CHAPTER SIX: FAUNA IN THE LIBRARY

Fauna felt uneasy when she woke up the next morning.

She sat still on the couch as she stared ahead. Saber and Zara were saying something while they waited for Jamie to have a shower, but she couldn't pay attention to them. Her mind was occupied, and try as she might, she just couldn't shake off the feeling that she ought to be somewhere but there.

Fauna had had dreams before. She had dreamt about the horrible times she spent with Ari and his pride. She had dreamt about the day that Saber and his father rescued her. She had dreamt about all the werefolks living in harmony in the forest. She had dreamt about rolling in the grass or swimming in the lake.

Never had she had a dream about a boy she had never seen before. More than that, she had never had that strong feeling that there was something there in her head, dancing just slightly out of the grasp of her memory, but it was something she needed desperately to recall.

What was she missing?

"What's the matter?" Saber nudged her and she blinked rapidly as she tried to adjust her mind to the present.

"I'm fine," she tried to convince him but he gave her a deadpanned stare which caused her to sigh. She couldn't lie to him and she wondered why she even tried.

Saber knew her better than anyone else.

"I had a dream," she explained to him. Her words caught Zara's attention and the short tigress moved closer to them to hear Fauna's dream.

Hailey and Sierra had just left moments ago and would soon be on their way back to the clan. Hailey had to drop off the tigress so she could go back into the world and scout for more lone tigers.

"I saw a boy," Fauna continued and Zara hummed in thought. "More than that, I think he was a merman... I mean, I had a tail and I was in the water and – I know I sound stupid." Fauna sighed. Saber however covered her palm with his.

"You don't sound stupid, Fauna. However, it was just a dream. Moreover, merfolks are not real. If they are, they're long gone with the dragons. Extinct."

"I'm afraid I'll have to disagree with you, Saber," Jamie who was just coming out of their room spoke up. Today, they were in a black A-line skirt which they matched with a plain black tee and black sandals. "Merfolks are very real. In fact, some humans would say they are realer than werefolks. There have been some sightings of mermaids... Though I'll admit that most of them have been dismissed."

Jamie shrugged and reached for their wristwatch on the table. Fauna watched them in fascination as they fastened the object around their wrist.

"That makes no sense. A merfolk hasn't been seen in ages. I've never seen one. Father has never seen one. None of the Elders have either. It's understandable why they would hide from humans, but why would they hide from us?" Saber raised a brow and Fauna nodded, agreeing with him.

Max walked out from the same room. He was so different from his partner in his white shirt which was neatly tucked into black trousers. He had a brush in his hair which he used on his long hair. He turned to Jamie and handed a necklace to them and in response, Jamie smiled and kissed his cheek, causing his face to flush with colour.

"Perhaps they're hiding from something," Jamie suggested as they wore the silver necklace with a black skull for a pendant.

"Or, they are hiding something," Max added before he dropped the brush on the table and picked up a bag from a couch. Fauna watched in fascination as he swung it over his shoulder before he turned to Jamie. "Bye, love. I have a test today."

Jamie blew him a kiss, then Max was out of the house.

"I don't really know. To be honest, I don't know much about the merfolks as there are so many stories about them. Some describe them as vengeful creatures who lure men with a beautiful song, then kill them. Some describe them as kind and loving creatures. Some describe them as wicked shapeshifters who camouflage themselves as humans until they can get one to fall for them, then they drown the human in the river."

"They sound cool." Zara grinned at them and Saber rolled his eyes at the tigress. "Come on, let's head to this library. The sooner we get the knowledge we need, the sooner we can head back to our clan and figure out what to do next."

They all nodded in agreement and soon enough, they were out of the house and on the way to the library. Fauna stared at everything she could. She saw some people seated under trees with books in their hands. Some sat in diners eating and laughing. Jamie told her that most of the people were in classes at that time and life usually started in the night.

Things seemed to be organized, yet chaotic at the same time. Zara absolutely loved it.

The library was a quiet building with few students hunched over individual computers. The werefolks though could hear all the sounds the humans couldn't. the beating of their hearts, the slow and steady sound of blood flowing through them, their light breathing... They could hear it all.

Jamie greeted the librarian before leading them to a shelf. Fauna ran her fingertips through the smooth wood that held the hundreds of books. Those were how humans filed their knowledge. In her world, they relied on stories. Information was passed from one generation to another.

Jamie pulled out one that was similar to the one in the house and beckoned on the tigers to follow. They found an empty table and sat around it. Jamie put the book atop the table and turned to the back page and pointed at the girl with the white hair and grey eyes.

"Like me!" Fauna pointed to the drawing, then to herself. Jamie nodded and smiled at her.

"So, he writes that he's never encountered one himself, but he heard talks about her in the forest. 'They describe her to have hair as white as snow and clear grey eyes. They say she's the most powerful thing to thread the earth in centuries.' I wonder who this 'they' is."

"Perhaps the lions?" Zara suggested, but Saber shook his head.

"No human would go that close to the lions and survive to tell the tale."

"But what if?" Zara persisted. "Where does Ari get all his knowledge from? What if he's in cohort with the humans for knowledge? We all know he'll do whatever he needs to get what he wants."

"How Ari has knowledge isn't important. Keep reading, Jamie," Fauna encouraged and Jamie nodded.

"He doesn't really know much about this girl – you," they gesture to Fauna. "Here, it writes that your powers include shapeshifting, strength... Wait! Magic?"

