Mable: Thanks to the positive reviews, I've decided to continue! I'll put the extra detail in the Author's Note at the end. I would really like to thank everyone for the support and I hope I was able to do some justice on this new chapter! Enjoy!
Forgotten
Chapter One: What Nine left behind…
Life was at least a little easier now that the others were alright again. The rain saved them, somehow, and the only turmoil after that was just to get everyone fixed. The least hurt was Eight who somehow survived the factory explosion intact, probably something metal fell on him and shielded him, and he was immediately helping his leader manage. The next was Five who just had to replace his patch, an easy feat once Two was able to fix it. Then Six somehow managed to climb out of that trench with an injured ankle that had to be snapped and popped back into place. One's hand was repaired by Two and Five and was now working, even though it looked a little different. The most difficult was when Five and One had to fix Two's legs, it took some time to do, but they succeeded.
Sometimes, just like now, Nine felt badly that he wasn't one of them that got injured. He felt guilty, but could smother it to help the others. Needless to say, he decided to step down from being leader, but he could tell that One was at least somewhat changed as he seemed to not be acting tyrant like anymore. "Nine, don't fall behind or a beast will get you!" That didn't mean One was any less One-like. The leader was helping Two walk as the Inventor was having a tough time after his replacement. Five claimed he shouldn't have been able to walk yet and yet here Two was, struggling, and chuckling a bit when he tripped. It was great to see at least someone here wasn't scarred for life. They were alive and that was all that mattered.
As for Nine, he had been feeling odd now, ever since the others came back. It was this feeling that he could describe except for when he thought of heading back to the 'first room'. The feeling that something was off, that there was something he just couldn't understand in his mind, bothering him and pressing at him. That's when he noticed Five slowing down, "Nine, are you okay? You've been quiet." This wouldn't be out of the ordinary for Five himself but it was for his friend. "Yeah," Nine murmured, "I'm… Fine. I'm fine. I just was thinking." They were almost at the library which they agreed on having as a temporary home until they could find something like the Cathedral. At this point they just had to pass the one place Nine didn't want to see.
"Remember One? When it was just us living in that big, empty house?" Two asked fondly as he looked up at the dilapidated home that was once the Scientist's Workshop. One seemed to suddenly look a bit depressed while Two just looked nostalgic. They held it well though and neither noticed Nine looking pitifully at the house. It was as though it lingered over him, telling him that he did something wrong, something more than awaking the Fabrication Machine. Looking to the top he could see the window he first looked out of when he saw the world and then his stitched eyebrows moved closer in confusion. He noticed the window tugged shut and was sure that he had left it open. "Five, that window is shut." He pointed at said window accusingly.
The healer shrugged a bit, "Maybe the wind? It's strong this time of year." By now the others were continuing on and Nine looked at them for a second before deciding to do something out of curiosity. He suddenly began to climb the stairs of the once beautiful house. Once halfway ascended, Five called, "Nine, where are you going?" Nine stopped at that second, "I…" He suddenly had a flash of how his curiosity awoke that horrific machine and turned back to the healer, "Nowhere." He headed back down the steps and started back to the others. One made sure to stop, turn around, and just glare at Nine. Or Nine thought he was glaring, it was hard to tell with those slanted optics. While Five rushed ahead to help Two again, Nine started to fall behind.
There was this weird feeling in his insides and his hands clasped over his zipper in an attempt the stem it. It didn't help and he looked at the ground before him to force himself to walk. Then he heard it. It sounded like barely anything at all, like it was just the wind itself, but it sounded like a voice. Slowly Nine looked back to the window and was in shock as he swore he saw something move. Not only that, but the window was now open again. He tried to reason that it was just the wind, but something inside told him it wasn't. He knew he wouldn't be able to convince the others to turn around when they were so tired, so he ignored it for now, and continued along.
The point of ignoring is to get it off of your mind, but Nine never had luck ignoring what he saw at the First Room. It was dark out now and they had finally made it to the library where the others were making beds. He had to talk to someone, because this was tearing him apart. He decided that, because Five was busy, maybe he should ask someone who wasn't. This led to Two who was now resting in a bed, awake though, and still in a good mood as he said something to Eight who was passing. Nine approached him slowly, "Two… Could we talk?" Two seemed delighted to have someone who wasn't busy wanting to speak, "Of course, sit down." He suggested, gesturing to his bed and moving over enough that Nine could sit on it.
