When came the morning, the Commandos went down for the breakfast.
This time, Dingodile finally went down with them.
Once the breakfast was finished, it was decided they would take a walk in the streets for the morning.
Dingodile tried and go back to his room, but the others refused and dragged him with them.

The walk was fine.
The morning air was a bit fresh, but it felt revigorating.
The Commandos enjoyed it a lot.
Except Dingodile, who dragged his feet, still visibly depressed.
Eventually...
"Hey, look!" exclaimed Tiny. "Two humans look funny in green garb!"
"Don't point at people, that's rude!" protested Joe.
"And him, Tiny never saw so big beard!"
"But cut it out!" yelped Pinstripe.
"Hey, man, that's impolite to point!" barked the bearded man.
"See, you're gonna attract us trouble!" criticized Moe.
"But why?!" protested Tiny as the others dragged him away.
Ripper, in academician mode, tried to distract him with reading trivia in his guidebook (bought with the map at Sinta) about Rella. It lasted a while, and suddenly...
"THERE!!" yelled Pinstripe. "A bar!"
"Yeah! Awesome!" exclaimed happily the Commandos.
"You know, if what I'm talking about doesn't interest you, just say so," grumbled Ripper.
"IT DOESN'T INTEREST US," barked the Commandos as one.
Except Pinstripe, who teased: "Me, I was interested until we saw the bar."
Ripper grumbled even more.
"All right, let's end the morning with a drink!"
Everyone agreed.

Once the beer was drunk, everyone went back at the inn for lunch.
All eight uplifted and the four critters savored the delicious lunch.
After the mandatory nap, the group decided to go back at the thermal baths.
After all, Dingodile, Kong and Tiny didn't get to enjoy them.
But it was closed, and would open later, at the end of the afternoon.
So they went shopping to wait for the opening.

"Hey, someone saw Joe?" asked Moe.
"He's in that weapon shop," answered Ripper.
"Still?! He's been there for ten minutes!"
"Oh, look, there he is," commented Pinstripe. "But?! What did he buy?"
For Joe was brandishing up in the air what was unmistakably a katana.
And was visibly overjoyed.
"YEEEEAAAAH!! I bought a Masamune! Awesome!" he yelled.
"WHAT?!" yelped Moe. "It's a real Masamune?!"
"For fucking real!" exulted Joe. "In the discount shelf!"
"Let me see!"
"Cost me almost nothing!" gloated Joe.
"That merchant knows nothing about his job, it's obvious!" snarked Moe.
"The grip is smooth!"
"Yeah, and have you seen the blade?! Its curve is perfect!"
"And it's wonderfully balanced!"
"And the sheath slids without a problem!"
"And it actually works as a special grinding stone, to always keep the blade sharp and perfect!"
"Let me touch, let me touch!"
The two brothers kept gushing on Joe's acquisition for a few minutes.
"Oi, you're done?" finally asked Kong.
"The baths are going to open, we need to go!" added Rilla.
"That stupid!" continued Tiny. "All that for dumb knife!"
"WHAT?!" roared Joe. "You know what's that, moron?! That's a Masamune! A katana by Goro Nyudo Masamune, the greatest swordsmith ever! It's one of the best and rarest swords in the world!"
"Like Tiny care," snarked the thylacine.
Joe glared daggers.
"Come on, let's go to the baths!" ordered Pinstripe.
And thus they took the road to the baths.
But it was long, Joe kept trying his new sword.
He slashed barrels, doors, he got yelled at by an old woman...
And it only got worse when he decided to try throwing it.
At moving targets...

"Look! A dog!"
"Leave him alone," muttered Dingodile.
"I'll try and touch him!"
"Are you done?!" barked Ripper.
Joe threw his katana.
"Damn, he dodged!"
"No, you missed. By three feet," snarked Pinstripe.
"Why you try hurt nice doggy?!" exclaimed Tiny.
"I'll try again!"
"You're gonna cause an accident!" protested Rilla.
Joe threw his katana.
"Gah, he dodged again!"
"No, it's you who suck," deadpanned Kong.
"I'll change my target! This chicken, there!"
"Oh, for Pete's sake!"
"I'm not sure a katana is made to be thrown," muttered Moe.
Joe threw his katana.
"Gah, fuck!"
The others laughed.

Much later...
"ENOUGH ALREADY!!" yelled Pinstripe. "You managed to wound a peccary, you're happy now?!"
"Well yeah, it proves it's a good sword made for throwing!" replied Joe in complete bad faith.
(Poor little piggy! Waaaaaaaah!) cried in the animal tongue Polar, Pura, T and Penta.
(Don't worry, the peccary's wound was more of a scratch)
"After twenty-eight attempts, you don't get to gloat," snarked Moe.
"Oh, gimme a break!" barked his brother as he finally holstered the Masamune under the critters' glare, grumbling.
A grumble that stopped when he heard Dingodile chuckle.
In spite of his depression, the hybrid couldn't help but crack up in front of the others' idiosyncrasies.
To see their comrade get out of his funk, even a bit, was a relief.
"Let's not stay here, people are starting to stare at us!" panicked Rilla.
"To the baths!"
The hot water of the baths was a complete godsend. For all eight, the bad thoughts and last soreness melted like a snowball in hell.
They left the baths in a great mood, went back at the inn where they devoured a huge dinner and went to bed, relaxed and ready to go back on the road tomorrow for the final stretch.
Dingodile talked more freely and with a better mood than the rest of the day.
But they could see there was still a melancholic light in his eyes.
And as the lights went out, Penta saw that Dingodile was staring at the last little flames of an old lamp with a mixture of unease, pleasure, disgust and joy.
And that sorrowful expression was back on his face, in consequence.
Penta sighed sadly. He was himself surprised at how much he grew attached to his would-be murderer.
A would-be murderer who was heavily regretting his actions, who was disgusted with himself, who wanted to change but thought himself stuck...
Penta wanted to help him, but didn't know how...

But as he drifted in slumber, he remembered how the thermal baths were kept hot through huge boilers, fed with big fires.
And then, he knew how.

Art by  caseyljones
Original here: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/31359752/
Komodo Joe and Komodo Moe © Naughty Dog