Mable: In the last chapter Twenty-One and Twelve went missing, suspected to be with Five and Eight, and the others devised a plan to go after them. I don't own 9, Enjoy!

Fabric Runs Shallow

Chapter Twenty-One: The Search Attempts

"Now don't look at me like that." Two spoke to the Stitchpunk following behind him as he assumed that there was a sour look directed at the back of his head. "This isn't anything we done, and may I remind you that you told me that I was coddling them too much. I needed to get some time away." He used his lance as a walking stick as he stared at the river rolling beside them. Making sure that he didn't catch sight of anything in the water. It was at this moment that One rested a hand on his back calmly, and Two looked somewhat meekly to him.

Thankfully that sour look that Two expected was missing. Instead, One just looked solemn, and Two tried to be the optimistic one and gave a small smile. "They're just with Five. Perhaps we're overreacting?" One looked towards the grass with a subtle look of reluctant agreeing in his mate. "Maybe so." One quietly got out, voice crackling still from the misuse, and Two smiled, "Feeling any better? It sounds a little better." He stopped the male alongside him and rested a hand on his chest and back to feel, resting the lance on his arm as he did so.

One responded with, "Somewhat." It still sounded rough though and the Inventor patted his back, "You're doing very well. Just keep easy and if you want to speak then just keep in whispers. I swear, for someone so pampered you somehow managed to strain yourself." The Leader actually acted like this was a compliment and responded with a low comment that the Inventor heard part of. Something about it, "Being the duty of a leader."

Though Two merely chuckled as they continued along the soft ground lining the river, "Actually, perhaps it's good we're getting some time to ourselves. It's- No, don't look at me like that!" He again added in, "You know what I meant. I didn't mean that I didn't want them, I meant that it would be nice for us to get some time to ourselves." One muttered to himself, or perhaps he spoke to himself but was automatically forced to speak quietly, "Yes, I know, but we chose to come out here and we are the only adults."

The shorter dropped back a bit, "Now that's not true. The second I realized Eight and Five were with them I knew they were fine." The other gave him a look of actual amusement and the Inventor admitted, "Or maybe I continued to overreact needlessly. Either way, here we are, why don't we sit down for a second?" One looked at him as though he was insane and Two headed towards a stone on the edge of the water. "I am more than certain they are fine and we have been walking for a… Well, a few minutes at least."

He approached the rock before sitting down beside it on the ground and leaning back against it. One wandered over and sat down as well, bending the grass over so that he would be sitting on it instead of just the ground, then did so. "Yes, this was worth ignoring our children for." He muttered and the Inventor gave him a warm smile, "Just a few seconds." His head rolled down to rest on the Leader's shoulder affectionately and One's had raised upwards to stroke over it. Two released a soft exhale of pleasure and murmured with a soft, "One…"

Suddenly One shifted himself upwards so that he was able to hold his mate fully. Actually Two had a point; since leaving on the trip they hadn't gotten much time to be affectionate and since both were relatively sure that their children were safe they could take a few minutes to themselves. He gently coaxed the other's round face into his hands and pressed his lips to the shorter's. There came a few seconds of nothing but the joy of kissing a loved one before One pulled back, looking down at his mate.

Those wide optics that still held youth even though Two was as One said an adult. He still held that same interest and curiosity, and it showed brightly in his optics which looked up at him. Vision impaired or not they still were clever and Seamstress or not they still lured him in. Without a word he leaned back in and pressed their lips together in another kiss. This time lasting longer, lasting and wavering into a passion that One was missing and that Two was insisting for. He could feel Two's hand reached upwards to close on his wrist where it massaged its fingers over the metal gently.

Two felt a soft groan begin to emerge as he noticed that One was pressing him firmly, attempting to push him down, and the small Inventor caved and let himself begin to fall back. He pulled both hands back to catch the ground as he lowered himself down beside the rock, somewhat surprised that One was willing to let his cape drag this close to the ground. One slipped above him and looked down upon his mate before reaching to caress his cheek, eliciting yet another lovely sigh from the shorter male.

