"Don't touch me!" Karai snapped as she kicked backwards, propelling herself away from him.
"But you're hurt."
"No shit," Karai glared at Leonardo in the darkness. "You're the one that did this to me!"
The turtle sighed.
The kunoichi squirmed, trying to prop herself up against the airconditioning unit. The cool metal sent a chill down her spine beneath her body armor. Leonardo stood a few paces away from her, the silhouette of his strange form and twin katana stretching across the rooftop. She could not see his face. He was little more than a shadow backlit against the wash of light pollution that spilled over the city, red as the dead tide.
She wrenched her arm from her side, forcing the movement through the pain. Her fingers met the gash in the side of her armor, tracing where his katana had met her flesh. Silently cursing herself, Karai held her arm in a feeble attempt staunch the blood flow. She swore under her breath at her her own stupidity for leaving herself open like that. She had been too stupid to block on the right; the ambidextrous bastard had seen his opening and he took it.
Leonardo sheathed his katana over his shell.
"Let me help you," he reached out a three fingered hand. "I didn't mean to - "
"Fuck you!" she spat, baring her teeth.
The turtle's mouth was a doleful line across his muzzle. He withdrew his hand and hitched his thumbs in the leather belt slung across his waist. Karai gritted her teeth. Her eyes darted across the rooftop, halting where her own katana had been abandoned when their battle ended. Her sword was as good as gone, but she still had a dagger in her boot. If he came any closer…
"Come on," Leonardo said, gently.
He was standing over her now, blocking out the moon. Blood was pooling between her fingers. She was still trying to hold herself together. He bent over her and her body stiffened.
"No," she protested, recoiling from his touch.
"You need stitches," he insisted.
"Because of you," she hissed as he hoisted her up. The sky reeled above her, hazy and red and streaked with shuddering neon emanating from streets that seemed to stretch on forever into the night.
Leonardo lifted her effortlessly, his sinewy arms encircling her waist. Karai grimaced, the wound at her side weeping, wet and red. She hung in his arms, limp and useless, her legs dangling over the crook of his elbow. He brought her close to his bony plated chest but she was too drained to struggle against him. She felt something wet dripping down her side beneath her body armor.
Karai drew a labored breath. She had never been so close to him before. Her fingers yearned for the knife in her boot, but she knew she was too weak for it to do any good. She forced herself to take another breath and she was overwhelmed by his scent. The turtle smelled of sweat and leather, and something else. Karai's nose wrinkled instinctively. He smelled like the Shredder's incense, like smoky rakoku aloeswood. Sharp as sandalwood.
It was the smell of a warrior.
The kunoichi's eyes met his and something stirred inside her. Was this creature so different than them? Was he so unlike her? Her dark eyes silently searched his face, and she understood why he refused to leave her. He was bound by honor, just as she was. His body was a weapon. He was an instrument of his master, just as she was. The corner of his mouth turned up into the slightest smile and a rush of resentment washed over her, leaving her blood boiling.
"Ready?" the giant asked gently, tilting his head to the side as he looked down on her.
The moon shone like a milky pearl in the dead red sky.
"Fuck you," Karai wheezed. "And your honor," she added acerbically.
"I'll take that as a yes."
A/N: Yeah, I realize Karai is a little OOC for 2014 in this, but petulant butthead star crossed lovers are my favorite.