A/N: *throws new chapter out* I have no self-control (and thank you for the reviews! I appreciate hearing what people think about the fic). I am going to update this as often as I can (when I have chapters ready to go).
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The Ink Demon growled under its breath in displeasure.
The Beacon was gone, as was the Twisted.
The Ink Demon had no qualms with the Twisted so long as she stayed out of its way. As for the Beacon, the Ink Demon would would go after him, but first, it wanted to make sense of what had happened. It was quiet again, which allowed the creature allowed its thoughts to focus on the way the Beacon had put his hands on its horns earlier.
What a confusing touch that had been.
The Ink Demon had never experienced such a sensation before. Nothing usually dared to get so close, and never to touch it. The inky creature tended to destroy anything foolish enough to get in its way. But that touch...the Ink Demon was not sure what to do about it.
The Beacon's actions toward it before had been violent in nature, and had continued to be so right up until the human put a hand on its horn.
The Ink Demon normally would have snapped at the offending limb. But at the touch, it had had the sudden desire to let the soft petting continue, instead of killing the human while it had the chance.
How very...interesting, that.
Why had it allowed the touch?
The Ink Demon couldn't focus on its own thoughts for very long. Soon enough, it became aware that it was not as alone as it believed itself to be. The Ink Demon noticed that the Follower was still nearby, but was keeping a healthy distance away. Considering that the Ink Demon had snarled at the Follower the last time, and just a little while ago, it was a smart move.
But why did he stay?
Why did the Follower never run from it?
The Ink Demon turned its head to focus on the Follower, and saw that he had frozen in place.
No running, however.
Just a healthy dose of fear and hope.
The Ink Demon let its confusing thoughts resume, and this time, those thoughts revolved around the Follower. The skeletal being rose up out of the ink flooded floor it had been seated in.
Still, the Follower did not run, and made no motion apart from a nervous twitch.
The Ink Demon headed over to the other being with slow, measured steps, taking care for whatever reason to not limp. Its horns quivered faintly as the spines running down its back flicked down.
The Follower finally moved, cautiously stepping back and remaining close to the wall. He seemed to want to keep a respectful distance from the Ink Demon.
"M-my lord...did you...do you mean t-to go after the a-angel?"
The speech was broken up, as if the Follower was having trouble bringing himself to speak.
The Ink Demon loomed over the other inky being, and decided then and there to uncover its eyes. The Ink Demon wanted to take a proper look at the Follower. If the Beacon wasn't so bright when the Ink Demon uncovered its eyes, then what did that mean for the Follower? The Ink Demon used its right hand to brush the ink out of its vision.
There was a surprised intake of air from the Follower.
The Ink Demon couldn't figure out why there was surprise, so it just let its revealed eyes look the Follower over. He was less distorted in appearance without the ink in its eyes. The mask the Follower wore looked like it had been broken but put back together by ink that had come from the machine. The mask was of the Ink Demon, or rather, the toon version of it. The mask looked like the Other, but the Ink Demon wasn't overly offended by it.
Whatever that meant.
"M-my lord, um...you are getting very c-close...I...I can leave if I a-am in your way?"
The Ink Demon ignored the words as it inspected the Follower. It leaned over to sniff the other being, while at the same time, kept a careful watch, to see how its actions were received.
The way the Follower reacted was...odd, to say the least.
"Oh! I...I didn't realize you would...get so close like this. I-I'm not worthy of such attention." The Follower's words didn't match his actions. He was obviously overly exited, as if the Ink Demon getting so close to him was the most amazing thing to happen in his entire life.
The Ink Demon snapped its teeth together irritably, the excitement interfering with its examination.
The Follower mercifully shut up. He had even slid down to the floor, where he pressed his back against the wall, nervous once again.
The Ink Demon let out a satisfied huff. It could sense no violent intent toward it from the Follower, unlike the Beacon, who, apart from when the human had stroked its horns, had been violent toward it.
The Follower begun to babble nonsense again, most of which the Ink Demon could not make sense of it.
The Ink Demon's horns twitched as a question came to it through all its other muddling thoughts.
Maybe the Follower would touch its horns?
And if the Ink Demon allowed this...then perhaps it needed a more...definitive way to separate this inky being from others similar to him.
The Many Lost.
The Ink Demon settled on a word, when it recalled that had means to communicate aloud without snarls or growls. The Ink Demon wasn't entirely certain of the meaning of the word it had chosen, but there was a sense that it would get the results it wanted.
The Follower was clearly rendered speechless when the Ink Demon spoke, as evidenced by his complete stillness.
