Answers...or Not

"Why what?" she asked, running her fingers through her hair in an attempt to brush it. She shut her mouth quickly, biting her lip. He tended to attack her when she asked him questions. Note to herself: stay quiet.

Yeah, right.

"Why are the Valentines, as you call them," he said as if she were stupid, "invading Halloweentown. What do they have to gain from it?"

"You know, I remember asking this exact question. Yesterday. Didn't get any answers then, either. We won't get any answers here, that's for sure."

Thoughts...

Rag Doll looked up as she spoke.
"What?" He shrugged. "I didn't do that." He went back to pacing.
He had to get out of here. Who were they kidding! Red and Pink hearts! Seriously? This is all they could think of to make the inhabitants of Halloween Town do?
He sat in the middle of the floor suddenly.
"Why?" he asked softly to himself. Why would Valentines day suddenly decide to take over...
If he could figure that out maybe he could get them to leave!

Waking Up

She woke up warm. Odd. She had fallen asleep cold. She opened her eyes. There was a blanket on her. She looked up and saw Rag Doll, pacing across the room. It didn't seem logical for him to have been the one to cover her with the blanket, but there was no one else here.

There was something hidden under him that he was trying to smother.

She got up slowly. "Thanks," she said, motioning with the blanket.

Scary...

He sighed angrily.
No one had ever got that out of him before.
And he wished she hadn't.
He grabbed a blanket from a tiny pile in the corner and spread it out over her.
She would end up just like all the rest of them.
Thinking he was a liar, fraud, and just a girls toy. Not scary at all.
He was never going to be Pumpkin King if he wasn't scary.
Maybe that was why he was so rude, people would be scared of his temper. At least something would be scary.
But then again, maybe they wouldn't.

Magicked Out

"You're...you're the son of the Pumpkin King?"

She watched him nod his head glumly.

"I thought he had skeleton children."

"Obviously not all of them were skeletons," he snapped. He looked back and saw her face before she covered the hurt by turning away.

She reached for her scissors, cutting the hearts by hand. Her magic suffered when she felt a negative emotion. The last thing she needed was some lumpy magicked heart cut out.

They worked past dark. Rag Doll didn't hear the scissors snipping and looked behind him. Hearts was asleep on the pile of raw cloth.

Meet Your Maker (pt. 2)

Keeping his eyes on his hand running the thread in and out of his food, Rag Doll did not answer, pointedly not looking at her.
"Is it really that embarrassing?" She asked, taking her hands off of his foot as he tied the string off.
"No!" He defended angrily, then sighed. "You wouldn't know them."
"Try me."
gulp.
"Well, they are not from Halloween Town." He avoided the question.
"And so where are they from? Male or Female?"
"What does it matter!" He yelled then turned around.
She backed away from him. "It doesn't, sorry." She went back to the desk and started working on her hearts again.
"Her name is Sally King."

Meet Your Maker (Pt. 1)

"It's okay," she said lightly. "Just...let me get the food next time, okay?"

She glanced over when he didn't answer, and saw that he was trying to stuff the stuffing back into his foot.

"Oh. Do you want me to do that?" she asked, paper and scissors falling down, useless now that her witchery wasn't holding them up. She pushed herself onto her feet, then walked over to him. She pushed the stuffing in, then held his foot together while he sewed.

"Who made you?" she asked him. This didn't look like the work of Doctor Finklestein.

Impulsive

Rag Doll looked at her growling stomach then at the bowls he had just smashed.
He rolled his eyes.
he was such an idiot!
Why didn't he think before he acted!
He kicked the wall and the stuffing exploded out of his food.
"Ah! Dang it!"
Because on top of the stuffing coming out of his foot now he had mush all over the stuffing. Now he would get all sorts of bugs crawling around inside of him. He hated that.
He plopped down on the floor and pulled a needle and thread out of his tux pocket and gloomily started sewing his foot back together.
"sorry." He mumbled to Hearts.

Close Enough to Human

Hearts kept cutting, leaving the pile of fabric and stuffing desolate.

Food was pushed into their room on a little pink tray. There were two bowls of something that looked like cold stew. Rag Doll reached it first, sneering disgustedly at it. Hearts sat back, seeing what he would do with it. He threw his own bowl at the wall, watching the glass shatter, and the food slide gruesomely down, then reached for the other.

"Wait," Hearts said, but he didn't. He threw her bowl against the wall, too. Her lips pursed. In the silence, her stomach growled.

"You know," she said. "Some of us are human here. Or at least close enough. We can't all live on stuffing." She started her cutting again.

Stupid Sewing

He growled. Why did she have to ask him his name.
"Rag Doll." He said reluctantly.
"And this doesn't make me cranky." He countered.
He piked up another piece of fabric and cut out a skeleton, he stitched the two sides together and delicately stuffed them.
He threw it in the corner with his pumpkins.
This was stupid.

