7 woke to the feeling of being thrown violently into the stone wall. She tried to stand up, still disoriented. Screeching tore through her thoughts like knives through butter, making it all the worse. She could faintly smell smoke, and began to be able to make out blurred, flickering light...
Fire.
Blindly she ran through the mad scene. She had to find the others. Where were they?
Suddenly the brown bat flew directly into her side, and she fell to the floor while it rose above her. The gray bat was unconscious on the ground, a thick red substance oozing from its wing.. 7 got up as quickly as she could, but the brown bat came right back at her. She managed to duck, hoping that it would fly into the wall, but unfortunately it quickly wheeled upward before turning right back onto her. It caught her in the side again, and she fell to the ground helplessly. She lay there silently, unmoving, hoping that the bat would leave her alone. Her plan seemed to have worked, as the brown bat flapped off.
There was a snarl as the brown bat confronted the female bat, who was evidently protecting something. 7 made sure that the brown bat was safely distracted, before standing up slowly. She glanced around for her spear, but it seemed to be gone. She couldn't really remember whether she had even saved it from the floodwaters. The white stitchpunk squinted, trying to see what the fruit bat was crouched in front of.
With a jolt she realized it was protecting the twins.
7 cursed under her breath and looked around for 9. He wasn't anywhere obvious... a horrible thought crossed her mind. He couldn't be.... she shook her head. She needed to focus. The stitchpunk took a rock from the floor, carefully picking it up so that it wouldn't make a scraping sound against the cement flooring. She aimed it at the brown bat, readied her arm to throw it, and then...
"7!!" 9 yelled at her. She lost her focus, the brown bat struck. 9 was halfway to her, then a terrible screech made him turn. The fruit bat was still crouching over 4, but the light furred creature now had a long gash along its back. The brown bat chattered victoriously, before making a strained escape. As it flew directly over 7 and 9, they could see that it held 3 in its teeth. He blinked something at them in terror, but they were helpless.
And then the brown bat, and 3, were gone.
7 yelled. She began to run after them, mechanically, without thinking. She couldn't have known where they had gone after exiting the cement building. There was no way she could tell if they were in the city, or if 3 was still even alive.
A strangled sob escaped her lips.
"3!" she shouted, an extended hand reaching towards the sky, where the bat had fluttered nearly out of sight. She swayed uneasily on her feet, and felt herself falling forward... darkness sweeping over her eyes...
The next thing she knew was that she was home. Her home. She sat up and peered over the edge of the laundry basket, briefly thinking that maybe it had all been a dream...
But no twins came to greet her. It was silent, eerie, and had an air of hopelessness. She carefully leaped down from the basket and onto the ground, before walking into the main room.
Still, silence.
And then a familiar voice.
"7?" 9 asked tiredly. "Are you okay?"
Suddenly reality flew back to her, and shot into her senses. "...3..." she began to say, feeling a sob struggling to escape her chest.
9 frowned.
4 stirred in her pile of books, looked around a second, before her face fell and she curled back up into a hopeless little ball, all her previous happiness and curiosity seemingly drained from her body.
7 took a shaky breath, knowing that if she broke down now, it would just hurt the single twin more. She began to walk towards where what was left of her family now sat, before something dropped from the ceiling and landed right beside her, causing her to stop dead.
Anger welled up in the stitchpunk's chest as she looked at the Egyptian Fruit Bat, who had a long scratch down her back. IT WAS THEIR FAULT! THEIR FAULT MY BABY'S GONE! her whole being screamed at her. She hated them, she hated people, she hated everything about the old world, their machines, their wars, their malicious thoughts... And yet, there was something in the bat's eyes that made her hesitate, something that was similar to hope.
"All is not lost." the little beady eyes seemed to whisper.
"Gone.... gone..." moaned 7's own mind. Though a thought did occur to her... it DID seem like she was trying to make herself even more miserable than she already was...
She realized how much hurt must've shown in her eyes.
She noticed the guilt and remorse on the bat's face.
"He's still alive." 7 said finally.
9 sat up sadly. "7..." he began.
"No, he is, he is." 7 insisted, glancing at the miserable figure of 4.
