Patchwork People

For a while, no-one moved. Pinpin and Tatterbat were frozen to the ground, staring upwards. The soc-socs were glaring back down, their cold, button eyes revealing nothing of their intention. A swarm of them had gathered on the cliffs, all of them focused on the two intruders to their home. The only sound came from that of the breeze that crept its way through the valley, trying not to be noticed.

“What are they doing?” Tatterbat whispered, not taking his eyes off the snakes.

“I don’t know.” Pinpin replied. “But I don’t like it, whatever it is.”

Silence hung in the air like a bad smell. Even the wind had now stopped, as if the world was holding its breath in anticipation. One wrong move, and the boulders could come tumbling down, with them underneath.

From behind, a cry suddenly came out. It was a shout that broke the silence, and freed the patchwork kids from their paralysis. A small rock flung itself from the cliff, and smacked Tatterbat right in the head. He flinched and fell, yelling out a shout in response. Pinpin dashed over to pick him up, looking out for the assailant. She saw no one. The cliff where the rock had come from was empty.

The soc-socs, on the other hand, took that as a sign to attack. They resumed their advance, making squeaking sounds as they pushed the boulders further, so that they were teetering over the ledge. Pinpin barely had enough time to grab Tatterbat and dash before the first one fell, just inches from where she’d been standing. The ground shook as the sheer weight of it impacted the floor.

The two scrambled to get away, rocks of all sizes falling left and right. The maze of boulders in front of them only served to cause more panic, with the hailstorm of rocks blocking various paths and opening up others. Each one making a thunderous boom that was only amplified by the echoes of the cliffside. The resulting shockwaves and dust clouds made it hard to even move, and Pinpin kept stumbling to the floor, her vision obscured. She tried to dash her way around the stones, maneuvering through the maze, while Tatterbat managed to leap on top of the pile and run alongside the top, making sure to keep his balance. Looking up, Pinpin saw the soc-socs bringing up more and more ammunition, with boulders repeatedly rolling to the edge and dropping off. The snakes themselves were glaring, safe atop their cliffside base. There was no end to the assault in sight.

Pinpin ran left and right, shut in by walls of rocks on both sides. Thanks to her size, she could occasionally squeeze herself between narrow gaps, giving her more choice in her movements, but it still felt limited. She felt the onslaught of rocks getting more accurate, with several now missing her by only inches. Due to Tatterbat splitting up, the barrage was equally split between the two, but the ones that did target her were getting closer to the mark. After one close shave, she looked around, and saw Tatterbat. He’d taken a different approach to the maze, and had climbed on top of the rocky wall, leaping between boulders as new ones fell beside him. He stumbled, nearly falling off, but managed to keep his balance. Pinpin had to commend his quick thinking and acrobatics. There was no way she could’ve managed that herself.

Pinpin turned a corner. As she did, she saw a single pathway, leading toward the exit of the Rugtorn Cliffs. The path was tight and narrow, with a wall of rocks preventing any direction other than straight forward, but it was their only option. It was a light at the end of the tunnel. If they could get out of the cliffs, then no more rocks would fall.

A thud came beside her, followed by the panting of breath. Pinpin turned, and saw Tatterbat with his hands on his knees, exhausted. It seemed he’d run out of rocks to run on top of, and so was forced to jump back down to ground level. The rocks bordering the path in front were too sharp and tall to even reach the top of. There was only one thing left to do. Looking at Tatterbat, Pinpin gave him a determined nod and grabbed his hand, taking in one last breath. As the rocks fell, they broke out into a sprint toward the exit, running as fast as their tiny legs could manage. The rough ground wore away at the threads of her feet, but Pinpin had no time to worry. They simply had to flee. It was the home stretch, and there was no room for error.

The soc-socs had seen their plan too. Looking up, Pinpin saw them face all their efforts toward the thin pathway they had created. Thankfully, their supply of large boulders had seemingly run out, preventing them from blocking off the escape route. The snakes could only knock smaller rocks at them. One by one they fell, but each one missed their mark, burying themselves into the dirt floor. Pinpin and Tatterbat scrambled left and right, dodging the smaller stones that accompanied the larger rocks. Pinpin let go of Tatterbat to cover her head with her hands, deflecting stones that otherwise would have caused her to fall. An onslaught of pebbles came down, peppering them with weak yet painful blows. Pinpin clenched her teeth together and looked at the exit. They were so close now! Just a few more meters, and they’d be able to get out.

Suddenly, the barrage stopped. Pinpin cautiously took her hands off her head, and looked up. The soc-socs were gone. Had they left? Were they in the clear? They were only a few meters away from clearing the cliffs, after all, so perhaps the snakes had just admitted defeat.

