Camp Sunnyvale

Hippy music festival shenanigans are ahead, so if you're not a fan of drug use, drug lingo, and anything else hippy fests entail, you may want to steer clear

>It's summertime
>In an effort to have something to look forward to during the winter, your friend, Brody, had convinced you to join him at an annual festival out in the middle of nowhere
>Called "Lunar-lapooza", it was a four day event of music, lights, camping outdoors, and just good vibes in general
>As well as plenty of booze and drugs, Brody assured you
>Not that you really cared about that, but hey, you never know
>After weeks of preparing, the day arrives, and you and your friend begin your pilgrimage
>It's at this time during the drive that he tells you the festival has been attracting more and more MGs over the past 3 years
>In all honesty you shouldn't be surprised, as MGs have beeen slowly integrating into society within the last 5 years
>Though the thought of being out in the woods surrounded by drunk and high monsters doesn't bode well with you
>Not much you can do about that now
>The worry soon leaves your mind, as Brody's positive vibes help the car ride breeze by
>Before you know it, you arrive at the festival, and are quickly corralled into a parking spot
>As you dig your tent and backpack out of the trunk, you hear your friend call out to someone
>Turning around, you see a girl in an earth-tone dress with sparkling green eyes and brunette bed-head hair, literally down to her ankles, run towards him
>She nearly tackles him in a hug, and you double take when you see her hair wrap around him
>They quickly part, and your friend introduces her, a Kejourou named Midori
>You're once again surprised when she suddenly gives you a warm hug, followed by a big grin when you part
>"C'mon, follow me, we'll get you set up at our group's spot, Camp Sunnyvale!"

>You and Brody follow Midori, stopping briefly at the main gate to exchange your tickets for wristbands
>With your feet finally on festival grounds, you feel like your head's on a swivel
>There's people everywhere, both human and monster, and you can't help but feel a little overwhelmed
>Midori gently takes your wrist with her hair, and helps lead you and Brody through the crowds, deeper into the woods
>You pass campsite after campsite, and eventually come to a clearing lined with tents, the gentle sounds of a flute and acoustic guitar reaching your ears
>The handpainted sign staked in the ground at the edge tells you that this is indeed Camp Sunnyvale
>Towards the center of the camp, you see a firepit, with flames of multiple colors crackling merrily
>Sitting around the pit, you find the source of the music
>There's a sphinx in tye-dye plucking away at a well-worn guitar, her foot gently tapping a beat
>To her left is a baphomet in a black and teal striped hoodie (you recall your friend frankly calling them drug-rugs) with a white puffball between her horns, playing a wooden flute
>Opposite of them was a dragon and a guy who you assumed was her boyfriend, roasting marshmallows over the technicolor fire
>And off in the distance, you spotted a black and white arachne, busily weaving and hanging hammocks in the trees
>You decide that, before the inevitable introductions, that you want your tent up, and soon find a vacant spot
>In record time, your shelter for the weekend is complete
>You then turn to see where Brody had set up, only to see he's nowhere around
>Out in the middle of the woods, in a monster camp, you start to feel your anxiety creep in

>You swallow nervously, trying to bury the anxiety, and make your way to the fire, sitting between the baphomet and the dragon's boyfriend
>The boyfriend introduces himself as Josh, and his navy-blue scaled dragon girlfriend, who you learn is named Skylar, hands you a cooking stake, with a nice crispy brown marshmallow on the end
>You greet the two, but keep silent afterwards, waiting for the baphomet and sphinx to finish their song
>Which isn't much longer, thankfully, as the notes soon dissipate
>The baphomet turns to with a wide smile, holding out her paw
>"Heeeey~ You must be Brody's friend! I'm Beverly, nice to meetcha!"
>You gently grasp her paw and shake, introducing yourself to her and the rest of the circle
>The sphinx smiles and nods while making minor adjustments to her guitar strings, before replying with her name, Tasha
>"Is this your first festival, friend?" You hear a light and airy voice say, before giggling
>You look around for the source, confused, before answering that yes, this is your first
>Beverley starts shaking her head vigorously, and you wonder briefly why she's disagreeing, until you see the white puffball fall from her head onto her lap, letting out an "oomph" as it landed
>Puffballs don't normally talk, right?
>The white puff suddenly sprouts human limbs and a head topped with a mop of blonde hair, causing your eyes to widen to a point where they should have fallen out of your skull
>"I'm Flotsam, but you can call me Flo! Welcome to Sunnyvale!" The puffball exclaims
>You knew there was a wide variety of monsters out there, but never expected to see one like this
>Beverly picks up a small bottle sitting beside her, taking a drink from it first, and then handed it to you
>"Flo's a special kinda fairy, called a Kesaran Pasaran, but since that's a mouthfull we just call her the magic puffball." The Baphomet informs you
>You nod, and take a swig from the bottle, the familar taste of Jack Daniels helping to ease your anxiety
>You ask why they call Flo that, resulting in a chuckle from Skylar
>"Ohhhh, you'll find out later." The navy dragon replies with a smirk

