Rene - Yeah, I had writer's block for ages! It doesn't help that TMNT Season 3 hasn't aired in Australia yet, so while I was trying to plan this fic there really wasn't anything I could watch in order to maintain my interest in the turtles. So for a while I kind of lost that spark. But what I found helped me was just ignoring the feeling and starting to write this fic anyway, and then I ended up planning the ending while doing that. Anyway, I hope you overcome it soon. Also, I did base that lizard child story off leprosy… and Freddy Kreuger o.0!
Sassyblondexoxo - I think that urban legend was actually about the Hanta virus. I'm not really sure about it, but as the guy says in chapter one apparently that particular Hawaiian story was exaggerated and that the Hanta virus would cause different symptoms. :shrugs: After researching so many urban legends, I've forgotten which ones were true XD
Chapter Two: The Wild Child.
A light breeze cascaded through the trees, making the rays of sunlight just barely breaking through the canopy, twirl and surrender to the shades of the wind. Overall there was a trained silence. Breathing was steady, yet stealthy. Movements were planned beforehand, carefully creating a path through the forest's leaf litter and paddocks of ferns. Every second counted. Every move was crucial. If Raphael lost his patience, then the mission would fail. It was so important to succeed… Unfortunately the little green munchkin that accompanied him wasn't as passionate.
"Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers; A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked. If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, where's the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?" Iris abruptly babbled on at the top of her voice. Raphael jumped in shock at the volume of her voice, while a number of startled birds flocked from the nearby trees in fear. "Can you say that?" Iris innocently asked, bounding behind her older brother.
"Huh?" Raphael's stealthy focus was too disrupted to comprehend a single word the little female turtle had just said.
"Can you say that?" Iris asked again.
"What? No! Iris, shut up for a sec, will ya!" Raphael growled, knowing that their cover had been blown.
"I was just wondering, that's all," Iris said. Raph groaned at hearing her voice again.
"Iris, when I say shut up, I mean no more speaking," Raph felt like he had to define his previous request. Iris sighed and chased after Raphael when he moved from tree to tree, stopping occasionally to look at his surroundings. 'We've probably already lost', Raph thought bitterly to himself.
It was a simple game of Capture the Flag. Raph and Iris were teamed up together and had to win against the do-gooders; Diana and Gabriel. Each team had a flag to hide within a certain area of the forest. The objective of the ninja training game was to obtain the enemy's flag and reach the finishing line. There were a number of tactics to choose from; they could assign one person to defend their flag while the other person searched for the opposing team's, or they could both go on the offensive and hunt down the other flag together. Raphael decided to pick the latter when it came to tactics. Yet due to Iris' constant ramblings and disruptions, Raph never found Diana and Gabriel's flag. Hours had passed, giving them no idea how their siblings were going. Suspecting that the game might have been over ages ago, Raph decided to just head towards the finishing line, though he still kept hidden just in case everything was still being played.
Climbing up a few rocks, Raph looked back over his shell to see if his little half-sister was still keeping up with him. "Do you reckon it's over?" Iris asked. Raph frowned at her question, though he couldn't be bothered yelling at her again about staying quiet.
"Of course it would be," Raph grumped, clambering up some more smooth rocks. Slightly out of breath, the duo reached the top of the outcrop of boulders and waded through the sea of small plants. Making their way through a cluster of trees, three figures started to emerge.
"Took you long enough," Diana said with a smirk while Gabriel sat beside her, proudly waving Raph's team flag in the air. Raph let out a long breath full of disgruntlement.
"Where have you been Raph? I was starting to get worried," Leo asked, arms crossed. Raph could easily tell that his teacher and father wasn't pleased.
"Sorry," Raph said, quite embarrassed about his performance. The turtle gritted his teeth, wanting to tell Leo how annoying and disrespectful Iris had been during the mission, but the kind soul within him didn't want to publicly blame the little girl in front of the rest of her family. So like always, Raph decided to take the fall, at least for the time being. Sensing that Raphael was holding something back, Leonardo dismissed the rest of the class.