She was wrong. Oh, so wrong. As Pinpin glanced up, the sun became blocked by a black circle. A shadow covered the entire ground. Her eyes widened in fear and her jaw went agape. A huge boulder, larger than any other she’d seen so far, was teetering over the edge, getting further and further as the soc-socs behind it shoved with all their might. With one last push, it wobbled, and fell over the edge, heading down straight toward them. This one was on target, and the two of them were dead centre in its desired path. At their current running pace, they would be right underneath it, but if Pinpin slowed down, then their only path would be blocked off.

There was only one thing for it. She pushed her legs harder than she ever had before. They ached in retaliation, and the sheer force of it was causing her threads to unravel, but Pinpin’s determination beat it, and she kept going. The burst in speed was all she needed. Tatterbat stumbled as he tried to keep up, clearly surprised by the change in pace. They sprinted faster and faster, as the boulder came tumbling down. Time seemed to slow down as it reached them. She could feel the coldness of it as it got ever closer toward her head. The shadow it cast clouded Pinpin’s vision, and for a moment, she felt blind. They weren’t going to make it. They were going to have to jump.

With no time left to think, the two of them leaped forward, throwing themselves out the way. Pinpin felt the rock skim her legs, just barely missing its target as it hurtled toward the ground. The shadow it cast disappeared, and the warm light felt like bliss. Pinpin’s legs hurt more than ever before, but they’d made it. It was a close call, but they were safe.

The boulder slammed into the ground with a deafening sound. As it did, a shockwave erupted from it, throwing the two of them even further in the air, making them spin uncontrollably toward the edge of the valley as they were caught in the erupting dust cloud. Pinpin screamed, limbs flailing as she skyrocketed forwards. She felt like she was going to fly forever, tumbling wildly as the landscape and sky blurred into one messy palette. The dizziness was making her feel sick.

The ground rushed to meet her. She landed with a thud, letting out an involuntary squeak as she bounced off the floor and kept going. Again she spun around, going in every direction at once, the world nothing more than a spiraling blur. Pinpin hit the ground again and again, bouncing over and over, with each one causing her to squeak as she bounded back into the air. Finally, after once last bounce, she landed firmly in the mud, skidding forwards face first toward the grass. Her face dug into the dirt causing mud to fly up, while her body hung above her, still trying to fly forwards. As she skidded to a halt, Pinpin closed her eyes and mouth. The rest of her body admitted defeat, and flumped into the mud, causing a puddle of dirt to splash out. She felt filthy.

Dazed and confused, Pinpin slowly lifted her head off the ground, spitting out mud while trying to gather her senses. She barely had time to react, however, before Tatterbat crashed into her like a wrecking ball, knocking her to the floor. After a brief stint in the air, Tatterbat face-planted into the dirt beside her with a thud.

Pinpin saw stars. She wearily attempted to sit back up, making sure no more was going to come hurtling her way. She checked herself over, making sure she hadn’t injured or split open anywhere. Other than some loose threads in her feet and a slight concussion, she was mostly unscathed. That is, until she touched her forehead.

She felt cotton on her face. That wasn’t good. Not good at all. In a panic, she grabbed both hands and inspected her head. When she reached the area just above her left eye, she almost spewed fluff over the floor. The seam in her head had opened up, and cotton was bursting out from within.

It had been years since Pinpin last caused a seam to open up like this. The thought of it made her feel ill. The sight of fluff absolutely terrified the girl, which was why Pinpin was always careful to keep herself up to date, acting alert around sharp objects. Now she had an uncomfortably large gash in head.It was a blessing that she couldn’t see it, or she would’ve passed out there and then.

Shaking, she turned toward Tatterbat, who was busy spitting out the dirt he’d just ungracefully eaten. With one arm covering her face, she nudged him.

“What?” he asked, groggily.

Pinpin uncovered her forehead, showing Tatterbat the wound. She wanted to gauge his reaction, to see how bad it truly was. When his face returned a shocked expression, Pinpin feared the worst.

“Give it to me straight, how bad is it?” Pinpin asked, too scared to touch it any further. She felt the fluff in her stomach stirring. Was it unfixable? The prospect of her head being permanently split in two was terrifying.

Tatterbat placed a hand on his chin and thought.

“I’ll be honest” he answered, “That’s going to require stitches.”

He reached into his bag and rummaged, before taking out the sewing kit within.

Pinpin backed away and waved her free hand about, staring at the sharp point of the sewing needle. “No! I’m fine, it’ll sew itself back up in no time. Just a scratch.”

“Don’t be such a baby.” Tatterbat pouted. “C’mere, I’ll fix you up.” He reached over and touched her open seam.

