Ghost Stories Around an Open Fire (Will, Wren)

[~Layla Williams~]

Layla stretched her arms over her head as she stepped out of her tent in the early morning hours. The stars in the sky were slowly dimming from the first rays of the sun. The air smelled clean and crisp, lingering with the promise of Spring.

She suppressed a giggle as she passed Will and Warren's tent, where she could clearly hear them both snoring. She didn't understand how they didn't wake themselves up just from how loud they both were.

Layla loved camping. There were no loud people, no cars or buildings everywhere, just nature at it's purest. Layla put her hand on a tree, feeling it's excitement. "It won't be long... Persephone will be home soon!" It seemed to say. Layla smiled, the tree's happiness contagious. She had always known about the plant's love for the Goddess of Spring. They practically sang whenever the time for her to return to the Earth neared.

Keeping her hand on the tree, Layla watched as vines slid down from the tree's branches to make a swing for her. Layla sat down, her hazel eyes focused on the east, the sky now splashed with orange and pink hues as the sun began to peak over the horizon.

[Will Stronghold]

Erratic, jolly chirps from the birds that preferred to stay the winter rather than migrate grew louder and more frequent as the sun climbed higher over the wooded horizon. Will listened, still half-asleep with his eyes closed, the cacophonous, but not irritating, melody quiet enough not to rouse him completely. But the low, guttural sound that suddenly interrupted the songbird’s rhapsody did – not so much that the young superhero did not know its origin, but that it was so unexpectedly close to him.

Will’s eyes shot open, glancing to the sleeping form beside him, Warren bundled in a sub-zero sleeping bag, his untidy mop of hair obscuring his face. He snored softly again, and Will sat up and yawned, shaking his head. How could Warren complain about Will’s own snoring when the pyro himself was also a culprit? You’re a heavier sleeper than him, though. he thought in Warren’s defense. Especially since he was… Will didn’t finish the thought, a twinge of sympathy settling into his gut. Poor Warren…

The pyro looked unnervingly docile as he slept, almost sad. Still, he’d seemed all right, relatively happy for the length of the trip, even if they’d only arrived yesterday. Will let out a silent sigh, not wanting to wake him. He was recovering, though, however slowly it was happening, but the young superhero wished the healing process would speed along faster. He’d almost been there, back to his old self, but the crushing relapse brought on by the hard truth of his misfortune had nearly destroyed him all over again… watching Warren struggle made Will want to break something in frustration.

He quietly wriggled out of his own sleeping bag and tugged at the collar of his jacket, the air inside their tent made stifling by Warren’s body heat. Will mopped the sweat from his forehead and exited into the crisp morning, the cool air on his face refreshing and invigorating. He quickly zipped the tent back up to keep the heat in, a cocoon of warm air, wondering how the morning felt to Warren.

Power quirks were interesting things, extraordinary little aspects of superpowers that constantly butted into ordinary, everyday life. If a superhero’s identity was blown, an accidental and revealing use of his or her powers was usually to blame, whether it was accidentally setting off one’s laser-vision while sneezing or startling an innocent acquaintance with a sudden and uncontrollable craving for alfalfa pellets. Similarly, power quirks were occasionally useful, such as Will and Warren’s inability to nick themselves while shaving. On the other hand, superpowers could be a huge hindrance, especially with said powers’ weakness – in Warren’s case, cold temperatures. Will had been a bit shocked by how under-the-weather Warren seemed in the winter. Shouldn’t his body temperature keep the cold at bay? The younger of the two boys had eventually pried out of a sick and irritated Warren that everything else felt cold in comparison to him, and so the winter months equated to one long and monotonous cold-and-flu season every year. At least it had been getting warmer of late, the wintry months slowly dwindling away into spring. If winter was so miserable for Warren, the warmer months must be dramatically better – Will could imagine him being chipper and energized while the rest of them wilted in the dog days of summer.

The young teenager watched his breath exhale in mist, sunbeams that filtered through the bare trees illuminating the miniscule droplets. He looked up to the sky, the sun peeking over the horizon, still early as the sky slowly shifted through a kaleidoscope of glowing colors. A tangle of vines grew from one of the trees nearby, their formation odd and out of place… Will smiled as he followed the vines to the ground, his girlfriend sitting in between them, a natural swing. He drifted over and gave her a small peck on the cheek, hugging her from behind. “Morning…” he whispered. “Warren’s still asleep…”

[Warren Peace]

His eyes shot open, body fighting a shudder. Warren breathed, huffing in short breaths that rose in a mist when he exhaled, trying to calm himself as he waited for the fragments of the nightmare to slip back into his mind. For once, he rejoiced the fact that he could never hold on to the memories of his dreams for more than a few moments. He hated what he saw in his sleep, memories and anxious fears blended into sequences that made no sense, graphic and haunting. C’mon, Peace, it was just a dream. You’re okay, you’re fine… he thought, closing his eyes again in an attempt to get back to sleep.

The sounds of the woods made it hard, though, the birds’ chirping acutely drumming in his ears. He felt cold in his sleeping bag, despite the layers he was wearing underneath. Why, oh why was it that every time he and his friends from school decided to get away from their houses for a bit, they always ended up somewhere in the woods? Warren sighed, knowing the answer: it was so easy to hide superpowers out here. Part of the whole idea of “getting away” included being able to use their powers without worrying about blowing their covers. But still, did they have to go camping in winter? It wasn’t too cold, he supposed, but it didn’t keep him from shivering.

Warren sighed and turned over on his side, creaking his eyes open. Will’s sleeping bag was empty… his best friend must’ve already been awake. Making up his mind, Warren crawled out of his sleeping bag and stumbled outside, the chill waking him up a bit. He yawned and rubbed his eyes, blinking at the sunlight. The sunrise was pretty… a fading violet still hung over the western sky, while the east glowed with pink and orange, trees silhouetted in black against a fiery sun. Warren’s mouth lifted in a small smile. They were Macaria’s colors.

Layla was apparently up, too, sharing a small moment with Will. Some of the tension from the night evaporated as he glanced in their direction: they made a cute couple. Warren yawned again, shuffling over to his schoolmates, his breath mistier than everyone else’s because of its heat. “Hey…” he mumbled, sighing. “I didn’t sleep in too much, did I?”

[~Layla Williams~]

Layla smiled as Will greeted her with a sweet kiss on her cheek, wrapping his arms around her, his soft voice sounding off in her ear. She leaned back further into his embrace, bringing one hand up to hold his.

"Morning." She greeted back, her own voice barely above a whisper, unable to stop the giggle when Will said Warren was still sleeping. "Shocking."

The smile didn't last long. Layla was even more convinced that something was bothering Warren. She opened her mouth to ask Will how he was doing, to voice her concerns, and see if Will knew what it was that had happened, but she closed it again, unable to figure out how to best word it.

She sighed. Warren looked so tired and shaken lately, and there were times that Layla thought he even looked a little scared. What had happened to him?

Layla redirected her gaze to the east, the sun now up and driving away a bit of the chill in the air. It was a little comforting.

"It's nice to get away sometimes." Layla finally said.

They were joined by Warren, who was awake uncharacteristically early. Layla smiled at him, trying to ignore the fact that he still looked exhausted and shaky.

"He's up really early, and it is kinda cold out." Layla tried to reason with herself. "Give him some time to wake up and get warmer."

"Not really." Layla answered. "Just missed the sunrise."

Layla could tell Warren was shivering, even underneath the multiple layers of clothing he had on.

"Are you gonna be okay?" She asked. "I mean, do you wanna build a fire or something?"