Neither brother spoke as they slowly exchanged circling patterns around the large mutant falcon. What had Shredder been feeding her? She was twice as big as the rest of them, yet a falcon was not a particularly big animal. Darting a glance to one another, they moved. Donatello was the first to charge, moving in close for a swift sweep to her feet, but instead rolled past her as Leonardo lunged forward after his brother's feint. Koya was momentarily distracted, by her predatory eyes quickly caught on to what had occurred, in time to meet the twin katanas with her sharp claws. The avian scales of her claws were as hard as steel, perhaps even more so as they were able to harmlessly hold off Leonardo's blades. A pained grunt escaped her beak, as the previously feinting turtle was now attacking her from behind. Glowering over her shoulder, she quickly snapped her focus to Leonardo. Soldiering through the painful jabs to her back, she beat back Leonardo through sheer brute force before seizing him by the head with her right hand. Claws wrapped around his skull as she effortlessly hoisted him off the ground before throwing him towards her other assailant.
Leonardo constantly had the dreadful sensation that Koya was merely toying with them, and his suspicions grew that much stronger when the feathered juggernaut was able to charge through his attacks to grab him by his head. Blindly trying to lash at her, he soon found himself weightless as an image of an upside-down Donatello rapidly sailed past. He gritted his teeth to brace against the blow as his shell impacted against one of the supporting beams, cracking the wood severely. Somehow, the column still stayed vertical. The entire barn groaned deeply, the framework around them buckling momentarily.
Donatello quickly scanned the interior after dodging the turtle projectile. One of the supporting beams was broken outright from the falcon's fight with their father, while another was now heavily damaged from Leonardo being thrown against it. If he could damage the structural integrity of at least one more of the load bearing supports, they could bring down the whole barn on the falcon. His bo had nowhere near the mass needed to endure the amount of force he would need to put into repeated blows. His answer came in the form of a yoke, likely when the O'Neil's or their ancestors had beasts of burden. Heaving the heavy wooden crossbeam, he heard Koya laugh derisively as she believed that he intended to make that his new weapon.
"You think upgrading your toothpick will increase your chances of survival?"
His lips pursed together tightly, the purple-clad turtle rushing towards not to her but to the wooden column next to her. With a determined scream of effort, Donatello swung the wooden yoke with all of his might, breaking not only the yoke but the beam as well. The barn uttered a sickening groan as it breathed its last. Koya's eyes widened as the world came crashing down around her and her intended prey.
"Hold still." Alopex heard an insistent plea as a pair of small hands was on her shoulder, "Don't try to move yet. I think you might have hurt some of your ribs bad." Beneath some of her white fur, April had noticed heavy bruising around the rib cage area.
Opening her eyes fully, she focused on her would-be medic, April. She realized was outside still, the siding of the house visible. From a window, she could see the expression on the girl's parents. Worry. Leonardo… It pained her to breathe deeply. Her lips parted to speak, but she made no sounds initially. Clearly her throat with what saliva she could muster from her parched mouth, she attempted again, "And… the others?"
"Raph brought Splinter out, and Mikey carried you. Leo and Donnie are still in there with… Mikey said it was a giant bird?" April said while frowning, looking over to the other two brothers that stood guard over them. However, it was quite apparent that both Raphael and Michelangelo were torn between protecting the injured and rejoining the fray.
Alopex remembered being unable to move, her whole body crying out in agony. She saw the falcon hovering over her menacingly; the thing's beak opened with that disturbingly little tongue within, wriggling in anticipation of blood. And then, she heard him.
Groaning softly, she forced herself to sit up, in spite of the gentle pressure placed by April's hands. Her hand immediately went to her injured side. "We need to get back in there, we have to-"
"You're in no condition to be fighting a giant anything," April sternly reminded her, trying to keep the arctic fox from standing up.
A mix of anger and frustration quickly rose in her eyes. Fangs were bared in preparation of an argument she would not dare lose. The human girl instinctively retreated from her, prompting an immediate look of regret in the fox's eyes. Her mouth moved to begin a hasty apology.
