HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Hope you all had a fun one, and that you enjoyed your Christmas! I sure did, now I've made a resolution to write something everyday, even if it's just rubbish, well, you can't avoid writer's block, but even if it's just a few sentences a day, it's something! lol!
Anyway, on with the story:
Chapter Ten
Picking Ourselves Up
Back in New York, Raphael still sat on the floor of his daughter's room staring at the blackened furniture and broken toys, he could hardly see at all due to the tears he cried.
His fingers cradled a half burnt doll, the plastic limbs and face melted and the clothes burnt away, a tragic sight.
Leonardo was kneeling beside him, rubbing his shell for comfort, he didn't know what to do or say, but he knew he had to be there for his younger brother when he needed him; it made his heart ache seeing Raphael like this.
It wasn't long before Splinter, Michelangelo and Donatello entered and they saw the mess. Splinter stood still and rigid as he took in the surroundings, Donatello clenched his fists and Michelangelo walked over to the burnt toy box near the crib that was torn asunder in ash and splinters.
He stroked it and tears fell from his eyes, he touched the lid and slowly opened it, as he did, little bits of ash fell like black snowflakes as he tried to find what was within.
He soon found some of his old toys including his toy castle and soldiers along with some remote control cars, they were blanked by the smoke and Michelangelo wondered if they were still ok after the impact of the Foot's Grenades.
"Pandora's room," Donatello choked as he stared at the broken and blackened room "Why did they have to throw the grenades in here?"
Splinter gripped his walking stick as he stared at the pictures on the wall he had decorated the room with all ripped to shreds and blackened with ash.
Just seeing the room in pieces broke his heart, he had began to feel frail with stress at how upset his sons were, but he had to stay strong for them and remind them that they had to keep up their spirits if they were to find a new home.
Splinter walked up behind Leonardo and Raphael and placed his paws on their shoulders. The two turtles acknowledged his presence but didn't speak or look up.
"My sons..." Splinter said softly "There will be time to grieve and feel anger towards those who have destroyed what we hold dear, but now the importance of our mission is to find a new home and restore everything that helped us survive."
Raphael clenched his fists as he stared at everything around him. He knew his sensei was right, but his anger within was eating him up, he wanted to hurt every Foot ninja who was in the lair and tore his daughter's room asunder.
Trying to break him, his brothers and sensei was evil enough, but the fact they had destroyed everything they had prepared for Pandora, his innocent and at the time unborn child was despicable.
What had his innocent child done to them? Nothing! True they had been fighting for years, him and the Foot, but to attack his family? Especially an innocent baby, it tore at him within.
Clenching his fists, he felt his knuckles crack and his palms bled as his fingers dug harder into the flesh, it was then he promised himself, Mona and Pandora, that the Foot would rue the day they stepped into the lair and tried to hurt his family, he would never stop fighting, he would never stop trying to protect his lover and daughter, even if it meant death, he would be there to protect them to the end.
"I understand your words fully master Splinter..." Raphael said as tears streamed from his eyes "But seeing this...my heart...I can't describe it."
"Your daughter will have her room again my son." Splinter comforted "But we must not let this horrific destruction cloud our focus, let us begin our search for a new home."
Leonardo took a deep breath and stood up, he held his hand out for Raphael who slowly placed his own in Leonardo's and stood up.
Turning around, Raphael noticed Donatello was absent from the group.
"Hey, where's Donny?" he asked.
The others also turned and looked, and Splinter looked worried.
Donatello meanwhile had walked out of Pandora's room and had stepped among the debris in the middle of the lair, his feet brushed against the blackened and broken pillars and furniture which was once their home.
He saw the TV area, the kitchen, the living area, all torn asunder, there was even ripped pages from books, and plastic and glass from the where the TVs had blown up.
Donatello then winced as his feet stepped on some broken china which was once plates, luckily he didn't cut himself but he felt his soul get cut as he stared at the devastation.
He stepped over the broken china and soon made it to his lab/medical room where his heart sank even lower.
All around the lab, he saw many papers strewn around, all his equipment was smashed. Donatello felt his throat tighten as he walked over to the mess and knelt down to search through the papers.
All the work he had treasured, everything he had studied, even from when he was young, was all torn up and half burnt.
He stroked the papers and clenched them angrily, all thoughts of the Foot passed through his head, how they had rubbed more salt into the wounds by destroying everything in the lair.
Looking back at the papers, he wondered if he could find everything that wasn't all damaged and rebuild everything.
Starting slowly and as calmly as possible, he began to pick up all the papers, he didn't care about putting them in order, all he cared about was finding everything and then he would spend hours sorting them when they found somewhere else to live.
As Donatello gathered more papers, some scattered in ash as he retrieved them, his heart ached and he winced as he felt glass from shattered chemistry sets under his feet.
He didn't care he was making his feet bleed, all he cared about was finding what the Foot hadn't completely destroyed.
What he didn't notice was that Splinter had appeared in the doorway and was watching his son trying to gather up his work.
Splinter sighed, he wanted to go in and stop Donatello, but after his son's behavior over the past few days, he felt worried about approaching him.
After a few minutes, Donatello looked up from gathering the last of the papers and placed them on the blackened the burnt table, it was then he saw Splinter standing in the doorway he acknowledged him but didn't speak.
"Donatello." Splinter said "You must not let your anger and pain cloud your needs."
Donatello lowered his eyes to the floor but he still didn't speak.
"I can see all your work has been destroyed here, and we will recover it, but we must start by picking ourselves up and making sure we have a safe new home." Splinter continued, he walked over making sure he didn't step on the shattered glass and placed his paw on Donatello's hand.
The brainy turtle still didn't speak, but he nodded in agreement and began to walk towards the door with his sensei.
Leonardo, Raphael and Michelangelo meanwhile stood in the middle of the destroyed lab, they had been searching around to see if anything had survived the chaos and had built up a pile.
Leonardo had recovered some books, some furniture and weapons from the dojo as well as some stuff from the kitchen like pots, pans and utensils.
Raphael had found some furniture and other essentials from his and Mona's room and he had managed to recover some toys from Pandora's room.
Michelangelo had been pleased to find that his comic books and video games weren't affected as he had hidden them in a closet in his room that hadn't been damaged, he prided himself on hiding his most treasured possessions in a place that his brothers couldn't find them, but he also knew that if the Foot found them that they wouldn't destroy them either.
As Donatello and Splinter emerged from the lab/medical room, all three turtles looked sadly at Donatello.
"Poor Don..." Leonardo sighed "The Foot must have destroyed his lab."
Raphael bowed his head sadly, he had been so upset by his daughter's room's destruction and now Donatello knew how he felt.
"Will he be ok?" Michelangelo asked "Never before have I seen him so broken."
"I hope so." Said Leonardo "There are some things he's refused to tell us, and he hasn't told Mona the full details of what happened to him at the Foot Headquarters. All we can do is just be there for him when he needs us."
Raphael agreed softly and bit his lip.
Ok, that wasn't the happiest chapter to begin the New Year, but I hope you enjoyed it none the less!
Hope to update again soon!