>Well okay then
>You take another swig of Jack, and pass the bottle to Josh, when you notice the arachne you spied earlier joins the circle, sipping from a can of coke
>You quickly introduce yourself to her, and she responds in kind, revealing herself to be an orb weaver arachne named Katrina
>A tap on your arm turns your attention back to the baphomet, who had just pulled a joint out from her hoodie pocket
>"Do ya partake?" She asks, and grips the rolled piece between her teeth, lighting it with a flame that flickered up from her thumb
>Now and then you do, but right now you feel unsure about it, and shrug
>Beverly takes a slow drag, and holds it in for a moment, smoke soon billowing out of her mouth in a surprisingly spooky way
>"C'moooooon~, what kinda answer is that? It's only grass, there's nothing else in here. I grew this stuff at home, too." She says, and holds the lit joint towards you
>Oh what the hell, why not? You're here to have fun and cut loose for the weekend, anyway
>You take a drag, and pass it along, trying your best not to cough
>But your best isn't good enough, as a few light coughs force the smoke out of your body
>At least you didn't hack up a lung
>Skylar and Tasha start waving, and you turn around to see Brody and Midori return to camp, the Kejourou helping your friend with his cooler and Cajon Drumbox
>"'Ey, I see you got cozy with everyone!" Brody says to you, and he drops his stuff off near your tent
>"It's gonna take me a few to set my tent up, but do ya wanna whop on the cajon in the meanwhile?" He then follows up with
>Fuck yes you do, that little drum box is the shit, and you're not half bad when you wallop on it
>You get up from your spot, and grab the cajon from Midori, sitting down on it moments later
>The Kejourou takes your old seat, and you wind up between her and Beverly
>Tasha plucks a few chords on her guitar, and you notice that instead of a pick, she uses her claws
>The sphinx plucks a few more chords, the notes melting into a tune that, while you aren't familiar with, is easy to pound a beat to
>Beverly quickly joins in with her flute, providing a backing rythym to the song
>Everyone else around the fire quickly get into the groove, bouncing and swaying to the beat
>Skylar taps her scaled foot, quickly joining into the song with her own voice
>"In the shuffling madness, of the locomotive breath..." the navy dragon starts to belt out
>Holy shit, she's got a really good set of pipes on her

>You keep a beat through the rest of the song, relaxing as a pleasant tingle started behind your eyes, and spread to your finger tips
>Once the song finished, Beverly set her flute down next to her, and stretched out with a yawn
>"Anyone else thirsty? I'm grabbin some juice." The baphomet asked the group
>Now that she mentioned it, you were kinda thirsty, and you give her a nod
>The baphomet smiled back, and nudged Flo with her finger
>The puffball fairy had fallen asleep during the song, and awoke with a light yawn of her own, while she rubbed her eyes
>Beverly then gently scooped her up in her paw, and placed her on her head, snugly between her horns once more
>"Wanna snack, too? Follow me, we'll find ya something." The goat-girl added, getting up from her spot
>You follow her away from the circle, the baphomet skipping the entire way to her tent
>She eventually stops at a purple and white cloth tent, and unzipped the door flap, swinging it aside
>You peaked over her shoulder as she opened a cooler just inside, and grabbed a juice pouch
>Very childish, but it fit the bill, the petite girl made you wonder if she should really be at a festival like this
>Beverly turns around with a second juice pouch, and hands it to you, raising an eyebrow at you
>You only realize now you had been giving her a perplexed look the whole time
>"What's up? Don't want juice? I got some water in here too." She asked
>You reply that it's not that, the juice pouch is fine
>With a quick glance, you see its cherry
>More than fine
>No, you just simply admit you can't shake how odd it is to see someone of her... appearance, at twenty-one plus festival

