Hey dear readers, it's been too long, hasn't it? I do apologise but real life and the dreaded writer's block took its toll on me. I'm going to try my hardest to focus on this story now but I can't promise what life may decide to throw at me in between but like I said I will try...

So, back to the present again, enjoy :)

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Chapter 3 Drakin Attack

Donnie awoke the next morning with an intense chill sliding mercilessly through his bones. It was but a passing sensation though as past memories still gushed freely about the rivers of his mind. Nothing else mattered at that moment in time, until a familiar voice jolted him back to the present.

"Don? Donnie, don't tell me you stayed out here all night-," a slight cry of alarm followed and the turtle blinked in confusion.

"What's wrong April?"

"What's wrong?!" the redhead exclaimed immediately crouching in front of him. "You've been out here all night, without a coat and you've been bleeding!" she reached out for his bloodstained cheek, worry creasing her brow. "What the hell happened Donnie?"

In a flash the youth realised what he must have looked like. He turned over his bloodied hand his eyes drifting to the congealed wounds of his lacerated digits. April's sights instantly flicked down and she seized his hand. Donnie winced.

"Donnie! How'd this happen, huh?"

Don looked away. "I-I caught it on the naginata blade, I-"

"Don you're so much damn smarter than this! You could've attracted a freaking drakin down on our heads!" she pounded a fist against his shoulder and frowned again. "And you're freezing to the touch. My god Donnie, were you trying to kill yourself?!"

Donnie bowed his head shamefully. Sorry seemed so woefully pathetic a word to say given the circumstances but he murmured it anyway. "I'm sorry April."

The young woman huffed and clambered to her feet. "Hold on a minute," and she disappeared back inside the building. Only seconds later she reappeared hefting her satchel and snatched Don's discarded coat up from the ground. He watched mutely as April slung the coat across his shoulders and flopped down next to him digging through the contents of her bag. Finally she pulled out several lengths of clean cloth and a small bottle.

"Hand," she ordered.

Not able to look her in the eye Donnie raised his wounded hand to her. He felt her tug roughly at the buckles that held the leather gauntlet in place. Moments later April yanked the glove off and immediately poured some of the bottle over his thick fingers.

A slight wince crinkled Don's features followed by a hiss of pain that he couldn't hold back. He'd forgotten how much he hated iodine despite it being the best disinfectant for wounds. It stung like the devil, not that he would have admitted to it. His brothers would probably have a field day with that information.

"Damn it Donnie, you know we don't have much iodine left. The last thing we want is for a wound to get infected. I mean, what, what would I do?" April said in a now calmer, more concerned tone.

Don peered up at her as she worked diligently on his injury cleaning up the blood and finally bandaging his fingers up securely. April was getting too good at this. Over the years the mutant had attained a goodly number of cuts and grazes but whenever he'd stop to tend them April always took over despite his protests. In the end he just automatically allowed her. It was easier that way.

April finally finished, staring at him steadily as Don pulled his glove back on and buckled it. She made a soft noise and he glanced up at her.

"You didn't answer my question."

"Question?"

April huffed impatiently and stared back at him with a look that had become all too familiar. "What would I do if anything happened to you?"

Donnie opened his mouth to say something and immediately snapped it shut again. He had no idea how to answer her question. He'd been careless and he'd put her, he'd put them both in unnecessary danger. Most of the predatory mutants that now roamed this desolate landscape were blood trackers. The guilt still reflecting in his eyes he held April's gaze steadily.

"April, I promis-"

Immediately April's hand shot up and pressed two fingers to his lips. "Don't. Just, don't Donnie," concern burned fiercely back in her suddenly intense stare. "Please Donnie, don't make promises which are impossible to keep."

Don swallowed back what he was about to say, feeling April's words burrow deep down inside of him. She moved her soft fingers and he sat there a moment longer before answering again. He never once looked away from her. "I will try my very hardest not to let this sort of thing happened again."

April leant back on her heels and finally smiled. She extended her hand as she stood up. "C'mon D, one last rekkie of this place and let's get out of here, huh?"

Don managed a small smile. "Sounds like a plan chief."

April chuckled lightly, brushing her hand playfully across his brow as he finally stood up. She then took him by the hand and pulled him back into the building. "Let me show you what else I've found," and she smiled at him softly.

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An hour later, a ration lighter and a few useful items salvaged the pair were ready to move on. April was hitching her now somewhat heavier bag over her shoulders when Don suddenly ducked back into the building.

"Donnie! What are you doing now? I thought we were leaving!" she called.

Several frustrating minutes passed and April frowned and was about to duck back inside herself when the turtle startled her by stepping back out in front of her.

"What was that all about?"

"Just double checking that we hadn't forgotten anything April," he answered although the bag on his shoulder looked heavier somehow.

April 'hmmm'd' to herself but let it go.

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It was slow going for the next few hours that the pair travelled. The dusty terrain became rocky and extra care had to be taken to traverse it. The last thing they needed was a twisted ankle.

April kept feeling Donnie's eyes slip in her direction which always reverted back to the path they travelled whenever she glanced up. Subconsciously her hand drifted out to glance across the turtle's fingers when a guttural avian shriek sliced through the calm atmosphere.

Instinctively Don's hand came out, preventing April moving any further. Her own hand made to unholster her rifle.

"Don't. Get behind me."

April frowned, the stubborn gleam reflecting in her eyes as she reluctantly released the barrel.

A secondary screech suddenly sounded and Donnie pulled April to the ground into the little cover that they had. "Urgh! Damn it Donnie!" the girl hissed.

"Shhh!" the turtle's eyes were fixed on something above them. Silently he pointed.

April suppressed a gasp as the screeches resumed. "Two of them?"

