Hullo my droplets! This is a pretty standard, calm chapter. "The calm before the storm," as I like to say. Keep reading and reviewing, as I'm loving each and every one! Thanks to all my avid readers, so keep on reading!

~Raindrops to all, Cel

Chapter Twelve: Practice Is Everything

The stitchpunk group walked slowly and silently across the barren badlands. Nobody said a word, listening and watching intently for the Machine. 7 and 9 were scouting ahead together, searching for any signs that the Machines were stalking them close by. There was nothing they could see so far, and all was quiet. This truly was a war, and the ragdolls were on enemy lands, waiting for the first strike…

9 stopped walking for a moment, eyes on the ground in curiosity.

"Wait," he called, and 7 stopped, turning to look at him, brows raised in question. He reassured her by waving his hand, sticking the light staff in the ground. He stooped down and picked up something in his left hand. 9 examined the object for a moment, turning it over in his hands. He had found a large fountain pen, roughly the same size as 7's spear. The handle was a deep mahogany color. The ink nib was large, much larger than 6's own ink nib fingers. The silver tip had fractured in a way where it was pointed in a blade and the tip was razor sharp. 9 took the pen in his fist, weighing it. It was very light, easy to handle and carry, but heavy enough to where he could do some real damage. The male stitchpunk then turned to see 7 staring at him curiously.

"I can't fight with a light bulb." He said, shrugging. 7 smiled at him, amused. He couldn't help but smile back, once again caught in that spell of her beauty and charm. Why, though…? Suddenly, 7 became very apprehensive. In an instant, she was in the stance of a warrior, her skullmet pulled over her eyes, her spear held out in front of her. It was clear that she was intuitively startled, sensing something nearby.

9 snapped back into reality, listening as well. He kept his eyes on 7, however, waiting for any instruction. He knew her senses were much keener than his. After a few moments, 7 seemed to decide on something. Her fingers twitched on the staff and she hissed in frustration as she straightened.

"Come on, we'd better go back to the others." 7 said quietly, and she led the way, clearly aggravated at this decision to go back to the others. 9 followed behind her, not questioning her resolution. He knew a key point of being a community was to trust one another. He trusted 7 with his life. His own fingers tightened on the light staff and the pen blade, giving him some comfort in knowing that he could defend his coven now.

They soon reached the others, who were grouped together a few yards away. They looked up at the two as they arrived into the small clearing. 3 and 4, who were huddled behind 5, flashed questioningly up to them. 7 quickly approached 1.

"There's a safe path ahead. We must move." She told him, her voice a low murmur. The old war veteran nodded silently and 7 took the lead, the coven following closely behind her. The twins approached 5 and 6 and took their hands, shaking with fright. Too young to be soldiers…too small to be in war…

5 shushed 3 comfortingly, stroking his shoulders in reassurance. 6 looked surprised, but patted the small stitchpunk's hood gently. 4 huddled closer into his striped body.

"Any sign of the Machines?" 2 asked 7 softly as he approached her, stifling the flame within his top hat. 7 shook her head, still annoyed. Her instinct told her to find any Machine she could and kill it. But this wasn't the apt time for rash decisions.

"No, none." She said, voice still low. She was silent for a moment, then asked 9, "9, where is their lair? Where did they take you?"

"To some sort of citadel, with a tall clock tower in the middle. It's a while from where we are." 9 answered, voice lowered as well. He pointed in the general direction of the citadel tower. 7 looked like she was deliberating on something.

"We need to get the talisman back. That's our first priority." She said to the group, turning to face them.

"What? And just serve ourselves to the Machines?" 1 hissed, narrowing his sinister eyes. But 9 immediately realized what she was saying.

"7's right. They won't want to kill us directly, not while we still have our souls The only way the Machine can certainly kill us is with the talisman. We need to get it back." 9 agreed. "The Machine beast awakened it with this glowing blue orb, in its chest. This orb – it's like the Machine beast's power source, and when it cut it in half, it woke the Machine." 9 explained.

"Then why would it need the talisman?" 1 said, deeply incredulous.

"I don't think an orb could suck out our souls." 7 snapped at him, annoyed at 1 for (once again) demeaning 9. However, the latter walked on, ignoring 1.

