Whelp, I guess I'm getting the hang of writing stories. Now I just can't seem to stop. Anyways, I don't own the turtles and yada yada yada. I haven't written a multi-chapter story before, so bear with me here; I always start our slow but things will get better later on. Oh yeah, and don't forget to review because I'd like to know what you all think! And without any further ado—my story…
"Hey Donnie?" Mikey asked, shifting his backpack.
"What?"
"Are we there yet?"
"No Mikey," Don gave an exasperated sigh, not bothering to turn around to face his younger brother. "For the last time, we are not at the campsite and I don't know how much longer it will take, so stop asking me!"
"Yeah Donnie, but we've been hikin' for four whole hours and Masta' Splinta' said that we'd reach it before sunset!" Raph said, entering the conversation.
Don looked up to where the sun was just going beyond the horizon and sighed again. "We'll find it. Eventually…" he trailed off.
Upon this train of thought, Mikey's eyes grew wide. "We-we aren't lost are we?" he suddenly blurted out, swiveling his head to Leo.
"No, we're definitely going the right way," Leo said quickly to reassure his brother. "By following this river—" he motioned to the left of him "—we should find a large clearing marked with a large boulder. It'll be big enough so that we won't miss it."
"Oh yeah, and how do you know?" Mikey pouted, crossing his arms.
"Because Master Splinter told me," Leo shot back.
"And how does he know?" Mikey asked flippantly, hoping to end his boredom.
"Um, well..." Leo gave his brother an amused grin. "Who knows? Maybe he—"
"Nevermind!" Mikey interrupted, knowing a lecture about mystic powers was something that would only add to the endless boredom of the four hour hike.
The four turtles walked in silence for a few minutes, trudging along the dense forest of trees and shrubs next to the running river. The silence was soon broken with an annoyed groan from Michelangelo, who turned to the brother beside him and said, "Hey Raph, do you think we're almost there yet?"
"Mikey! How many times do we gotta tell ya?" Raph raised his first angrily at Mikey. "We're not—"
"Wait!" Don cut Raph off, pointing over his head. "There it is!" Raph, Mikey, and Leo all turned their heads to the direction Don was pointing, due west of the river. A wide clearing lay off in the distance, along with a grey boulder which sat next to its entrance.
"Woo hew!" Mikey shouted, jumping. He pushed past his brothers and ran to the clearing. Upon reaching it, he dropped his pack on the ground and sat down, exhaling loudly. "Whew. I thought I wasn't gonna make it!" he said as Leo, Don and Raph arrived at the clearing.
Raph chuckled at Mikey's comment. "Aww, was the hike too much for widdle Mikey?" he teased.
"Very funny, Raph," Mikey responded sarcasticly. "You're not the one who had to carry these babies." He smiled widely as he reached into his backpack to pull out a large bag of marshmallows.
"Yeah, I can't imagine the weight of that thing…" Raph sneered.
Leo suddenly looked very concerned at Mikey's sugary treat. "Mikey, please tell me that you brought enough food for three days."
"And that it's not all junk food," Don added.
"Of course I did, bros," he replied as he opened the bag of marshmallows. "What do you take me for?" Mikey said, rolling his eyes.
"A lot of things, Mikey. But 'prepared' ain't one of 'em," Raph said with a sly grin.
"Hey!" Mikey cried, in mid-chew of a marshmallow.
Raph snickered loudly at his younger brother's offended pout but stopped abruptly as a marshmallow smacked him in the face. His expression changed from a satisfied smirk to an angry frown. "Mikey…" he growled as his younger brother laughed, clutching his stomach. "Come're you shell head!" Raph shouted as he dove for Mikey. Instantly, Mikey jumped away, the marshmallows forgotten as he evaded his brother's oncoming attacks. Leo and Don, who both had been watching the whole fight, shook their heads in disappointment as Raph and Mikey disappeared behind the forest trees, but made no movement to pursue their brothers. They went back to their conversation about the activities for the next day.
Back at the fight in the forest, Raph became more and more irritated as his brother continued to escape his wrath, and the two brothers found themselves getting farther away from the clearing.