"I have a problem. It sound strange, but I really think it's important." The younger started as he settled himself down in a sitting position. "You see, when we were at the First Room, I got this weird feeling like I forgot something again. The window upstairs was closed and I hadn't closed it. So I went up the steps but decided not to because of the Fa- You know. Then, when I was coming back to the others, I heard something and looked back at the window. It was open and I thought I saw something. I don't know if it's in my head or not. I can't get it out of my head though." He explained in a rush before falling silent. Two nodded a bit, "I see." He seemed to think for a second and Nine awaited an answer from him.
"It could be your imagination." Two suggested, "The wind is opening and closing the window and you, worried that you left something behind as you did before, thought you saw something which was really a shadow by the door. You are afraid of doing anything to cause what happened to happen again and subconsciously you are overcorrecting yourself. This is understandable, even though it wasn't your fault it is normal to feel at least some guilt." Two explained and Nine nodded. "However," Two began again, and Nine looked at him, "There is a possibility that it could be something. I can't stop the feelings that tell you there is something there. It is something that you yourself can silence. Only you."
"How?" Nine asked desperately and Two looked down before speaking, "I think you headed out to look for the twins, but I don't remember what direction you went in." The younger looked confused, "When?" Now Two smiled, "When One asks me where you went." There was a second of realization and Nine smiled, "I'll be back as soon as I can." Two nodded, "Just be careful and make sure you aren't out in the open at all." Nine agreed and quickly raced out of the library while the Inventor leaned back against his bed. He hoped he didn't make a mistake, but he trusted Nine, and that was all that mattered.
Nine ran the entire way and didn't feel tired the slightest. It was strange, but Nine felt so invigorated, even though it was very dark and he could barely see his hand in front of his face. However, somehow, he got back to the First Room, and only then did he stop. Suddenly the building looked to be looming overhead, dark, and menacing. He forced himself forward even though his mind told him to go back. He was beginning to fear the dark and imagined a red light to spring out from somewhere and chase him down. Fortunately, this didn't happen, and he headed up the stairs to the Workshop. Entering the Workshop he found it very eerie and realized that he wished he would've brought Five, or Seven, or at this point he would've carried Two with him.
He looked around the empty Workshop and began to slowly cross through. "Hello?" The second his voice broke the silence he heard a soft noise from on the workbench. He looked up and thought he saw something disappearing like before, so he immediately went to climb onto it. He looked through the darkness and then could see the window, closed completely, and crossed to it, passing a tall lump of rags. As he looked it over he started to remember something and pushed at the wood, it was heavy, so heavy that he realized wind couldn't have moved it so easily. Then he spun around only to stare in alarm, letting out a short cry, because the lump of rags was now standing behind him. It was really some sort of rag covering over something.
The something stepped back almost fearfully though stood there still without moving. There really was something there, Nine was right, and he came closer, "Hello?" He asked again and now the other winced a bit, it began cowering, it was interested but obviously fearful. It almost reached out but stopped itself and pulled its hands back. Its hands looked like a Stitchpunk's and Nine realized it had to be another Stitchpunk. At this time it began to stumble back to get away from him, seemingly confused, and Nine came closer. "It's okay. I won't hurt you." He reached out only to have the other turn to run, but he managed to grab it's covering, only succeeding in causing it to trip and fall. It managed to get to its feet quickly and ran yet again
There was no way that Nine was going to let it get away and started to sprint afterwards. He didn't realize how close the edge was, or how the other was to suddenly stop on the edge, and Nine crashed into the other Stitchpunk. They went tumbling over off of the Workbench and onto the hard floor below. The two weren't injured even though it hurt quite a bit. By now Nine was able to stop the other as he got him cornered against the Workbench's leg, "Please, I'm not going to hurt you, just calm down." The other didn't run, under the rags it looked at him, now less afraid, as though it just awoke from a sleep. Nine reached forward to touch the other's arm and was rewarded with the other creature touching it in disbelief.
