Chapter sixteen:Â Fauna and the search party
In a matter of seconds, the news had spread and the whole cave was thrown into a pandemonium of worried voices. Questions were thrown in the direction of Doka and Lyle. Many of the bears were angry as they were unaware of the missing child.
Lyle looked around, then at Fauna and he shook his head. He couldn't do it. He couldn't stand still and answer all their questions while Artis roamed the world above and put herself and his people in danger.
"Are we under attack?" Someone asked and Lyle once again shook his head before he briskly walked away.
Fauna wanted to follow after him. She really did, but she was stuck trying to spread calmness. She knew what chaos could make werefolks do, so she was more than grateful when she saw Saber assess the situation, then follow after her mate.
Saber caught up with the merman above the caves and he was surprised to see a small gathering of merfolks there.
"Is this a search party?"
"What do you think, Saber? I need to find Artis," Lyle answered Saber before he turned to a merman and nodded at him.
The merman placed a palm over his chest, then stretched it towards Lyle before he and two others headed North.
"The people down there are restless. It'll do them well if you spoke to them," Saber tried to reason with Lyle.
"They're Doka's people. He'll take care of them." Lyle made weird hand signal that was too fast for Saber to note, but the mermaid he was gesturing to seemed to understand because she made the same greeting gesture the other did before she and two others headed South.
Saber looked up at the blazing sun and he shook his head. He didn't know much about werefolks, but he didn't think they were supposed to be out in the sun.
"I understand you're just trying to protect everyone, but I think it'll be better if you just told them the truth."
Lyle stopped moving. He just stood still in a spot, his chest rising and falling rapidly. His people continued to stare at him, waiting for his commands while Saber was also trying to get him to calm down.
He finally turned towards Saber, a look of defeat on his face.
"And what is the truth? I don't know anything, and we've been searching for days. Moreover, I told Doka to inform his people. I wasn't aware he didn't. It's his responsibility to deal with that and right now, it's my responsibility to find Artis before she does something stupid."
~~~
After the crowd had been dismissed, Fauna was pacing in the clearing. She didn't know what to do and she hated not being able to do anything.
Her whole nerves were on edge and she just couldn't get rid of the feeling that something was wrong. It was worse than before. She could practically taste the tragedy. Her heart was pounding in her chest as she tried to walk the fear off, but what was she even afraid of?
Fauna let out a soft growl as she pulled at her already scattered white hair at a futile attempt to ease her frustration. She was so wrapped up in her feelings, she didn't notice the two people approaching her until they stopped right in front of her and one of them held her hand to keep her from pacing.
She looked down at little Ava and she let out a forced smile. The young girl stared at her with determination in her golden eyes. Her jaw was clenched and Fauna could feel her strong willpower. She frowned as she looked up at Amor who had a stoic expression.
They were up to something.
"We're headed above to join the search," Amor informed her and Fauna frowned as she stared at the younger Ava.
"Isn't she a little too young to join a search party?"
She knew how risky the wild could be and she couldn't understand why Amor would willingly put her daughter in harm's way. At her words though, Ava balled her palms into fists and stared at Fauna with eyes filled with purpose. She was brave, no doubt, but bravery wasn't everything.
"She isn't. She's stronger than she looks." Amor allowed a smile that wasn't at all genuine and Fauna nodded in response. She got the silent message which said 'back off!' and she wasn't about to question Amor. "I can imagine you'd rather be up there than pacing down here."
"Think of it as training. Just a very dangerous training which isn't at all a simulation we can just end when you become too scared." Ava giggled quietly to herself and her mother passed her a stare that caused her to quiet down.
Fauna looked around. She couldn't see any familiar face in sight. Zara was told to stay with her, but she couldn't see the tigress around. Most likely, Zara was up there helping out.
"I heard your sense of smell has improved drastically. You could be of help," Amor convinced her and she nodded. It's what she had been training from, right?
How was she expected to save her people from a terrible and power-hungry lion when she couldn't even find and retrieve a lost and heartbroken bear?
