"So...what am I supposed to do around here?"

The four turtles look up at Destiny as she sits down on one of the free seats, resting her crutches against the tabletop. Michelangelo still has breakfast crammed in his mouth and Raphael looks half asleep. Leonardo's eyes are drooped since he didn't get enough sleep after watching Space Heroes. Donatello is the only one who looks relatively awake, but that could be in part because of the steaming coffee mug clasped in his hand.

"Uh...heal?" Donatello suggests.

She purses her lips, crossing her arms over her chest. "Other than healing?"

Michelangelo raises his hand, waving it wildly. The wolf mutant smiles a little as she uncrosses one arm for long enough to point at him.

"Play video games with me?" he asks as he lowers his arm.

"You could help me out in my lab, if you want," Donatello adds.

"Do what you want." Raphael leans back, yawning and stretching his arms towards the ceiling.

Leonardo taps his chin with one finger, deep in thought. Eventually, he perks up. "Well, you could observe our training sessions. I think it'd be useful for you to see how more trained ninjas fight," he suggests. "Plus, Donnie said that stretching your ankle and using it moderately—" He gives her pointed look. "—will help it heal."

He pauses, as if he's waiting for her to be offended. She shrugs, leaning her chin onto her hand as she pokes at a discarded fork. Even she has to admit that he has a point, and she's up for anything that'll make her foot better sooner.

Their silence makes Leonardo think otherwise, however, because the smile on the oldest turtle's face falls rather swiftly when he doesn't receive a response.

"I think that's a fine idea," Splinter says from behind Destiny.

She barks in surprise, her tail fur spiking up. Realizing the sound that she just made, she covers her mouth as her cheeks turn crimson. The turtles burst out laughing and a light smile appears on Splinter's face. She uncovers her mouth, still reddened.

"Okay guys. Yeah, I'm a wolf. I can bark! Get over it!" she huffs, crossing her arms.

They keep laughing. She pouts deeply, her hands clenching into fists as she gets to her feet. She moves to the nearest turtle, who happens to be Leonardo. He's still laughing pretty hard, not noticing her approach.

She leans down and barks loudly in his ear. He yelps before falling off his chair and crashing to the floor, arms pinwheeling as he collapses. Instantly, his laughter ceases while those of his brothers increase.

She blows a stray lock of hair out of her face, letting out a short exhale. Leonardo blinks a few times, getting up and brushing himself off as he tries to regain some of his dignity. Still, he doesn't look angry at her; maybe slightly annoyed, but more amused.

"Dudette, that made my entire day," Michelangelo says, tossing a piece of toast into his mouth.

"As I was saying before that happened," Splinter continues, his tone slightly teasing. "I agree with Leonardo. Destiny should be allowed to observe our training today."

Leonardo's chest puffs up as he smiles brightly. Destiny bows her head in respect towards Splinter, then straightens.

"Sounds good to me," she says with a light smile playing across her lips. "For now, if you guys left me any, I'd like some breakfast."

----------

After breakfast, everyone heads to the dojo. Destiny follows Master Splinter, feeling stupidly excited for something that shouldn't provoke that kind of emotion. She forces herself to keep her mouth shut and focuses instead on watching Splinter's dignified walk and attempting to look as calm as he is as they enter the dojo.

Splinter motions for her to sit down beside him and she obeys. The turtles start warming up, stretching and swinging their weapons to themselves. Michelangelo practically dances around, humming something that sounds vaguely like Taylor Swift. Raphael does a lot of punching and kicking, his electric green eyes blazing with determination. Donatello spins his bō staff to himself, his eyes flickering to every one of his brothers as he works, like he's running through calculations and strategies in his head as he goes. Leonardo is completely focused, his eyes almost shut as he breathes evenly and swings his katanas fluidly.

Destiny already feels a stab of jealously at how easy they make everything look. She crosses her arms over her chest and leans against the dojo wall, tail curling around her ankles as she exhales.

"Ya mae!" Splinter barks. The turtles stop training and fall into line in front of their Sensei as he stands up. "Sparring pairs. Leonardo and Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo."

Michelangelo leaps to his feet, swinging his nunchucks a few times before securing half of each chuck under his armpits. "Aw, yeah, B-Team is back in action! D, high-three!"

He thrusts his hand out towards Donatello, but the purple-masked turtle doesn't share his brother's happiness. He frowns, forehead wrinkling with the action as he too stands up, batting Michelangelo's hand away.

"I thought we agreed not to call us that," he scolds. "It's degrading to us and our skill level!"

Destiny arches an eyebrow, lifting her hand as she clears her throat. "Uh...excuse me, but B-Team?"

The disgruntled turtle looks her way, his arms crossing over his plastron. "Somehow, Raph and Leo believe that Mikey and I aren't as skilled as them, so they call us the B-team."

"Yeah, 'cause it's true," Raphael says, a smirk settled on his face as he tilts his head up to his standing siblings. "Leo and I are—"

"Raph, we don't need to start this again," Leonardo interrupts, shaking his head as he closes his eyes.

