"I wish I had answers, Fauna, but I don't," Saber's voice sounded in Fauna's head and she sighed.
"So, what do we do now?"
"You can create a mind-link and tell father we need to set up a council meeting right now."
Fauna had to be the one to set up the link because while other werefolks could only telepathically communicate with members of their species that they were in close proximity to; Fauna could communicate with anyone and from a wider range.
She closed her eyes and thought of Lord Bruce and his strong and dominating aura. Everyone's mind was different, like their personalities, and Fauna knew Lord Bruce well enough to recognize his mind amongst all the weretigers that were in their clan.
"I apologize for the intrusion, Lord, but there was a break-in. Ari managed to get into the clan and he threatened the lives of everyone here. You need to set up a council meeting now, Lord. Saber and I are on our way."
She could sense Lord Bruce's rising anger at the words she put into his head. She could feel him struggle to keep calm, something which was especially difficult, seeing as weretigers were known for their fits of rage.
"Are you hurt?" Beneath the anger of their leader and Saber's father was concern. Fauna was like a daughter to him and he would die before he let anything happen to the girl.
"We're safe. He came to bargain. He said if I don't return to his pride, there will be consequences."
The mind-link soon ended and Fauna, along with her best friend walked slowly into the throne room where Lord Bruce, along with a handful of other tigers were already waiting impatiently for their arrival. As usual, the council was made up of Soldiers, Sniffers and Scouts. The Hunters are usually out gathering food – the duo had run into one who was teaching a cub to hunt – while the Helpers and the Healers were in their respective quarters taking care of the cubs and the injured.
A Helper stayed behind, almost invincible behind the throne. She sat on the floor, waiting to be called and when she smelt Saber, the small woman stepped towards him, her head bowed and she draped a fur coat around his shoulders as he shifted back to his human form.
The throne room was large with a huge throne made out of bones and hide sitting at the far opposite of the door, a smaller throne beside it, but Saber didn't walk to take his place beside his father. The other tigers were standing around the throne in a semi-circle that parted, allowing Saber and Fauna to step forward and bow to Lord Bruce in respect.
Lord Bruce was a big and bearded tiger. One of the biggest and one of the strongest. His strength was only matched by the head of the Soldiers Bone who was also present in the council. Like the rest of the tigers, Lord Bruce had violet eyes, and his black hair was long and wild and it only gave him a more terrifying look.
He was stern and sometime perceived as cruel, but Fauna knew he had a big heart. He had after all risked everything to save her from Ari when he didn't even know who she was.
Fauna had another special ability. She was able to sense the emotions of those that were around her, and to an extent, she could fill people with a false sense of calmness when the need be. That was the reason all the tigers in the clan had not ripped off one another's heads.
In that moment, she could sense paranoia and unease. Most of the tigers were just a tick away from morphing and losing total control of their minds, and the last thing they needed was mindless and enraged tigers. They would kill anything in their path... Either that or eventually cause their own death when they start a fight they cannot win.
"We were informed that you ran into Ari," a tiger spoke. He was Ryker. Ryker was the head of the Sniffers, and he was also the most paranoid tiger in the council. Nothing got past him as he always made sure to double and sometimes triple check everything.
The man was a head shorter than Saber, and not as bulky. He was a lean toned man with a narrow nose and his long brown hair tied upwards. He had the strongest nose in the clan and he was also wicked fast, but when it came down to fighting, he was practically useless.
"I don't see how that is possible. I had my best Sniffers guarding the borders today. Surely, one of them must have picked up his scent." Ryker shook his head, but he knew they were telling the truth. He could smell the stench of the lion that lingered around them.
"Perhaps you need to train your Sniffers better," Hailey, an albino tigress and the head of the Scouts jeered. Her words caused most of the tigers to scowl at her, for no reason other than the fact that she's a woman.
"Nonsense! My Sniffers have the best snouts in the clan. The best!"
"Enough!" Bone snaps. "We need to focus more on how to deal with the obvious threat," Bone finally spoke up.
Bone held a staff in his hand. Fauna didn't really understand why he walked around with the staff as he had no leg injuries, but she never dared to question the bulky man whose dark skin was littered with scars from fights he had received.
The werefolks had the ability to heal themselves without leaving the faintest of scars, but they sometimes occurred and that was when injuries were being inflicted faster than the body could heal it. It took a lot of energy for a werefolk to heal themselves and if that energy was spent, healing would take a lot more time and would often result in a scar.
