To Save Us All
Chapter 13~
When the bucket dropped to the ground, 6 jumped right out of the healer's arms and started at a sprint around a corner. He sprinted over to a book that was propped against the wall in an angle, creating a space to duck into, like a small cave. 5 and 9 where too stunned for a moment at why 6 would do that, but then 9 looked at 5 and smiled.
"Well, let's go see what he's up to." he said cheerily, getting out of the bucket.
5 followed 9. As usual.
As they rounded the corner to see the rest of the book that had been protruding out, 5 suddenly took hold of 9's arm, an arrangment of emotions playing on his face, fear and surprise being just two of them. 9 looked on in sympathy and put his other hand on one of 5's to calm him.
"Here!" came 6's voice, echoing slightly. 9 and 5 averted their gazes from the entirely of the book itself and ventured a look inside, where the voice had come from. They could just see the front of 6's optics, only the tiniest trickle of light catching them. 9 tried to exchange a glance, but 5 was looking in the book to 6, a sudden determination taking over his face.
"Let's go." 5 said with the same amount of determination as his look. 9 smiled as 5 let go of his arm and moved ahead toward the book.
They followed 6 into the darkness, and while 9 was still adjusting, 5 pulled him over to the wall the book was propped against, and went through it. 9 slowly adjusted, and his optics allowed him to see what he was originally blinded from.
He could see there was a hole in the wall, containing a set of yet another staircase, and apparently 5 had known about it.
They climbed the staircase that lay inside the hole in the wall behind the book, apparently concealed for a reason. 5 was gripping 9's arm with a fierce strength, as if he was angry.
"5, are you OK?" asked 9, as they suddenly came into a light-filled room, one 9 had never seen before- or even heard before for that matter.
5 seemed to release his anger, and 9 relaxed.
"He never showed anyone else but me. That's why I was confused that 6 knew about it." 5 said, taking a long look around the room whereas 9's look had been on 5 since the moment they walked up the stairs, concerned for his friend.
So 9 turned his head, taking in what 2 had shown only to 5. They were in a room so small, 9 didn't know how it could fit so much light. But 9 could tell it was still in the sanctuary- it had the carpeting, the texture- the feel.
And in the dead center of the room was a huge... contraption was the only word 9 could fit into it's discription without giving himself a headache. The thing was huge, first of all. It was enough to fit everyone 9 knew. It consisted of main three parts: The engine, which 9 could see was in need of repair, the balloon (there was a word for it), and the basket itself. The cloth patched up to make the balloon was many different colors, but consisted mostly of one of the chancellor's cloths: the one that had covered the BRAIN. 9 remembered it was what had covered the BRAIN before it awoke. The basket looked just like a normal picnic basket, but with the four corners of the cloth tied to the four corner's of it, attaching the two pieces. The engine itself was in OK shape, but looked to be missing the obvious things. If 9 was looking at it correctly, the contraption ran on batteries, and it needed wire desperately. It reminded 9 somewhat of the Blimb monsters the BRAIN had made so long ago... So long to him.
Suddenly, as a horrible thought caught up to him, he felt like he really wanted to know the time. 9 had a thought so terrible he begged the Creator for it not to be true. He saw 6 suddenly turn to him, as if he was reading his thoughts...
They stood there, 9 and 6, just staring at each other trying to call upon anything to make their realization not true.
"Can See now. Must fix it. Must. " said the now frantic artist as he scampered away, down the stairs, gripping his key in agitation.
5 only had time to do a double take before he found himself being dragged by 9 over to the blimb creation. 9 only stopped when they were right next to the contraption.
"What does this thing do?" asked 9, importance ringing in his mind, causing it to bleed into his words. "What did you make it to do?"
5 was shocked, but he managed to speak a reply.
"F-fly. We made it to fly. Better vantage point to scout, ya know?" he said, "Never finished it."
So that's what 6 meant by "must fix it"...
9 took a look at the flying machine with new fascination. Had 5 really made it to fly? That was amazing!
But now the main thing was to get it working: that's what 6 had meant.
"OK, well help me get it working. Now. This is important." said 9, and together, the savior and the inventor began the work on the flying machine.
9 saw how it worked in a heartbeat once he took a glance under the cloth that covered most of it. It was almost exactly like the blimb machines the BRAIN had made, except not finished and not containing a mind of it's own.
"Well, it's got two battery powered fans that blow oxygen into the candle- you see, there- and heat rises so you fly if there isn't too much weight." 5 said, explaining it all in one sentence and starting to climb over the small basket he had fashioned to get to the engine of the machine, above their heads when standing upright.
9 and 5 worked on that while 6 went to fetch 1 and 8, and a few minutes later, the striped stitchpunk was dragging up a confused 1, along with a confused 8 following.
1 didn't look too happy that this place had been kept secret - in his sanctuary no less! 1 scowled and sat himself proudly in the basket with his stubborn nature taking over. 8 huffed in agreement.