>Beveryly gives you a sly look, and laughs
>"However old you think I am, yer definitely wrong~" she said teasingly
>Well that doesn't really help, you think
>The baphomet sticks out her tongue at you, and smirks
>"I can give you an age, if that helps."
>Well fine, why not?
>"Twenty-four!" She replied, and turned back to her cooler,  twisting back with a couple plastic ice cream pails
>"Want some cookies? I made these at home too!" The baphomet offered, and removed the pail lids
>Peanut butter chocolate chip cookies were filled to the brim of one, the sweet aroma make your stomache growl
>The other pail had frosted sugar cookies, shaped like crescent moons, with what appeared to be, strange enough, fruit toppings
>It looked like all of them had pieces of what looked like red grapes, but only half had another strange red fruit topping it
>The other half was similar, only with pieces of a strange blue fruit
>Beverly looked surprised for a moment, and shook her paw over the pail of frosted cookies
>"Whoa, I forgot these were in this pail, you don't wanna eat one of these yet, they're special... well the other cookies are too, but these are REALLY special!" the baphomet warned, and replaced the lid. "I got those ingredients from all the way back home, and they're hard to get back here, too."
>You can't help but get an ominous feeling from them, and you agree to have a cookie from the first pail
>The goat girl smiles, and gives you one of the larger ones from the pail, grabbing another for herself
>"I always liked cookies anyway for this stuff, it just tastes a lot better!" Beverly added, taking a bite from the treat
>You take a testing bite of your own snack, your face turning into a grin from the taste
>The girl knows how to bake cookies, that's for damn sure
>"Hey, would ya wanna wander around with me later? I'm gonna sell some snacks before the first big band goes on tonight." Beverly offers you, an excited smile on her face
>She wouldn't be that bad of a guide around the festival, so the offer was tempting...

>You ask Beverly when later is, since while the offer is nice, you did just get here, and want to settle into camp more
>The baphomet merely giggles, and waves a hand at you
>"Relax, brother! I'm not sayin' now or five minutes from now, you got plenty of time." She reassures you
>Fair enough, you think, as you fiddle around with the straw on your juice pouch
>You always hated that part about them
>Curiosity getting the best of you, you ask Beverly just what other "snacks" she has
>The baphomet gives you another sly grin, as the two of you walk back towards the firepit
>"Well, I have two types of wares, practical, and magical. Those crescent cookies? Very magical!" She begins to explain
>You take another bite from the cookie Beverly gave you, and ask what's magical about the other ones
>She smiles again, and makes a lewd gesture with her paws
>"I call them 'Blind Date' cookies. You eat a blue one? You'll end up with whoever ate one of the red ones!" The goat girl exclaimed
>Huh. You're not sure if you'll try one, but that does sound kinda fun
>"Some people here are just unlucky, so it's my own way of spreadin the love around." The baphomet added with a toothy smile
>You're about to ask what else she was planning to sell, but trail off when the sounds of another song reaches your ears
>Now back at the pit, you see that Tasha is strumming away once again, with Brody joining her on one of his harmonicas
>Beverly skips past you, sitting down at her old spot, and joins in on her flute
>You take a sip of juice, as you pause to enjoy the music in the air
>You then feel a tap on your shoulder, and turn to see Katrina standing behind you
>The arachne smiles at you, showing off her fangs
>With Katrina easily being two or more heads taller than you, you can't help but feel a little frightened
>You aren't sure if she notices that, but her smile did grow a little larger
>"Hey, I hung up one of my hammocks for you over by your tent. Would you mind testing it out? I usually do alright with 'em but..." the arachne starts, and shakes the can of coke in her hand
>"I've had a few, and would just hate it if the hammock snapped on you." She finishes with a frown