Chapter Ten: - Dee-
-------------
During lunch, I found myself idly poking a small chunk of cheese that remained on the plate.
It's not that I didn't like the food, it tasted pretty darn good, actually; I just didn't feel so hungry anymore.
I couldn't help but wonder if pappy was eating well, or if he was being fed at all. I mean, those government agents who got him are probably trying to weaken him, letting him starve would surely make him weaker, and on long periods of time he may not be faring too well. I worry to think if he won't be able to live for long till we get there, if we get there in time for that matter.
But with us being here, having no freakin clue where to look, going out to run around like cats with firecrackers crackling on our tails, we'll only end up drawing unwanted attention. I understand our need to stay hidden, but I really want to be out there looking for our father. The longer we hide the higher the risk he'd die before we reach him.
It's been over ten days now since pappy was taken, and we hadn't a clue where he is, he could be long gone by now.
"What's the matter? Is something wrong with the macaroni?" Mike poke up, addressing me, and I perked up to look at him then looked at the measly portion left on the plate, "If there is something wrong with it, you can just say so, don't worry," he flashed a mellow smile, "I can take criticism, really." he encouraged.
"The food's fine," I began with a quiet voice, not really trusting myself to speak too loud. A little unsure I glanced at my brother, and his eyes reflected some of my unspoken concern, "Ah'm jus'- the meal was delicious." I flashed Mike a grin, honestly I enjoyed the meal but I just wasn't hungry anymore.
Red shot me a look but I avoided eye contact, I didn't want to worry him any further than I already have.
So far I've noted how Leo was watching us while we ate; whether he was trying to find any flaws in our table manners, or if he was just watching us for the heck of it, I'll never know. But whatever it was, I really hate being stared at and I find it kinda rude, and yet I didn't have the nerve to point it out to him, especially since I'm the guest.
When it came to table manners, I've tried to be as polite as I had been taught. I would ask someone to pass the salad or the salt, offer a few complements every now and then. Mike's cooking was really good, and I didn't want to look like I was gobbling up the food and showing no gratitude.
True my brother and I lived in a swamp with our father, and we never had any guests over, by our old man didn't like sloppy table manners and stranded in the middle of nowhere or not, he was sure to teach us some manners if he saw it was necessary. I don't know where he learned it from, but guessing he's much older than us, the ones who raised him probably taught him some of the stuff he passed down to us.
I guess in a way, he thought when we get older we'd venture into the city or something, maybe even go looking for our real parents, little did we know they apparently never existed in the first place, and he wanted us to appear behaved and normal when we meet them.
He just wanted to give us a normal life, or as normal as it could be to two turtle teens and a crocodile father.
Red gave me a slight nudge, but I continued to stare at my plate and ignored him. He seemed to ignore Leo inspecting gaze so far, as if our host was looking for something, but slowly the staring started to get under my brother's skin. Maybe I should just leave and distract them both for a while. Leo would hopefully stop staring, and Red would be too busy with his meal, or anything else, and wouldn't let Leo's watchful eyes bother him as much.
"No need to feel so forced, child. If you are no longer hungry, feel free to watch some television, perhaps you'll find something that will keep you entertained." Splinter, the elderly rat, spoke with a fatherly tone, and his voice though raspy and mild, calmed my nervousness quite a bit.
I flashed him a grateful smile, nodded and excused myself from the table, sure to take my plates and utensils and place them in the sink for washing. Although the look Leo sent me wasn't too pleased, he actually looked somewhere between confused and surprised. Nevertheless, since I caught eye contact with him, it would be rude to just turn away and pretend I never saw it, it'll only make things worse if I did.
I flashed him a wry smile and exit the kitchen, headed to the den and plopped on the couch, not even bothering to pick up the remote; my mind just wasn't with it. I've never been much of a TV watcher, I've preferred books cause they felt more fun to read. Visual stuff on TV weren't as interesting as ones own imagination, ya know?
After I managed to calm myself, I looked around the huge space and mused at the number of television sets stacked one atop the other. There were big ones and small ones, also some lengthy rectangular looking ones. The place Mike called the monitor area sure was huge.
On the far top of the stack was this pyramid-like glass object, and on the pedestal of the thing was some sort of golden plate on the bottom. Curious I pushed off the couch and stepped closer to the sets, and thankfully the object wasn't too high, I just had to squint my eyes a little to spy the engravings on the plate. It looked like some sort of trophy, and after I read it once I read it again, blinked, paused and then quirked a brow.
The golden plate said: Battle Nexus Champion; Leonardo Splinterson.