Cranky Doll

"You know, if you wanted to rebel, you could just sit there," she said. "Why work harder than you have to?"

"Because the more I use to make what I want, the less they have to make what they want."

Hearts thought about it. "But in the end, nothing good gets done. Same result either way. Yours just makes you cranky. Or are you always like this?"

He shot her a look.

"What's your name, anyway?" Hearts asked.

Stupid Hearts

"What is so funny?" Rag Doll demanded. He didn't know why she was laughing, but he assumed she was laughing at him.
People normally were.
"Just your pumpkins."
"What's wrong with my pumpkins?" Rag Doll demanded.
"n-nothing. They are just red and fluffy.. not normal."
"Well get used to it, cause I am not making any stupid hearts."
He looked back down at the fabric he was cutting and to his horror found it looked more like a heart.
He cut it up quickly before Hearts could see and grabbed a new piece.
Stupid witch, who did she think she was, criticizing his pumpkins. So he didn't have a lot to work with, it was better than stupid hearts.

Cutting Hearts

She shrugged. "I guess not." In her own little rebellious way, she started cutting paper hearts. It was too tedious a job by hand, so she magicked her scissors to do the cutting, feeding the paper in one way towards the scissors, while also lining the finished sections into little piles. She started to hum while she worked. Occasionally she would fiddle with the Ankh pendant that she wore, a match to her cat's.

She glanced over at the rag doll occasionally. He was still making pumpkins. She found it a little funny, making pumpkins out of red material. Traditional pumpkins were orange, and hard, not red and fluffy. She laughed to herself.

Jack - O - Lantern

He gruted and struggled as she pushed him down but after the needle started moving on its own he freaked out a little.
"Ah!" He tried to pull away but he jerked the needle and thread with him. He looked up at her then back down.
Suddenly it dawned on him.
"You're a witch! Got it."
"Yes I am a witch, what did you think I was?"
"I don't know. I was trying to figure it out. And I was going to do this... It doesn't hurt to much now."
"Of course it doesn't, I just sewed it up." She said as if that was obvious.
He glared at her then ripped the needle and thread away from him.
"Yeah. whatever." He went to the small table and picked up a piece of fabric cutting it into a pumpkin and making a stuffed jack-o-lantern.
"we are supposed to make hearts."
"Do I look like I care?" he spat and started making another one.

Witch Stuff

"Apparently they don't trust either of us alone around all this stuff. Which I guess is good. I mean, in case your arm falls off or something."

She noticed the stuffing falling out of his stomach.

"Oh, um, sorry, I didn't realize--" she jumped up, taking his arm and laying him down on a pile of fabric. She pushed all the stuff into him, then pulled out her needle, going in to sew the hole shut.

"Sorry about that. Should've seen it earlier." She sat back, hands on her hips, while the needle kept moving and sewing him up.

Cell Buddy?

He turned around at the giggle, poised to attack.
"what do you....oh... hey, you are that girl!"
He folded his arms defensively and sat down across from her.
"What are you doing here?" He asked her.
She guestured to the table.
"Same as you."
He glared at the table then gave a heavy sigh.
"Why couldn't I be alone."

Not Sew Good

She looked up from the stool where she sat, bent over her sewing.

A Rag Doll? Wasn't he the one she had helped sew up earlier?

What was he doing here?

She watched him grumbled at the door, shouting at them about the dangers scissors posed to him. She couldn't refrain from a giggle.

Stuck in a little room with scissors and Thread

Rag doll was given a uniform.
He held it up.
"seriously guys? This is the best you can come up with?"
"Put it on." The guard, who also had wings, growled.
"What is it with you guys and wings?" Rag Doll asked pointing to one of his wings and going to touch it.
"Put it on or we will put it on for you."
"Oh,  you will wear this? please do. I would like to see you in it. probably looks better on you than it does on me." He said thoughtfully shifting his glance back and forth from the uniform to the guy with wings.
The guard shoved him into a room.
"You are to work here, you will cut, sew, and stuff hearts. You will also cut paper chains. You are closely monitored." They warned him then shut the door.
"guys! I could totally cut myself up into little pieces!" He yelled but no one came back.
He sighed and sat down, beginning to stitch the hole in his stomach where his stuffing was beginning to come out.

Working Space

Uniforms shoved her away, not bothering to waste an outfit on someone who wasn't going to be out around other people. She got put in a small room with a pair of scissors and a needle.

"You are to cut out patterns, stuff the fabric, and sew up the heart. For every other hour, you will cut out paper heart chains. Get to work."

Hearts looked around. She felt like the girl in Rumpelstilkstin.

Got on your nerves!

