Disclaimer: Once again, I don't own TMNT. Just borrowing its characters for this story. And am not make money off it either.

Chapter 4: Of Rats and Cats

Raphael slammed the pen and paper down on the rock. What was the point? His family never answered the letters anyways. Raph shook his head slightly, the now short tails of his mask blowing slightly in the breeze. He reached over and picked up the letter he had started. This one was addressed to Splinter. And even though he had written it in letters before, Raph was writing about the changes that had occurred while he had been here.

Dear Father,
At first i couldn't understand why you sent me out here. The Arizona desert has, on more then one occasion, reminded me of nothing more then some barren moon. Endless miles of nothing. One of the strangest things about the land is the mountains about fifty miles away. The mountain is huge, with a smaller one on either side. On a clear day with no clouds in the sky (which is often) there is still a small cloud hovering over the middle peaks summit. I have heard that the mountain is actually a inactive volcano. But if its inactive, why is there a cloud over it? I will have to ask Donnie about that when i return home.

Home. I am looking forward to coming home, yet I'm worried how my family will take the changes in my life. Specially since i wouldn't be coming home alone.

At this Raph paused and glanced down at the girl that was posed in a kata a few feet away. He smiled as a small white moth fluttered around the girls nose. There was no movement from her. She had been doing great in the lessons, already having mastered the basics of of the small daggers that rested in her belt. His smile widened into a grin as the moth fluttered up to land on the girls ear, causing her to flick it slightly. Breaking her concentration. The girl swatted at the moth, glanced sheepishly at him and then settled back into her kata stance. Laughing silently Raph turned his attention back to his letter.

I believe you will love Alixia, father. Its hard not to. When i first met her i wasn't sure what to think. But now I'm glad shes been in my life. I remember one time, a few days after i found out about the Catrains. Alixia came running over to where i was working on learning some of the Catrains fighting techniques. Tears were running down her face. I had asked her what was wrong but she refused to tell me. I had no idea what to do, and wished you were here. You always knew what was wrong when one of us was upset. She crawled into my lap and snuggled close winding her fingers in the tails of my mask. I took my sai and cute the tails off, about shoulder length. Taking the two pieces of material i wrapped one around each of her wrists. I had once told her the mask stood for courage. I thi-

"Raphael!!! Hey Raph!!"

Raph jumped to his feet and turned towards Kats nearly panicked voice. Glancing back he noticed that Alixia had dropped out of the stance she was in and was now coming up to join him.

"What is it Kat?" Raphael's eye-ridges drew close as he watched his friend run towards him.

Kat slid to a halt near him and fought to catch her breath. "You have to come. Someones coming down the road. It almost looks like the Battle Shell. But its hard to tell from the distance"

"Battle Shell... Thats impossible!" Raph grabbed Alixias hand and began to run in the direction of the road. The road actually passed the base of the mesa, But was never used. Till now.

Cresting the small hill that lead back, Raph quickly realized it was indeed the Battle Shell approaching. His eyes widened at the vehicles state. Its once green armor was dented and burnt black. He was already running towards the vehicle when its laboring engine gave a bang and shut down altogether.

Raphael made it to the Battle Shells side as Mikey stumbled out of the drivers seat, coughing hard. Seeing that his brother was relatively alright, he quickly made his way to the vehicles side door and forced it open. Expecting to see his other brothers, he was hit hard at the sight of his father, bloody and obviously injured.

The next few hours slid by in a haze for Raph as they moved his brother and father inside the mesa and made both comfortable. The catrains healers worked on Splinter, and had to keep forcing a small orange fluff ball named Klunk out of the way. Having noticed this Raph asked Alixia to take Klunk down to the river and bath him. He knew the cat hated water but it was a necessary evil.

His brother had stopped coughing, but had dropped into an exhausted sleep. The Catrain healer was certain Mikey hadn't slept in days. Raphael had to reluctantly leave his family to take care of the battle shell. Getting a few of the natives to help, they moved the vehicle so it was camouflaged from prying eyes. Raphael began an examination of the vehicle. His eyes widening as he found his brothers weapons, both covered in blood.