Splinterson? I don't get it; shouldn't it be Splinter's Son? And what's a necks-us? And how did Leo get to be the champion? How could he participate in a human competition in the first place?
"Sweet thing, aint it?" Mike with a small smile suddenly appeared besides me.
A little startled with his surprise appearance, I quirked a weary grin, before I looked at the trophy again, "Uh, yeah; it's pretty neat, and pretty shiny, too." I commented, feeling a little awkward, "Ah take it Leo is pretty proud of this one?" I asked casually, but a look in Mike's eyes told me he wasn't really all that happy about it.
"Not really, to him it's just a big chunk of crystallized glass. He only entered the competition to prove he's the best of the best, he didn't care about winning anything." He paused for a moment, then a small scowl showed on his face, "I end up dusting off the cobwebs and stuff off it every once in a while." He shrugged a shoulder, and then crossed his arms, "That baby could have been mine, though." He commented.
I glanced at him, a question unspoken, and he quirked a grin and answered it regardless, "Yes, it could have been mine, but of course, turtle luck true to form, of all the warriors I had to wad through throughout that competition, he was the one I had to butt heads with on that finale round." He rolled his eyes, a clear hint of irritation and annoyance glint in his eyes. "I was stuck fighting against my own brother, and he won the trophy he didn't give a damn about."
"He won it fair and square, right?" I inquired, and wondered if Leo would cheat to win a trophy he didn't really care about.
"Oh, yeah his victory was fair; he despises double-crossing cheaters with a passion." He complemented the thought for a moment, sulked and then continued, "I thought of demanding a rematch to see if I could win it back, but I was talked out of it." he sighed softly and uncrossed his arms from over his chest, and his hands were then set on his hip, "No need to bring conflict into the family over a dumb trophy, ya know?" he flashed a smile, and when he glanced back at the glittery pyramid of glass, I could see it in his eyes he really wanted this trophy.
"Where is this Nexus, anyway?" I asked, a little confused regarding the whole battle system thing, "Cause ah thought humans don't like people like us, so how was he able ta get into a fight and win a trophy?"
Mike eyed me skeptically for a moment, and then arched a brow, "Ya know, pardon me for saying this, but for someone who'd lived all his life in a swamp, you sure are pretty bright." He smirked, cocked his head and grinned.
I ducked my head a little and smiled, "Um, thanks?" I grinned, though a little confused by his statement, "Ah guess ah jus' try to learn whatever ah can, when ah can. Wes didn't have all them many books or school, and pappy kinda taught us how to do some things." I shrugged a shoulder and then gave the monitor area around us a good look, "Since we lived in a swamp, we didn't have all them city thingamabobs ta help."
"Oh, okay… that explains it." he gave a strange smile, as if he found something funny in my answer.
I glanced at the stack of TV's and thought back about what we just said, and then through the differences between us and our lifestyles. Although I probably had my thoughts go on the wrong track, a small sullen smile curved my lips as something refused to leave me alone. Maybe I don't know Mike all that well, and maybe I'm just jumping to assumptions, he didn't seem the type of guy to think such things about others, he was too nice and friendly, and yet this niggling thought wouldn't leave me alone.
I turned to him, "Did you expect us to be dumber?" I asked coolly.
He jerked his head towards me in a startled flinch, and as his eyes bugged out and his jaw slacked, he frowned and then shook his head, "No! No, that's not it at all!" he argued, and I felt a twinge in my chest when he tried to think of something to say in his defense.
"It's okay, ah don't blame you." I interrupted his obviously scattered thoughts, "We had a TV back home; sure the contraption didn't stay up a lot or for long periods of time, but we watched lots of them silly hillbilly shows and movies, ah know where yer comin' from." I assured him with a smile, "But ah do recall ye callin' Red and ah hillbillies when we first met." I reminded him.
"Well, first impressions can be faulting, sorry about that, dude." He flashed an apologetic grin.
I tried to reflect it with another smile, but only felt a small furrow knit my brow ridges and I tried to keep my smile, "Ah know, stereotypes on TV happen all the time, and ah don't blame ya for thinkin' that about us." I shrugged my shoulders, and then gazed at the trophy again, "Ah mean, it's not like you met any real hillbillies before ya bumped into us, right?" I twitched a smile, "But honestly, jus' because we're from a swamp and miles away from civilization, don't mean we're any less intelligent than the rest of you." I said rather flatly, and felt the bluntness in my voice.
Gee, I hope I didn't sound too angry, his guilty smile told me my irritation was pretty clear.
"Look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to come off sounding like- well, not like that." Mike pleaded apologetically.