"Magic?" They all repeated in incredulity and Jamie nodded.

"Magic isn't real," Saber shook his head.

"The author disagrees. He says that the bears are rumoured to hold the remnant of magic. 'see page 35 for more,' okay."

They flipped to the middle of the book till they land on page 35. There is a picture of a bear and other writings about the werebears.

"Okay," Jamie pointed to the page as they read through. "He writes here that the bears are hidden away in the cave area. No one knows exactly where they are and the ones who have seen them haven't lived long to tell the tale... That makes no sense. How then does he know the bears hold the remnant of magic?"

"Bone has fought a bear before. He told me so. He survived and made no mentions of magic," Zara noted her disbelief.

"I know nothing about that, Zara. I'm simply telling you what I'm reading here. The author claims the bears are rumoured to hold the most knowledge of 'the old ways', so they are probably the ones hiding this powerful girl... But here you are."

"So, we go the bears?" Fauna mused aloud and Saber turned to stare at her as though she has absolutely lost her mind.

"Are you completely out of your mind? The bears are ruthless and huge. Like, incredibly huge," he argued.

Jamie hummed and flipped through the pages of the book in search of something, but they shook their head and closed the book before leading them to another table that held a computer. They turned on the computer and typed some words in.

Fauna watched, along with Saber and Zara as images appeared on the screen. Images of people with tails, but none of them looked quite like what Fauna saw in her dream.

Jamie read some things, then turned to the group.

"The way I see it, there are two things you can do. The first is to find the bears. If Fauna here is the strongest person and as valuable as you say, the bears will not kill you. Plus, if no one communicates with them, then they have no way to know she actually knows nothing about her powers. If you ask me, they'll be too afraid to attack her.

"Either you head to them and demand to know more about magic, or you search for the merfolks... Which is more unlikely as no one seems to know where they are, and you're cats so you can't exactly dive into the deep oceans to look for them."

Jamie shrugged before they turned off the system. Fauna turned to Saber to find him already staring at her, his forehead creased in thought.

He wanted what was best for Fauna, but he was afraid. No one in their right minds wandered into the territory of the bears. It was a suicide mission. But if Jamie was right, then perhaps they had an advantage. They wouldn't want to kill Fauna.

He thought of the merfolks. They couldn't be real. It just wasn't possible. Someone had to have seen one. Moreover, if they indeed existed, what were they hiding, and how could they find one?

"So, we go to the bears then. Absolutely great!" Zara puffed out air as she spoke, sarcasm dripping from her words. She placed her palms on her hips and stared at Fauna who smiled shyly at them.

It was dangerous. Fauna knew this. Being around her had only brought her family nothing but danger.

"Perhaps I should go on me own," she suggested and Saber snarled at her in response, causing her to take a step back and raise both hands in surrender. "Hear me out! Jamie says the bears will most likely not want to kill me, so I'm relatively safe."

"She has a death wish." Jamie chuckled as they walked back to the shelf and went through the books, leaving the tigers to discuss in privacy.

"Fauna, I love you, but you're a total moron." Zara patted Fauna's shoulder.

"Don't talk to my sister like that!" Saber growled at Zara and in response, she shrugged in nonchalance. Saber then turned a deadpanned stare to Fauna. "However, you are sounding like an absolute moron right now."

"I just want to –"

"You said the merman called you Snow. Didn't you say it was Ari that gave you that name?" Saber queried and Fauna let out a dejected sigh as she nodded. "Listen, Ari is up to something, and I will not allow you to venture into the wild on your own in search of creatures that can snap you in half like a twig."

"That would be rather amusing to watch," Zara mused under her breath and earned a glare from Saber.

Fauna understood why Saber was being so protective. He just wanted her to be safe and was of the belief that her life was more important than his. She however didn't see things the same way he did. She wanted to keep him safe. She wanted to keep them all safe.

Her mind trailed back to the dream she earlier had and she saw the face of the merman again. She recalled his eyes and all the emotions that swirled within them. She recollected his voice and how it was so soothing to her, but how his tone caused her eyes to water.

He couldn't be working with Ari. He just couldn't.

Perhaps it was all in her head. Perhaps it was just a dream and nothing more than that. However, she couldn't shake off the nagging feeling that she was missing something and whatever it was, it was extremely important.

Jamie came back to the table holding a stack of books, then urged the trio to follow. Together, they all left the library. Fauna was absentminded as she walked along. She was racking her brain, going through her memories in an attempt to figure out just what it is she was missing.

"I don't think you have any more information for us. It would be best if we headed home now," Saber curtly informed Jamie who jutted their lower lip as they stared at the tigers.

"So soon? Why the rush? There's a party tonight. You peeps could swing by and see what we humans do for fun."

"That'd be great!" Zara enthusiastically answered before she remembered their current situation. Her smile fell and she threw an arm around her friend's shoulders. "However, there is a maniacal lion who wants to kill every tiger on this planet, get his paws on Fauna and probably rule over the world. Who knows where his thirst for power will lead him? He may soon decide he wants to invade the human settlement too."

Jamie grimaced, then sadly nodded. "I just miss my best friend, you know?"

"I'll try to visit as often as I can," Zara assured them.

The duo shared a brief hug, Fauna waved at Jamie, then the tigers were on their way out of the school. They had gotten the information they needed, though Saber was rather disappointed. He had hoped the human would have had answers rather than more clues.

Time was not on their side and chasing vague hints could kill them. However, it was all they had.