An Inkwell's Stain //BATDR Fanfiction\\ [Male Reader]

Chapter Seventeen: Two Separate Paths

'Okay... okay, Bendy... I think we've cried long enough...' you sniffled as you wiped your eyes and loosened your grip on him. He dropped his arms, but black, inky tears were still running down his face. 'Hey, hey Bendy... it's okay! We have to keep moving.' You took his gloved hand into your own. 'It wasn't your fault. I'm just homesick, that's all. Be strong for me, okay?' Squeezing his hand in comfort, he wiped his cartoonish eyes and blinked away the tears.

'Be strong...' you mumbled, and he squeezed back, nodding. A low whistle came out of him. You shake your head in response. 'I don't know what's going to happen next, bud. But we have to keep moving. The Ink Demon could be on our tails at the very moment.' The thought made you shiver, and it seemed to make Bendy uncomfortable too.

You held onto his hand and walked forward slightly, trying to get him to follow. He obliged. 'Hey, look what I have!' You pulled out his toy train from your pocket, and his eyes glowed in sudden delight. You handed it to him, and he waves it around in the air in circles, zooming it around like a little kid. That seemed to change his mood drastically. You laughed and tapped him on the shoulder when he stopped spinning. 'Let's go!' you exclaimed happily, and he whistled in reply.

The rolling door ahead of you opened, as if listening to your command. Before you two, a corridor split into two rooms, the screening room, and the story board. 'Looks like it's a crossroad. Any ideas, Bendy?' He looked over at the intersection and glanced back at you. He reached his arm to grab yours and held you tightly. You laughed at this. 'Okay, so no splitting up then. How about we check out the screening room first?'

Bendy's signature smile shone at your words and he let go of you, holding a thumbs up instead. 'Alright, then. Let's go.' You led the way, with Bendy following behind. Projectors shone their bright lights onto the wall displaying various frames of Bendy with a flower. Bendy whistled in glee and pointed, prodding your side. You giggled at his joy and intrigue. 'Yes, I know that's you, Bendy. I used to draw you; you know?' He looked up at your eyes, fascinated.

'Yeah, you were easy practice. I loved drawing your bow!' You pointed to his chest, and he held up his bow with pride. Smiling, you rubbed his head in a sort of pat. 'Let's keep looking, okay? There must be something useful in here.' You headed past the projections and noticed your shadow going across the Bendy frames. An idea came to mind. 'Hey, Bendy... look at this!' You make a wolf's head with your hands and held it up to the projector's light.

A big wolf's silhouette showed up on the screen and Bendy whistled in astonishment. He then put his hand up to the projector and completely covered it. The light of the projector disappeared, and he smiled even bigger. He clapped his hands together in delight. You laughed and patted his shoulder. 'You keep having fun, I'll have a look around, okay?' He nodded his head and didn't look back to you, already busy trying to make a weird shape with his hands to project it onto the screen.

Looking around, you noticed a security lock was added to the door, so you knew that was the way forward. Like earlier in the studio, you had to put in three numbers that were the correct code. "The code... is 4...5...1... 4-5-1." You remember the man had said earlier, so you tried that. A grumble sounded out, which meant you were wrong. 'Darn... that means I have to search for it.' You look back at Bendy, who had made a love-heart with his gloved hands and was bouncing up and down on his heels as he held it up to the light.

Walking past him, you decided to go into the Storyboard room. 'Hey Bendy?' He looked up from what he was doing to gaze at you, listening. 'I'm heading into the next room, wanna come?' He nodded and ran over to you, ready to go. 'Don't forget your train,' you called before he reached you. He slid in his tracks and ran straight back to grab his train off of one of the chairs.

In the Storyboard room it was very dark, so Bendy stayed a bit far back and out of the doorframe. 'It's okay. I can see that this room is very small, nothing is inside here.' He edged his way in and ran to where you were. You chuckled and held his hand as you went further in to check out what was inside. A projector was the most visible thing in the dark, so you leant over and turned it on. The room lit up with its light, showing three different frames. You understood the puzzle now. 'Hey Bendy, can you remember these for me?' He squinted at the frames, and nodded to with, his grin wide. 'Okay, let's head back. I know what to do.'

Back in the projection area, you tried to open the door to utilise to projectors. It was locked from the inside. 'Curses...' A whistle from far away caught you off guard, and you move to the right to look over at where Bendy was. He was pointing at a vent system, he eyes keen. 'Good work, Bendy!' You ran over to him and hugged him quickly. 'Thank you. Stay over there at the door. I'll unlock it in a second.' He nodded and headed over to the door, while you slipped down into the vents. Crawling your way across to the room, you suddenly heard growling and clawing above you.

The Ink Demon. You sat still and listened quietly for him to go away. He was walking around in the screening room, you could tell.

Where did you go, Y/N?

How do you know my name is a better question.

I take note of things, unlike you. Or at least you can't anymore, now can you?

Wow, rude... You start to crawl again as you feel him get further away. Getting to the other side, you stretch and go to open the door. When you swing it open, you are surprised to see Bendy not there. 'Bendy?' you called, but then it hit you. He must've run away to get away from the Ink Demon. You sigh in dismay, knowing you'll have to go back to the Storyboard room again.

2...3...5... 2-3-5... Remember that, you told yourself as you made your way out of the projector booth and over to the security pin code. You inputted the numbers, and a ding sounded, making you smile and pound your fist into the air in triumph.

Now to look for Bendy.