I smiled nonetheless, "Its okay, really. Ah jus'-" I gave a frustrated sigh, "Look, let's jus' let bygones be bygones, okay? Jus' don't say it when Red is around, cause he gets really upset when someone as much hints that we're not- 'smart enough' to do somethin'." I swallowed, a thick knot formed in my throat, "Pappy tried his best to teach us all he knew, supported with whatever he had available at the time, but given our lifestyle, livin' in the middle of nowhere, he could only afford so much, you know what ah'm sayin'?" I reasoned as quietly and as calmly as I could.
"Yeah, actually I do." He replied, a sheepish grin caressed his lips, "Master Splinter did all he could to teach us all we needed to know, how to survive in the city without being detected and all that jazz, so I guess since we were raised in a city, it was easier for us to learn more stuff, huh?" he paused for a moment before he glanced at the trophy, as if it reminded him of something, before a grin widened and then he turned to face me again, "Say, if you ever need help with anything, don't hesitate to ask, okay?" he offered a bit more cheerfully.
With a forced smile, I nodded in reply, "Yeah, thanks."
Just then, my brother came out of the kitchen with a troubled look on his face, but when we met eye to eye, it disappeared and he flashed me a mellow grin. I weren't sure what to think of it, if it was something I should worry about or not, so I decided to think about it later.
"Hey, feelin' better?" he greeted softly, a hand on my shoulder he rubbed a bit.
"Yeah, ah just- worried about pappy, ah lost my appetite." I murmured, remembered Mike was there besides me and flashed him a cheesy grin, "Sorry about that, the food was great, ah mean it."
The jade green turtle quirked a smirk and then chuckled, "It's okay, dude, no biggie. You were worried about your pop, no one blames ya." He shrugged, grinned wider and then gave a mischievous chuckle, "So, you two up for a little adventure?" he wiggled a brow.
I blinked at the look he was giving us, and then glanced at my brother, silently asking if it was a good idea to accept the offer. But all I got in reply was the biggest cheshire cat grin a humanoid turtle could produce.
I rolled my eyes and palmed my face; Oy! What are going to get ourselves into now?
….
"Red, ah don't think this is a good idea," I grouched, while I watched him and Mike work on stuffing the backpacks.
"Chill, dude! I know what I'm doing," Mike chirped merrily.
"Yeah, you wanted get back home, didn't ya?" Red argued as he hauled the backpack over his shoulder and tugged on the straps.
"Yea, but ah thought you didn't want them- well, ya know," I hesitated, not wanting to offend Mike who blinked at me rather quizzically.
"Don't worry about it, ah trust Mike more than ah trust Leo," my brother paused, and then glanced at Mike, "No offence," he offered a cheesy smile.
"Meh, it's okay." Mike waved a hand, "Leo's got that offish look to him, anyway." the orange masked turtle shrugged a carefree shoulder, "He's got trust issues, as I've said, so he wouldn't have trusted you from the beginnin', either way. To him, you have to earn his trust even if he wouldn't be bothered to try and earn yours." he shrugged with a sad, apologetic smile. "But don't get the wrong idea, once you win his trust he'll never betray you, he just needs to warm up to you a little, or something." He sighed.
Red nodded with a small smile, he looked at me with a casual shrug, "And besides, Mike knows the city better than we do, havin' him lead us back would be better." he argued with a cheerful grin.
"What about Leo?" I argued, still not too pleased with the plan to just sneak out again, it got in enough trouble the first time. "He might figure out we're missin' and come lookin'." I reasoned.
Mike shook his head and smiled, "Worry not, fellow Appalachian turtle. Leo is busy with sensei, so for all they know the three of us are bunking in the bedroom talking our heads off." His grin widened.
"Apple what?" Red blurt out confusedly, but either Mike didn't hear him or chose to ignore the question, he strapped on the thing he called a duffle bag and quietly led us out of the lair.
Of course we had to descend the steps to the lower floor, seeing their lair had two floors, Leo was with his father in their dad's bedroom, so Mike easily led us out through the front door, up the sewer system and into another direction from the rabbit hole we had to jump in when we first came here. For a while I wondered why they didn't have a back door. I mean, the opposite side of the lair had this huge blank wall, they could have tore it down and put a door there, would have offered more than one exit in times of need, ya know?
Once we were a fair distance away from the lair, I marched up front to keep the pace with Mike. I did notice he had a big cheerful grin spread across his lips, and I don't think I've seen him smile so wide since we first met, not until now. When he noticed me staring he flashed me a wide grin, glanced back at Red and gestured for us to hustle up a little, so we did.
"What's so funny?" Red piped up and addressed Mike, after he finally caught up to us and walked a little behind me.
