"Poof?!" Matchitehew asked.
Damian swallowed, nodding his head he said, "Yes sir. They just disappeared--"
"When are they coming back?" the larger tiger asked impatiently.
"In the spring, sir." Damian answered softly.
"Spring…" He said, "The cub will be a full year old, correct?"
"Yes, sir." Damian answered quickly.
Matchitehew hummed thoughtfully, pacing back and forth while thinking. He hummed once more and then sat back down in front of Damian.
"Once the cub returns we will put our plan forward."
"We, sir?" he said fearfully.
"Yes Damian." He replied, "Everyone is going to participate." But then a smile formed on his face as he looked over at Damian. "Well, everyone except for your brother."
Damian blinked, trying to act confused. "M-my brother?"
"Your dear older brother was getting too big for his shoes." He purred, "We were gonna kill him, but I guess he got away."
Damian tried hard not to look angry at the larger tiger, but it proved useless to even try. Matchitehew came closer to him, looking him in the eye.
"Now, you wouldn't know where your brother is, would you?" he whispered.
"No sir. I didn't even know he ran away." Damian fibbed.
It seemed to work as the bigger tiger scoffed and backed away from him. "Very well. You may go. Come back when the fortune teller reappears. We'll be waiting."
Damian dipped his head quickly and walked as calmly as he could. Once he was out of sight, a young female emerged behind Matchitehew. She sat down as far away as she could, for the larger saber scared the wits out of her. She had much darker fur from any other saber, for her family was from jungle areas, but her bright green eyes were that of a mountain saber.
She cleared her throat quietly. "Y-you wanted to see me… sir?"
"Ah Aiyana, perfect timing. Come closer my dear." He said quietly.
The small saber sat beside him, still keeping her distance from Matchitehew. He took a claw and scratched under her chin, causing her to shake with fear.
"You jungle cats run with amazing speed, yes?"
"Yes sir." Aiyana murmured.
The larger saber nodded, "How would you like to go on a tracking mission for me?"
"And whom would I be tracking?" she replied.
Matchitehew put his paw back on the floor, keeping his eye contact with the younger saber. "You know Aidan, correct?"
Her eyes widened, "Yes. Damian's brother."
"Well, Damian says that he didn't even know Aidan had run off. I know he's lying." He whispered to her. "Track Aidan down, and kill him."
Aiyana's eyes grew even wider.
"Oh, and kill Damian too."
"Sir?" she whispered, "I don't think I can--"
"You're the fastest one in this whole area, my dear. You can kill them both and come back in four days easily."
"They're much larger than me--"
"Attack them by surprise. Slash their throats before they even know you're there. Then take over Damian's job and wait for the fortune teller."
Aiyana looked down sadly, "Yes sir."
Matchitehew laughed silently for a moment and then nodded, "Good. On your way then, jungle cat."
The female got up quickly and ran out of the cave. She ran swiftly, and silently. When Aiyana was finally out of the territory she slowed down and sat by the side of a frozen pond.
"Why me?" she asked the ice angrily. "Out of the whole entire pack why did he choose me to kill Damian?"
Suddenly the answer seemed to pop out of the ice and hit her in the head as she stared at herself. A tear ran down her face as she said, "He chose me… because he knew that I love Damian…"
Avnar sat quietly as he watched Maria focus on a flower bud. Elder Wolf sat beside her, keeping her focused on it. After a minute of nothing Maria huffed angrily.
"I can't do it!" she puffed, causing Avnar to chuckle.
"Try again young saber." Elder Wolf said calmly. "Imagine the flower bud opening before your eyes."
Maria rolled her eyes, but did as he commanded. She looked back at the flower bud, this time relaxing and breathing steadily. All of a sudden the flower started opening, showing bright pink flower petals and yellow pollen on the inside. Maria gasped and jumped up and down.
"Yes! I did it! I can control flowers!" she said in a silly matter.
Elder Wolf nodded and then turned to Avnar. He followed Elder Wolf across the green field, stepping over the still icy grass. Maria followed them until they came to another flower bud, this one blue.
"Your turn, Avnar. Focus on the flower."
Not another second had passed before the flower showed its beautiful insides. Maria rolled her eyes as Avnar gave her the "I-can-do-it-better-than-you-can" look.
Elder Wolf nodded in approval. "Very good, Avnar." As they went into the forest he said, "We will work on controlling, not just flowers, but vines, trees, grass, all plant life. Once you have that down, we may go home."
Maria glanced at Avnar, who was thinking the same as he glanced at her. Finally, home sweet home.
"Wow, can you believe it?" Maria asked softly. "We're gonna go home soon."
Avnar hummed thoughtfully in reply, watching a few geese swim across the pond. Maia raised an eyebrow and sat beside him.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"Oh, nothing." He replied.
They were quiet for a moment. Then Maria got an idea.
"I know what's wrong with you." she said playfully.
"Nothing?" Avnar said sarcastically.
"Nope." She said. "You need to play."
Avnar looked at her strangely, backing up as she got down in a crawling position. "No. No playing."
Maria shook her head as she started stalking him. He backed up until his rear was up against the willow tree.
"No. Bad kitty! Stay kitty! Stay!" he pleaded.
"Too late, pup." She teased.
Suddenly Avnar bolted, with Maria hot on his tail. He ran through the tall grass in a nearby field, running in zigzags to keep Maria away. It helped for a while until he lost sight of her. Avnar looked around, trying to see where she was in the grass. Abruptly he was attacked and pinned down by the saber herself. Avnar struggled desperately under Maria's grip.
"Okay, okay. You got me."
"Are you gonna play now?" she asked.
Avnar blushed, "Depends on if you're gonna let me up or not." He whispered.
Maria blinked. Slowly she got the picture and started turning red herself.
"And what if I don't?" She asked slowly, noticing how close their faces were.
"I don't know." Avnar answered awkwardly.
They stared at one another for a moment before Maria finally got off of Avnar, if rather clumsily. They sat away from each other, not looking at the other until Avnar cleared his throat.
"It's getting dark." He said quietly.
"Yeah." Maria answered, still not looking at him.
The wolf cleared his throat again, "I… I guess I'll take up on that offer tomorrow."
Maria smiled. "Sure. Tomorrow."
"Okay… well, good night." He said quickly.
Maria nodded, "Good night, Avnar." She replied.
The wolf stood for a second, but then decided that Maria would come after he had left. He went through the grass, running shortly after he had gotten out of it.
Maria chuckled quietly as she watched him run into the wood. She shook her head, calmly stating, "Damn that was awkward."
R&R! I need to know what you guys thought about that chapter! Answer honestly if there was something you didn't like about it! TTYL!