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The war didn’t end in stages. There was no slow decline in the sound of bombs and gunfire. One day the air was thick with the sound of heavy metal screaming through the sky, and the next there was only silence. The tiny survivors huddled high above the chaos in the clocktower of the old cathedral, and when the dust cleared, they peeked out of the windows of their sanctuary and realized just how alone they were. The monstrous Walkers lay deactivated on the ground, but there were no humans celebrating the fall of the killer machines. Only utter desolation greeted them. They world lay still, the mass grave for everything humanity had once been. The ragdolls, too, were quiet for a while after they had seen what was left.
1 took charge naturally, especially with the monolithic 8 at his back. There were so many new rules to follow! Don’t leave the cathedral grounds, don’t go outside after dark, report back to 1 at sundown and sunrise for a headcount, don’t talk back, be on time for your turn at watch, don’t yell or be rowdy, answer me when I speak to you, 5!
“Where is he?” 5 cringed and stammered under 1’s fierce glare
“I-I don’t know! He was here this morning!”
“I don’t care where he was this morning,” 1 shouted, advancing of the younger creature “I want to know where he is now!”
“I don’t know, honest!” 5’s voice shook and he felt weaker and more mortified than ever. He could feel the others’ eyes on him, and he lowered his optics to the floor in the face of 1’s rage.
“How can you not know?” the elder snarled “It was your job to watch him today! You know how he is!” 1 rubbed the side of his head and squinted. “I ask you to do one thing, just one simple task: watch 6 and see to it that he stays within the bounds of the cathedral. I ask you to contribute just a small amount to the well being of the group and you failed me. You completely worthless, imbecilic-“
“1!” Relief flooded 5’s wires when 2 spoke up “That’s enough. I’m sure 5 understands his mistake, so perhaps we should quit wasting time and go look for 6, hmm?” The second oldest creature wasn’t quite as tall or forceful as 1, but 2 marched right up to the de facto leader and matched his glare look-for-look.
“Oh? Well if you’re so eager to take charge, perhaps you should lead a search party into the Emptiness, eh brother?” 1 said evenly with a nasty smile.
“I shall. 7, 5, 8, if you would come with me, please-“ 2, turned and started for the rope they used to climb up to and down from the clocktower.
“Oh no you don’t.” snapped 1. “8 stays with me.” At the leader’s words, the largest ragdoll went and stood by his master, shoving past 5 on the way. “We will search the upper floors. 7 can take the roof and the grounds, and I want 3 and 4 to search the Nave.”
2 scowled at 1’s orders, but he knew when to pick his fights. He sighed and motioned to 5, “Very well, then. We’ll meet back here when the moon peaks. Come along, lad.”
5 shuffled after 2 and waited for the elder to climb on the rope and slide down before following. He walked a few steps behind his mentor, wringing his hands as 2 entered their workshop and gathered up the sharp, collapsible spear 5 had made for him and the clever little crossbow he himself had built as a gift for 5, who, with only one eye, wasn’t much use in close-ranged combat. As 5 shouldered on his quiver, still looking at the floor, 2 placed a gentle hand on his arm.
“It was an honest mistake, 5. Everyone knows how slippery 6 can be.” He said softly, giving 5 a reassuring pat. 5 closed his optics and sighed.
“I know, but he was still my responsibility. 6 could be anywhere now. He could be hurt or lost or something could have gotten him! We don’t even know what’s out there-”
“Shh, that’s not important right now.” 2 said, waving a hand. “What’s important is that we keep our heads and don’t panic.” 5 nodded but retained a despondent look on his face. 2 smiled at his apprentice and went to strap on his candle hat.
“I hope you didn’t take what 1 said to heart. Salty old bastard lets his mouth run away with him when he’s angry.”