"As always, you speak wisely, Bone," Lord Bruce addressed. "He threatened the lives of our people and he needs to pay for it."
"I suggest we take the fight to him," a Soldier suggested and a lot of tigers cheered in agreement, but Hailey wasn't fond of the idea.
"That would be idiocy. Lions are the best fighters known to werefolk. They are the best at strategizing and working together. They'd kill us before the fight even gets the chance to begin."
"Tigers are the biggest and largest cats to walk the planet," another tiger spat out as he took a menacing step towards Hailey.
Fauna winced in pain as she could feel the calm she had over the room slip and threaten to snap. The tigers were afraid, and they couldn't deal with the fear so they converted it to rage. Rage wasn't ever a good thing. Her legs gave way and she fell on her knees, huffing and puffing as she struggled with all of her mental power to spread positivity through the room.
"I don't see why we can't just hand the girl over to him. He seems to think she's useful for some re-" Before Felix – an irrational Soldier – could complete his sentence, Saber had already rushed to him and had yanked the smaller man off the floor.
The man shivered in fright as he knew that Saber was more than a pretty face, he was also a fierce fighter, trained to kill before he could properly walk. When Fauna saw fur extracting from the young tiger's skin, she snapped her eyes shut and tried to radiate a sense of calmness to him.
She knew it wouldn't last, but the brief clarity was more than enough for Saber to let the man fall to the floor and stop himself from morphing.
"We are not handing Fauna to the lions, and if you utter such sacrilegious words again, you will be beheaded!" Saber spat out, then he turned to his father. "Have I spoken within my rights, Lord?"
"Indeed, son! To speak such, Felix, is treason, and it will not be tolerated."
"Spoken wisely, Lord Bruce." Zara clapped. Zara was a very short tigress and she was also a Soldier, much to a lot of tiger's anger.
Many tigers didn't believe females should have roles in hunting or fighting and they should be limited to bearing young ones and tending to the cubs and the injured. Zara's attitude didn't help matters either. The small tigress – very small, some compared her height to that of a four-year-old cub – was always joking about something and didn't seem to know when to keep her wit to herself.
At first glance, Zara appeared harmless, but the young woman was as ferocious as she was witty. She had flaming red hair that fell around her round face, and she smiled cheekily at Lord Bruce who regarded her with furrowed brows. She was wearing a brightly coloured gown which was made from sheep's wool and just beside her lips, a tattoo of a red heart which she got from her time spent in the human world.
"I think there's a lot of testosterone in this room, and that's the reason things never get done correctly, don't you agree with me, Hailey?" She grinned at Hailey who nodded and most of the other tigers in the room snarled at her.
Fauna had to strain to keep the calm she was spreading to all the tigers intact, but she could swear the short tigress was purposely trying to piss everyone off. She had a knack for doing that.
"Now, listen to a wise and calm tigress speak. My lord, if I may, I believe the reason Ari was able to get into our clan is because there is a traitor in our midst. A dirty, stinking conspirator, and who knows? He may even be here right now."
"Impossible!" A tiger spat. "No one would betray his own species."
Arguments broke out and everyone struggled to be heard above the other, this led to pent up frustration, and Fauna watched in anger as tigers broke free from the peaceful aura she was trying to spread around them, choosing instead to try to rip each other apart.
She turned to Saber who just stared at them, not even bothering himself with interfering. It was in that moment she decided she had had enough.
"STOP IT!" She screamed atop her lungs and much to her surprise, everyone stopped and turned to her, some were halfway in their morphing process. "A war is at hand and rather than come up with strategies to protect our territories, you all choose to fight like cubs? Really? Is this how you expect to take down Ari? You're all pathetic!"
Fauna sighed and stood up from the floor. She wanted to walk away, but she knew it would be disrespectful to do so when the council was ordered by Lord Bruce himself.
"Fauna is right," Lord Bruce addressed. "I know it is hard living in a clan and looking after people, but you all have to learn to do it. The number of weretigers are dwindling drastically and we need the strength in numbers."
"My Lord, if I may?" Saber turned to his father who nodded. "Ari is highly intelligent and we cannot make the mistake of underestimating him. I do not want to believe there is a traitor in our midst, but that is a possibility we have to prepare for. We do need to attack him and his pride, but Hailey is right to say lions are the best at strategizing. It would be idiocy to walk into their pride without a plan. Moreover, they easily outnumber us."
"Why doesn't Fauna just go, get the training, become a strong shapeshifter and destroy them from inside?" A tiger suggested and earned a growl from Saber that made him cower back into the shadows.