Rag Doll was dumped out of the bag and into a chair.
He folded his arms.
"Name?" a small winged boy asked
He looked the other way.
"Name?"
the winged boy snapped his fingers and a girl stabbed a heart shapped shurikan into Rag Doll.
It hurt, but he could fix it later.
"Lets try again, Name?"
"Rag Doll." He grunted.
"Good, Occupation?"
"I sew."
"Skills?"
"Uh, I don't know, what goes with Sewing?" Rag doll said sarcastically.
"Don't mess with me boy." The little winged boy stood up on his chair making him so much more scary.
"Oh, wouldn't want to mess with the little baby with wings."
The boy clenched his fist.
"What are you skills?"
"Getting on people's nerves." Rag Doll said leaning forward and smirking at the boy.
The boy flew about 2 inches off of the table and right into Rag Dolls face.
"What is your preference of job?" the boy asked through gritted teeth.
Rag Doll looked at the stitching between his fingers. "Uh, anywhere away from you."
"Done!" the boy flipped in the air in his hast to get away from Rag Doll.
Rag Doll didn't bother to hide his obnoxious laugh as he was led away to get a uniform.

Interview

She was dumped in a factory. At least, it looked like a factory. There were moving parts and production lines and hearts. Hearts everywhere.

She was shoved up, pushed into a back room.

"Name?" An old crone asked.

"What?"

"Name?"

"B-Bleeding Hearts," she stuttered.

"Occupation?"

"Um, I..well, I--"

"Occupation?"

"None."

"Skills?"

"Magic."

"Preference?"

"To what?"

"Preference?"

"Um, quiet work, I guess. No production lines. Work alone. Well, as alone as possible."

"Acknowledged. Go get your uniform, then you'll be assigned work. Go. Now."

Hearts stumbled out the door.

Big Pink and Red Bullies

"Thanks," Rag Doll said to the closed door.
He shoved his hands into the pocket of his tux, people never stayed to talk, because no one liked him.
He went to the window and leaned his head moodily against the cold glass.
As he did so he saw that girl being dragged away.
his eyebrows narrowed in concern then he looked away.
"She will be fine, doesn't like me anyway."
He kept mumbling to himself but before he knew it he had his bag packed with extra limbs, needle and thread, a map, and some soap.
"Why can't I just leave her!" He wondered but he was already half way down the stairs. He didn't like people picking on him, but he didn't want anyone to get hurt either. Rag Doll had never liked bullys. And these heart people were nothing but great big bullys. Pink and Red bullys.
HE hadn't taken one step out of the door when a large bag was thrown over his head and he was hoisted up onto someones shoulder.
Well, there goes my rescue mission.

Invasion of Love

"An invasion of love," she said wryly, looking out over the streets. She turned around abruptly. "Well, I'm done here, so I'm going to go. Good luck."

She closed the door behind her and went down the stairs, looking both ways before leaving the building. She ran from shadow to shadow, keeping out of the way of invading hearts.

She was caught from behind.

A hand wrapped around her mouth, muffling her, and more hands grabbed her arms and her legs, lifting her up, hovering over the crooked cobblestone, carrying her away. She struggled against the hands, but it was no use.

Hearts was caught.

Valentines Day Invasion

"Valentines Day?" He didn't want to admit that he had no idea what Valentines day was.
He glanced out the window, watching the fluffy hearts float down from the sky. Maybe it had something to do with pink and red hearts?
"Why would they want to take over?"
She shrugged.
"I don't know."
She pulled the thread through his arm.
A few minutes later his arm was sewn all the way on.
Rag Doll took the needle from her after she tied the thread into a knot.
"Thank you." He said as he grabbed his other arm and began sewing it back on.
It was difficult to sew with one hand, but he had done it before.
She frowned as her gaze turned form him to the window.
"Valentines Day Invasion."

Why?

She stared at his arm, then his shoulder. "I see."

She changed it, then sewed it. "I'm not the best seamstress, I admit. But I figured that I was better than a doll with no hands."

She kept glancing outside.

"Have you seen what's going on out there?" she asked.

"Yeah," he said curtly.

"I think....It looks like Valentine's Day. They're taking over. But why?"

Wrong Side

Rag Doll stared at this girl in shock.
She was offering to fix his arms.
Did she want something?
Was she teasing?
He did need help.
But he didn't want help.
"Yes."
The words came out of his mouth before he thought about it.
She walked in.
There was a lady in his house with a needle, offering to fix his arms and she had seen him across town.
Was she stalking him?
she picked up an arm and held it in place  then put the thread through her needle and went to sew.
"That is the wrong side." Rag Doll said simply.

Brought a Needle

"Forgive my intrusion," she said with a light voice. Not light as in high-pitched. Light as in she didn't seem to have a care in the world. "But you need help."

She hoped she hadn't been too blunt.

"I saw you from my window. I live across town. I brought a needle," she said, holding her needle up. She waited a minute in silence. "Can I come in?"

