Mable: This is my first chaptered fic I've worked on in a while… Goodness me, it feels nice to write something with length again! I don't feel much that I have to say except the normal 'I don't own the Stitchpunks and such… Anyway, Enjoy!

Souls run Deep

Chapter One: The Returning Horror

The sharp scream sent anyone in the vicinity spiraling out of their beds. It was Six's trademark cry that indicated a nightmare, though none of the Stitchpunks had heard anything this grueling since the Fabrication Machine Incident. Nine immediately awoke and found himself panicking as he imagined a Beast attacking the Sanctuary. The only thing that managed to make him aware of the situation was the sound of Five's footsteps as he ran from his bed, they shared a room, to get to Six.

Eventually Nine managed to wrestle himself out of his tangled blankets and stumbled towards the door before peering down the hall. Five, or someone, had already lit the candle in Six's room and it sent a warm glow into the corridor that connected the Stitchpunks' sleeping quarters together in the New Sanctuary. It wasn't nearly as grand as the Cathedral, but rebuilding a room inside the walls of the library had managed to create a rather comfortable abode where they had lived happily in the months up until now.

The burlap male stepped out of his room and wandered down the hall towards Six's. He could hear the faint sounds of Six babbling uncontrollably and sounding wound up. This was a shock, as since the incident Six managed to stay a bit more stable, and the nightmares had seemed to ease. Nine entered the room to see that Six wasn't alone. Five was standing by the bed trying to comfort him and on the bed sat Two who must have run down the hall to arrive so quickly, being able to do so easier with his fixed legs.

"Six?" Nine asked softly and watched pitifully as Six hid deeper into Two's front. Apparently, even with the soft whimpering of words, Six didn't want to talk about whatever he had witnessed in his nightmares. Not more than a few seconds after this, when Five went to speak, he was cut off by the curtain being thrown open and another storming in. "What is it? What happened?" One demanded, naturally wanting to know every detail of any event that occurred in the Sanctuary.

Two had sewn the new cape, One had found a piece of a small broken bottle and worked with it until he made a crown, and with that their present leader had returned to full height. While One was a little more lenient on the others, his nature couldn't completely be deterred, which is why with one glance of Six he spun on his heel and glared at something still in the hall. "What did you do this time?!" He growled out and was responded with a desperate plea from what sounded to be a very exhausted Eight. "I didn't do anything! I was sleeping!"

Five chimed up, "Six had a nightmare, One. Eight wasn't in here." It was obvious why One assumed it, though. Eight still taunted Six and very much bullied him about with words and the occasional destroyed picture. However, the guard knew when to stop, and as such this wasn't his handiwork in the slightest. In Eight's defense, perhaps, Six began to babble again, "We came back with the rain, it came back with the source."

The Source; immediately Nine's head filled with memories that he didn't want to remember, memories about the machine. With these memories came questions and paranoia that led him to blurting out, "The Machine?" Immediately One chimed in, "There is no need to discuss that." He looked to Six and tried to explain relatively calm and softly, "Six, the Machine is no more. It was simply a nightmare." He said it in determination, as though his words would silence the thoughts.

Six couldn't silence his own thoughts though. "It's coming." He finally got out, pulling into a ball and rocking on his bed, "It's coming. Time to wake up…" One still was insistent and by now Seven had moved into the doorway, the twins peering from behind her. "Is Six alright?" She asked softly and Two nodded before taking the striped one in his arms again, "He will be fine, but he needs more rest. It would be best if everything quiets down."

This was a direct signal to One who sent Two a small glare, but complied with the suggestion by exiting the room and taking Eight with him. Soon, Seven also ushered the twins away, and only Two and Five stayed with Six, along with Nine. Five spoke up, "I can take Six to Nine and my room. He might feel better if he isn't alone." Before Nine could ask, Two and Five began to lead Six to the other room. Once they were gone, Nine found his optics curiously scanning the room for any new pictures.

