Jaune and Courage the Cowardly Dog
Chap 22: The Quilt Club
"AH-CHOO!" Eustace sneezed loudly from all the dust.
Currently we were in a place called 'Antique Quilt Shop.' We were shopping around for some quilts, cloth and rugs to use back at the house. Eustace was in the front of the door sneezing like crazy. Muriel and Courage were near the quilts looking for some more yarn to use. I was with Coco who was still with us on the other end of the store. She was supposed to go back a few days ago. But unfortunately, the Vale airport is destroyed due to Nora. Apparently, Team CRDL decided it was a good idea to give Nora one of the most sugar filled energy drinks in all of Vale. Luckily, no one was hurt. So now, until they get it fix, Coco has been staying with us.
"No, this won't work." Coco said as she looked through all the designs that were here. She was looking through the designs here and seeing which would she could use to dress Velvet in or make new designs.
"AH-CHOO! Durn quilt dust. Giving me allergies." Eustace said before blowing his nose which instantly got covered in a bunch of dust. "Muriel, I'm waiting in the truck."
'Allergies suck.' I mentally thought as I watched Eustace get sent flying out of the store from one large sneeze.
'AAHHH' I heard Courage yelp nearby. Turning to him, I saw that he no longer had teeth in his mouth. Looking forward a bit, I saw that his teeth were being dragged by a string that led into the basket Muriel was carrying. He must have been flossing his teeth with it before getting them tangled and pulled out. He quickly ran forward and placed them back in his mouth with the string still attached to them. 'Heh, heh, heh.'
"It was nice of Muriel letting me come along." Coco said as she put another cloth in the basket I was carrying. "Alright, I got everything I needed."
I nodded and we went to go and pay for all the stuff we got. Getting there, we put the basket on the counter just as Muriel and Courage arrived there as well. They put the basket on the counter as well. We began to put everything on the counter and when we finished, that's when Muriel noticed the sign above us.
"Oh, my. Would you look at that?" Muriel said surprised. Looking at the sign, I saw that it was inviting people to join the quilt club.
"Quilt club huh." Coco said examining the sign before looking over at the giant quilt on the counter.
"Thinking of join the club Coco?" I asked her.
"Nah, not a big fan of joining clubs like this even though I create designs of my own. Though, if I were to join one, I would join one much closer to Beacon or at the very least Vale." She answered.
"Makes sense." I said after thinking about it for a moment.
"May I help you?" A creepy looking lady suddenly asked. Turning back around, I saw a lady appear leaning next to the door from behind the counter.
"Yes, thank you. I-" Muriel began but stopped when the lady suddenly disappeared behind the door again. Then a split second later, another lady who look identical to the first came out the other door.
"May I help you?" She asked.
"Why, yes, but-" Murie began confused.
"Um, there was another lady-" Coco began but stopped when the lady stepped forward to reveal something I was not expecting. It turned out there were two heads on a single body like that of son of the chicken from outer space. But at least they are human. I hope so though.
"May we help you?" They asked at the same time. Make the creepy factor rise tenfold.
'AAAHHHH!' Courage screamed when he saw this.
"Huh, wasn't expecting that?" Coco said surprised as she lowered her shades.
"Oh! Oh, my! Hello." Muriel said trying to calm her shock. "I'm Muriel."
"Eleeza Stitch." The head on the left introduced herself.
"Eliza Stitch." The other head introduced.
"The Stitch Sisters." They announced at the same time.
"How do you do? I was wondering about your quilt club?" Muriel told them.
"Yes, our quilt club." The sisters said at the same time while stretching their necks to make it appear longer. They also started patting the quilt that was on the counter.
"Can you two stop being creepy for one minute?" Coco asked getting annoyed.
"Ha, ha, ha" The stitch sister laughed at this which caused Coco to growl a bit.
"Oh, so many different designs." Muriel said in wonder as she observed the quilt. "Did your quilt club do this?"
"There's a little bit of everyone in it. Yes." Eliza stitch said while Eleeza nodded her head.
"Oh, it's lovely. I love me quilting. But it's such a lonely hobby to do all by myself. Would be so nice to belong." Muriel said sadly while looking at the quilt.