Perhaps a bit too far.
And it wasn't until Mikey turned around to find the river right behind him that he realized it was too late. At once, he stopped in his tracks and twisted to face Raph and warn him. "Wait! The—" was all he could get out before Raph pounced on him, sending both turtles into freezing cold water.
After a few seconds, Raph's head came out of the water with an angry shout, even madder than before. Immediately, he gripped the bank at the edge of the river to prevent him from drifting off in the fairly swift current. As soon as he regained his balance, he crossed his arms and rubbed his shivering arms as his eyes darted across the river, looking for the cause of this mess. "Mikey…ya betta' not be hidin' cause I'm gonna—" at the sound of water splashing Raph cut himself off and turned to look in the direction the noise came from. He silently watched as Mikey's head came out of the water, surprisingly a good twenty feet downstream. He angrily waded over to his brother while yelling, "That's it, Mikey! It's all yer fault that we're in this stupid river. You n' me are havin' words!"
But Raph's menacing tone did not reach his shivering brother as Mikey started to cough and gag, spewing out water. As he felt his older brother approach his side, he muttered between coughs, "Ugg, I think I *cough, cough* swallowed too much water and it went *cough, cough* down the wrong way…"
Raph made a repulsed face as Mikey started to cough more deeply. After Raph swam them both to the edge of the river, he pulled Mikey out and started to roughly pat his brother on the shell, anger now lost as he comforted his coughing brother. "Jeez, what are you Mikey? A whale?" he said once Mikey stopped coughing.
Mikey gave a lopsided smile and decided to ignore Raph's comment. "Dude, next time I suggest we run away from the river," he said as the two turtles made their way back to the campsite. Suddenly, Raph gave him the usual smack on the back of his head. "Hey!" Mikey squealed. "What was that for?" he eyed Raph warily with a pout.
"That was fer making me freeze my shell off in the river. And this—" he smacked Mikey a second time with a little more force, "—is for suggesting that there will be a next time!"
"Ouch!" Mikey wailed, rubbing his head. As the two entered the clearing, Mikey sent a glare to Raph as he turned to face his brothers, who at the moment were busy with making a small campfire.
"What took you guys so long?" Don called from his spot next to a circle of fist-sized rocks. He looked up from his bed of twigs, branches, and brush that he had just finished piling within the neatly placed rocks. "And why are you guys wet?"
Mikey grinned and replied, "Well, we kinda had a dip in the river—"
"—cause somebody didn't look where he was going," Raph finished.
"Whatever bro," Mikey gave an annoyed look to Raph before turning back to Don. "Anyway, I had a hearty taste-testing session with the river water and let me tell ya, it tastes much grosser than it looks! I give it a two for nastiness," he declared, scrunching up his face as he remembered the unpleasant experience.
Don sighed at his brother's revelation. "Of course it tastes bad, Mikey," he said matter-of-factly. "That river probably has a lot of dirt and bacteria and possibly—"
"Eew Donnie, don't give me the details!" Mikey interjected as he stuck his tongue out. "I so don't wanna know what I could've just ingested."
"Well, knowing what disgusting thing you're eating hasn't exactly stopped you before," Leo commented with a smirk. "Remember your birthday sandwich?"
"Hey, how was I supposed to know birthday cake doesn't go with leftovers?" Mikey pouted, knowing that his argument would be in vain. Don and Leo started to laugh at the memory and soon all four turtles were sharing a good laugh.
As the turtles calmed down, Leo stood up and said, "Okay guys, it's already dark and we should really get this fire started. Who brought the matches?"
"I did," said Raph as he went and started to search through his backpack. He came back and struck the match a few times before he got a flame.
"Make sure that fire is contained, Raph," Leo warned.
"Yeah, yeah I know Leo," Raph responded with an annoyed tone.
Carefully, he placed it in the bed of brush that rested underneath the pile of wood his brothers had collected. All four turtles gathered around and watched the fire as it grew. After a few minutes, Mikey got up and started to wander around the campsite. He scanned the ground, as if looking for something. Puzzled, the remaining three brothers looked at one another and then back to Mikey.