Not Thinking Things Through

After he got to his position he realized, while he could grab his arms with his toes, he could not sew them back on.
He sighed, rolling his eyes. Stupid Rag Doll, how was he ever going to become the Pumpkin King if he couldn't even think through a simple escape plan!
He looked down at his arms on the ground and could not think of a single thing to do with them.
He was not going to ask another rag doll for help, no way.
And as rag dolls were the only creatures in this building (that could sew anyway) he had to figure out how to put his arms back on by himself.
He had just picked up his arm with his foot when there was a knock at the door.
He took a deep breath.
Stupid rag dolls, probably playing dead head ditch again, leaving the bloody thing on his doorstep.
He went to the door and opened it.
But there was no head.
Or rather the head was still attached to the body.
It was a girl.

Sew Not Happening

She saw a person in an apartment across the square from her house.

Rag Doll?

He seemed to be trying to sew his arms on, which was hard with both arms off. She pet Ankh, feeling her purr.

"Be careful, Ankh. If anyone can keep out of the way of the Heart people, it's a black cat." She kissed the top of the cat's head. "I'll be back soon. I hope."

She left her room, aiming straight for the rag doll's room. He needed help, and she would help him. Maybe they could find something to do about the Heart soldiers after.

Frilly Heart Town

Rag Doll went to his apartment. It was in a network of a large bureau drawers, and he had the drawer right on the edge in the middle, so that meant he got 4 windows. More than anyone else in his building. But 4 windows also mean that he had a better view of what was going on in the streets.
He grabbed a left and right arm, some string and a needle then pulled a stool up to a window and watched the streets and he sewed his arms back on.
The black and orange of Halloween Town was being replaced by pink and red.
Hearts were everywhere. Hearts, bubbles, lace.
Frilly.
That was what it reminded Rag Doll of. Frilly... perhaps like some of the other rag dolls.
Halloween Town was turning into Frilly heart town.
What was going on?

Gentle Invaders

Hearts ran down an alley with Ankh in her arms. She'd seen other creatures run and decided it might be a good idea. She ran to her house, sneakers clanging on the iron stairs, crossing the grates up to the attic. Her bedroom. She watched the chaos down below.

Well, a delicate chaos.

Yes, there were strange creatures here, heart people with smiles on their faces, footsteps oozing pink bubbles shaped like hearts. Yet for all their brusqueness, there was something inherently gentle about them. She didn't know what to make of it. They were like...gentle invaders.

She watched them take Townspeople beyond the gates of the town, past the cemetaries, into the forest.

Rag Doll is Teased then Ran into

Rag Doll closed his eyes and gritted his teeth.
He would not let it get to him.
They were just jerks.
What did they know? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
"Who ever heard of a rag doll getting to be king of Halloween Town!"
"King? Who ever heard of a rag doll being a boy!"
"He is so weird, and I hate his rags!"
Ha. Ha. Ha.
They were so very funny.
Not.
It might not be so bad, except he didn't just get teased from the other rag dolls.
It was the zombies too.
"You are not a real zombie!"
"Yeah, a skeleton made out of rags is just a girls toy!"
"Not even a scary one!"
He wasn't scary. He wasn't tough. He wasn't even good at making scary things.
He was just a rag doll skeleton with a tuxedo.
Who would be scared of him?
He moodily folded his arms and walked with his head down as he went down the street.
"There's one! Grab him!"
Rag Doll looked up at the voice then gasped as people in red and pink barreled into his chest. They grabbed his arms and tried to drag him away, but he slipped the threads out of his arms and left them in the heart shaped peoples hands. He had plenty of other arms back home.
He ran down the alley then stopped.
Those people were shaped like hearts! But hearts weren't scary, especially not pink and red hearts! They weren't even bleeding!
He started to walk, still pondering, but was stopped.
He looked up.
It was raining hearts...

Bleeding Hearts Catches Flying Hearts

Bleeding Hearts was casting magic.

"And...go!" she said, sparks flying past her fingers, catching onto each other and forming little pictures in the air. Hearts straightened, hands on her hips, a pleased look on her face.

"That's more like it, isn't it Ankh?" she asked the black cat weaving around her ankles. From Ankh's collar dangled the cat's namesake.

"That's the best I've done all year. And just in time for Halloween! With my fire-pictures as a mask, I'll scare everyone upstairs!"

Ankh purred. Hearts smiled and picked her up, wrapping her in the folds of her much-too-oversized sweater. She walked along on the crooked stones of the town, past Town Square and the fountain of green poison spouting from the gargoyle. Her sneakers made a distinctive shuffle sound. Her pants were torn at the knees, worn at the feet where they often got snagged on her shoes.

A hint of red tapped her nose as it fluttered down. Ankh jumped down, pawing at the other splatches of red flitting down. Hearts caught one of the red things and looked at it.

It was a red heart. And they were falling from the sky.

What was going on?