Turning Point

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Chapter Eleven

Where was he? Why did his entire body burn with excruciating pain? And even more importantly, were his sons safe? Splinter let out a low groan as his eyes slowly opened. He was on a surface of some sort, his wrists, waist and ankles bound to it.

"Shredder!" the old rat snarled as his grey eyes glared at the armor wearing figure before him.

"I see you are finally awake, rat." The Shredder's cold voice replied, "Now, would you like to tell me where those turtle creatures are hiding?"

"Never!" No matter what his enemy would do, Splinter would never aid the Shredder in harming his sons.

"Somehow, I expected that…" The Shredder glanced at the dangerously sharp blades of his gauntlet meaningfully.

"Er… uh… Hey there, Mrs. Morrison… I'm Leonardo… er… Raphael's brother…" Leonardo spoke unsurely, wondering whether or not the old lady would welcome them.

"Raphael…" She seemed to be thinking for a moment before finally speaking, "Oh, that dear boy who visits me occasionally! I remember he mentioned having brothers. Leonardo… that's a nice name."

"Uh… thanks," she seemed to be feeling around for him, so Leonardo offered her his hand.

"Is this unusually rough skin common in your family?" she asked.

The blue-clad turtle couldn't help smiling at her question. "Y… yeah, it sort of is... By the way… I… uh… brought a friend of mine… Karai…"

Karai stepped out of the shadows to join them, holding out her hand for the old woman to feel.

"Karai? A friend, Leonardo? Well, what are we all doing standing around out here? Come in! Come in!"

Though he wasn't quite sure what the old woman's smile meant, Leonardo couldn't help feeling slightly embarrassed as they walked in. Karai was just a friend… right? And he was helping her out in that fight as a friend… right? Friend… that's it… just a friend… 'I think…' Leonardo's mind was suddenly a confused mess when what he thought of Karai was brought up.

To try to get his mind off the mess it had gotten itself in, Leonardo began stroking the little white cat that kept rubbing itself against his legs. The cat purred contentedly as Leonardo's stroked its smooth fur.

Leonardo was sitting in Mrs. Morrison's dining room, his mind suddenly thinking of how he felt about Karai. 'So maybe I do sort of like her as more than just a friend…' he admitted mentally. He recalled that time when he was so worried he might have hurt her when a Foot Ninja kicked him onto Karai. Okay, so he was attracted to her… but so what? How could she possibly feel the same way?

The blue-banded turtle could almost hear Mikey chanting 'Karai and Leo sittin' in a tree…' Then Raph would either wait for Mikey to finish and smack his head or smack his head before he could continue.

Just as these thoughts entered his mind, Leonardo then began to think of his family. Where were they? What were they doing? Did they escape? Most importantly, where they safe?

'They're fine,' the blue-banded turtle reassured himself, 'Don's alarms would've warned them… hopefully…'

While Leonardo was deep in thought at the dining table, Karai was aiding Mrs. Morrison in washing the dishes. Karai felt the need to help out after the blind old woman showed them so much hospitality. It was bad enough she didn't exactly know who they were and that the Shredder was after them.

Another thing that Karai couldn't help thinking about was how the blind woman could live by herself here, with nothing but her cat for company. What was it like?

"What's Leonardo doing, dear?"

The old woman's kind voice interrupted her thoughts. Karai took her emerald eyes off the plate she was washing to glance at Leonardo sitting at the table looking like he was either meditating or very deep in thought. "He seems to be thinking of something… or meditating…" Karai answered, handing the plate over to Mrs. Morrison for drying.

"He seems like a nice young man." The blind woman remarked as she placed the plate in the rack in a way that almost seemed like she could see it.

Karai stopped for a moment. What did the woman mean by that? "He is…" Karai replied, scrubbing soap onto the plate she held with a sponge. "Leonardo is also very brave… and kind, caring… thoughtful…" Karai trailed off.

The blind woman nodded her head, a smile on her old, gentle face.

Did the woman think she liked Leonardo? She didn't think of him as anything other than just a friend! "He is… just a friend to me, Mrs. Morrison!" Karai added hastily, something she didn't often do.

Mrs. Morrison seemed to have ignored her, putting away the last plate she let out a soft chuckle. Karai raised an eyebrow as she watched the woman walk off, the cat Lucy following.

Leonardo was just a friend to her. And she was also just a friend to him… right? And how many times would she tell herself that? For quite a while she had found herself admiring the leader of the turtles… and more… But each time she would push the thought away, refusing to admit it.

Karai glanced at the turtle, what was he thinking about? She instantly froze when the turtle glanced in her direction. Both of them hastily looked away.

Leonardo stared at the table. That felt odd.

