Valley of Weeds

Chapter Thirty-One

A/N: The shortness of the chapters is saddening me. *Hangs head*

Chapter Thirty-One:

Amur, Atha, Kysta, and the cubs came to a halt. Before them was a sight that gave them great relief. It was Kysta's caves of rocks.

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Atha's tongue glided along Bey's spine. "Mother!" Bey wailed. "This is boring!" Her siblings yowled their agreement.

"Just a bit longer," Kysta, who was grooming Flower, told them between strokes. "I want to make sure I get all the rain off."

Flower rolled her eyes. "What do you think, Amur?"

Amur didn't reply. His amber eyes were clouded, his attention buried deep in his thoughts. Flower tilted her head and stepped out of Kysta's grip. The others' gazes were glued to her as she crept towards Amur.

Nahoko slinked in beside her. "Uncle Amur?" He asked cautiously.

Amur's eyes came back into focus. "Huh? oh, um, I... I think... I think Kysta missed a bit of water." He quickly pulled Flower closer and began grooming her briskly to cover up his mental abscence.

"Amur, are you okay?"

"Perfectly fine."

"No you aren't. Right, Nahoko?"

Nahoko nodded. "Yeah, Uncle Amur. What's wrong?"

Amur's eyes narrowed ever so slightly, and he blinked. Flower knew what this meant, and she gave up trying to get words from him. He rested his head on his free paw, and she sympathetically licked the crown of his head and went back to the others.

"What's that mean?" Lysla whispered.

"It means that he's thinking of Cassia, Axel, or my mother."

"Mother told us about Cassia," Flicker replied. "But what does your mother have to do with it?"

Lysla scowled at her. "Flower's mother died, stupid!" She hissed. Flower stiffened as she continued. "Tigers miss their mates if the mate dies! Everybody knows that!"

"My mother wasn't his mate," Flower mumbled and looked at the ground.

"Then why are you with Amur?"

Flower didn't answer. She just went back to Amur. When she stood at his paws, her small face became troubled. "I miss us," She whimpered. She crawled underneath his foreleg so that his paw draped over her like a heavy blanket.

"I miss our cave, and I miss our nests, and I miss Cassia," Tears were gathering at the brims of her eyes. She shut her eyes tightly, and the tears slowly slid down her face. "I miss getting up in the middle of the night and staring outside until you wake up and ask me what's wrong. Then you'd reassure me and we'd sleep all cozy together. And in the morning, you'd go hunting and I'd stay home and joke around with Cassia and laugh until it hurts. And when you'd get back, we'd complain about it being all stringy, but Cassia would cheer us up by eating it in funny ways. That's what I miss, Amur! That's what I want to go back to!"

As she cried, Amur tightened his grip on her. "I promise you," He whispered. "We'll go back to that, I swear. It won't be the same, I know, but we will go back."

"I wish my mother and Cassia were here!" Flower sobbed. "I miss them so much! I want them back!"

"I do too."