Submission (#5266) Approved

Ever since her trip to the faerie ring in the forest in the outskirts of Silveil, Sunniva had wondered if the Fae had received her message. Things had appeared more calm at the library and none of the usual unsettling things had happened. Maybe the Fae had indeed granted her wish. Sunni went back to her tasks no longer worrying that maybe this place was haunted. In fact, now she believed that whatever might have been here was now gone for good. The air felt lighter in the library and more safe. But let’s be honest that was probably due to them having done their spring cleaning and gotten rid of months worth of dust. But whatever made the little kittom be at peace was a good thing. It made her a lot more productive and not fearful of every creaky sound she heard.

Things were a bit different now that visitors came from all over the continent. It made Sunniva thrive even more as she would meet and converse with people that had lived through all kinds of adventure.  She was learning all sorts of new things about Eyre and she was polishing her new librarian assistant skills at the same time. Whenever people asked for maps she knew a bit more which one’s to give them as well as books on what could be found around the continent of Eyre. But something that never changed was her fear of those green eyes she once saw. Whenever she could, Sunniva would question the guest on their knowledge of creatures that could lurk in darkness but no one really ever had a proper answer for her. Most would just be frank with the small kittom and tell her to “Avoid at all cost”. She wondered if perhaps it was something Miyako was telling them to say. After all she had been the librarian here for so long that she knew most guests and visitors that came. She was always telling the kittom and her dear pomu not to worry that there really was nothing there, simply a figment of her imagination. 

This little adventurous heart however wanted to prove everyone else otherwise. To no avail, Miyako decided to leave the kittom to her own devices, after all she knew that there was nothing to fear. Ever since the library had seen many more visitors and some guests that had been staying for a week or two now, there was a lot more trash than usual. Every night Sunniva was tasked with taking out the garbage and every time she would look in the bushes nearby to see if maybe those eyes she had once spotted could be seen again. She was ready to face her fear that kept her up at night sometimes or gave her nightmares of seeing them over and over again. That night when she took out the trash and left the door slightly ajar, she felt it again something brush past her leg. She also had noticed that something had been rummaging through the trash as of late. The fear took her that Sunni let out such a loud yell and ran so fast that Snowdrop was left behind holding one trash bag and didn’t even acknowledge what had happened but that suddenly she was back next to Sunniva. The kittom was hiding under her blankets, shivering. That night she barely slept and had such torrent dreams and all she could see was what she feared most. Miyako had even tried to calm her down and even sang her lullabies but there was no calming her. 

The next day in the sheer darkness, Sunniva kept watch as she had set a trap to catch whatever was near the trash rummaging through it each night. Through the help of one visitor and Miyako they had fashioned a small trap that would catch whatever Sunni was terrified of or maybe just to put her at peace. The small kittom and her pomu hid in a bush nearby that was illuminated by some mushrooms so that she could see a bit but not frighten whatever would come nearby. They watched but nothing came and at some point the two had cozied up and fell asleep. They slept for a long while but there was no telling how long Silveil was always dark. Sunniva dreamt that she caught one big monster in her trap and that everyone was proud of her. But in reality that trap was so small it probably wouldn’t even catch anything bigger than a small animal. Miyako had an inkling it was probably something of the sorts. But Sunniva on the other hand was convinced it was some big fearful creature. Through her deep slumber she heard a loud snap, it woke her up and before she even knew it she was standing ready to face that thing she had caught. At first she was mortified and wouldn’t even go near it, but her pomu convinced her to go see as after all it was in a trap nothing bad could happen to her now. 

Slowly she got closer and closer and she saw those little glowing green eyes in the darkness and she knew it was what she was looking for. What could this thing be? Was it really a monster or had she implanted that thought in her mind. She took a few more steps getting even closer but she covered her eyes as she was too afraid to even look at it properly. That’s when she heard it make a noise … a cute but harmless little “meow” Sunniva opened her eyes and got even closer as she heard it “meow “ again. Puzzled she got right up to it and it hissed at her. All along it wasn’t some sort of evil monster it was just a CAT ? It was a small cat not yet fully grown that was completely black with green eyes. All this time she had been terrified by just a simple cat. It explained the missing food, the rummaged trash, the things misplaced and some books torn with claw marks. It even explained the few times she felt something brush past her but never saw what it was. Siveil was always night time so something black would just seem like a shadow in the darkness. Disappointed but no longer afraid Sunniva was glad she had conquered her fear even if it turned out to just be a small cat. She decided to bring it in with her and feed it properly after all they had some leftovers it might want. Who knew, maybe now she had a new friend to play with and maybe she could keep it from trying to destroy some of the precious books. After all, the cat was quite cute and she decided to call it Midnight.