"How long have those two been gone?"

"You really want me to answer that question, Val?"

Valiente has been pacing for the past twenty minutes, with Morada and Cinco trying their best to get her to cool down. Literally. Cold-blooded animals can't regulate their own body temperature like mammals can.

"I don't care if YOU answer it, I just want my question answered!" Valiente snapped. "Cinco, water."

The hyena sprayed water on his sister's head, cooling her off almost immediately. She sighed before Morada decides to answer her sister's question. "Val, they've only been gone for an hour and a half." She said. The cobra glanced at the window for a moment. "Oh... Not a lot can happen in an hour and a half, right?"

Morada and Cinco shared a worried glance. Although not verbally answering, their worried looks spoke for themselves. "I don't know... Antonio said I made the right choice to trust Ignacio, but... I still don't..." She trailed off. "Hey, it's okay. I get it. It's not easy trusting a past enemy. And I know you, you don't trust others very easily." Morada said. "But, honestly, I think he was telling the truth."

"Yeah. He's not an atom. He doesn't make up everything." Cinco joked, trying to bring some light into the situation. It got a laugh from Morada, but a hard glare from Valiente. "Cinco, I'm serious! I'm worried sick about my hermanito!" She hissed.

"And you think I'm not worried about my ONLY brother, either?!" Cinco barked, his nose pressing against Valiente's as the two growled at each other. It only lasted for a few seconds, though, when Morada broke the two up. "And I'm worried about my novio. But arguing about it isn't gonna solve anything." She said softly as to not anger them any further. Cinco sighed, "You're right. I'm sorry, hermana."

"Don't be. Let's just hope Oscar and Ignacio come back with some good n—"

A howl, most likely one from a cat, a clap of thunder, and a cougar roar rang out throughout the house simultaneously. "What in Colombia...?" Valiente muttered, confused at all of the noise. There was only one way to find out.

The three animals came out from the kitchen and saw something catastrophic. Ignacio came back, but not with an uninjured Oscar like they hoped. This Oscar was covered in what appeared to be bite marks, bruises, small spots of dried blood, and quite possibly a slightly disfigured skull. He now stood in a gaunt posture just like his father.

Surely enough, it was no question where the noises came from; The roar definitely came from Tawney, who had Ignacio pinned down, and the thunderclap undoubtedly came from none other than his aunt Pepa, who held the injured cat in her arms like it was made of glass. And the howl must've been a surprised howl from Ignacio by being pinned.

The fray only got worse from there.

Valiente's first instinct was to launch herself at the older feline and attack him like she did before, but Morada was holding her tail to prevent her from doing so. Of course she was overly concerned for her boyfriend, but she almost never resorted to violence quickly like her serpentine sister does. And Cinco was rendered speechless, ears drooping and whining every few seconds.

"I didn't do anything to him, I tell you!" Ignacio wheezed from the massive paw on his chest. "Do you really expect me to believe that?" The cougar hissed. Oscar made another attempt to talk, but it came out as moans and squeaks. Tawney turned to him. "What was that?"

"He... telling... truth..."

"He is?"

Oscar could only nod.

"Oh..." He stepped off of Ignacio so he could breathe and stand up. "We can explain everything. But first he needs something from Julieta before he isn't able to talk at all." Ignacio said huskily.


Back in the kitchen, Abuela Alma, Julieta, and all six animals were gathered. By now, Oscar's injuries were fully recovered thanks to his aunt's arepas. "So let me make sure I'm understanding the problem here..." Valiente started, confused. "You're saying that a pack of wild dogs are living out there, and had the audacity to dam up the river that passes through here?"

"Oh yeah. They think dogs are better than cats, too." Oscar said. It made Ignacio feel much better than his 'son' could finally speak a coherent sentence again. "Nope. Not true." Cinco said, shaking his head. "That's what I told their leader. But no, can't talk any sense into any of their thick skulls." Oscar replied.

