Soon, the group had kept walking for quite a while as a chipmunk began to eat some acorns before running off.
"'Course, when we met, he didn't know the first thing about being a bear," Koda told Nita and Micco a story as they walked along a path together. "Like this one time, we were hunting for pine nuts, and he stuck his big head inside a hollow tree. And I said, 'You better not do that 'cuz you don't know who lives there', but he did, 'cuz you can't tell Kenai nothing."
"So what happened?" Felicity asked.
"I don't think you need to know." Kenai spoke up.
"Next thing you know, he spent a whole week smelling like a stinky skunk!" Koda soon concluded with a laugh.
"Something tells me stinky skunk was an improvement." Nita giggled from the story.
Kenai simply glared from that comment.
"I got a lot more stinky Kenai stories if you wanna hear 'em." Koda smiled at Nita and Micco.
"Oh, brother, am I right?" Kabutops asked Kenai.
"Not a word out of you." Kenai grumbled.
"Okay. Okay." Kabutops said.
They soon heard two familiar voices from two familiar animals.
"Okay, so, like, we gotta go, eh?"
"We'll see you around, eh?"
"So, we'll give you a call."
"Yeah, we'll catch you later."
"Yeah, we gotta go work out."
"Yeah. Gotta keep these muscles real buff, eh?"
"So long!"
"Hey, Rutt and Tuke." Akito smiled at the moose.
"We thought we heard you two." Estelle added.
"Hey, look, it's Big Bear and those non-hunters." Rutt realized.
"Beauty, eh?" Tuke added.
"Oh, hey, guys." Kenai said to his moose friends.
"Boy, are we glad to see you, eh?" Tuke smiled.
"Yeah, 'cuz we finally found a couple of real moosettes, eh?" Rutt added as he pointed out with his brother. "Right down there by that stream."
"They seem interesting." Vincent said.
Rutt and Tuke soon called out and waved to the female moose they had befriended.
"Those guys are weird." One female moose said to the other.
"Don't look," The other female moose replied before they continued to graze. "You'll only encourage them."
"They don't seem to be interested." Akito said.
"Oh, that's just how moosettes get, eh?" Rutt smiled. "You wouldn't understand."
Akito gave him a bit of a doubtful look.
"Well... Okay..." Rutt pouted. "They won't give us the time of day."
"We was thinking maybe you could help us with, you know, an opening line, like, 'Oh, hey, I see you like to eat twigs'." Tuke then suggested.
"Or how about a sonnet, eh?" Rutt added. "Like, 'Shall I compare thee to a summer's dew'?"
Kenai and Akito rolled their eyes from that.
"Oh, jeez," Tuke scoffed at his brother. "Forget that brainy stuff, eh? They're not owls. I like, 'Hey ladies, nice dewlaps. Are those things real'?"
"Excuse me?" Nita spoke up as she, Micco, and Koda made their way back to Kenai and the others.
Rutt and Tuke looked panicked once they saw Nita and Micco.
"Uh-oh. Oh, gee."
"Hunter. Hunter!"
"We're out of here! Bye!"
"Every moose for himself."
The two moose soon dropped down to the ground and held onto each other with their antlers stuck together.
"Act like we're not here." Rutt whispered nervously.
"It's okay; these are Nita and Micco, they're here with me, Kenai, Akito, Estelle, Vincent, Felicity, Ingrid, and her baby brother, Roshan, and Kabutops." Koda told the moose brothers.
Roshan put his hands beside his head with his fingers waving to act like a moose.
"They are?" Rutt asked.
"Oh," Tuke added. "Well, pleased to meet you, eh?"
"How's it going, eh?" Rutt greeted. "I'm Rutt, and this is my brother-"
"Kenai, what's the hold-up?" Nita interrupted as she looked down at Kenai. "We have to set up camp on that far peak before sundown."
"Oh, nice to meet you by the way." Micco then added to the moose brothers.