"We are very particular about who may join." Eleeza said while Eliza nodded.
"Why don't you bring in samples of your work?" Eliza suggested. At that, I heard a low rumbling before a light growl came as well. Courage then ran up to Muriel and try to tell her about it as he heard it to.
"Did you hear that to Jaune?" Coco asked whispering.
"Yeah, though I'm not sure where it came from." I answered.
"I know just the thing." Muriel said before digging into the basket she brought She quickly pulled out a piece of fabric that had a naked baby Eustace on it. "See these old swatches? They're from Eustace's old things. I've been making a memory quilt for him out-"
"We prefer to make new memories here." Eliza quickly stated.
"I see, oh well. I suppose I could try quilting something else." Muriel said as she put the cloth away.
"Yes, you must." Eleeza insisted. "And we'll see if your quilt materiel."
"Quilt club materiel." Eliza added.
"Yes." They said at the same time before laughing with Muriel laughing a moment later.
"If you two don't stop being creepy, I'm gonna bash you both on the head with this heavy basket." I warned. However, they just laughed even more while Muriel looked concerned.
"Come on everyone, lets head back home. I got quilting to do." Muriel said as she paid for all the supplies and taking them back to the truck quickly. The stitch sisters then disappeared into the back while carrying that giant quilt.
"Think it's a trap Jaune." Coco asked looking to where the sisters went to.
"Most definitely. Just need to know what it is though." I answered.
'You two heard that growl from earlier, right?' Courage asked scared and nervous.
"Yeah. Not sure where it came from though." I answered.
'It came from the quilt.' Courage said.
"Um, Jaune, care to translate." Coco said annoyed.
"Courage said that the growling we heard from earlier came from the quilt the Stitch sister took with them into the back." I told her.
"It didn't seem strange. But best keep an eye on it." She said as we made our way outside to the truck with an impatient Eustace blaring the horn. Telling us to hurry up.
Farmhouse
"AH-CHOO" Eustace's sneezing was heard from where we were in the basement while he was in his room.
"I don't think it's allergies." Coco said wincing when we heard Eustace sneeze again. This time louder and sounding more painful. We were in the basement helping Muriel create something new to get into the club. Even though we warned her that something is not right with them.
"No, these won't do at all." Muriel said as she dumped many old crafts and sewing equipment into a box that's labeled memory quilt.
"Careful Courage." I warned him as he was playing with some red yarn he found. Only to try and make something with his hands only to end up tangled in it at the end. "I told you. Don't worry. I got you."
'Thanks' Courage said as I untangled him from the yarn.
"You two are like brothers you know." Coco said with a smirk. We looked at each other before shrugging and smiling at how true that is.
"Muriel, Muriel." Eustace weakly called out from upstairs.
"Yeah, this continues, we need to take him to the doctor. Courage think you can go and check up on him?" I asked turned to him.
'Alright. But I won't like it.' He answered before heading up the stairs.
"Let me see. What would impress them?" Muriel asked herself as she sat down at the sewing machine. "Something bright and colorful."
"Whatever it is Muriel, I know it's going to be great." I assured her.
"Thank you Jaune." She said before returning to whatever she was making.
Quilt place
We were back at the quilt place again. But this time, we brought along Eustace's chair to be able to display what Muriel made. Which was a cover with a multicolored peacock stitched onto it. We brought it into the shop where the Stitch sisters we waiting for us.
"Hmmm." Both sisters hummed as they examined it.
"How badly do you want to belong to the club?" Eliza asked.
"Well, I've always enjoyed belonging to clubs. And I'll be happy to make tea for everybody." Muriel answered.
"NO!" A deep voice suddenly said. Looking around, I saw that the quilt the sisters had indeed moved a bit with the sound seeming to also come from it.
"Okay, I definitely heard that quilt just say no." Coco said while looking at the quilt.
"Your just hearing things. This place is old." Eleeza said clearly trying to hide something.
"Anyway, this rag is not special at all." Eliza said bringing our attention back to what Muriel made.
"You have to try again." Eleeza also said while they crossed their arms in disapproval. They then left the room while bringing their quilt as well.
"Aww." Muriel said dejectedly.