“Ow!” Pinpin flinched and shuffled back.

Tatterbat pulled a smug expression. “Oh come on, you know that doesn’t hurt. I’ve lost an arm before and that barely made me wince.”

Pinpin scowled at Tatterbat. He was right, in a way, but she didn’t want to admit it. The one thing that scared her more than broken seams was sewing them back up. It just felt so wrong.

“Let’s get out of here first.” She said, looking down toward the valley. The force from the boulder had sent them surprisingly far, to the point that it was a good hundred or so meters to the nearest cliff edge. The soc-socs were watching them on the cliff, but were no longer moving or attempting to attack. A couple started to retreat once they noticed her staring.

“Yeah, that’s probably our best bet.” Tatterbat said. “The sooner we get away from those soc-socs the better.”

“I didn’t know they were so dangerous!” Pinpin exclaimed. “They always had a reputation, but to do something like that?”

“I’m just glad we’re not squashed under one of those boulders. Now that would’ve required a bit more than stitches.”

“Yeah. We were not prepared for that at all. It really is a harder world out here.”

“Well, we got through that, didn’t we? It takes more than an angry snake and a couple rocks to take out the Bug Masters.”

Pinpin sighed, holding her head. “Yeah, I guess. We should just be more careful from now on.”

“I won’t disagree with you there, buddy.”

He shivered, looking at the snakes on the cliff. He gathered his bag and placed it back around his waist, but kept the sewing kit in his hands. Pinpin took out the map from her pouch and looked at it, keeping one hand planted firmed on her head to keep the stuffing from falling out. According to the map, the Shimmerstring Lake was only a short distance away. She squinted at the notes that had been scrawled on the page.

“Boy, Yarnfell might be good, but he’s got terrible handwriting.” she commented as they began to walk along. “I can’t even read the stuff he put down for the Rugtorn Cliffs.”

“That probably would’ve helped.” Tatterbat put his arms behind his head. “Well, doesn’t matter now. What does it say about the lake?”

“Should be an old boat tied up at the dock.” Pinpin moved the paper closer to her face until her nose was almost touching it. “Says here that there’s an old hut on either side of the water that campers used to sleep in when fishing for quilt skippers.”

“Quilt skippers?”

“Quilt skippers.” Pinpin explained, closing her eyes as she remembered another book passage. “Large, aquatic bugs that can walk on water, in a motion that resembles a skipping stone. They get skittish and scared around loud noises, but if you’re patient and slow, they can become friendly. Experienced hunters can use this to tame and ride one, using them to cross bodies of water.”

“Woah, that sounds wild. Think we’ll see one?”

Pinpin shrugged. “Who knows. After what happened here I don’t even know if I want to. These creatures are too freaky for my liking.”

“Definitely more wild than back at home, that’s for sure!” Tatterbat pumped his fists. “But that’s what adventure is all about, right?”

Pinpin giggled and pointed to her covered wound. “You say that when your insides are on display.”

Tatterbat grinned. “You know, I think it’s time to sew that up. It’s starting to gross me out.”

“No!”

“Come on, you big wuss.” He held out his sewing needle menacingly and held up his arms like a monster.

Pinpin shied away, just slightly. “It’ll be fine, really! I don’t need stitches.”

“Pinpin, I can see your stuffing. You don’t want water getting that all soggy when we reach the lake. You’ll sink like a stone.”

Pinpin huffed. There was no use, she had to give in eventually. If she refused, then she’d have to avoid looking at mirrors for the rest of her life. “Fine. But make it quick.”

“Please, I’ve sewed up my own wounds enough. I’m basically like a surgeon now.”

Tatterbat walked over with the needle. As he came face to face, Pinpin squinted her eyes shut and tensed, expecting the worst. She had to be strong, and face the pain like a true hero.

“Done!” Tatterbat said.

Pinpin opened one eye. Tatterbat stood smiling in front of her, tossing the ball of string he had up and down. Cautiously, she patted her forehead with a hand. He was right, the seam had been stitched back up.

“Huh?”

“Told you it wouldn’t hurt now, didn’t I?”

“But that needle’s so sharp!”

Tatterbat shrugged. “Us Patchwork People are pretty resilient to that sort of thing. I mean, my dad’s a pincushion.” He pointed at the pins sticking out of his head.

Pinpin opened her other eye, continuing to pat her head in disbelief. Was it really that simple? She hadn’t felt anything at all.

“Well, let’s just be careful. Don’t want you losing an arm out there. Again.” she said, trying to cover her weakness in an abstract sort of way.