"Watcha doing, Mikey?" Don asked.
"Hehe," Mikey said with a devious grin. "You'll see." He picked up a few things from the ground and then rummaged his backpack. Finally, he made his way back to the fire and held up his findings to his brothers. In his hands were four long, skinny sticks and his bag of marshmallows. "Ta da!" he said proudly.
"Huh. Junk food and Mikey. Who would'a guessed?" Raph said as he, Don, and Leo were handed a stick and some marshmallows.
"But you can't have a camping trip without roasted marshmallows!" Mikey argued. With a snort from Raph and an amused chuckle from Don and Leo, the four turtles moved in closer to the fire and started to heat their marshmallows. Leo roasted his marshmallow methodically, rotating his stick every few seconds; Raph then teased Leo for his too-perfect golden marshmallow. Don decided to hold his marshmallow above the fire so it wouldn't burn, but didn't rotate it like Leo. Raph and Mikey almost charred their marshmallows, holding it a little too close to the fire; they were too impatient to wait like Don or Leo. When one of Raph's marshmallows caught on fire, he quickly went to blow it out. Leo returned the earlier teasing from Raph to laugh at his brother's mistake. Raph growled at Leo but didn't seem to care as he ate his burnt marshmallow anyway. All in all, the turtle brothers spent a peaceful night talking and eating around the campfire.
"What are we doing out here anyway?" Mikey asked as the campfire discussion had come onto the subject of their travels.
"What do you mean, Mikey?" Don asked.
"Well, I know that we had to leave the lair because of that gas leak, but that still doesn't explain what we're doing out here camping." Mikey shifted his position to get a better look at his brothers. "I mean, why does Master Splinter get to stay at Casey's grandmother's farmhouse while we have to hike and camp and stuff?"
"I think it's to get a break from our usually chaotic lives," Leo said as he moved his eyes from the fire to his youngest brother. "If you think about it, we've been so caught up in our battles and in saving the world that we haven't really spent much time together as brothers."
"That makes sense," Don commented. "And if we were at the farmhouse, we'd probably go off and do our own thing."
"There's a good reason for that, you know," Raph grinned as he looked at Mikey.
"What?" Mikey looked suspiciously at Raph, oblivious to the insult.
"Nothin' bro," Raph replied, the devilish smile still on his face.
Eventually, the turtles decided to go to sleep. After they rolled out their sleeping bags, they put out the fire and said their goodnights.
The next morning, Leo was first to wake up as always to start his usual meditation. He guessed it was about 7:00, for he figured his internal clock always seemed to get him up on time, but was surprised to find that it was actually 8:05 when checking his shell cell. "I guess this camping trip really has made us more relaxed," he softly mumbled to himself. He looked over to his sleeping brothers and smiled at the peaceful scene.
About an hour later, Don and Raph woke up to find Leo starting the fire again. "Anyone want some tea?" he asked, pointing to the small kettle he was holding.
"No thanks," Don said.
Leo nodded and then looked to Raph. "Nah, I'm good," Raph muttered as he started munching on cereal from a box that he had pulled out from his bag.
After Leo made his tea, he looked over to the youngest turtle, still asleep. "Should we wake Mikey up?" he asked.
"No…we can let him sleep in a bit more," Don answered as he watched Mikey tenderly. "He's always complaining about waking up too early."
Another forty minutes passed and Mikey finally woke up with a loud yawn.
"Good morning."
Mikey sleepily turned to the voice and rubbed his eyes. "Mornin', Donnie," he said in a hoarse whisper. He looked around the campsite.
"Raph and Leo went out to scout the forest for a bit," said Don, knowing what Mikey was looking for. "They should be back soon."
Mikey said nothing in response, so Don went back to looking over his notes in the journal he had brought with him. A few more minutes passed and Don looked up again from his journal. Hearing nothing from his younger brother, he expected to see Mikey eating breakfast. It was unusual for him to be quiet, especially in the morning. But he found Mikey sitting in the same position with an odd expression on his face. Puzzled, Don opened his mouth to question Mikey about his unusual behavior but was cuff off by the niose of his brothers returning from their walk.