"Please..." 9 said, also peering at 4 out of the corners of his eyes.
"I know he is!" shouted 7. Even the bat looked doubtful. "I know it!" she yelled again, almost desperately. 4 curled a little tighter into her ball of misery.
"7, please stop." 9 muttered.
"I wont'! I-"
"STOP." 9 shouted.
7 was silent.
Everyone was silent.
4 shook a little.
7 sunk to the floor. "He can't be gone..." she sobbed.
Another bat flew in through the window. It was the gray bat, though his flight was unsteady due to the gash in his wing. He landed beside 4, and prodded her lightly with his thumb. She looked at him, complete despair in her mechanical eyes. The bat began chattering quietly to her. Suddenly the fruit bat looked interested, her ears swiveling forward to pick up on the conversation.
4 frowned, before flashing her eyes a few times in response.
The bat nodded quickly.
4 looked stricken, and she nodded and smiled quickly at him before quickly standing up and leaping to the floor. She ran quickly to 7 and blinked something rapidly to her.
7 struggled to understand, though she did catch the word twin and the word find.
4 looked briefly annoyed and sad, perhaps because no one could really understand her completely. She blinked the message more slowly. 7 still couldn't understand. With an exasperated sigh 4 turned towards the wall and projected a few pictures and videos onto it.
The first was quite obviously 3. Then there was a bat flying away over the floodwater, and finally a brief old newsreel which only said "He is alive.".
7 and 9 immediately understood.
"W-Well, where is he?" asked 9 excitedly. The bat made a motion that meant something along the lines of follow. 7 and 9 exchanged quick glances before following the bat out into the Emptiness.
7 looked back, seeing 4 struggling to catch up. She waited just until 4 was in grabbing distance before snatching the remaining twin and hustling her along after the gray bat. Though the bat was injured, he still flew remarkably faster than the stitchpunks ran, and 7 was worried that maybe they'd lose him.
The bat, apparently understanding that the dolls were falling behind, slowed his speed. He looked back at them as if saying "We have to move."
7 frowned and tried to push herself, and 4, to move faster. 4 kept stumbling on her own feet, and gnawing on her lip fearfully. 7 eventually just picked her up and began to run with 4 in her arms. She didn't really notice the twin's weight. Her mind was just chanting "3. 3. 3. 3..." over and over again, slightly maddening her, making her frenzied.
If the bat had hurt him...
Her train of thought was cut as a cliff edge appeared just a few inches in front of her. Her mind snapped back into reality and she tried to stop herself from running... but she couldn't. She cursed loudly as she felt her body slipping over the edge, a trembling 4 still in her arms.
7 shut her eyes tightly. She didn't want to see the end.
She waited for it.
...Nothing.
There was a strange sensation of dangling, swaying back and forth in a light breeze.
7 opened her eyes and looked up.
9 was holding onto her arm, 4 sitting beside him, flickering her eyes incessantly. 9 helped 7 back onto solid ground, where the gray bat was perched on the ground looking around worriedly. 7 trembled with adrenaline.
She looked at 9, whose eyes shone with fear and terror. "Are you okay?" he asked in a shaken-up voice. 7 gave a stiff nod.
"Let's go." she said in a dry voice.
9 nodded as the bat set back off into the air. 4 clung tightly to 7's side as they continued to quickly walk in tow of the winged mammal. It began to rain once again, starting as a few icy bullets, but becoming a full-on downpour with an intent on further flooding the landscape. 7 continued to string out a long line of colorful language under her breath, and 4 was already looking exhausted.
Suddenly the bat landed in front of an old steel building which was half torn apart by some explosion. The metal was twisted and dirty, and looked quite dreadful. It might have once been a mall, or an office building, before the War. The bat waited in front for the others to catch up.
"I-Is this it?" asked 9 hesitantly, 4 flashed her eyes at the bat as he spoke.
The bat gave a curt nod. It began squeaking to 4, who looked increasingly nervous with everything that came out of its mouth.
4 translated the message into a series of flickers which she blinked at 7, who squinted as she tried to work it out.