"I thought about that, I'll admit." Lord Bruce nodded and Fauna stared at him, her eyes wide with disbelief. "However, Ari would break her if he laid his hands on her. He's not stupid. He'd break her so she would serve him and him alone, despite all the power she amasses."
"If I may suggest," Bone hit his staff against the floor to draw attention to himself. "I'd say the Scouts work twice as hard to find solitary tigers and bring them into the clan to increase our numbers, the Sniffers double the patrol and the Soldiers train thrice as hard."
Murmurs broke out in the large throne room. Some agreed with Bone, while others thought they already worked themselves to their limits.
"Do you know how tasking it is to bring in a solitary tiger?" Hailey snapped. "They are wild, unthinking beasts that would try to kill anything that approaches them. We Scouts have to proceed with caution to avoid getting killed."
"Bone is right," Lord Bruce decided. "We need more tigers, and we need you all to be stronger, and we also need to keep anyone who isn't a tiger out of our borders. My decision has been made. You all may leave. Fauna, Saber, Bone, Hailey and Zara, stay behind."
No one dared object to Bruce's decision. While the tigers generally hated the idea of being led by someone, they knew Bruce could be as ruthless as he was patient, and crossing him was asking for a death sentence. Reluctantly, the other tigers left the throne room.
Bruce turned to the Helper that was seating on the floor behind his throne and gestured for her to leave the room. She nodded and bowed to him before she quickly exited, leaving the six alone.
When Lord Bruce was sure that they couldn't eavesdrop on their conversation anymore, he beckoned the others to come closer to him and they were quick to obey him.
"While I do not want to believe there may be a traitor in our midst, we also have to be careful. While the safety of Fauna and every member of this clan is involved, I shall take no risks. You are the only ones I trust."
"Aww," Zara cooed as she placed a palm over her heart. "You trust me. Hear that?" She nudged Hailey. "I'm trusted."
Hailey snared at Zara, but Zara waved her off, not looking the least threatened by the taller and broader tigress.
"I want to hear your suggestions. What do we do to keep her safe?" Lord Bruce continued and everyone furrowed their brows as they tried to come up with ideas, but Fauna already knew what she wanted.
"I wish to learn to fight. I cannot always depend on others to keep me safe from harm." Her voice was stern and though she feared being taken as a joke, she kept her emotions from her face.
The others were surprised as the young girl had never displayed any interest in fighting. She instead loved to hang around with the Helpers. Zara furrowed her brows, then she smiled at the girl and nudged her lightly.
"Finally, another girl I can brawl with. It's going to be epic."
Saber looked unsure. While he knew that the girl was right to want to know how to defend herself, he couldn't bear to think of her out in the fighting arena taking blows and hits. He also liked knowing she could always count on him to keep her safe, and while he knew it was selfish, he felt if she learnt to fight, she would have no use for him anymore.
"Fauna, are you sure about this? Fighting is not for everyone, you know?"
"I do know." Fauna nodded at Saber. The action caused her hair to bounce around her face. "However, I must admit that Ari was right. I am just a step away from being a lowly human."
"You allow the words of a psycho lion get to you?" Hailey raised her brows, her pink eyes showed disbelief, Bone hummed.
"The child is wise to fight. I saw her and a cub brawling playfully... The cub won."
Fauna cast her gaze downwards at Bone's words. He was right. She had the strength of a cub and the speed and reflexes of one also. She was weak and pathetic. Perhaps Ari was being honest when he said the tigers were not equipped to teach her to be a great shapeshifter because whenever anyone talked about her kind, they always noted how powerful and mighty they were.
She was neither powerful nor mighty.
"It is settled then. Bone, I entrust Fauna into your paws. You are to teach her to fight, and maybe, just maybe she'll finally morph into her beast form." Lord Bruce nodded and Fauna spared him a small smile.
It was her dream to morph. She wanted to run through the forest with the speed of an animal while she felt the sand slip between her paws. She wanted to go hunting and watch the prey flee when they caught sight of her powerful being. She wanted it more than anything in the world.
"However, Ari's threat still persists. What exactly are we to do to avoid an attack?" Hailey wondered out aloud and Lord Bruce sighed.
"I don't have all the answers. However, we will prepare and strengthen our clan. When the time comes to change the plan, then we will." Lord Bruce then turned to Fauna. "Today, you will spend time with your friends, tomorrow, your training begins." The young girl nodded at him excitedly. "You are all dismissed!"