"̷̪̞̪͉͖̭̹͍͖̥͑̿̀̅N̵̡͈̠͔̗̠̙̫̭͐̑͋̒̌̓̑̂̌̇̔̒̐͂̊̕͝͝ā̴̧̻̞̖̥͉͚̞͖̺̺̯͓͚̲͖͚͙̟͆̊͋̅̏̉͆͘m̸̡̧̡͉̙͓̻͍̼̩͔͇̻̟͕̗̥̭̠̏̓̃͋̿̀́̇̏̇̕͝e̶̢̢̮̲̥͔͖͇͎̣͉͕͇͖̜͌͑̓̾̓͜͝ͅ?̵̛̥̦̀̍͊̎͑͆͘͝"̷̨̨̩̱̻͈̣̻̭̮̹̬͖̟̮̙̹̃̾̀̾̀͋̀͋̋
"My...name?" The Follower fidgeted his inky hands together before managing to continue on. "S-s-s-Sammy. My name is Sammy." The Follower sounded both thrilled and frightened at the same time.
The Ink Demon considered the 'name' for a moment, taking time to change in its mind 'the Follower' to 'Follower Sammy'. The Ink Demon's teeth chattered together restlessly as it attempted to separate those two words further, but couldn't.
For now, anyway.
It was a start.
The Ink Demon shook itself out of working through words and their meanings, and chose to focus on what it wanted then and there. The Ink Demon lowered itself to the floor and then butted its head into Follower Sammy's chest. The Ink Demon let out a huff of a growl, its horns twitching a little. It heard Follower Sammy's words tumble out one after another. The Ink Demon couldn't quite make sense of these rapid words, like earlier.
Was Follower Sammy overwhelmed? He was saying something along the lines of not being worthy, yet at the same time, his hands were clearly wanting to move up.
The Ink Demon impatiently grabbed one of Follower Sammy's hands and put the hand up on one of its horns. The Ink Demon let go and thrummed, pleased, when the other being tentatively started to pet the horn. The Ink Demon turned its head, satisfied when Sammy Follower's other hand reached up to touch its other horn. The Ink Demon's rumbling increased.
The sensation was a pleasant one.
The Ink Demon felt much calmer than it usually did. But as nice as this was, the Ink Demon knew that it couldn't linger for long. It had to go after the Beacon, and the Other. The Wolf had to be with them. The Twisted had returned to her domain, so she was not of a concern for the time being.
Follower Sammy was talking to it again.
The Ink Demon let its horns be pet for a time, before it reluctantly pulled away. It nuzzled the side of Follower Sammy's head, then backed away and stood up. The Ink Demon knew the other would follow, so the skeletal being reasoned that it would have the opportunity to get its horns pet another time. The Ink Demon limped over to a wall, entering as the wall swirled with dark, shadowy ink.
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Sammy sagged backward against the wall, limp and trembling.
His lord had...his savior had...
Sammy's trembling slowed to a halt as exuberance took over. He had been allowed to touch his savior's horns! Sammy had...Sammy had been given a nuzzle too!
Surely this meant...
No, it had to be!
Sammy flipped the mask up to cry inky tears into his equally inky hands. Finally, after so much dedication and hard work, letting others know of who would set them free. After being His prophet for so long without acknowledgement...
He had chosen Sammy...his lord had chosen him!
What a momentous day!
Sammy vowed to do more to please his savior. To spread the word and let everyone know that soon, soon they would be set free! It had to be a sign of changes to come! For being allowed so close to his lord...Sammy would do whatever the Ink Demon wished of him.
Perhaps...
Sammy fruitlessly tried to wipe the tears away, a slash of a smile surfacing as he raised his head. Maybe instead of the human, Sammy should bring the toon Bendy to his savior? His lord had not approved of him going after the human, so perhaps He wouldn't mind Sammy separating His toon self from the human?
Yes, that was what Sammy would do.
Sammy stood up, replacing the mask over his face. He had work to do, and Sammy wouldn't let the human, or that false angel, ruin his chance of remaining in good standing with his savior.
Soon, they would be free, after all this time.
Whistling a merry little tune under his breath, Sammy went through an inky wall of his own.
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A/N: Sammy, Sammy plz what are you doing? This was not part of the outline I was working with for this chapter why are you like thisss (this chapter was literally a third of the length until Sammy whined and got what he wanted). *sigh* I guess he can enjoy the moment before it all goes to hell eventually.
In other news, the Ink Demon is starting to decide that it needs proper names for things it is either going to tolerate, or tolerate until it kills. Henry is going to lose his damn mind when being asked his name by something that has been trying to kill him. And ofc Sammy will prob find a way to be around for him to be scandalized by the exchange.