5 forced a smile for 2’s sake and followed his mentor out of the workshop and out onto the cathedral grounds. He knew 2 wasn’t angry at him, but he still felt awful. It had been his responsibility to keep an eye on 6 (everyone knew he wasn’t right in the head and was prone to wandering off). 6 had been peacefully rolling a ball-bearing around the workshop while 5 sorted nuts and bolts, and 5 had thoughtlessly turned his back on his charge. He was only looking away for one minute, just one measly minute, but when he turned back around, 6 had disappeared. How could he have been so stupid! He knew 6 could be slippery and cunning when he wanted to be, and now the poor little oddball could be hurt or worse and it was all 5’s fault.
When 2 and 5 reached the Cathedral gates, the elder unfolded his spear and turned to confer with his apprentice.
“Alright then,” he said, giving the spear a practiced spin “The little fellow couldn’t have gone far. We’ll search all around the fence and then we’ll go out further and circle the cathedral again. How does that sound?”
“Good.” Mumbled 5, still lost in his guilt.
“Alright then” chirped 2, pulling a match out of 5’s quiver and striking it off his put with an explosive ‘pop!’ “Look lively, boy!” The elder lit his candle hat and set off at a brisk pace.
Night fell slowly in the City, and 2 and 5 orbited the cathedral three times in an ever-widening circle by the time the moon reached the very top if the night sky.
They had not found 6.
Reentering the Cathedral, 5 was absolutely devastated and even cheery 2 had lines of tension around his mouth. They started up the rope to the clocktower in silence and were about halfway up when the sounds of yelling and keening floated down to them. 2 looked down the rope at 5 and they doubled their pace and were up the rope in less than twenty seconds.
What they saw when they reached the top at once flooded 5 with sheer relief and black, burning guilt.
I would seem that 8 and 1 had found 6. 8 had one massive hand tangled in the yarn on top of 6’s head and was holding him up off the ground so that 6 had to struggle to keep the very tips of his feet on the floor to try and relieve the strain on his head. The keening they had heard was 6’s whimpering as he tried to pry 8’s hands out of his tuft. The sound alone was enough to shatter 5’s heart.
The yelling, predictably, was coming from 1, who was scolding 6 fiercely and shaking from toe to tip.
“You insane idiot! What were you thinking, running off like that? Anything could have followed you back here, and then what would we have done? Better you fell from a rafter and rid us all of your stupidity you useless-“
“1, stop this!” 2 advanced immediately with his palms up in a placating gesture. 1 whirled on his brother and turned his sharp tongue loose on him.
“You be silent! You can’t even keep a handle on your idiot apprentice!” 2 ignored 1’s snap and started towards 6, only to be shoved roughly to the ground by 8’s free hand. 5 let out an incoherent yelp and dove down to the ground to help his elder up. Torn between 6’s pain, 2’s fall, 1’s anger, and his own horrible guilt, he was near hysterics. He clung to 2’s arm, shaking like a leaf.
“What’s all this yelling?” 5 whipped around to see 7 climbing up into the room, 3 and 4 hot on her heels. She took one look at the scene in front of her and sucked in a hissing breath. Faster than a lightning strike, she leapt over to 8 and before the behemoth could react, she hit him hard under the chin with an upward strike with the heel of her hand. 8 reeled back, dropping 6. 7 whirled around started advancing on 1, but was stopped when 2 jumped between them.
“Stop this, all of you!” At the normally quiet elder’s roar, everyone froze in their tracks. 5 gazed in wonder at this mentor, but was distracted when he felt something wind around his legs. 6 had crawled away from 1, 8, and 7, and was now clinging to 5’s knees, trembling and babbling.
“Didn’t mean it, didn’t mean it, was only looking for it, needed it, needed it or I couldn’t, I couldn’t show you-“
For a minute there was only the sound of everyone’s heavy breathing and 6’s distraught murmurings. 5 took advantage of 1’s momentary distraction and grabbed 6 under his arms and started hauling him away. He caught 2’s eye and jerked his head towards the rope. 2 gave a curt nod and 5 hurriedly coaxed 6 onto the rope and slid down after him.