Ava let out a loud squeal and rushed to Fauna's side, clinging to her arm and tugging her along as though they were going for a fun activity. She reminded Fauna so much of Lyle and it wasn't just because of her kind golden eyes and her golden hair. It was her generally positive attitude.
Together, the trio made their way out of the bear caves and into the large and imposing forest.
She immediately squinted and winced in pain as the brightness of the sun hit her. It was a huge difference from the cold and dark caves. The sun was out and it was unforgiving. She looked to the mermaids and though she could feel their discomfort, they were good at masking their pain with matching smiles.
Why did they have to be so put together all the time?
"What do you smell?" Ava looked up to Fauna and Fauna raised her nose to the air and inhaled deeply.
She could smell the trees and the prey that were hiding away. She could smell the uncomfortable heat in the air. She even caught a whiff of the fading scent of a distressed Lyle and a caring Saber with a determined and somewhat enthusiastic Zara, but she couldn't smell Artis.
How would she smell Artis? Last she checked; merfolks had mastered the art of masking their scent so Artis was gone without a trace... Unless she could sense her mind.
"Nothing useful. It would be helpful to tell me everything you can about Artis though."
"I don't think now is the time for telling tales, Fauna." Amor didn't sound condescending; she was just trying to be realistic.
"I want to get a sense of what her mind is like so I can try to reach out to her," Fauna explained and Amor nodded as a crease appeared on her otherwise forehead.
"So, do we keep walking around aimlessly or do we sit until you are able to reach out to her?" Ava enquired and they decided it would be best to sit.
They took shades in one of the caves just by the entrance of their world and they sat on the stone-cold ground. Fauna leaned her back against the wall and tucked her legs beneath her before she took a deep breath and closed her eyes.
She wanted desperately to be able to find Artis. Mind-link was one of the only things that actually came naturally to her and she really needed to feel like she was something other than a burden or a fairy-tale.
"Artis has been alone for a long time. It was my late father who found her wandering above and brought her in. She was so young, so defenceless. Her parents were killed right before her eyes, but she managed to escape. She found a family here, and even fell in love. However, her partner died on a secret personal assignment. It's been her and her little girl since."
Amor sighed and so did Fauna. She could tell the woman deeply cared about Artis. She could feel the sympathy emanating from her. It was a sad tale indeed. Artis seemed to have a way of always ending up alone and Fauna knew how lonely and scary being alone felt.
She imagined Artis to be a sad but brave person. Someone who was relentless and unwilling to stay broken. Would that last long though? No. Artis would be someone in a mad state at that moment. A mother scared of losing her child. A wild beast functioning on nothing but instincts and adrenaline, unwilling to see reason, unwilling to stop until she had her answers.
Underneath her closed lids, her eyes moved back and forth as she concentrated on opening her mind and reaching further than Amor's worry and Ava's longing to prove herself.
For a moment, she couldn't feel anything. How was she supposed to find someone that wasn't anywhere close to her? She had never tried to reach someone so far away before and she didn't think she could do it, but giving up wasn't an option.
Her face scrunched and relaxed, beads of sweat formed on her forehead, itching to be wiped off, but Fauna didn't move. She didn't twitch and Ava was sure she was holding her breath. A dull ache formed on both sides of her head as she struggled to push past her limit, but that didn't stop her.
Just when she was sure she couldn't try any harder than she was, an idea that she thought was worth it. She took in a deep breath and focused on the cave they were sitting in. Amor and Ava's emotions were overwhelming, but she tried to see past that. She tried to reach for lingering emotions.
She had once seen and felt the past without even meaning to. Perhaps she could do it again.
"I think I got something," she finally spoke up after what felt like hours to the mermaids. Ava eagerly leaned forward as she waited for Fauna to say something. Fauna however quickly stood up without even opening her eyes.
She didn't need her eyes at that moment though. She could feel everything perfectly and it hurt. It hurt so much, she wanted nothing more than to disconnect herself from the mermaid's feelings. She had to be strong though.
"She was here. She was right there." She pointed to the spot beside Amor and the mermaids followed her hand as though Artis would magically materialize out of thin air, but no one was there.