The dark tones of dusk were settling nicely over the sky as the timepiece that hung in the workshop struck 8 'o clock.

Five exhaled deeply, with a fond smile, as he looked down at his work.

It was a very small toy music box, with a manual handle, almost the perfect size for a stitchpunk. Nine had found it out in the emptiness, buried under piles of rubble and other debris. Nine, not knowing what it actually was, decided to bring it back to the workshop, only for Two to happily inform him that it was a music box and, if you wound the handle, it would play music, provided it worked properly.

Of course, like most things out in the emptiness, it didn't, which was why it needed some minor adjustments and alterations. It wasn't too hard, thankfully, as it was quite a simple piece of machinery, and Five was happy to fix it up alone, while Two worked on something else. It wasn't often he got to do his own work.

Two glanced over at him from the bench and, seeing that Five had finished, hopped down from his stool.

"You've finished it?" He asked, leaning over to inspect the stitchpunks work. Five shrugged, smiling shyly. "Well, we'll have to see if it works first." He said, gazing at the music box with pride. Two patted his shoulder in an impatient manner. "Well, what are you waiting for? Play it!"

And play it, Five did. He slowly, experimentally, cranked the handle and, much to his excitement, a sweet melody began to emanate from the small box. He could hear Two make a noise of excitement from behind him, and he beamed. It worked!

"Well done! I must say, I'm very proud of you." He said, kindly. Five flushed slightly, picking up the music box and pushing it onto a shelf above the workbench. "T-Thanks. I guess I did learn from the best!" He replied, with a joking grin. Two rolled his optics, giving him a playful smack on the shoulder.

It was then, that One shifted the workshop's curtain aside, peering into the dimly lit space. Both Two and Five's optics instinctively glanced to the timepiece on the wall. Usually, the only reason One ever came into the workshop, was to berate Two for working so late. His face, however, didn't hold the usual expression of distaste or annoyance. He actually looked quite neutral.

"Shouldn't you be finishing up?" He asked Two, eyeing the work on the bench. Two inspected his own project, debating on whether or not he wanted to stay up. He ended up giving a tired sigh, and a small smile.

"I suppose I could retire now." He said, almost shyly, and Five had to stop himself from covering his mouth with his hand. One looked...somewhat pleased by this decision, as he nodded approvingly, and left the workshop.

Five really wanted to talk about how close those two had become lately, but he was worried One would still be in earshot, and he'd had a few bad experiences with One overhearing something that he clearly wasn't meant to hear.

"I suppose I should head to bed too. Do you want any help tomorrow?" He asked, as the pair stepped out of the workshop, turning off the string of lights that illuminated the space. Two reached up to pull the curtain further over the entrance as he thought about it.

"Mm...I think I'll be okay. Do you think you could check on Six before you go to bed? I keep waking up at night to find him drawing or wandering around." Two expression showed concern, and Five nodded. "I can do that. Well...goodnight!"

"Goodnight!"

And with that, they went in opposite directions. Luckily, Five's bedroom was in the general direction of Six's, so it wasn't too much trouble to drop in and check on him.


Five, Six, Seven and Nine's rooms were all in a straight line, between a particularly large bookshelf, and the inside of the wall on the rightmost corridor leading away from the main hall in the library. One, Two and Eight's was on the leftmost corridor, while the twins had their own cubby in the main part.

The library itself was far too big for just them; it actually felt rather lonely to have the whole building to themselves, but they managed to create small rooms for them within the walls and the shelves of the buildings. The enclosed space felt more homely to them; more their size.

Six's room was probably the biggest out of all of them; big enough to store his multitude of artworks and scribbles. Five gently pushed aside the curtain, which Six had decorated with swirling patterns and a big '6' with ink, and peered into the room.

Six was sat up, in the middle of the room, which was both to be expected, and slightly eerie. He wasn't drawing; there was no paper to be seen. He was just...sat there. Doing nothing. Five debated on whether or not to open his mouth.

"Six...are you okay?" He asked, timidly. Six paused, before looking up. He looked confused about something.

"We're all heading to bed. You should think about getting some sleep as well." He said, carefully, not wanting to upset the artist. Six didn't even seem remotely fazed. He nodded quietly, padding softly towards his mattress.

"Six, are you sure you're okay?" The healer asked, concernedly. Six paused again, and shrugged, before looking up at the healer with wide eyes.

"Something...doesn't feel right." He said, finally. "Something feels off. Something bad is going to happen. I don't like it!" He said, his voice now becoming louder. Five winced. It wasn't normal for Six to get so worked up. Something must really be wrong.

"Can it wait til the morning?" Five asked, stifling a yawn. He hadn't realised how hard he'd been working until it suddenly caught up with him. Six looked down at his lap with worry. "I'm not sure..." He said, truthfully, before looking up at the older stitchpunk. "But I can wake you up if it gets bad!" He said, with a nod. Five smiled, fondly.

"Alright, you do that. I'll be next door, okay? Goodnight, Six." He said, softly, before heading next door, leaving Six alone in the darkness of his own room. Six turned his head to gaze out of the small hole in the wall that acted as a window.

Something bad was soon to come. He knew it. He could feel it.

