It was dark in the jungle, the thick canopy of leaves blocking out the silvery moonlight. If you were walking through there without a lantern or torch, you wouldn't even see the structure resting in the branches of a tall tree.

A newly built tree-house, the wood still fresh. It was dark behind the windows, all five people inside fast asleep.

The only sound that could be heard inside the building, was the occasional snore from behind of the bedroom doors, sometimes followed by the creak of a bed as somebody adjusted their position.

It was downright peaceful.

As the night dragged on, thick grey clouds began to pack together in the sky, hiding the silver moon from sight. Thunder rumbled, threatening that rain was to come.

A crack sounded through the dark sky, lightning spider-webbing across the black heavens.

Smiles began to subconsciously form on some faces inside the tree-house, adoring the arrival of rain even in their sleep.

But one wasn't so peaceful.

A whimper sounded out from the living room area, followed by more cries and yelps. The fearful sounds carrying through the wooden structure, alerting the members of the order.

Sighs and groans sounded out muffled from the bedroom doors, beds creaking as everybody began to get up. Doors soon opened to reveal the tired faces of the order, some looking annoyed while others looked downright sleepy.

"Again?" Olivia asked, rubbing her eyes as she yawned.

"He probably just doesn't like the thunder." Petra responded to the engineer, rubbing her tired eyes as she walked out of her room and down the hallway.

Reaching out a hand, Petra switched on the living room light. She placed her hands on her hips, trying to keep her expression stern as she met the two blue eyes that was staring at her from the box beside the couch.

"Really, Rascal?" She asked, the puppy pricking his ears upon hearing his name. "Third time this week?"

Letting out a somewhat excited yelp, Rascal clambered out of the box, running over to Petra and jumping up at her legs. As she lifted him into her arms, the other four came up behind them.

"Poor little thing." Jesse said, reaching her hand out to stroke the puppy in Petra's arms. "Did the coming storm scare you?"

"He has to get used to it at some point." Lukas said, leaning with his shoulder against the door frame. "Rainforests got their names for a reason."

"Are you sure he's scared though?" Axel said, crossing his big arms. "Look at him."

Indeed, Rascal's fluffy tail was waving like a flag as Petra held him, trying to lick her face. Letting out a playful yelp, he grabbed a string of her red hair in his mouth, giving it a tug.

"Well, he is a puppy." Jesse pointed. "Could just be that he doesn't like being alone."

"Well, if the four of you would quit throwing tantrums whenever he cries at night, I would train him." Petra responded grumpily as she tried to pry her hair from Rascal's jaws.

"If you think I'm listening to puppy yelping for nights on end, just because you're letting him cry it out-" Olivia started angrily.

"Okay, okay, I'm sure there's another solution here." Lukas interrupted, holding up his hands.

"Maybe feed him?" Axel piped up. "That's usually why I wake up at night, because I'm hungry."

"It's going to mess up his routine." Olivia responded grumpily. "He's going to expect Petra to feed him everything single night at 1 AM then."

"What about you let him sleep in your room, Petra?" Jesse suggested. "He's young, maybe he just wants to be with his mum."

"I suppose." Petra responded, glancing down at the puppy in her arms. "If you can hear me snoring only a few metres away, will you shut up then?"

Rascal gave an excited yap at her words, giving her face a slobbering lick.

"Let's hope that's a yes." Olivia responded grumpily, turning around. "I'm going back to bed."

"Here, I'll help you take his bed to your room." Jesse offered, picking up the box that the puppy slept in.

As everybody else went back to their own rooms, Jesse and Petra began to carry Rascal and his bed to Petra's room. Jesse placed the box down in the corner of the room, furthest away from the window in case it was indeed the storm scaring Rascal.

Petra bent down, placing the puppy inside the box. He looked up at her with shining blue eyes, wagging his tail excitedly.

"Well, good night I guess." Jesse said to Petra. She turned, looking at Rascal in the box. "And night to you too, Rascal. You be a good boy for Petra, okay?"

After saying goodnight to Jesse as well as giving her a quick thanks for the help, Petra switched her light back off. She felt for the box, giving Rascal a goodnight pet on his head, before walking to her own bed.

Petra sunk onto the mattress, wrapping herself back up in her thick blanket. She let out a contented sigh, smiling as the thought of the rain to come.

She wasn't sure for how long she slept, but it when Petra woke up again, it was pouring outside. Thunder growled throughout the jungle, lightning flashing behind her curtains.

Petra was about to smile and sink back into sleep, when she heard the sound that had woken her up again. Yelping.