Recently Six had taken up drawing scenery. Sometimes they were places that Six saw in books, sometimes places he saw when rarely venturing outside, and a few times they were places that Six saw when in his dreams. It was easy to see the one drawing that stood out among the others. It was a large piece of paper with a bizarre circle, almost a whirl wind, of black ink. The whirl wind seemed to have claws, and a clear symbol located in its center.

There was no denying that Six had drawn some sort of horrible representation of the Fabrication Machine. Nine suddenly felt like he was lightheaded and stumbled back from the drawing. There was also no denying that Six was always right when he saw these things, and Nine found himself stumbling back before turning to return to his room. He decided to pointedly wait until Five was asleep, because he knew that Six would still be awake.

"Six?" He sat up from his bed where he had been pretending to sleep. Six was in Five's bed and curled close the edge face Nine, so he could see when the Artist moved a bit. Six looked up with this weird look that was sent through the dim light of the bedroom. It was almost as though he knew Nine was going to speak. Before the zippered one could speak, the Artist slipped out of bed and quickly crossed to the other's own, lying down on top of the blankets like he was preparing to go to sleep there.

"Hello." He said softly, optics closing, and Nine continued, "I saw your picture… The picture of the Machine." He felt the shiver through the bed and Six whimpered, "Tomorrow… Tomorrow it awakes, tomorrow we aren't safe, it's all over tomorrow." Nine leaned closer, curious and desperate for answers, "What happens tomorrow?" When the striped one didn't answer the burlap one made his own assumption. "Wait, are you saying that the Machine is… Is going to awaken tomorrow?!"

He clasped his hand over his mouth and looked over at Five's bed. The healer moved a little and yet didn't awaken as he was a relatively heavy sleeper. Nine looked back to Six whose optics were now open, wide with fear, and knew his answer. However, Six burst out, "I think we… I'm thinking we can stop it." Suddenly he seemed to have a clear head, "Tomorrow, we can get there first, we can stop the awakening."

Nine was quizzical, "But we stopped the Machine. It fell apart from the Talisman." Suddenly he wanted to run to the depths of the library and check to make sure the Talisman he put away was still there. Six was insistent, "Something kept it alive. Maybe it was rebuilt?" There was no denying that there were other Machines that were still alive. Nine never expected that they could rebuild the Machine though.

"Okay." Nine took it in and lay back on the bed, "Okay, it's going to awake, but we can stop it, okay." Six began to sit up, "Have to go tomorrow, early, or we won't make it." He then climbed off of the bed and walked over to Five's bed again before climbing under the covers, as though to hide Nine and his talk. Meanwhile, the burlap one didn't think he could sleep after hearing such horrific news, but he didn't doubt Six's feelings anymore, not after the incident.

All he doubted was himself. Nine was determined not to let the others down again, even if it meant risking his own life in the process.

"Nine." A sharp nudge poked into Nine's side and caused the male to groan a bit. He didn't awaken fully, though, and began to nod off again. "Nine." This time the voice was obviously distressed, and shaking him again. It didn't stop until the male reluctantly rolled over and looked at him. It was Six who looked quite concerned. Past him, Nine could see Five sitting on his bed, putting things into his bag as though he was getting ready to go somewhere.

That's when Nine perked up, "Is it morning?" Six nodded and Five spoke up, "It's a little before sunrise, but Six said we need to leave now." The Artist nodded, "We'll get there a little before… A bit before…. Then." Nine looked confused, "We'll get there 'then'? When it wakes up?" The striped one shrugged, unsure, and Nine stumbled out of bed. He quickly grabbed his rebuilt Lightstaff off of its leaning point against the wall. It looked a lot like the old one, save releasing a green glow from a tinted bulb and being a bit shorter in length.

"We have to go, now, come on Five." He beckoned to the one eyed one and began to nearly dash to the door. He didn't stop, either, but was relieved to hear Five and Six following from behind. None of the others were awake and Nine even glanced into One's room to make sure that he hadn't heard them. He continued to the bucket lift where he rushed inside and nearly ran right into the pale Stitchpunk known as Seven.