"Don't worry Muriel. I'm sure your next attempt will win them over." I said placing my hand on her shoulder.
"Your right Jaune. I will win them over." She said with a surge of confidence.
Farmhouse
Back at the farmhouse again. Courage was with Eustace trying to take care of him and feed. But judging by the sound of crashing followed by him yelling Muriel's name, he did not like what Courage made and is complaining again.
"This will win them over." Muriel said as she continued to sew her next project with such an intense focus.
"We need to keep an eye on her and that quilt Jaune. Something is up and that quilt I feel is the key to all of this." Coco said leaning over next to me.
"I agree." I told her watching Muriel work. Already thinking of what we could when things start to get dangerous.
Quilt place
*Knock Kock*
"Um, I'm getting worried for Muriel Jaune." Coco said as we watched Muriel show off the tarp she made and used it to cover Eustace's truck.
"Even though the lightning is making her skin turn an unusual color. She seems like she is about to collapse." I said observing Muriel become dejected when the stitch sister rejected her again. Muriel's hair was all messy and she looked disheveled with bags under her eyes.
"And the more I look at it, the more I become sure that whatever the stitch sisters are planning involves that quilt since it just moved and spoke again." Coco said as she observed the quilt rise up for a brief moment before going back down.
"Let's go back and try again." Muriel said turning to us. She then got into the car and nearly left without us as she seemed ready to fall asleep any moment. Luckily, I convinced her to let me drive.
Farmhouse
We got back to the farmhouse roughly half an hour later. But instead of waiting for me to park the truck, Muriel hopped out and barged into house in a hurry. We quickly turned off the truck and followed her inside. Only to see her grab the shirt off Eustace before running back downstairs.
"Oh, what the?" Eustace asked surprised, confused and annoyed. We were as well but quickly followed Muriel downstairs with Courage tagging along.
'What happened?' He asked worried at seeing how Muriel looked close to breaking down at any moment.
"The stitch sisters rejected her attempt again. And now it seems she's close to snapping." Coco answered which caused us to stare at her for a moment.
"Um, did you-" I began but she cut me off.
"Nope. I just knew what Courage was going to say as it was pretty obvious given the circumstance." She explained. Though a bit too quickly if you ask me.
"JAUNE! COURAGE!" Muriel shouted scaring us for a moment. "HAND ME THAT CLOTH!"
"Um, Muriel. I think you need to take a-" I began but stopped when Muriel cut me off harshly.
"I WILL NOT REST UNTIL I'M IN THAT CLUB!" She shouted as she snatched the cloth from my hands. "I'm getting into that club! I'm getting in."
"Jaune. I take back what I said before. She lost it. I think we better try and get her away from all-" Coco began but stopped when Muriel nearly growled when she said to try and get Muriel to rest.
"Perhaps, this is what the stitch sisters wanted. To sever ties with the rest of the family." I suggested.
"Doubt it. But that could be close to the answered as well." Coco said as we continued to watch Muriel sew.
'Hopefully, this ends soon.' Courage said scared and worried for Muriel.
Quilt Club
"I may love fashion and design but this is ridiculous." Coco said as we stood next to a gigantic cloth rolled up. We did not know what it is however as Muriel kicked us out of the basement when we tried to get her to rest.
"Okay you three. Unroll it." Muriel said coming towards us with the Stitch Sisters who were carrying that quilt again.
'Hopefully they like this.' Courage said nervously.
"I hope so too Courage." Coco said as we pushed the cloth to unfurl it. And got a shock as it turned out to be not only extremely long but also a football field. Everything was correct down to the last detail. A moment later, a whistle was heard and some players came onto the field and tackled each other. But even though we were shocked by what we saw, it did not escape my mind nor Courage's that Coco easily answered him without me needing to translate.
"How badly do you want to belong?" Eliza asked almost mockingly.
"Uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh." Muriel answered. Unable to form and actual sentence due to her current state.
"More than you belong with Eustace?" Eleeza asked.
"Who?" Muriel asked.
"Uh-Huh." The quilt said this time sounding satisfied.