Raphael stayed behind as his younger three siblings slowly moved off, all keeping to the unmarked path that would take them back to the lair. Relieved that they were gone, Raph's feelings of contentment diminished rapidly when he saw Leo's serious expression. "So…" the blue-wearing turtle started. "What happened this time?" Leo finished his inquiry. Raphael sighed while he started to move off, together walking back towards their home while they talked.
"It's Iris. She's too… distracting," Raphael began his complaint. "Like she has no concept of what's going on. Why can't I be paired up with Diana instead? At least she keeps quiet!"
"Then that'll leave Gabriel and Iris by themselves. They're only nine. They need someone with them," Leonardo calmly explained the situation to his adopted son. "I'll pair you up with Gabriel next time. How 'bout that?" he tried to form an ultimatum.
"Gabriel? Yeah… he's a great conversationalist!" Raph exclaimed, flicking his arms up into the air out of frustration. Leo frowned, noticing that the teenager was more irritated that usual. Raphael was always known to be a dependent, understanding and reliable boy, but Iris and her unique way of living and enjoying life just seemed to continually crawl under his skin. Yet Leo could sense that this time it wasn't all about his little sister. There seemed to be another untouched issue that was kept hidden under his tongue.
"Raph… What's bugging you?" Leo asked, fishing for any questionable responses. Raphael loudly let his breath out while he walked slightly off the bush trail that the turtle family had invented. He moved away from Leo for a few seconds, before returning to the track of worn down soil and trodden leaves. It was as though he wanted to pace but couldn't because of his location, suggesting to Leo that he was right with his suspicions of unresolved problems.
"You know, when you were my age, you were fighting bad guys every night, training hard, using cool equipment…" Raph didn't finish his sentence and instead just faded his voice down towards the end. Leo looked at him quizzically for a few seconds, only half understanding what the teen was trying to say.
"So?" Leo wanted a full explanation.
"Well…" Raph didn't exactly know what he was trying to say. It was feeling he was experiencing, and he couldn't think of any incidences that he could use as examples. So Leonardo filled in the blanks. Raphael, just like all boys, finally wanted to be treated like a man. Yet due to a lack of dangerous activity unlike Leo's early years, the ninjitsu Raph was learning didn't have much of a purpose. The children were always training and never using their skills in a real situation. Frankly Leonardo hoped that they would never have to act like the ninjas they were striving to be. It was a whole different era back in the days where Leo and his brothers would patrol the city of New York.
"You kids don't know how lucky you have it," Leo muttered, stepping ahead of Raphael. The teenager lowered his head to look at the gritty ground, knowing his request for danger and excitement was incredibly ignorant and foolish. But still that feeling of uselessness lingered in every nerve that pulsed through his mind.
"I just want to be included in those adult meetings you have."
"What adult meetings?" Leo became confused again, stopping and turning around to look the younger turtle in the eyes.
"The ones you hold at night, where you tell me to baby-sit the others while you speak to Uncle Mike, Don and mum," Raph said, crossing his arms as a symbol of defiance. Leo simply tilted his head to one side, thinking.
"I never thought that you wanted to be included," Leo stated honestly.
"Well I find it rather degrading when you assume things like that. Like you just pass me off…" Raph trailed off, once again not knowing how to explain his emotions or feelings.
"…I understand. You want to start fighting with the big boys," Leo summarised.
"Well, yeah".
"How about this then: next week we'll play Capture the Flag but with the whole family. Mike, Don, your mother and I included. How about that?" Leo offered, only wanting to resolve the problem.
"Will Iris still be on my team?" Raphael inquired, as though he was a criminal who wanted his demands to be met. Leo only gave him a small understanding grin in return.
"I'll try not to pair her up with you again in the near future. But I'm afraid you just have to get used to working with her. We all have our arguments, and as a leader you just have to keep working past that," Leonardo lectured, wanting Raph to acknowledge that one day he would have to lead his siblings when the first generation was gone.
"But she's got absolutely no focus! She never stops talking!" Raph continued to complain, not seeing his father's reasoning.
"She tests my patience sometimes… but it's just who she is," Leo tried to remain indifferent.
