They searched for a little while until they found them watching a duck and some ducklings walking by.
"Hello, duckies..." Danielle cooed with a small smile. "A duck walked up to a lemonade stand, And he said to the man, running the stand, 'Hey! Got any grapes'?~" she then randomly sang from one of Junior's childhood favorite nursery rhymes.
Hearing this caused the duck and ducklings to look confused.
"Uh, have you guys seen a couple of foxes around here?" Collette asked the duck family.
The duck family soon pointed to the fox couple next to them.
"Heh... Thanks." Collette smiled.
The duck in front nodded with a smile back
"Hey, guys." Tod smiled.
"Tod, thank Gabriel you're all right." Patch gasped.
"Uh, yeah, of course I am, why wouldn't I be?" Tod asked the Dalmatian.
"Amos Slade is here and so is Copper." Patch told him.
"What?" Tod asked. "Are you sure?"
"Judy and I saw them along with some bear traps." Nick said.
"Uh, b-bear traps...?" Tod asked nervously.
"We're sorry, Tod, but we had to tell you." Judy replied as her ears drooped down in worry for him.
"Maybe we should go somewhere safe." Vixey frowned.
Tod looked torn on what to do.
"Come on, let's go this way, kid, I wanna talk to you about something anyway." Nick told Tod.
"Um, okay." Tod said.
"Come on, this way." Nick told his nephew.
Tod looked back, but soon followed the others away out of Amos's trap, and which was a good thing.
"What is going on?" Vixey asked.
"Hunters, trust me, this way." Nick urged.
Judy nodded in agreement with him. There was a light growling heard in the background.
"Uh-oh..." Scamp gulped.
"D-Did you hear that?" Angel asked him. "It almost makes me think of Reggie."
"Yeah, but luckily it's not." Scamp gulped, remembering that all too well.
"Then it must be..." Danielle gulped before looking to see who it was.
Copper soon came out, looking aggressive and angry which made Tod react the same way. The two looked more like natural enemies now.
"Tod, wait, let me try to talk with him." Danielle begged the fox.
Tod growled before looking to the tomboy cocker spaniel. Danielle had dewy eyes as she looked into his eyes. Tod then stepped down and let Danielle talk with Copper.
"Copper, please, don't do this." Danielle begged the hound dog.
"D-Danielle...?" Copper softly asked the tomboy cocker spaniel.
"Copper, please, Tod's your best friend," Danielle begged. "Please don't fight him or hurt him."
"I'm sorry, but I have to fight him," Copper said. "Tod hurt Chief... You all did on the train tracks."
"Not exactly," Patch told him. "He was hit by a train that was coming."
"What?!" Copper asked.
"It's true, you just happened to see the wrong end of it..." Danielle said. "I'm really sorry, Copper, but Tod, and the others, and me didn't do anything."
"It's true." Annette said.
Copper merely glared at them.
"You have to believe us..." Danielle said softly to him before nuzzling up against him. "We would never lie to you."
Copper glared, but he looked into Danielle's eyes as she looked sullen to him. He then seemed to soften up a little bit since she was begging to him.
"So, did Uncle Copper believe Aunt Danielle?" Dot's voice asked.
"He did, with the power of love, though, it wasn't so easy for Mr. Slade." Patch's voice replied.
Amos had his gun aimed for Tod and began to shoot.
"This way!" Vixey told him as she led him away to get away from the gunshots.
Tod soon followed after her. Vixey led them into a burrow where they could all hide away from the hunter.
"Oh, Patch, I don't like guns." Collette cried.
"Oh, don't cry..." Patch frowned to her, but eventually, Collette cried as she felt very emotional and depressed about the use of a gun.
"Let me guess, this will be your home?" Nick asked Tod and Vixey.
"We were thinking about it, after all, this is where I live." Vixey replied.
"The forest does look beautiful when a hunter isn't trying to hunt us down." Judy said.
"Glad ya think so, Carrots." Nick smiled.
"You guys will be able to live here, because we'll make sure of it." Patch promised, trying to sound as brave and heroic as his father.
"Does anyone else smell fire?" Collette asked as she smelled smoke.
"F-Fire...?" Patch's eyes widened.
Flames soon came into the burrow to scare them all out.
"Guys, we're trapped!" Vixey gasped and coughed. "Tod, I'm scared!"
"We'll have to try and jump through it." Angel coughed.
"J-Jump?" Vixey asked.
"Come on, Vixey, this is our only chance!" Tod told her.
They soon jumped through and where Amos was surprised by this. However, one didn't make it out.
"I don't believe it!" Amos gasped. "Copper, go get 'em!"
"Danielle..." Copper whispered to himself. "She's still in there..."
