Ch 2 The Rival
They walked over to where The Daimyo and Splinter stood in front of a beautiful imperial white two story home with large pillars and a pair of lion statues on either side of the steps, leading up to double red oriental looking doors with lion door knockers on both. The turtles eyes opened wide as the Daimyo led them inside to a grand entry way with a long winding staircase going up to where the bedrooms were kept.
As they made their way up the stairs with Tennison in tow, much to Raph's resentment, they noticed a mural depicting a war of ancient Japanese soldiers battling dragons and various demons. Leo eyes opened in awe of the painting and stopped to admire it.
"It is beautiful, is it not?" Tennison asked him. His hand resting on Leo's shoulder tenderly.
"Indeed." Leo agreed, his eyes roaming over the large wall covering taking in every detail.
"You must come visit me at the inn," Tennison said as he leaned closer to him. "There are several paintings very much like this one that I'm sure you will also enjoy."
Leo turned to him and smiled. "Thank you Tennison." He bowed, "I would love to accompany you to see the paintings."
Tennison stared intently at him, "There is one very interesting painting of a great lion, whose whole body covers the midnight sky and aligns with the stars as it protects the village of it's ancestors." Tennison told him, making a sweeping motion in the air, as he described the picture. "I think you will enjoy seeing that one, I believe your name means 'Lion Bold', am I correct."
"Yes you are," Leo answered, chuckling. The two turtles stared at each other for a few seconds before Leo felt a sharp tap on his shoulder. "Yo, ya comin' fearless?" Raph said, rather hotly.
"Oh, uh yeah, sure Raph." Leo said, feeling somewhat embarrassed; the heat rising in his cheeks was somewhat evident to his new friend, who smiled at the shy look Leo gave him.
They continued to walk down the hallway to the rooms where Splinter had his sons each pick a room, he had already been given the larger room by the Daimyo and the rooms left were slightly smaller but just as comfortable with queen size beds. Donnie and Mikey took rooms next to each other and Leo took one closest to Splinter's that was across the hall from theirs while Raph took the one at the far end of the hall.
After they were settled, the Daimyo showed them the rest of the house. There was a large kitchen, but since there were servants, they knew it would not be necessary for them to cook, much to Mikey's dismay, they had a simple tea room which connected to a dining room with a large table in the middle and pillows for each of them to sit on. In each room was a mural or wall covering of some sort that depicted wars of oriental origin.
"They seem to have quite the connection to our Japan then I think even they realized." Donnie whispered to Master Splinter.
"The Daimyo has been around for a long time my son." Splinter informed him. "He has visited our dimension many times and may have even been a part of some of these wars."
Leo, overhearing what his Sensei had just told his brother, was instantly intrigued. "Do you think he would discuss them with us Sensei?" He asked.
"I would love to, Leonardo-san." The Daimo answered as he came up behind him. "Perhaps we can trade stories, as you say." He smiled at the turtles as he continued the tour of the house. "Of course, Tennison could also tell you quite a few stories in which he encountered a certain rabbit samurai."
Leo's eyes sparkled with excitement. "You know Usagi?" He asked Tennison eagerly.
"Ah yes, quite the samurai that one." Tennison smiled as he thought of the rabbit warrior. "He knows how to fight." He looked at Leo with amusement. "Ah, so you are the Leonardo he occasionally speaks of." His voice was filled with intensity. "You and I, Leonardo-san, must get together and talk about our encounters with him." He said smiling at him. "How about you join me for dinner tonight and we will talk?"
"May I Master Splinter?" Leo turned to his father with anticipation.
"Of course my son," Splinter told him, "But tomorrow will be a day full of excitement, so come home early and get some rest."
"Thank you Sensei." Leo said as he bowed respectfully.
A servant of the house came over to the Daimyo just then and, after bowing, informed the lord that a small snack of green tea and manju were waiting for them. Tennison took his leave then with a promise to Leo he would come by in two hours. After saying their goodbyes, the turtles and their Sensei walked over toward the tea room for a delicious lunch with lord Mifune.
"Raph," Mikey whispered. "Looks like the new turtle is stepping in on your territory." Mikey nodded to the retreating form of Tennison. "What are you going to do?"
"I've gotta few tricks up my sleeve." Raph whispered back, "No worries bro, besides we've got almost one month."
"Yeah, but he could do it in less then one week from the way Leo looked at him."
"No way, I've got a plan or two, just need ta get Leo alone."
"We'll give it to you bro." Mikey assured him as they followed the others into the tea room.