Fear filled him and he quickly left the Battle Shell to find Mikey. His brother and father had been made comfortable in one of the inset rooms. Moving inside he knelt between the two beds. Waiting for one to wake and explain what had happened. And to tell him where his other two brothers were.

Outside the room, Catrains had gathered, curiosity filling their eyes. Ears twitched and tails jerked at the smell of the rat that came from inside. Alena moved to stand before the entrance.

"These are our friends, Instinct may have you curious, but these beings are under our guard. Please try to make them feel at home." Kat came to stand beside her mother laying her hand on her shoulder in thanks.

The Catrains dispersed after that, yet still cast curious looks their way. Kat turned to go inside and Alena touched her daughters shoulder. "They need to be alone for now" Kat nodded and followed her.

Raphaels head jerked up as Mikey moved, then coughed harshly. Reaching over he picked up a glass of water and held it to his brothers beak Mikey drank thirstily then realizing it was Raph holding the glass, he leaped at his brother knocking the glass to the ground and wrapping his arms tightly around Raphael.

Raph froze in shock, then wrapped his own arms tightly around his brother. He held on for what seemed like ages, then gently shifted back to look at Mikey. Tears coursed down his face, and what looked like guilt flickered through his eyes as he glanced over at their father.

"Mikey what happened? Where are Donnie and Leo?" Raphael relished in being this close to his brother after not having seen him for five months, but he needed to know what had happened.

Mikey hiccuped then began to speak haltingly, his voice slowly growing stranger as he talked. "Its all my fault...if id been there... I was out. When i returned to the lair it had been attacked. The foot had been there. Leo... Donnie... I couldn't find them. They must have been taken prisoner. I found Splinter in the dojo." At this Mikey shivered hard and Raph tightened his arms around his brother again. "I didn't know what to do. I couldn't go after them on my own. And i had to get S-splinter to safety. So i headed out to find you. We traveled almost five days to get here. Two days ago the foot found us. I managed to hide the battle shell till they stopped looking, B-but it was damaged. I didn't think i would ever find you." After this last bit Mikey buried his head in his brothers neck, sobbing softly.

Raphael closed his eyes and vowed to himself they would get their family back. "Mikey... Shhh. Its ok. Your here now. And we will get our brothers back."

Mikey gave another hiccup and pulled away slightly from his brother. "What if..." He couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence, but from Raphs darkening eyes, he knew he understood.

"They'll be ok Mikey, We are goin to find them." Raph turned as Alixia entered the room quietly.

Raphael grinned and motioned her over to them. "Mikey, this is Alixia, my daughter."

Mikey who had settled back to sit up against the headboard, nearly fell out of the bed at that. Raph barely caught him and eased him back.

Raphael frowned. "You should know about it Mikey, I wrote everything in the letters i sent."

Mikey leaned forward to take the girls offered hand and squeezed gently. "What letters Raph? The last letter we received from you was the one asking about Kat."

Raphael frowned, then the frown deepened into a scowl as he realized that the foot must have been on to this for a long time. Glancing at each other they both said the next words at the same time. "The Foot"

The next few days passed in a flurry as the two brothers made plans to return to New York. Kat had decided that she would be going with them, and they were both glad for her help. But for Raph it meant that they would have to take Alixia with them. And he wasn't that happy about that. It was also decided that while he was awake and starting to move around, Splinter was in no shape to accompany them.

Alena quickly agreed to having Splinter staying there. She was quickly coming to enjoy the rats company. It was obvious at first that Splinter was uncomfortable being surrounded by cats, but it quickly wore off at their hospitality. Raphael spent several days fixing what he could on the Battle Shell, and soon it was ready for the road again.

Nearly ten whole days after Mikey and Splinters arrival, they were finally ready to depart. That night Goodbyes and wishes for good luck were given. And as the sun once again painted its bright colors against the sky, The Battle Shell turned its back on the fiery sky and began to make its way home.

And here we go... Charge! lol.