"Yes. And the Machine beast got very weak when it gave half of the orb to the Machine, and it seemed not to like it. But it could reattach it to the other half. It's like they're two halves of a whole and can separate. The Machine beast needs the whole orb, or else it won't be able to fight. It won't be strong enough." 9 continued, shaping the orb with his hands. The others stared at him in apprehension, still moving on through enemy lands, still following the lead of the warrior.

"Why did the Machine beast come? Where did it come from?" 5 asked softly, obviously worried.

"I don't know." 9 said, rubbing the side of his head, furrowing his brows. He vaguely remembered himself asking 1 the very same questions, what seemed like so long ago. "But we need to figure out how we're going to get the talisman back, before it comes after us." 9 said. "The Machine uses the newcomer and the Beast as a sort of scout, because it's still weak. It needs further repairs."

"We'll need to figure out how to kill them." 7 said, and 9 nodded once more.

"And then we'll get the talisman back…and we'll figure out how to destroy the Machine." He replied quietly, looking out ahead of him, his mind whirling with plans to kill them, each as outlandish as the last...

"Then we must start heading towards the citadel." 7 said, leaping onto a small pile of debris, pointing in the same direction 9 had. They all looked up at her, nodding. 9, however, merely stared at 7's figure, standing tall against the near-black grey sky, fine, dauntless, and proud. She then took the lead once more, walking in the same way. It took 9 a moment to gather his head once more and follow her, trying to force his heart to slow down.

"Where are we going to hide tonight?" 5 asked worriedly, 3's hand tightening around his in fright.

"Yes. Where will we hide? We cannot keep walking all night long to the Citadel. We shall be so weak the next day, the Machines will easily pick us off one by one." 1 snarled, 8 nodding behind him, enforcing his words. Both twins cringed at this, shaking even more so. 5 cast 1 a caveat look, angry at him for scaring his small brothers.

9 looked around the area, knowing that 1 was right. He spotted a cabin a few yards away, atop a hill, surrounded by dead, decaying trees.

"We can use that." He said. It was a large cabin, two stories in height and virtually concealed, although broken in places, jagged planks around the openings. The stitchpunks rushed towards it, trying to stay oblivious to the Machines, unbeknownst of the Cat Beast, who was watching them. The Beast snarled from its perch, stalking them, ready to pounce that night, while they were unaware…

The night quickly dawned over the country. Inside the cabin, the stitchpunks sat close together, gathering their energy for the journey as well as the battles that were very sure to come. The twins scurried around, excitedly cataloguing the different objects that littered the wooden cabin. 2 tinkered with some loose scraps as 5 watched curiously. 1 sat a few ways away from the others, clearly distant from the others. 7 was in the middle of the room, her blade swiping through the air. Small grunts and yells were heard from her as she flipped and pretended her spear was slashing through a Machine's neck. Her battle skills needed to be in top condition for the battles to commence – after all, she hadn't had the need to battle anything for three months.

9 sat next to 5, deftly working away. He had gathered different scraps and materials around the many rooms of the cabin. 9's brow was furrowed in concentration as he crafted the weapon on his lap. If he was going to defend his coven, he was going to make sure the weapon he wielded was good enough to kill a Machine. He wrapped a band of light brown leather around the middle of the pen. Leather was a good material to make sure his metal fingers didn't slip on the handle. Another strap of leather lay beside him, already fixed with a metal buckle that he could use to keep the light staff or the pen blade strapped to his back. A sharp piece of rock also lay beside him, ready to sharpen the point of the pen. Suddenly, the tip of 7's blade touched the point of 9's. He looked up at her in confusion, brows raised. 7 stood before him, smirking slightly.

"If you're going to fight, you need to actually learn how. These things are harder to kill than it actually looks. C'mon." 7 said, beckoning to the center of the room. 9 got to his feet, clutching the pen blade in his hand and following 7, his heart pounding from excitement. He and 7 faced one another, spears pointing proudly towards the other.

"First thing's first. Balance is key to everything. You lose your balance, you die. Simple as that. It's all about how you find your center. Like this…" 7's battle advice continued on for hours, well into the night. She helped 9 find his balance, as the young male was always somewhat inept. Although he achieved a good balance, he never reached the gracefulness of 7. After that, she slowly taught him the footwork of battle, where exactly to step, when to dodge, and how to sidestep the enemy and drive a blade into its neck. She showed him the movements he needed to make in his shoulders, arms, hands, and wrists. Each movement was critical in battle and needed to be spot-on. 9 picked it up quite quickly and soon had a smooth, deadly flow to the strokes he performed at the imaginary beasts.

