Mable: Here is lucky number seven! Or, lucky chapter seven. ^-^ I don't own 9, enjoy!
Souls Run Deep
Chapter Seven: The Healing Attempt
It was morning by time Nine had managed to reach the Library. On the way back he had discarded the idea of going to the first room, mostly from exhaustion, and realized that he needed to warn the others before he would travel anywhere else. It was a chore to climb over the mountains of books while nearly dragging the heavy Stitchpunk resembling creature and the second he got near the bucket lift he nearly collapsed on the floor, letting the creature roll onto the hard ground, and desperately caught his breath.
A night without sleep after a fight like that was doing terrible things to Nine's body, but his mind was somehow still intact completely, and he knew if he was going to get time to check the first room that he would need someone to watch what he had found and perhaps a few minutes of rest. He was nearly falling asleep as he turned onto his back and stared at the Library's roof high above. The windows were streaming in warm morning sun and were nearly golden. Even though being entirely filled with rubble, the Emptiness did manage to create beautiful mornings.
This was all changed the second that Nine noticed a red glint out of the corner of his optic. He glanced over to see that the creature's crimson eyes were open once again and locked onto Nine's frame. The zippered one paused and briefly waited to see the other react. It did not, it simply stared him down, before eventually its optics closed as before. The event made Nine feel uneasy and managed to give him enough energy that he got back up, determined to take the creature to the only Stitchpunk he could trust.
Luckily, Five was asleep in the bucket lift, and Nine decided to accept the luck without questioning it. He looked back at the creature still lying on the ground one final time before approaching the Healer. He crouched down and shook the other's shoulder, "Five?" Five came too awfully slowly, but did manage to eventually awaken. "Nine?" He looked around, "How long have I been asleep?" Nine shrugged, "I don't know. I just got back." The healer noticed that something was wrong with Nine who exhaled.
"Five, I need your help." His friend seemed to plead before continuing, "I did something…" He didn't blame Five for looking suddenly uneasy; Nine wasn't exactly known to act this way when he had done something productive. As Nine started to stand, Five stopped him, "Did you get hurt?" he was relieved when the zippered one shook his head, "No, I'm alright, but…. But I want… I found something." He looked back in the direction of where he left the creature before correcting himself, "I found someone."
He suddenly realized how foolish it was to bring this creature, the thing that attacked him, back to the Sanctuary. Though Nine couldn't argue with the fact that leaving it to die would've been cruel, and there was surely something different about this creature. Five immediately perked up at Nine's words, "Someone? Out there?" The one eyed one climbed to his feet, fixing his bag that still rested on his back, "Are they okay?" Nine looked down hesitantly, "It's a long story. Don't be surprised, but it's… Don't be surprised."
Nine didn't know exactly what to describe the creature as and led Five the short distance away to the creature on the group. "That's it." He gestured to it and Five approached before suddenly crying out in alarm and stumbling back. Out of reflex, he grabbed out his needle harpoon, and Nine rushed forward to push it downwards. "Five, it's okay! It can't hurt you!" Five stuttered as he stared at it, "What… What is it?" Nine looked at it with a sigh, "Injured, I think. I don't know."
Five paused before shaking his head, "No. I-I couldn't. Nine I don't think…" Nine was desperate, "Five, please. I think it might be on the verge of… I think it's going to die…" Five stared at Nine and seemed to slowly ease, lowering his weapon, as he trusted that Nine wouldn't bring something dangerous to him. "Where did you find it?" The healer asked and his friend responded, "The Fabrication Machine." Five rubbed his head, "Okay… What was it doing at the machine?"
Nine shook his head, "No. In the machine. It came out and…." He paused, "It collapsed." He decided it wasn't wise to mention that it had chased him around and yet Nine had brought it back still. "I wanted to check the First Room to see if I could find something on it, but I had to come back, I'm exhausted, it's nearly dead, and- and I don't know what to do." That was the true fact. Nine was scared and confused; he didn't know what he could do.
The buttoned one now stared at the creature, the zippered one stared to, and finally they both approached. In hadn't opened its optics again and Five touched its outside cautiously, "It's warm…" Nine nodded, "I know. I thought because it looked like a machine it would be cold too." At this Five corrected, "It's too warm. I think it might be overheating… That could be from the stress of an injury." He went into medic mode as he looked over every inch of its frame, "Did it say anything? Move at all?"
"No." Nine said quickly, "Well… A little, before it collapsed… But nothing too extreme." This was a blunt lie, but he did remember something, "It started making this weird crackling noise, but it was coming from its mouth and its chest, I think." Five thought for a second, "It sounds like a damaged voice box. Sometimes if they're damaged, and they try to talk, it will make strange noises." He looked at the front, "This should come off." He gestured to the port as he went into his bag for a tool to address the bolts, "Then I can see the real damage."