Destiny's lips push forward into a pout as she eyes each turtle. "Well...each of you have different skill sets, right?" she asks, aiming one finger at the sais in Raphael's belt. "Like...I don't know much about weapons save for old movies but, I think those...uh...things would take a different sort of style than, say..." She points to the katanas on Leonardo's shell. "Swords."

"Sai and katana, actually," Splinter corrects, making colour rise in the wolf girl's face. He smiles softly. "Please, continue with your observation."

She clears her throat, shifting in place as she grips her knees. "So...it's a matter of perspective, I guess," she says. "Leo would be better at wielding katanas than Donnie, but Donnie would definitely beat Leo if they were doing just staff fighting, and Mikey would beat Raph if they were both using nunchucks."

"Bōjutsu, and another term for nunchucks is nunchaku," Splinter adds.

"Right, that." She wags her finger at Splinter for a moment before looking to the turtles. "If not that, all of you have different skill sets that contribute to the team, like...uh...leadership, strength, brains, agility, etcetera," she finishes, reaching her hand up to grip a loose girl. She looks at her lap. "That's...that's just what I observed."

The four turtles all blink once, faces slack. Destiny's self-consciousness grows as she begins to fiddle with the dark streak in her bangs, animalistic eyes latched on her feet.

Maybe I should've just stayed quiet...

"Excellent point, Destiny," Master Splinter agrees. He looks to his sons. "Each of you have different skills, so saying that one is better than the other is unneeded, because it is difficult thing to prove."

Donatello seems completely enlightened by that comment, standing up a little straighter. Raphael huffs as his hand clenches into a fist. Leonardo nudges him, smiling lightly.

"I think we can all agree that you're still the best fighter," he whispers, just soft enough that her wolf ears can pick it up.

Raphael smirks, jostling his brother with one muscled shoulder. Destiny doesn't realize it, but she's smiling softly and her tail is wagging back at forth slowly.

"Hajime!" Splinter orders.

The turtles split into their sparring pairs, starting training with the correct command from their Sensei. Destiny watches, unable to stop herself from looking stunned. They move so fluidly, kicking and spinning and lunging with so much accuracy and form. It's beautiful, in a strange way, like a dance routine that's been practiced over and over.

"How long have they been doing this?" she asks Master Splinter.

He smiles. "I trained them from a young age. Even then, they watched me train when they were even smaller. They've grown up in the art of ninjutsu."

She looks back at the sparring. Leonardo front-flips over Raphael, sending his katanas slicing downwards. Raphael catches the blades in his sais and throws his brother off course. Leonardo regains his footing, nearly falling over in the process. Destiny giggles a little and the blue-clad turtle's cheeks become tinted with pink before he straightens up, returning the attacks at his brother with extra vigour.

Nearby, Donatello swings his bō staff at Michelangelo, who grins and talks as he fights.

"You ain't got nothing on me, bro!" he whoops. "Taste the nunchuckin' fury!"

He leaps, spinning his nunchucks and aiming for Donatello's head. The purple-masked turtle catches the chains on his staff, swinging and sending Michelangelo into a wall. The orange-masked turtle slumps over, his eyes nearly spiralling with dizziness, and Donatello smirks and smacks his staff down.

"Wow," Destiny breathes. Master Splinter nods in response, smiling lightly.

Raphael takes down Leonardo with a sweep of the leg, Leonardo letting out a grunt as his shell smacks against the dojo floor. The red-masked turtle crosses his arms, grinning teasingly at his blue-masked brother as he basks in the victory for a moment or two. The moment passes. Raphael leans down and helps Leonardo up from the ground. They bump fists.

Destiny claps her hands together a few times, trying to keep the volume low. The turtles share a few smiles, their chests swelling with pride as they move closer to the spectating pair.

"That was...really cool," Destiny admits, running one hand up her arm.

Leonardo sheathes his katanas, tilting his head as he releases the hilts. "Want to try, Des?" he offers.

Raphael scoffs. "Her? Spar with us? We'd take her down in a second."

Destiny frowns as she lowers her head, feeling as though his teasing is a direct jab at her limited abilities. She may not know a lot about ninjutsu or stylized combat, but she's got something.

"Actually, she's not half-bad. I think she's got potential," the first brother defends. She slowly lifts her eyes back to him, only to find that he's already looking at her.

Master Splinter gives the wolf a glance, as do the other three turtles. She shoots Leonardo a grateful smile before she stands up, crossing her arms over her chest and fixating a determined glare on Raphael.

"In fact, I would like to try. You want to take me on, Raph?" she challenges, her weak foot aching slightly.

Raphael arches an eye-ridge, looking surprised yet amused. He puts away his sais, nodding once. "Sure. We'll see how long you last, hand to hand."

"Guys, this isn't a good idea," Donatello warns. "With your foot—"

"Chillax, Don, Raph can go easy on her," Michelangelo cuts in, looping an arm around the purple-clad turtle's shoulders. He casts his baby blue eyes to the turtle in question. "Right, Raph?"