5’s tiny bedroom was tucked away on the opposite side of the nave from the clocktower. He figured it would be best for him to hide 6 there and keep an eye on him until morning, when everyone’s tempers had calmed. 6 seemed to have other plans, though, for the smaller creature had taken to trying to struggle out of 5’s grip, bucking and wriggling and kicking his wooden feet in frenzy.
“6!” 5 grunted, locking his hands around 6’s waist and lifting him up off the floor and half dragging, half-carrying him down the center aisle of the Nave. “Come on! I’m trying to- oof!” 6 had driven an elbow into 5’s stomach, but 5 held on. “6, please, I’m trying to help you!”
“No, no, no! Not helping! Going the wrong way! I must show you it! Let go, let go, let go! Arrrg!”
“6, please, you can show me whatever you want later. Just come on!”
6 went still for a minute and 5 thought that perhaps the younger doll was going to cooperate. He was wrong, though, as 6 raised his arms and dropped suddenly to the ground, slipping clean out of 5’s grip. The young doll was back up in a split-second and streaked across the room, heading for the great doors of the church.
“6! Get back here!” 5 ran after him, but 6 was quicker and stayed well out of reach.
“No!” yelled 6 over his shoulder, giggling madly. “I must show you!”
6 wove through the pews scattered throughout the nave, leaping over debris and generally leaving 5 to eat his dust.
“6! 6, come on! Stop this!” 5 made chase all the way to the doors and for one horrifying minute, he was sure 6 was going to keep running, right out of the cathedral and out into the Emptiness, where 5’s chances of catching him was next to nil. 6 didn’t keep running, though. Rather, he halted right at the threshold and crouched down on the ground. 5 had to practically dig his heels into the wooden floor to keep from tripping over the other creature.
“Whuuh?” 5 sputtered, his strained, tired mind not fully processing 6’s quick, seemingly purposeless stop.
“Found it!” 6 said cheerily, standing up and turning, holding a large glass inkwell in his skinny arms. 5 could only stare. “Look at what I can do!” 6 shifted his grip on the inkwell so that he could hold it in one arm and uncapped it, dropping the lid on the floor. He plunged his hand inside the bottle, coating his fingers in rich black ink. He turned to the door and started scribbling away. 5 stared in wonder as scratchy black lines formed the outline of a head, a single eye, and a gaping mouth.
6 worked quickly, periodically dunking his pen-nib fingers back into the inkwell. When the sketch was finished, he slapped the wood next to his picture, leaving a smeary black handprint; a signature, of sorts.
“It’s you.” Said 6, wiping his inky hand on his hip. Distractedly, 5 pulled 6’s hand away, saying “Don’t do that, you’ll get messy.”
The sketch was indeed a rather convincing likeness of 5, his face the very picture of bewilderment. 5 cringed a bit in embarrassment, realizing that 6 had drawn exactly what 5 had looked like as he watched 6 draw it. Still, 5 had to admit it was a pretty good drawing.
“That’s… that’s pretty good, 6.” He said dazedly, and was unable to hold back a smile when 6 beamed with pride. “Now, uhm, let’s go back to my room, ‘kay?”
“Hmmm, alright.” Said 6, a weird little smile on his face. He bent to pick up the fallen lid and recapped the inkwell before he meandered off in the direction of 5’s room, humming to himself. 5 tilted his head to the side and frowned. This was the happiest he’d ever seen 6. The younger creature was usually quiet and twitchy, given to staring off into space and mumbling nonsense, occasionally yanking on his yarn-tuft when he was particularly upset. Now he was still a bit loopy, but he seemed… calm, almost. Dreamy.
5 followed 6 back to his room and lit the single candle he kept as 6 settled himself in a corner, turning the bottle over and over in his hands, talking quietly to himself. 5 sat down on the bed he had made from a cigar box and a scrap of what once had been a plush blue bathrobe and watched the striped ragdoll.
“6…” he started, working the words over in his head “Why did you run away from me? I was worried about you.”
6 raised his odd eyes to 5’s and cocked an eyebrow. “Not a baby, 5. Can handle myself.” 5 blinked at 6’s candid answer. Since when did 6 get so sassy?