He reluctantly lay down on the springy mattress, pulling the thin blanket over his frame and settling down. He didn't really want to sleep, but for Five, he'd do it. He knew Five and Two always held a strong sense of concern for him, and he felt guilty to make them so worried. Just once in a while, he'd do as they say, to ease their worry.

But something bad was lurking in the distance. It was such a horribly off-putting feeling; especially since he knew next to nothing about it. There were no visions, no nightmares, no nothing. Without those, he felt virtually useless. He had to warn the others, but what about?

He couldn't sleep like this.

He bolted upright, with a frown, before climbing out of bed and padding towards the door. He gingerly poked his head out from behind the curtain, to check if anybody was still lurking around. Sure as Five had said, everybody had gone to bed, leaving him as the only one awake. What to do, he didn't know, but he felt horribly restless, and he couldn't sleep like that. Maybe just a short walk would do.

He slipped stealthily out of his room, and began heading down the corridor towards the main room in the library, where the twins kept their stacks of books. The bright moonlight shone down through the giant window that overlooked the room, giving it an eerie glow.

Usually, the dark would be terrifying to Six. All sorts of nasty things lurked in the darkness, waiting to jump out and do something horrible, but tonight, the darkness offered a strange solace that Six had never really felt before. He wouldn't admit it to anybody, but his corner back in the sanctuary felt more homely to him than here. Of course, the sanctuary had it's downsides, such as the restricting rules (which never really applied to Six, so he didn't care) and the fact nobody really gave him the time of day, but it was still his home.

He had tried many times to recreate his corner here in the library, but to no avail. It never really felt like home and he so desperately wanted this place to feel like home, but he knew it probably wouldn't and if it did, it would take a very long time. That, he felt, was the one thing he had in common with One.

They'd never really bonded over their mutual homesickness, and Six wondered if it was ever a good idea. His past encounters with One had not been entirely...pleasant, but that didn't stop him from finding One an interesting character.

He sat down on a rather hefty, leather-backed book, right in the path of the moonlight, and gazed up at the window. Something was coming, but he just didn't know what. The horrible, empty feeling of helplessness began to settle in his stomach, and he knew that the paranoia would set in in a few days.

A horrid shiver traversed through his metal skeleton, as a very faint, but very distinct, shuffling noise sounded from the other side of the room. Six's head whipped around so fast his key got caught around his neck and he stumbled off away from the book. He wanted to call out who's there, but in any scary situation, that would be unwise.

"You're still up?"

And this appeared to be the scariest situation of them all.


Six would've gladly welcomed the most terrifying of beasts, and the most horrid of monsters, but no. Instead, he was face to face with his very own leader, who had the sharpest tongue he had ever seen.

Six shuddered slightly, gripping his key with his ink-stained hands in an instinctive manner. One's face seemed to relax when Six backed away, possibly out of guilt.

"I...couldn't sleep." Six replied, uncertainly. Six was generally nonverbal by nature, but ignoring the leader's question would cause unnecessary trouble. One eyed him, almost suspiciously, but his face fell into an expression of uncharacteristic tiredness.

"I could say the same for myself." He admitted, before taking a seat on the book Six had previously occupied. In the light of the moon, Six could now see the leader did look positively exhausted. It didn't look like mere tiredness, the kind you get from going to bed a little too late. It looked like full insomnia, something Six, himself, was quite familiar with.

Six cautiously took a seat beside One, gazing at the older stitchpunk curiously. He'd half expected One to snap at him for staring, but to his surprise, he said nothing. He merely put his head in his mismatched hands, and sighed. Six watched him, sympathetically.

"Why can't you sleep?" He asked, kindly. Even with his head in his hands, he could sense One was quite taken aback by his question. One raised his head slowly, and looked Six dead in his mismatched optics. Six knew the chance of One actually responding to his question truthfully, was slim, but again, to his surprise, he answered quite honestly.

"Mm...well, I've been getting these horrid nightmares." He responded, truthfully. This immediately piqued the artists' curiosity, as nightmares were generally his area of expertise. He knew about the countless types of nightmares and terrors that could plague the unconscious mind, having experienced most of them himself. He wondered what these nightmares could be about.

"What about?"

One looked hesitant to explain, but he knew that if there was anybody who could help, it was most likely Six.

"I'm...not sure. I keep seeing this strange creature and it's honestly haunting. In the dreams I suppose I just go about my day like normal, but this blasted creature always appears in the shadows and...it often takes one of us away." His voice was barely above a whisper now, and Six felt a strange tingling feeling in his soul. This almost felt like deja vu.

"What's the creature? What does it look like?" He asked, out of pure curiosity. One winced slightly, but explained anyway.

"It's a...strange looking thing. Almost mechanical; cogs and gears and springs and whatnot, but that doesn't look like what's holding it together. It looks like some kind of moving shadow. A giant kind of blob-like shadow. I'm surprised you haven't seen it yourself." He remarked, dryly, and Six shook his head very slowly.

"No...I haven't."

And perhaps, that was the problem.


After doing a past story, I think I liked the idea of a 1x6 friendship a whole lot. Thus, this story was born. Requests are very much welcome. Feel free to PM me, yeah? (Translations are also very welcome :I)