Chapter 8 : Blind

He didn't feel like doing anything. Days went by and all Raphael could find the energy to do was lay on his shell, or his side, or his front, staring at the ceiling, or the wall, or the floor. He didn't even eat, at least not on the first day. The second hunger won over stubbornness and he downed the two bars of food and went right back to lying in his corner.

If he were at home, Don would have looked him in the eye and said "Raphael, I think you and me should talk." And, since he wasn't much for disobeying Don since he rarely told him they "needed to talk" he'd reluctantly follow him off. Then he'd endure a frustratingly stupid lecture about how he was probably depressed and angry and needed some medication yada yada blah blah blah.

He didn't like to think about his family. It hurt. He groaned and rolled onto his front, tucking his head between his arms. It didn't stop his mind any though, his thoughts kept on returning to them. He wondered how Leo was recovering. Had he told Don and Mike that Raphael was a horrible pervert and it was best that he wasn't around anymore? Naw, Leo'd be more secretive than that. He'd keep it to himself. Wrap it all inside.

He missed him. He frowned and punched the floor to give him something else to focus on. Like the new pain in his knuckles and the fact that he was going to starve to death...

-

Turned out starvation wasn't what Karai had in mind for him.

After two days of nothing Karai's minions started to put food through the bars of the cell again. He ignored it. The hunger had dulled to numbness and he didn't feel like getting up to get anything. Don would have definitely forced some sort of Dr. bullshit on him by now, he reflected sourly as he lay there.

He wasn't sure how many days it was when she came back for him. He was spending more and more of his time sleeping and the days blurred together in a cell with no window. But she was there, this time dressed in her father's full armor. She stood in front of his cell with her hands on her hips. "Get up Raphael," she said in a disgusted voice.

"Why?" he returned from where he lay with an arm over his face, his voice dry and cracking from misuse. "So that you can kill me?"

She snorted. "You seem to be doing a reasonably good job of it yourself," she said.

Raphael didn't reply. The doors of the cell opened and he heard her step inside. At the same time she tossed something into the cell with him. They clattered to a stop near his head.

Raphael removed his arm and turned his head to look. They were his sais.

He raised an eyebrow ridge and looked up at Karai.

"Get up Raphael," she ordered as she drew a tanto from her belt. "And face me. An honorable death shall befall you instead of this wasting away you seem so set upon."

He got up slowly, stumbling a bit as he did so, his head swimming. As soon as his head cleared he reached down and slowly picked his sais. The weight felt comfortable in his hands, years of training teaching him their feel and texture.

He was going to die. He could feel it, and for the first time in his life he didn't mind so much. She was right, a quick end was better than wasting away. He gripped his sais tighter and prepared himself. "Funny," he began, a grin arching across his face. "I wouldn't think you'd know the meaning of the word honor, Karai," he said, knowing full well that'd get a reaction out of her.

Sure enough she let out a shout of anger and rushed at him, and despite feeling weak, Raphael parried her attack and leapt past her. The adrenalin rush propelled him as he noticed the door of the cell was still open. He reacted without thinking, dodging for the exit, only to have her guards clang it shut before he could reach it.

Damn. He circled back, getting down into a crouch, his eyes glittering with hatred. "Must make you feel good Karai, to attack someone who hasn't eaten in days..."

"Not my fault," Karai growled out, going down in a defensive crouch as well. "It was your choice to abuse your body Raphael, not mine."

They circled one another. Rage was beginning to cloud his desire for a quick end, and suddenly Raphael wanted to kill her instead. His lips curled up into a snarl as he lunged at her, an attack she nimbly jumped out of the way of. That didn't stop him. He went in again, swiping for the side of Karai's mask. She only barely managed to get her sword up to defend herself. She sent him on the defensive, swiping at him. He got his sai under her blow, and twisted. Her tanto went sailing across to the wall and he let out a scream, knocking her back against the wall of the cell.

Karai reacted when he leapt on her. She brought her arm up, swiping it across Raphael's face. She regretted the move instantly... her arm met resistance. She gasped herself as he let out a cry of pain and fell back, dropping his sais to hold his hands to his face.

She stared at him, as he slumped against the far wall of the cell, panting and groaning. His eyes, she realized as he curled in on himself still clenching his head. She turned to the front of the cell, calling for her guards. The door opened instantly and then shut again as she was joined by her staff.

"Raphael..." she began as she took a tentative step towards him. "Let me..."

He jerked away from her, his breathing coming in wet gasps. "Get away from me!" he snapped, the pain in his voice obvious. Now she could see the blood seeping out between his fingers.