He then paused as Nine had, "Actually, we should probably move it upstairs. The workshop would be- Wait, why does it have a Talisman slot?!" Five suddenly seemed to break out of the Healer Trance and looked to Nine for answers. The zippered one could only shrug and the buttoned one calmed down again, "Okay… Maybe we should… Let's at least move it onto a book of something." Nine agreed and the two struggled to lift it and move it onto a nearby book. It was quite a bit easier than when Nine did it alone, thankfully.
Once there, Five went into his bag, and Nine looked to the creature. He decided that warning Five of its eyes being opened again would startled him, so instead he tried to somewhat communicate with it, touching its arm as he would to comfort another. It looked up to him with an unreadable look, staring, before it slowly began to close them again. It was like it once again ran out of energy until it shut down. A few seconds later, Five addressed the front again, and began to work the port free.
It was connected to the creature's insides by cords so it wasn't able to be completely removed, but the second Five looked in he got a look of dread, "I…I can't do this…" Nine placed a hand on his back, "It's okay Five. The Talisman is on the other side of the library." The healer reached inside, "Nine…" he lifted some sort of small, melted piece of metal, "Look at this." Nine looked in deeper, pulling his Lightstaff over to brighten the insides, and could see more of a melted mess around a relatively stable inner metal frame, one that remarkably resembled a Stitchpunk's.
"What's all this melted section?" He asked and his friend shook his head, "It's the voice box. It's completely melted and…" He looked over at Nine, "We need to get Two. This is serious. I can't… I don't know how I can fix this." Before Nine could protest, Five was leaving to get his mentor, and the other male huffed. This was a mistake. This had all been a mistake to bring the thing back, to go back out, but now it was Nine's responsibility and his alone.
Five had nearly fell when stumbling over the generator and running into the workshop, "Two!" Two jutted up off of the medical cot, beginning to panic from his apprentice's tone, "Five! Calm down! What is it?! Was someone hurt?!" Five pointed back to the door, "Nine found someone, down in the library, we need your help!" Two was up in seconds, nearly running for the door, and was obviously both equally concerned and excited. Apparently the prospect of having a new Stitchpunk was irresistible.
Of course, all of this running was waking One, but Two pointedly ignored him, so Five decided to as well. They were soon heading down the bucket lift and Nine tiredly watched them, hoping Two's reaction would be stable. When Two did approach he stopped in alarm, and Nine went to calm him, but was soon relieved to see that the Inventor was able to keep his calm in this situation. He slowly crossed to the creature, calmly, and yet a bit curious. "Goodness me…"
He murmured as he looked into the creature, "I've never seen anything… this damaged." Nine looked down at the ground, "Is it… Savable?" Two nodded, smiling a bit to reassure him, and peered inside. "Of course. It- excuse me- he will just need work." Nine perked at this, "It's not like a beast? It actually has a gender?" Two answered intelligently, "Stitchpunks have changes to their frame whether female or male. See such, it is obvious that it is male…" Then he muttered, "And these inner works suggest it isn't a beast."
"What?" Nine and Five's voices, though both different, managed to hold the same surprised tone. The sudden burst caused the two to look at each other in confusion before Nine continued, "I knew it looked a bit like a Stitchpunk, but… But, are you sure?" Honestly all he could think of was the extra arms, which must have slid into its back at some time, and it hunting him down. Two was positive, "The metal on the outside is certainly made from a Machine, but the inner is the same as Stitchpunk's, even the hands show it."
He lifted one and examined the fingers, "Odd. They seem to be older than One's by their style. This pattern was not used after One was finished, but I'd say the metals suggest he must be younger, they're quite unused, and this voice box..." He soon went into working on the creature's insides, mumbling his findings, aided by Five, and Nine watched pathetically. Seconds ticked by as Nine's exhaustion began to take over and he found himself close to falling asleep.
Apparently Two noticed, "Why don't you get some rest?" He offered gently, "He's stable for now and you look exhausted." Nine numbly agreed with a mumble and stood to wander to the bucket lift. While Five and Two both slept through most of the night, Nine hadn't slept at all, and decided to just lay down in the lift as Five had, drifting off once again.
"Get up." Six felt himself getting prodded and began to awaken slowly. He was exhausted still and looked up to see Eight over him again. "Come on, before the others get up." The Artist remembered their deal and slowly climbed out of bed before stumbling after the Guard towards his room. Unfortunately, it was the first night of real sleep that Six had gotten in a long time, so he had needed more of it. Eight was determined and pushed open his bedroom curtain to let him inside.
Six looked around the room and saw exactly what he expected to see; a large room filled with many kinds of sharp weapons that looked ready to slice Six in half. The Artist looked around before turning back to Eight who was closing the curtain, "What… What do you need me to do?" Eight eyed him, "Nothing, yet, just want to exactly what you can do." Six had the suspicion that maybe Eight just brought him here as an excuse to wake him up, ergo to torture him more, and the striped one passively looked to the floor.