"On this task she was just so annoying! She's getting worse!"
"Okay, okay. I'll have a word about her behaviour when we get back to camp, alright?" Leo finally agreed. He figured that it was about time Iris' indulgent habits were stopped. Many disciplinary tactics had been attempted to try and get Iris to be more serious about her ninjitsu studies, but it usually was a lost cause, mainly because she only ever really listened to her father, Michelangelo. Leonardo groaned inwardly, knowing a headache was coming because of his deal with Raph.
"Thanks Dad," Raph said with a smile, feeling more relaxed now that he had spoken to someone about his feelings. The two turtles continued to walk along the thin dirt path. Feathery ferns brushed against their legs as they traveled through the secluded forest. Clear minded, Raphael was able to admire the environment's beauty, though Leo still kept looking at the ground, always thinking and planning the rest of the day and the weeks ahead.
"I might get you to spar against Diana later on this afternoon as well," Leo suddenly piped up, as though the thought had suddenly popped into his brain and was immediately faxed towards his mouth.
"Good," Raph agreed with a grin. While Diana was four years younger than he was, the girl always presented a challenge even though he won the practice fights most of the time. Raph enjoyed sparring with her, as when he fought with any of his older relatives, he had to work overtime in order to just land a hit. Ninja games were normally played in the morning, with the rest of the day devoted to personal training and lastly sparring sessions. Raph and Diana had been sparring against each other for most of their life, but since Iris and Gabriel had recently seriously started fighting with their weapons, things were about to become more interesting. A small part of Raph couldn't wait for the next couple of weeks to unfold.
The narrow bush path gradually widened as the dirt ground slowly became more compact, causing the ferns that smothered the area to appear more scattered. The numerous and often alluring birdcalls that frequently sounded were echoed against a curved rocky cliff face. Following the natural bottom of the giant wall of hard pumice, the two turtles finally came across a large group of familiar caves that they called home.
The lair had gradually become more technologically advanced as the years went by. Due to there being no power outlets, Donatello had become obsessed with solar power. Although everything had to be recharged once the energy had been drained, Don's inventions saved the turtles from worrying about campfires being spotted or smelt by humans when they had to cook some food or boil water. The only thing that didn't seem to be solar powered was the Hog, which Raph had adopted as his own, not that he ever had the chance to ride it.
Don had also provided the clan with some much needed entertainment; the most newest object being a simple television. Donatello had tried to get one to work years ago but found out that there was no clear signal where they had decided to set up camp. So eventually Don solved the problem by setting up a dish somewhere else in the woods so he could bounce the signal. Leo thought that it was a shame to introduce the television again into their lives, as since it had been working, the amount of time the family had spent conversing with each other had been reduced.
Raphael departed from Leonardo's side and immediately went to his private and rather cramped alcove where he kept his belongings. The Hog that used to be owned by his father sat idly outside of his 'room'. Not forgetting his promise, Leo tried to find Iris so he could speak to her about her behaviour in lessons. Leo stopped and swiftly lifted up his foot in mild alarm when he had stepped on something smooth and papery. Looking down, Leo was surprised to find an empty popcorn bag, the type that needed to be placed in a microwave for four minutes. The turtle was weary before, but now Leo was simply angry. He knew who the culprit was.
Leonardo briskly stormed over towards another small cave that was occupied by a certain food-loving turtle. "You've been to the towns again!" Leo accused, pointing to the foreign popcorn bag that was still on the floor.
"I was hungry," Michelangelo admitted with a sheepish grin. The ill-thought response only made Leonardo more furious.
"Dammit Mike! Your stomach put the whole clan in danger!" Leo snapped.
"Relax Leo! It's perfectly safe. It's not what you think," Mike said.
"Not what I think? What I know is that you on purposely ventured out into a populated area and risked being seen for a measly bag of popcorn! Am I missing anything here?" Leo rhetorically asked.
"Oh forget it! You wouldn't understand…"
"Wouldn't understand what?"
"Well I'm getting kinda sick of eating fruit, veggies and fish every day! Yeesh! I'm so sorry that I have taste buds!" Mike argued, getting aggravated. Leo sighed.
