Hunter swears again. I just can't seem to stop him. Also, I suppose this could be considered a supplemental piece to The Art of Cohesion. Enjoy~~

~'~,~'~

It's incredibly stupid and self-indulgent, but Hunter and Blake return to the Thunder Academy after the Cavern of Spirits. The entire fight and the cold revelations it had brought had burned out everything that had clamored up inside of him up to that point until he'd sort of felt empty.

It was a disquieting realization, to know that he and Blake had been determinedly striding down the path they had been. If they'd managed to succeed, they'd have pretty much been guaranteed to join the ranks of the Lost Ninjas that guarded the base of the mountain.

Maybe it was a symbolic trip, or maybe he just needed to put things into perspective and there was nothing more sobering than the foundations of their school laid bare to drive that home. Blake had disappeared almost as soon as they crossed the threshold, walking along well-worn paths. Hunter walked through the bits of upraised support that had been left behind, silently taking the long route instead of stepping through where a wall would have been.

He tried to step over the rubble lines only once and it left him feeling sick and chilled and so wrong he had to just kneel on the ground until Blake had come back to collect him.

He did understand that there was a chance the ruins were still being monitored. He just can't really wrap his head around Lothor paying that much attention to a place he'd already conquered, though. The man had been nothing short of obsessive about his goals, and the rangers were doing a very good job at commandeering all of his attention.

With them constantly monitoring each other Hunter doubted he'd spare much thought for the other places that were less of a direct nuisance, but he'd kept himself vigilant anyway. They did have a certain amount of power that Lothor would probably not mind getting his hands on again, and they'd slipped through his fingers once already.

So he's surprised, but not particularly unprepared, when he hears movement behind him that is too heavy and slow to be Blake. He assumes it's an enemy, so spinning and striking first isn't really something he feels too bad about even if the target is altogether more human than he'd expected.

He barely misses, the man stumbling back with wide startled eyes, dropping his duffel bag and kicking it back further as he continues with his stumble, arms coming up in a block.

"Hey, hey, wait! I'm not here to fight!"

He's compact, but even with the deceptively loose shirt and pants Hunter can pick out the muscle definition on the guy. Pale blond hair, spiked up, and even though Hunter surprised him the man recovered quickly, settled into a fighting stance despite his words.

"You don't belong here," Hunter says harshly, anger he hadn't felt since everything came to a head with Lothor bubbling up. He looked like a damn tourist. And that was just insulting – their ruins weren't something for a stranger to discover and gawk at.

"Does anyone?" the mystery man asks, brows knitting a bit. It stings. He pushes past it, darting forward and delivering a punch that's still blocked, even if it makes the other stumble back a step again. Arguably, that startles the blond even more.

"Leave!"

"Well that's a little-!" He ducks, and Hunter has to flip back to avoid a punch. "Rude!"

Rude? Seriously? He feels his fingers curl into tighter fists, the crackle of electricity over his knuckles brief and biting, but Blake comes in from the side and Hunter watches a little amazed and a lot uneasy when the guy just – reacts, rolling back with another startled yelp and shoving forward, shoulder-checking into Blake's side.

Hunter moves fast, darting forward before any kind of follow-up can happen, jumping up and driving his heel down, slamming it into the ground as it brushes down the guy's side in a deflected dodge.

"You okay?" He asks tersely, and Blake shakes out his arms as he gets back to his feet, uneasy and eying up the stranger.

"Fine. Who is this clown?"

"A little offended," the clown mutters, eyes darting between them.

"Whatever," Hunter snaps. "Let's finish this."

"Don't worry," Blake chirps, manic and terse enough that Hunter can tell he's just as angry. The feral grin on his face is one of the worst, and the guy across from him pauses, eyes widening just a touch more. "We'll drop you off by a busy road."

