A/N: Sorry. This chapter was supposed to come out on Wednesday. I try my best to stay on schedule (yes, there is a schedule) but life got in the way. But as of today I am officially on winter break, so hopefully I will still be able to finish the next chapter by next week and get back on track. Again, really sorry. Hopefully this chapter won't seem rushed, because it kind of was. Sorry.

Toby felt lightheaded. He was sure that if it had been any other person in his place, they would have felt much more than a bit dizzy. But his skin, tattered or otherwise, felt just as numb as it always did. Just one of the many perks of being him, he supposed.

Swirls of dark red mixed with running water, spiralling into a pinkish soup before disappearing down the sink's drain. He held his forearm underneath the tap, his occasional twitches sending splatters of water and blood flying. The once clean mirror was now dotted and stained.

According to Masky, it was 'not that bad'. He tried to tell himself this, but still his arm continued to slowly leak from three new jagged lines. They would probably scar.

He glared down at the fresh wound. Masky planned it. He knew he would get injured. He wanted it to happen, possibly. And now he was nowhere to be found.

"Hey, long time no see."

Toby whipped his head around, keeping his arm underwater. Clockwork leaned her side by the bathroom's door frame, her eternal smile bent into a soft smirk. Her pale, slender hands were stuffed inside the pockets of her blue hoodie.

He smiled weakly at the girl, still remembering the night before. "Hey," he said uncomfortably. He'd clearly never been in such a situation before, trying to clean a fresh wound while a girl he didn't really know watched. Would this be another thing he would need to get used to?

Clockwork invited herself inside the bathroom, leaning over his shaking shoulder to see the cuts from a better angle. "Huh. Not as nasty as I thought it would be. Guess I was wrong."

Toby blinked, trying to understand her words. When he failed to do so, he raised a quizzical brow in her direction.

Clockwork giggled. "Sorry. I saw the trail of rose petals you left. Came to see if someone was dying," she explained, gesturing to the droplets of blood on the floor that traced into the hallway.

"Ah," the young Proxy nodded, trying to steady his forearm, as it was now shaking more than ever. Embarrassing, to say the least, especially in front of another person.

He expected her to leave. But she didn't. Instead, she hoisted herself on top of the newly dirtied counter top, her thin legs dangling next to him. "So, judging by the claw marks, I'm gonna say it was..." she held her chin in exaggerated thought. "Hmm, too short to be Rakey. Could'a been EJ, but he's more of a biter. And I think Smile left after last night. So with them out of the way, and everyone else with claws out of the mansion, I'm gonna say... Seed Eater?"

Toby frowned. Not because of his new company, or her answer, but because the blood. While slowing down slightly, it was still oozing out of his pale body. "That's what Masky said," he thought back to right after the fight. At least the older Proxy had the decency to help him out afterwards, if only for a few moments.

Truthfully, he did not need help until the very end. The creature's attacks had been sporadic and nonsensical, and almost completely offensive. All he really had to do was dodge the attacks and swing his hatchets whenever that thing left himself open, which was very often. The fight ended only when he wound up disarmed – and injured. Then, and only then, did Masky think to interject.

Clockwork peered down into the sink, mesmerized by the swirling red. "So what'd you do to piss him off so fast? Call him a rag-face? A woodpecker? Make fun of his mane?" she asked, sounding curious but not at all surprised.

Toby gritted his teeth. "I didn't do anything," he tried to hold back his bitterness, "Masky told him to." He thought back to just an hour ago. Masky just seemed to disappear into the darkness, and the next thing he knew he was being attacked by what looked like a deformed chimera. At the time, he was sure it had been an attempted murder on Masky's part.

He still wasn't sure if he was wrong.

The teenage girl frowned as much as she could with her face in stitches, and narrowed her good eye. "That doesn't sound like Masky. You sure it was him?" she asked. He nodded.

Hopping off the counter, Clockwork walked over to a nearby cabinet and started rummaging through it. "Weird. He's never been the senseless murder type. I always thought Proxy's were into the whole greater purpose, bigger than themselves, commanded army sort."

Toby nodded, though the girl was still looking deep inside the cabinet. What she described was himself, or at least a very abridged version. "He said it was a test. To see where my skills are at." He sighed. "Or at least he said so once we got back inside the castle."

Finally, Clockwork pulled something out of the cabinet. A roll of white gauze, slightly dusty. "I guess that explains it..." she said unsteadily. "But that's still odd for Masky to do. Or maybe not. I dunno. Never saw him actually train a new Proxy before. Maybe it's normal," she shrugged, voice sounding uncertain.

Clockwork reached over and turned the tap off. "I don't think that's working. You'll probably want to wrap that up," she set the gauze in front of him.

He picked it up with trembling fingers, and slowly started to unwind it. "Thanks," he said with a smile, hoping it could be seen enough through his scarf.

Clockwork leaned herself next to the sink again. "So let me get this straight. Masky dragged you out to the woods without telling you anything. You got attacked by Seedy. You fought him and wound up with a nasty scratch. Then what? Did he just... leave, or something?"

Toby started winding the bandage around his still dripping arm. "No. Well, Seed Eater did. Masky stayed behind. Told me about how it was all some test. He brought me here so I could fix myself up. Then he left."

He was not sure, but he thought he heard the girl swear under her breath. The two were silent for a moment, the only noise being the faint sound of the bandage rubbing onto his skin and the rhythmic ticking of her clock eye. He knew neither one of them were happy.

Finally, Clockwork sighed and started walking out the open door. "I'm gonna go talk to M. Catch ya later, alright?"

Toby looked up. "Wait, what?" he said instinctively. He could feel his face paling even more than it already was. "No, please don't. I'm fine." Masky was his superior. He was certain that, if he saw him unfit, he could have him killed just as easily as the Operator himself. He needed to seem strong. Stoic. Unfazed. Just like any good Proxy.

Clockwork turned around. Her one good eye looked at him almost pitifully. "No, you're not," she said, eyeing him closely.

Toby looked down to his half bandaged arm, the bleeding finally beginning to cease. The unused gauze dangled uselessly at his side. He frowned.

She crossed her arms, smiling softly. "Look, if you're worried about Masky getting mad, I won't even mention this. As far as he's concerned, we never even spoke." She glanced down the hallway. "Honestly, I've been meaning to talk to him ever since he got back from his last mission. I already wasted too much time," she reflected.

Toby thought about it for a moment before nodding. "Thank you," he said quietly. In the back of his head, he wondered what it was he wanted to talk about. But he knew he had no place to ask. He had no real place for anything.

Clockwork shot him one final bright smile before disappearing from the doorway down the dark hallway. Toby stood still, listening until her faint tick, tick, ticking faded from his ears. Finally, he was greeted with silence.

He hoped she would be okay.

Seed Eater is from the Creepypasta Through the Trees and the blog Seed Eater Experiences

If you have any problems finding a certain character's original story, feel free to let me know so I can help you find it :)