"Yeah," Donatello nodded. "Hard to tell from this distance but I think they're both bulls."

"Great," April muttered. "Two male drakin, which means that somewhere in this delightful neighbourhood there's a freaking dame lurking around."

The airborne battle above continued as the most dangerous mutants (as far as Donnie and April were concerned) fought for breeding rights for that territory's resident female. Easily the size of a full grown rhino, they were in essence a fascinating creature. It was hard to tell what the secondary DNA in its genetic makeup was but in their outward appearance there looked like giant vultures with feather adorned reptilian tails lined by tusk like spikes. Scales plastered their bodies in random patches, impenetrable by bullet or bolt. By some weird mutation they also had the capability to breathe fire, hence the name they had earned themselves.

The battle, like all drakin bull battles tended to be, was brutal and violent and as it nearly always was, deadly. An awful screech resonated through the airs. Above there was a font of blood and the looser plunged to the ground like a stone. The corpse slammed into the earth a safe distance away and the hidden pair watched as the victor let out a crow of triumph before wheeling about and leaving, no doubt in search of the female that he had just won the breeding rights too.

When Donnie deemed it safe, they stood and quickly surveyed the immediate area. "C'mon," Don pulled on April's arm.

Without question April quickly followed Donatello's lead, stopping dead in her tracks when she realised where he was taking her. Toward the fallen drakin. "Donnie! Please tell me we're not going where I think we're going."

Up ahead of her the youth stopped and turned. "What are you talking about?"

"Let me make this clear Donatello, there is no way you're taking me anywhere near that monster's body."

The turtle's face creased in disappointment.

"Every predator and scavenger in a fifteen mile radius will be converging on that corpse Donnie. You know that. It's a good thing that drakin don't eat their own. It's their only redeeming feature really."

The young mutant looked somewhat crushed. His injured hand was pressed against his mouth as April's words seemed to swirl about his thoughts. The girl watched as he finally dropped his arm to his side and slowly nodded. As Donatello looked her in the eye, April suddenly felt a horrible pang in her breast.

"Of course, you're right April. Sorry. My natural curiosity got the better of me again," he unnecessarily readjusted the straps of his backpack and pointed to the east. "We'll- er, we'll skirt around the body. Give it a wide a berthe as possible," he ended quietly.

April watched as Don took the lead and paused. The record player. It had been risky to allow her to play it but he divulged her, made her smile and watched out for her whilst she was swept away by a wave of nostalgia.

So, what was she doing? Stamping out a rare opportunity for Donatello to use his amazing intellect, to maybe help them better understand their enemy. Something to make her best friend happy. Damn it. After what she had put him through last night it was the very least she could do.

"Donnie wait."

The tall turtle glanced over his shoulder confusedly as he stared back at her.

"It'll take those predators four hours at least to reach that corpse, they know better than to take up land in a drakin's territory."

"You mean-?"

"If we don't linger too long, I can't see any harm in examining the body as long as we're careful and vigilant."

The expression that spread across Donatello's face made April's heart do a giddy little flip. There was that inquisitive teenager that she thought she would never see again.

"Thank you April! Thank you!"

Before she knew what was happening, Donnie had grabbed her hand and swiftly began to guide her across the way to the fallen drakin's body.

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Thirty minutes later and the carcass lay before them, wounds oozing and a nasty smell beginning to rise and scratch at the backs of the couple's throats.

"Ergh! This thing smells like it's already going off," April grimaced.

"Fascinating," her companion muttered to himself, his keen eyes quickly taking in the creature before him.

Neither of them had seen a drakin up close, although several years ago they had been fortunate enough to stumble across a skeleton. There was only so much you could learn from bones though, especially without a computer.

Donatello wasted no more time. Setting down his bag, he took out a logbook and pencil and began his preliminary inspection.

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It didn't take too long before the examination became a lot more visceral. Time was of the essence and Donatello seemed determined not to waste a second of it. April had to turn away at that point. The smell was bad enough but to see the beast's innards laid bare was a bit much even for her strong constitution.

"April, you've got to see this!" Donnie kept saying at random intervals as he capered around the gigantic specimen. "It's just so fascinating!"

"If it's all the same to you Donnie I'll wait until you're done and you can tell me about it when we're back on our way."

"Oh my gosh-," Don then uttered. "April, I mean it, you really have to see this."

"No thank you D-"

"I've figured out how they breathe fire!"

"Really?" the redhead quirked an eyebrow.

"Really, really! Look."

April turned, holding onto her bile. Donatello was poking about in the drakin's mouth. She kept a hand pressed firmly against her own.

"They have two valves at the base of their throat. I think one projects out a flammable venom and the other releases a gas that ignites it. It's an ingenious mutation despite it being the most vulnerable part of the creature."

"How?" April said with a curious frown.

"Well, this back palate is fleshy and unprotected. One clear shot could rupture the gas lung. Heck, get an explosive bolt on target and the gas would literally explode."

April processed this information with a look of consternation pulling at her face. "So what you're telling me Donnie is, the only sure way to kill a drakin is to shoot a flaming arrow down its throat?"

"Pretty much."

"That's a hell of a small target Donnie, like shooting a torpedo down the tailpipe of the Death Star."

"Well, I suppose so," Donnie shrugged.

"Well, that should be simple," April responded with raised eyebrows. "I'll just get Luke Skywalker of the phone shall I?"

"Luke Skywa-?" April released a chuckle and Donatello snorted before breaking into a throaty giggle. "Skywalker, I get it!"

Chuckling like idiots the pair of them soon gathered their belongings, (Donnie snagging a few precious drakin samples) before carrying on their way. It would be quite a while before they laughed like that again.

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