Valley of Weeds

Chapter One [Edited]

Chapter One:

The tiger's eyes flashed open, and he lifted his head. What was that? he wondered, stepping closer to the cave's entrance. What a peculiar yet familiar noise it was that had awaken him! Almost like someone out in the storm, calling out. But for what?

There it was again! The tiger squinted out into the rain and erected what was left of his ears. It was a more meager sound that when it first rang out, as if the source was tiring. But it was obvious that the source wouldn't come to the tiger.

Normally, the tiger would have just brushed this off and gone back to sleep, which he tried to do. Unfortunately for him, the sound would not just disappear as easily as he'd hoped.

With a groan, he got back up to look for the source of the noise again. This time, he spotted a faint undersized figure stumbling about not too far away. The tiger shot a look at the weeping sky, contemplating whether getting an answer was worth it or not.

It was. The unsettled curiosity would have been scratching at him all night if he missed it. So, with his decision made, he stepped out. The yowling seemed to have gotten much louder in the last moments, as if the source was demanding attention. The very notion disgusted the tiger. Neediness and dependance were two of the top things that got on his nerves.

When the dark figure was at his feet, the tiger leaned down to examine it. It was a cub! It couldn't have been more than a few months old. What was it doing there? It was coated in mud, and huddled into a ball to keep warm.

The tiger rolled his eyes as he turned to go back inside. Stupid, ignorant cubs. The whelp had probably pulled some juvenile stunt, like gone out 'hunting,' if such a word was fit to describe the cubs' awkward stalking.

The cub wailed for him again, and the tiger gritted his fangs. What did the tiny creature expect? For him to just welcome this... this... trespasser into his cave? For the tiger to feed it a still-warm meal? The cub cried out once more.

Go back, an unfamiliar voice in the back of his head urged. It's just a little cub!

The tiger turned his head back to eye the shivering scrap of muddy fur. How much trouble could it really be, just to find it's mother's den? Surely he wouldn't be gone for more than an hour. He took a deep breath, leaned down, and took the cub in his mouth.

The cub landed on the cave floor with a soggy plop. The tiger got right to work, licking it's soft down clean of the mud. When he was done, he could see that the cub was very light, almost an orange-gold, with large white paws and undermarkings, ending with a deep upside-down V between the eyes.

The cub blinked it's sky eyes open and immediately gasped. She backed to the far wall with her tail between her legs.

"You're... You're..." her words escaped her.

"Yes?" the tiger rushed gruffly. "Well, what is it? Spit it out, cub!"

The cub reached the wall, and shrank into it. "You're A-Amur, aren't you?"

"Yes," the tiger's roan eyes narrowed into slits. "And?"

"Sometimes, tigers passing through our territory tell my mother and I about you. Mother doesn't believe them, but I think what they say about you is scary! They say that you eat cubs! And also that you got your scars because the spirits were mad at you. Is that true?"

Amur eyed the long scar running down his left leg. "Maybe it was just Karma, but nevermind that! What are you doing alone, and at this hour?"

"Well, I was walking home with my mother a while ago, and she suddenly stopped to sniff the air, then told me to go hide, so I hid in a bush. A really big and scary male went up to Mother and started talking to her, and Mother looked really scared. The scary male sniffed the air too, and got really angry, so Mother screamed for me to run, and I did."

Amur wasn't surprised. If a male wanted to mate with a female, but said female already had cubs, then the male would most likely kill the cubs. Amur found this stupid, for if he was a female and his cub was murdered, then the killer wouldn't leave with a head.

"You're lucky you escaped," he told the cub. "And you're even luckier that it was me who found you. There are much worse tigers in this part of the jungle."

"You mean like the scary male?" the cub's ears pricked up.

"Yes. You could have wound up being caught by a blackheart."

The cub tilted her head. "A blackheart? What's that?"

"A tiger who kills cubs for no good reason," Amur explained. "Not that there is any good reason at all."

"Kills cubs? That's so evil!" the cub exclaimed. "Did a blackheart kill a cub you knew? What was their name?"

"Um," Amur shifted around on his feet. "Axel."

"Axel. I like that name. How'd you know him?"

"That doesn't matter," Amur snapped. "What matters is where your mother's den is."

"Oh, well, um," her ears slightly sagged. "That, um, that might be a problem. I... I don't exactly know."

Amur sighed, exasperated. "Fine, we'll go look around. It can't be too far from here."

"But I've been wandering around all night!" the cub whined. "I'm tired! And it's raining out! I'll get sick!"

Whiney, needy, useless scraps. "Alright, alright," an argument was futile. "You may stay the night."

The cub gasped. "Really?!"

"Really. Now, there are a few rules that-"

"Oh, thank you thank you thank you thank you so much!" The cub pressed against his leg gratefully.

Amur pulled his leg back in disgust. "If you're done, I'll show you where you'll sleep."

The cub sat down, which was the only obedient thing she had done all night.

"Good."

Amur stalked over to his moss bed and ripped off a small portion of it. He carried it to the other side of the cave, far away from his own, and laid it down there.

"That's yours," he told the cub. "Do not speak, go right to sleep, do not touch me ever again, and do not disturb me in any other way."

"But I need a bedtime story!" she complained.

"A what?" Amur knew many stories, but he didn't want to tell any to some scrap he had just found in the rain. He didn't even know this cub's name, not that he desired to.

"A bedtime story!" the cub repeated. I won't be able to sleep without one!"

"Not going to happen," Amur laid down on his own bed and shut his eyes. She does expect things from me. Not the things I thought, but luxury is even worse!

"But I-" the tiny voice ceased, probably realizing that Amur wouldn't listen, especially not when his back was to her.

This little scrap reminded Amur of a cub he had met long, long ago, when he himself was a cub. One with large irresistible eyes, lighter fur, big white paws...

Stop it, he reprimanded himself. She's nothing like Atrista. Nothing.

He suddenly felt something wiggling around his back. He looked to see that the cub had brought her bed over and was snuggling into him. He pushed her back, revolted."You. Sleep. Over. There."

Had the rules gone through one of her ears and out the other? Stupid, impetuous cubs.

He assumed his position and placed his paws over where his ears had once been.

"Goodnight!" the cub called, her voice seeping through the cracks in his auditory barrier. "My name's Flower, by the way!"

Amur shut his eyes even tighter than before.