Valley of Weeds

Chapter Five [Edited]

Chapter Five:

Amur's eyes widened. Standing right in front of him was a tiny male cub. His eyes were sky-blue, like all cubs that age, but there was something about his eyes that was bone-chilling - the pupiles were ghostly white. Draping down from his neck was a deep gash, with blood streaming down his legs and staining his satin fluff.

"A-Axel?" Amur whispered.

The cub stood as still as a statue, staring right up at Amur. After a few moments, the blood stopped flowing, with no reaction from the cub.

"Axel," Amur breathed. He reached a paw out to him, but when he touched Axel, the ghost blew away.

Amur's head shot up, and he looked around. It was still nighttime, unfortunately. Cassia was curled up beside Atha on the other side of the cave, with Flower nestled at her paws. Cassia had fed Flower before they went to sleep, and she appeared to not be as irritable about it as Amur had thought.

Atha had fallen asleep much sooner than everyone else, which was expected. She needed to get her strength back as soon as possible. The sooner they left, the better, in Amur's opinion. Perhaps they would take Flower along.

Amur's gaze fell upon the slumbering cub. Her fluffy pelt gently rose and fell without a sound. He had to admit, Flower certainly was easy to work with once she was tired. She would protest and make excuses, but once her eyelids sagged, she laid her head down and fell asleep. It was a little... cute. Yes, cute, that was what Cassia had whispered.

The gruesome image of Atrista's territory returned to him, and he remembered the tuft of fur he had left with Kysta. Atrista had been her favorite daughter, so it made sense that Kysta should keep something to remember her. But what about Amur? Atrista had been his best friend! Shouldn't he have something as well?

He remembered the severed paw by the stream, and a rash idea came to mind. Without giving it another thought, Amur got to his feet and silently crept outside, careful not to disturb his guests.

She liked birds, Amur raised his head to the larks scattering from the jungle canopy. Especially peafowl. 'Wondrous,' she had called them. 'The Avian Tigers. Look, Amur, they have designs, just like us! We have stripes, and the males have their tail feathers!'

His heart melted as her voice rang in his ears like a phantom's cry. Why couldn't I have seen you one last time, Atrista? One last time before... He sighed. I'll kill Searn one day. I'll kill him for you. I'll kill him for Axel as well.

The bloody smell hit his nose again, and he braced himself for sight as he stepped into the clearing. It was the same, only darker. He noticed the den in the corner. Perhaps he should go in? Just for moment?

It smelled like her to the point where tears formed in Amur's eyes. It was strongest in the very center, so that was where he curled up. He inhaled the familiar fragrance, and was brought back to his cubhood.

Playfighting with Searn...  Axel and Atha cheering his name when he pinned Searn... Spotting Atrista and Cassia... Atrista running over and introducing herself... Eventually finding Axel's motionless body... Blood splattered on the den floor... Smelling Searn on the body... Seeing Axel's fur between Searn's claws... Searn being chased away... Depression... Depending on Atrista... The ice in his stomach melting... Nyxema disappearing... Atrista's depression... Spending every day with Atrista...

Amur's eyes opened before the memory ended. He wasn't going to allow himself to relive anything else.

He went back outside, where he could hear the stream, and was reminded of what he had come for. Following the same trail he had taken before, he soon arrived at the stream. The small ripples in the water reflecting the moonlight would have been quite beautiful, if not for the horrid smell.

The paw was still there, caught on a large rock in the bank. Amur hesitated at first, but leaned over and gently took it in his jaws. He then set it down at his feet. The white fur had been dampened and tousled to a pale grey, and clung to the cold flesh like raindrops to leaves. Amur fought back the tears, and picked it back up.

Amur swept one last pawful of soil over the paw, then swiped a quick glance at the sun rising over the jungle trees before turning around to see Cassia watching him. Her amber eyes were cold and hard, but observant.

"That's Atrista's?" she guessed.

Amur flexed his claws defensively. He knew what would happen.

"You need to let her go, Amur," Cassia told him. "What if Flower finds it? She'll recognize it as her mother's! Not that it'll last forever, anyway."

"Shut up!" Amur snapped. "Who are you to tell me how to live my life?"

"Your friend," she replied, her unhappy tone simmering down.

"I don't need friends," Amur looked away grimly. "I don't need anyone. Every time I get close to someone, I lose them! Axel was my brother, and he was murdered, Searn was close enough to me to be my brother, and he was the one who killed Axel, and he was banished, and Atrista..." His voice was caught in his throat. He cleared it, then continued. "That's one of the reasons I can't keep Flower. I know she's Atrista's daughter, so I should be better to her, but I don't want her winding up as a corpse dead before her time."

"That won't happen," Cassia stepped closer. "She's got you to protect her, and you'll be careful with her. Nothing gets past you!"

"Searn did."

"What was that about Searn?" came Flower's voice.

Cassia and Amur looked to see Flower innocently peering out of the mouth of the cave. "He's the blackheart, right?"

"You told her what a blackheart is?" Cassia hissed at Amur. "Why would you do that? It'll give her nightmares!"

"Oh, it's okay!" Flower told her sweetly. "I don't get scared by much. I'm really really really brave! One time, Fillius told me that there were giant cub-eating birds that sleep all day and are awake at night, and they were gonna come into the den and eat me while I was sleeping! I told him he was just trying to trick me, but guess what!" She lowered her ears mischeivously and prodded the air with her paw. "It did! I'm a ghost! Whooooooooo!"

She giggled gleefully when Cassia gasped and hid her face with her paws, pretending to be terrified. She looked at Amur expectantly, but he didn't even flinch.

"Aw," Flower's shoulders slumped. "Didn't I scare you? I thought I was scary."

"Oh, it's okay, Flower," Cassia reassured her. "You were horrifying! Amur's just a big ol' grumpy stripes who doesn't know how to have fun."

Flower brightened immediately, and went back into the cave to see if the same trick would work on Atha. Cassia looked at Amur and scowled.

"Why didn't you play along?" she asked angrily. "She looked crushed when you just stood there!"

"Firstly, to play along would be getting closer to her," Amur replied bluntly. "And second, there's no point in making her think she can fool anyone, then she goes and tries to scare a hungry leopard."

"She's smarter then that, Amur."

"Oh, is she?" Amur narrowed his eyes. "Is she also smart enough to know that if she actually 'climbed to the very tip-top of a tree, and then saw giant birds everywhere,' like she told me she did, that there actually aren't any giant birds, and that the tree would have bent under her weight?"

"I see what you mean, but there's no point in just destroying her childhood by not laughing at any of her jokes or playing with her."

"Childhood is for learning about life and how to keep it going," Amur started towards the den. "Not thinking that there are giant birds or that trees are indestructible. Come on, it's probably time for you to feed her."