It was well into the small hours of the morning. Splinter still knelt upon the deck of the Shinkiro, keeping his meditative vigil beside the unconscious kunoichi. Her warning had been true and the strain of fending off multiple mental attacks over the course of the night had Splinter feeling utterly exhausted.
Yet he persisted, defending all upon the yacht from the incursions. Using the rare moments of peace to investigate Hattori's mind, gently inquiring of the mans' linked ancestral spirits, hoping for some clue as to the poison that had been used against him. Unfortunately most of Hattori's ancestors followed the more staunchly honourable way of Bushido and knew little detail of the methods of Ninjutsu, let alone what poisons any specific ninja clan might use. It wasn't a toxin used by the Foot, of that much Splinter was certain.
The yachts' engine sputtered to a stop. With an immense effort Splinter managed to lift his head, crack open an eye to fix it upon Donatello as his son made his way down from the bridge to the front of the boat and then returned to crouch beside him.
"Otosan, there's a weir ahead. We're not going to be able to travel any closer to Nikko on the river. I haven't seen any signs of pursuit. I've moored us; can we rest here for the night?"
Splinter closed his eyes, another strong attack from the astral plane assaulting his defences. Donatello waited patiently for his fathers' answer.
"No." Splinter finally managed. "We must keep moving."
"Okay Otosan, I'll figure something out." assured Donatello, concerned for the fatigue etched deeply on his fathers' face.
Heading into the cabin below Donatello found Leonardo keeping watch over Hattori, the man shivering badly in his coma despite his sheets being soaked in sweat. Raphael was snoring lightly on a bunk set on the opposite wall and Michelangelo was sat on the floor at the far end of the cabin, resting against a cabinet door as he slumbered with Heiji curled asleep on his lap.
Explaining their situation to Leonardo in hushed tones, Donatello silently raided the fridge. Relieved to find it well stocked with caffeinated soft drinks, he grabbed a few extra as he quickly downed one. Sure they would come in handy as Raphael cursed Leonardo emphatically for waking him. Snatching one of the cans from Donatello as Leonardo gave him his orders, Raphael merely grunted in assent before heading out of the cabin, Donatello in tow.
It wasn't long before the two brothers returned, Leonardo pleased with the large white van they had acquired. Stripping the three empty bunks on the yacht, the turtles padded the floor of the van as well as they could with the thin mattresses and blankets before moving Hattori. Donatello stayed guarding the van and their employer as Leonardo and Raphael returned to the Shinkiro to assist their Master off the boat. Much to Raphaels' chagrin, Splinter insisted they move the girl first.
"We would never have found Heiji without her help." asserted Splinter, his tone strong despite the weak rasp of his voice.
"Yeah, we never woulda been in this mess without her either." Raphael grumbled under his breath as he roughly hoisted her up by her shoulders, Leonardo having taken advantage of Raphaels' reluctance to take his place cradling her legs. He took care not to disturb her broken bones any more than necessary.
Once they had also gotten Splinter onto the dock, Leonardo left his Master in Raphaels' care to get settled in the van, returning to gently rouse Michelangelo. Despite their efforts to prevent it, Heiji stirred as Michelangelo shifted. The boy cringing away from Leonardo crouched beside him with a frightened whimper.
"Hey, shh. It's okay, I've gotcha. Nothin' bad's gonna happen to ya while I've gotcha, promise. Okay?" soothed Michelangelo. Both turtles relieved as the child flung his arms around Michelangelo's neck, clinging tightly.
"Good work." Leonardo praised softly with a terse smile, giving Michelangelo as wide a berth as he could in the narrow confines of the cabin to allow his brother to carry the boy outside. Michelangelo flashed Leonardo a grin in response before he disappeared through the doorway.
Before he left Leonardo made quick work of ransacking the cabin. Wrenching one of the wide drawers fitted beneath the bunks loose he used it as a make-shift container to pile the rest of the contents of the fridge, first aid kits, the small fire extinguisher, sharp utility knives, a stack of small bowls, detergent, a pistol and two spare clips he found hidden in an overhead compartment and a few changes of clothes into. Hefting that load out to the van he returned to strip the yachts' compass and as much rope from the rigging as he could within the few minutes he allowed himself for the task.