"Bat's staying... can't attract attention... sneak...?" she asked uncertainly. 4 shrugged and nodded, indicating that that was more or less what she had said.
Something that sounded like a fluttering of wings and something thudding into the ground sounded faintly from a story or two up. 7 quickly nodded, and together they entered the old building.
The building was not very stable, and creaked dangerously in the driving rain. 9 looked around nervously, keeping his hand tightly clasped around 7's, whose other available hand was clutching 4's. 4 lead them through the maze of debris, her eyes glowing faintly whenever she needed to know where they were going exactly. Sounds continued to echo hollowly from above their heads, making 7 increasingly angry and 9 increasingly nauseous. Every time one of their little feet crunched onto a piece of metal, the trio would freeze for a few minutes, dearly hoping that they had not been heard. Assured that they had not been detected, they would continue to move slowly through the building and closer to the noises. 7 saw a jagged metal bit at her feet and picked it up, briefly explaining that she might need it.
The thudding and clacking noises were close now. 4 began to cautiously lead the way up the final few stairs, and she was the first to peek over the top step. She watched, horrified, as the bat and a pair of crows tossed 3 haphazardly to each other with sick grins on their faces. She clenched and unclenched her fingers as 7 and 9 also watched, helpless, horrified.
"We need... a... plan." hissed 7 through clenched teeth. She didn't take her eyes off of the creatures.
After not hearing any answer, she tore her eyes away from the scene and looked at 9. He looked as if he was about to puke, or cry, or both. She gnawed her lip. "Did you hear me?" she whispered. He nodded stiffly.
4 blinked something quickly at 7.
"No. No way." replied 7.
4 frowned and flashed her eyes rapidly again.
"No, 4, I'm not gonna let you distract them!"
Suddenly the crows turned their eyes towards the stairwell where the stitchpunks hid. 4, 7, and 9 ducked their heads quickly, all three freezing in their spots. They could hear something hopping nearer to them...
Fwup. Fwup. Fwup.
7 could almost hear the bird's feathers rustling.
Fwup. Fwup. Fwup.
9 took a deep breath and hissed in a voice barely over a breath, "Let 4 distract them. They already know someone's here."
7 stared at him, anger and annoyance in her eyes. He noticed her anger, and immediately seemed to shrink backwards into the concrete.
7 took a deep breath.
"Okay." she whispered.
4 leaped from her hiding place and into the midst of the creatures. 7 could hear her blinking her eyes madly, and the crows squawking in surprise.
Clickclickclick!
CAW! CAW!
"What do we do?!" asked 7 in a frenzied voice, barely keeping her voice a whisper.
9 peeked over the edge of the stairs. "We need to sneak up on those birds." he whispered.
7 looked as if she was going to start flailing at any moment. "Sneak up on them? You can't sneak up on birds, can you?!"
9 shrugged, and then he began creeping towards the wall. 7 took a quick glance over the edge of the stair in time to see 3 and 4 rapidly exchanging some conversation from almost opposite sides of the room. The brown bat had a somewhat amused expression from his perch at the ceiling. He watched the crows advance on the twins, coldness in his dark eyes.
She took one last look at 9 before turning the opposite direction from him and sneaking along the wall towards 4. She could see the twin now, just a few feet ahead....
FWOOSH!
The brown bat flew right in front of her, landing upon 4. 7, thinking that it had already seen her, ran forward and jammed the metal into its wing, slicing the wing nearly in half. The brown bat shrieked and turned around, surprise in its eyes. Evidently it had not seen her yet.
The bat bared its teeth and advanced towards 7, its movements shaky and painful looking. 7 had lost her metal shard, and was now unarmed. The bat continued to push her closer and closer to the wall, its jaws dripping a bit.
She could see that past the bat, there was one bird left, the other having flown off without a toe. 4 was projecting light directly into its eyes, disorienting it, while 3 and 9 tied something around its long, lanky legs. The bat blocked her vision though, as it spread its wings threateningly and hissed. Her back touched the wall. She was trapped between a wall and a possibly rabid brown bat.
Wonderful.
The bat made a horrible, guttural growling sound.