It stared at the hand and couldn't believe that it was real, that this wasn't a hallucination, that he was really here. "What's your name?" Nine asked and noticed when the other didn't respond. Maybe this one hadn't seen his number yet. He was tempted to reach around and tug the cloth away to see, but decided against it. Instead he stood and helped the other to its feet, "I have to get you back to the others." He could feel its hesitation as he tried to tug it along and decided to take after Two. He put his arm around the other's shoulders, took his hand, and led him towards the exit. "It'll be okay. You're safe now." It was the first time that Nine actually felt whole, there was something he couldn't explain, and it led him to the one in his arms. Like he knew the Stitchpunk somehow.
Two began to awaken slowly only to notice a pair of slanted optics on him. He jumped a bit, but regained himself, "One, you frightened me, but you have a tendency to do that." He teased and One huffed, "At least you are actually resting for once." He looked around, "Where is Nine?" Two immediately voiced his story, "Well, he said he was going to go look for the twins, but I'm not sure which way he went." The leader circled him slowly, "I thought you would. Eight said you were talking to him." Two paused and One growled, "He went out, didn't he?" Two couldn't answer for a second. "What was he thinking?" One hissed and Two spoke, "Oh no, he didn't leave, he might be with the twins." The leader scoffed, "I was just with the twins."
"That doesn't mean-." As Two started to sit up he felt a pain in his legs, and hissed, laying back onto the bed. He could see One looking back at him and forced a smile, "Still a little achy. But about Nine, I think he's just walking around somewhere, he wants some time alone." He noticed One begin to tug the blankets down and feel over his legs. He was murmuring about how they were doing well and began to massage the fabric. Two had an idea of what One was doing but still enjoyed the feeling. "He had to have told you something." One persuaded and Two chuckled, "One, if you want me to say Nine went out into the Emptiness, I will not." Now the leader smirked, "So you admit it?" Two retorted, "I never said that."
A pause, One was watching him, and Two stretched a bit, "That feels very nice, One." His voice was a purr and at this the hands stopped. Two looked at One, One stared back, silence, nothing, and then One was moving closer. Two watched him climb on top of him and could think of nothing except how much he wanted this. So familiar, so nice, so One-like, sudden and yet there it was, wanted. Their lips pressed against each other and they began to stroke each other's arms. Then the moment was shattered by Five's voice, "I think I see Nine outside!" There was a small pause, still locked at the lips, but unmoving. Then One tugged back, "Went to go see the twins, you thought I would believe such nonsense?"
Two guilt showed through a small smile and One moved off of him. They both despised halting themselves, but they had to. Two managed to stand and resisted One's look that told him to stop. The second that mouth opened to scold, he spoke up, "I'm fine. If I could walk here I think I can stand for a few minutes." Just in case, he took One's arm as they crossed to the entrance. They noticed immediately that Nine wasn't alone. Nine was still attempting to guide the other Stitchpunk who wouldn't talked and still acted hesitant and scared. "It's okay." Nine repeated, "The others are there and they'll protect you too." The other looked at him and in the dark Nine couldn't see much except for a light reflecting off his optics.
Looking over, Nine saw the light was coming from a match being carried by Five who was running towards him. He somewhat noticed when the Stitchpunk by his side huddled behind him. The healer made it over, "Nine, are you okay? You disappeared!" Nine smiled, "I went back to the First Room." Then he noticed that he could feel the other's head resting against his shoulder and gestured back to him, "And I brought someone back with me." Five was surprised to see that there was another Stitchpunk there, "Oh…" He then smiled a little, shyly, "H-Hello." Nine felt the one behind him disappear down against his lower back where he just hovered there. There was a pause, "He's a little shy." Nine pointed out, "I have to get him inside."
That's when he felt the hand tracing along his '9', stroking it, following it, and he wondered what the other's number was. He led the other Stitchpunk inside with Five and quickly recited his story in the short distance to the library. Once inside, Nine was immediately confronted, "Where have you been?" One demanded and Nine immediately went into defense, "I know I left, but it was important. I-." By now One was ignoring him completely, circling around him to see the one who just happened to peek out at the wrong time. "What did you do?" Nine didn't answer, somewhat guilty, because he could certainly remember what he didn't do earlier. Now Two came up, "Well look whose back." He smiled and then also noticed the Stitchpunk.