A low and deep creaking sound interrupted the two females as the barn collapsed violently to the ground.
He woke up in a violent coughing fit, darkness around him with little rays of sunlight piercing through in several places a Leonardo attempted to look up from his prone position. His legs would not immediately budge, pinned by something. Straining against the unseen weight of wood and hay, he managed to his caught right ankle before attempting to force his still pinned left leg. Vaguely remembering what had happened, he realized that he was still in the barn, or what was left of it.
"Don?" No answer. "Donnie?" Leonardo hoarsely croaked out as he started to crawl through the short makeshift tunnel the debris had miraculously had made. Loud voices could be heard, but he could not make out what they were saying as the sounds of heavy rustling began to surround him. The light was blinding.
"Found 'im!" Raphael called out as he lifted an almost intact portion of roof from over Leonardo's position, tossing it aside haphazardly. "Up and at 'em, Leo. Too early to be nappin...,'"he forced himself to tease despite the fright that he and their younger brother just experienced.
Leonardo grimaced a bit as he drew himself up to stand, feeling the bruises that were likely covering his entire body, both from the falcon creature as well as having had a barn fall on him. Worry quickly turned to relief to see that Donatello was no worse for wear, as he and Mikey were dusting him off from all of the hay that was still clinging to him.
"Had to play hero, huh, Donnie?" Leonardo teased, though regretted it as soon as he tried to laugh. His sides felt like they wanted to explode. Despite that flash of pain, he grinned, much to his brother's own mirth.
"Learned from the best… Be stupidly heroic, ignore statistical odds, and pray you don't die in the process," Donatello replied, though his grin faded to a look of bemusement as he located the shattered remains of his bo staff. He sighed, tossing the remains back into the barn wreckage. He was going to need a new one.
Alopex had managed to limp her way under her own power to the barn, though April had accompanied her. She stood aside at the brothers bantered as if though these life and death situations were nothing more than mere routine for them. Whereas before their optimism would have infuriated her as their enemy, as their…. his friend, she could only shake her head in disbelief. At least, they were all alive. He was still alive. Slowly, she approached him, doing her best to downplay her injuries by adopting a steadier stride. She resisted the urge to rush in and embrace him, to chastise him for making her worry for his life.
Leonardo met her half way, not bothering to hide the fact that he was limping lightly. Trudging along to reach her, his hand reached towards her cheek. Alopex froze at such an open display of affection. And in front of his family! Something tugged at her fur lightly, and a piece of straw was picked out before being allowed to drop to the ground.
"Something in your fur," Leonardo murmured quietly with a warm, but very tired look to his eyes.
"Thank you," she answered back, just as quietly.
It was then that she noticed that he was missing half of the mask she had painted on him, the fox having been entirely too focused seconds ago on his eyes. Though she was grateful for the actual motive for having his hand so close, she next felt the urge to slap him across the face for making her blush so. That, too, was resisted in favor of lifting her hand his cheek and touch where the paint had been rubbed off.
"I'll have to try something to make that last longer…," she said offhand, as if speaking to herself.
Forgetting how close they were, or how intimate the gesture might be perceived by the others, she was readily focused on fixing the mask she had made. Everyone else, however, stared for a moment, until Raphael chimed in.
"If you two are done discussin' makeup tips, we do have that thing to deal with," he coarsely remarked, pointing a thick green thumb over where the falcon lay under a pile of rubble.
Koya knitted her brows tightly as the feeling of consciousness returned to her body, but she could not move anything save for her head. Blearily opening her eyes, she came to find the tip of a sword in front of her, the traitorous chunin at the opposite end of the weapon. She hissed defiantly at him, though silenced as the tip of the blade pressed against her neck. His eyes carried a deadly threat to them, but still she showed no inclination towards fear.
"Do it. Do what your true nature demands of you, turtle."
The hard look in his eyes did not waver. The sharp tip began to slowly dig past the softer down of her neck and against her skin beneath. Still, the falcon was composed, shooting back with her own hard stare.