“I know, I know.” Tatterbat put the sewing kit back in his pack. They took a moment to recuperate themselves after the soc-soc attack, grabbing a few snacks that were laying on the top of their packs. Thankfully, the camera hadn’t been damaged, and Pinpin decided to place it further down so that it would be cushioned, should anything similar happen in future. After they felt ready to leave, Pinpin stood up, and helped Tatterbat to his feet. With the map in hand, they journeyed down the nearby path.

They followed the map, taking twists and turns where it told them to, and finding shortcuts and secrets to speed them along the way. Finally, they came across a large, steep hill, with a helpful sign pointing to the top.

The climb was more exhausting than anticipated, requiring several snack stops and breaks along the way. With Pinpin’s short size, it was almost comparable to a mountain, and the steep, winding steps weren’t making it any easier. Many times they paused simply to catch their breath, and the added weight of their rucsacs were starting to bear down on them.

Pinpin was just about ready to give up, before she realized they’d made it to the top.. She wasn’t even aware they’d come so far, as she’d been staring at the ground to rest her head. Only when the ground suddenly leveled out and she collapsed on the soft grass did she know. Tatterbat was not far behind, and he too sat down on the grass to give his aching legs a break. They’d been through so much already today.

“Woah…” he said, his voice trailing off.

“Wha… what is it?” Pinpin responded between breaths.

“Look at that.”

Pinpin looked up, and saw the Shimmerstring Lake beyond. It was just how it was described. The sunlight reflected off the water almost perfectly, casting a wavy reflection of the landscape on the surface. The lake seemed to stretch across the landscape, resembling a giant jellybean, with the other side just barely visible on the horizon. In the middle were various small islands dotted about, and the edge of the lake was bordered with various rope-like reeds that dipped inwards.

“Woah…” Pinpin said in awe, repeating Tatterbat. There were no other words.

“That’s nice, isn’t it?” Tatterbat added, in equal amazement at the sight. They looked over at the view for a moment, before Pinpin heard rummaging behind her.

Snap.

Pinpin turned right as the flash went off. Tatterbat was standing there, holding the camera in his hand, having gotten a quick picture of Pinpin against the view.

“Hey!” Pinpin objected. She lurched toward Tatterbat, trying to grab the camera from him. He leaned out the way, taking another shot of her as he did, getting a closeup of her angry face.

“You meanie. That’s not fair.” Pinpin crossed her arms and scowled.

“What? It was such a nice view, I had to take a snap.” Tatterbat said, placing the camera back within his sack. “You just happened to be in frame.”

Pinpin turned her head away and grumbled. She placed a hand to her forehead and scanned the landscape, wanting to move on from the embarrassing photo that just got taken. She examined the coastline. Just ahead, slightly to the right, was one of the huts written about on the map. And beside it was a shed covering the dock, where their boat would be waiting for them.

“Down there!” she pointed, drawing a line from her finger to the hut. “That’s the hut written on the map!”

Tatterbat checked the map to make sure. The scraggly drawings made it seem a little off, but there was no doubt it was the same shack, complete with the shed. The map seemed to indicate that there was no lock or anything, and that supplies were there in case of travelers. Though, given how long it’d been since the map was drawn, it was unlikely that they’d be in an edible state.

“Come on!” Pinpin smiled, gesturing toward Tatterbat to follow. He packed away the map in his pocket, but Pinpin was already off, running as if her exhausted legs were already cured.

She raced down the hill, letting the wind fly against her face and feeling the smooth string beneath her feet. After the dry and rocky valley, this was blissful. She held out her arms wide and laughed heartily at the feeling, bounding down the hill while taking in the fresh aroma of the flora that surrounded her. The bottom of the hill rose swiftly to meet her, taking only a fraction of the amount than the climb up. Even when she reached the bottom, Pinpin kept running, using the momentum of her journey down to launch her toward the hut at record pace.

With the hut close by, Pinpin finally slowed down. She turned around, watching Tatterbat struggle to run down the hill, pulling up his trousers and tripping over his feet. Clearly he was much more tired than she was. Looking back at the hut, Pinpin gave it a rough inspection. It was old and rickety, reminding her fondly of the secret shack they used back at home. Green, fibre-like moss was growing on the wooden planks, and a couple of the windows were smashed, but it seemed welcoming enough. Beside it was the shed, suspended above the water with one end open to the outdoors, and Pinpin strolled on over, ready to inspect the boat before they planned their next move.

With a creak, the door opened into a dank room. As sunlight poured in, Pinpin was greeted by walls of canned food and fishing nets. Many blankets and pillows were stacked against the wall, stored away for the colder months. There were even top ups for the sewing kit, as if they’d been expected to lose some along the way. It was almost perfect.

There was just one problem.

The boat was missing.