He had to smother a cry of surprise as Six nearly ran into his back. Seven quietly ushered him inside and Five passed over to attend to the crank. "What are you doing here?" Nine whispered and Seven smiled, "I am glad to be so horrifying that I make you scream." She teased, "Six woke me a little bit ago and told me what's going on." Five spoke up, "Me too." Nine turned grim, "He told you about the Machine awaking, right?"

The Warrior also turned serious, "He did, and I can't very well say that I didn't expect it to happen eventually. It was only a matter of time." The others silently agreed with this thought and began to relax into the short ride on the bucket lift. Once over, they were soon exiting the library and heading out into the Emptiness, feeling uneasy and definitely not safe. The darkness began to eventually give in to light as the sun began to rise slowly and turn into a clear morning, a morning so peaceful that it wouldn't forewarn any tragedy.

Nine knew better than to trust the weather for this and continued on solemnly. It was a good fifteen minutes before they began to approach where the Machine's remains were. Once they got in sight, though distant, Six began to get frantic and Nine began to grow worried. "Maybe we should run….-towards it. So we can get there quicker." Six suggested while speeding up his pace to a near jog. This is when Seven suddenly grabbed his shoulder and stopped him.

"Look." She commanded, and the artist did, and only then did he and Nine see what she and possibly Five were staring at. Around the Machine were a few black blurs that were recognized as some sort of smaller beasts. Closer still, Nine could see they were the small, spider-like repair beasts that used to fill the factory. They were obviously working on the Fabrication Machine, and they managed to get there right in time.

Suddenly Six turned to Nine, "You shouldn't have brought it." As though he read Nine's mind, whose hand rested on his zipper, feeling for the talisman being carried inside. Seven brought them all out of their thoughts, "The Repairing Beasts seem relatively small. If we take them out one at a time, we should be able to overtake them." The others agreed cautiously and Five aimed his harpoon, "Maybe… Maybe if I hit one it would lure it over…" The last few words were mere whispers, followed by the sound of the needle being shot.

Five must have had impeccable aim for it managed to clip one of the small beasts. It let out a cry of aggression rather than pain and turned upon when the needle had come. Suddenly, it, and a much larger group than anticipated, began to swarm towards the four small dolls. There were others still located on the beast, working, and Nine suddenly felt horror. "You guys try to stop these ones. I'll go distract the ones working on the Machine." As he made a dash for the Machine, almost in an arch, a few of the swarming beasts followed.

That still left the remaining three with many more to deal with. Five began firing and reloading quickly, shooting out the machines' glowing eyes, and actually able to destroy one from a particularly deep needle going into its center. Seven ran ahead towards the swarm head on before quickly moving to the side to trick them, and promptly leapt upon the closest beast, putting her spear down through its topside, stopping it in its tracks. "They're easy to kill…" She noted, then turned to Five, "Keep going! We can take them down!"

Neither noticed that when Six tried to back off and hide behind an old piece of cement he was followed. He only noticed when he heard the noise coming from the Beast as it crawled over the cement and leapt down upon him. His back hit the ground and its legs began to sharply prod at his body. It was almost like it was looking for a way to kill Six like shutting down a defective Machine.

He tried to knock it off but found it overpowering him. That is, until it finally flew back, and Six realized that something must have shoved it off. Right after this, with the Beast still on its back, Six tried to leap on it and brought his sharp fingers down into its underbelly and eyes. He couldn't do much else as his head suddenly began to pound heavily in horrific pain. By time he fell over, useless, the Beast no longer moved and Six could only remain on the ground while waiting for the sharp pain to slowly dissipate.

Then there was Nine, running nearly in circles, trying to escape the beasts. They were drawn to him, however, and eventually one managed to get him down, ripping his zipper down and tapping at his insides until the Talisman fell out. It was immediately drawn to it, but before it could make another movement it was halted by a spear going straight into its side. Seven had gotten there in the nick of time. "Are you okay?" She asked and Nine nodded before zipping himself up, only to stop and look over to the Talisman beside him.

