Hunting? Wasn't the cabin stocked with dried food? Or did Kuromaru need to get out on a regular basis and crunch small furry creatures? Raidou frowned under his mask. Either way, it was never a good idea to split up teammates on a two-man mission. Especially if those two men happened to be one dog and one woman.

Not that he didn't thoroughly respect their separate abilities to kick ass. But he'd seen Tsume run, and he'd seen Kuromaru lose his cool, and--

Raidou blew out a breath, clearing his head. Worrying was for life's thinkers, he was a man better suited to moving. The kunai in his hand spun, ascribing a dull circle of humming steel as he flicked it, bleeding away tension into the metal.

"How far--" he began, and shut up as undergrowth crashed ahead. The kunai handle thunked into his palm as something huge and black erupted from the dense foliage.

Kuromauru, eyes wide, ears slicked flat, spotted them and locked all four legs, falling into a long skid that almost richocetted him off a large oak trunk. Leaves fountained up; small twigs rained down. His breath panted great clouds of steam into the air.

"...subtle," said Raidou finally, halting as the forest ate the echoes.