Whispy's First Night - Bindertales
Next up for my Pi(e) Day celebration, a fic from Whispy's POV!
This is seet between Issues 3 and 4. As she's just a side character here, allow me to extrapolate! She's an old character that started as a FNAF fursona of my one friend, and later reused as a full-fledged FNAF character, Alpha from Venture Adventure! Here, though, she's carrying on her original intent as a shy bookworm with ties to FNAF lore.
Youâre overthinking things again.
Whispy snuffles, pawing at the sleepies in her eyes as she flips onto her other side in bed once again. The dormâs bedframe squeals unhappily, the sound barely muffled by the thin mattress. Considering the incredible technology on display on Elka Highâs campus, she wouldâve expected better from their living quarters. Room 12B, they said, a premium single room experience. Yet there she laid, stiff neck and cold paws clutched to her chest. She could feel her heart thudding beneath her paws. The air conditioning shuffled the curtains by the window, the quiet tapping made Whispy swallow the lump in her throat.
The first night somewhere new always brought some level of anxiety to her. Sleepless nights led to messy mornings which ended up with awkward afternoons until her entire day was ruined. It was an eternal spiral that was only broken after a week or so and, unfortunately for her, tonight was only the beginning. With a lofty sigh, Whispy tosses and turns at each creak of the walls. She glanced over at her alarm clock for what felt like the fiftieth time that night.
Yup, still late. Maybe itâd be better to say early, at that point.
Time just never seems to pass at the same rate, in Whispyâs experience. Some nights she blinks and itâs suddenly time for school, others the hours drag through molasses. Itâs a terrible feeling that she is eternally grateful that her friends donât experience, according to the dazed looks she gets when lamenting her nighttime escapades. At the very least, itâs given her the time to catch up on old series during the days where even laying down feels like a test of strength. Sheâd hoped tonight wasnât going to be one of those nights. She had even gone to bed early that night, hoping to use the extra time to make sure she slept enough, for once. Whispy squeezed her eyes shut in a futile attempt to convince her body it was time for bed.
A shudder ran through the far wall, the barrier between her dorm and the next. A sudden storm? Wild animal run loose? Or something worse, something human? Whispyâs fur stood on end. She dared not move from her position, though her ears strained to hear anything next door, in the dorm, in her room-
It was quiet. The branches outside her window sat straight for the first time all day and the air conditioning powered down. Whatever lay beyond the far wall was silent. Whispy was breathing too loudly. Surely, theyâd hear her, theyâd know she was awake. If they knew she was awake, they would get her. At a snailâs pace, she pulled a paw over her muzzle, ghosting breath over her hypersensitive paw pads. Surely, theyâd notice.
Who are âthey,â though, she scolded herself, youâre overthinking again.
But she couldnât find it in herself to move, to breathe more steadily, to open her eyes. Some small memory from health class sprung up amid the claxon alarms in her head, something about âprey drivesâ and its activation when someone runs, and she has to swallow a bout of manic laughter. What she wouldnât do for her roommate to wander in right then, to awkwardly apologize for the noise with a voice too loud for the closed environment. Sally was brave, outgoing, social â everything Whispy was too afraid to try.
What was she even thinking, going to a remote boarding school all alone? Her sister even knew it was a bad idea, Whispy saw the tense, doubting squint in her eyes when sheâd gotten her acceptance letter. But she couldnât stay at home anymore. Not after the disappearances. She couldnât hear the doorbell without her heart skipping a beat, expecting to look out the window to Fritzâs big, stupid grin. The playground pavilions were too empty without Susieâs laughter. She barely even knew them that well, they were friendly classmates at best. And yetâŚ
Whispy shivered. The branches by the window rapped against the glass and the air conditioning kicked in. It was quiet next door. She breathed in, then out. If she tried hard enough, she thought she could hear Sally snore across the hall. It was four am when Whispy finally fell asleep.
In the morning, Whispy made breakfast. Sally wasnât used to paws yet, let alone how long it takes to groom your fur, so Whispy was happy to take point. They walked to class after meeting up with Sallyâs partner â Whispy mostly followed behind them, but Sally would swing around to get her opinion of the nonsense they shared. Class carried on in a haze, as expected, until third period rolled around. One of Sallyâs friends sat to Whispyâs left and they landed in their chair in a hurry before pulling both she and Sally into a huddle.
They said there was a fight last night. Someone broke into one of the dorms. The only reason they knew it happened was because the victim woke up in a pool of their own blood, having respawned in the night, and the lock to room 11A being carved out of the door.