"They think they can do whatever they want with no repercussions." Ignacio added.

"Probably American." Valiente commented.

"Hey, does anybody wanna talk about how dry this place has gotten?" Cinco asked. "While you two were talking it out with these dogs, I had to try and water everyone's crops. That took forever, even with Luisa's help. Now I have Fuerza taking refuge in my room because there hasn't been any water for him to quench his thirst on."

Oscar folded an ear. "Is that so?"

Valiente nodded. "I had to ask him to spray me with water, too. And today I learned that Fuerza is terrified of snakes. He saw me, and he yelped out on fear."

"If I remember correctly, I had a similar reaction when I saw you for the first time." Oscar said, beaming at the reminiscence of meeting his crush. Kind of like how his tío Félix gets golden retriever energy when him and Pepa's wedding day are brought up.

", you did, but you weren't really scared of me."

"True. Anyway, these dogs are worthy adversaries." Oscar said, bringing up the more current situation. "I took on the five of them and held my own for about two minutes before I had my butt handed to me. That was when Ignacio saved my life. If it wasn't for him, I'd have been dead right now."

The older cat huffed. "It wasn't as heroic as it sounded." He muttered. "What do you mean by that?" Cinco asked. Ignacio didn't feel comfortable with the storytelling of the most traumatic decision he's ever made, the leap that led him down a waterfall being a very close second. But they needed to know.

He inhaled, nervous, before he spoke. "Well, one of the middle aged dogs had Oscar's head pinned to the ground and slowly pushed sown harder. Their leader gave me a choice; promise to leave their domain and never come back, or have my son's blood splattered. And of course, I couldn't have the latter." Poor Ignacio trembled at the memory. "So hoping that Oscar would somehow formulate a plan, I went with the 'let my son live and I'll do whatever you want' choice."

The room remained silent for a few minutes as everyone took the information in.

"You know, when you two left, Antonio said I made the right choice to trust you. And, I'll admit, I had my doubts. We all did." Valiente said.

"And now?" Ignacio asked.

"I'm glad you were there with him." Tawney said. "Otherwise he would've been dead."

"Thank you, old chum. But..." Ignacio trailed off. "I don't... deserve... to be trusted. Not after everything I put everyone through. Especially my son."

"Oh, nobody— NOBODY here said they trusted you." Tawney pointed out, which only earned a light smack on his leg from Morada. "But... What matters right now is that we know who's causing the loss of water, and Oscar came home alive."

"But what am I gonna do about the dam is the question." Oscar mused as he took another bite from his arepa. Julieta sat down next to him. "What I think you should do now, is get some rest." She whispered soothingly, stroking Oscar's ear. "You had a tiring day today."

The feline blinked slowly, but didn't bother making eye contact with his tía. "I'll be going back tomorrow. Something needs to be done about this before the Encanto turns into a barren wasteland." He said. "And that's not how I wanna spend my fourth birthday."

Valiente and Morada shared another worried glance. He was right, of course, but... he's not gonna go back to the dam ALONE tomorrow... right?

No, unlikely. And risk his life again? Even though, he would put his life on the line to protect his family and his home. A character trait that everyone should have. If he's smart, he'll go back to the dam with reinforcements.

"If you're going back, you're not going alone." Abuela said sternly, gently picking Oscar up. "But Abuela—"

"No buts. It's dangerous out in the wild. Being by yourself is worse."

"Oh, I'm sorry, have we met?" Oscar reacted out of mild rage. "Did you forget the time I told you about when I took on a pig-like animal twice my size? Plus my father? And he's twice my age and as fast as a one-year-old cat! I held my own against five wild dogs!"

"For two minutes." Ignacio grumbled. Oscar shot him a dirty look. He straightened up.

"Mi vida." Oscar turned to his girlfriend. "What your abuela is trying to say, is that we want you to come back home..." She was about to say 'come back home unscathed,' but that didn't go very well for Oscar this time, did it? "Coming back home without any broken bones."

