He rushed through the heavy leafy trees and splashed his paws in the puddles that came his way. Camilo was panting heavily to himself, his doggy tongue huffing in and out in tire, and hunger... he was so very hungry.

He shot his head up though, as he could hear in the distance big brutal paws taking light soft steps.

He knew then... he was being stalked... hunted.

He tried to see the deadly face of the jaguar once more, stand his ground, and fight. But he knew, it was a fight he was going to lose.

He slowly turned his head down in fear and shame. What was he to do now? What?

"Run!"

He looked down when he heard that squeaky voice yell at him. He looked all over the wet ground till he noticed who had said that.

A tiny mouse, beckoning for him to hide.

"Where can I run?" He asked it, fear making him tremble inside and the tiny mouse only squeaked.

"Anywhere but here!"

He could see its beady black eyes just gazing at him in horror and panic. He could feel its emotions as if it was his own.

He closed his eyes and concentrated... as for some reason he felt his muscles twitch and jiggle. He focused on the mouse's feelings... how it would feel to be that small and helpless.

And then... the change occurred.

He found himself shrinking quickly, becoming the spitting image of the tiny rodent and he glanced at it with his new beady black eyes, a small shine reflecting in them.

"Y-you're-?" The mouse squeaked in terror and approached him nervously, sniffing the air and glancing around for danger, "You're a mouse now? HOW? I must be losing my mind!"

"Or me, mine!" Camilo only yelped in reply, "I shapeshifted again!"

"Shape – what?"

"It's a madrigal thing." He only responded nonchalantly.

"Right – well," The mouse continued before ceasing up when it saw in the distance yellow fur coming into sight, "HIDE!"

The mouse quickly ran into its little hole, and Camilo, not knowing what to do, followed it immediately.

As he went into the darkness of the ground, he turned back quickly to see the big cat, the jaguar sleek passed. Her golden eyes reflected the dim moonlight and she strolled on by, looking from side to side for the wet dog.

"Come on!"

He blinked his tiny mouse eyes and turned around, seeing the original mouse waving at him to follow it more into the darkness. He obliged.

~x~

The jaguar grew tired after an hour passed and she came back to Antonio, disappointed in herself.

"Did you-"

Antonio stopped his question when she gave a sad shake of her head.

"No, master. His scent just vanished from the trail... like he disappeared into thin air."

Mirabel was standing beside Antonio as she watched the giant jaguar relay this coded information to her little cousin.

"What did it say?" She asked, desperate to know answers.

"Well, she said his scent just disappeared."

Mirabel began to panic a little, her chest rising up and down in small hyperventilating and she pointed to the big cat then, demanding.
"Take us to where his scent vanished!"

The jaguar only rolled her eyes and nudged her patterned head in the direction she had come. Antonio held Mirabel's hand tightly as they went deeper into the rainforest, and the two huddled close as different sounds and noises could be heard through the leaves and the wind that blew them.

~x~

Pepa was sick of waiting for news on the search for Camilo. She needed to be there, helping and NOT just making things worse with her worry and the weather that came with that.

"Felix!" She yelled at her husband as she pulled out a rainproof coat and slipped in on in a hurry, "I'm going out there too."

"Pepa," He replied, placing his hands on her shoulders to calm her down but he just got struck by a small lightning bolt that zapped from the cloud over her head, "He'll be fine."

"I know he will," She said and held Felix's cheek in her hand as she stared him deeply in the eyes, "Because I will be there... I will find him."

Felix only glanced from one of her eyes to the other, before sighing heavily and answering, "Then we're going to need more than just the two of us, we need-"

"Already done, Papa."

The two froze the second they heard Dolores's voice as she stood at the open door with a weak smile on her face, "I heard you two, and I assembled the family."

In an instant, the two worried parents saw all the family members appear from behind their daughter and they smiled in relief.

"Come on," Dolores said, her hands holding each other nervously as she placed them down in front of her, "Let's save our family."

And let me say sorry to Camilo... she thought inside to herself, I should've never egged him on.

The Madrigal family all circled around each other and Bruno put his hand in the middle of the circle, the others blinking confused until they realized the gesture he was giving.

Isabella grinned her perfect smile and placed her hand on his, Luisa catching on quickly and her hand placed on her sister's.

The rest carried suit, and even Abuela joined in.

"What are we?!" Bruno asked, the lot of them looking at him, "The Madrigals!"

"THE MADRIGALS!" They all shouted back in confidence and their hands flew up into the air as they all nodded at one another and began to make their journey to the forest.

"Just to be clear," Bruno asked quickly, the cheer from before making his body ecstatic and full of giddy energy, "You don't want me to look into the future to find him-"

"NO." They all said at once and Bruno quickly frowned, but used his hand to show that he was zipping his mouth shut. He then uttered barely to himself, "Every time..."