"Fix?" asked 6 when he tried but failed to keep the stitchpunks he had brought up to stay near the staircase, and had come over to see his friends' progress.
"Almost," responded 9 when 5 looked as if he was going to ask 6 what he meant. 9 found he was getting used to the artists talk, like it was a second language. "We just need a few parts."
9 looked up to see 6 nervously looking up at the windows, his hands strangling his key. "No time. Can't go now. See us..."
"I know, but there might be some scraps in here we could use. We just need some wire and..." 9 searched the engine area, looking for what else he may need. "And a match and candle. Can you find us those, 6?" asked 9 gently, trying not to sound like he was begging the artist.
6 nodded and turned, but stopped short. He turned back around and smiled, "Save Us, Save everyone."
9 thought the artist was talking about saving everyone in the group, and was just about to ask how when the artist took off, speeding down the stairway. 9 saw 1 lean over and whisper something into 8's ear, and the guardian took off after the striped stitchpunk. 9 knew 1 cared...
"Come on, 9, we keep some of our scout supplies here, maybe there's something we can use." said 5, guiding 9 again by pulling his arm toward a heaping pile of semi-useful looking materials. There were many different trinckets- and 9 tried to keep himself focused. He spotted a few thibles, and would have asekd what 5 and 2 had seen in their useage, but he just rumaged. As they digged, 1 stayed far away, but 9 thought he saw the elder lean out of the basket to look at what they were rummaging through. 9 smiled and said nothing.
9 found a match and 5 some electrical wire, but no candle. Still, they continued to rummage, getting worried for the yet-to-return stitches. They only continued to find metal, cloth and oil...
When 5 held up a shiny object that looked like a mirror, 1 started scowling from across the room, and 9 asked 5 why he thought 1 would do that for.
"Oh, he probably see's something 2 told him we didn't find. 2 liked to do that." 5 said, finishing the sentence off sadly.
"Let's get those materials, OK?" asked 9 gently, trying to snap 5 out of his pain.
"Yeah." 5 said weakly, putting the mirror in his pack and starting to dig in the junk pile again.
Within minutes they found only another match and some more wire that they didn't need. They couldn't find a candle. 5 said those were kept in the sanctuary.
"I'll be back," said 9, starting to run at the dark staircase, but to his surprise 1 stood up and blocked his path with his staff.
"1, I-" 9 began, really not in the mood for anything 1 had to say if it meant blocking him.
"No. Just listen." said 1, for a second sounding to 9 like the spirit 1, who had sacrificed himself in the end. "I never understood 6, but I always knew he knew things that no one would belive if coming from his mouth. I know he knows better than I for what choices to make. What I'm saying is: he told you to stay behind."
9 felt slapped. Part of him wanted to run after 6 and 8 - what if they were in trouble? They should be back by now- but another part knew he should listen to 1. The old man knew much more than he, and if 9 was ever going to do things right he knew he had to take advice. He couldn't do this alone.
9 looked past 1 into the staircase and sighed, but backed off. 1 opened to say something else, but a sudden shadow flew by the window, and 9 knew 6 and his prediction had come true- it was the time for the Winged Beast to attack.
"9. We have to go. Now." said 1, starting for the flying machine 5 was just finishing. 9 shook his head, thinking.
5 stood up brushed his hands together, smiling happily, "Should be ready now." he said. It was obvious he hadn't seen the shadow.
9 made his decision. 1 was right- they couldn't wait for 6 and 8... No matter how much 9 wanted to. 6 had specifically said he should leave if they didn't come back. And 6 knew better than all of them about the future.
9 ran to the great balloon and hoped that 6 and 8 were safe.
"Start it!" 9 yelled to 5, who raised his eyebrow.
"Can't." he said, 5 now aware something was going on at the nervousness in 9's tone. "It need's heat. She won't fly without the candle."
9 stopped and looked madly around, frantic searching landing on the heap he and 5 had looked through minutes earlier.
"Then we have to improvize." he said, running to the heap.
5's confused look followed 9 until he realized what he meant and ran after him. The two digged in the rubble and materials and found what they were looking for: the thimbles. 5 had lost 9, and was trying to see what his idea was when 9 ran to the back of the small mountain. To the gasoline.
5 heard a click as he understood, and began copying 9 by scooping up the black smelly liquid into the thimbles. They developed a system: 9 filling up the thimbles and 5 taking them to 1 - who had decided to participate if it meant their lives - and who would pour the oil into the candle compartment, at 9's instructions.
By the time five thimbles of oil had been filled in 5's machine, 8 came running up the stairs, yelling for help, carrying a seriously injured artist in his arms.
"6!" yelled 9, almost dropping his thimble as he placed it on the middle of the floor and came running to examine the injury. It wasn't too bad - compared to what 9 had seen- but it was a painful looking gash that ran from the top of 6's right shoulder to his left hip, exposing much of his metal skeletal workings.
"What happened?" asked 9 weakly, taking his whimpering friends shaking hand.