"Hey, wait a second," he starts, and that's all Hunter hears before he's charging forward, crimson lightening dancing up is arm, Blake separating at the last second to dart in from a different angle. Knock him out. Get him gone. A little roughed up, a bit meaner than the way these things would have been handled before the academy was left in ruins, but ultimately the least offensive thing the two of them can do to the stranger who deserves none of their restraint.

He's half a second away from connecting before something – happens.

He doesn't know what it is. It feels a little bit like getting blasted full-force by Ninja Storm's air element. The rumbling feel of the ground moments before Hunter is suddenly flung backwards through the air feel a lot more like their earth element. None of it matches with the dull roar that sounds, or the strange ghost-like shape that seems to come out of the other guy.

Hunter doesn't get a chance to recover, the guy takes two steps and then suddenly he's on top and pinning him down with a heavy knee to the center of Hunter's chest, eyes lifted and locked on Blake.

"Don't even think about it, Thunder!" he snaps, and Hunter grimaces at the added pressure crushing him into the ground. Pale flat eyes focus on him next, but the guy's hands are held up in the air like a surrender. "Listen to me for two seconds."

"They'd better be good ones," Blake threatens. Hunter silently agrees, the crackle of his own power itching at his palms. Somehow, that this guy knows where he is and what was here makes it worse.

"My name is Dominic Hargan," blond guy says, slowly pulling up his sleeve in clear view of both of them. Even then, it takes Hunter a couple of seconds to understand what he's seeing, what the claw marks on his forearm actually mean. "I'm a Pai Zhuq Master and I came here to pay my respects."

Well, then.

Shit.

~'~,~'~

Dominic isn't at all what Hunter has come to expect from Masters – ninja or otherwise. Sensei spoke sparingly of the other academies, and even less of the Order of the Claw. All Hunter really knew was that they were attuned to animal spirits and occasionally shared character traits of their animal.

He hadn't really known what that meant. Even after the evening and little skirmish he'd had with Dominic he didn't know what that meant. At the least he'd paid his respects like he'd said, Hunter and Blake had warily given him space and the courtesy had been returned until the sun had started to set and he'd rounded the pair of them up.

Sitting with him around a campfire a ways away from the temple was more of an apology for the unwarranted attack than an attempt to become buddy-buddy with the guy. But, well, even if he didn't know much about the Order of the Claw he knew that those marks weren't something that just appeared.

They were earned, and if the tattoo wasn't enough well. He had gotten knocked off his feet and sent flying. He didn't really have much of an explanation for that.

"I hadn't realized Lothor had managed to switch his attention from the ninja academies," Blake says cautiously.

"I wouldn't worry too much," Dominic says, holding out skewered meat to both of them. All he has is survivalist gear – the duffel bag he'd dropped earlier and a backpack here at the campsite he'd set up. "As far as I can tell he hasn't. I was kind of around when I felt the negative energy pouring out from this area. I wasn't fast enough to help, and I didn't really know what had happened until I found the ruined entrance to the temple."

"That's convenient," Hunter mutters bitterly. Blake nudges his ankle, but Dominic only sighs and nods.

"It's not all that pleasant," he agrees simply. "When I arrived here I hadn't realized just how close to the Thunder temple I was. Once I figured out what the heavy sense of power was I sort of planned to skirt around it. And then something – the Lothor attack I suppose, happened and I was rushing back as fast as I could."

"So, if you don't mind, what are you doing out here?" Blake asks. "I mean, originally. If it wasn't to visit with the Masters at the temple or to see the academy, then what was it?"

"Well, honestly? I'm traveling to find my purpose," Dominic tells them. The adds, grinning, "What? Did you think that becoming a Master means you have the answer to everything?"

"…Sort of?" Blake asks, hedging around giving a better answer by biting into the food. Hunter follows suit.

"I'm in touch with my spirit animal," Dominic explains candidly. "I'm the Master of my own body and power. There's a difference between being able to control something, and knowing what to do with it though. Master Mao told me to find my path, so that's what I'm doing."

