again — o, powers

[happycamper]

— ★ happycamper didn't have constant and reoccurring dreams at night. whenever his body hit his bed and he allowed himself to dose off, the feline had a wide assortment of dreams waiting for him in his sub-conscious - if they were there in the first place. most followed a theme of being tame and simple, such as him walking through densely packed trees with lovely canopies that allowed sunlight to touch his fur and illuminate other things as well. many were, ironically enough, of him being involved in camping activities. they'd all span between different dreams in different nights. one could have him dip his paw into a cool freshwater river and fill a sticker-covered canteen with the clear liquid. another was filled with the relaxing crackling of a warm fire. making smokes, strumming his ukulele, fishing with his paw, telling ghost stories to ghostly figures, and watching the night sky through an opening in a tent. overall, happycamper stayed happy even in his dreams.

though there were those few bad seeds within the sweet apple. rarely would happycamper be hit by corrupted dreams, but whenever they did take the place of the sweeter ones, they were horrifying. copper taste and smell would hit him in any nightmare he'd have, even if blood was nowhere to be found. he'd be shoved into a tight space, filled to the brim with anxiety and fear, squeaky voice of a child escaping his adult body as he cried out for someone to get him out. sometimes a nightmare would be disguised as a nice dream, only to have a shadowy figure, so out of place in the calm surroundings, would come and kill him in his sleep with an eerily familiar knife. but the most terrifying of them all were the happy faces of his parents, smiling down at him. those made him wake up in feelings of cold sweet, anxiety, and sometimes breaking out in dry sobbing. though he faced those more ever since he joined tanglewood, the ginger feline always managed to put his cheerful smile on and ignore what he'd felt at night, praying that nobody would ever see him in such a vulnerable state.

happycamper had been drinking some home-brewed coffee well into the crisp-air night, reading a old book he often enjoyed reading during this type of weather. halfway through sipping the liquid inside, a scream pierced the air. the sudden noise made happycamper jump in his seat and narrowly put his cup back on the ground next to him as it burned his tongue. although his tongue was hurting, he was already racing to the corner of the room he was in, messily shoving the bags of herbs and bandages he planned to organize later into his satchel. worry quickly kicked out any pleasant thoughts as he pulled the bag over his shoulders and bolted out of his house. did someone get hurt? did they accidentally step on something sharp? did they fall down and break a limb? did someone hurt them? were they still getting hurt? messy scenarios filled his mind as he listened to the continuous screams that guided him. yet, as he got closer, the more familiar the voice was, and the more dread he began to feel. "oh no, no, no." he anxiously whispered to himself, all the way until he got to a somewhat familiar building.

it wasn't too hard to get into the building, and it wasn't anymore harder to pick up the sobs that were getting more and more louder. eventually he'd entered an unfamiliar space, but laid eyes on a very familiar heaving body. the feline dropped his bag to the ground and made his way over to bella, a sad and concerned look on his face. "bella?" he murmured first, voice extremely soft and cautious. happycamper sat down besides her, inching his head closer as to show that he was there. covered objects caught his attention, and green eyes moved lower to see two possible toys that she was holding. he couldn't see them much due to his angle and bella covering them, but happy could see one of them who had something yellow around their neck. briefly he was too aware of his own bandana, but his mind quickly was pulled back by the concern over his friend's fragile state. "hey, hey, it's okay, bella. i'm here... i'm here." the more he watched her, the more his heart ached. he never liked seeing anyone crying or distraught, or both, but seeing bella like this made it hurt more than it ever had before. "you're safe here."