Once Upon A Time In Colombia...

Opposed to All Foes

But it instead maddened Oscar, who turned his head and hissed "I was never tired of the domestic life." through his teeth, then he dipped his head back down to the river. Tawney mentally facepalmed and shook his head, making his problem worse. "Fur-brain!"

Oscar laid down at the riverbank. "Y'know, Tawn, the wilderness isn't all that bad. I mean, I made a friend on my first day here, and one month later, we're inseparable." He muttered, not knowing that the mountain lion in question sat down next to him until he turned his head slightly. "But... It doesn't mean I wanna stay here."

Alright, let's try this again...

"I can reason with that. It's not Ignacio's decision to make. It's yours."

"It was also my decision whether or not to stay with the Madrigals when they needed me..."

"Oscar, don't be so hard on yourself." Tawney huffed. "None of what happened to Casita was your fault."

"Literally the opposite of the truth."

As much as Tawney wanted to roar out in frustration, he refrained from doing so, knowing that it's make Oscar feel even worse. Instead of roaring, he took a deep breath through his nose. "Mind if I let you in on a little secret?"

"Of course."

The cougar cleared his throat. "Feeling like you've never belonged anywhere... I've been there before."

"You have?"

"Yes." Tawney said with a nod. "After your father told me to stay away from you, I tried to find some other human civilization. It gets lonely, and boring out here in the wild. It took me weeks... but I finally found one, and by God, I was gonna see if anyone wanted to have a cougar as a pet. I was so proud..."

He paused for a moment. Oscar, curious, leaned forward, eager to hear what happened next, yet also fearing that he knew what was gonna happen next.

"But... it didn't end well. Some people ran away from me on sight. Others ran towards me with spears and other weapons..." The scene replayed through Tawney's mind like a broken record; the men that were clearly stronger than him, with sticks, guns, torches... chaos, to sum it up in one word.

"I learned an important lesson that day." He finally said after several prolonged minutes of silence. "Which was...?" Oscar asked.

"If the world's only gonna see a mountain lion as a bloodthirsty predator, then there's no point in trying to be anything else."

The Bengal's heart broke instantly. But, in all fairness, Oscar felt a similar feeling; if Abuela [in particular] was gonna see him only as a scaredy cat who's afraid of trying new things, then there isn't a point in trying to be brave. However, if being out here in the jungle for a month and a half taught him anything, it's that you can't just run away from your problems.

"Tawney, you are so much more than that." Oscar soothed, putting a paw on Tawney's larger ones. The bigger cat sighed and rubbed his head against Oscar's as a nonverbal thank you for his sympathy. "I've actually been meaning to see if the amazing Madrigals would bring me in... but I was so scared to try... I never bothered to."

"So you face similar problems with me!"

"It would appear so."

"Tawney, I swear on my whiskers, when I'm ready to go back, I'll make sure they take you in. No friend of mine should have to go through what I'm going through. Besides, they're the amazing Madrigals! Fantastical and magical! I'm almost 100% positive that they'll accept you into the family."

Having hope for the first time in ages, Tawney grinned. "Gracias, Oscar. You're a true friend, willing to helping me like that."

A loud snort frightened both cats. Then, from the bushes on the other side of the river, emerged a strange-looking creature. It has a pig-like snout, a large head and shoulders, and small legs with hoofed feet. It has grizzled, black, bristly fur. Tawney took steps backwards, scared. "Oh no... Not you again."