"Scary, aren't they?" Kenai smirked to the moose brothers.
"Let's go," Nita demanded. "We're running out of daylight."
"Nita, calm down," Kenai told her. "We got plenty of time."
"A smart traveler always allows for unexpected delays." Micco advised.
"Well, this won't be a delay if you let me have a minute to give these guys a little romantic advice." Kenai smirked.
Micco laughed from that like it was a joke. Nita soon began to join in the laugh.
"Romantic advice?" Micco asked Kenai with a laugh.
"From you?" Nita added.
Koda even joined in on the laugh.
"Stop kidding," Nita then told Kenai as she went to go off ahead with Micco. "Let's go."
"Hmm... You know, boys, I think this calls for more than just a good opening line." Kenai soon said to the moose brothers with a smirk.
Akito and the others could already tell what Kenai was thinking.
"It does?" Tuke asked the bear.
"Oh, yeah, yeah, of course," Kenai nodded. "Acts of bravery. That's what really impresses the ladies."
"Oh, brother..." Vincent mumbled to himself.
"Gee, eh? Bravery sounds scary." Rutt remarked.
"No, you just have to pretend to be brave." Kenai advised.
"Yeah?" Tuke asked.
"I'll go out there, I'll act all ferocious, and then you guys come over the beaver dam and rescue them." Kenai advised.
"You guys wanna watch this?" Akito asked the others.
"It might be a good laugh." Felicity agreed.
The kids then ran off together to get a good seat to watch Kenai in action to help Rutt and Tuke with their situation.
"Oh, this should be good." Ingrid smiled.
"Oh. Okay. Yeah, yeah," Rutt quickly agreed with Kenai. "That's a beauty plan."
"He's smart, eh? Tuke replied. "Not like you."
"Oh, get out." Rutt rolled his eyes.
"I can't believe this..." Micco sighed as Koda came to sit with the kids and Kabutops.
"Kenai, we don't have time for this," Nita tried to tell her old friend. "Kenai!"
"It's no use," Koda shook his head. "This falls under, 'You can't tell Kenai nothing'."
"This can only end in disaster." Akito said.
"It should at least be interesting," Felicity said. "Is there someone you like, Ingrid?"
"I don't think so," Ingrid shook her head. "I don't think I'll ever feel that way about anybody."
The two female moose began to drink some water before they heard Kenai roar which made them look up. Kenai roared and growled as he tried to look like a vicious, ferocious bear.
"What's wrong with him?" The second female moose asked the first female moose.
"Maybe he got ahold of some bad salmon." The first female moose guessed.
"This is stupid." Nita sighed before she sat down with the kids.
"Let's try to be a little supportive." Micco suggested.
"This ought to impress the ladies for sure, eh?" Rutt smiled at his brother.
"Yeah." Tuke replied.
"They're not going to be impressed; they're not even scared." Akito told the others.
"We can see that." Ingrid stated.
"I'm a big hungry bear and I'm gonna rip you to shreds! Roar!" Kenai threatened the female moose.
The two female moose simply stared back, unimpressed.
"I said I'm gonna rip you to shreds!" Kenai then repeated himself like that was a cue.
Roshan even seemed to yawn from the performance.
"And the moose brothers figure out that's their cue in 3, 2, 1." Akito cued.
"Fear not, moosettes!" Tuke soon proclaimed bravely as he and Rutt appeared at the scene. "I, Tuke, and my brother, Rutt, will save you, eh?"
"Yeah!" Rutt added. "What ho, largish bear? Touch not those fair moosette ladies, eh?"
The female moose just watched in deadpan.
"You's gonna have to go through us if you want them." Tuke glared.
"Yeah," Rutt added. "You'll have to kill us, eh?"
Felicity laughed a little as that sounded funny to her.
"What? No, no, not kill us." Tuke whispered to Rutt.
