The smell of something burning reached Donatello's nose, which was the cause of his waking. Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he pushed himself to a sitting position and glanced at his clock. It told him that it was later in the morning, but that he had only gotten a few good hours of sleep. Spinning around so that he could place his feet on the cold ground, he looked to the area where Lila had been sleeping. The area was vacant except for the pillow that she had rested against. Don searched his room from where he sat, hoping he would see her from there, but she had appeared to vacate the room while he had been sleeping. Letting out a morning yawn, Don opened the door to the main lair, not surprised at the hubbub that suddenly assaulted his ears.
"Mikey, what the shell are you doin', cookin' our food?" Raph's gruff voice demanded. By the sounds of it, he had been looking forward to whatever it was Michelangelo had insisted on cooking, but his hopes had been let down once it was burned into a black crisp.
"I'd like to see you try, Raphie," Mikey retorted sweetly, tossing him a toothy smile. He returned his attention to the frying pan, taking it off the burner to scoop the unintelligible, black pieces onto a plate. Raph took one look at the food, turned his nose up on it, and went searching through the cupboards to find the box of his favorite cereal.
Taking a seat at the table, Don peered at the plate as well, trying to figure out what it was that Mikey had fried beyond recognition. "Has anyone seen Lila?"
"What? The furball?" Raph grunted, pulling out a bowl with a clink. "Nope."
Don rolled his eyes at his brother, turning to look at Mikey with the same question.
"I haven't yet, but that's why I was cooking breakfast!" he chattered without as much excitement as usual with a downcast look at his failure.
"Mikey, speaking of that," Don began gently, gesturing toward the plate, "what was it?"
He shrugged, looking around so that he could figure out what to do with it. "If I told you, it would be even more disappointing." Don patted him gently on the shell to express his condolences for the lost meal. He flashed his elder brother a warm smile as if in thanks before busying himself once again.
"Have the three of you eaten?" Leo's voice cut into the more or less cheery air of the kitchen. Don shifted in his seat, his foot up on the seat of the chair and his arm propped up on the back, to look at him. Raph stuck a spoon in his mouth and slowly lowered it to the bowl again as his answer. Mikey pretended as if Leo hadn't spoken at all and continued to mess with the cupboard doors.
"Working on it, Leo," Don replied for the group of them, since no one else had stepped up to the task. "What's going on?"
Leo didn't move to make himself more comfortable, standing in the door of the kitchen with a stiff posture. "Sensei wants to get some practice in before we head out again tonight."
"Whaddya mean?" Raph demanded, the sharp click of his spoon audible over Mikey's rummaging. "We're gonna be practicin' all day?"
Despite the simmering anger in Raph's eyes, Leo didn't flinch as he stared right on back. The display between them was a common sight in the lair, no matter how much any of them tried for peace. "I don't know if you haven't noticed, Raph, but the Shredder has something on his mind again. Since we don't know what it is yet, we have to stay on our toes."
"This sounds more like one o' your ideas," Raph spat, "not Master Splinter's."
"Ah-ha!" Mikey exclaimed softly in the background, apparently finding what he had been looking for. Don had zoned out of his surroundings while the tensions were high, his elbow propped up on the table and his head resting in the palm of his hand.
"I don't care what you think about it, Raph," Leo replied coolly. He always had a knack for staying calm when no one else could hold on to their marbles. "This is for your own good."
A cynical laugh escaped from Raph's mouth, followed by the ragged sound of his chair being pushed outward across the floor. "My own good, Leo?" he sneered. He moved to attack Leo, but before he could even take a step it was Michelangelo that intervened.
Stuffing a rice crispy treat into his brother's mouth, he looked at him with eager eyes. "Well, what you think?" he asked, acting as if he was unaware of Raph's outraged face. The turtles gave him a lot less credit than he deserved when it came to his emotions.
Grabbing the crispy treat with two fingers, Raph stared at it like it was some kind of poison. "What the shell is this?" he demanded crossly.
"A crispy treat. I thought you'd like it 'cause you love that cereal and all," Mikey replied kindly. "Snap, crackle, pop! Rice Krispies."
Don pulled himself out of his reverie and focused on the conversation between Mikey and Raph, surprised that Raph hadn't taken a swing at the youngest brother. It almost looked like he was torn between his misdirected anger and his compassionate side. Instead, he stared at the treat again and eventually popped it into his mouth without an expression change.