"One… Please…" he begged quietly as he looked up at his mate, giving him a small smile as he gave in all control. He knew that this would please One, One loved to have even a little bit of control, and knowing that he could do whatever he wanted only enticed him further as he took his mate's lips with his own once again while his hand dropped down to tease the ties that rested on his lover's chest. As slowly as possible he tangled his hand in them before pulling at one of the strings and watching as the small bow came apart before his very eyes.

"If only for a moment." One murmured as though he was going to say more, but then fell into silence as they kissed again, the rock somewhat blocking them from view as they fell into their own private bliss.

The ground was oddly mushy in the tall grass and the second that they stepped in they had a suspicion that they were making a mistake. Nine himself didn't think that Five or Eight would ever consider this as an adequate spot to bring the young and as he pushed through the tall blades he tried to see through. Unfortunately they stood high over his head and as such it was difficult to look through. "Five!" He called through in an attempt to do a quick search and, as predicted, he received no response in return.

As he continued to walk through the thick grass his feet sunk into a mucky mess of mud and foul smelling water hiding underneath. It was all around an unpleasant experience, especially when the liquids smelled like the noxious fumes from the factory. Then, suddenly, he stepped into a hole and immediately sunk knee deep with a single leg, the mud settling in around his limb. His other leg slid a bit as he held onto each side desperately to keep from going in further. "Guys!" He called back, "Guys, I could use some help!"

"Where are you?" His twin called through the grass and Nine called back, "Here! Follow my voice, I'm stuck in the mud!" His hands began to sink in as well and Nine let out a groan of discontent as he wondered what would happen if he sank all the way down. He obviously wouldn't die, but he wondered if he would have to wait until they got someone like Eight to pull him out. Thankfully None appeared from the grass at that moment, stumbling out as a knot in the grass caught his ankle. He stomped into the water attempting to regain his balance and splashing dirty liquid over what part of Nine was clean.

The older twin wiped the dirty water off of his optics while the younger stood over him. "Here, give me your arms!" He instructed with a friendly smile and Nine did so, reaching upwards desperately and clasping onto his arms. None began to tug upwards and back as Nine slowly started to slide out, the mud suckling at him and trying to drag him down underneath once again. Finally with a gurgle and an uncomfortable popping noise the zippered male slipped free and felt to his knees, though now on slightly safer ground that was firmer.

Unfortunately None wasn't as lucky as the release caused him to slip and fall back into the mud behind him. Now both were filthy and they hadn't even gotten through the grass more than a few feet. As Nine stood and attempted to kick some of the mud off of his leg that had sunk in the muck the twins came forward to help None. Though Three was clearly more hesitant to touch the dirt than Four was, the latter nearly wrapping herself around None and helping him to his feet, which Nine noticed and watched for a few seconds.

None noticed the staring, "Nine?" He asked curiously and the older shook it away before smiling with a bit of a sigh, "I'm just cutting my losses and saying Five didn't come this way." Three nodded in agreement and gestured to Nine and None, then to her own feet, as though pointing out that they needed to clean off. "Yeah, let's go clean in the river and head back to see if they got home." He insisted and coaxed the others on before turning and heading out the way he thought was correct, trying to hide the look of edging surprise on his face.

They managed to make it out of the grass with only a little tripping and only slightly more sinking when Four and None, who were helping each other walk along, stumbled into a mucky patch together and had a laugh about it. The group made it back to the river where they waded in and began to wash themselves amongst the reeds. The twins were assisting each other and None was leaning on Nine as he tried to get the thick dirt off that had collected on his foot. During this time Nine stared out at the water, thought mulling over each other.

"Nine?" None asked his twin, "Is something up? You're being awfully quiet." He pointed out and the older stared out across the water for a few seconds before suddenly speaking, "I want to try to swim again." It wasn't still bothering him, but he had a sneaking suspicion that it would make him feel better if it was successful. None was concerned, "Here? Nine, if you can't make it there will be nobody to help you." He reminded and the older shrugged, "True, but if I fell in the water out in the Emptiness, alone, I would have to suddenly learn out there. I rather it somewhat controlled."