"Welcome to the quilt club." Both sisters said at the same time with Muriel smiling that she finally got in. But we were worried at what this meant as we still did not know much
"This is bad." I said already anxious and nervous at what's to come.
"And tonight, will be your initiation." Eliza added after they finished cackling evilly.
Farmhouse 10:00 P.M.
"Seriously, is there a wolf or a wolf faunus here? I have been hearing that howling sound for the past few days." Coco said sitting at the table. We were in the kitchen with Courage and I making dinner. Coco meanwhile was going through her scroll checking all the assignments that the teachers assigned.
"Actually, none of us know. While there has been an influx of faunus recently for whatever reason, this howling has happened long ever since I got here. And even before then according to Courage. Yet there have also been no wolf sightings here ever." I answered as we heard another howl come from the distance.
*Knock Knock*
'Looks like the sisters are here.' Courage said taking off his apron and chef's hat.
"Right then. Let's go." Coco said getting up and putting her scroll away.
"Um, Coco, that's the second time that you understood Courage without needing me to translate. Are you staring to understand him?" I asked. She seemed to get nervous for a quick moment before returning to her usual confident demeanor.
"I am starting to understand him actually. Though, its only like every other word or every third word he says that I can understand." She explained.
"Okay. I'll still translate what he says anyway." I told her. She nodded and with that, we headed into the kitchen where we saw Muriel staring out into the empty field outside the house.
"But where are the other members?" Muriel asked.
"Muriel, dear..." Eliza began before taking out a marker from a pocket. "All you have to do is quilt this symbol."
"Damn, that's worse than nails on a chalkboard," Coco said covering her ears in pina as the marker made a horrible screeching sound as the sisters drew a weird symbol on the wall. Luckily, they finished in a few seconds.
"...Into this fabric." Eliza said as she gave Muriel a torn grey fabric.
"Yes! Anything! Anything! Right away!" Muril said as she hurried over to the couch to begin.
"Does that symbol look familiar to either of you?" Coco asked as we walked up to it.
"No, but maybe the computer will know." I suggested with Courage already taking a photo of it,
'Let's ask it.' Courage said as we ran up to my room. Getting there, we closed the door and headed over to the computer where Courage placed the photo on the scanner.
"This is an old computer." Coco said as she observed it.
'Yet I know much more than you shall ever.' The computer retorted startling Coco. But before an argument could break out, we made the computer tell us about the drawing.
'Alright, here is what you want to know. The symbol is a universal sign of everlasting life. Dating bac to prehistoric man.' The computer began showing us an image of early man. But in the background were the sisters along with the symbol.
"Damn. That long ago." Coco said amazed.
'Even longer it is suspected actually. Descended from Abyssinia, through Babylonia, past Constantinople. All the way to Broadway and 42nd street.' The computer continued.
"Those places sound made up. But considering you've been to one, I can only assume they are all real places." Coco added in.
'AAAHHHH!' Courage screamed at this.
'Haha, just joking about the Broadway and 42nd street part.' The computer said laughing
"No time for jokes computer." I nearly yelled at it.
'Then there's no time to enjoy life or pint to even live it.' The computer countered. Having already had enough of him, we shut him down.
"Is he always like this?" Coco asked.
"Yeah, pretty much. But no matter what, he always helps out. You just have to put up with his insults." I answered.
"Anyway, we now know what the symbol stood for. But not sure how to stop them." Coco surmised.
"Perhaps. But we just need to stop Muriel from fully sewing it onto that cloth." I said as we got up.
'Speaking of which, we should go down now.' Courage said heading over to the door.
"Right." I said as we raced down the steps to stop Muriel. But got a shock by what we saw.
'AAAHHHHHH!' Courage screamed at what he with me and Coco nearly doing so as well. The stitch sisters were literally sewing Muriel into their quilt.
"QUICK, GRAB HER ARMS." Coco quickly said. We rushed to do so but to our surprise, Muriel had turned into cloth.
"Wait, we could tear her by accident." I said while pushing the others away after realizing this.
"Forget it kids and mutt. She doesn't want you anymore." Eleeza spat.
"And in another minute, she won't remember anything or anyone." Eliza added.
"And there be nothing to ever remind her again." Eleeza finished before they both started laughing.