"Oh, sorry," Rutt then said to Kenai. "Uh, maybe not kill us, but just, you know, push us down or something."
Kenai growled as he soon approached the two moose and let out a vicious roar in their faces. Rutt and Tuke felt really scared of that which made them scream before jumping into the water as they took this way too seriously.
"Oh, wow." Kabutops said.
"That... That was smooth, Rutt and Tuke." Ingrid muttered while Koda laughed and Nita seemed to roll her eyes.
"Jeez, that was scary, eh?" Rutt shuddered as he and Tuke floated along the water.
"Jeez. I thought I was gonna wet my hooves." Tuke added.
They then saw the two female moose watching them.
"You can go back to grazing," Rutt told the two female moose. "Nothing to see here."
"Toodle-oo!" Tuke added.
"Hey, wait!" Kenai cried out as he tried to go after them. "Guys, where are you going? Don't leave." He soon saw the two female moose looking at him with glares.
"Uh-oh..." Akito and the others muttered from that.
Kenai smiled nervously before the two female moose bucked him straight into the beaver dam before they blew raspberries at him which made Nita laugh a little.
"This used to be such a quiet river, eh?" One female moose said to the other.
"Oh, yes. Let's get out of here," The other female moose agreed as they began to walk away. "Nice rack on that little one, though."
"Are you kidding?" The first female moose replied. "All antler and no brain."
"That went well." Micco said before he and the others made their way over to where Kenai was bucked into.
"Oh, yes, it was a masterful effort." Ingrid added sarcastically.
Kenai grunted as he tried to get himself out.
"Now he looks like Winnie the Pooh stuck in the Honey Tree." Vincent remarked.
"Hey, Kenai; I thought you were supposed to be scaring moose?" Nita asked playfully.
"Do you think you can help me out here?" Kenai muffled.
"Do all his plans end with his head stuck in something?" Micco smirked at the young bear cub.
"Most of them." Koda chuckled.
"Koda?!" Kenai muffled.
"Well, they do." Koda defended.
"Calm down, Kenai," Nita assured her old friend as she took a branch out of the beaver dam and walked over to her friend as the kids walked over to see if they could help out or not. "We'll try to get you out of here," she then stared at the water below before looking a bit scared before she came to over top of Kenai. "Okay, let's see here." she then said before she stuck the branch into the dam where Kenai was.
"That might work." Felicity said.
Kenai soon yelled out in pain as the branch seemed to hurt him a bit.
"Sure would be easier if he didn't have such a fat head." Koda remarked.
Kenai groaned before Nita kept wedging the branch a bit before she soon got something free and into the water. Unfortunately, it was not Kenai, but it was Nita's bag.
"That's not good." Ingrid said.
"Hi, Kenai." Koda smiled innocently.
"Hi, Koda." Kenai replied dryly.
"Oh! Oh, no! My bag. My bag!" Nita panicked as she tried to reach for her bag. "The amulet's in my bag!"
"It's floating right in front of you," Kenai said as he could see it from where he was. "Just grab it!"
Nita tried to reach out to get her bag only for her fear to take over. "You get it. I can't. I can't," she then stammered and panicked. "It's right there! Kenai, get it." she then grabbed onto Kenai's fur a bit as she looked scared to death.
"I'm a little busy here!" Kenai grunted as he was still stuck before some water came into the beaver dam.
"Let me see if I can get it." Micco decided.
"Please, Micco." Nita begged.
Micco decided to go and get the bag while Nita looked scared. Akito noticed that Nita seemed to be afraid of the water like his father used to be and decided to talk with her about it once they would be safe and Kenai would be out of the beaver dam.
"Hey, Kito, you wanna help us get Kenai out?" Vincent asked as he grunted while pulling on Kenai with Estelle.
"Just don't go overboard." Estelle suggested.
"Sure!" Akito nodded and came to help his siblings as he tugged on Kenai as well, though he went a little too far and the water flowed and the beaver dam broke from his pull. "Whoops... I really need to work on that..." he then said bashfully.