"The Order of the Claw… do they…?" Blake ventures, sighing when Dominic slowly shakes his head.

"I doubt they know. It's like I said, I only know because I was around enough to feel it and recognize that something was wrong. It might come as a bit of a surprise, but we're not really part of the social archetype."

"Yeah, tell me about it," Hunter scoffs, frowning at the flickering flames. It was a consequence of what they were – isolation came hand in hand with their training, even if not all of the students or Masters agreed with it. There may have been meet-ups between individuals like now, or the occasional person that broadens their horizons by finding more than one or two masters under a certain banner to learn from but ultimately they were alone.

The Thunders were more isolated than most, but that was as much a consequence of their desire to stay true to their affinity as it was an avoidance of becoming absorbed into the ever-growing ranks of the Winds.

Formerly ever-growing. Understandably, that sort of thing was kind of put on hold. Having actually met Kanoi Watanabe, Hunter's pretty sure that kind of thinking actually stems more from fear than some desire on Watanabe's part to mold Thunder techniques into something they can use.

The more he reflected on it, the more he's pretty sure that any misconception about Watanabe wanting Thunders under his school's banner stemmed from the guy's desire for them to work together. He seems like the type to be very pro-teamwork, and the Winds already covered three separate elements as it was. That'd be difficult without some modicum of tolerance and desire to see what cooperation could create.

"Hey," Dominic's voice cuts in, drawing him out of his thoughts. "You guys must've had a crazy long couple of days. There's a town not too far from here, right? Why don't you guys try to get some sleep, and I'll hook you up with a real meal tomorrow morning there. You have to move on at some point," he continues, faster when Hunter opens his mouth. "Staying stagnant here isn't going to do you any favors."

"No – yeah," Hunter sighs. "You're right. That's... that's fine. But you really don't have to,"

"I fought you in the remains of your temple when you were trying to protect your legacy," Dominic insists, which was a hell of a selective way to remember that. "Please. I've paid what little respects I can. If I can't go after the man responsible, then the least I can do is try and make amends by honoring you both."

"Master Harg-uh, Dominic," Hunter starts, holding a hand up mouth twisting a little at the informality. "We don't hold the Order of the Claw responsible at all. Even if they did know and tried to send someone to help, we wouldn't advise it."

"There are people already doing what they can," Blake agrees and Hunter stubbornly ignores the change in his voice as he speaks. "Good people working hard to fix this. There's no need to remind Lothor there's another tempting target out there."

"There's no debt here," Hunter summarizes, shaking his head.

"Then you two are more generous in your grief than most," Dominic answers stolidly, which is so far from the kind of answer Hunter was expecting from the man he's sort of blindsided. "And I'll treat you to breakfast anyway, because I don't want to be the kind of person that knows something horrible has happened and doesn't at least offer up waffles to help."

"…Waffles," Hunter deadpans, still blinking numbly.

"Belgian waffles," Dominic nods, grinning hopefully at him. This – from a Pai Zhuq Master.

"Well," Blake huffs, grinning a bit. "If they're Belgian."

"…Strawberries," Hunter grouses, because he is hungry and while there was nothing for them here there wasn't much for them anywhere else either.

"And whipped cream," Dominic promises.

"Well," Blake decides, clapping his hands together. "In that case. I'm going to sleep. Try not to burn the forest down, okay, guys?" He says, and then proceeds to do just that, rolling out his sleeping bag and opting to forego the offer of the tent.

"Bacon and sausage, too," Dominic tells him when he doesn't move.

"Stop," Hunter huffs, shaking his head. "That won't make the sun rise any faster."

"Right," Dominic snickers. "If I sleep, are you going to stay up all night, or will you at least wake me and meditate the tired away?"

"…Can't enjoy breakfast on no sleep," Hunter answers warily, sighing a bit at the wider grin Dominic sends him.

"Truer facts, Hunter. Truer facts."

~'~,~'~

They actually get waffles in the morning.