"Hey Don, we're back," Leo called. He then noticed the youngest was awake and added, "Oh, and good morning Mikey."
But before Mikey had a chance to greet Leo, Raph butted in excitedly, "Hey guys, you'll never guess what I found!"
"What we found," Leo corrected.
"Oh, no, Leo. That was all me." Raph thrusted a finger to his chest to emphasize his point. "I'm the one who—"
"—Continue," Don said evenly, with an annoyed tone.
"Uh, right." Raph sheepishly rubbed the back of head. "Anyway, if ya follow the river, about twenty minutes north of here is a big water fall."
"Wow, so close?" Don asked with an impressed smile.
"Yeah, we were thinking of having a good swim there, if you don't mind the cold," Leo said.
"Sounds good," Don said.
Leo and Raph then turned to Mikey and were met with the same expression Don had seen.
Raph walked in front of his younger brother with a sarcastic grin. "Whatcha zoning out there for, Mikey? Been thinkin' too hard?" Mikey instantly whipped his head up to Raph with an angry pout on his face, but still said nothing. "Helloooooo? Anything in there?" Raph said as he knocked on Mikey's head.
Mikey swatted the hand away. "My brain of course," he said in a rough whisper. He flinched at the noise and rubbed his throat.
"What's wrong with yer voice?" Raph asked, bending over to see his brother eye to eye.
Mikey grimaced. "Sore," he whispered, a hand still on his throat.
"Yer voice is sore?" Raph asked confusedly.
"No Raph," Don stepped beside Mikey and kneeled down. "His throat is sore, and that's why he sounds like that." He turned to the youngest. "You okay? Do you want some water?" At the suggestion, Mikey vigorously shook his head no. "Then why don't you eat some breakfast or something? I'm sure whatever is making your throat sore will get better if you have some fluids and food in your system." He looked hopefully at Mikey. The orange-banded turtle promptly opened his mouth to speak but made a pained face and quickly shut it. He shook his head no again. Leo, Raph, and Don looked at Mikey incredulously. Mikey didn't want to eat? The turtle with the iron stomach who bested his brothers in the stuffing-your-face-with-food department? And the worst part was that Mikey didn't make fun of them for the ridiculous expression that showed on their faces.
"What's wrong with ya?" Raph asked to break the unnerving silence.
Don knowingly put a hand on Mikey shoulder. "Your throat hurts that much?" When Mikey nodded, Don went into full doctor mode. "Do you feel okay? Any nausea? Dizziness? Is there anthing else that hurts?"
Mikey got up the courage to speak. "No," he whispered so softly that his brothers barely heard it. He still seemed in pain by the action but smiled anyway. "I'm fine, bro. Can we go swimming?" he asked anxiously in his whispered voice.
"Fine?" said Raph, his voice rising. "How are ya fine if we can barely hear ya?"
"And you won't eat?" Leo added.
"Jus' a sore throat, no biggie," Mikey murmured softly, a smile still on his face. He suddenly got up as if to say he was okay.
Leo sighed and turned to Don expectantly. "Mikey," Don started, "you really shouldn't go swimming. Your body is battling some kind of virus whose symptom is a sore throat. Actually, you shouldn't do much of anything today; resting is the best way to fend off a sickness."
"What?" Mikey cried, forgetting his raw throat. Instantly, he realized his mistake and made a painful grimace.
"How'd he get sick, anyway?" Leo asked Don.
"Well, I don't kn—"Don stopped himself and looked to Mikey. "Wait a sec. Didn't you swallow the river water?"
Raph answered for his brother. "Yeah, he did say he swallowed a lot. Enough ta make him cough, actually." He realized his brother's deduction and turned to Don. "Ya think it's from the river?"
"Most likely," Don answered. "I guess that's settled then. But what should Mikey do? He can't just go swimming with us." Mikey made a sad puppy-dog face at his brother.