Or the Talisman that had been beside him. Now he could clearly see a Repair Beast dashing away and suspected that it was carrying the one thing capable of awaking the Machine. Nine followed, grabbing his light staff and trying to follow him. Instead, however, the Beast scaled the Machine and disappeared out of sight. Nine's relief that it hadn't yet put the Talisman in the Machine was soon smothered by the other small repair beasts beginning to close in. There were about five of them and Nine backed away slowly.

That was when his back hit something cold and metal. Slowly Nine looked over his shoulder to see that he was hitting the Fabrication Machine itself. He jumped back and fell onto his backside in alarm, crying out. It looked nearly completely repaired and he was panting in terror as he swore he saw the optic move. That's when the Repair Beast with the Talisman scaled down over the eye, preparing to replace the Talisman, and thus awaken the Machine. Even though Nine swore he saw it move once again like it was already awake.

The Repair Beast went to lower the Talisman in the port and Nine leapt forward to wrestle it out of the grasp. The tug of war was hard with a creature so determined not to let go and another equally as determined not to let the other keep it. The beast began to shake him about and was surprisingly strong. It slammed Nine down onto the Machine beneath him and that was when tragedy struck. Nine didn't realize what had happened until the glow began to alert him of such.

In the end it was his efforts to pull the Talisman out of the Beast's grasp that caused him to fall forward and shove the Talisman right into the port. He tried to yank it out, but it wouldn't come out, and even when he tried to put the combination in it wouldn't work. Before he could continue trying, a metal claw enwrapped his body and suddenly flung backwards, throwing him many feet away. He was soon yanked to his feet by a concerned Five and looked towards the Machine.

It had just awoken and was going haywire. It began to lash out of the Repair Beasts and acted as though they were its aggressors, while ignoring the Stitchpunks. "The Talisman wouldn't come out!" Nine explained quickly as the others began to move back. Finally, they decided there was nothing they could do, less they make it worse, and the three began to run. Three, as Six didn't move until Five dashed back to tug him along, "Come on, Six!"

The Artist tried to resist, "Something's different. Look!" He pointed towards the Machine and now Five noticed there was something different; something changed. Now it was tossing the beast bodies around in a daze, as though confused, before it suddenly looked ahead and focused in on the dolls. With that, it weakly brought its arms down to drag itself towards the dolls. That's when Six cried, "It's awake!" Turned, and began to run faster than any of the others. Now Nine lagged a bit, but managed to keep running.

They managed to get out of sight of the Fabrication Machine before stopping briefly. "What happened?!" Seven asked desperately, out of concern and not anger. Nine responded as such, "I was… The Beast and… I tried to get it back out, but it wouldn't come out." That's when Five spoke up, looking a bit in shock and the entire ordeal, "They must have put a failsafe into it so that the Talisman couldn't be removed." Nine glanced at his shocked look and then turned to Six who was hysterically rambling, covering his face pitifully.

Seven took the liberty to embrace him and pet his back in a loving way, "It'll be okay, Six. You saw it; the Machine has changed. Maybe they didn't fix it correctly." With this, the zippered one perked, "You're right. It was attacking its own creations. This means that we might be able to stop it quicker. There aren't any other factories so it can't really build." Five now stood, "We have to warn the others." Nine winced, "Yeah… Warn the others." He couldn't help but regret having to see that look of disappointment on One's face.

They began a brisk pace towards the library. The memories returned again and Nine remembered the last time he awoke the Fabrication Machine. Thankfully, nobody had been lost, yet. As he followed behind the others he could only pitifully listen to Six's horror. "It's over, we failed, it awoke, he's going to be angry…"

Mable: And so it begins. I don't have much to say, except that I hope you enjoyed and continue reading! Chapter two will be posted tomorrow, no matter what, so, again, please keep reading. ^-^