I've just found this forum now, and thought that at least someone here might be able to help me interpret a dream I had last night. Any help would be greatly appreciated! (And I apologise in advance for the novel-length post... XD)

The first thing I remember about the dream was of being outside a building with some people who I don't know, but in the dream they were my friends. I don't remember what they look like, but there was a guy and a girl, plus a shapeshifter who could switch between human form and either hawk or kestrel form (I can't remember which it was, but it was definitely a kestrel form later on in the dream). He was currently in his bird form, and one of us (again, I can't remember which) said something to offend him, so he flew away into the building, which was a strange museum/bookshop/coffee shop thing (I don't think my mind could really decide which it was meant to be ).

The others and I tried to find him, and thought that he'd hidden himself amongst the stuffed birds in the museum section (I remember stretching up to look on top of a wooden locker-thing after noticing a wing, and finding a stuffed seagull). I went into another room (by which time the building was now a bookshop and coffee shop), and saw a man with a blanket draped over his head like a hood. Underneath the hood, he looked a little like Seth McFarlane, and I wondered if he was my shapeshifter friend (as apparently he was "played by Seth McFarlane" for some reason - my dreams tend to always be rather bizarre like this!) as I'd never seen his human form before, but then thought that he probably wasn't, and headed into the next room to find my other friends.

Once I found them, I went to ask them if they'd had any luck finding our friend, but I forgot his name, and had to ask them. The guy suggested "Pestrel", but it definitely wasn't that (I still can't remember his name even now, but I clearly remember knowing it at the start of the dream). An old man in the room overheard us and said that our friend was the man under the blanket, and so I went off to find him again. I couldn't go back the same way for some reason, though, and so had to go down some stairs. There were two doors leading to flights of stairs, and the one that I chose went on forever. I'm very nervous of stairs IRL, and so this was torturous for me, but I was determined to find my friend and cheer him up.

Once I'd reached the bottom I realised that it was the wrong staircase, as it led to nowhere. I climbed back up, and halfway up the building suddenly decided that it was a school instead. I could hear someone giving lessons and homework, and I knew that I had to have the study material too. The stairs below me were becoming unsteady, and there were textbooks and lesson handouts on the steps above me. I had to hold onto them to not fall, while at the same time tearing them out to keep. I think I made it out again, as I remember looking at the other stairwell, and then I woke up.

I think the shapeshifter was especially important in the dream for some reason, but I'm not sure why. I remember feeling strongly about needing to cheer him up and find him, and genuinely cared about him during my dream. I even tried to go back to sleep, just to continue the dream, but it didn't work. ;^^ Anyway, I hope someone here can help me figure out the meaning of this dream. Thanks in advance!