Part 4:

2 walked around the deserted landscape with a forlorn look about him. A gust of sandy wind rushed by, making him brace against it to keep walking. It had been nearly a month since he had left the cathedral, 23 days, to be exact—and he did like to be exact. He pushed against the beginnings of a sandstorm and sought refuge in an old car.

Once safely tucked under one of the seats he untied his front and pulled out a roll of paper. Inside it was a bit of pencil lead that he used to start up drawing again. As the wind roared outside he wished he was able to use his candle to see better. He scribbled out another section to the map he was working on. Little by little he had recorded the surrounding area, just getting to know his way around.

To his favour—or maybe it was luck—he hadn't run into the Cat Beast. However he had been hoping to see the twins somewhere out there. He felt a sinking feeling in his chest as he thought about them. Maybe they really were gone. The inventor paused. What if 5 thought he was gone? What if he never got to see him again? Or even worse, what if 5 had gone looking for him and caught the attention of a beast.

His gears slowed painfully and he clutched at his chest. He decided it was best not to think of that… Instead he finished mapping out the new section he had explored today and looked over his work. He was doing well, in his opinion. The work was slow but steady and sandstorms were proving to be the only major problem with being out here.

2's mind flashed to an image of 3 and 4 getting buried by the angry sands. His body shivered and he shook the image out of his head. He crawled a bit further under the seat and curled into himself. In all honesty he missed the church. He missed his workshop and his bed and all his tools… and 5… His optics closed and he tried to start his sleep cycle, though it was proving to be rather difficult.

--

Daylight crept in under the car seat and gently touched the right side of 2. Back at the cathedral the same light poured in through stain glass windows, though none of it reached the sleepless 5. The church was unnervingly quiet now that only four of the stitchpunks lived there. His fingers played with the fabric of 2's old bed.

Despite the fact that the apprentice knew 2 was never coming back home he couldn't bring himself to get rid of his bed, let alone his things. 3 and 4's bed had stayed there long after they had left as well. He tried to search his mind as to when it had disappeared, but he couldn't remember.

His mind kept on bringing up different memories from the past. He remembered how the twins always slept together in their big sock and how 7 would often watch over them until they fell asleep. 5's optical flashed over to the workbench where 7's earrings lay. She would never get them now.

A memory of all of the stitchpunks working together to fix up their home meandered across his mind. 1 had very specific wants that 2 and 5 would carry out. 3 and 4 were always ready to help put things up or investigate what the inventors were working on. He laughed softly as he remembered them breaking one of 2's first spears. He had tried so hard not to be upset with them, though 5 knew they hadn't meant any harm.

He put his head in his hands. So many memories. He didn't want them any more. Somehow they seemed to hurt him now. It was a weird feeling in his chest that he knew couldn't be real, but it sure felt real. He laid down on the bed and stared blankly at the ceiling. Sunlight filtered through the air and dust particles floated lazily through the rays.

His single eye closed, though sleep was far from reach. Instead he just listened to the silence. Time escaped him, giving him a feeling of disconnect. The light had grown stronger when he finally heaved himself up. 5 drifted around the cathedral before finding himself looking over the Emptiness from the watch tower. His metal fingers touched the telescope he and 2 had made.

In their time apart he had made some adjustments to it, though nothing major for it was still their telescope. He sighed and looked through the lens. When 2 had first left he had scanned the ground every day, hoping to see even a glimpse of his teacher. Today everything looked like it always did. Same rubbish pilled in the same spot with the same build up of sand.

5 pulled away from the telescope and leaned his upper body against the railing of the tower. His head rested on his arms as he lazily looked out over the Emptiness. Bits of paper blew by in the wind as the stitchpunk let his mind wander. Had he not been in between memories he might not have noticed the small shape slowly moving across his field of vision.

He blinked to make sure he really was seeing something move down there then pulled the telescope to his eye. It was a bit hard to see but 5 knew he was watching his mentor walking down there. His gears picked up inside him as he ran to the lift and nearly let it fall to the bottom floor of the chapel.

Hiding himself as best he could 5 rushed out of their home and into the Emptiness. He knew it was a huge risk going out there, especially since 1 was already very unhappy with him. But he shoved those thoughts in the back of his mind and continued forward. Scampering up on a pile of rubbish he tried to look over where the area and where 2 had been.

He looked around in a near panic, trying desperately to find 2. Just as he whipped around to scan behind him he jumped back and tumbled off the heap. 2 gave a warm laugh, that same laugh he had missed so much.

"It's alright, my dear boy. It's just me." 5 looked up from his spot on the ground and stayed still a moment—still winded from the initial scare. "Come on, now. You haven't forgotten me already have you?"

"Two!" The student leapt to his feet and practically fell onto 2. He pushed forward and sent both of them tumbling back. When they hit the ground 5 didn't let his friend up. Instead he buried his face in his chest and started talking a million miles a minute. It took 2 a moment to even register what he was saying.

"—And if the Beast had gotten you but then what if you met up with the twins because I think they might still be out here and Seven is gone too and I thought I would never see you again and that just can't happen and I—"

2 placed his hand on the other's face. "Shhh, Five… It's alright."

The stitchpunk looked up at him. "You're here…"

An understanding smile creased in the burlap of 2's face. "I may be getting older but I can still hold my own, you know." He gently lifted 5 off his chest and began to untie his strings. "Look," his worn fingers pulled out a scrap of paper. "I've been keeping track of the things around here. There are so many amazing places! Oh, Five, you need to come look around with me."

His apprentice looked away. "I can't… One would notice I'm gone and I can't survive out here on my own, you know I can't."

"Well, I know I may not be much help, but you'll have me with you."

5's gears twisted again, the pain that wasn't really there. "Two… I…"

The teacher frowned sadly. "It's-it's alright. But you will meet me out here? Maybe… once a week?"

His single optic blinked. "I think I can do that… But we can't stay out too long." When he saw that his mentor was still downhearted he spoke again. "I'm sorry, but, I'm scared." He looked down, almost ashamed of the words. "And I know you forget to be scared a lot, but me…"

2 ran a hand over 5's leather patch and down along his jaw line. "I understand." He embraced the stitchpunk, pulling him as close as he could. They stayed that way for a moment or two before they stood up. "Well, are you going to stay out here a bit with me?"

5 nodded without a second thought. "I'll stay out for a while, will you show me some of the things you've found?"

"Yes, yes of course." He waved his hand and started to walk off into the Emptiness. "I've got so much to show you…"

--

The pair continued on like that, meeting each other in the wastelands once a week. 5 would wake up on their designated day and stay in the watchtower, searching the ground for his mentor. Every now and then they would touch and explore as they had that one day. Though most of the time they simply wandered around together, finding materials and making blue prints.

They continued to build additions onto the telescope, despite 2 being physically absent from the Sanctuary. Neither stitchpunk had seen 3, 4, or 7 since the inventor had left. Both had their worries, but they were seldom expressed in words. But everything had evened out. And after a while, it seemed as if life would continue like it did forever.

AN: Dunno if I'm happy with this chapter, I might merge it with the next and final chapter depending on how long that one turns out to be. I was trying to do the whole Shakespearian thing with the 5 parts and all but...