The Story of Tiberius

Chapter 114

Hearing those words, the group began to panic.

"I could've sworn he was with us!" Gidget exclaimed, her fur puffing up. Frightened out of their minds, Mel and Buddy looked all over the place, calling out Norman's name. Sweetpea helped them, flying around and peering into little nooks and crannies. Sniffing the air, Tiberius was able to tell that the young guinea pig hadn't been with them since they escaped. That wasn't good cuz it meant one thing. He had been captured. Pops must've come to the same conclusion as he declared. "I hate to say this but I didn't hear or see Guinea Pig Joe while we were getting the heck out of that place. No doubt he was captured."

"Unless the predator here ate him!" Chloe suddenly yowled, her back arching as she glared venomously at Tiberius. The old hawk and everyone else on the search party were absolutely shocked by her accusation. Growling, the red tail snapped, "I did no such thing!"

"And you expect us to take your word on that?!" Chloe hissed, her tail puffing out. Claws unsheathed, she ranted on, "I don't know why you're even here but you shouldn't be! You are a savage predatory wild animal that needs to go back to whatever forest you crawled out of! You have no place amongst us and you have no right to be here!" Angered by what she was hearing, Gidget put herself between Chloe and Tiberius as she barked, "He has every right to be here! I invited him to come along and he's my best friend!" The rest of the search party kept silent, too scared to say anything while Chloe spat, "He's a wild animal!"

"No he is not! He's just like you and me-"

"Once a wild animal, always a wild animal! And wild animals have no place amongst the domesticated!"

That struck a chord deep inside Tiberius. He was taken back to when he was really young and still in the pet shop with his sister. The parakeets and the other birds had often shouted that at both of them. Then there was all of those pigeons and rodents he had eaten and discarded their bones in his shed. They had often teased him. Now that he thought of it, the old hawk had always been teased. And he had been teased by everyone. Pets, humans, other birds of prey, the animals he ate. Everyone. Taking a few steps back, he turned away from the others, hiding his face as he bowed his head. His heart ached inside his chest. The raging conversation between Gidget and Chloe faded to the background while he got lost in his thoughts. Why couldn't anyone just trust him? He tried so hard throughout the day but it always added up to nothing. It didn't matter what he did. Tiberius was only seen as what he was, not who he was.

His grief turning into anger as reality came back to him, Tiberius glanced down at his talons. At the same time, Chloe must've gotten pass Gidget since he was suddenly shoved to the ground by the angry tabby cat. "Didn't you hear me earlier! You're not supposed to be here, get out!" the feline hissed. His light brown eyes flashing red, Tiberius snarled, "You don't have the right to tell me what to do."

"I have every right! You're nothing but a wild animal and-" Chloe finished her statement with a yowl as Tiberius, finally having enough of her mouth, took a swing towards her face just as Gidget jumped to the rescue...