Then, 7 declared it was time for 9 to fight her directly. He was quite startled and nervous towards that aspect. At first, he had tried to back out of it, unable to wrap his mind around fighting his best friend.

"Sev, no. I couldn't possibly. What if I hurt you? There will be plenty of opportunities as we get to the Citadel. But I can't fight you." 9 said, taking a few steps backwards towards where the others were sitting. They had been watching as 9 learned the techniques of battle. He picked things up quite quickly and was becoming quite a formidable foe. 7 immediately refused 9's attempt at chivalry. She approached him rather aggressively, grabbing his blade and pulling him in close.

"9, if you don't know what you're doing, you're dead. Besides, if anyone is going to get hurt, it's you. But don't worry. I won't let it happen." 7 reassured him with a wink. 9 blinked and opened his mouth, trying to find something to say. Instead 7 turned away from him and walked back to the center of the room. 9 sighed, defeated. He couldn't argue with 7, as she was absolutely right. The Machines would be relentless in hunting them down. He walked back to the center of the room also, gripping his pen blade tightly

The next hour or so was spent with 7 defeating 9 almost every single time. Despite their situation, the others had to keep their hands over their mouths to keep from laughing. Poor 9. Not only was he still not quite that good at direct battle, but he obviously couldn't bear to strike the young woman. Every time he slashed the blade at her, he either backed away or dropped it completely, resulting in 7 knocking him off his feet and pinning him to the ground. However, as 9 gained the confidence he needed after a few good connections with 7's blade, the two soon looked like they were engaged in a real battle. 9 dodged, 7 blocked. The clang of blades echoed throughout the room as the two danced around each other.

Suddenly, 9 knocked 7's blade out of her hands and sideswiped her with his foot, knocking her to the floor. He leapt up and she found herself looking into the razor-sharp edge of 9's blade. He looked shocked but triumphant, as he had actually beaten the greatest warrior the world had probably ever known. 9 threw the blade to the ground, still shocked at what he had done and reached for 7. She took his outstretched hand and he helped her to her feet. 7 beamed with pride, offering 9 a wide smile as she patted his shoulder.

"You're ready. Good job." She said and 9 could feel his cheeks growing warmer. He smiled his familiar crooked smile back at her. The other stitchpunks all smiled and smirked at one another while the twins doubled over in silent giggled. 9 then bent down and picked up the pen blade.

"Guess I'd better take watch." He said before turning away from the others and heading to the roof, wishing the heat in his face would disappear.

The night quickly dawned on London and the ragdoll coven. While the others rested inside the cabin, 9 sat on the wooden, cracking roof, keeping lookout. His eyes silently scanned the landscape, looking for the familiar red lights of the Beast's eyes, listening for the slightest movement. He held the pen blade in his hands, ready. Way off in the distance, the small pinpricks of lights came from the five guards, the Seekers, whom the Fabrication Machine had found, dead in the debris and repaired them. 9 sighed softly. Would they ever become safe…?

"Hey," a voice behind him said. 9 turned to see 5 climbing up to join him.

"Are you okay?" The older ragdoll asked him as he sat beside him, and he nodded silently, turning to stare back at the citadel, so far off in the distance.

"You don't seem okay." 5 said quietly, easily reading the desolation in 9's face. 9 sighed before answering.

"I'm so sorry; I didn't mean to bring you back to a world that wasn't safe. I…I just – I missed you. And I felt that if you guys were trapped, I could fix my mistake by bringing you back," he said softly and slowly, the words getting caught within his throat. "But now, we're all running and hiding again, trapped in another war." 9 finished with a fierce voice, clenching his fists and looking at his knees. 5 looked at the roof for a moment, contemplating these words, then looked at 9.

"It's gonna be okay. We made it through one war, we will all make it through this one. Besides, I'll always forgive you. What would we have done without you?" He asked, grasping 9's shoulder. 9 gave him a faint smile, but as 5 made to say something else, 9 quickly shushed him, startled.

"Listen," he said, looking on the horizon, in every crevice and gap. He almost immediately saw the glowing red light of the Cat Beast, peering out from behind a tree. Their eyes met and the Cat Beast snarled, bristling. It was coming for them…

"We've got to warn the others." 9 said quickly, and he and 5 jumped down through the roof.