I found this random quote in my college reading and this one shot was the result of it.
Disclaimer: I do not own the TMNT.
Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear. – Mark Twain
They call me Fearless Leader, but I am far from fearless. One famous philosopher once said that "courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear". I am sure even Donatello knows of this saying, though still believes me to be fearless. Not naively, far from it. None of my brothers are naïve, but sometimes I wonder if I'm as brave as they believe me to be.
They do not know the fear that coursed though me as I faced down the Shredder's Elite guard for the first time in my life. How I feared not returning to my brothers, my family, leaving them to face this new force of the Shredder's without any warning or preparation. I do not tell them of the fear that chilled me to the bone when I was so young that heights paralyzed me to the very spot that I stood.
But still, as the saying goes, courage is mastering your fears, as I did with my fear of heights with the help of Master Splinter. Courage is resistance to fear as I did when facing the Elite guard for the second time. By no means was my fear gone, just set aside to the best of my ability as to finish the battle with the Elite Guard and then the Shredder himself.
Though, each act is not without fear. The philosopher was right. Real courage has no absence of fear, for without fear how can there be courage? How can there be the will to fight even when things look hopeless? That when all else fails and you're facing your death, you face it honorably. You look it in the face and still stand tall.
Courage comes with mastery of fear.
So no, I am not fearless. I am so far from it. For if I was fearless, I do not believe I would be as caring and honorable as I am today, as I will always hope to be. My brothers know this, but it is still encouraging to know that even though I am sure they know I have fears in battle, that in the worst of them, they might even see the fear in my eyes, they still believe in me and I in them.
Together we will master our fears and gain true courage. For without it, I do not believe we will stand any chance against the Shredder, his clan of ninja, or anyone else that would dishonorably bring harm to others for their own benefit.