"Well we can't just leave him here," Leo said. "Let's all walk to the waterfall and let Mikey rest there." Mikey smiled at Leo and nodded vigorously.
"Fine," Don said. He pointed to Mikey. "But no talking, capiche? You don't want to irritate your swollen throat any further." Mikey nodded sullenly at the order.
"Mikey can't talk no more? This must be my lucky day…" Raph stared dreamily to the sky, avoiding the glare from Mikey.
The four turtles slowly made their way to the waterfall, allowing Mikey time to rest. Don, Leo, and Raph kept a close eye on their youngest brother. It took about thirty minutes to reach the waterfall from Mikey's slow pace, and the older brothers couldn't help but notice Mikey's heavy breathing by the end of the hike. But for a moment, all was forgotten as the four brothers stood in awe at the sight of a large waterfall that flowed beautifully into the river beside them.
"Beautiful," Don breathed. Mikey nodded in agreement.
Raph flew past his gaping brothers to make a cannon ball into the pool of the waterfall. "Whoa! It's pretty cold," he announced.
Leo jumped in next to him. "You'll get used to it," he said once he surfaced.
"Says the oh-so-disciplined teacher's pet," Raph jeered, splashing Leo.
"Hey!" Leo shouted, splashing Raph back.
Don and Mikey smiled at their older brother's water fight. After getting something from his bag, Don walked Mikey over to a spot under the shade of a big tree. He then gave Mikey a large water bottle. "I want you to drink this," he said. At Mikey's disagreeing pout, he added, "All of it please." Mikey silently took the water and watched as Don jumped into the cold waterfall. For a several hours, Don, Raph, and Leo relaxed in the waterfall's pool, every so often checking in on Mikey. At lunch, Don was able to persuade MIkey to have some cut-up apple and half a sandwich while the others ate their food. Finally, after an hour more of swimming, the three brothers decided it was time to head back to camp. They got out of the water, dried off, and walked over to where they left Mikey.
"Hey Mikey!" Raph called. "We're goin' back, so—" he stopped as soon as he realized that Mikey was asleep against the tree.
"Guess he nodded off," said Leo, squatting next to the sleeping turtle. "Mikey wake up," he said, shaking his brother's shoulder. Mikey grunted, rubbing his eyes, and sat up. "Hmm…he seems a bit warm to me," Leo murmured, still touching Mikey's shoulder.
"Warm?" asked Don worriedly, putting a hand to Mikey's forehead. "Tch, I was hoping this wouldn't happen. Mikey, you have a slight fever." At the news, Mikey seemed frightened. "You'll be fine, Mikey," Don said in reassurance, "but you're just gonna have to lay low the rest of the day." He quickly dug through his bag and handed Mikey two Advil pills. Mikey painfully swallowed them with the water from his bottle. Happy that Mikey obeyed, Don stood up and said, "Tomorrow, we'll go back to the farmhouse and get you some better medicine for your throat."
"I guess that cuts off our camping trip," Leo sighed.
"Sorry," whispered Mikey pitifully.
"Stop that," Raph cut in. "It ain't yer fault so don't feel sorry for yerself."
"We should head back," Don said. "Who wants to do the honors?"
"I'll take 'im," said Raph.
"It's okay Raph, I'll do it," Leo stated.
"I can do it," Raph countered angrily.
"I could do it," Mikey whispered helpfully.
"NO!" Raph, Leo, and Don cried at once. "And stop talking," Don added. Mikey smiled innocently.
"We can switch off then. You carry him first," Leo offered.
"Fine," Raph agreed. He knelt in front of Mikey and hoisted him on to his shell with the help of Leo and Don. The walk back was awkwardly silent, save for the short conversation when Raph and Leo switched Mikey on their shells. In this silence, it didn't take long for Mikey to fall asleep again and his head rested against Leo's shoulder the rest of the way back.
"I guess fighting the fever is taking a lot out of him," Don said as he and his brothers gently placed the sound asleep Mikey in his sleeping bag at the campsite. "But I'm sure he'll bounce back like always."
"Yeah," muttered Leo. "Just like always."