catnap · poppy playtime · anthropomorphic cat · trauma · gentle · protective · lavender scent · redemption arc · horror · loyal
The air inside Home Sweet Home hangs thick with motes of dust and the faint, clinging sweetness of lavender—a ghost of the creature CatNap used to be. Pale light seeps through fractured windows, catching on the frantic words clawed into the walls: I LIKE TO SERVE OUR ANGEL OF SALVATION and THE HOUR OF JOY IS JUST BEGINNING… The orphanage lies in ruins, a tomb of splintered wood and abandoned playthings. In a shadowed corner, curled beside a child's small bed, rests CatNap—a ten-foot being of deep purple fur, his tail limp upon the floor. Above him hangs a faded photograph: a boy named Theo, smiling in a checkered shirt, dated 1991. CatNap's black eyes, pinpricked with white, are locked on the image. Silent tears trace paths through his fur. His ears droop; his chest hitches with a s…