It wasn't a search for quiet that led Donatello away from their campsite, it was more a search for solitude. Compared to the concrete jungle of New York City, the cretaceous was downright silent. The first few nights had been hard for all of them. Beyond the strangeness and the underlying fear, there was just too much quiet to sleep. At least for four brothers who were used to drifting off with the sounds of subways overhead.
Still, though Don wanted a moment to himself, he didn't go far. After the first close call Leo had laid down the law. No one was to venture anywhere alone or unarmed. It was like Mikey had said back (or was that forward?) when Leo was still mired in his perceived failure. Leo was responsible so all of them didn't have to be. So Raph could be free from deep thinking, Don could be free to dream, and Mikey could be free to goof off. It was surprisingly profound for Mikey, but it was true. And Leo was still doing it, albeit with far less hopeless anger than he had then. The problem was, Don wasn't just the dreamer, he was also the answer turtle, the go to guy. Even in a place and time with nothing more technologically advanced than his bo staff, the others looked to him for answers. Well, to be fair, they looked to Renet too, but as she had told them emphatically and repeatedly, without the time scepter there was nothing she could do. And so they turned to Don for better news. He had none to give, so he slipped away for moments like these when he didn't have to feel so helpless.
He was also trying desperately not to go stir crazy. There wasn't a whole lot he could do to satisfy his inventor's cravings with only wood, bone, and dirt as raw materials. Every time he thought of something to do he realized the tools he wanted were still several million years in the future. One of the things he truly wished for most, however, was a simple pad of paper and a pencil. With little to do but think and survive he'd had several great ideas for all his projects back at the lair. And he just knew he'd forget them before he got back to his lab. If he ever got back. Hopeless thoughts like that also drove him to seek solitude if only so he didn't bring down everyone else's morale with his own.
Even the thrill of getting to see dinosaurs was losing it's luster fast. He had no way to record his observations, no references he could double check against, and the whole fighting and running for their lives at regular intervals wasn't helping either. They were still fascinating, absolutely, but he was getting the disappointing feeling he was too close to them now to really appreciate what he was seeing. Prehistory was a subject he truly enjoyed studying, but he had had no aspirations to live there. So Don resigned himself to keeping occupied with what he could MacGuyver out of wood and bone, all the while dreaming of the helicopter they'd lifted from Stockman. He had rather special plans for that prize.
With a sigh he sat on a downed log, just out of sight of their camp, but close enough to still be able to hear everybody talking around the fire. After the first few times he'd slipped away like that his brothers had started to treat it like they did when he retreated to his lab for an evening. They knew where he was, and more or less what he was doing, and that he'd be there if they needed him or he needed them. So for the most part, they left him to it.
This night he just wanted to be able to work on his latest project in secret. It was a little bone flute he was making for Renet. Well, technically he was making a replacement. The first one broke when Mikey had begged for a chance to play it. His exuberance had only managed to produce a single shrieking note that apparently sounded enough like wounded prey to bring in a pack of hungry deinonychus. The flute had been hopelessly crushed in the ensuing melee. Don had made the first one on a whim, after all neither he nor his brothers were musically inclined unless Raph's off key shower singing or Mikey's odd sound effects counted. Renet, however, had been rather adept with the little flute and rather disappointed when it broke.
So Don was resolved to make another for her. Keeping her and his brothers smiling was about the only way he could cope with knowing (and having to report) their impending doom. So he made things for Renet, joked with Mikey, contemplated with Leo, worked out frustration with Raph, and generally tried to stay sane. Sometimes it seemed like a tall order, but no more so than outfitting their lair with the best he could make out of scrapyard salvage. And in both cases, the reward of seeing his brothers' grins made it all worthwhile.
Don felt his thoughts lightening a little as he whittled away on the bone flute. When he didn't have anything to really occupy his mind, the next best thing was to keep his hands busy. He was almost finished with the flute. His tanto carved through the bone easily enough to make the work quick. He didn't usually carry the knife, but back (or was that forward again?) when they'd been visiting the museum he'd been unable to carry his bo, and so had compromised with the tanto. He was no slouch at hand to hand combat, but all the strange occurrences in their lives had taught them nothing if not to be prepared. It was a little difficult to hide a six foot staff on a five foot tall turtle in disguise, so he'd stashed the tanto and a few shuriken in his clothes. He was rather glad now that he had. He'd even used the tanto to carve a new bo as soon as he'd found a suitable stick. They'd been in the cretaceous for a month already and the tanto had been useful for a variety of situations.
Unfortunately it hadn't helped them find the time scepter. After Savanti's bone spire was done collapsing they had gone back and searched the lake. They had scoured the bottom time and time again only to come up empty handed. They still went back and searched periodically, but it was without success so far. The best they could hope now was that Lord Simultaneous was keeping an eye on his student and would be willing to help. Still, Don had to wonder what even Lord Simultaneous could do without the time scepter. The one time they had met, the lord had not seemed concerned with leaving the scepter in the hands of The Ultimate Draco, perhaps leaving it at the bottom of a prehistoric lake wasn't a big deal either. Don sighed again and tried to get his thoughts off that track.