"Look. We've all made sacrifices. But all of that will mean nothing if we're seen… or caught."
"I know, Leo. I know."
"Without our secrecy we'd only be zoo animals. Do you want that again?"
"No."
"Good. Now I hope that you understand that humans will only bring trouble," Leo continued to lecture.
"Yeah, okay! I get it Leo! No need to patronise," Mike murmured, quickly getting tired of the conversation. Leo brought up the argument every time Mike brought home a pizza or another type of food item. While the turtles visited the towns on the odd occasion in order to find useful appliances that Don could convert to solar power, Mike was the only one who seemed to go on a regular basis, much to the others' dismay. It was fast becoming a dangerous habit, though Leo couldn't find a decent way to deter him from leaving the lair.
Dropping the subject for the moment, Leo once again remembered what he had said to Raphael earlier. "Do you know where Iris is?" Leo suddenly asked Mike when he couldn't see the little girl in the area where he was standing. Michelangelo gave him an alarmed look.
"I thought she was with you!" he exclaimed, instantly getting worried. Becoming distressed, both Leo and Mike looked around their outdoor home. Iris was still nowhere to be seen.
"Diana, where's your sister?" Leo hurriedly called out when he found his daughter sitting around, braiding her white bandanna.
"She should be around here… somewhere…" Diana trailed off when she grew uncertain herself, quickly joining the hunt to find the mischievous yellow-wearing turtle.
"Did she come home with you?" Mike rapidly questioned Diana.
"Yes! I swear she was just here!" Diana couldn't help but feel partly responsible for Iris' disappearance, but then again it wasn't as if it was the first time.
"She must have wandered off again," Leo muttered, finally feeling the migraine he had predicted ten minutes earlier. Mike groaned, knowing that he was going to have to endure another one of his leader's lectures. "Why does she keep doing this?" Leo asked no one in particular. It was clear that Leonardo was getting aggravated by Iris' antics. Diana meanwhile searched for Iris amongst the nearby rocks and caves.
"I don't know," Mike whispered, feeling ashamed.
"I keep telling you to speak to her about this! It's just not safe," as Mike had prophesied, Leo had started another lecture.
"Why is it my responsibility all the time? You try telling her!" Mike argued.
"Because she is your daughter!"
"So? We're a clan! You know, sometimes I had to discipline Gabriel and Diana," Mike said, trying to remind Leonardo that his children weren't saints themselves. The blue-wearing turtle huffed in defiance.
"That's not my point. Iris only listens to you!"
"Great! Just great! So now raising Iris is completely my responsibility? You know, I always felt that Iris and I were outcasts. Now thanks to you I now know that I'm not paranoid!" Mike growled, getting stuck into another issue entirely. It was true how he felt. Although Venus and Leo had agreed years ago that they would raise all the children as a clan, they still had a natural tendency to favour their own kids, Diana and Gabriel. Iris, being created from artificial insemination, had always been treated like an outsider, though Leo denied Mike's claims. Her somewhat unique and adventurous behaviour didn't exactly make her any more favourable to the others either. Yet Michelangelo held an unfathomable amount of love for his daughter, and so whenever she was ostracized, he felt like has was being picked on as well.
"What?" Leo questioned, getting both confused and alarmed at what his brother had just said. "I never said that!"
"Yes you did! You practically admitted that I had to take care of Iris myself!"
"No I didn't! I merely just suggested that-"
"-Suggested? It didn't sound like a suggestion to me!"
"Look!" Leo bellowed, causing his brother to fall silent. "This bickering is getting us nowhere. Let's just find her already," the turtle tried to be productive.
"Don't worry about it… I'll find her myself."
