Scissors and String

7's body slammed against the, hard, cold floor of a rusty birdcage. The old piece of junk had been put to use, by confining her in a small space, much like a prison cell. She rolled over, and sat up, to look her captor in the light bulb eye. Stood just outside the cage door, was the beast. The same beast that the rest of the stitch punks had been hiding from for years on end. Only she had been daring enough to bare the danger of the slowly decaying world.

She and both the twins, 3 and 4, had left the sanctuary long ago. Leaving behind 1, and the rest of their friends. They had had enough of 1 cowardly hiding, and had finally decided to join the fight.

The beast, turned, and clambered its way back up the metal debris, and out of the hole it had entered in. the sound of its metal claws, scrabbling against the earth, could be heard , getting fainter and fainter and it got further away. 7 listened until the old factory was deathly silent, searching for the signal of it departure.

Once she was sure the beast had gone, 7 gingerly reached to the back of her, bleached, body. Just as she had suspected. With her moulded copper fingers, she could feel a rip in the fabric. She began to estimate how large it was, when her hand brushed the metal frame of her body. She pulled her hand back in pain. For a moment, she silently wished that she had not gone scouting that day.

7 looked around at her surroundings, cautiously. She had never seen this part of the factory before. The beast had never managed to bring her here. She usually either got away from it, or broke free of its grasp before it had gotten here. Looking around the floor of the cage, she saw the old bones of a dead animal. When she studied it closely, she recognised it has a 'bird'. 3 and 4 had once shown her a few pictures of one in a book they had been reading.

She hoisted herself up from the ground, despite the pain in her back, and walked over to the skeleton. Being a warrior, the pain didn't affect her too much, but she still made a mental note to get her back sewn up. She looked down at the bones for a moment, trying to fully register if they would be useful to her.

Having an idea, she reached down and picked the skull from the assortment. She then placed it on her head, and pulled it down over her face. The perfect helmet for protecting her face against the beasts. She then tied a few feathers, which she found amongst the bones, on to the back of the skull, using the piece of rope that she kept tired around her waist. That would keep it balanced on her head.

Surveying the area once again, 7 thought that it was best to escape now, before the beast came back. She put her new helmet over her head, picked up her spear, and sprinted out of the cage, and out of the factory.

When 7 arrived in the library; which she, 3 and 4 had been staying in, she was utterly exhausted. This, she though, was most likely the effects of the large tear in her back, catching up with her body. As soon as she was in the middle of the trio's new sanctuary, she collapsed to the floor, letting out a cry of pain as she slipped into unconsciousness.

Meanwhile, 3 and 4 had been cataloguing a new book they had found, near by. As soon as they heard 7's pained cry, they rushed over to see what had happened. The found 7, lying face down, with a large tear in the fabric on her back. They wasted no time, immediately grasping hold of her arms and her legs, carrying her over to an old sewing kit they had found, discarded by the humans.

3 placed 7 on a makeshift bed, while 4 threaded a needle.

3 then grabbed a pile of scraps of fabric, and began looking for a piece big enough to cover 7's wound. Unfortunately, the only piece big enough, was a scrap of brown leather, and no where near the colour of 7's body. Nevertheless, it would have to do.

4 began stitching the fabric so that it would cover up the wound, while 3 held 7 down, in case she woke up. It hadn't been the first time they had to fix 7, but it certainly was the worst.

When 7 opened her optics, she was looking straight into the twins' faces. She was lying on the makeshift bed next to the sewing kit. As her memories rushed back to her, and the last scenarios played through in here head, she realised what had happened. She looked up to the twins' concerned faces, and thought to herself 'I shouldn't be so reckless, they must have been worried sick!' She grabbed the twins in a comforting embrace, and smiled to herself. 'At least I got a cool helmet out of it.'