He took in a deep breath, and then sneezed. He was still nursing the cold that refused to go away. But from what little he could smell through his stuffed nose, it was worth it. Behind him Mikey was cooking the remains of their latest hunt over the fire. They had found a lone deinonychus wandering near their camp, and it had fed them well for the last day and a half. Mikey had what was left on sticks held over the fire. Don wasn't sure what to make of that catch. Deinonychus were pack hunters and tended to move in groups. Seeing one alone was unusual. They had also been the biggest threat to the turtles and the timestress since Savanti's demise. The deinonychus were about the same size and weight as the turtles, fed on the same smaller dinos that the turtles found easy to hunt, and roamed far and wide across the area around where they had put their camp. In other words, the turtles were competition.
"So dude," Mikey's voice carried easily to where Don was still sitting and carving. "Uhh, and dudette, I finally gotta ask. What is it about us that makes us like, a magnet for crazy?"
Leo and Renet were the only audience at the moment. Raph had escaped to find more firewood. When neither his brother nor the timestress responded, Don had to assume there was more coming.
"I mean think about it." Yep, Mikey was just getting started. "First our home just happens to get trashed by a mad scientist and his robot munchers, which then leads us to go up against the totally crazy powerful leader of a ninja clan, only to end up stumbling on the Utroms and being zapped to outer space! Then, we're stuck in the middle of a space war, zapped back home by the Utroms only to face the ninjas again! And did I mention the totally creepy underground city? Or getting sucked into that world filled with killer wasps? Or being sent to those weird other dimensions by The Ultimate Draco? Or how many aliens and other weirdos have crashed into us lately? And do I even need to mention the last time we went time hopping?"
"Hey! It was totally not my fault the time scepter wasn't working!" Renet huffed and Don got the feeling her hands were squarely on her hips.
"But seriously? What other average New Yorker has had that much bizzaro in that little time?"
"Mikey, I'd hardly call us average New Yorkers." Leo spoke like the long suffering older brother he was. It took a special brand of patience to deal with Mikey sometimes.
"It's karma, knucklehead." Raph announced his return with a clatter of firewood. "One of us musta done somethin' so bad in a past life, that it just wasn't enough ta be stuck with you, we had ta get one way tickets ta crazy town every weekend too."
Leo and Renet both chuckled at that. Mikey was probably sticking his tongue out at all of them. "Well har de har har. All I know is this dino isn't going to be this perfectly cooked all night. Time to dig in!"
Don just smiled a little and tucked the flute and tanto away in the pouch at his belt. He was about to head back to the campfire and dinner just as Leo asked Raph to go looking for him. A soft rustling of the nearby foliage stopped him, however. Raph's voice behind him answering their fearless leader was enough to tell Don that it was not his brother making the noise in the leaves.
Don had one hand snaking up to his bo even as the rest of him eased into alert readiness. Judging by the sounds it was a relatively small dinosaur, but it was rattling branches too high up to be anything smaller than a deinonychus. But if that were the case, there would almost certainly be more than one.
When the thinly feathered face slid out out of the brush and into sight, some part of Donatello wasn't surprised. The deinonychus had been their main threat for the past month. It wasn't a big stretch to think they'd come looking for the turtles. The big lizard, however, looked very startled to see him. It drew back slightly, hissing low in it's throat, and pulling itself up to it's full height. Don was almost eye to eye with it. When it stood straight, it was just a few inches taller than he. Most of the deinonychus' length was in their tails.
Don wasn't sure how long they stood like that, staring at each other. He still had his right hand curled around his bo, ready to draw it at a moment's notice. The deinonychus just stared back, unmoving except for the slow swishing of it's tail. It's thin sheen of feathers gave it almost a hazy quality in the evening light, and Don found his eyes wandering over every part of it. The only other time he'd been this close to one of that species was back when the dinosaurs were under Savanti's control. He'd had other priorities than studying them then.
In a strange way the deinonychus reminded Don of himself, and his brothers. It was neither fully one thing nor another. Not quite a bird, but clearly no longer as reptilian as it's ancestors. It was beautiful in the way a hawk diving to snare it's prey was beautiful. Don let his hand fall away from his bo. He wanted to touch it. He wanted to know more about it than could be learned from a fossil or a display in a museum.
The deinonychus was still standing as if frozen, though it had stopped hissing. It's eyes were dark and narrowed to small slits. A thick scar split through the feathers of it's forehead and ran down to it's jaw. Don looked closer and saw more such marks crossing it's neck and shoulders, many more. The one Mikey had just cooked for dinner had had similar scars. It was not something Don remembered seeing on the ones Savanti had controlled. Perhaps these two had been drummed out of the pack? Or were they simply older, more scarred from fights over food? The deinonychus simply stared at him, giving no answers. Don didn't realize he was slowly reaching out towards the dinosaur with one hand until another rustle in the leaves broke the spell.
"Yo Donnie, whatcha--whoa!"