"Ya think?" Vincent and Estelle asked.
Akito grinned bashfully at that. Micco ran after his sister's bag as he began to flow down the river while Nita stayed on dry land as she looked scared to get into the water.
"Well, at least one of us will get the bag." Estelle said.
Micco grabbed the bag before he went down with it to a waterfall. Nita began to panic even more once she saw the waterfall, especially since her brother was taken with it.
"I guess this would qualify as one of those unexpected delays." Koda remarked as they looked down into the water.
"Look down there." Akito said as he pointed to where Micco and Nita's bag ended up.
"Well, at least they are not hurt." Felicity said with relief.
"Ah, there they are." Kenai smiled calmly.
"Oh, thank goodness." Nita sighed happily.
Micco gave them a thumb's up and was about to say the words that allowed him to grow 50 feet. A raccoon soon came out of a log to check out Nita's bag.
"Oh! Hey, shoo!" Micco glared at the raccoon. "That does not belong to you."
The raccoon stuck its tongue out at him before searching the bag. "Let's see what we got here? What do we got here?" he then asked himself as he searched the bag for something good.
"Hey!" Micco glared. "Hands off!"
"Whatcha gonna do? Spear me?" The raccoon mocked before he brought out the amulet and bit into it before looked very happy as it seemed to be just what he wanted.
"You leave that alone!" Nita called out to the raccoon. "It's mine!"
"You humans make me laugh." The raccoon smirked before Micco grabbed him by his tail.
"That isn't yours." Micco glared.
"Whoopsy!" The raccoon smirked before chucking out the amulet and another raccoon soon caught it before dashing off with it.
"Hey!" Micco called out. "I never thought I'd ever hate raccoons."
"Oh, come on!" Nita complained.
"Raccoons are such tricky critters," Estelle sighed and crossed her arms. "We better go after them."
Micco growled as he began to look pretty angry before the raccoon he held onto got loose and went off after the other.
"I guess at least they left the bag." Ingrid muttered as they soon came down below beside the waterfall to get Nita's bag, but they still needed the amulet.
"We have to find those raccoons." Akito said.
"I'm sure we can catch up to them somehow." Ingrid glared as she shook her fists.
"It's gone," Nita nearly cried. "Ohh! The amulet is gone."
"That's because there ain't a better thief than the masked bandit," Koda remarked. "Once they get something in their clutches, you might as well give up all hope. Nope, that amulet's as good as gone. The Ice Age will end before you get it back." he then continued.
"Thanks a lot, Kenai!" Nita glared. "This is your fault!"
"My fault?" Kenai glared back.
"If you hadn't stopped to help those moose-" Nita tried to tell him.
"Whoa, whoa! You're the one who destroyed an entire beaver dam." Kenai reminded firmly.
"I wouldn't have destroyed it if you hadn't gotten your head stuck in it." Nita defended.
"And I'm not the one who had the bag in reach and then let it float away!" Kenai retorted. "My head was stuck. What's your excuse?"
"...He's got a point there." Vincent had to admit.
Nita glared back before she let out a very aggravated groan and stormed off away from Kenai and Koda.
"Let's just calm down; we'll find that raccoon and get your amulet back." Estelle told Nita.
"We have to." Nita began to cry.
Kenai and Koda shared a look with each other of concern before looking back.
"I guess that amulet means a lot to you, huh?" Felicity asked. "I mean... Even though earlier you thought it was just a silly little trinket."
"If I can't burn the amulet, I'll never be able to marry Atka." Nita said before she sat down and began to cry as she felt heartbroken.
"So that's why you and Kenai need to be together to burn it." Vincent said.
"Exactly." Nita replied sadly.
"The shaman told us." Micco nodded from that.
It was a truly sad moment for everyone as even Koda began to look sad as Kenai walked off to the corner as Nita began to cry.