"And who might this be?" He smothered his curiosity and decided to instead approach slowly, as he could plainly see the rag covered Stitchpunk trembling under One's gaze. He got before One, the leader looking quite offended, and Two reached forward. The unnamed Stitchpunk flinched back behind Nine and Two continued closer, "Don't worry. I won't come too close if you don't want me to." The other Stitchpunk slowly started to come back out from behind Nine and Two managed to touch his arm and lead him out. Immediately he was studying his hands, and One turned to Nine, questioning him. He wasn't the only questioning one though. The unnumbered Stitchpunk was now realizing that this wasn't a hallucination.
"He… He came back for me…" He felt himself smile joyfully, "He came back! He came back and there he is!... Where is he going?" He couldn't control the panic he felt as Nine wandered One deeper into the library while he was stuck here. Perhaps Two could feel the trembles and could see how he looking in Nine's ever disappearing direction. He smiled, "He's not leaving, he's probably going to go tell the others." Two now led him along the same route that the others had gone. He only stopped him when they reached a candle, "May I check your number?" No response and Two slowly tugged the rags up so he could see the number. He couldn't say he wasn't surprised when there wasn't one. "That's strange. It seems you never were given a number."
Now curiosity overtook and Two tugged the rest of the rags off, to the surprise of the Stitchpunk, and soon to the surprise of him and Five. Because the Stitchpunk that stood before them had quite the unexpected appearance. Meanwhile, Nine was explaining to Seven and the others about his findings. "I thought I saw something earlier. I don't think I could've handled forgetting something else." Six nodded from his spot a few feet away, but said nothing, almost as though he knew about what was occurring. Now Nine was wondering exactly what Six was trying to tell him about what he left in the First Room, perhaps it was this Stitchpunk and not the message from the Scientist. That's when the others finally entered and Nine was stared past.
Seven never looked shocked, no matter what she kept calm as though she expected what was to occur, and only a few times did any sort of shock show. Now though he could clearly see it and turned around only to see it. The Stitchpunk he found, it was obviously it, and it was a mirror of himself. Everything, from hands to zipper, was precisely the same. He looked distressed though, confused, unused to others, and he spoke. It was as though Nine himself was talking, even as he took in the single sentence, "Why did you leave me?"
It was odd how a single sentence could cause a whole room fall into silence. Nine himself had no idea what to say, especially when confronted by the one who looked just like him, who said that he had left him when he had no idea who he was. "I think," Two began, "That this must be some sort of accident." Obviously, but the Stitchpunk still stared at Nine, with this horribly saddened look. It looked absolutely heartbroken, "You left me… You forgot me…" Nine choked, "I don't… I don't understand. I don't know who you are." The other male looked down sadly and Nine tried to figure out anything to say. The other spoke again though, his voice popping and crackling, "We were together… T-Then it broke… It broke and I fell… And you left me."
The words made barely any sense to Nine until One spoke, "You two were born together?" He asked, angled at Three and Four who nodded, and then it sort of was understandable now. With everyone else barely speaking, Two decided to state his opinion, "Nine… I think our friend here might be your twin." Nine somewhat stepped and stumbled back, "My… But I don't-." The Inventor dismissed his denial, "You might have not known it, since he must have fell, before you both awoke." It seemed plausible and the others seemed to nod, "So you have a twin." Seven reasoned to a still stunned Nine. It was sudden and appeared so fast that he was in a bit of a daze, but it wasn't as sudden as what happened next.
All the air was knocked from Nine as suddenly the other Stitchpunk's weight crashed into him. Arms wrapped around him and Nine looked down to see his twin's frame. "You left… You left…" It was as though it was all he could say until he stopped himself, "But you came back." As he muttered the words over and over again, Five spoke, "How long was he alone?" Two sighed, "All those days that we had to recover before we came here… He was alone the entire time." Suddenly Nine felt badly and reached out to embrace the one that looked like him. It felt right, suddenly a hole in Nine's heart was filled by this Stitchpunk, perhaps he was his twin brother. "And his name?" One asked expectantly and Two chuckled, "He's missing a number. He doesn't have a name." He chuckled, "But I can remedy."