"I'm tellin' you, Raph," Mikey whined, "This place stinks worse than the sewers!" The orange-banded turtle was seated upon a large pile of rubbish, complaining to his two brothers. "Don, don't you know of any other underground places we could stay? The junkyard stinks!" Michelangelo covered his nose with one of his hands, "Literally!"

Donatello glanced worriedly at their rebellious, hotheaded brother, Raphael, seated on the ground, leaning on a small stack of garbage. Raph hadn't spoken much since that night they fled from their home, leaving Splinter to give them time to escape. Returning his attention to Mikey, Don replied, "Mikey, if we went back underground this soon, the Foot would find us just as easily as they did last time."

"But…" Mikey sighed, leaning his elbow on his leg, the turtle rested his head on his hand, "This stinks."

"We ran from a fight, we've been driven outta our home, we left Master Splinter in the hands o' the Foot, an' the stench o' garbage is the only thing buggin' you, Mikey?" Raph's sudden growl surprised the two turtles.

He was greeted by an uneasy silence. The red-banded turtle let out a roar of rage before kicking the trash he had been leaning against earlier. "Shredder's gonna pay fer this! He's gonna pay! An' that'll be extra if he's got Master Splinter with 'im!"

"Take it easy, Raph." Donatello tried to calm his angry brother, "We… we can't go off against the Shredder without looking for Leo, Karai, April and Casey first."

"We don't even know where they are!"

"We should still try looking for them!"

"Where? How? We're mutant turtles, Don. We can't go around goin' from house to house searchin' fer 'em!"

Donatello looked up at his brother, he had a point. To search for their friends, they didn't even know where to start! "You're right, Raph… but what should we do?"

Raphael thought for a moment before answering. "We'll be the ninjas that we are. Tonight, we go over t' buckethead's and find out as much as we can- where sensei an' the others are, if he even knows where they are… maybe even how they found the lair… that sort o' thing." The red-banded turtle gazed from Michelangelo to Donatello, the look on his face said it all- there was no arguing with him and his plan.

Leonardo and Karai were sparring in the alley next to Mrs. Morrison's home while the old lady was taking an afternoon nap, conversing in-between blows.

Leonardo ducked as Karai's fist was swung in his direction, he had often had weaponless matches among his brothers, but it was his first time with Karai, and the turtle couldn't help admiring Karai's speed, agility... and gracefulness "So who's Firia anyway?"

"An old enemy of mine," Karai replied, hopping backwards as Leonardo aimed a kick at her. "One with an irritatingly great amount of arrogance and ambition."

"You sure hate one another." Leo remarked, leaping upwards to aim a kick at his opponent as he landed. Karai leapt aside, avoiding Leo's attack.

"She was the only one who would not treat me with respect when I was working for the Shredder." Leonardo ducked a punch to the chest but was caught off guard by the kick in the stomach it was followed by.

It didn't take long for the turtle to recover, swinging a two-toed foot towards the side of Karai's head. "I see… so you've been enemies for some time already."

Karai crouched down, Leo's foot hitting nothing more than the air where her head had been. Sweeping a leg towards his she attempted to trip him. "That is right, but now, she is more despicable because she can gloat and brag about her rise in rank and power."

Leonardo jumped, somersaulting over Karai before landing on all fours behind her. "I see…But what did she mean by you and a guy called Chaplin?" The turtle stood up to aim a punch at her when she turned around to face him.

Karai's arm blocked it, "One of the Shredder's workers… he… seems to like me…" A kick aimed at her stomach surprised her, recovering quickly, she somersaulted over Leonardo, kicking his shell and knocking him off balance.

With a dull thud, the turtle landed on the yellow plating that was his chest and stomach. So someone else liked Karai… but what did she think of Chaplin? Rolling onto his shell, the turtle asked, "And what do you think about him?" The question seemed to have distracted her, since Leo managed to trip Karai after he asked it.

Karai grunted when she landed on her back. She leapt to her feet the same time Leo did. "I do not possess the same feelings for him that he seems to have for me."

Leonardo let out a sigh of relief before he could stop himself. The turtle just barely managed to stop the punch aimed at his head. The turtle's gaze was transferred from Karai's fist just centimeters from his face and the curiosity glimmering in her emerald eyes. She probably heard his sigh… but it wasn't really something to fuss about… right?

"What?" he asked uncertainly, raising an eyebrow as he released his grip on her wrist.

"Why did you ask?" Curiosity was written all over her face, her eyes locked on his as she asked her question.

Looking away, Leonardo replied uneasily, "N-no reason…"

Chapter Thirteen's in-progress, y'all oughtta know how to get twelve to be put up, right? By givin' me your comments, concerns, suggestions, reactions... BLERGH! Y'all get the idea.