Chapter Text
Five often wonders if they really are the last few remaining people in the world. Or- as close to people as people seem to get these days, anyways. Seemingly, anything bearing a soul had counted as human to their creator.
Ahead of him, Five can see Seven and Nine ambling across the expanse of dim ruins- geometric and persistently digging into the foggy sky above. Seven scampers over them with grace, while Nine is tumbling after her in an admirable effort to keep up. Neither seem to be making much of an attempt to search for supplies. The day might turn out to be a bust.
Five turns his gaze to the heavens. Despite it being clear earlier clouds are beginning to congregate to the south, looming over their return home. He hopes the impending winds, already picking up dust around his feet, blow them off course.
A noise brings his attention to behind him- He’s almost startled until he remembers that Zero also came along with them. It's not hard to recognize his shuffling gait, but Five is still having a hard time getting used to the fact that he's alive. He had only met Zero once before- during the war. It was shortly before he met the others- along with Three and Four, who he had been sheltering with. Zero had led them out of the wreckage of their previous safe haven, and was immediately swept into the menagerie of terrifying metal beasts- his body tumbling like a doll among the debris. (Five tries very very hard not to think about the fact that he is a doll. All of them are. What a wretched curse, self actualization.)
And then once more, upon waking, he met Zero, alive again, or maybe having never died in the first place. Five still isn't sure, because no one will tell him. He has an inkling that Three and Four know where he came from, or where he had been hiding. Surely though, if Zero had seen the danger the rest of them were in, he would have come to help. Five has decided for now that Zero must have been dead; if only because the thought of him standing by and watching the most traumatizing moments of Five’s life (death?) makes it significantly harder to trust him.
“Oh, you already found a block of ink? Shit, I wouldn't have lugged this thing all the way here.”
Zero is loaded down with what supplies he managed to gather-copper wire, the titular ink block, batteries, a bundle of what looks like fabric bunched under his arm- Five feels a rush of gratitude that at least someone managed to find something useful. Nine and Seven seem to have vanished beyond the rubble, despite the stress of the impending weather.
“Oh, uh, yeah… Sorry.”
“Eh? Why are you sorry?”
Zero scoffs in his signature way- it used to throw Five off but now he understands that Zero is just standoffish and mildly sarcastic by default. The real warning is when he becomes outstandingly polite, a trait he only adopts when he’s moments away from unleashing absolute hell. Five’s eye flickers back over to the piles of rubble ahead- where are Seven and Nine? They should have noticed the weather by now- the clouds definitely don't seem to be swaying from their original course. If they don't head back within an hour they could be caught in the storm.
“Five?”
Zero comes up to stand beside him, and quickly seems to understand his worried demeanor. His pale face tilts to the sky, and Five can just barely see his eyes retract into their jagged star shapes in reaction to the weaning daylight. Another feature that initially startled Five, but now it just fascinates him. What made their creator change his designs over the years? How was he not happy with his initial inventions- Zero’s traits that Five has come to find so fascinating? Zero holds one long hand outstretched, as if he’s hoping to pluck a raindrop out of the sky.
“Oh, Six was right. It is gonna rain. We should really listen to him more often.”
“I can’t see Seven and Nine… what if they get caught up in the storm?”
“Hm? Oh, I’m sure they just got distracted. They can handle themselves. Or at least, Seven can handle both of them. Ha.”
Five hesitates- Zero is right. Nine should know better than to run off. He has no problem leaving me all alone- but he still doesn’t feel completely right heading back without them. Maybe- he feels so nervous because this is one of the few times he’s been entirely alone with Zero. The last time was… Oh, right. When the two of them were hiding together from that spidery beast. Five doesn’t like to think about the way it scaled the rubble with its needle-sharp legs, sickeningly fast. He shivers involuntarily, and then notices that Zero is glancing sidelong at him, one stitched eyebrow raised.
“But if you’re worried, I can just go and check on them. I’m sure they didn’t go far-”
“No, you’re right. They should know better than to wander off without us. They know the way back, it's not far.”
Five is startled at how uncharacteristically bitter his own voice sounds. Maybe, If he’s honest, the thought of Nine spending far more time with Seven than with him stirs an unfamiliar, nasty feeling in his chest. It's great that they had plenty of time to get close while I was dead. He turns back towards the Library, hearing Zero start to shuffle along behind him. It’s not exactly that the thought of Nine and Seven being together inherently bothers him… But what precisely is bothering him about it, Five doesn’t know. It shouldn’t bother him. he should be happy that Nine is happy, Happy without me, Happy when-
Suddenly, Five feels the world shake around him, sky illuminated for only a second before the heavens split in half- tearing open in a noise he logically knows is thunder but his racing mind can only interpret as danger, danger - He doesn’t realize that he’s instinctively curled in on himself until Zero is grasping his arms, shouting at him to keep moving. But all he can hear is the thunder- gigantic and encompassing, like the center of the sky is about to blink open in a massive, searching eye. Zero finally gets Five to meet his gaze and Five can see his optics flickering back and forth over his terrified face. He can't bring himself to move, let alone respond.
“Five! Five! C’mon, we need to move-”
The thunder comes again, and then the rain hits. The sudden cold reminds Five so much of dying that he gasps- and somehow finds he can move again. Then they’re both running, hand in hand, and thank heavens for that because otherwise Five wouldn’t have felt Zero slip and fall close behind him. Their hands find each other again- The rain is coming so hard and so fast that Five can hardly see anything, and the only beacon guiding him home is his instincts.
Somehow they make it, shambling together up to the looming silhouettes of the statues that always gave Five the creeps, but now tower like guardian angels over the staggering final steps of their journey. They collapse in a heap in the entrance, panting and soaked. Five notices belatedly that he still has Zero’s hand in an iron grip. He then notices, even more belatedly, that Zero is badly injured.