He mutters something and rolls his neck, a crack emanating from it as he settles himself out on the dojo floor. Destiny gulps, clenches her fists, and half-limps over to him.

"Raphael," Splinter says, earning his son's attention.

They make eye contact, a silent conversation taking place in a second. Raphael nods once and looks away. Splinter exhales and leans back, ready to watch the event, while Leonardo, Donatello, and Michelangelo sit down, each expression different; concerned, curious, excited.

Destiny readies herself, muscles tensed and her heart racing with anticipation as she watches her opponent's movements. He looks relaxed, his bright eyes glinting with amusement and a small smirk making his face look nicer.

"Hajime!" Splinter calls.

Raphael lunges immediately and she swings to the left, just managing to avoid his fist. His smirk flickers away as his eyes widen, but he quickly recovers as he spins around and swings his leg out at her own. She reacts instantly, curling backwards and half backflipping away before landing unsteadily on her feet. Her bad ankle jolts, sending spiderwebs of pain up her leg and making her squeak and stumble.

Raphael doesn't slow down to acknowledge her injury and his foot makes contact with her gut before she has a chance to recover. She's on the ground in an instant, the wind knocked out of her and her ankle aching noticeably again. Leonardo winces, his mouth forming an "o" shape. Donatello covers his mouth with his hand while Michelangelo holds back a nervous laugh.

Raphael smirks triumphantly down at Destiny as she gasps for breath. "Well, you tried."

She groans, clutching her stomach as her face goes pale. Leonardo gets up and dashes over, kneeling down and helping her up. Raphael turns and rejoins his brothers, sitting down without wiping the smug grin off his face. Leonardo walks beside Destiny, ready to help her if she needs it, before offering her a spot next to him in their line as they both settle down.

Master Splinter stands up again, crossing his arms behind his back as he gazes down at Destiny. "Destiny, well done," he compliments.

Raphael snorts out a laugh, earning glares from his brothers. Destiny ignores it as she bites her lip.

"But...I lost," she mumbles.

"Yes, but you executed defensive techniques with the swift reflexes that take lots of practice to master," Splinter points out. "With more practice, you could solidify those skills."

Leonardo raises his hand. His Sensei nods to him.

"Could we help her with that?" the eldest turtle wonders.

"Help her?" Michelangelo asks, his face slackening.

Leonardo nods, his countenance growing excited. "She could join in on training! Her skills could be refined, like...she could fix her footing, strengthen her offensive moves, that stuff."

Despite everything that tells her to play it cool, Destiny's tail starts wagging involuntarily. The idea of really learning ninjutsu, not the simple fighting skills that she taught herself, makes her heart rate speed up.

Master Splinter pauses to think, stroking his goatee. "If Destiny is willing, I would not be against that idea," he says after a long pause. He looks to her. "You do have skills, and should they be practiced, you have a lot of potential to be a kunoichi."

Leonardo looks sideways at her, flashing a smile. She looks at her lap as her cheeks turn pink, momentarily remembering their conversation from last night as the tiniest of smiles lifts her lips.

"But...perhaps we should wait. We still do not know a lot about you, nor do you know a lot about us," Splinter continues. "We do not want to risk anything, and we still do not know how long you'll be staying around."

Her smile falls. "Oh...okay."

The rat watches her closely, his ears flicking once. "I will ask you this, and I want the honest truth. Is there anyone that you have allied yourself with who could possibly do harm to my family?"

Each of the turtles frown lightly, suddenly looking more on edge. She purses her lips and fidgets, the air thick with tension.

"I...I don't have anyone," she says. "No one that I can remember. The only person I've ever had any kind of relationship with has been Mr. Murakami from a noodle shop around here."

"You know Murakami?" Michelangelo asks, his eyes nearly sparkling.

She nods. The brothers look at each other, then at their Sensei. Splinter strokes his goatee as his head bobs up and down slowly.

"Tonight, you four will visit Murakami on your patrol. Ask him about Destiny, and we will trust his word," he says calmly. He looks to the teenaged girl again. "His judgment will be trustworthy and will help us decide whether or not you will truly be a worthy ally, should you choose to stay."

"Hai..." she whispers. She has to admit, she hopes that Murakami won't mention how she came barreling into his shop rambling about supposed "aliens".

"Should our friend's words be positive, Destiny will be joining all of you in your training...or at least, she will be doing minor exercises until her ankle is healed. I will expect each of you to take private sessions with her," Splinter continues. "As she pointed out, each of you have different skill sets. You will teach her what you know."

Raphael's posture straightens and his eyes widen. He looks completely appalled. "What?! Sensei, we—"

"Raphael!" Splinter smacks his staff on the ground forcibly, his tone suddenly sharper than anything Destiny had ever heard from him. The other three turtles wince at the shout. Raphael stutters for a moment before shutting up. "For now, all of you need to continue sparring. Michelangelo will spar with Raphael, Leonardo with Donatello."

They stand up and get to training again. Destiny settles back into watching, feeling oddly excited about all that she's going to learn in the near future.