Fanfiction: 9

To Save Us All

Chapter 6~

9's optics fluttered open. Within three seconds, 9 had taken in the entire room.

It was beautiful. There was a soft, thick carpet laid on the floor beneath him, and stained glass windows with pictures of humans tending to animals let the suns light flood in in such a way 9 could only describe as beautiful and graceful. The golden rays filtered throguht the windows, catching many little specs of dust that floated in the air, like golden flecs floating throughout the room, landing on everything and getting stirred up again by some unseen force.

9 smiled without knowing why. All of it was just too much. It was too pretty for his unworthy eyes. But then again...

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of hurried footsteps, and soon accompanied by the sound of voices.

"I have to see him. He's very important to me, do you understand? I won't wake him up, I just have to see if he's OK."

It was 7.

"Rest. Sleep. Later." said the voice 9 recognized as the one he had heard just before he passed out.

9 heard a sigh, and a reluctant mumble that sounded like an OK.

OK? Unless 7 had changed, and creator he hoped she had'nt, she would'nt give up without a fight. Why, he bet she would come bolting around the corner right now and-

And thats just what happened. 7 came sprintint around the corner, no skullet, no spear, and ran straight into a surprised 9. They were both knocked to the floor, and they just lay there for a second, 7 on top of 9, staring at him, for a few moments. She got up, never taking her eyes from his optics and features, and helped him up before pulling him in for a tight hug, not saying anything for several seconds.

9 had been the first to make a sound, 7 was the first to speak.

"Oh, Creator, 9, I knew you'd come after me and risk your life like the idiot you are." she said, rushed yet playful. All her emotions coming out before him, organizing themselves too fast for 9's boy instincts. "I thought you would just roam the emptiness forever!"

Sad, regestured 9.

"You stupid instinctual bastard! Where are the twins? If you tell me..."

Anger.

"Oh, creator. They are'nt..."

Sadness again.

"No, they would'nt be, your not stupid enough. Im sure they are fine right?"

Um... 9 had lost her. He just focused on hugging her and would'nt let go until she had attempted to pull away for the third time.

"No, the twins are fine. G has them safe." he did'nt know that. For all he knew, he could have abandoned the twins and they could be lost in the emptiness, forever searching for 9 and 7. He wanted to reassure 7, she would kick his ass if he told her he had a fight with G and he had left the twins with him. "7, what happened with you? How did you get here?"

7 looked around the corner, apparently the stitchpunk she had been talking to had vanished. She walked 9 behind a huge notepad, as it provided some shadow and privacy to tell swap stories. 7 started.

"When I was battling the beast to let you escape, the beast managed to slash me up pretty bad, before I defeated it, of course. I was in too much pain to call your name, and I found that I could'nt move my left leg anways. I tried to sit up, but it would make my back feel like it just ripped. Maybe it had, I could'nt tell, I was in so much pain. I waited a few minutes, expecting you to come out, but when you did'nt I called out for someone to help. Eventually, someone did."

"F.", 7 continued, looking at 9 with an expression he could'nt read. "She's a lot like 6, but a lot more gifted, and little less stable. She told me she had to help me by taking me East, to her home and protection. She speakes very little, sometimes only using one word for a sentence. She knows a lot, and I've learned a lot in the past two days."

"Anyways," she continued, "She saw me, went to get her friends, and came back with them and a small cart. She put me in, telling me it would all be OK, and I had no choice to belive her. I did'nt have any control and I was falling asleep. Next thing you know, I wake up here. F was the only one I recognized so she and I had a talk, and she cleared everything up."

"Cleared what up? What did she say?" asked 9, gripping her hand, as if further pushing her for the answers.

7 avoided his optics and looked at their intertwined hands, pulling her motuh into a nervous smile. "I'm not supposed to tell you."

"Oh." said 9 stupidly, he could'nt imagine why she could'nt tell him.

"So what happened with you?" she said, changing the subject and looking up at his optics, sending a wave of pressure to come over him, making his first words stammer.

"W-well I-i-i just-" he began, before stopping, taking a breath and calming himself. he told her everything. Everything. He watched hopelessly as his story seemed to make her pupils dialate slowly but surely as she listened. His story was'nt much, but a few things made her angry, and others made her sad for 9.

"... And that's when I woke up here." 9 finished, waiting for her reaction, too afraid to break his gaze with her. Her optics were burning holes in his own, and he felt a powerful urge to apologize and beg for his life.

"The... twins? You... left them with that stranger? How could you? 9, you know they can't fight for themselves. They need to be lead, as we need to be taught. We need each other, and you left them with an unstable and possibly driven crazy stitchpunk?"