Copper soon jumped in and rescued Danielle. One of Danielle's bows got caught in something, making her stuck in the burrow. Copper coughed a bit and soon bit onto Danielle's collar to drag her out to safety. She was soon able to breathe once she was put of the burrow. Copper gently splashed some water on her.
Danielle coughed again and looked up wearily and bleary-eyed to the hound dog. "Copper...?" she asked softly.
"Thank goodness." Copper sighed.
"I got stuck..." Danielle said softly.
"I'm so sorry..." Copper replied as he nuzzled against her. "It's all right now."
Danielle smiled as the Copper she loved was back. Copper smiled back, he soon felt something deep inside of himself and felt quite different around Danielle. Danielle and Copper soon caught the scent of something big and furry coming.
"Do you smell what I smell?" Copper asked her.
"Yeah, but I hope I'm wrong." Danielle said with widened eyes.
They both soon heard a growling sound.
"Dare we go check it out?" Danielle gulped.
"I'd rather not." Copper said.
The two dogs then went to get away from the vicious growling as they feared the worst.
The growling, in fact, came from a black bear who was looking for prey which was never a good sign, and where the unlucky one was Amos Slade. Danielle and Copper walked off together, but the hound dog soon stopped.
"Copper?" Danielle asked.
"Amos..." Copper whispered in worry for his human. "I have to help him."
Danielle could understand why Copper needed to save his master. "You better go then..." she then softly told him, not wanting to hold him back.
Copper soon gave her a lick on the cheek. Danielle's eyes widened and she blushed, feeling her heart race inside her chest. Was this what her mother told her about love?
"Is this the scary part?" Dot's voice asked.
"Yes, Dot, this is getting to the scary part." Patch warned.
Dot soon gulped as she huddled to Scruffy.
"Aw, it'll be all right, Dottie..." Collette said.
"Do you mind if I take a quick break from the story?" Dot asked. "I think I need a minute."
"Go ahead, sweetie." Patch smiled comfortingly, almost like his sister Penny's bond with their father when they were puppies.
Dot soon walked away to have a moment to herself.
"It's so nice of you to comfort your sister, Scruffy." Patch smiled.
"Well, she's my sister, I gotta look out for her..." Scruffy replied. "Even though Fluffy and Spot don't live here anymore... Anyone know who adopted them?"
"For Fluffy, I don't know, but a woman named Moonray adopted Spot for 'spiritual guidance' for her daughters," Collette said as the woman sounded like a hippie. "I feel like your brother's gonna end up like Buddha from The Air Buddies."
"Sounds like it." Scruffy said.
Dot sat alone as she stared out the window, looking at the world. "I wish I could be brave like Mom, Dad, and Scruffy..." she then sighed. "I bet even Grandma Perdita was braver than I am... I'll never go on any real adventures with Estelle someday."
A light seemed to shine down on Dot as she lay down.
Dot sighed before staring off into space before looking into the clouds to see a pink whippet angel who had a small smile to her to help cheer her up and teach her to never give up hope. "W-Who are you?" she then asked.
"My name is Annabelle, my child," The whippet angel smiled. "You seem like you need guidance, why would someone as happy and healthy as you need to be down in the dumps?"
Dot had a feeling she could trust her. Annabelle smiled.
"Are you an angel?" Dot asked the whippet.
"Oh, you could say that," Annabelle smiled. "Aw... You look so pretty... Just like how Gabriel made you before you were born."
Dot smiled at that compliment.
"You'll do fine on your own adventures someday, my child," Annabelle smiled back. "When your parents first watched The Air Buddies, they weren't too sure about it either, but look at where they ended up. Also, not to mention two certain wolves you may meet in the future, and I don't just mean Balto and his family."
"You mean Humphrey and Kate?" Dot asked.
"Those would be the ones." Annabelle smiled.
"Ooh." Dot smiled back in excitement and anticipation.
"It'll be like your own adventure in the wild, like the first time your parents watched over The Buddies." Annabelle smiled back.
"Yay!" Dot smiled.
"Well, someone suddenly likes the sound of a good adventure," Annabelle smiled back. "You would make a wonderful Guardian Angel in the future."
Dot smiled back at her.
"I best get going now," Annabelle told her. "Be good, I know you will, ta-ta for now~"
"Goodbye..." Dot said before sighing with a small smile. "Nothing like talk from an angel to make you feel better about yourself." She soon went back inside.
"Feeling better, dear?" Collette smiled.
"I think so, Mom," Dot nodded. "You can continue telling the story, Dad."
"Thank you, now, um, where was I?" Patch replied.
"Uncle Copper went to save his master." Scruffy reminded.
"Oh, yes, that's right..." Patch nodded, getting back into the story.