She actually felt regret. It didn't last very long as she reminded herself who this was. Raphael was not someone to feel sympathy for. She had the guards wrestle his hands away from his face to confirm what she already knew... the twin slices cut right through, starting at his forehead on the left hand side and ending at his cheek on the right. He cursed and struggled as they held him and pronounced that he'd live. She nodded and sheathed her sword, then retrieved his sais.

"Leave him," was all she said as she left the cell.

-

She spent all night and much of the next day trying to figure out what to do with Raphael. He wasn't dead, at least not when she had some of her men check in on him the next day, but apparently he hadn't moved from where he had crawled into a corner, and still hadn't eaten anything. She felt frustration at that. That wasn't how she intended to have Leonardo's brother go at all.

He was a stubborn fool, bitter and impassioned and in all honesty, she thought, she should really kill him like she had promised. The thought disturbed her more than she would like it, and she remembered the vivid display she had seen that night in the cell. She wondered at it, puzzled over it. Not that it was incestuous, but in the fact that Leo had allowed it to happen when he was obviously against it at first. Truly Raphael had believed her, that she intended to end his life, if he was willing to force himself like that on a brother.

It came at her in a shock of realization and made her all the more angry for it. Raphael was punishing himself... on her time. Letting himself rot away in that cell was his reward for his actions and why he wouldn't fight for his life. She let out a small snort and tossed her head to the side.

She wanted to let him go. Let his family deal with him and met out appropriate punishment. There was only thing...

If she let Raphael go than his family would be complete again, despite Raphael's actions. And if he was back with his family than she would still be all alone with out her father, the only family she HAD. She let out a cry of rage and attacked the support beams in her chambers, putting several deep gouges in them before slipping to her knees. It wasn't fair.

Again she felt regret twist in her gut. Once upon a time she had felt something for Leonardo. She knew deep down, it was a bit of why she had brought him back. It was why she had hurt so much when he had caused her father to be banished. He had left her all alone.

For that she should murder Raphael and leave his body somewhere for him to find.

Except she didn't want to cause him any more pain. She had done enough damage and so had Raphael. It wasn't fair really, but thirst for revenge does fade over time. She frowned as she put herself back together and stood again.

She was going to go talk to her scientist, to see what kind of plan for revenge he could cook up for her.

-

The next day she visited the cell where Raphael lay. He looked worse, breathing harsh and with too many pauses between the breaths and laying there, his face and hands covered with dry blood he hadn't even tried to wash off.

She stopped, and stared, then rolled her eyes.

"Get up," she said.

Raphael raised his hand and gave her the middle finger, which was to say he showed her the finger between his other finger and his thumb. "I'm dying," he rasped out. "Since you're too chicken shit to kill me, I have to do it myself."

"On the contrary, impudent wretch," She snarled, "I'm giving you a chance to see your brothers again."

That got Raphael's attention. He raised his head slightly, so that he would have been looking at her if his eyes weren't blood encrusted shut. He raised his head more, then slowly stumbled to his feet. He stood, leaning against the wall for support as he had his head turned in her direction. "Oh yeah?" he replied softly. It seemed that all of the fight went out of him, even though the corner of his mouth twisted up into a bitter smile. "Now that you've blinded me, sounds like a plan."

"I said you'd never SEE your brother alive again, and I kept that promise," she said in a low voice.

He was silent as he digested that, the smile slowly fading from his face. "I don't..." he turned towards the wall, laid his head against it. He was so fucking tired it was hard to think and he was lightheaded to boot. It made all of the fight flee from him, leaving him weak and helpless in front of his enemy. "I don't want to see Leo again," he said finally, quietly. "Not after..." he fell silent, knowing that Karai could hear his words. It was better not to speak at all. He slowly clenched his hands into fists. "Damn you," he whispered. He let out a dry gasping sound she recognized as a sob.

A grim look crossed her face as she watched him struggle not to break down. She was correct at least with her prediction of why Raphael was letting himself go like this. Finally she sighed and continued by asking a question. "How long can a turtle breath under water Raphael?" She asked.

He turned his head in her direction. "What?" he asked.

She didn't bother repeating herself. "My scientist has devised a plan that will give you a chance to see your brothers once more, Raphael. But he says that there is also a chance you will drown. I suggest you conserve your strength," with that she turned sharply and strode away.

Behind her back in the cell Raphael would have blinked if he could. He then swore softly and fell to his knees, crawling to the door and feeling around for the food...

-