"Raphael. Donatello. Free her."
Despite the incredulous looks from his brothers, they knew better than to question him at that moment. Koya began to grin smugly as she could feel the weights lifted from her wings and legs. She would repay their mercy with swift, painless deaths. That prideful expression instantly vanished as she felt a swift and sharp pricking at her neck, warmth quickly coursing down her neck as Leonardo withdrew his weapon. Blood stained the tip.
"You can still survive if you make it back to whatever parasite ridden nest you flew out of…," the leader of the turtles coldly stated as he and the others took a step back.
Shock was replaced by smoldering anger in the falcon's eyes as she cautiously stood up, wary of an opportunistic attack to finish her instead. Though glaring at all them, it was Leonardo and Alopex that earned her fullest wrath.
"This is not over, prey," she growled, aggressively taking to the skies. Though she flew towards the east, no one believed that it had been her true direction.
"That was not wise of you," Alopex spoke up, her irritation kept in check. Mostly.
"Yea, dude… She's gonna tell 'em where we are," Mikey added hesitantly. To his surprise, though, Leonardo did not look angry as he glanced over to either of them.
"They already know we're here, Mikey. I doubt Shredder had her and a small army of Foot soldiers moving around at all times. No, she found us, and called them in. They already know where we are," Leonardo answered back, carefully rotating his shoulder to assess any damage to it.
Alopex frowned, not satisfied with the answer as it still left the question of why he had left an enemy, and a dangerous one, at that, alive. Voicing her concern, she added, "She will not take defeat lightly."
"Nor are we taking our victory any lighter," he quickly counter, to the point of almost cutting her off.
Her whiskers flared in irritation, drawing in a breath even if it sparked up a shot of pain in her midsection, "You should have killed her when you had the chance!"
Leonardo sternly looked back to her, reminded of how Raphael would also question his leadership. With her, however, it touched far more than just a mere nerve. He closed the distance back towards the fox, practically stomping his way to her, "We don't kill. We defend ourselves. We protect others. We do not kill." A thick digit pointed her way, "If you are going to remain with us, you are going to have to accept that."
A low growl could be heard from the fox as the eldest turtle stared her down. Around them, the others awkwardly watched in silence as it looked as if another fight was about to break out.
Raphael felt torn. Leonardo had long earned his respect as their leader, trusting his judgment even when it did not seem to make any sense to him. The fox made a very good point, giving voice to an issue that was always in the back of his mind. While he had not fought the falcon, he had seen her handiwork. She took out Splinter, Alopex, and was still able to fight Leo and Donnie. It took bringing down a barn to stop her. Why should they spare enemies so dangerous? His mind drew back to Old Hob, and sparing him as well, though they all knew he would still be trouble. Hindsight could 20/20, and he thought to the fox herself. She had been the enemy too, and just as dangerous. If they had not spared Alopex… If Leo had not stopped him, then... He tried not to think about it.
"Understood," Alopex venomously spat out before pivoting on her heel to walk back to the house. With her anger exposed, she did not have enough care left to conceal the extent of her injuries.
Concern filled Leonardo's eyes. Looking after the departing female, hobbling away, he immediately took a step forward with a hand outreached to stop her. Another hand landed on his forearm gently, holding him back. Donatello shook his head.
"Give her some space, Leo," his brother quietly advised. Lowering his hand, Leonardo nodded and looked back to his other brothers.
"Check the woods. If any of the Foot soldiers are left, we need to deal with them… Mikey, stay here, in case they try attacking again. Raph, Donnie, one hour, clockwise pattern following each other in case some were hiding from one of us the first time around. After that, double back to the farm."
April would not be so heedful of those uttered words of advice from Donatello, quickly walking past the two brothers to follow after Alopex, who had already rounded the back of the house. Leonardo shot a quick look to his brother, a telling one that asked why April wasn't stopped, and yet he was. Shrugging back, Donatello's eyes spoke back silently.
Girl talk?