"Now where is he?" Raph mumbled around the cereal and marshmallow. He looked over the place where Leo had been standing, but he had disappeared as silently as the shadows.
"Raph, finish up your cereal and do what he asks for once," Don butted in quietly. "Would it kill you to make things easier for all of us by containing your explosive anger?"
Raph blinked in surprise at Don's intervention; normally the turtle kept to himself when sparks were flying. Shaking it off, he tossed him a half-assed snarl before throwing himself in his chair again and wolfing up the rest of his soggy cereal that he had poured.
Michelangelo appeared to be quite proud at how his interruption had ended up. Throwing a triumphant smirk at Don, he said, "See! I can cook something."
"You're lucky Raph didn't cave your face in," Don replied. Standing up to look over the red masked turtle's head, he gestured toward the pan the treats were in. "Mind if I have one? So it's not healthy, but I don't care this morning."
"Sure!" Mikey piqued, glad that his brothers appreciated what he did for once. Scooping a piece out for Don, he handed it over, watching as it was devoured with an expectant look about him.
"What?" Don asked upon finishing. He began licking his fingers to remove the sticky marshmallow from them.
"Well, how was it?"
"Like a rice crispy treat, Mikey." Mike's grin widened as he danced around the kitchen in glee. "Lay off the caffeine, Mike," Don suggested with a smile.
"Huh?" Michelangelo paused, throwing a clueless look at Don.
Don shook his head. "Never mind."
Mikey then rounded on Raph to ask him about the treat. One look at his child-like face halted the growl in Raph's throat, but he still shifted to push the bubbly turtle away from him. Not bothered by the display, Mikey finally found the heart to toss away the black scraps that he had friend and instead munched on a square cut-out of the rice crispy treats.
As soon as the three of them were finished, they exited to the main lair to find Splinter, Leo and Lila side-by-side, waiting for them. The three turtles exchanged curious glances. Mikey's face still bright, he was the one that spoke up first: "Are we doing the mamba or something? I always wanted to learn."
"Mikey … a mamba's a type of snake," Don corrected. "And the mambo isn't a line dance, if that's what you were thinking." This information appeared to bring Mikey's mood down a couple levels, as his face became more neutral.
"My sons," Splinter called to get their attention. All four of them turned their eyes toward the rat. He offered them all a gentle smile at their silence. "Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo will train under my watchful eye. Leonardo, you will help Lila learn some basic self-defense."
Raphael's mouth dropped a second before it started spewing out angry words. "You're gonna teach her how to fight?" he cried incredulously. "Master Splinter, we don't even know who she is! Why are you gonna trust her enough t' teach her?"
Splinter retained a passive face at his son's explosion, even though he was disappointed his son wasn't seeing clearly. "If the Shredder is indeed after her," Splinter reasoned, "she needs to learn as much as she can in order to survive. We do not know how much time she has to learn the skills necessary to fend off opponents, but we must help her to the extent of our abilities. I expect you to respect my decision in allowing her refuge, and if you have any further concerns to approach me at a later time."
Raphael opened his mouth again as if to argue, but a stern look from his master caused him to shut it again, albeit angrily.
"Now follow me, my sons, and let us learn …" Splinter's voice trailed off as he made his way to the dojo. Mikey, Don and a begrudging Raph followed him like a mother duck and her ducklings.
Once they were out of sight, Leo turned to the cat beside him. "How do you feel about this?" he asked her, hoping that she wouldn't outright reject him like the night before.
"I'm not prone to violence," she replied smoothly, her whiskers twitching. "But if your sensei believes that this is what is best for me, I will do what I must."
Leo admired her brave words, though he wasn't sure how she would be able to back them up. "Let's start with finding out what you do know. Have you learned any self defense before?"
Lila thought about it for a moment, and then shook her head. "I normally run instead of fighting. When I am backed into a corner with no way out, though, I typically rely on instinct alone."
She would probably be a piece of work, teaching her enough so that she could even think of holding her own against a single Foot ninja. He wasn't sure what Splinter was hoping to get out of giving her lessons, but unless they had months, Leo wouldn't be able to get very far in her training. "Alright. Do as I do." He dropped into a defensive stance. His feet were square and solid as he turned his side to her so that he was showing a small amount of surface area to her. Lifting up his arms in a guard position, he looked over to see how she was doing.
