beast, and fell to his back to once more to become a crossbow. He decided right there to make a real one as soon as they got back. If they got back. He aimed and shot. The monster dodged to the side and snarled. It had apparently wised up to his attacks. 5 cursed and rolled back to his feet. He was about to yank 6 by his key again, when he heard the clatter of bottles being dropped. 6 was already in between him and the monster, carrying only one ink bottle now.
"6! Wait!" 5 gave chase, but the younger doll was moving too fast.
As 6 ran, he pulled off the cap and dropped it. He ran right up to the monster, which was already reaching for him, and threw the bottle of ink as hard as he could. He laughed loudly just before the glass shattered against the beast's eye and its hand smashed against his side, sending him flying. He collided with a nearby stack of books, causing the whole thing to tumble over.
5 screamed. He made a beeline for the beast, leaping up at its face. It was trying desperately to scratch the shards from its eye. He managed to avoid the hand and slammed the spear directly into the optic. The creature's hand immediately grabbed for it. He held on tight as it pulled the spear out, ripping its own eye out of the socket along with it. He flew through the air a moment before curling up in a ball, absorbing the impact of hitting the ground. He quickly stood and smashed the eye, still attached to the spear, against the ground. It cracked terribly, just about to fall apart. One more time, and it shattered.
The beast shuddered terribly and tried to crawl away. Its limbs shook and twitched as it ended up pulling itself over the edge. The impact sounded devastating. He waited for a moment, listening carefully. He could hear nothing. He made his way over to the edge, wary of the height. The creature was below, unmoving. One of its arms had been completely detached, and the cage had taken considerable damage from having the heavy chain land on it.
He slumped, feeling drained. He looked at the spear and shook the remaining pieces of eye from it. It turned out to be quite the evening for him and 6.
He gasped.
He whirled around and ran as fast as he could over to the pile of books, where he had last seen the artist.
"6! Answer me, are you all right?" he cried as he shifted books around.
He pulled up a particularly large book and let it fall off to the side. He let out an exclamation of relief at the sight of 6. He looked a little stuck, as one of his legs was underneath another book. He looked up at him, his eyes wide, and he held up his hands. 5 reached down and grabbed them, pulling him out from the pile of books and freeing his leg.
As soon as he was set on his feet he stumbled and fell against 5, shaking terribly and gripping tightly at his arms to help keep himself up. 5 could not help but laugh in relief. Apparently, he was quite drained from what had happened and had scratches here and there, but otherwise he was all right.
They finished up what they had started without any more bloodthirsty interruptions. 6 showed 5 where he had found the ink bottles. The artist carried three while 5 opted to carry two. Not only was he was already carrying weaponry, but he did not feel he had the patience to constantly readjust his hold on so many bottles. It was only on their way back that 5 realized why the monster had found them. He had been so preoccupied with hiding and getting to the library, he had not realized that by allowing 6 to drag his fingers against the ground, he was creating a rather easy-to-follow trail.
I need to be more attentive, he scolded himself.
As they moved along, he noticed how quiet 6 was. Not that he was really all that talkative. He was dragging his feet a little and blankly staring down at the ground. 5 was rather sure that he would be bouncing around, excited to have ink to draw with. His whole demeanor had changed from earlier.
He bumped him with his arm and gave him a smile, hoping for a smile back. Instead, 6 looked up at him in surprise, bit his lip, and looked back down again. 5's smile faded.
"Is something wrong?" he finally decided to ask. "I figured you'd be all excited, y'know?" He shifted one of the bottles in his arm, as though to emphasize his point. "I mean, we got ink and everything. You can draw now." 6 only winced at this, though, much to 5's dismay. He sighed. Maybe it would be best if he just stopped talking. They were quiet the rest of the way to the cathedral. They were quiet on the ride up in the bucket elevator. It wasn't until 5 had managed to get 6 to sit down so he could patch the two of them up that the artist finally decided to speak.
"I'm sorry..."
5 blinked. He furrowed his brow and looked up at 6 in surprise. "For what?"
"You were hurt because I wanted ink."
5 looked himself over. There were scratches and such along his body, but nothing too serious. He had already patched himself up, as 6 had refused to let him touch his cuts until he fixed his own. He snipped at the string and he smiled softly at him. He had not realized how guilty the artist was feeling about this.
"I came with you of my own free will, 6," he said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You're my friend, I'd hate myself if I let you go off alone. And I didn't get hurt that bad anyway. I mean, I wasn't the one who crashed into the stack of books." 5 was thrilled when 6 finally gave him a smile at this, albeit a weak one.
Fully repaired, 6 was finally able to run off with his ink. 5 scratched the back of his head as he watched the other leave. Well, that was probably the most interaction he would ever get out of the reclusive doll. He was rather nice, if only he could pull himself out of his obsessive need to draw a little more often. What would a whole conversation be like with him? 5 shrugged and left to go find 2.
Later, 5 found a piece of paper is his room. He picked it up and his eyes widened at the sight. It was a picture of himself facing off against the beast, looking mighty and brave with his spear.
A/N: I have the picture 6 drew on my deviantArt page in my 9 folder if anybody wants to see it c: I first posted this story on the movie9 forum.