It… it's a strange day all around but somehow that's the thing that sticks with him.

Dominic is cheerful and affable but he's not overbearing or condescending. He's not trying to take control away from them and he listens when they try to warn him off certain topics. He spends almost a full fifteen minutes chatting it up with the person who tells them to sit wherever in the little rundown diner they find and their waitress and somehow manages to get the cook to come out and chats it up with him.

Waffles hadn't been on the menu, but after an engaging quarter hour that's what's put in front of them. Blake's bypassed any feelings of jealousy and dived headlong straight into awe. That is a special kind of mastery of social situations.

Dominic is a weird mix of outgoing and patient, with just enough general mischief to come off as a hopeless kind of friendly. The backpack alone should have marked him as transient and suspicious just by virtue of being a stranger in a small town. Instead, he walks in like he's been here thousands of times, makes a point to read their names and use them, and has a certain note of authority when he speaks that compel listeners to believe him.

He hadn't even used Hunter or Blake when he was talking them all around into getting waffles. He'd kept all of his stories and words firmly about himself, never once speaking on their behalf or even drawing attention to the two tired, worn teens that were clearly standing with him. They would've made a pretty decent bargaining chip. Blake knows from experience.

It's not even until Blake steps up with a sheepish grin of his own, nudging Dominic's arm and insisting that eggs and bacon was way more than enough that Dominic even turned toward them. Blake had been carefully prepared for a hand to grasp his shoulder, or to be pulled into whatever pleasantries Dominic was spouting, but it hadn't stopped the way his chest tightened like it almost always did when strangers got close.

Give a Master his credit, he hadn't missed a beat. Took one look at Blake and grinned wider, sweeping his arm out to encompass them both without touching either of them.

"These guys might not have a sweet tooth between them, but I could die for some whipped cream and powdered sugar."

"On waffles?" Hunter had asked, pouring judgment in almost literal waves and staring at Dominic with a kind of incredulous regard that had started with the sun's rise and hadn't stopped.

"I'm starting to think they don't think I'm an adult," Dominic confides in their onlookers.

"Well, you are the one that fell down a hill trying to hike this morning," Blake laughs. It was kind of worse because it was true, though that had more to do with falling branches than it did with Dominic specifically. Dominic just sniffs, dusting off his white shirt a bit, dirt irreparably smudged into it by now.

"Don't you boys worry," the cook had laughed, shaking his head. "I'll hook you up."

"Did we just con our way into waffles?" Hunter asks, quiet but dubious once he settles against the wall in their booth and plates have been placed in front of all of them.

"Hm," Dominic squinted, head tilting to the side. "I don't remember telling any lies. You didn't lie, right?" He asks and Blake pauses before shrugging a shoulder and shaking his head.

"I… did not," Blake answers, not sure if this was an endorsement or an honest question. It's not the first time Dominic has thrown him for a loop. Admittedly, he's kind of stubbornly pushing back comparisons to another cheerful trusting stranger – they hadn't conned Dominic like they had Dustin. It wouldn't be right to assume the guy would be as welcoming a second time.

"I'll be paying for this one guys," Dominic sighs, digging into his own waffles happily. "Just try to enjoy this moment. Let it come."

"Complete with strawberries and whipped cream?" Blake asks with a laugh.

"And powdered sugar," Dominic nods. Probably trying to look sagely with the exaggerated care he puts into the motion. It looks kind of ridiculous. Blake makes a note to never try it.

"You're a lunatic," Hunter snorts, pouring syrup on his food and slanting a look toward Blake. "And you're a menace."

"Is there any other way to be?" Dominic asks, honestly curious.

The look Hunter gives him is so pained. Dominic just looks more baffled.

It's kind of the best Blake has felt in weeks.

~'~,~'~

Dominic stays with them for a few days. Somehow, he's managed to strike a careful balance between giving them space and hovering around them without actually grating on either of their nerves. Sometimes he accompanies them back to the academy grounds, other times he's gone before the sun rises and rounds them up for lunch – either in town or around a campfire.