Groaning, she buried her head into her pillow, wanting to just shut out the noise and continuing to sleep. But how could she just ignore Rascal's cries?

"Petra!"

"Yes, yes, I'm going!" Petra called in frustration, hearing Olivia bellow her name outside her door.

Heaving her tired body off the bed, she switched the lights back on. Rascal peeked his head out of the box, wagging his tail when he saw Petra.

"You litter actor." She muttered grumpily. "You don't look scared at all."

As if to prove his point, Rascal didn't do as much as flinch when the thunder roared outside the window again. However, the moment Petra switch the light back off, he let out a soft whimper, scratching at the inside of the box.

"Rascal, seriously?" Petra switched the light back on again. "I'd like some more sleep tonight if you don't mind."

Hearing the stern tone in her voice, Rascal's ears drooped. He let out a soft whimper, looking up at her with wide blue eyes.

"Those puppy-dog eyes." Petra said with a groan, pinching the bridge of her nose. "And here I thought Jesse was good at making them."

She looked back up at Rascal, who was still giving her his sad face. How could she say no?

"Fine, come here, you little Rascal." Petra said, walking over and lifting him out of his box. He began to excitedly lick her face.

"You better be quiet after this." Petra responded sternly as she placed him on her bed.

Reached over, she switched the light back off and slipped in under her covers as well. There was a scrabbling noise on the fabric as Rascal looked for a good place to settle down, before he lay down against Petra's arm.

Letting out a slow sigh of relief, Petra closed her own eyes. Ready for some well deserved sleep. The wind continued howling outside as buckets of water rained down from the thick clouds above. Petra had rolled over onto her side, slowly beginning to drift off to the sound of rain again.

And then she heard the yelping.

Letting out a groan, Petra felt for the light switch on her bedside table, swiftly turning on the lamp. She looked over to see if Rascal was even still on the bed.

Much to Petra's surprise, Rascal was exactly where she had felt him settle down a while ago. In fact, he was still asleep.

But as his slept, the little puppy was whimpering and yelping in his sleep, his legs occasionally making running movements.

Petra's frown faded, feeling a chain of guilt weigh down her heart. Rascal wasn't just whining to get her attention... He was actually having a nightmare, something Petra knew and understood way too well.

Hesitantly, Petra placed her hand out onto the puppy's back. He jolted at her touch, letting out a surprised yelp. But the moment he was awake, he seemed to relax, wagging his tail at Petra.

Picking the puppy up, Petra brought Rascal closer to her chest and hugged him. He wagged his tail again, nuzzling his nose into her pyjama top.

"You poor thing." Petra whispered softly as she held him. "I hadn't even thought of the possibility that you could too have bad dreams..."

It made sense, Rascal was completely alone when Jesse and Petra found him. Without his pack, the real word had to be a scary place for such a young puppy, and it was very possible for him to get caught up in a storm alone. Or maybe he had a different negative experience that involved rain as well. Whatever it was, the rain was triggering something to bother the poor pup while he slept. He kept them up at night, whenever it was storming out... how had Petra not made the connection sooner?

Rascal had settled in her arms, seeming asleep again. Careful not to wake him, Petra put Rascal back down on the mattress and turned the light off again.

Instead of going back to sleep herself, Petra simply stared up at the dark ceiling, listening to the thundering outside. Silently cursing herself for not knowing how to help her wolf friend.

A the thunder cracked outside again, Petra felt something warm in her side. Whimpering, Rascal nestled himself in under Petra's arm so he was sleeping against her.

A small smile formed on Petra's face as she felt the tiny animal seek comfort against her. Slowly she closed her own eyes again, Rascal's presence just as soothing to her, as hers was to him.

There wasn't another peep out of the wolf pup for the rest of the night, feeling safe and protected in his owner's arms while he slept.

___

And Rascal has made his entrance! It was going to happen at some point XD

Besides, I feel like I've written my share of Jesse nightmares by now! And if we're giving somebody else a turn, what about a character who's fears we haven't focused on yet?

Rascal actually does have a negative experience with a storm, which we'll learn more off in Night of The Mobs. I really liked the idea of elaborating a bit on his fear in this way. Besides, there can never. be. enough. Rascal.

Also, I'm actually sitting at the national park, typing this! We arrived about 3 hours ago, and boy, it's quite a struggle to find a spot with signal. (But hella worth it, I was birdwatching for an entire 50 minutes earlier, it's great!)

But hey, enough rambling on my end, let's not have this A/N get too long now!

I hope you all enjoyed this one shot, and I'll see you tomorrow with whichever prompt I draw next!