Mike chuckled, "Sorry, I've just not been with other turtles before, it feels- exciting to be with others like me, ya know?" he gave a wistful sigh, and then glanced at me, "So I was wondering, after we find your dad, are you staying in New York?" he questioned, hopeful.
"Wow, wait a sec here, what do you mean by we?" Red grouched, stopped walking and crossed his arms over his chest.
The jade green turtle paused to flash my brother a bright smile, "What? You think you can fight the Foot on your own?" he cupped his hip and gazed at my brother from under arched brows, "Trust me, dude. They've tried kidnapping master Splinter before, I know how to deal with this situation." He gently slapped a hand on his shoulder and gave a slight assuring squeeze, while his voice gradually dropped from merry and friendly to serious and firm, "It takes a lot of effort, tact and most importantly, stealth." He continued.
"Well that doesn't sound so hard," Red argued, interrupting, now looking more confused with Mike's change of expression.
The other turtle shook his head and retrieved his hand, glanced between me and Red and then offered a wry grin, "It's just one of those things that just simply sounds easier said than done, but is much harder." He crossed his arms, paused for a moment to look back through the tunnel we walked through, frowned a little and then kept staring into the darkness, as if he saw something.
Cautious and maybe a little alarmed, Red and I glanced back as well, and I could have imagined it, but I think I heard something like a pebble roll on the stone floor before it plopped in the water, but since it was dark, despite the fact it was noon, I really couldn't see anything.
Mike turned his attention back to us, and as casually as he could continue to walk ahead. I caught up to him in intention to ask if he saw anything, but instead caught him mouth 'Leo' before he glanced back at Red, he scowled in reply, acknowledging the identity of the one trailing us.
Mike decided to pick up the conversation as if nothing happened, "Trust me, it is no walk in the park. To just bash our way into the Foot stronghold isn't the wisest decision. Trust me when I say Leo and I have snuck our way in there for so many times, we could easily write a user-guide about it for rookies." He flashed a friendly grin again.
Red simply shifted his eyes behind us but didn't turn, a little annoyed we're being followed and aren't doing anything about it. I guess he senses Leo following us, too; but didn't know what to do about it since Mike wasn't reacting. Although I could have sworn it was just another sewer rat, but if Mike and Red both agree it was Leo, though that fact went unspoken, then I guess my senses weren't playing tricks on me after all.
When you live in a swamp, your sense and ability to detect danger, as well as your sight and hearing tend to become more acute, because you'll need them to survive in the wilderness. Our home was our safe heaven, because it was surrounded by swamps and gators lurked in every mud puddle, lake and rocky corner. No one would have been able to come near our home without having to pass one of those places.
"So if you don't mind me asking, what's her name, anyway?" Mike blurt out, pretending he didn't know Leo was there, "The lady you're staying with, I mean. You said that guy who brought you here was a friend of hers, right?"
Although Red sent me a warning scowl, ordering me not to say it, I didn't pay attention to his expression till after the words left my mouth; "Yeah, Mr. Hanson's real name is Jeffery, and Mrs. Jones is named Lorelei," I began absently, then all of a sudden I found myself thumping against Mike's shell, and then ducked the tails of his bandana when they lashed over my head.
"Hey! What's the matter wit'chu?" Red snapped and put a hand on my shoulder, overprotective and making sure I wasn't hurt.
Mike just gawked at us again, blinked, shook his head and then frowned quizzically, "Ah, I'm sorry- but…" he gave a low nervous chuckle, "I think my mind was playing tricks on me, I thought you said you were bunking in with Lorelei Jones," he rubbed the back of his neck. "I mean, it would be totally weird if you two were bunking at mama Jones' place, seriously." He laughed awkwardly.
I quirked a brow at his unease, then wrinkled my snout, "Her name is Lorelei Jones, I'm not too sure if anyone calls her mama Jones," I grouched.
Mike's face paled, face frozen in that awkward laughing gesture, and then blinked as the smile instantly fell, "And- I'm guessing you already met her son?" he inquired.
"Casey?" Red asked, and at Mike's bug-eyed expression, he shook his head, "No, we jus' saw a picture of 'em, hadn't actually met the guy." He paused for a moment, a concerned look appeared on his face when Mike paled even more, "Why? You know her from somewhere?"
All we received was a weary chuckle and Mike rubbed the back of his neck again, a little more uneasily.
Red and I shared a glance, confused and maybe a little unnerved with Mike's reaction.
Was there something we were supposed to know?
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
A/N: I'm not too happy with this chapter, so any criticism is encouraged.