Valley of Weeds

Chapter Twenty

CHAPTER TWENTY

"They're so cute!" Flower whispered excitedily.

"Beautiful," Kysta breathed, breaking into a grin.

The tiny cubs at Atha's belly squeaked as they wiggled and squirmed to climb over eachother. Flower giggled hysterically in the corner.

-----

Amur's ears twitched as Flower's delighted squeals peirced his sensative ears,as they traveled from the den. 'Why can't cubs be quieter?'

Cassia had been gone for about a week now; an entire week of a sorrowful Amur having continuous nightmares of his friend's death.

'Her dulling eyes, enlarging pupils...' He shuddered.

'Get ahold of yourself,' He blinked the images away and straightened his incorrect posture. 'If you can't stop thinking about her, then you're in no shape to guard a couple tigresses and some cubs.'

He gritted his teeth together as more squealing sounded.

'Some noisy cubs,' He silently added.

Atha mumbled something, and Flower gasped. "Really? You mean it?"

Atha's quiet voice came again, and Flower rushed out of the tree trunk. "Amur! Amur! Amur! Amur! Amur! Guess what! Guess what, Amur! Guess what!"

"Calm down," Amur flattened his ears crossly. "Before you collapse."

"Right," Flower nodded excitedly. "But please, just guess what!"

Amur rolled his eyes and opened his jaws to speak.

"Nevermind! You're too slow!" Flower interrupted him. "So, Atha says we can each name one of the babies! Isn't that great?"

She began prodding him with her tiny orange paw. "Huh? Huh? Isn't it? Isn't it?"

Amur tilted his head. "Um, yes, it is-"

"C'mon, Amur! You're so slow! We gotta go inside and see them! C'mon, Amur! C'mon!"

Amur sighed and nodded. "I'm coming. And by the way, you can speak as quickly as you can, but it'll never be enough to make me go faster."

Flower puffed air from her nose in a cheeky response, then scampered inside.

-----

"Which one're you gonna name, Amur? And what about you, Kysta?" Flower repeatedly turned her head to look at each of them.

"Careful, little one," Kysta warned. "If you keep turning your head like that, you might fly up and away like a sycamore seed."

"But sycamore seeds flutter down!"

"They used to go up."

"They did?" Fliwer asked with big, round, curious eyes.

"Yes, little one," Kysta nodded in a pretend-serious manner. "But then, one day, a giant bird appeared above the canopy and cawed at them. The seeds were so scared, they decided to go down from then on, so they'd never have to risk facing that vicious, giant bird ever again."

-----

Amur was watching the cubs too intently to pay much attention to Kysta's story.

'Why are there still four?' He wondered. 'I thought that there is always one that is too weak.'

An idea fluttered in his mind as he spotted the smallest cub - a runt.

'Axel, are you watching over this cub?'

Axel had been the runt despite his short-lived survival. There was a legend that stated that deceased runts watched over the present-day runts from the heavens. There was another reason as well, though. The litter had a cub with a slightly bigger and stronger build than the others, and had white fur. Tigers born with white fur were very rare in the tiger world, thus deemed to be special.

It was said that the first white tiger brought the clouds, therefore bringing the rain. Of course, there were many who were skeptical of this. Some thought of white tigers as good luck, while others thought of them simply as cats born with a lack of pigment. There were also some - of the vast minority - who thought of white tigers as the brigers of bad luck.

"So, which one are you gonna name, Kysta?" Fliwer asked once more.

"I'm not sure, Gyka," Kysta replied softly. "Perhaps we should let Atha choose."

Flower nodded and looked at Atha.

"I think you should name the first one," The young mother told Kysta. "You're known for coming up with creative names, and I want you to honor my only son with one."

"Thank you, dearie," Kysta smiled.

She bent down and sniffed the only male's fuzzy, reddish fur.

"Hmm," She lifted her head back up. "Well, I've always liked the name Nahoko."

Atha smiled and nodded. "I like it. Thank you. And Flower, if I don't let you name one, I fear you may explode. What name do you have, sweetheart?"

"The super pretty orange female!" Flower cried, hopping up and down excitedly. "I wanna name that one!"

"Now, now, Flower," Kysta flattened her ears. "What did I say?"

"Oops," Flower lowered her head apologetically. "Sorry."

Atha dipped her head in forgiveness. "It's okay. I was going to pick that one for you, anyway."

Flower smiled. "I wanna name her Lysla."

Amur's tattered ears pricked up as Atha praised the cub's decision.

"Marvelous," Atha murmured. "You've inheirited Kysta's knack for names."

Flower smiled wider as the rims of ger ears turned rosy.

Atha dipped her head in further praise, then turned to Amur. "Amur?"

Amur looked up from the cubs. "May I name the white one?"

"Certainly," Atha nodded at said wealp.

Amur knelt down to gaze at the cub closer with gentle, loving eyes.

"Bey," His voice was soft.

"Bey?" Flower echoed, her head cocked to the side.

Amur nodded as he got back up. "As in bey leaves."

"I like it," Atha smiled.

Amur looked at her. "Thank you. What about the last one?"

Atha looked down at the runt.

"Flicker," She replied. "For the flickering shadows between life and death that her heavy stripe pattern represents. I didn't know that she would last this long, and I am now confident in her survival."

Kysta closed her eyes. "Bless her heart. Angels are guiding her path."

Amur blinked at the closeness of the group, and his ears twitched uncomfortabley.

"Excuse me for a moment. I need to step outside."

Atha nodded, dismissing him.

-----

Amur stepped out and quickly stumbled away from the birthing den.

'Take deep breaths,' He advised himself. 'What's happening? Tigers aren't supposed to have strong bonds like this!'

He huddled at a large crack in the stone wall. 'How did I get wrapped into this? All I ever wanted was a solitary life.'

He gazed at the elegant silver moonlight streaming through the cracks. 'It must be nighttime. I need to get Flower and go.'

-----

"Flower, come on."

"What? Why?"

"It's nighttime. As cute as the babies are, you still must sleep. Let's go."

"Oh, um, alright," Flower turned to the tigresses. "Goodnight."

She scampered out of the den after Amur.