With that he pulled away and started to wade into the water with None pitifully calling after him, "Nine, wait!" He yelled in desperation, but his twin was insistent, and by now the twins noticed and were watching as well. Nine started to get deeper into the water, blocking out any thoughts and trying to focus solely on what he was taught by Child and Seven. Then he suddenly kicked off and was in the deep water, water at neck, feet no longer touching bottom. He began to stroke with his arms and kick rhythmically to slip through the water.

The water inched higher and yet he continued along forward. He continued to kick, to force himself along, slowly moving along as his head started to go under. His head aimed upwards so that he could still get air as he started to slow down. Only then did he realize how cold the water felt and how quickly he was sinking. Then his feet suddenly brushed the sand on the bottom of the river and he opened his eyes only to realize he was arriving at the other side and soon stumbled onto shore in disbelief.

His legs were sore, his breathing parts were aching as he panted, and yet a swell of pride filled his being as he gasped, "I did it… I made it!" He turned around and faced the others on the other side, "I swam all the way over here on my own!" he cried over to them and None cried out with a whoop of congratulations while the twins clapped and seemed to be recording with their optics. None then spoke, "That's great! Come back over and we'll tell the others!" A few seconds passed as Nine accessed his situation. He crossed the water full of energy and now had none, which only meant that going back would be much more difficult.

"I…. uh… Can't?"

The brambles were nothing like the looked from a distance. They were closed together and hard to see through, so Julius seemed to immediately announce, "They wouldn't have come this way. Come on, we should head back and check another direction." As they turned to head back Seven felt the need to approach Child, "Are you sure about what you said to Six?" She asked with obvious concern and Child seemed unfazed by her insistence, "I'm positive. It made him happy and I have no quarrels with taking on extra work."

She huffed, "But that's it!" She abruptly went quiet and checked to make sure that the Scientist hadn't heard them before looking back to him once again and speaking quieter, "You just see this as a project to stretch your Machine building skills, but this is much more than that." The accusation seemed to offend Child as he suddenly got an oddly blank stare as the Warrior insisted, "We will have to foster this thing for life and then hope that it can turn like Cat did, which is nearly completely unfair if it doesn't want to change like Cat did."

With Child still staring she adds in, "I'm just worried about Six. I don't want him to get hurt and I'm willing to accept it in as an infant but I… I don't know." She admitted and adjusted her helmet wearily. At this time Child relaxed a bit, "I thought you were trying to say I-… I may not be as involved as Six is going to be but I can't deny him that much. I couldn't deny Cat either, perhaps against my honest judgment that I'm just trying to overlook at the moment." The Warrior sighed and gave him a small smile, "That may be two of us."

Then she looked forward towards the Scientist, "Maybe we should ask Father what he thinks. He's been hiding it with Six, I could tell, so he may have his own opinions." Child seemed hesitant, "I don't know about that. Whenever I know of Father's opinions it immediately changes my own. While I love Father to death, my opinion is all I have." The Warrior saw right through him, "You're just afraid that he'll start poking around in the ever-suspicious work of Machine building. I'll just ask him myself." She gave him a playful smile and walked ahead to catch her parent.

She actually took a few minutes before she fully asked Julius about it. If Child would have said he felt it was too awkward to talk to his parent about this then Seven would have understood. The last thing she wanted was for her parent to think that she was second guessing him in any way. "About Six…" she started somewhat quietly and Julius looked to her, patiently waiting for her to finish. "Is it not… A bit risky to have such a dangerous Beast among us? Do you think Six can handle it?"

