Valley of Weeds

Chapter Ten [Edited]

Chapter Ten:

"Amur!" Flower raced out to greet him. She skidded to a halt when she noticed that Cassia wasn't with him. "Wh-where's Cassia?"

"She, um, she had to go somewhere," Amur avoided her gaze nervously.

"Where?"

"Just to um, well, Flower, she's not coming back."

"What?" Flower gasped with wide eyes. "Why? Why isn't she coming back? Amur, the last time someone said that, I never saw my brother again!"

"Calm down, calm down," Amur knelt to her level. "She... she went to go help take care of Atha. Searn doesn't know a thing about having cubs, so that's why they need her."

Flower looked to be fighting tears. "But.. but... she's my best friend!"

Amur sighed. "I know, I know, and I'm sorry. But we can manage on our own, can't we?"

"I, um, I guess so."

Amur tilted his head. "Hey, I think I know what'll make you feel better!"

Flower's ears pricked up. "What?"

"A bedtime story."

"Yes! Tell me tell me tell me! One about you!" Flower squealed, and followed Amur into the den to listen to whatever he had to tell her about.

Amur's eyes slid open. What? Where's Flower? Her moss bed was empty. Amur jumped to his feet and searched around every inch of the cave, but Flower was nowhere to be found.

"Flower!" Amur called frantically, running outside. "Flower! Flower, where are you?"

Where could she have been? Why did she leave the cave? What if she was found by some male, or worse - Searn came back? A shiver ran up Amur's spine as he imagined what would happen if a vengeful Searn found Atrista's cub, and realized from the similarities between Flower's and Amur's stripe patterns that she was also Amur's daughter.

"Flower!" he called out again. He stepped into a clearing, and spotted three tigers in the middle. One was Flower, who he was relieved to see, but the other two, he never expected to see again.

One was a small, skinny male cub with a white blaze going up his face, and fur nearly the exact shade as Amur's. The other one was a beautiful tigress with long legs, big white paws, and glowing emerald eyes.

"Amur," her voice gently flowed out like music to Amur's ears. "We've come back!"

Amur took a cautious step foreward. "But you're supposed to be-"

"Dead?" the cub asked, his voice light and high-pitched but hauting. None of them reacted, despite the fact that a cub who couldn't have been more than four months old had just said a word with such a grim meaning.

"Yes," Amur replied quietly. "That." He desperately wanted to take his eyes off of them due to how heavy the air sat, but he couldn't. It wasn't that he was physically unable, but he had thought he would never see these tigers again. The cub had gotten his life ripped out and spilled away, and the tigress was brutally ripped apart. Her paw was buried beside Amur's cave! How were they alive?

"Don't fall for this hoax," hissed a thin voice.

Amur whipped around. "Who's there?" he demanded loudly. There was no one to be found. There was a strong blow of the wind, pushing a whisper out from the bending trees.

"Don't be fooled," came their soft warning.

"Fooled?" Amur echoed, confused. "What do you mean?"