Howdy FF! Long time, no see!

This is my first TMNT story (and first non-Spyro story for that matter) but I've been drafting this story off-and-on for the past couple years, so I hope you enjoy it!

For the canon-obsessed, I consider this to take place 4-5 months after the 2007 movie, though there are references to the 2003 series. As a kid, I assumed there was some kind of continuity between the two, so suspend your disbelief and just roll with it.

For those unfamiliar with Buddhism, the Noble Eightfold Path is a bit like the Buddhist Ten Commandments. I'm no expert on the religion (if you are and I've portrayed something disrespectfully feel free to message me!) but I figure the Turtles, being culturally Japanese, would have been taught some version of the eight traits.

Anyways, the story's broken up with each brother having 2 chapters focusing on how they learn to fulfill one of the eight traits, and potentially two epilogues for the "two acquired factors". Thanks for reading!

RIGHT SPEECH

Three months.

Three whole fuckin' months since I'd seen any of my brothers. Needless to say, all the positives of being a bachelor had worn off after the first couple of weeks. Life alone turned into a daily routine of working out, watching TV, working out more, and playing the same boring video games, only broken up by occasional runs to the surface and the couple times a week when Casey called up. It got monotonous real fast, almost as bad as the endless training and meditating before I moved out. The only differences now were I slept as late as I wanted and didn't have any nagging big brother or sensei to hide the helmet and suit from when I got back late from smashing heads up top.

Three months, to the day, since I walked outta what we once called the lair. To my credit, that made it four months to the day since Master Splinter passed away. Hell, I wasn't even the first one to leave. Leo left even before we made arrangements for the body, didn't say a word to no one. You'd think me being the oldest in the house was a decent enough arrangement, but I couldn't last a month with two moping little brothers darkening the whole place down. Don't get me wrong; I mourned in my own way. Obviously I got torn up, but not to the same level as those two. It wasn't the same as before, living like that in the same place…I packed my shit up, took my Nightwatcher helmet off the shelf in Splinter's room and found a cozy sewer junction in Brooklyn where I wouldn't have to deal with them anymore. My own studio apartment, decked out with only the finest TV, hammock, and weight set the junkyard had to offer.

Three months of bullshit. My phone buzzed from the coffee table, and I heaved the warmed steel bar off my chest, clinking it back on the rack. Snatching a somewhat rank towel from bench below me, I wiped the sweat off my brow as I padded over to the "living room" to grab the phone.

"Case." I huffed, still out of breath.

"Raph."

"When are we out, guy? I'm getting restless down here."

"When aren't you restless, dude?" he chuckled.

"You'd be just as itching to get out if you were holed up in my dungeon. Why're you playing so hard to get, bro? You want me to meet you somewhere?"

"About that…Raph. April caught me sneaking out."

I couldn't hold back a laugh. "So? What is she, your mom?"

"You know, it's starting to seem like it. Cooking me dinner, paying the bills…Things are pretty different now that she ain't busting her ass at work."

"Ape isn't working? Shit, since when?"

"Since when, my ass! I told you three days ago, man! Don't you listen to anyone's problems but your own?"

"Hey, right now my only problem is that you're up there braiding your hair and painting your fucking fingernails while I'm stuck here doing absolutely jack shit!"

"Cool it, shell-head, sorry I don't get to sit around and jerk off all day like your sorry ass."

In my head, I could see myself crunching the phone in my fingers and hurling it into a wall, or cursing out Casey for leaving me hanging. But as I set the towel in my other hand down on the table, my mind took me back to a few years before, wiping myself with the same towel after one of countless exercises where we had to sneak up on Splinter and blow out the flame of a candle before he could stop us. As usual, Leo was the winner of that exercise, and being his brown-nosing self, he forsook gloating for staying smugly quiet as Sensei briefed us on how we could improve. Mikey, on the other hand, came within inches of beating Leo multiple times, and was running his mouth about how he deserved to have won. For that, Splinter gave him a whole week's punishment of cleaning the bathroom.

"Silence is the ninja's first weapon." He lectured us all, after having Mikey apologize. "And this is deeper than just combat. You will find that, in countless situations throughout life, the righteous thing to say is nothing at all."

"Sorry." I mumbled back into the phone.

"Listen, you know I want to be out on the streets with you. Since April ain't working as much, I've had to pick up night shifts at the warehouse, loading trucks and stuff. It ain't easy work, man. I'd way rather be busting up some Purple Dragons with my best friend any day."

A grin snuck across my face when he said that. "Huh." I felt like he had more to say.

"I haven't told you this yet, Raph, but…Ape is pregnant, man."

My eyes practically fell out of my head. "No shit?"

"Bro…A lot of shit is happening real fast. This means we've got to pay for doctor's appointments, new furniture, hospital bills. And I'll be damned if I let her bring my kid into the world if we ain't married first. That means on top of work and the baby, I have to find the time and the money for that, and the ring…We're only kids, dude! No chance am I ready to be a dad yet, or a husband for that matter! My work's cut out for me. I love her more than anything, and I know it's all worth it, but there's only so much time in a day. If it means I've got to see you a little less and take it easy on the vigilante stuff for a while, then I'm sorry, Raph. It ain't like I'm never gonna see you again."

"Don't worry about it, Case." I took a deep breath, trying to simmer down my anger at the thought of not seeing him for more than a few days. "You're gonna be a great dad."

"Thanks. That means a lot coming from you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I couldn't help but huff a bit.

"Well, I was never that close with my pops. Good guy, worked hard, but we never really connected. You, on the other hand, got a great dad. He'd have given the world for you."

"Yeah. You're right." I murmured. "Anyway, tell Ape I said congratulations. And don't forget to invite me to the shower."

"Ha, you know it, man. I'll see you soon, alright."

"Alright. See ya."

The phone went silent, and I set it back down. My eyes drifted to the mannequin wearing my suit and helmet.

Even by the time I suited up and made it to the rooftops, I was still thinking about what Casey said. I still thought about Splinter pretty often, but usually did my best to distract myself. The relatively quiet night, crime-wise, didn't help me in that way, so I was perched up like a gargoyle looking over Soho, silent still except for the crackle of the vanishing cigarette between my fingers. I had picked up a couple bad habits since moving out on my own. For some reason beyond me, I laughed when I imagined the reaming out I'd get if Splinter ever caught me smoking.

Casey was right. I did have a great father.

The cigarette fell from my hand as the sound of an explosion echoed over the rooftops behind me. My head snapped around to see a cloud of smoke rising from a high-rise in Chinatown. I popped my helmet back over my head and flew to the next roof, itching to find some excitement.