Julius seemed to answer too quickly and stumbled over his words a bit, "I-well-I think that Six has a soft heart and I think that an infant of any kind shouldn't be left alone, even if it's a Beast. I also trust Six well enough and…" he faded out for a few seconds before asking, "Seven, Child, be honest, did I make a mistake? Was my judgment clouded by my need to appease him?" Seven's answer was interrupted by Child, "Of course not, Father. As usual, you did what you thought was best, what was morally right."

The female was almost amused by exactly how defensive Child became. "I am just… Very unsure." Julius started before he suddenly perked at the sound of voices. "Eight, please, come back!" A voice called pitifully and Julius looked to the two Stitchpunks by his side. "Was that Six?" He began to lead the two back towards the camp where a scene was occurring. "Keep that thing away from me!" Eight called back in an angry growl as he stormed towards the tree that was now in view.

On the way he noticed the three returning and looked at them briefly before looking forward as he stormed off in an undisclosed direction. Six followed him helplessly, tossing the baby Tailor into Five's hands as he continued after the large male. "I-I knew you would be upset. I was… I was afraid to tell you!" he managed to catch up with Eight who stopped and fell into his back before falling back onto the ground. A moment of déjà vu passed from a time long ago as Eight looked back at him, but the anger on Eight's face was like nothing Six had seen aimed towards himself.

"We have nothing to talk about." He growled as Six stumbled to stand, "After everything I've put up with through this I've always let it go because I've been able to forget about it. Even when you were at your worst I was willing to deal with it, but you knew, you know that thing- You brought that thing- Forget it!" With that he turned and continued off on his way in an angered fit. Six's face contorted and he went to follow before Cat hurried over, dropping a claw on his shoulder, "Let him go cool off. If you follow him he's just going to change direction, and the last thing we want is for him to come this way again."

By this time Seven, Julius, and Child approached, the Scientist immediately going to the Artist's side, "You told him." He said sympathetically and Six gave a sad smile, "Yeah…" he merely answered before letting his head drop in defeat. The oldest put an arm around him and pulled him into a comforting embrace. "It didn't go well I see." Seven remarked to Cat who scratched at the back of his neck, "Not at all, Dove. Not at all." She then looked back to Five who was now juggling both Twelve and the Tailor with Twenty-One clinging to his leg, "But at least you're all okay."

"Oh yeah, we're fine." Five forced a somewhat disturbed smile and the Tailor wriggled despondently in his grasp, him juggling to keep from dropping it, "Everyone's just a little tense about seeing Eight so upset. It's okay, Twenty-One, he was just surprised." The small Stitchpunk still had a potent frown and buried his head into the back of Five's leg. It was around this time when the twins appeared as well and wandered over to Five on instinct to help him, curiously looking at the Tailor beast and studying its body.

None nearly ran to the group, "Hey!" he called to attention before stopping, noticing the weird behavior, "We just… What happened?" Child crossed his arms, "Eight happened, he had an episode. Where's Nine?" None gestured towards the river, "He swam across and can't get back so he's sort of stuck over there." Child promptly let his arms fly into the air, "Oh good God!" To which Julius immediately reminded, "Language, Child." Thoroughly scolded, the albino rubbed his optics with frustration before exhaling, "I'll just get him myself."

He then began to wander off and the others stood there somewhat hesitantly for a while. It was only a good ten or fifteen minutes when One and Two arrived back at camp where Two immediately hurried to his children and embraced them. "Now where were you two hiding?" He playfully asked, covering his worry, and Five added in, "Ah… Better yet, what happened to your back?" The Inventor sputtered, "My back?" The apprentice insisted, "There's dirt all over your back."

To which the older chuckled, "Oh! I… uh… fell?"

Mable: An awkward place to end it, but, eh, I didn't have much more I could put here. The next chapter will be posted tomorrow!
Oh! By the way; I'm starting to see Christmas commercials!... Incredibly early, but I plan to soon post a poll of Christmas stories that may be done for this year's Stitchpunk Christmas... Thing. That thing I did last year with the Nutcracker and with a Christmas Carol. Have a suggestion? Please send it in! It's good to get the ideas early so that I can plan them! Thank you!