Blake hadn't been surprised when he'd woken up to find it was just him and Hunter and their bags.

He hadn't been surprised when Dominic was gone for the full day.

Weirdly, he hadn't been surprised when he showed up again on the third. They hadn't asked where he'd gone, and Dominic hadn't offered up any explanations, but they hadn't fought him when the guy had brought them to a motel room and made them each sleep in an actual bed, claiming the room across the hall as his own.

Hunter, half-asleep with bags under his eyes, chucks a remote at him when he obnoxiously bangs on the door and breaks the lock on the window to climb in.

"Ow," Dominic grins, the remote actually breaking apart on his shoulder and sending batteries rolling in two different directions on the floor.

"What are you?" Blake grumbles, sitting up and rubbing at his face. Checks the clock, ugh two hours.

"You guys should have more pep," Dominic lectures. Even Hunter lifts his head to stare at him at that because –

"Exactly what part of us has ever screamed pep to you?" he demands, skirting the edges of mortified to splash happily in incredulity and despaired.

It was a little alarming, wasn't it? They were very quickly becoming acclimated to this guy.

"Don't you guys function off of the potential energy in the world?"

"It's more like kinetic energy," Blake mutters, sighing as he rolls off the bed to grab one of the batteries, Dominic already on the move to grab the other one.

"So once you get moving, you're good to go?" Dominic asks, accepting the battery from him and repairing the remote.

"Mm," Blake hums, noncommittal. "Out of curiosity, what animal are you?"

"If you say rooster I'm leaving," Hunter deadpans.

"Rhino," Dominic answers after a look that is far too knowing after only two hours of sleep.

"I'm leaving," Hunter announces, rolling to his feet.

"Breakfast first!"

"And then what?" Blake asks curiously, Hunter growling mutinously under his breath.

"Meditation."

Blake blinks, and Hunter pauses a beat before they look at each other. And – yeah. That wasn't a terrible plan at all.

~'~,~'~

Blake and Hunter are kind of walking tragedies.

It doesn't appear to be a new thing, which kind of makes it worse, but Dominic hadn't been kidding when he'd called them generous. Generally speaking, people's reaction when they were first burned was to feel hurt, pull away and circle the flames warily in fear of it happening again.

With the level-headed tolerance, acceptance, and gratitude the two have been displaying he'd say they'd progressed so far beyond that point they were basically holding seminars on fire safety. Both of them were practical, and both of them had heart, though he's kind of starting to doubt that the pair of them would agree with all of that assessment.

Giving them space was natural – even without seeing their spirit animals as the isolationists they both were, Dominic himself wasn't completely suited to the kind of constant presence he's pretty sure they both needed. Any of that kind of support they got from each other, and he was keenly aware that trying to step into that sort of role would only send them further away – probably with a few punishing consequences for him to suffer through.

That didn't mean he was okay with leaving them to pick up all of the pieces on their own, though. He couldn't really make anything better, but breaking them out of their own heads and the kind of guilt that was hovering around their shoulders? He could do that. Sparingly, carefully, he could be a reminder that there were other things out there in the world even if their main support was gone.

From what he'd seen, he didn't think it would take too much to get either of them back on their feet. Even so, it's not even remotely his place to tell them when or how to move on, so when it looks like they're starting to chafe – when Blake starts to draw more attention to himself and Hunter's eyes get that wary, sharp regard and start to scan their surroundings more and more he leaves.

Distancing himself is easy. He hasn't been searching for his destiny long, all things told, but he's usually fairly solitary by day and drawing Hunter and Blake into conversation (or even just the people of the town,) sustains the brief urges he has to socialize. He might act outgoing, but it's admittedly refreshing that he doesn't have to dodge too many questions. Neither Blake nor Hunter are particularly willing to engage him for long as it is.