'HELP!' Muriel shouted out as the sisters continued to sew her in. But I got an idea on how to defeat them.
"Quick, follow me." I said as grabbed Coco and Courage and led them to the basement.
"What are you doing Jaune? We need find a way to help your mother." Coco asked.
"Yes, but I have one to do so." I answered as I began to dig through all the cloths before finding the box labeled memory quilts.
'And how do we go about that?' Courage asked impatiently.
"They said that once Muriel is fully sewed in, she won't remember anything. But if we something that holds precious memory into the quilt, it could free her." I explained.
"That could work." Coco said after giving it a thought.
'But we need to distract and capture the sisters.' Courage reminded.
"That's where you come in Courage. Take this yarn from earlier and use it to tie them up." I told him.
"But what makes you think they'll just let him?" Coco asked.
"He will hide in this box and slowly move up. When they see this box, they most likely try and throw it away. And once they try to do so, he will jump out and tie her up." I explained.
'Okay. Let's do this.' Courage said jumping into the box.
"Coco, you with us?" I asked her.
"Still not too confident in this plan but yeah." She answered.
Satisfied, I picked up the box and we went to the dining room. Looking inside the living room, we saw that the stitch sister finished sewing Muriel into the quilt. Placing him on the floor, I tapped the box to tell Courage to move forward. He began to do so but paused every few seconds. Eventually, he made it to them without them noticing or finding it strange that it walked up to them by itself.
"She won't be needing that anymore." Eleeza said pointing to the box.
"Let' throw it away." Eliza suggested. But at that moment, Courage popped out surprising them. Using their surprise to his advantage, he jumped out and tied them with yarn before using the yarn like a lasso and throwing them into Eustace chair.
"Good job Courage." I said as we ran into the living room. We quickly took out the cloth that had baby Eustace and started sewing it into the quilt.
"No, No!" The sisters begged when they saw what we were doing.
"Hurry we're almost done." I said as we were only a few stitches away from finishing.
"Not for long." The sisters said as they quickly freed themselves.
"No, you don't." Coco shouted as she easily pinned both sisters to the chair. They tried to get out but Coco knocked them out.
"Thanks Coco," I said as we could now take it a bit easy.
"No problem." She said as she continued to help us sew the cloth. A moment later though, the sisters woke up again. But we managed to sew the last bit as soon as they did so.
"NO!" They shouted when they realized what we did.
"NO!" The quilt also shouted before a blue light came from it along with a light blue spiral.
"What have you done?" The sisters shouted before they got sucked into the quilt themselves.
"NO!" The quilted shouted one last time before a bright light blinded us. After a moment, we regained our sight and saw Muriel was out of the quilt along with five other ladies.
"Oh, thank you all for saving me." Muriel said as she hugged us.
"Anything for you Muriel." I told her as I hugged her back. She then let us go and noticed the other ladies in the room.
"My very own quilt club." She said looking around.
"Mind if I join Muriel?" Coco asked as she seemed to be amazed at the different style clothes the ladies were wearing.
"Of course, dear." Muriel answered before turning to the other ladies. "Ladies, would you like some tea?"
They all nodded and followed Muriel and Coco into the kitchen. Turning to Courage, we shrugged before deciding to clean up the room as there was now lots of random cloth that came from quilt. After a bit of cleaning, we found the cloth that apparently had the Stitch Sisters trapped in it. But before we could say anything, we heard Eustace run down the steps. Looking at him, we saw that he still had no shirt on and his nose was enlarged by his allergies.
"I'm out of tissue. I-" Eustace began but stopped when he felt a sneeze come on. Looking around and seeing nothing, we gave him the cloth that had the stitch sisters.
"NOOO!" We heard the sisters yell when they saw what Eustace was about to do. They then groan in disgusted at they were covered in snot.
"Gross but I would say they deserved it," I said as Eustace began to blow his nose again.
'Same.' Courage said agreeing with me.
Not wanting to stay there, we went into the kitchen to finish making dinner and help Muriel, Coco and the others.
Note:
Next Chapter Nora will ride with the Valkyries.
(2) Hard Drive Courage with Penny (3) Conway the Contaminationist with Weiss.