Valley of Weeds

Chapter Thirty-Three

Chapter Thirty-Three:

Flower blinked away her tears as she raced through the trees, her legs proving surprisingly fast for being so short.

"He lied to me," She breathed. "He's my father, and he never told me. No one ever told me. My mother didn't tell me, Kysta didn't tell me, Cassia didn't tell me, but they knew!"

She didn't notice the rock in front of her until it sent pain shooting up her leg like lightning. Her legs flew out under her and she hit the mossy ground. She lifted her face from the damp soil.

"Stupid rock," She muttered under her breath.

She carefully lifted herself up. Her paw throbbed with every heartbeat. She couldn't keep going like this, so she looked around for a place to seek refuge. She spotted a nearby cave, and a smile almost formed.

She limped over to examine it. She sniffed around, and detected a few scents, one of which dampened her spirits to the point where she wanted to find a different place to stay. But she knew better.

It was her and Amur's old home. She limped to the far corner - her 'father' was the last scent she would want to fall asleep to. This corner brought back memories.

She laid down, grateful for the conveneint haven, and rested her head, inhaling Cassia's faint scent. This was where she had slept before... before...

Flower thought about Cassia a lot since IT happened. The departed tigress was the closest thing she had had to a mother, and also her best friend, and she was gone. Her scent was a comforting one to close one's eyes to.

-----

"Flower?"

Flower didn't budge.

"C'mone, sweetie. Don't you remember what we have planned for today?"

"No."

"We're going flower hunting, silly! You wanted to find out how many we could find."

Flower groaned and rolled over. "Five more days, Mom!"

Her eyes flashed open. Did she just say 'Mom?' She had heard this conversation before.

"C'mon, Flo! We've been sleeping all night!" Came a new, young voice.

Flower looked up and gasped. It was Atrista and Fillius!

"Finally, you're up!" Her brother hopped in place excitedly. "Let's go!"

"Oh, no, my little hunter," Atrista nuzzled his head. "Not you.  You need to stay inside today. You're sick."

"No I'm not!"

"Yes you are."

"Can't I just have one game of hunt with Flo?" Fillius pleaded.

Atrista shook her head, and Fillius sighed and sat down. Atrista turned her attention back to Flower. "Come on, Flower," She smiled good-naturedly.

Before Flower could give a reply, the den was engulfed by a salmon-coloured mist. Atrista and Fillius began fading away.

"No! Mother! Fillius!" Flower protested.

The mist thickened, but she could still hear her mother's voice. "Flower," Atrista sounded slurred, as if she was crying. "You have to understand... Fillius can't wake up."

Flower's eyes widened as the mist slightly parted to reveal Atrista and a younger version of herself. She briefly caught sight of her mother weeping dreadfully before the mist thickened once more.

"What's going on?" Flower shouted. She turned around in search for answers, and spotted a gap in the mist. She ran through.

She was suddenly walking with Atrista in a small field of bushes. She knew this place... It was the day that she was separated from her mother! Atrista was tasting the air. She looked at Flower with wide eyes. "Hide!"

Without thinking, Flower dove into one of the bushes on her left. A second later, a huge battle-scarred male approached Atrista.

"Ah, Atrista," His voice flowed out smoothly. "How nice to see you again. Tell me, my dear, how have you been?"

"What do you want?" Atrista sneered.

"Just to ask you a simple-" He stopped in mid-sentance. "You smell like cubs and milk." He sniffed again. "And him!" Ahe started backing her to the bushes. "You had his cubs, didn't you?! You had that backstabber's cubs!"

Atrista looked at the bush Flower was hiding in. "Run!" She screamed.

Flower spun around and ran as fast as she could. "Wait a minute," She came to a halt, and went back. She had to know what happened, she had to know-

They were gone. Instead, she was staring at a different male. This one had ripped ears and a long scar going from his left shoulder blade all the way down to just above the paw. He was licking a muddy bundle clean. He stopped, and the bundle squeaked.

It started backing up. "Y-you're, you're,"

"Yes? Well what is it? Spit it out, cub!"

"You're A-Amur, aren't you?"

The scene was enveloped by the mist once more. Amur had taken her in, protected her from the monster that killed her mother! The task had been dangerous, resulting in Cassia's death, and Amur and Kysta were risking their own ives as well! How could she have run from him when all he was trying to do was protect her from a psychopath?

"Amur!" She wailed. "I want Amur!"

She stopped. Standing in front of her were five figure; two grown tigresses and three cubs. One by one, she recognized them.

"Mother, Cassia, Fillius," She named them slowly. She looked at the other two cubs. "You look sorta like Amur, and you, you look like m-me!" She paused. "Axel? Nata?"

All five of them stared back at her. They weren't frozen, just still - very, very still. Another one, an adult, began to form, it's features slowly becoming recognizable. Long muscular legs, broad shoulders, amber eyes...

"Amur!"

-----

Her eyes shot open. In front of her stood a huge male tiger. He threw his head back in laughter.

"Hello, little cub," Searn sneered.