"Move the sharpening rock." Eight commanded, and Six directed his mismatched optics to the heavy sharpening stone leaning on the wall. "Where?" The Guard glared, "I don't care where, just move it." Six nodded solemnly and tried to focus. Slowly he began to make it work, finding it easier if he lifted his hands to direct the focus. The pain was there, but much less than before, and he managed to move the sharpening stone by somewhat dragging it across the floor.
"Can you lift it?" Eight tested and Six suddenly felt a small pang of pride as he realized the Guard actually sounded interested. As such, the Artist went to bring the stone up, but accidently gave too much and watched as it struck the ceiling. A wave of pain hit Six's head and he clutched it as the stone fell useless to the floor. Echoing pain passed through and he looked over to see that Eight wasn't paying attention. He hoped Eight saw some of it, at least, but Eight was staring at the curtain. "Did you… Did you…?"
"Yeah, I saw." Eight spoke, "Someone just ran by… Doesn't matter." He turned back to Six, "Why'd you stop?" The striped one wove his fingers into his thick yarn hair, "It makes my head hurt." The Guard wasn't exactly patient and huffed, "So when does it stop?" Before Six could really come up with an answer, Eight turned back around, and now Six could clearly hear footsteps running by. "What's going on?" he asked meekly.
"Nine's probably back and trying to bail before One gets ahold of him." Eight then began to come forward, looking down at Six, and then looking at the stone. "Keep going." Six nodded and lifted his arms when the curtain suddenly opened.
"What is going on in here?" One demanded, looking at the scene with suspicion. It was an odd scene too; Eight standing too close to Six for comfort and Six with his jutting out. Eight suddenly got this look of dread, "I… Heard all the running, came to check on Six." One glared, "This is your room." The Guard continued, "That's why I was checking on him." Suddenly the leader seemed uninterested, "Fine, yes, we will discuss this later. For now we must figure out what is occurring. Come."
He left the room and both of the Stitchpunks looked at each other. Eight went serious again, "Go do whatever you do during the day. I'll get you later." He exited the room behind his leader and Six softly exhaled in relief. One, meanwhile, stormed into the back first, somewhat suspecting this involved Two and went to search him out, "Two?" He searched through the workshop, no Two. "Two?!" He searched through his room, no Two. "Two!"
By time he got back into the hall, Seven was standing awake, though looked to have been awake for a while, "What are you yelling about now?" The leader huffed, "Something is amiss. The first sign is Two disappearing; this is a reoccurring fact." He began to check through all of the rooms, even peering past Seven which got him a glare, and eventually denoted that Two had to be down in the library. He hurried into his room to grab his cape, crown, and staff.
A few minutes later, One returned, and led Eight to the bucket lift. At this time Six scurried out of Eight's room and towards his own, which Seven noticed and didn't comment upon. Once in the throne room, Eight began to pull up the bucket lift, and as soon as it came in sight One did a double take. "Is that Nine?" He asked, looking into the lift. Indeed, it was Nine, asleep in the lift, and even Eight looked a bit confused.
As soon as it rose to the top they were able to get a better look at Nine who was simply sleeping. Eight nudged him with his foot, "Hey." Surprisingly Nine began to come to rather quickly and looked up in confusion. Nine spoke up, "Umm… Good morning?" The leader scrutinized him, "What exactly are you doing?" Nine immediately leapt to his, his thoughts returning and him finally realizing that the others were most likely wanting to see where Five and Two went, and attempted to stall.
"I was- checking the lift. It works, so I'm going back down, excuse me." Nine started to turn the crank before either of the other Stitchpunks could speak. Or perhaps neither was willing to climb into the lift with Nine acting so insane inside. Once at the bottom, Nine immediately dashed over to the others, "One's coming down and…" He suddenly noticed something else on the book, a strange stack of random parts and bits. "Where did those come from?"
Two, who was barely concerned on One coming down to see them, proudly revealed, "I found all of this earlier. All in the Library as well! You would be so surprised at how many useful things are here that we simply haven't found!" Nine looked to Five who sort of gave a lop-sided smile, and then looked back to Two. "About One…" Two waved it off, "One will eventually see him. There's no chance of hiding him so we would be better off not trying to, so One doesn't begin to feel paranoid about us."
The lift rose and soon began to lower once again. Nine could see that Seven also came along with the twins and felt even more claustrophobic. Since Two was going through his parts on the book, Nine felt it needed that he would stand right before the creature and block it off. The last thing he wanted was One to be yelling at him about being a fool. Before One could even step out, Three beat him to it, and dashed over to Five before locking onto him. The healer was a little taken aback, but then held Three, "It's… It's okay."