He wasn't in the mood for an argument, so he reluctantly went with it. "Okay. I'll take someone with me tomorrow."


Oscar was half asleep when the sun began going down. Luckily, everyone stayed to their word in letting him rest, and didn't force him to come downstairs for dinner. But the main reason why he was half asleep was because Camilo was thoughtful enough to bring him some food he managed to spare. While Oscar was elated at his cousin's generosity, he half-expected him to eat most of it like the bottomless pit he was for a fifteen-year-old.

Nope. He let his exhausted partner-in-crime eat. And he didn't leave until he was comfortable.

Oscar really does love this family.

But the other reason was because he heard the sound of sniffing no less than an hour after he left. Almost as if Antonio's jaguar was checking on him. Which was sweet, of course, he appreciated it. He just wasn't used to the sound of a dog sniffing in his ear.

Except when Oscar opened an eye to see the source of the noise, it wasn't a dog, nor was it Antonio's jaguar.

It certainly looked like one though.

He has dark gray fur, with a light gray underbelly, muzzle and paws. His large hair tuft is a darker gray, with darker and lighter stripes running through it. Dotted around his legs are black spots and there are three smaller spots under his eyes. His ear rims are black around the top and dark gray along the sides, and his inner ear is light pink. He has blue eyes, and his nose is large, pointed, and pink.

Whatever it was, it had substantially less spots than a jaguar. No doubt he was new to Antonio's little menagerie; Oscar has never seen this guy before.

"Hola, chamaco." He said. "Oh, hey, Javier."

"Antonio sent me to check up on you, make sure you're okay. Everyone's downstairs getting ready for dinner right about now."

This means that Camilo snuck that food from the kitchen and up here. Oscar thought to himself. "Well, Javier, I appreciate it."

"¡No problema! The family, downstairs, they're worried about you, y'know. Those perros really didn't do you justice, did they?" Javier asked, his ears drooping only a little. "No, they didn't. Almost got my skull crushed. If it wasn't for my dad, I'd be dead right now." Oscar said, not having a great time remembering his near death experience earlier. He stood up to take a look at his new friend and noticed a body part that he was missing. "Um, Javier? What kind of animal are you, exactly?"

"Good question, chamaco. I'm positive that I'm part jaguar, but it's possible that I have some ancestry or something from el león. Or maybe un guepardo (cheetah). No sé (I don't know)." Javier mused. "I'm just asking. All of those animals have una cola (tail), and you..." Oscar trailed off. He didn't want to accidentally offend his new friend just because he was tailless. Javier, however, seemed to be far from that. "Oh, that... The other guy I arrived with? HE ripped it off!"

Oscar gasped, "Really?" His thoughts were proven false when Javier burst out into small laughter. "No. This is how I was born. Birthed into this beautiful world without a cola."

"That doesn't bother you at all?" Oscar asked. "Don't you feel jealous about your peers having a tail and you not having one?"

"To be perfectly honest with you, hombrecito, , I was." Javier admitted, raking a paw through his mohawk. "But it's times like those where I realize that there are more important things to worry about in life!"

"Tell me about it." Oscar grumbled. The bigger cat noticed him acting all down in the dumps. "I heard about what happened today. Not feeling great about that, are you?"

"No, Javier, I'm not."

"It could've been worse! You could've died!"

The Bengal thought on that for a moment. "... Yeah... You're right." He said. "But I also could've been more prepared to fight when I'm outnumbered. I could've listened to Ignacio earlier instead of being stubborn, otherwise it would've been taken care of sooner. I could've—"

Javier put a paw over Oscar's mouth to silence him. "He escuchado lo suficiente (I've heard enough)." He said with a deadpan look, then put a softer face on when he spoke to the smaller cat. "Look, no matter how hard you try, you can't prevent every natural disaster that happens around here."

"But I have to!" Oscar meowed. The jaguar shook his head. "No, you don't. It's a part of life for—" Javier was cut off again by a now irate Oscar.