There was flash of teeth, and 7 instinctively shut her eyes and waited for the pain to come.
And she waited.
And waited.
Finally 7 opened her eyes to see 3 and 4 attempting to pin down the bat, who presently flopped around, tossing its head as it tried to bite either of the twins. They had a good grasp on it though, and it made no progress in taking a chunk out of either twin.
7 gave a strangled little laugh as she stood up. She located her metal shard, and picked it up. There wasn't too much blood on it. (Which was good, because blood tended to irk 7. Go figure.) She stood over the bat who continued to flail and shriek.
...and yet, something kept her from killing it.
It had tried to kill 3, and yet...
There was something different about killing something alive. Life was so precious, so... brittle.
She looked at the slavering creature. Its eyes were black and unloving. It wanted to kill, that much was obvious. 7 continued to hesitate. Finally, she dropped the metal.
The bat looked at her curiously, almost mockingly. "So you're too weak after all... pity." it seemed to say. 7 frowned at it. She beckoned for the twins.
"Come on, let's go." she murmured. They exchanged glances before slowly, carefully backing away from the brown bat and following quickly after 7. The bat glared, but made no move.
9 was waiting by a tied-up crow, with one eyebrow raised. 7 shrugged. "Let's go home..." she mumbled, looking down.
~*~
"Ugh! And 5 said he was bad at this!" exclaimed 9 angrily as he attempted to stitch up 3's leg. 3 was being very patient with his father's clumsiness with a needle, only wincing every so often. 4 was watching intently, perhaps trying to learn how to sew herself. (Both the twins wanted to know how to do... anything, really. Which got them into trouble often.) 7 was torn between laughing at 9 or being intensely nervous for 3.
The two bats had left as soon as they could. Neither wanted to stay. And none of the stitchpunks could particularly say that they wanted the bats to stay, either. So it wasn't a very sad farewell, or anything near it.
9 finished sewing up 3's leg, and he snipped the loose strings (much to the worry of 7.) "Well, you're all fixed up, 3!" he exclaimed. 3 smiled and blinked something rapidly before leaping down from the stack of books and testing out the newly repaired leg. 4 stood near him, there to catch him every time he stumbled or tripped. 9 watched carefully, probably hoping that he hadn't screwed anything up.
The rain was still pattering on the roof, though it seemed to be dissipating. 7 stretched tiredly, before standing up and going to the window. The rain was now only sprinkling, a few little drops of water spattering onto the ground. She climbed through the window and sat on the roof, staring out over the Emptiness, which was now filled with water.
Little rays of yellow sunlight poked through the gray clouds, trying to wrench them apart. No more water came from the sky. 7 wondered how many other things might have survived the gas, especially considering they had met five creatures in one day (and that only 2 didn't threaten them in any way.)
"Hi."
The voice startled 7, and she rapidly tried to calm her nerves as 9 sat down beside her.
"Rough day, huh?" he asked, staring out over the water. The rays of light reflected on the surface of the floods brightly.
"Mmm." 7 mumbled.
The light finally succeeded in ripping apart the gray blankness of the stormy sky, filling the air with a bright light. It took 7 a few seconds for her eyes to adjust. The sunlight seemed to have brought color back to the world. She could see a few cracks of brilliant blue through the clouds, and she could only tear her eyes away in order to preserve her eyesight. The water seemed to glow.
"I'm going inside." 7 announced with a little smirk. "You coming?" The twins had also come outside at this point, and were blinking their mechanical eyes in wonder, before running towards 9 and 7 and tightly latching themselves onto them.
9 gave a little laugh. He took her hand in his and stood up. "You know what?" he asked. "I think I'd rather stay out here a while."
The sun felt warm on their backs. Something told 7 that the floods were finally over. She smiled and hugged her family closer. They'd make it through.
-----
Well. Sorry about this being kinda... rushed. I've kinda been busy with school and my own original story Ignorance (Formally known as the Council of Human Ignorance.)
Also: I know I'm not supposed to upload these in parts. ; Well, I do now anyway. Sorry about this one being uploaded as Part 3. From now on I'll upload things... correctly. :P
Thanks for reading! =)