Valley of Weeds

Chapter Eight [Edited]

Chapter Eight:

"Amur? Amur, wake up! C'mon, Amur, you silly sleepy-head! Wake up!"

Amur groaned and slid open his eyelids. Flower was leaning in close so that her eyes took up most of his view.

"Are you awake yet?" she asked obliviously.

"Nope," Amur replied sarcastically. "I'm sleep-talking."

"Whoa! Cool! One time, I heard my mother sleep-talking! She was saying 'Nylema' or something like that. Nyxema! Yes, that was it! Nyxema. I kind of want to talk in my sleep, just to know what it's like, but I don't know how! I wonder what I would talk about, though!"

"Giant birds," Amur muttered irritably as he got to his feet.

"Giant birds? Why would I talk about those?"

"Just a thought."

"Come on," Cassia headed towards the exit. "I want to take Flower for a walk."

"Oh! Oh! Oh! Can you show me where either of you were born?" Flower begged eagerly. "And I also wanna see where Amur met that macaw! And where either of you caught your first prey!"

Cassia rolled her eyes happily and chuckled. "Alright, alright." She let Flower climb up onto her shoulders, and began walking.

Amur watched them for a second. How could Cassia just not think about her troubling past? She had obviously loved her cubs very much, and it had been such a horrible way for them to go. Why was she not looming over that? She certainly seemed happiest whenever she was with Flower - maybe the cub brought back the feelings Cassia had gotten with her own cubs? Cassia had known Atrista quite well, and Flower resembled her personality to a tee. Maybe that was it.

"Coming, Amur?" Cassia's voice broke his thought process. She was looking back at him from just outside the cave.

"Um, yeah," Amur cleared his throat and nodded. "I - I'm coming."

Flower sighed for the fifth time. "I'm bored," she groaned, flopping around on Cassia's back. "When will we be there?"

"Soon," Amur replied, picking her up by the scruff and placing her back down so that she was sitting up properly.

"How soon?"

"Soon enough."

Flower sighed dramatically, and Amur rolled his eyes. As much as he was growing fonder of the cub, this new affection was never going to replace how much he detested the habits most cubs posessed. They were always so over-dramatic, as if it was the only way for them to gain attention from their mother. That was another thing that ticked Amur off quite a bit. Neediness, laziness, demanding attention, and liars were the worst.

"Is it soon yet?" Flower asked.

"Time will go by faster if you just kept quiet and didn't harass anyone," Amur snapped irritably.

"I'm not harassing anyone!"

"Flower, it really isn't up to you whether something you say or do is annoying or not," Amur narrowed his eyes.

"Who says? There aren't any rules about being annoying!"

"It isn't a rule," Amur gritted his teeth, trying to hold in his anger. "It's a fact."

"It's stupid! Why shouldn't I be able to judge what I do?"

"Because things don't work that way! If you haven't noticed, the world doesn't revolve around you! There are other tigers with feelings and emotion!"

"I know that!" Flower shouted. "I'm not just some stupid cub that you have to bother yourself with! And I'm one of those tigers with feelings, so I'd appreciate it if you'd stop treating me like a pest!"