Closing the back doors of the van behind himself, Leonardo settled himself on the floor, cross-legged before his Father, as Raphael pulled out. Donatello in the passenger seat, pouring through a map book he'd found in the glove compartment. With Hattori and the kunoichi lain out down either side of the van, Michelangelo was huddled between the two humans with his shell propped against the back of the seats. Heiji still clung fiercely to the turtles' neck. Tears trickled down the boys' cheeks as he stared down at Hattori's pale, taut face.
Faintly Leonardo could hear Michelangelo murmuring a fairy tale Splinter had often used to get them to sleep when they were very young. The memory, so distant it felt another lifetime away, coaxed a small smile to Leonardo's lips. It faded as he noticed his Master flinch in his meditation.
Leaning forward to gently grip Splinters' arm, instinctively reaching out with his heart and mind also, Leonardo's head was forced down under the brunt of the attack his Master was silently repelling. Closing his eyes, Leonardo leant his strength to the fight. A tear of shame he hadn't realised his Father was suffering so soaked into his mask as he felt Splinters' upsurge of relief and appreciation. The old rat swiftly hid the feelings behind a mental reprimand for Leonardo being so foolish as to leap into the midst of such a battle unprepared, Splinter gratefully assisting in channelling his sons' energy to where it was needed most regardless.
Dawn broke over the surrounding mountains, the light filtering through the alpine forest that crowded the road until the trees gave way to the small township of Nikko. Raphael distracting himself from his fatigue by studying how different the buildings looked bathed in sunlight as he drove past them at a crawl once again.
"We really need to find somewhere to park up Donnie. People are startin' to stir. It won't take 'em long to figure we're bein' weird driving 'round and 'round like this. 'sides, we're just wastin' gas."
"You're right." Donatello nodded hesitantly, casting a glance back at their passengers. None of them had stirred, though Donatello suspected neither Splinter nor Leonardo actually slept. "I still think Splinter was being literal when he said we had to keep moving. But we need to know where to go from here. Maybe... Hopefully I can wake her."
Raph gave a disgusted grunt, briefly flooring the accelerator as he cleared the town before slowing again to hunt for a side road that would take them deeper into the forest. Soon finding a track, the wheel ruts paved in pale stone, that meandered up the mountainside above Nikko. Pulling into a copse of trees, Raphael flung open his door to stretch his legs. Breathing deep made him feel heady; he'd never known air so crisp and fresh.
Donatello slipped out of his door quickly as well, grateful the cool air helped clear a little of the fatigue from his mind as he pulled open the back doors.
"Kick Mike out, he and I'll take first watch." grunted Raphael, working the stiffness from his muscles as Donatello hopped into the back of the van. Leonardo stirred slightly as Donatello eased past him and Splinter to check on Hattori's vital signs.
"Is he okay?" croaked Leonardo. Donatello schooled his worry from his face for how shallow and laboured Hattori's breathing was, how weak his pulse, and turned to Leonardo with a smile.
"He's alive." reported Donatello. Casting a brief glance over the man Leonardo grimaced.
"Just." he added his assessment. Reluctantly, Donatello gave a small nod in agreement.
"We're in Nikko. We've been here for the last hour or so actually. I was hoping... I decided you all needed more rest before we disturbed you. Do you have any idea where we're meant to go from here? What we're meant to do?"
"No."
"Damn." cursed Donatello softly.
Cautiously Donatello stepped over Michelangelo and Heiji to crouch beside the kunoichi, to check her vital signs as well. Feeling nervous about touching her throat, Donatello opted for picking up her wrist instead. His concern over-ridding his nerves as he failed to find a pulse, he slipped his fingers beneath the collar of her kimono. His light sigh of relief as he found her pulse turned to a gasp of surprise as she snatched his wrist, twisting it painfully.
"Sorry!" gasped Donatello. "Just checking you're still with us." he hoped his attempt at a smile would convince her to let him go. She glared at him briefly, her eyes flicking around the rest of the van before she released him and tentatively sat up. Nursing his wrist for a moment, Donatello didn't pay her much mind as she shifted until he realised she was leaving the van.
"Hey, you need to take it easy! Donatello called after her, wincing himself as she dropped off the edge of the van floor and tried to stand, a pained low cry escaping her.