He's honestly more surprised that they accept his coming and going as easily as they do. If the worst reaction he gets out of them is getting a remote thrown at his person, he'll take it.

He's pretty willing to blame their tolerance on the free food as much as the genuine desire to pay his respects to the lost ninjas. They'd been visibly touched by the gesture, and obviously had no idea how to handle it. That was also fine. Dom wasn't really interested in pushing for a reaction.

RJ rubbed off on him way more than he'd thought.

"So," Blake drawls, "you're the rhino."

"I am," Dom agrees, suppressing a smile and opening his eyes slowly. He's not surprised that the other has switched gears, just that he hadn't done it sooner. Both of their animals were the type to get bored easily. Even though Hunter hasn't moved, Dom can see the beast inside of him perk up.

Ears that large are hard to hide.

"Does everyone have an animal spirit? Do you see them?" Blake asks, the beginnings of a grin on his face.

"I see yours," Dominic answers, trying to stall the question he knows is coming. "Both of yours, but that's not really something I share. You're better off discovering it yourself."

"I have one?" Blake replies, unaccountably nervous. "Really?"

"You do. I don't joke about the beast inside, even if yours is… hard to see."

"It's hard to see? What is it – like a bug?" He asks nervously.

That was…an odd guess.

"You should really try to just tap into your animal yourself," Dom hedges, shaking his head a bit.

"We're not Pai Zhuq students," Hunter cuts in aggressively. Blake leans back, wincing a little at the biting tone, and Dominic could honestly never miss the way Blake's spirit flips up into the air. Gearing up to grab all of the attention away from the conflict.

"No," Dom agrees slowly, thoughtfully stroking his chin. "You're not. You guys are definitely more Thunder than anything."

They kind of do make an alarming team – combining Hunter's stealth and awareness with Blake's eye-catching agility, they had a lot of adaptive strengths to play off of. If they were trained for it, anyway. Opportunistic predators were the worst kind of opponents.

"…So…?" Blake tries hopefully, both of them wrong-footed at Dominic's placid agreement.

Jeez. It's like everything is supposed to be a fight with these two.

"Looks kind of like a stoat to me," Dominic tells him, shrugging a bit.

"A what?" Hunter asks, finally turning to look at him. Blake just blinks a few times.

"A stoat," Dominic answers.

"Are you… making up animals?" Blake asks, eyes narrowing slowly.

"You think I'd do that?" Dominic asks, pressing a hand to his chest. Neither of them answer, but the look they pass between them is kind of answer enough. "You can look it up," Dominic huffs. Blake hums, unconvinced, but Hunter has the kind of look on his face that restores Dom's faith in them a little bit more each time he sees it.

The blond Thunder student would definitely be looking it up later.

"You know," Dominic starts, almost swallowing the words back before pushing through it anyway. He hated to kill the mood, but this felt more important. "The Order of the Claw would take you in, if you went there. You can take shelter there."

It wasn't an offer he expected them to take, but he's still a bit relieved when the pair of them immediately shake their heads. He wanted them thinking of their future, their calling, not hiding away.

The Order would give them shelter, but even Dominic could see that wasn't where they were meant to be.

"Thanks, but…" Blake starts, frowning a little before Hunter rises up to his feet, holding hands out to both of them.

"We have somewhere we can go. They might even be waiting on us," he adds ruefully.

"You think?" Blake mutters dryly, letting Hunter pull him to his feet.

"Yeah, yeah," Hunter mutters, helping Dom up next. "We'll… probably head out soon."

"That's good," Dom says, not faking any of the relief. "I'm moving on tomorrow. I'd have worried about you guys attacking some poor unsuspecting completely and totally innocent stand-up guy,"

"Alright," Hunter groans. "I get it. I'm sorry. Let it go, Rhino Master."

~'~,~'~

He'd known it was coming for days before he'd even brought up the Order, so he strives to make himself available tonight when Hunter's been more restless than Dom's ever seen him. It's not really hard. Convincing them to sleep indoors meant he could loiter in the quiet lobby without problems, and he only has to wait about an hour before Hunter finds him.

