Diego had proven himself to be a quick bouncer. Oscar hadn't expected him to be able to walk straight for days after such blow to the head, but already the next day he was on his legs, as wobbly as they were, and walked to the nearest pool of water to drink. That done, he announced, squinting his eyes against the light, the nausea and the headache, that he really should be returning to his herd. He'd been away too long.

"Are you insa…no, I better not ask that", Oscar raised his eyebrows incredulously. "You're not going anywhere yet, kid. It's a two hours trip at best of times. Get back to the hollow and sleep again. I'll be around."

"Since when d'you think you have the right to order me around, oldtimer?"

Well, his pleasant disposition is definitely back…"Since you puked all over my paws, I think. Now move, Diego, or I'll move you!"

"Not so long ago you were lapping up the contents of my stomach without any complaint", spat Diego. Oscar cringed at the vague memory of what he'd thought was the hallucination of being fed with regurgitated meat. Yep, pleasant disposition plus the knack for hitting where it hurt the most…the bastard was getting better all right.

"Well, maybe I should go and bring your buddies here, since you miss them so much? Then they'd take care of you, and I would be free to go my way! How 'bout that?"

"NO!" roared Diego, staggering and closing his eyes again, gulping, and continuing: "Don't you even think about that! Let them be!"

"I wouldn't harm them, darn it, I gave a friggin' oath! I just-"

"NO!"

Diego breathed fast, his nose was almost white now, his eyes desperately trying to focus on Oscar, though he was giving the impression of seeing at least three Oscars at the same time. He snarled properly, however.

"What is it, Diego? Afraid that your best buddies might find out how you got your head busted? That you're…oops, my dear goodness…a carnivore? My, my…and I thought that you guys shared absolute trust." Oh, that felt good. I haven't lost my touch yet.

"They know what I am", glowered Diego, whose legs appeared to be less and less reliable by second, but was staring darkly in Oscar's general direction nonetheless.

"Do they?"

"Just because I don't retail the stories of my hunts to them, doesn't mean that I have them believing I live on air and water. They're not stupid. You should know that, since they outsmarted you at Half Peak just royally!"

"You outsmarted us at Half Peak royally!" roared Oscar; the world seemed to be getting redder with dizzying speed. "You think I don't know it was you who plotted and orchestrated that con? It has your name all over it! Those two wouldn't think of it if they got to live seventeen lives…"

"Nice of you to admit that you've been outsmarted", grinned Diego with bared teeth. "Happens to the best of us, let alone to the likes of you…"

Oscar decided to ignore his own poisonous barb from some weeks earlier being pointed back at him. "I thought you were sorry for what happened there!" he sneered." Didn't know you found it so bloody amusing! Too bad Soto can't enjoy the joke, and for all we know, maybe Lenny and Zeke can't either…"

Diego made a step towards Oscar, head lowered. It would have looked threatening if his step wasn't more of a stagger, and, despite all the glowering, he clearly had difficulties focusing.

"I am sorry…for Soto", he whispered, and whether the pain that crossed his face was attributable to his emotions or the lump on his head, Oscar could say it was genuine. "I didn't want that to happen."

"Yeah, I know", Oscar leaned into his face, growling. "You wanted to save everybody, right? That's what you do; you save things, worth it or not, reasonable or not, you save things, right? Well, here is some news for you, kid: you can't save everybody! Whatever kind of messiah complex you have in that messed-up head of yours, you better get rid of it, 'cause it's bloody bad for your health! Or you haven't noticed that each time you try to save something, you end up close to getting killed?!? Stop pretending that you're…whatever is that you're pretending to be, and be what nature saw it fit to make you!"

Diego took his time looking at winded Oscar, whose fur was standing on his neck, stiff as wire, and who was now panting more heavily than yesterday after he'd made that kill.

"Excuse me", Diego suddenly muttered and staggered into the nearest clump of bushes; Oscar cringed at the less-than-successfully muffled sound of Diego's stomach expelling that little water that it contained.

"That's what you get when you won't listen to someone who knows what he's talking about!" Oscar said sternly when Diego emerged from the bushes, exhausted -looking, nose very pale. "Now wait a few moments, drink again, and then we're heading for the hollow without a word! That's how you-"

"Did he suffer?"

