Impish Animator

A Bendy and the Ink Machine Story

Chapter 1: Sammy Found a Little Lamb

"Sheep, sheep…." The Music Director, Sammy Lawrence, sung in a garbled voice. "Where are you my sh-" He paused as he heard sniffling of a small child. "Hmm?" Sammy slugged his way over to the sound, his feet sticking to the floor. That was the one thing he was most annoyed with being stuck in this abyss; he couldn't be as fast as the Searchers, nor was he as quiet as someone like the angel. After a few minutes, he got to the source of the sound and had to pause at the scene he was witnessing; a small child, probably no older than 5 years old, was sniffling and rubbing his eyes as two Searchers were trying to cheer the child up. Trying being the key word as the Searchers were far from 'child-friendly' in appearance. Sammy let out a grunt, grabbing everyone's attention. The boy gasped in surprise as the Searchers' 'explained' to Sammy what had happened through hand motion; they were looking for the intruder when they found the small child huddled in a corner, crying to himself. "I see…" If Sammy's face was still visible, it would be seen that he was furrowing his brows as he thought about what he should do; it seemed tactless to sacrifice a child, and he doubted that would be get him noticed in a positive way, and frankly, that was the last thing he needed. He sighed and motioned the Searchers to back up as he got to one knee. "Child, what compels you to come down and visit me?" Sammy bit back a sigh as the child blinked slowly, clearly not understanding that. "Why are you here?"

"Don't know." Well that was certainly helpful. Sammy groaned and looked back at the Searchers, who made a shrugging motion.

"How did you get down here?"

"Don't know."

"Alright...let's see…Where are your parents?"

"D-Don't know…"

"What is your name then?" If the kid answered 'Don't Know' to that, Sammy might've had just called it a night and try and drown the memory in Bacon Soup.

"Henry Ozell…" Sammy raised an eyebrow, the name was familiar but he couldn't place where he had heard the name before. "What's yours?"

"I am a prophet of Our Lord,"

"That's a weird name."

"Well, it's merely a title...my name is Sammy Law-"

"Oh!" The boy looked excited. "You're the guy in the radios!" Sammy blinked slowly, confused; he didn't remember recording anything recently. "I remember listening to the ones I found around here...the one where the guy talked about missing his keys was funny." He giggled and Sammy sighed; out of all the memories he hadn't lost or what hadn't been twisted, the ones with the janitor, an obnoxious Boston man named Wally Franks, was the one that stayed clear in his mind. "And that Misses Campbell sounded nice too…" The boy sighed softly, looking away as there was creaking and crawling upstairs. His Savior was walking up there, perhaps looking for the intruder as well. Sammy made a hmph sound; he wanted to have his savior notice him and free him from this inky abyss, but he knew that he shouldn't leave this child to fend for himself down here; even if the Searchers wouldn't harm him, Sammy doubted that the kid would be so lucky with the other dangers of the studios. The Music Director sighed.

"Henry," The boy looked at him. "I want you to come with me, alright? I don't want you to get hurt...the building isn't as safe as it should be." The boy nodded slowly before they heard footsteps. The boy gasped and hid behind Sammy, whose face fell at the sight of the star of 'Sheep Song'; Boris the wolf, casually eating the Bacon Soup Sammy was planning on using to appease his Lord. The wolf slowly stopped slurping his soup as he looked at Sammy and the Searchers before seeing the young boy. His ears perked up and his tail began to wag; excitement an understatement.

"A kid!" He exclaimed, coming over. "Hiya, sport! I'm Boris the Wolf-though I might be part dog-no one really knows honestly-but I'm really good at the clarinet, are you good at the clarinet? Well I'm also good at…" Boris kept going on excitedly, as Sammy 'rolled' his eyes; this wolf companion to his Lord was way too excitable and upbeat, considering the situations. Sammy looked at Henry, who definitely nervous about the wolf.

"Do not worry about Lord Boris," Sammy said. "He just gets like this sometimes." Boris stopped mid-sentence and looked at Sammy, pouting.

"Will ya stop calling me Lord Boris? It sounds weird. Just plain ol' Boris is fine." Sammy made a grunt.

"I am not worthy of that casualness, Lord Boris." The wolf groaned and rolled his eyes, earning a small smile from the boy. "But that is of no matter at this moment; this child-"

"Henry."

"Henry, has no idea how he got down here…and I do not believe it would be safe to have him here...at least till the traitor and the new intruder are taken care of."

"Traitor? What's that? Is it like a waiter?" Sammy was momentarily grateful that this inky abyss gave him a perfect 'poker face' as Wally had once mentioned a coworker of theirs had, as he turned back to the boy, who was wiping his dark brown hair out of his eyes.

"Not...exactly…." Sammy started before they heard crawling and the low growling of his lord above. "My Lord! He is near!" Boris rolled his eyes in annoyance as Henry looked a mixed between terrified and confused as the Music Director looked up at the ceiling. "I hear him crawling above! Soon, he will grace us with his-"

"Sammy, the kid." Sammy was snapped out of his 'preaching' and looked at Boris, who pointed to a stunned Henry, and the Music Director cursed silently; again he had lost control, slipping and giving into the 'Prophet', a mockery of himself, he was sure of, but at the same time, the voice was his and power the Prophet had it was tantalizing and his Lord seemed to approve of him more as the Prophet then as just as Sammy. He looked away from the boy, mumbling an apology.

"Mr. S-Sammy?" Henry asked slowly, touching the man's shoulder; the warmth of the boy's hand was a stark contrast compared to the inky form he had. "A-Are you ok?"

"Don't worry kiddo," Boris said, offering his hand to Sammy, helping him up before helping Henry. "Sometimes Sammy gets like that...especially when he hears Bendy." Henry made a face and looked at the two warily. "Um...you know Bendy, right?"

"Well, yeah," The boy said slowly, crossing his arms, obviously a bit uncomfortable with the two. "I made him after all..."

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"Why is it worse?!" Henry barely heard his father's voice as he faded in and out. "You said it was just a fever!" Henry wanted to move but only felt a numbing aching sensation across his body. Even breathing was a struggle for the boy, forcing him to just lay and listen in confusion.

"I know what I had said...symptoms are very similar to...fever, so it's nearly impossible...catch it before...this point..." Henry was curious about what the other voice was talking about, but felt himself slipping back into unconsciousness. He managed to only hear one final bit of the conversation before it went to black. "I know it's difficult to witness….but the….rates of….polio are not as…"

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A new story, and a sort-of AU of my AU, but either way Enjoy!