The slithery sound of sais against leather was enough to shatter the moment for good. The deinonychus reared back, hissing louder than before. Don waited for the call that would summon the rest of the pack, but it didn't come. Raph was by his side in a heartbeat, sais brandished before him. Don forced his hand away from his bo, forced it to rest on his brother's arm. There was something not right about that dinosaur. There was something teasingly familiar about the glitter in it's eyes.
"Donnie, what--"
"Hold up Raph. I don't think it's--" Don didn't get any farther in his hypothesis. The bird lizard hybrid moved fast. It lunged straight for Donatello, bearing him to the ground with a thump. He landed hard on his shell, one of the deinonychus' hind feet pressed against his plastron and it's jaws held firmly around his left bicep. A low rumble sounded in the lizard's throat. It's teeth were pressed into Don's skin, but had yet to break through. Even were he not pinned, Don would have frozen in place when he realized why the look in the dinosaur's eyes looked so familiar.
"Get offa him, you overgrown turkey!" Raph was not frozen. A sai came flying straight at the deinonychus' head with enough speed to kill if it hit a vulnerable spot. The lizard threw it's head up and out of the path of the thrown weapon with another loud hiss. It hadn't closed it's jaws, but still it's teeth grazed along the underside of Don's arm, carving shallow but bloody trails.
With his arm hurting, but free Don was able to push himself up enough to force the dinosaur's foot off his plastron. They probably weighed very nearly the same. Still hissing, the deinonychus pulled back a step and watched both turtles warily. Raph spun his other sai threatingly, Don simply stared, unable to summon the will to even draw his bo. The deinonychus kept slowly backing up, but was no longer hissing. It seemed to be sniffing and was looking about them anxiously, like it was searching for something.
Once again rustling of leaves behind them shattered whatever strings that were keeping them all motionless. Don didn't have to look to know that Leo was on his other side and Mikey's 'chucks were spinning right beside Raph. A little noise choked out of the back of her throat told him that even Renet was there behind him, likely brandishing a piece of firewood. As it had done with Raph, the deinonychus reared up and hissed loudly, but instead of charging again it turned and fled into the jungle. Don watched it go with something close to anguish in his heart. He reached out with his good arm even as it disappeared into the forest. "I'm sorry..." He whispered to the leaves left swinging in it's wake. Raph growled and made to follow it, but Leo stopped him before he could take two steps.
"No Raph, there's probably more out there." Leo had sheathed his swords, needing both hands to subdue their brother. "Renet, can you see to Don's arm?"
"So uh, what happened bros?"
"That thing came and picked a fight wit' us." Raph growled at Mikey and finally stopped struggling against their eldest brother. He stomped over to pick up the sai he had thrown.
"It was probably hungry." Leo still looked wary, like he was expecting more dinsoaurs to pop out of the bushes at any moment. "We should gete back to the fire. There may be more of them nearby."
"No." Donatello contradicted him flatly. He ignored where Renet was tying up the cuts on his arm with the rags left of their museum disguises. "It was alone." From the looks everyone gave him, no one else had seen what he had in the dinosaur's eyes.
"Are you sure, Donnie?" Of course Leo was still listening to his own trepidation, but Don was the answer turtle.
"Yes." He was quite sure. That deinonychus wasn't a part of a pack, not anymore. And even when it had been it was a pack of two. That look in it's eyes had been the same as in Raph's every time he had come to the aid of any of his brother's in a fight. It was the same as the look in Leo's eyes when he'd returned from his training with the Ancient One to find them all scattered and their home destroyed. "He wasn't looking for food. He was searching for a brother."
Don braced himself for Leo's quiet skepticism, Mikey's teasing, Raph's sarcasm, even Renet's exclamation of disbelief, but none of them came. Instead a long and sorrowful wail sounded through the forest. That grief filled cry cut through the silence like a knife. Donatello knew that sound, well at least the spirit of it. It was the same as the sound Raph had made when Leo was stabbed by Karai. It was the same as Master Splinter's cry when he blocked the Shredder's killing blow. It was the same sound Don's heart had made when he saw all his brothers fall before him, when his last effort had been far from enough to save them. Not even Mikey had anything to say when the forest again fell quiet. They all knew that sound well.
"Wow, that like totally sucks." Renet's usually bright voice was low. Apparently she'd figured out what he meant as well.
"Yeah, I mean now what are we gonna do for dinner? Ow!"
Raph looked far less angry, but he still wasn't quite smiling like he usually did after smacking Mikey. "What is wrong with you, shell-fer-brains?"
"What?"
And just like that Donatello's brothers made everything better. He still didn't think he could eat after learning what he just had, but he let them lead him back to the fire anyways. Just as he entered the circle of firelight another grieving wail rent the air. Don shuddered and moved just a little closer to his brothers. He didn't think he'd leave the camp alone again anytime soon. He wanted nothing more than to keep his brothers in sight. He was too glad they were still there, despite all efforts to the contrary. Nothing would take any of them away. Not even an extended stay in the cretaceous period. He sneezed again, Mikey cracked a joke, Raph smacked him again, and before the night was out they were all laughing again. For the first time in a month Donatello didn't feel hopeless and helpless. For the first time in a month he was glad to be exactly where and when he was. Because that was where his brothers were.