Now this Oscar did not expect. But when was anything about Diego…expectable?

Did he suffer…image of Milo came to Oscar again; small, skinny, not able to swallow in those last few days, eyes closed, letting out only small whining sounds. Yes, darn it, he did bloody suffer…

"Did Soto suffer, Oscar, what do you think?" Diego repeated through clenched teeth when Oscar failed to answer immediately.

Ah. Soto. Of course. Oscar's heartbeat came in irregular beats now. One-and-two…and three…five…for-and-six…

"Well, I guess not. You were there longer than me, you should know better…"

"I was too far away from him to see him well, and when I managed to get up, I…he was dead all right then, but what if he didn't die instantly? What if he lived for minutes after the icicles-"

"Not likely. I'd say he didn't have the time to know what happened to him", Oscar said quickly, because Diego's green eyes had grown impossibly large; this had obviously been troubling him ever since. Oscar didn't want to know the nightmares that were born out of this line of thought. "I mean, one of those went right through his eye. You don't live any longer after that, no matter how many lives you got left."

Diego continued to stare at Oscar, his breathing ragged.

"Look, son, don't fret over it; it's pointless. What was done, is done. He's dead and that's the end of it. No use in pondering over it any longer. It will only drive you even madder than you already are, and you sure don't need any more of that. Now do as I say for once and drink again. And don't talk. And then you get back to that darn hole of yours."

"I'm not your son", Diego pointed out quietly.

"Bloody figure of speech, whelp. If I had a son anything like you, I'd have my balls severed off, for precaution's sake. Didn't I just tell you to shut up?"

**

Quick bouncer all right…Oscar had his impression confirmed next morning when, returning from a short patrol, he found Diego waiting for him, seated in front of the toppled tree, licking his lips and growling under his breath: "You better show me where you hid that carcass, 'cause I'm so bloody starved that I might try chewing on your sorry hide if it wasn't so darn ugly!"

"Good to hear you're as coherent as ever; and follow me, witless whelp", Oscar answered in the same manner.

From that moment on, Diego's condition was improving with frightening speed. Oscar had been certain that he'd need at least two weeks to restore his health, if not more, but after three days, Diego was not only on his feet, walking nervous circles in front of the hollow, apparently completely coherent, focused and orientated, but with a firm decision to return to his herd that very day. Oscar knew better than trying to stop him; first, because he knew it would be pointless, and second, because he wanted to hunt something all by himself, without a witness if he fails. He knew that his time here was very nearly over, and he needed to know that he was indeed capable of hunting alone. That aside, most of his thoughts were now moving in the direction of Zeke and Lenny, wherever they might be. Until that point, he had his mind pretty much preoccupied with his own survival, but now that his ultimate demise no longer seemed so close at hand, it was those two runts that he was getting obsessed with finding. Alive or dead, but he was going to find them if that was the last thing he'd ever do; as irritating as they might sometimes be, they had accepted him as their leader without an iota of doubt when things fell apart, they followed him faithfully and with respect, they went through thick and thin with him, and he wasn't going to turn his back on them. They weren't remotely as resourceful as Diego; alone, leaderless, their chances of survival were slimmer by day. If they survived the flood in the first place.

So when he found himself standing above a freshly killed musk ox calf four days later, breathless, aching all over, lightheaded with exertion and thrill, but victorious, he knew that the time to hit the road has come.

Diego had found Oscar right before dawn of the sixth day, awake, in front of the den where he'd spent all those weeks coughing up blood and pus. It would have been logical if he despised the place now, but strangely, he didn't. He had somehow gotten used to it. Pity it was on Diego's territory and he'll have to abandon it.

"About bloody time, kid", Oscar snarled when Diego's eyes, glowing green in the semi-dark of the dawn, appeared soundlessly in front of him. "I was thinking about taking off without notice."

"You have a little more sense for dramatic."

"Dramatic, my tail. I wanted to ask if I could use this den if I'm ever in the neighborhood again."

"Yeah, but you'll have to come to me first. I don't want any saber crossing my territory just like that. Understood?" Diego asked sternly, giving Oscar a sharp look.