"Beast." 8 grunted, pushing past 9 gently and going as fast as he can to the flying machine. The balloon part of it was steadily lifting from the ground, and 5 held a used match in his right hand, standing back from the fire and placing the basket upright.
"It works!" cried 5 joyfully, forgetting the tension in the room and smiling hugely. Then he saw 6, 8 and 9. His gasp attracted 1's attention, and they both helped the other's climb into the basket.
"5," said 9, climbing into the basket that would start floating soon. "He needs a thread and needle. I know he'll be fine but you have to patch him up". 8 climbed into the basket, a worried look on his face as he lowered 6 gently to the floor of the basket. 9 lowered his voice, as if not to remind the already whimpering and dry sobbing 6.
"And he's in pain." 9 said, raising his stitched eyebrows in sympathy.
That's what it took to snap 5 out of his shocked daze, and he kneeled by 6 and took off his backpack, taking out a needle and some blue thread. Just as the basket finally lifted all the way off the ground, 5 began to repair 6, and contained cries could be heard as 5 worked.
"9, steer." said 5, multi-tasking between calming 6 down, healing him, and asking 9 to do something very important.
9 looked to the workings above him, searching the mechanisms for the huge nail 5 had placed in there somehow to steer. With the help of 8, 9 climbed up to the jungle gym to reach it, standing on the huge stitchpunks' shoulders.
"8, tell me where to steer. I can't see anything past this balloon." said 9, starting to feel the real heat of the flame, inches from his head.
8 nodded, making 9 almost lose his balance.
"Go for the hole in the ceiling." said 8. 9 looked up, forgetting the cloth of the balloon prevented him to see. Had there been a hole in the ceiling big enough for this this to fit? 9 couldn't belive he missed it.
"There's a hole in the ceiling?" 9 asked, a rehtorical question.
8 answered anyways.
"Yeah, go left." said 8, grabbing 9's feet so the savior wouldn't fly off.
9 obeyed, for 8 was his sight. 9 pulled the nail all the way to his right, to make the huge balloon go left. Why had 5 made this nail so hard to pull?
"NO 8!" 1 yelled, "Right! GO RIGHT!!"
9, mostly out of being scared half to death, pulled the nail all the way back to the left, making the ship swerve right very fast, and aparently making the balloon miss something dangerous. Everyone let out a breath except 9.
"Careful!" yelled 5, "6 is in pain! Try to keep her steady!"
9 anxiously wiped his brow- wait. His brow? Why would he wipe that? Stitchpunks didn't sweat. This thought made 9 look to the flame still only inches from his head, and swallowed nothing nervously.
"Stay right, 9..." said 1, apparently taking over for 8, who sounded like he almost had gotten them all killed. "Steady... wait for it... No go left! Gently, now..."
9 pulled the nail screwed into the steering mechanism to the right, making everything swerve to the left.
"Careful!" 5 reminded 9.
9 snuck a look down, seeing 6 clutching 5's hand in pain, almost searching for relief through 5's hand than relying on the stitches that would hold him together.
"Sorry!" 9 yelled back, the noise of the flame trying to drown out his words with sound.
9 looked down past the basket, only to see how far they were from the ground. They should be reaching this hole in the ceiling right about-
"9! Get ready! Do exactly as I say!" 1 yelled up to him, trying to make himself heard over the roar of the gas-fed flames.
9 readied himself, taking a firmer stance on 8's shoulders and gripping the steering nail as hard as he could. 9 looked down at 6 again.
"Careful..." 6 said, locking optics with 9 for a second before closing them in pain when 5 reentered the needle through his skin.
"9." said 1, looking to the sky, past the balloon and to the ceiling 9 couldn't see. "Now when I tell you to, just a slight left and then the sharpest right immediatly after. Got it?"
"Got it," repeated 9, "Slight left, sharp right."
1 nodded and held on to the side of the basket. 5 did the same, holding 6 down with his body so no one would go flying. 8 just held on to one of the metal workings of the engine.
"Ready, 9..." said 1 "NOW!"
9 pushed the nail slightly to the right, and then groaned as he used all his might to pull it back the other way as fast as he could.
Everything seemed to slow down, and 9 seemed to catch each detail.
The flying machine actually jumped slightly at the force of 9's demand, and 6 groaned in pain as his body was forced into 5's, the inventor trying to hold him down so he wouldn't go flying. 1 had started at the side of the basket, but was now somehow clutching onto 8, optics as small as a spec of dust. 9 himself had fallen off 8 and had barely managed to catch hold of part of the metal jungle before he could cry out.
8 saw the dangling 9 and helped him onto his shoulders.
"Everyone alright?" 9 asked from the engine, "Someone tell me where to steer!"
6 whimpered in response, and 5 began threading the needle into him again, taking his hand to try and numb the pain. 1 straightened up and brushed himself off, clearing his throat as he regained his balance and righted himself.
"We made it." he said, looking around him, into the glorious sunset, slight cracking in his voice to show how scared he had been, and how doubtful.