"I know how it sounds, but I trust him. He might not save my life now, but he would definately defend the twins. He's responsible and... and he has a right to be angry in any case. I killed the majority of his family... along with my own..." 9 trailed off, feeling very stupid, and buried his face in his hands, hiding from her sympathetic gaze.

"No. It's over, it can't be undone. Not your fault..." she whispered, pressing her mouth to 9's head as he began to dry sob again. He did need her, more than he knew. He needed to be with her, always. Always. Never would he leave her again. Never...

After 7 and 9 had gotten over their first few minutes together again, 7 had decided to show 9 to her new friends, then leave to get the twins. She lead him around the corner and down a set of miniature stairs in a narrow stariwell that seemed to be hollowed out for stitchpunk use only. 7 lead him around another corner, the sun not even trying to reach into the small, pitch black space they found themselves in.

"It's hard to see, careful where you step." warned 7 as she continued, seeming to be eaten by the darkness. It was a hallway, underground. 7's free hand, the one that was'nt occupied with 9's, searched the wall. When she found what she was looking for, she smiled triumphantly and flicked it on. It had been a light switch, apparently, because when the abrupt clicking had been heard, a string of small christmas lights strung above their heads turned on, illumintating the hallway with many different colors. 9 stepped in after her, about to question where they were going when she answered his thoughts.

"We're in an underground tunnel, made by their creator," she said, keeping her optics focused on something ahead 9 could'nt see. "There's a whole network of tunnels down here. Their convinced there is even more than they know of, but this one is one of the main ones, leading to another room where no beasts can get to."

9 expanded his free arm and his hand hit packed dirt that made up the walls of the tunnel. He smiled, this was one clever ways of hiding from the beasts, even though he never really agreed with hiding. He thought it was pointless to hide. What good would it do to give your enemy time to grow stronger? If you hide, you were being cowardly, something which 9 was not made for.

"Look." 7 said calmly, pointing ahead. 9 snapped his head up from his hand on the wall of dirt and looked where she was pointing. It was another set of steps, crafted especially for the stitchpunks' use.

"Where does it go?" asked 9, although it was the first pointless question he had in a long time, because he already knew.

"To the room." 7 said, knowing he just wanted to hear the sound of her voice confirming his suspicion.

They reached the stairs and began the climb. It was'nt too long, but 7 winced slightly at every other step.

"Are you OK?" 9 asked with concern consuming his words.

"Yeah," 7 dismissed easily. She was good at that. Maybe too good.

They ascended the last few steps, fingers still entwined as if holding each other was the only thing keeping everything around them real. The room they found themselves in was dark, only lit by candles that cast eerie shadows upon every little thing in the room. Stacks of books lokoed like monsters, the floor looked jagged and cracked, and a movement over near a huge desk with a cloth draped over it just added to 9's worries.

"We are'nt alone in here." he said. It was a statement, not a question. He was'nt sure if it was a good thing.

"No." said 7. She had been two steps ahead of 9, and was now scanning the place with her optics with a smile o her face. "There here somewhere..." she said mysteriously to herself.

"Who?" asked 9. He had so many questions...

"Hello, 9." said a voice right behind him. 9 started, but 7 held him tightly. It took several minutes for 9 to completely relax- you get jumpy when you've been out in the emptiness with machines hunting you down. Every noise counts.

But 9 saw at once it was'nt what he thought it was at all. It was in fact a female stitchpunk, the one he vaguely remembered from the day before, when he was loosing conciousness. He saw her clearly now, milky white skin, spotted with an assortment of different colored blotches that made it look like she was splattered with paint, except in a prettier way than the twins had been. Her optics twitched slightly, darting over him and seeming to be checking something in her head.

"Um... hello." said 9, raising an eyebrow and tilting his head. "I would say I'm 9 but you already seem to know that."

"Huh? Yes, yes. I saw... I SAW, you know?" she said, starting out the sentence sounding like she did'nt care, then somehow ending it like it was the most important thing in the world.

"She's just like 6..." said 9, staring at F but talking to 7. "But with more hair." he finished stupidly, not knowing eactly what else to say.

This was true. F had long strands of hair that reached to her elbows, flowing behind her like a silk veil when she moved. She looked 9up and down, and the smile that spread on her face tld 9 she was pleased with what she saw. F looked into his optics and nodded once, showing him his thoughts were right.

"So much to tell you..." she said with a meaningful look to 9, who looked back at her as if trying to figure her out. It reminded him of when he first met 6 and wanted to ask him about his drawings, but 1 had other ideas. F suddenly looked away to 7, who held up a waving hand. F beamed and waved back enthusiastically, making 7 chuckle.

"What did you want to show him, F?" said 7 nicely, in her motherly voice 9 knew so well when she talked to the twins.