"Um. Yeah. So…"

They went silent, looking in opposite directions.

"Don't forget your oath", spoke Diego finally, expression unreadable. "If you break it…"

"…yeah, yeah, I know. Torture, slow death and so. And I could never forget that oath. I bet I'm the first carnivore ever who swore to something like that. I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't been there."

"Good."

Well, I should start walking now…

Still, he felt like he should say something appropriate, something that would cover those past few months…but what to say to a weirdo like Diego? He still didn't know if he wanted more to wring his neck, or to ask him to join his old pack- well, the remnants of it- once again. Oscar could really use some help searching for Lenny and Zeke…

Stupid, he knew. Diego would never abandon his herd, that much was obvious. Whatever they were providing him with that his pack couldn't have provided was beyond Oscar, but that was how things like Diego's mind worked- inexplicable, unpredictable and beyond logic and reason. And besides, Lenny and Zeke, if still alive, would never accept Diego back again. Not even Oscar's authority would be enough to convince them. To them, he'd still be the traitor that should be put down; even if they were told about the extreme circumstances that they didn't know about- like, Diego owing a life debt to the mammoth, or about Diego's failed plan to keep both sides alive and well- they still wouldn't trust him. They weren't brought back to life by Diego like Oscar had been; they hadn't been given water to drink from water-soaked moss, they hadn't have their crap cleaned by him, they hadn't been brought food on regular basis, hadn't hunted with him, hadn't been puked on their paws by him, hadn't seen him lying like Oscar's dead son…

"You gonna try to find Zeke and Lenny?" Diego asked.

"Yeah. If they're still alive."

"You do that. Those two need somebody to lead them, and you're the guy."

"Yeah."

"I'd tell you to send them my regards, but I don't think it's a good idea."

"Heck, no! The day I tell them about anything here is the day I need my head checked out. All they'll ever know is that I was injured and I got better. No way I'd ever tell anybody, especially them, that you've cleaned my waste for me, or…other stuff. I'd never bloody live it."

Diego smiled. "Understandable."

"And they better never find out that I saw you and let you live. I'd never live that, either, but literally so. Lenny is a good kid, but he could finish me off just by sitting on me." Oscar subtly shuddered at the thought.

Diego's smile widened. "You know, I was actually afraid of that happening when Lenny and I played as cubs."

"I never knew that", chuckled Oscar. Though he was feeling a bit…melancholic, in fact. They lived together in a pack for all that time, and yet they knew so little about one another. When Diego was a cub, Oscar had no particular interest in him, and as soon as he grew up, it became obvious that Soto was favoring him above all others - above Oscar, precisely - for the position of beta, and they swiftly became rivals. It took all this crap to happen for Oscar to realize how much Diego reminded him of Milo, even if they were nothing alike; runts, both of them, each in his own way…only Diego was still alive.

If he was going to be completely honest…he was sorry he hadn't realized it earlier.

"Ummm…" he spoke to end his this line of thought of his, "…so…"

Aw, heck. This is gonna be…painful.

"…er…thanks…for, er, saving my skin, and all."

"Not at all", Diego shifted rather uncomfortably. "I didn't do anything much, I just gave you water and food. You beat the illness yourself. My help would have meant nothing if you were weaker."

"Yeah, but that didn't stop you from making me give the blood oath!"

It was Diego's turn to chuckle. "Didn't hurt to try."

"Hrmpf…Listen, by the way, you do know that all saber prides on the continent have heard of you by now, and they all wish you slow and painful death. You're an outcast, and any saber with an iota of pride and courage will try to kill you on spot as soon as they realize who you are. So, watch your back and keep away from our kind."

"I already know all that, but thanks."

They spent several more moments in silence, before Oscar decided that he really should be going. Lenny and Zeke might be in need for some help right now.

"Well, that's it", he said. "I better move."

"Right."

Oscar forced himself to meet Diego's eyes. The younger tiger was still smiling. A very unusual sight- at least, for Oscar. He couldn't help but cracking a little smile of his own.

"Never thought I'd say this, Diego, but it was good to be hunting with you again."

"Never thought I'd say this, but same here, Oscar."

"Good luck, kid."

"You too, oldtimer."

And so they parted ways.