"You were with him? Is he okay? What happened out there?"
"It all unfolded so fast, I..."
She looked over at 9, noticing that he was beginning to wake up.
"9?"
X watched as 9 began to open his eyes. 5 had done a good job at sewing his shoulder up, she had to say she was impressed. Just as 5 was leaning in to snip the last thread, 9 sat up, startled. 5 jumped back, surprised at the sudden movement. X grinned.
"9! You're awake!"
9 looked around, still slightly shaken.
"Where are we?"
5 lowered his scissors a little.
"With us."
9 studied 5 intently. 2 had told him there were others, was this part of who he was speaking of? He was a little more plain-looking than 2, with two buttons going down his torso. This one's hands and feet were made of wood and metal, similar to his own, but everything else was brown burlap. Where his left eye should have been, he instead had a large patch in its place. He reached his pair of scissors back out to snip the thread hanging from 9's mended shoulder. He carefully cut it, leaving his work looking clean and well-done.
"There, that should hold. Now, was there anyone else with you?"
9 gasped.
"2! The thing! It took him!"
Stricken with grief and terror, 5 turned away, showing the number painted on his back.
"No, no, no. It can't be..."
X was about to speak, but she was cut off by someone coming in through the curtains.
"Keeping secrets from me, I see?"
His voice was old and hollow. He was the most primitive-looking of them all, by far. He was made of a pale fabric, oddly stitched together in random places. He had 2 buckles around his torso, and his hands and feet were crudely constructed out of scrap metal, looking almost like claws. His eyes were narrow, and his face was gaunt. He must have been the leader, because he possessed a staff made of a sewing needle, a broken gear, and a small bell. He wore a tall, royal-looking hat with a coin tied onto it, alongside a red cape adorned with a gem. He turned to the side for a split second, allowing 9 and X to see his number.
1.
5 cringed. "I... I was coming to tell you..."
1 ignored what 5 had said and approached 9 and X, displaying arrogance in his stride. He pulled at 9's neck with the hooked end of his staff, finding the number on his back. He shifted his gaze over to X.
"And you, there."
He lifted her arm up with his staff, spying the variable on her shoulder.
"Hm..."
5 tried his best to explain.
"I found them both, out there in the emptiness! They were with–"
1 cut him off, his eyes narrowed into slits.
"What? What were you doing out there?"
"I saw them from the watchtower and thought that maybe..."
"You'll lead the Beast straight to us! How many times have I told you?"
9 and X exchanged glances, realizing what 1 was talking about.
"That's what we saw!" cried X.
9 chimed in as well. "That's what took 2! If we hurry, we could still save him!"
