Rag Doll

This is Rag Doll: Son of Jack Skellington and Sally King

Knit the Problem

There wasn't much for Rag Doll to do except follow and look menacing, so he did just that. He was a little bitter, he wished he had thought of an idea to get them out. His eyebrows knit together as he grew more frustrated with himself. He couldn't be the Pumpkin King if he couldn't come up with any new ideas, or even any good ideas. As he tried to put his face back into a normal position he realized his eyebrows had actually knit together. He sighed.

"What is it?" Hearts asked him, without looking back.

"uh... nothing. Just following the plan." he replied lamely.

They left the factory and were let out into the town square. Rag doll gasped. A bright yellow sun was blinding overhead, illuminating green grass and pink draperies, purple rugs and red chairs. He fought back the bile that rose in his mouth. "This is disgusting."

Double-Cross

Diplomacy first, Hearts reminded herself. She gave the guard a smirk.

"We have orders to hang these two out for the crows. They were trying to start a riot," she said, and she was convincing. "They need to be taught a lesson."

There was a conviction in her voice, and she felt a little guilt as she saw Crow and Scare look up at her, their eyes wide and terrified. They believed her. That was what she needed.

The guard saw their looks, and his shoulders relaxed. "Be my guest. You know the way?"

"We were given directions," she affirmed, even though she had no idea where she was going. Asking, though, would have been far too suspicious. The guard stepped out of the way, and Hearts went on, dragging the scarecrows behind her.

Following, not Leading

Rag Doll nodded, and finished changing.
He straitened up and opened the door for Hearts, Scare and Crow.
He wished he hadn't messed up so badly.
He could do more than look domineering.
But he was going to show Hearts that he could follow orders too!
They walked down the hall passing several Valentine's in uniform who just nodded to Rag Doll and Hearts.
They walked all the way to the end of what seemed to be the building before someone stopped them.
"Where are you taking these  Creepers?" A very official looking valentine asked.

Beginning the Escape

She jumped up and shut the door, locking it from the outside with her magic, then turned back and dug the uniforms out of the straw, throwing one at Rag Doll.

"Hurry and change," she said, her voice full of anticipation, the thrill of the crime. She pulled the uniform over herself quickly, turning away from him to change into it. The scarecrows crouched by the door, peeking under for any sign of anyone coming by.

"Scare, Crow," Hearts said to them, and they looked up. Rag Doll saw now that their mouths had been sewn shut with glittery red thread. Work of the Valentines. Hearts waved them over, then took the heart-shaped cuffs from the guard's pockets. "You're going to pretend to be our prisoners until we get out, got it?" she asked them. They nodded quickly, holding their arms out. She clamped the cuffs shut, putting the key in a charm bag around her neck that she hid under her uniform.

She dragged the guard to the corner and covered him with straw, hiding him. She talked to Rag Doll as she did. "We're going to pretend to be guards take Scare and Crow somewhere. Follow my lead, look miserable and domineering, but let me do all the talking, and follow my lead, okay?" Her voice was firm, but it wasn't angry or cruel.

Messed Up, again...

Rag Doll glanced over at Hearts, looking for appreciation.

The horrific annoyance on her face was not what he expected.

He turned back to the guard and stuck a needle in a strategically planned spot and he passed out on the ground.

"What did I do?" He asked suddenly.

But he knew almost as soon as he asked.

She had had a plan.. he probably just ruined it.

Adjusting the Plan

No! What was he doing? He was ruining everything! Hearts had had a plan, a perfect plan, a clever plan! And Rag Doll was ruining it!

The Valentine was supposed to leave so that no one would be suspicious, and then they could make their escape. Rag Doll was making everything so complicated! The Scarecrow twins took this opportunity to go to her, help her up. A new idea struck her. Two uniforms, two prisoners....the Scarecrows were their new way out, and she was helping more Halloweentown citizens to escape, as well.

She hoped that Rag Doll wouldn't ruin this plan, too.

Double Dog Dare

Rag doll felt his temper swing out of control.
Who did this Valentine think he was?! Obviously he knew nothing about any sort of love, even a love of strangers!
rag doll picked up 3 needles and threw them one after another.
*swit* *swit**swit*
They flew through the air and embedded themselves in the Valentien's face.
He grabbed his face " AH! What... What!"
 He turned on Rag Doll but he held up more needles.
"Try it, buddy. I dare you."

Clever Girl

The guard raising his beefy hand and struck her across the face, knocking her down. The scarecrows reached for her in alarm simultaneously, showing the link they shared as twins.

Hearts acted as if he really had hit her, but she had brought her hand up at the last second, slapping her hand on her cheek that made the crack of sound that echoed in the room. She kept her face turned down as she fell onto the floor, one hand still clutching her cheek to keep suspicions at bay. She couldn't let the guard see her face, see her smirk that told him that she had bested him after all.

She was a clever girl. She only hoped her cleverness lasted.

Lose Lose

Ragdoll glanced at her, wanting to help her but realizing this was a fight he couldn't help win. She was going to do it by herself. And if he got in the way, he would lose too.

Bitter Hearts

She knew those scarecrows. Her aunts used to mix up anti-crow spells for them. They saw the pity in her eyes when she looked at them. Her resolve to get out got stronger. She wouldn't just break out of here. She had to save the captives that the Valentines had taken. She glared at the guard, lip curled in disgust, and he noticed.

"What're you lookin' at, freak?" he threatened.

"Your ugly face," she spat back, standing up. She'd hidden the uniforms under the straw before sitting on it; they wouldn't be seen.