"Mike-"
"-I need the exercise anyway," Mike stopped Leo's objection mid-sentence. Leonardo no longer argued and instead just let his brother go off in search of his daughter. He knew that Mike had conflicting opinions about Iris. On the one hand he wanted his daughter to be fully accepted, and for her to be as controllable as her half-brother Gabriel, thus wishing his clan's full support. Yet Mike also wanted to be the one responsible for taming her childish ways, as though he was proud and honoured in the fact that Iris only trusted him. So Mike had the hard task in developing a special bond with his daughter, yet at the same time wanting the rest of the clan to participate in her upbringing as well. At that current moment, Michelangelo felt ashamed by his daughter's irresponsibility and wanted to take it upon himself to bring her back, not wanting her to be a burden to the rest of the family. It was a warped and often bamboozling way of thinking, but being a father himself, Leonardo knew exactly why Mike flipped and changed his reasoning so often.
Relieved that action was being taken, Leonardo decided to use his free time to lie down for a few moments, as he knew that he wouldn't get much rest when Iris returned. Grumbling to himself, he stalked back off to his own private area causing Venus to look up from the old, tattered novel she was reading. "Trouble in paradise?" Venus inquired with a small smile when she noticed her husband's displeased facial expression.
"Isn't there always?" Leonardo sighed as he dropped down to sit beside the female turtle. He stayed silent for a few moments while he watched Venus slowly scan her eyes down through the words before tentatively flicking over the page. "You've read this book before," Leo remarked, recognising it from its size and font.
"I like this one," Venus said simply, continuing on with her reading. Leonardo started to calm down while he admired his wife's delicate features, cherishing her focused brown eyes and even appreciating her slender green finger that was following the words as she read them. Wondering why he was staring, Venus' gaze lifted from the pages of the book for a few seconds.
"Iris has run off again," Leo seriously informed her, feeling that since Venus was her mother, she had a right to know what was happening. Venus heavily let out her breath while slowly closed the book.
"So what else is new?" she quietly wondered.
"You tell me," Leonardo looked at her intently, referring to another topic. With sadness etched in her face, Venus locked eyes with Leonardo once more.
"I'm not pregnant," Venus regretfully admitted. Leo sighed and Venus immediately knew that he was disappointed.
"I just don't get it!"
"Get what?"
"It just… It just seemed so easy before," Leo whispered, feeling rather insecure.
"I am getting older… It'll just take time," Venus verbalised, offering a reason for her infertility. Over the past few weeks Leonardo and Venus had been trying to conceive another child, obviously with no results. While at first their attempts revitalized old feelings that they had forgotten, as the days flitted by, they soon grew frustrated with each other. There was an unsettling amount of insecurity between the two turtles as neither really knew why they received no results. Venus had an inkling as to why she wasn't conceiving, however she didn't want to admit what she was thinking. "…Are you sure you still want this baby?" Venus timidly questioned.
"Yes, of course!" Leo was shocked that Venus even had to ask. There was a long pause and Leo grew worried that his last comment might have been insensitive to how Venus felt. "Well… do you still feel the same way?" Leonardo quietly wondered, hoping that Venus wasn't just trying to make him happy.
"…Yes, I do," Venus said after a small pause, though she didn't sound as enthused as her husband. "Maybe we should ask Don about it… He might be able to tell us what's wrong," Venus offered. Leonardo firmly shook his head.
"No."
"Why not?"
"Well, quite frankly, I don't think it's his business," Leo muttered while standing up. Venus bit her lip as he started to pace around the small cave.
"But Leo… he might be able to test a few things for us…" Venus nervously said, knowing that it was a touchy subject for most males.
"What? But the problem could be you!" Leo was startled at the thought.
"It might be… But it's just easier to test the guy first," Venus tried to reason with him from her spot on the ground. Frustrated, Leo sighed and stopped pacing.
"Venus… I just don't feel comfortable about, that's all," Leo admitted softly. "We'll just keep trying, okay?"
"Okay," Venus said softly. Leo bent down and kissed her on the forehead, going into a kneeling position after he did so. He gave her a small smile, which was immediately returned by the female. Although they tried to look happy in front of each other, neither of them could deny the amount of frustration they hid underneath their perfect grins.
To be continued…
Author's Note: Once again there was going to be more to this chapter but it ended up being cut because of it's length. Sorry if things seem a little slow; I've got quite a lot of characters to introduce into the story! So hopefully, with luck, the pace will pick up a little more in the next chapter.