Brave Reborn (OUAT/Peter Pan Fanfic)

Chapter 43

Tinkerbell turned out to be a better nurse for Merida than I expected. She did not treat the baby like a job. She treated the baby like it was her very own. She just loved everything Merida does, adored her and made pleasant conversations, even though Merida was barely a month old. They have the kind of bond a civilization could be forged on. But Tink did not just treat Merida like a show pony. She knew that there was a brilliant brain behind that pretty face. Tink would teach her what things are, like birds or plants. To me, it seemed like she was wasting her time teaching a young baby about things. I almost felt like Tinkerbell expected to take care of Merida forever. She was a great caretaker now, but she would struggle when (or if) Merida grew up.

For that while, everything was perfect. It was like my life was truly complete. At last, I could release my past, let it float away into obscurity. Happiness flowed through me, warming my skin like the rays of an early summer sun. My customary cautious grin exploded into a radiant smile that I had never worn before, not even as a small boy. I would never fear the darkness again because I would never be alone.

I was having a bonfire with the lost boys like we did every other night. I could recall that night so precisely. As the sun went down, the fire became bright and vivid, as though someone had shown a spotlight on it. The intensity and excitement of the flames were like they were dancing in the moonlight. A lake nearby had the reflection of a distant glow, like a bright sun on land. The colors were brilliant reds, oranges, and faint yellows.

The lost boys jumped and scream around the fire as I played my panpipes. Their laughter and shooting filled the atmosphere with hostile delight. Just then I heard a loud rustle of the bushes. I stopped playing and looked around. The lost boys kept dancing regardless of no music.

Suddenly Tink jumped out of the bushes. She walked like a scarecrow more than a woman and all lopsided. Her left eye is swollen, she could not be seeing a thing out of that. Her face still bears congealed blood and her clothes were an utter mess.

 "Tink, nice of you to join the party, but shouldn't you be—"

 "We were attacked!" Tink breathed.

My eyes widened, "What? How? By who?"

 "N–not who, w–what. It was an a–animal attack or something. It got Merida."

Shortage of breath is the first sign. I was breathing but the air just would not go in. Next comes the rising panic, the dizzy feeling. I stepped a few steps backward, bumping into the tree like I was not expecting it. My head rolls with the impact, eyes glazed. My voice comes out thin and distant, "I need to see."

In a flash, I was in the treehouse. The tree house was not just a mess, it was a disaster zone. It looked like a drunken cyclone had erupted in her closet, throwing and destroying her clothes on the floor, then made its haphazard way across to the cradle to did the same. The only clues that this uber-chaos was animal made were the scratches and teeth marks all over the place.

 "Merida!" I yelled over and over. I knew that it was useless. If Merida was alive, then how could she understand the calling of her own name.

From the darkness came the sound of heavy limbs being dragged across the forest floor. Whatever it was, it was massive. Either it dragged its feet or a tail through the undergrowth. It came a cracking noise like bone on wood, or, at least, that is what I imagined it to be—a thick skull crashing into a trunk. This beast was neither lithe or graceful. With blue chattering lips and trembling muscles just sitting there became a non-option. Sooner or later my involuntary noises or my smell would lead this predator right to her. I tensed up ready to spring forwards, to run for my life.

Through the darkness came the glow of two blue eyes, like dull lamplight eight feet off the ground. They moved with a slight sway as if the unseen body prowled like a big cat. I stopped. The eyes did not, with rapid acceleration and a more bounding motion the came right for me. In less than two seconds I was on my back gasping for air.

Then a giggle rolled about the room like a child's spinning top, vibrant and heartwarming as it moved around the people in its chaotic way. It came in fits and bursts—loud to soft to nothing at all and back to loud again.

I looked up to find a giggling baby girl on top of me. I did not know why I found myself laughing so hard, but all of the sudden, I could not stop. My breath came in quick gasps between my unstoppable giggles. Tears gathered in the corners of my eyes, threatening to spill over.

 "You're such a wee scunner! You know that?" I laughed.

I stood up and picked the baby up to carry her. I walked around trying to make sense what happened. Tink would never lie about something this urgent. An animal obviously came in here. But looking at the claw marks on the walls, it could not be any bigger than a baby to make those scratches. But how can something so small make this much damaged? The thought whirled through my brain, trying to put the pieces together.

Suddenly, sharp pain seared through the skin of my finger that Merida was playing with, expelling out blood. I pulled back the finger to examine it. The blood dropped out of the limb and splattered onto the floor. I looked at Merida next. Her fingernails were now black as coal painted with red blood. Then I looked outside. The moon was round and full and glaring through the night for all to see.

 "What am I going to do with you, Mer?" I whispered.

 "Pan!" A voice shouted, interrupting my thoughts.

 "It's all right, Felix. Merida's okay," I called out.

Felix barged through the door. "Tink was right. This place was attacked by an animal. Do you know what it was?"

"Merida," I stated.

 "I thought—"

 "That she would start turning into a bear when she's thirteen? Apparently not."

Felix sighed, "What are we going to do with her?"

 "It's not like Merida meant to do it. She's only a baby. She doesn't know from right or wrong."

 "Which makes her more dangerous. Sixteen-year-old Merida was safer because she knew what she was doing. We don't know anything about shapeshifting into bears. We need to find others who specialize in this."

 "I guess that I have to send Merida away, don't I?"

 "What do you mean?"

 "There is this tribe in the enchanted forest who can shape shift into bears. I'm sure that they would take Merida in."

 "You had a plan this whole time and you did nothing about it? What the hell!"

"In my defense, I knew about this when sixteen-year-old Merida was around. I thought it might help her to control her powers when I first found out. I have forgotten about it for a long time. When I was cleaning up my treehouse when I rediscovered my research."

 "How do you know that they are still alive? Merida arrived in Neverland centuries ago. For all we know, they could be extinct now."

 "They're not, they can't be. They have to be alive. I can check to see. If they are alive, I'll make a visit to see that they could take Merida."

 "Are you going to be okay?" Felix asked. 

 "I will be when Merida is somewhere safe." I sighed, "Then I guess there's just one problem left."

 "And what's that?"

 "How much I'm going to miss her."

I tried to persuade Tink that there was nothing to fear anymore. She was skeptical when I lied about the animal that attacked her was killed. But I probably earned a few more days of her service, which was all I needed. I did not know if it was my skill of persuasion or her fondness of Merida that made Tink stayed in that treehouse.