Heart of Gold?

Rag doll had made piles of hearts, more than Hearts had thought he would be able to make, much more. He could sit on them if he wanted, perhaps even a bed...
The door opened and two scarecrows came in, dressed in valentine slave uniforms and began to gather the hearts glumly while a valentine soldier  set the two bowls of mush on the table.
"eat up, freaks."
Rag doll smiled at the name. It was nice to hear something familiar.
But he didn't want Hearts being called that.
"You're right, I am a freak." he said smoothly, taking all of the critisim.
"Thanks for noticing."

An Only Halfway Awkward Silence

She shrugged it off, no hint of the irritation she had shown after he'd ruined her first meal. There was a silence. Hearts was focused, and her focusing made her bite her lip (not very conducive to a talkative situation). Rag Doll kept thinking of things to say, but they all sounded stupid in his head, and he imagined it wouldn't help if he said those things out loud. In fact, he thought it would make them sound even worse.

The sun set much more quickly than Hearts anticipated. She was sewing the last stitch on when she heard the heavy footsteps coming down the hall. She stabbed the needle into the cloth, rolled up the uniforms, and stuffed them in the hay, laying back against the haystack and pretending to pick apart bad stitches in the hearts she had sewn earlier (of course there weren't any, but Hearts was very good at pretending).

Heart in Hand

"Sorry." He murmured softly then went to the table and sat down, sewing furiously.
he finished 4 hearts in the time it took Hearts to respond.
"Sorry for what?"
He sewed faster in his embarrassment. The result being that he sewed the heart to his hand.
"ah... Dang. I--- I'm sorry you didn't get to eat." He said, starting to explode at himself but just managing to hold it.

Disguising the Disguise

She was surprised by his offer. "I suppose. If you want to."

"I do. Want to, I mean. What do you want me to do?"

She thought. The outfit was easy. With her magic, she could have it done in no time. What did she need him to do? She could have him clean up the scraps. Or, even better...

"I need you to start sewing more hearts. Scatter them around, so it looks like we've done more than we actually have. I'm going to hide our uniforms in the straw, and that way we'll be ready when it's time to break out."

"When will that be?"

"After they come. Judging by the sun outside, it should almost be time for them to feed us."

Rag Doll felt a tug of guilt, remembering what he had done last time the Valentines had brought them a meal.

Discouragement

Reluctantly, Rag doll stood up and put his arms out.
"how... how did you think of this?" He wondered.
She didn't seem like one to stir up a lot of trouble... Yet here she was, starting trouble.

"I just did." She replied to him, still sewing while her magic fabric measurer took the lengths of his body.
"oh..." He felt his heart sag, any one in this city would make a better Pumpkin king than him. He couldn't even think of a plan scary enough to scare the Valentines.
"Do you want me to help?' He asked.

Wanted: More Measuring

He watched as her face brightened.

"May I?" she asked, motioning towards the patch. He handed it to her. She sewed it on the left sleeve. "Perfect! Now stand up so I can measure you," she directed. She motioned with her magic at the fabric tape measure, which rose and floated towards them.

"Come on. Up, up, up," she said to Rag Doll. "We've got to hurry before they get back and see what we're doing."

Helpful.... Possibly

Rag doll  paced back and forth trying his hardest to not look in Heart's direction. She was doing something, probably something smart, which was more than what he could do right now!
He sat down and put his head in his hands. Why did he let himself get so worked up?! He couldn't concentrate when he was upset. What he needed was to calm down and think of a plan.
He couldn't help the world if he couldn't help himself.

When he finally looked at Hearts he was amazed. She had begun to recreate the uniforms that the Valentine's were wearing.
Now he felt even more of an idiot. Here she was, already come up with a plan and working on it and he was too stubborn to even look to help!
"they have a patch..." He said softly.
Hearts looked up from her sewing.
"what?"
"There should be a patch on the left arm, it shows rank, at least I think it does... It looks like this."
He  sat next to her and grabbed some spare cloth and some thread then very quickly made a patch identical to the ones the Valentine's were wearing.

Idea

"The-the-the watching! And the....the staring, and the--would you just stop!" he blundered, complete with arms movements and sound effects.

"Sorry," she said, sitting on a pile of hay, playing with the needles and cloth. "I didn't realize I was doing any of that."

It was honest. Irritated as she was, she hadn't meant to make him uncomfortable. It wasn't part of her nature.

She started stitching the fabric by hand, hole after hole, using the rhythm to help her think. They needed to get out, but they also needed to not get caught. They would get caught, because it was obvious they were not from here. They needed to look like they were from Valentine-land. They needed disguises.

She looked around. She could make something, costumes. Disguises.

She magicked large strips of fabric. First she needed a ruler. She used her magic to cut a long, even strip of cloth. She started measuring herself, then marking the numbers down on the walls with magic. With her numbers, she started to etch out designs on the fabric, trying to remember what the uniforms looked like outside of this room.

With pieces cut out, she started stitching the fabric together. Good, good, this was turning out beautifully.

Not Encouragement

He scoffed.
"Me? Annoying? Not." yes. He was annoying, and he knew it.
But he wasn't about to let her know that.
"Just stop talking so I can think."
She glared at him then folded her arms her small frown turning into a scowl.
What was he going to do? could he do anything?
He just wanted to rip his arm off and throw it across the room!
He couldn't think with her seething at him in the corner.
"Stop it!" He yelled.
"Stop what?" She asked innocently.