because you were the fittest and most willing member of the group and of all the tests that I put you through over the years you would never back down from any of them. You also had plenty of courage and you would not be afraid to defend yourself against other threatening strays. So for that very reason I knew that you were next in line to be a commander. Not only that, but because we did so much together through that time, I realized how much your friendship had meant to me. You, Buster, were like a son and a brother to me."

Buster's eyes widened lightly and his mouth opened in suprise when Tramp said this. He had never heard it before.

"And I really mean that. The thing is that I had lost my owner too soon, and the canine who trained me to tackle the streets; Rocky; was also taken away from me early by a paralysis tick. So I felt that I had lost my family twice, and I kind of fell on hard times; until I found you, Buster. Through all that we went through together, you were not just a student in my eyes: You became another part of my family, and your presence helped me to endure the hard times that I went through and attempt to enjoy life more. So it was for that other reason that I rewarded you with the leadership after I left to go solo. I gave it to you because of your hard work and brotherhood."

Tramp had never told this to Buster up until now, and Buster became lost for words as his once-role-model's true showing of mateship made his emotions grip him hard. But at the same time he also felt the irony of Tramp leaving him for 'life on a leash', as some strays described it; and he was eager to get it off of his chest.

"Well, then, if that is true, why did you leave me?" He asked, still lightly fuming inside but trying hard not to express it.

Tramp knew that he would ask this question, and the 'veteran' schnauzer knew that it was not going to be a simple answer, so he decided to narrow it down as best as he could.

"The thing is, Buster, that there comes a time is the life of every living creature on this earth, human or animal, where we have to make difficult yet important decisions. Each decision that we make determines the difference between the right direction to travel, where it brings out the best in ourselves and our lives; and the wrong direction, where we lose ourselves completely and our lives are in danger. But only we, ourselves, can chose our own fate. We can all be taught well, but in the end it is our decision as to what we do with our lives. It is only fair that everyone has free will. If anyone tries to hold us back from living the way we want, we will all be fighting constantly until we almost destroy each other. So in your case, my friend, I gave you guidance but I did not want to, at any time, want to force you into anything. I cared about you and I wanted you to have what you wanted to have. You chose your path and I respect that. In the end I just wanted to make sure that you were happy. As for my case, meeting this beautiful and sensible house dog made me discover the meaning of love. I learned that life is never fully complete without it. It brings out the best in us and helps us to understand why the world works. It works because those who live in peace and harmony with one another will be free of fear and embrace the goodness of life."

These powerful words were, again, like nothing that Buster had ever heard before. He had not even understood what love meant. But in the way that the older schnauzer had just put it, he was beginning to realize that Tramp's brotherhood towards him was somehow connected with that term in a way. 

"So it was for that very reason that she became so important to me." Tramp continued. "If not for her, I would have never felt fully complete. I always thought that the street life was full of amusement and fun; which, you would think, is everything that any street dog can ever ask for; but after meeting Pidge, I knew then that we all need someone to look after and care for us so that we fulfill our lives. No matter how we choose to live, It is important to embrace the love so that we enjoy life more." He then decided to attempt to relieve Buster of his envy: "I know you might hate me after I left you, but you really do not have to feel that way, my friend. Just because I fell in love does not mean that I don't like you any less. I still admire you because of your 'brotherly love' that we shared and the fact that you became exceptional in your street survival skills. So our friendship was important to us and I never wanted to let it go. To this day your are still my friend despite what you did to my son. He and I are willing to forgive you."

"That's right, dad." Scamp responded, stepping forwards to speak to his former street teacher. "What is in the past is in the past and we have now put that behind us. You have also got to leave your worries behind you, Buster. If you focus too much on the bad things that might have happened in the past, you will not able to focus properly on the future. You have to cherish the good memories of the past and let the not-so-great times fade away to have any such chance of  enjoying the forthcoming years of life. Years of carrying continuous hatred and distrust because of one changing moment will make you despise most others around you and then they will, in turn, despise you and then you will not have any friends or family to look out for you. You will just become a 'lone wolf' left to fend for himself for the rest of his life. After you had someone look after you when you were growing up, you were not like that. He was there when you really needed him and he helped you to survive. Do you think that you would be where you are to this day if not for a dog who taught you the essentials and gave you a life? More than that; he was like family to you. By giving you what he did, he became the family that you never had. Bottom line; he became someone you LOVED. When you think about it, parenthood and brotherhood equals family, and family equals love. Do you see what I mean?"

Buster wore a shocked expression on his face and his pupils aimed slightly downwards as he was thinking deep. He had never heard so many wise words in all of his life; let alone in such short time; and so he didn't know how to respond. He was beginning to realise the wrongness of his misjudgement of Tramp and the brainwashing of his son if they were giving him so much good advice, and he was feeling quite sick inside because of it.

"It's a lot of information, I know." Scamp continued, noticing Buster stuck in his thoughts; trying to process everything that was said to him. "But here is the conclusion: We are going to forgive you and let you continue to live your life the way you want to live it. Live as a stray for the rest of your life if you desire or go and live with a human. The choice is yours. But never forget that none of us hate you at all and we still care."

Buster, with his eyes looking at the ground as he was thinking again, thought about it for a minute. He then lifted his head up and looked at the old and young schnauzer and nodded a confirmation.

But before another word could be said, the sound of a vehicles' engine came to the ears of Scratchy, who was on the lookout on the street near the alley. He then saw a yellow van turning around the corner three blokes away from where he was, and he knew immediately by the sound and appearance of the van that it was the enemy of the roadside strays: the dogcatcher. Therefore he immediately alerted his clan:

"The dogcatcher's van is coming this way! Hide yourselves, quickly!"

The others sprung into action the moment they heard him and went to hide in certain places within the alley; including behind storage boxes or inside the bins. Except Scratchy went to the front of a nearby cafe and sat near the door to make it look like he belonged to the shop's owners. And Scamp and Tramp had to firstly get Buster out of his 'confinement', so the young schnauzer unclipped the leash buckle from his own collar around Buster's neck to set him free.

"Oh, no; not again!" Buster slightly panicked at the thought of the dogcatcher as he was being unbound. 

"Don't worry, Buster." Scamp said. "We are not going to let them take you away. Just hide behind this wooden board and do not let yourself be seen. Even if you are, they will not take you because you have my license around your neck to fool them into believing that you are a house dog." He gestured towards the collar.

"But you have to remember not to let yourself get seen at all, Scamp." His father added. "You have no collar right now and that will be an obvious sign to them."

"Got it, dad." Scamp replied, then turned his eyes on Buster again. "Now go and hide!"

Buster saw reason to his safety with a collar and he nodded and hid himself quickly without even trying to think any further. The two schnauzers then hid themselves in two open trash cans.

The engine-powered van approached the cafe, a block away from the alley where the dogs were hiding, and the driver noticed a brown mongrel sitting out in front of it. He slowed down and observed Scratchy for 'a sign of clearance'. He noticed the collar and license around his neck and that he was sitting comfortably satisfied outside the cafe. Scratchy even wore a slight grin to show it.

"He's no problem." The driver said. "He must be owned by the cafe people. All good."

With that said, he turned his head back to the road and accelerated to get back to the normal speed limit. He drove past the alley and did not turn his head to observe what was there as he seemed fooled