"Tomorrow, huh?" he greets, sitting gingerly in the seat that Dominic nudges out for him.

"I'd hate to burn daylight," Dominic answers dryly. Hunter gives him a disparaging look then drops his eyes. "You know, staying away from a problem doesn't lessen the fear any. Maybe it stagnates it, but when conflict inevitably comes avoidance will be the thing that paralyzes you."

"My spirit animal show you that, too?" Hunter asks darkly. The expression he wears now is twisted and angry, and Dominic could swear the hairs on his arms were rising.

"It's more of a guess," Dom tells him with a sigh, ignoring the way his skin crawls. "If I thought the Order was destroyed… I mean, I'd probably do the same thing if I didn't have a way to help."

"I have a way to help."

"So why aren't you?" Dom challenges, meeting Hunter's irate glare head-on.

Hunter looks away first.

"I almost destroyed everything that was left," he answers woodenly.

"I'm not the wisest or the smartest or the fastest guy around," Dominic admits quietly. "But even though the academy is gone, you both still carry it with you. No matter what kind of mistakes you make, who you are can't be taken from you. You can mask it, or someone else can twist it and take advantage of you, but your choices and what you do with what you're given is up to you."

"You think I've been wasting my time here?"

"I think there's a lot of value in knowing of a place you can belong," Dom corrects. "It's as much a state of mind as it is a place or a person. And I think it's unfair to refuse to give that a chance after coming this far. You have a purpose and know where to go."

"Yeah," Hunter says, looking up at him again with a little bit of guilt that Dominic elects to ignore. "I guess we're not all that lucky."

"I'll find it," Dom assures him, grinning a bit. "And when I do it'll be awesome."

"You know?" Hunter starts, smiling a little himself. "I don't doubt it. You're not so bad, Dominic."

"I know right? Really makes you feel guilty about trying to punch me."

"You're not that great, either."

Dominic chuckles but holds his peace, not terribly surprised when Blake finds them barely a half hour later, looking three times as tired as he yawns and sluggishly collapses into a chair next to Hunter.

"This isn't a bed," Hunter sighs, kicking at Blake's ankle. Blake makes a low sound, blearily lifting his head and peering at Dominic before yawning at Hunter. "Go back to sleep."

"It's weird," Blake sighs, rubbing at his face. "I kind of like you."

"Huh. Was not expecting blunt confessions," Dom muses, and Blake snorts, eyes sharp despite the sleepy way he acts, yawning wide again. He hadn't missed the two backpacks that Blake had dragged with him.

"When you find your path," Hunter says, halting and unsure before straightening. "You should look us up. Let us know how it goes."

"Look up two ninjas?" Dominic asks. "I don't know if that's a warning or flattery." Hunter snorts, and Blake grins.

"You're right. We'll look you up."

"Now I know that's a warning."

They snap their fingers in unison, pointing finger guns at him with matching smirks, and Dom grins back, unabashed.

They're gone within the next five minutes, skittish about goodbyes and unwilling to 'start more Lifetime moments,' streaking away in the parking lot with more speed than Dominic has ever been exposed to.

It's a little weird. But he kind of likes them, too.

~'~,~'~

Notes:
A stoat is a very small weasel. They are adorable. They have a war dance. I encourage you to look up pictures and watch videos. They regularly hunt prey larger than them. For Blake, I figured it was fitting. And just generally cute.

For anyone who is curious, Hunter's animal is a fox, as far as I'm concerned. Any kind of fox, but I like to picture a Fennec fox. Because it amuses me.

Dominic traveled around searching for his purpose for six years. Meeting up with two lost ninjas near the beginning of his long quest didn't feel all that unreasonable to me. That, and really, there needs to be more Ninja Storm/Jungle Fury/(Mystic Force) crossovers. There just. Does.