Ch one They Meet

He looked up from his seat at the picnic table bench when he heard the roar of the motorcycle pull up at the gas pump of the convenience store. The sleek black Harley sported red and yellow flames along the sides and seat and silver chrome pipes jutted out toward the back of the bike. The leather bound flamed black seat had a high back for a passenger to lean against, if there had been one. But it was not the bike that had caught his eye. No, it was the young, muscular, green-eyed turtle that straddled the seat with long lean legs in dark blue jeans and a deep red shirt that he found he could not take his eyes off of. Once the biker's helmet had been removed, their eyes locked and he found his breath taken away. But as the rider approached, he collected himself, smiled and nodded to the young turtle.

"Sweet ride," He told him.

The turtle smiled, nodded and winked at him. "Thanks." With that, he walked into the convenience store to purchase the gas and snacks.

As he opened the door he couldn't help but take a look back at the young turtle seated at the picnic table. From the moment he drove up to get gas, he had noticed the young stranger snacking on a granola bar and staring at his bike, but when his helmet had come off, the stranger's beautiful blue eyes had landed on him and stared, even if it had been for just a short second, their eyes had locked on to each other. He walked through the store, gathering snacks and water before going to the register to pay for the gas along with the food. He was on his way to New York and had just left Los Angeles, California earlier that day, it was the first time since he had come to California that he had seen another turtle like himself, and he had to admit, it had been a somewhat lonely ride. When he was leaving the store, he thought he might sit and chat with the other turtle but when he stepped outside he saw the turtle was no longer there.

"Weird, I don't recall seeing another car here, nor did I hear one leave." The turtle shrugged and walked toward his bike, he rearranged his gear to accommodate the snacks. His hand had picked up his cell and he took a moment to look at the picture that he had used as the wallpaper. The picture was that of his family and they were the reason he was returning to New York after being away for the past year. He sighed and smiled before placing the phone back in his bag. With any luck he would be in Arizona by tomorrow. Maybe he could even stop and see some sights.

Taking a right, he pulled out of the parking lot and noticed a lone figure walking down the highway. The young motorist grinned as he gunned his motorcycle and rode past the other young turtle. In his rear view mirror, he noticed the turtle had looked up and watched him go by, but his step never wavered. He continued to walk as if he was on a mission. As the biker drove on, he couldn't help but think about the look the two had shared, if only for a brief moment. He gave a low chuckle to himself, made a u-turn and drove back to where the other turtle was and brought his motorcycle along side him.

The other turtle stopped walking and looked at the motorist with interest. "Um, can I help you?"

"Where ya headed?"

The other turtle blinked in surprise at the first turtles abrupt question but answered nonetheless. "East". He said simply.

The biker chuckled as he looked down the lonesome highway, "Really?" He said sarcastically. "Would you like a ride?" He still couldn't understand why he had pulled over to offer but there was something about the young turtle he just couldn't shake and the need to want to assist was pulling at his gut something fierce. But more so now that he had taken a closer look at him. The stranger wore a faded blue t-shirt covered in dirt and sweat and had a tear along the collar under a ripped jean jacket, his jeans were filthy and torn at the knees and his sneakers were falling apart. From the looks and smell of things, the stranger had been walking for quite a long time.

"Hasn't your mom ever told you not to talk to strangers?" The turtle in blue asked.

"Hasn't your mom ever told you not to hitchhike?" Asked the turtle in red.

"You stopped to ask me if I needed a ride, I was content to just walk."

"And you spoke to me first back at the gas station, so I figure we started a conversation and that makes us acquaintances."

The blue turtle rolled his eyes and shook his head. "I'm traveling quite a ways, and I have no money so if you were looking for someone to help with your expenses or something along the lines of payment, I'm afraid I'm not your turtle."

The red turtle smiled at the other one, "Not looking payment or anything else like that," he retorted back. "Just saw ya walking and thought you might want a lift. We're both headed east after all." He nodded toward the road.

The other turtle huffed and looked toward the open road before looking back at the biker. "Look, I appreciate the offer, but unless you got a..."

Before he could say another word, the other turtle reached around to his left and pulled out an extra helmet from one of his bags which he gave to the other turtle. "I came out here with a friend of mine, he's staying behind with his girl so I do have a spare." He held the helmet out to the surprise turtle.

The turtle in blue gave a thin smile before taking the helmet. "Name's Leonardo Tartaruga." He said holding out his hand.

"Raphael Hamato." The red turtle shook his hand warmly. "Family and friends call me Raph."

"Leo." The other said as he slid the helmet over his head and climbed behind Raph.

"Nice to meet ya Leo." Raph said as he put the bike in gear and took off down the interstate.