"Where the fuck do ya think you're goin'?" demanded Raphael. His lip curling as she ignored him to steady herself gripping the door of the van, lifting her head as if searching for something despite having her eyes closed.
"We're in Nikko. And Hattori still lives!" she exclaimed, genuinely surprised. She blindly cast about in a different direction briefly. "And we're close to..." Her head snapped up and she issued a long, low growl to the sky. The vicious sound sent a small chill down Donatello's spine, and he wondered if it were mere coincidence that both Leonardo and Splinter slumped in exhaustion where they sat a few moments after she started making it.
Her eyes still closed she fished in her kimono briefly, extracting a small chunk of natural chalk that had been dyed red. Hopping her way around the van by feel, Raphael following her closely, she scrawled weird, crude symbols he never seen before upon each panel and window of the vehicle, and on the ground immediately surrounding it. Completing her task at the back door she held up a hand to halt Donatello stepping out of the van. She cast about briefly again before cautiously opening her eyes.
"Wards?" enquired Donatello.
"Hai." the kunoichi answered. Her hand shot out grab Donatello by the rim of his shell protruding over his shoulder, tugging him close.
"Hey!?" he half-protested, half questioned as she yanked open his gi to scrawl another ward on the plates of his chest.
"Now you can leave the ring, they will not see you." she released him just as abruptly. "Do not disturb the wards." she warned in a dire tone before pulling the material of her komon aside enough to scratch a ward upon the skin below her clavicle.
"Stop." the kunoichi commanded as Raphael went to step over the line to enter the van. "You were outside, you cannot enter."
"The hell I can't!" snarled Raphael, planting his feet outside the ring nonetheless. Keeping his glower focused on the girl as she carefully hopped over the symbols she'd drawn on the ground. He gave a growl as she grasped his shoulder for support as she moved past him, the snarl turned to an indignant yell as she suddenly yanked him back against her front.
"Be still." she snapped, wrapping her arm firmly across the front of his shoulders. Raphael distracted from throwing her off by the kunoichi giving a low growl he felt vibrating through his shell more than heard. If he hadn't just seen her do the same to his brother, he would have broken her arm when she invaded his gi to scrawl the chalk upon his chest. It was all he could do to stop himself regardless. He relished the grunt she gave as he sharply elbowed himself free of her grip as soon as she completed the mark.
"Now you are free to come and go." she instructed Raphael levelly, nursing her ribs for a moment. "Do not disturb the wards." she reiterated with a stern jab of her finger.
"I got it. I'm not an idiot." he snarled, feeling a certain satisfaction he'd managed to get under her skin even if it earned him only a brief look of derision. "Why the hell didn't you draw these damn wards around us before, huh?"
"Other than being comatose?" the kunoichi's stoic visage returned. "These wards don't work on water. Plus the ring needs to be stationary. The land here feeds it as well, makes it stronger. In other places these wards would merely cloud our presence. Here, only a master could find us. But we can't remain long. They have reason to suspect I'd lead you here."
"What the fuck?! Then why the hell bring us here?" Raphael swiftly drew a sai. "If this is all just some huge fucking trap I'm gonna gut y-!"
"We need cucumbers." she blithely cut him off, Raphael blinking in irate disbelief as she calmly turned her back on him to address Donatello. "The morning market in Nikko should have already started."
"Why cucumbers?" asked Donatello, perplexed. "Are they a cure for Hattori?"
"No. But they can hopefully tempt a cure for us. And, possibly, safe refuge. We'll need nine." The kunoichi glanced down at her tattered and bloodied clothes then cocked her head in consideration as she looked over the ragged group within the van. "No, twenty. At least."
AN: Thank you very much for continuing to read this story. It has been such a long time since I updated it anything like regularly that I've been surprised and moved by the fact people are still willing to come back to read more of this one! *bows to thee gratefully*
I post all of my TMNT fan fiction on the Pizzas and Scrolls archive rather than on FFnet these days. I just felt it was only fair I updated this story here too since this was where it had it's start. You can find all of my TMNT works, plus an up-to-date Glossary covering all of the Japanese terms used in this story, on Pizzas and Scrolls. You can find the URL for Pizzas and Scrolls on my profile page or feel free to PM me for a link, if you wish.