Lila looked over his positioning, a couple of her sharp teeth visible as she bit her lip. Rising from her four paws to her two hind feet, she tried her best to mimic the stance. Leonardo had to drop his stance and correct hers, but she hadn't done a bad job in the first place. "Now look, I can't push you over," he told her, giving her a hard shove to demonstrate his point.
The two of them continued their lesson even after the other four emerged from the dojo. Leo taught Lila the basics of almost any self defense art. The stance, a simple punch and kick, as well as a couple ways to get away from someone if they grabbed her but did not attack.
"What happens if one of the Foot comes at me with a sword?" Lila asked, eyeing up one of the katanas sheathed on Leo's back.
Leo drew in a breath. He knew that it would be an important skill to acquire if she was facing a ninja one-on-one, but it was more difficult and wouldn't have come in typical training for a long time to come. Looking behind him to find one of his brothers, he called over Michelangelo for a demonstration. Once he ambled over to join the pair, Leo explained, "I'm going to attack Mikey—"
"What?" Michelangelo exclaimed, his eyes wide. "Uh-uh, I just got done—"
"Mikey, I'll be playing a Foot soldier. They're no problem, right? Think of our fight last night."
"Oh, okay. But, dude …"
Returning to his explanation, Leo decided to start over. "I'm going to attack Mikey, and he's going to disarm me without weapons. I don't expect you to master this skill yourself, Lila, but he'll show you how it's done." Lila nodded to show that she understood.
Drawing a sword, Leo eyed up the tense Mikey before attacking in the most obvious of manners. Swinging his sword around, he took a step forward so that he didn't have to reach as far. Mikey, ever the quick thinker if he ever put his mind to it, ducked the swing and got in close to Leo so that his sword was obsolete. Grabbing his wrist and his forearm, he twisted the katana out of his hand before he could do much else. Once he had it in his own hand, Mikey held it triumphantly over his head.
"Hey, Mike," Leo called, grabbing his brother's attention again. "Well done." Turning to Lila, he kept an eye out for Mikey while he still had his sword in his hand. "The trick is to get in close so that they can't swing the blade at you," he explained. "You don't have to disarm the ninja like Mikey did to me, but you can use your claws against them as well." Lila nodded again, once again quiet. "But … I wouldn't suggest you do it. You'll have to have quick reflexes and a master control over your body so that you don't get cut. You're best off sticking near to one of us or running to avoid them."
"Dude … can we try that again?" Mikey asked after Leo was finished speaking. A crazy gleam was in his eye, apparently still happy that he had disarmed Leo so easily. Smirking, Leo nodded, glad that his brother was willing to practice for once. Then again, he had hooked him in by making it easy the first time. Pulling out his other katana, he motioned for Mikey to strike.
"No, if I have a sword you'll beat me like a little minion dude on the video games." Although Leo didn't have much of a clue of what Mikey was talking about, he didn't let it show.
"Try it, Mikey, you might like it," Leo replied. He caught Lila taking a few surreptitious steps away from the brothers, though she didn't sneak off completely.
"I thought I wasn't supposed to have a weapon." He did have a point with that one.
"Fine, give it back and we can try it again." As soon as the sword was handed over, Leo sheathed it and held his other one still for the split second he needed to decide what to do. He took a little more complex direction with his attack, first feigning a strike to Mikey's right, and then spinning around with lightning speed to Mikey's right. To his slight surprise despite the expectation that Mikey would make it out alright, Mikey was no longer in the spot Leo had anticipated. Hesitating for a moment, Leo found his brother again. Dashing forward to engage, Leo's hand was stopped in mid-swing by Michelangelo's forearm. With a calculated kick to Leo's plastron, he was pushed backwards and off-balance. Taking advantage of his brother's blunder, Mikey dealt the last blow by skillfully kicking the blade from Leo's hand.
"Ha! I win again," he bragged.
"Winner helps loser up," Leo shot back, holding out a hand. A dangerous smile on his face, Mikey took the offered hand and pulled Leo to his feet, even going so far as to fetch his sword.
"Dude, better luck next time!" he called before skipping off to the kitchen.
Putting the second sword back in its sheath, Leo turned to face Lila again. "Mikey's a show-off," he explained, and then motioned to the kitchen. "Have you eaten yet today?"
"No." She padded over to Leo, expecting that they would head off to the place of many smells together. He waited for her to join him on the way over, and once they were side-by-side again, he matched her pace to the room.