"Come." F said, taking 9's other hand and pulling him toward the huge cloth-draped desk, creating a chain of stitchpunks as 7 was still holding 9's hand. Why did'nt 7 let go? Did he want her to?

F hummed happily as she effortlessly dragged 7 and 9 to the entrance 9 saw in the cloth draped desk. It was indeed another room, lit by one candle in the right corner. Two stitchpunks looked up from a small book they had found entitled Emily's Diary.

One of the two had pure black skin, probably made of some sort of sweater by the looks of it. A fragile navy blue scarf encrusted with small fake diamonds made up this one's hooded cape, filling in the black color and reminding 9 of a midnight sky, when the stars shone most brilliantly, if there were no clouds in the sky.

The other of the two was quite the opposite. With a bright red fabric making up it's basic body, another fragile scarf had been fashioned into a hooded cape, but this one was orange with golden streaks, causing 9 to be reminded of the sunrise, when the sun seemed mad at everything- casting a red glare over anything it could reach.

They both had one optic that was'nt quite normal. It looked like a camera's lense, but 9 could'nt be sure until-

"Hey!" 9 yelped as the two stitchpunks began to catalog him very much like 3 and 4 would have. They explored his body like it was a fun puzzle to be worked out, and all 9 could do was yelp, laugh, and exclaim all in turn as the two flashed at him, taking pictures of his parts that 9 previously had'nt felt he wanted to reveal to anyone... except maybe... nevermind...

7 chuckled her 'that's adorable' chuckle as the two finished, standing back to allow 9, who had been wrestled to the floor, breath astonished breaths. 7 went to go help him up, and to explain what had just happened.

"Consider yourself cataloged." she said, attempting to make him smile. It worked.

"Not helpful." he said, trying to hide his smile. Why did he always find himself smiling at every thing she said?

"They have cameras in their optics with golden rims, to catalog. Slower process than the twins, but equally painful." she finished with a grin, which 9 returned reluctantly. She had control over him. Just by smiling. "They can only talk when they have a certain sylabel recorded, so they might ask you for 'your voice' some time."

She pulled 9 up from the floor and turned to F, who was trying to wake up a heavy sleeping stitchpunk in the other corner. C and D tilted their heads in confusion and sat on a pile of books in the center of this room that served as a bench for everyone.

"E!" she whined like a child as she continued to pull the stitchpunk by an arm. "You must!"

"It's OK, F, 9 can meet him later-" began 7, but F had other ideas.

"No! I did'nt SEE it like that. I SAW 9 seeing E. He thought it was 5. He needs that for later..." she trailed off, giving up waking up E and staring at 7 in a pleading way.

7 caught the message and went over to wake up the heavily sleeping E. All she had to do was hold a hand up, and bring it down hard onto his face, making a bad sound as he screamed and shot up, clutching his cheek. F smiled and hugged 7, like a little sister to an older. 9 had an incredable urge to hug 7 too, but he stifled it in a second, and in that time, the hug was over.

E was moaning and laying on the floor again, still clutching his cheek, laying in the fetal position. "Why?" he hissed angrily up at 7, who apologized with her look and helped him up. 9 went over to the commotion with a confused and nervous smile forming on his mouth.

E's optics met 9's, and an awkward silence followed, resulting in F's optics darting between the two sadly and her head shaking slightly.

"No, you we're happy..." she mumbled, curling into herself like 6 when they held a funeral for 2, cringing toward 7.

"I am." said 9 with a fake smile on his face that was so good only 7 and E could see right through it. "He just reminds me of my past, something I can't control." He added that last line for 7's benefit.

E looked exactly like 5, except for the missing eye. He was the only burlap doll in the room besides

"Yeah," said E, who was fake smiling for F also. "I'm glad to meet someone from F's visions..." he said awkardly, making F raise a confused eyebrow, and making him need a change of subject so she would'nt venture further. 9 helped out.

"So now that I've met everyone, what is it you wanted to show me, F?" he said. He caught E's thankful grin as F turned her head toward 9 and smiled mischieviously.

"I will show you..." she said, taking 9's hand and walking to her corner of the room. "You must listen, because it might be hard news to understand. I saw you were confused, but not unwilling. Now sit." She pointed to the patch of carpet she used as a bed. The others were gathered around now, C and D cuddling up to E, who made himself confortable near F, who was making sure she had everyone's attention.

"I don't have time to listen to this, I need to make sure the twins are alright." said 7. 9 nodded and lowered his head with guilt. 7 saw this and lifted his head toward her with a fist under his chin. "Don't worry, it's not your fault." She stood and addressed everyone else, "Expect me back in two days." she said before running back to the tunnel. 9 watched her every step.

Within a few seconds she was gone.

9 sighed without knowing the reason and sat where F had told him to, and prepared himself for the explaination of his life.