Two thought for a second, "Perhaps Ten? He is the tenth Stitchpunk." A few of the others agreed, but One disagreed, "No. Then he would also have a One. Everyone would think we are related." Seven asked the question that the others were all thinking, "Everyone who? There's only us." One scoffed, "Well it still won't do." Two decided to calm the situation, "That was just a first offer. Maybe Zero?" Still One seemed displeased, "Zero doesn't count. It comes before the other numbers." That's when Two perked up, "Wait, I have it now, how about Ninety-Nine?" The others just stared, watching in confusion, and Two laughed a bit, "I was just fooling with you! Come now, I can think of something better."
One was losing patience and now the twins were coming in closer to look over Nine's twin. He stood still, watching them circle cautiously, and by now had released Nine who was smiling at the scene. The others were slowly moving in and Six came closer, murmuring to himself about 'no number'. Hearing it perked Two and he looked at One who was now dreading the next words. "I've got it! He has no number. There is none number." The leader huffed in exasperation, "There is no number. Not, there is none number." The inventor ignored him, "Either way. As is numbers, there is none, and it just happens to go with Nine. We could call him 'None'." One decided that voicing anything would do nothing as he was being blocked out by the others anyway, so he stayed quiet.
"That could be it, it is better than just calling him 'it' or 'him'." Two smiled triumphantly, "So what do you think, None?" He purposely stretched the last word out so that the other Stitchpunk would hear it. None, he reasoned it in his head, but wasn't accustomed to talking so he answered with a pleased smile. Nine voiced it softly, "None…" It certainly did go with Nine. It should too, since they were twins. He couldn't remember what happened before, but that was over now, now they were together again and he was safe. It was only going to get better from here. Now Two decided to introduce everyone, "I'm Two. I'm very pleased to meet you." He patted Five on the shoulder, "This is Five." Five smiled, "We kind of met earlier." He pointed out shyly.
"This is Six." He gestured to the striped one who waved a little with one of his pen tipped hands, "Hello." Seven then spoke, "I'm Seven, and this is Three and Four." She placed a hand on their heads in a loving manner and the younger Stitchpunks were pleased by the affection. Then Two spoke again, "That is Eight," He gestured to Eight who was standing behind Six, "I'm sure you know Nine." Two chuckled and then fell silent, on purpose, before speaking, "Oh, and that's One." He added in at the end just to taunt One who rewarded this with another glare. A small playful smile was given in return before Two looked back to None, "Most important, how are you feeling? When you fell, did you get hurt?"
None spoke quietly, "I'm tired." Two touched his arm, "Yes, yes, of course. How about you get some rest? It is quite late." None nodded slowly in agreement, but looked quite lost, so Nine decided to help him by leading him to a more quiet section of their temporary sanctuary. He was able to gather enough scraps of fabric along the way to make a makeshift bed for None, ignoring the fact he himself wouldn't have a bed tonight. "Here," He gestured to the bed and at first the other just looked at it, "You need to get some sleep. It was a good walk over here from the First Room." None finally decided to lie down, tugging one piece over his frame, somewhat wondering where his rag covering had gotten to. As Nine started to walk off, None felt true horror, "Don't go!"
He reached for the other as he had a flash of Nine leaving and never coming back, and Nine was startled by the sudden cry. Immediately he went to make None feel better and crouched beside him, "I won't go if you don't want me to." He reassured and began to embrace his twin yet again. While None feared going to sleep, fearing waking up to being alone again, he felt so exhausted that he could no longer stay awake. He held onto Nine for dear life while Nine stroked his back, "You're with me now. I'm going to make sure nothing ever hurts you." The drive to protect his twin was odd; he just met him and yet he felt connected at the soul.
Together, finally, and nothing would split them.
Mable: So that's the first chapter! I'll try to update soon, but it probably won't be immediately, so that's why I put this up now instead of waiting until I had more done. The little Stitchpunk needed some sort of love now. :) About the name, I did go through a few of them, but I wanted something extra original so I tried 'None'. I don't know if anyone else used None yet, if so, I'm not stealing anything, the name was meant to sound as close to Nine's as possible. Lastly, about the 1x2, I'm might have a minor thing about them later on, so if you don't like it you can always just bypass it, though I honestly hope nobody has to do that. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed, and I will try to update as fast as possible!