"WHY IS THAT EVERYONE'S EXCUSE FOR EVERYTHING?!" He shouted, silently apologizing to Dolores for unintentionally making her ears bleed. On that note, he was sure that the rest of the family downstairs heard him as well. "Espera un minuto (hold on a minute), chamaco—"

"It's like telling me that stress is a part of life! I know! But guess what? Stress isn't good for the human body, or ANY body! It may be good for losing weight—which is probably something I'll have to do someday, but that is where the positives of stress ENDS! And there aren't any positives AT ALL in terms of this drought everyone is suffering from, when we're trying not to pass out from heat stroke as it is!"

Javier, looking absolutely done with Oscar's refusal to listen to him, stared at him with a blank look. Twice now, he's opened his mouth to speak, only to be interrupted. "I'm not gonna stop this crazy train, I'm not done yet! I—"

Having enough, instead of shouting at him to get him to be quiet, he placed one of his gigantic paws on Oscar's head. He then started to stroke him, gently, from his head to the base of his neck. Almost immediately, Oscar began to purr, and his body became more relaxed. He was tense during his rant, and this was helping.

The young jaguar leaned his head down. "Y'know, one of your primos told me that this was the quickest and most efficient way to get you to relax. A rather unironic one at that."

Oscar's tone went from anxious to laid-back; he was mellowed out. "Which one? Mirabel?"

"Uh... No, it wasn't her... Miércoles, I forgot her name!"

"Was it Dolores?"

"No... You're gonna laugh if I describe her; you'll know exactly who it is."

"Can I guess first?"

"You may."

"It was Luisa, wasn't it?"

If Javier had opposable thumbs, he'd snap his fingers. "YES! I can't believe I forgot her name, man. She loves you to death."

"Who doesn't? I do have an irresistible face."

Javier chuckled, but his grin disappeared as quickly as it appeared. "Anyway, as I was saying, you may THINK you're the only one who has to protect and serve this Encanto. But you're not. Your little brother, your sister, your girlfriend, and everyone else in this family, myself included, are also protecting each other." He said. Oscar looked at him in wonder.

"It's clear to me that given the problem you're facing right now, you know exactly how Luisa felt before the house fell, right?" He asked. Surprisingly, this hasn't occurred to Oscar until just now. And he was shocked. "Oh my dog, I DO!"

"My point is, if everyone protects each other, the less chance of something REALLY bad happening." Javier said, happy that Oscar let him finish. Said feline felt a smile crawl up his face. He definitely felt better. To show his gratitude, he rubbed his head against Javier's chest. The young jaguar sighed and put an arm around him, enjoying the living massage cushion against him. "Gracias, amigo." He muttered. "De nada." Javier replied.

They stayed like that for a few moments, before Oscar yawned, displaying his two rows of sharp teeth. As well as his tonsils. "Tired?"

"." Oscar answered drowsily, having to hold back another yawn.

"Kay, I'll leave you alone to sleep."

"Tell Luisa I said thank you."

"Consider it done, chamaco."


Even though Oscar did manage to get a few more hours of sleep in, he just couldn't shake off the need to take the dam down while the dogs are most likely sleeping.

Think about it; He has really quiet steps and an even gentler mouth (unless he's eating, of course). It might take a while, but if he goes now, and takes the dam apart slowly and quietly, then the Encanto's water will be restored! And in time for his fourth birthday.

As his cousin typically says... [it's] worth a shot.

Now, if he's exceptionally lucky, nobody will notice he's gone... and we mean NOBODY. A majority of the time, Dolores can't even hear Oscar coming anyway. On an unrelated note, there is a chance that his siblings and novia will notice he's gone and send somebody out. Needless to say, they're not gonna be very happy with him.

However, little dd he know that there was someone else at the dog dam, doing what Oscar intended on doing.

Quite possibly, the other roomate Javier mentioned.