“But… where did you go?”
“Not your business. Went to go find this thing, and I found it. That’s all. Do you have strange dreams sometimes?”
“…What?” 5’s mind was still spiraling down from the stress of the evening and wasn’t quite capable of following 6’s non sequiturs.
“I have strange dreams.” 6 said, setting the ink aside and pulling his knees up to his chest, his face scrunched a little in concentration. “I see an old human in… a tower, I think. I see the sky crying. Spiders, sometimes. Flying, sometimes. I see you a lot. You are sad in my dreams. Is very dis-con-cert-ing.”
“6, what are talking about?” 5 sigh, resting his face in his hands.
“Dreams!” shouted 6, making 5 jump. 6 pounded his fist on the floor. “I sleep and they run through my head. They swim in my brain, like… like… like things that swim. Poisson.”
“Poisson?”
“Yes. Like fish, only they drink wine and smoke cigarettes and say ‘wee wee, bon-jer.’ 3 and 4 showed me a book of it once.”
“6, maybe we should go to sleep, now. I’m tired. It’s been a very long day.”
“Time is relative! Days are only as long as you think they are! Nights are longer than you want them to be because I sleep at night when the dreams come! The dreams, I see them in my head but not in my head and I can’t turn it OFF!” 6 was quickly becoming hysterical, tugging at his hair and beating the floor with his feet. 5 scrambled off his bed and went to 6’s side. He kneeled in front of the other creature, trapping his stamping feet lightly under his knees. He grabbed 6’s wrists and forced them down to his sides.
“6! 6, relax. Please, just calm down, you’re alright. You’re safe and fine, I promise. I’m right here with you, okay?” slowly, 6 stopped thrashing and slumped forward. 5 released 6’s hands and held his shoulders steady. Inside, he was just as panicked as 6 had been, but he modulated his voice and his breathing and projected an image of peacefulness. After all, if both of them broke down, it would only escalate from there and then where would they be?
6 took several deep breaths and shook his head as if to clear it.
“Oh… I-I… Oh.” He rubbed the sides of his head and looked up at 5 with a sheepish smile. “Sorry. I… I didn’t mean to do that. Happens sometimes and I forget to not do it.”
“Hey, it’s okay.” Said 5, tousling 6’s tuft with a breathless laugh. “Let’s just forget about it and go to sleep, huh? We can deal with the rest of it tomorrow. You can have the bed, I’ll just sleep down here.” 5 levered himself up and made for the pile of canvas he had collected to build the watchtower he and 2 had been planning, but 6’s hand around his ankle stopped him.
“No, you don’t have to do that. Please stay with me? I… I’m scared the dreams will come again.” 6’s eyes were wide and childlike, his mouth pouting in a plea. 5 never stood a chance against that look.
“Oh, uh. Okay, then.” Why did he feel so nervous all of a sudden? It was just sharing a bed, something he had done plenty of times before with 2 or the Twins when they were all alone together in the Emptiness. Hell, he even vaguely remembered the night after he lost his eye when 6 had slept next to him out of concern. How was this any different than that?
6 smiled and bounded over to the bed and jumped right in, curling up on his side. 5 took the time to right the inkwell that 6 had knocked over during his fit, and take off his quiver and hang it up on the wall. He scowled when he realized he’d dropped his crossbow up in the clocktower. He’d have to go get it tomorrow. He dithered around for a bit until he was sure 6 had fallen asleep before he snuffed out the candle with a thimble and headed for the bed. 6 had sprawled out a bit and was smiling a little in his sleep. Maybe he was having a good dream. 5 grinned a little and slid very, very carefully onto the bed next to 6. He lay on his back, studiously not touching his strange bedfellow until he, too, fell into a deep, relieved sleep.
As soon as 5’s breathing slowed all the way, 6’s optics opened and he smiled a sneaky little smile. He scooted across the bed to 5’s side and nuzzled up against him, pressing his face against 5’s shoulder and curling his fingers around 5’s arm.
“You’re here.” Murmured 6. “I’m okay.”