The other Stitchpunks approached and immediately turned their attention to Nine who must have not realized that he stood with his arms open as though he was obviously guarding something. Of course, he dropped them immediately, and Nine found himself now smiling like an idiot. "Hello." He greeted and promptly after One got straight to the point, "What are you three hiding?" The younger male played innocent, "Hiding what? We're not hiding anything, at all, we're just… Standing here and talking."
That was the second when all three of the others suddenly looked behind Nine horrified. Nine spun back to see their attention was on the creature who Two drew attention to by beginning to work once again. "Two!" Nine scolded lightly and the Inventor was briefly taken aback before explaining, "Oh, I found a something that may work as a voice box, I was just going to put it in. I also found a piece of a mirror, this metal part, I might be able to use it as a hammer, I also found another bulb for a Light Staff-."
"Good Lord!" One announced as he stared at the creature lying across the medical cot. Apparently Two wasn't paying attention to where he was looking, "Yes, I completely agree! I had no idea there was so many useful items just in the library!" By now both Eight and Seven were grabbing for their weapons, One had his staff gripped tightly, and Two went forward to calm them. Nine, though, panicked yet again and threw his hands up, "No, wait!"
Thankfully the others did not gain on him and instead seemed to want to know, as soon as possible, whether it was dangerous or not. "What is it?" One demanded, eyeing the creature with unease and suspicion, "And why did you bring it to the sanctuary? It could kill us!"
"No, it's not- I mean- Two!" Nine tried desperately and Two quickly explained, "He may look like a beast but I can reassure you that it has the insides of a Stitchpunk. I'm sure Father created him." Nine nodded vigorously in agreeing, and the others still seemed to be hesitant to accept it as being harmless. "It has a Talisman receptor, Nine! It could very well be part of the Fabrication Machine!" One decided to add and Nine decided to not reveal where he found the creature, or how.
"He's injured and he's… responding, a little. He's not a Machine; he's not with the Machines. Ask Six, he knows it too!" There were mixed reactions to this. One was still skeptic, Seven seemed to calm a bit, and Eight immediately spun around to possibly seek out Six. The twins' reactions were always the same; Four hiding in the lift and Three hiding against Five. Nine decided to explain what had convinced him to bring it in the first place.
"I just had this feeling and I couldn't just leave it to die. Nothing deserves to die alone in the Emptiness." Silence followed him. One studied Nine but said nothing, the reaction being one that confused, but relieved, Nine. When the twins began to move forward, or Four moved forward and Three peered over at it, Nine decided to warn them, remembering his first meeting with the creature, "I don't know how he's going to be when he awakens." Nine explained, "He might be confused so he might be… It might be best if…"
Seven caught the signal and spoke to the twins, "Three, Four, let's give him some time to sleep for now. We'll be able to see him later." Four headed right to her side while it took some convincing from Five to get Three to follow. "It's alright; I'm just going to help Two. I'll be with you in a little while." Three seemed to reluctantly agree and sulked off after her sister. Seven looked back to Nine and gave him a look of acceptance, though Nine was sure he also saw that 'I hope you know what you're doing' look and smiled at it.
She smiled as well and put her arms around the twins to lead them into the Library to find something for them to do. One was still watching Nine and finally spoke, "Fine then." Nine perked in response, "One, I…" One raised his hand, "I am only accepting this, not because I trust your judgment, but because I trust Two's judgment." He then glanced to Two who nodded and Nine suspected they had been speaking through looks while he was paying attention to Seven and the twins.
Nine knew that One consulted in Two numerous times in the past and knew that, truly, Two was one of the only Stitchpunks who One would trust with this. Two must have known this as well. One began to leave, glaring at the creature on the medical cot, "However, if it begins to show the behavior of a Beast, I will have no choice but to treat it as such." With that threat in place, he was gone, stalking over into the books and most likely waiting for Eight to return.
Nine fell down in a crouch, falling back against the book that the creature was laying on, and Two mimicked the same action by falling into sitting on top of the book, "Well, that was quite eventful. At least we are all in the same mindset now." The zippered one looked over at him, "What if he changes his mind?" The Inventor chuckled, "He only does that when absolutely necessary. If you haven't noticed, he's quite stubborn, so he will probably stay with this agreement for quite some time."
This seemed good enough, but Nine began to think of other things, of the First Room. He would have to go get answers, soon. Two interrupted his thoughts, "Let's move him upstairs into the workshop. Nine, feel free to get some rest now. We can handle him." Nine accepted this, ventured into the sanctuary by way of the bucket lift with the three, and then entered the room he shared with Five. He collapsed onto the bed and allowed his optics to close, falling immediately into a dreamless sleep.
Mable: The next chapter will be up tomorrow, as soon as I wake. I hope everyone enjoyed!
