He couldn't believe himself! He couldn't believe his actions! He couldn't believe he didn't do anything to help that innocent man... that kind, innocent man.
Leo knew he was kind because of his eyes. A wise man once said that the eyes are the entrance to that person's soul and Leo believed that wholeheartedly as even when the man blamed him for his premature death, his eyes let out an aura of kindness. That is what made it all the worse for the turtle. If he had been someone bad it wouldn't be so much of a tragedy to the terrapin. But he had been good and this made his guilt multiply even further.
The guilt that the blue-clad turtle had kept hidden was now so high, the turtle felt like he was going to burst from all the emotion. When the man had died in the factory, he had broken down momentarily and had fallen into a fit of tears. The turtle now feared that he may be starting to reach his breaking point. But he couldn't be. If he did break down, his brothers would be the first people to ask him about it and you can't exactly say 'nothing' when you are hysterically crying.
Leo continued to his room; fear, guilt and heart-break causing him to flop onto his bed. He just wanted to sleep... to escape from this nightmare for a few moments... to relax... With these thoughts, darkness began to swirl around him and he slipped into the unknown place which was his mind.
X-X-X
The three turtles and the elderly rat watched the unconscious form of the blue turtle with confusion, unable to understand what was going on.
When the turtle in blue had left the lair to commit the crime (unknown to them) Splinter had managed to wake from his mediated stance in time to see him leave. After he was sure the turtle wasn't going to be back, he had awoken the three younger turtles from their meditation. On their father's orders, the three turtles had spent all afternoon searching for their elder brother but to no avail. When they had returned home a matter of minutes ago, they were surprised to see Leo lying on his bed in his room like nothing had happened.
"Well tha' was a total waste of time," Raph muttered darkly, crossing his arms. Donnie raised an eye ridge as he quietly closed the door behind him.
"Peculiar," Splinter murmured, tapping his chin.
"Are you sure he even left, Master?" Donnie asked uncertainly. When he saw Splinter's offended look, he quickly added, "Maybe your age is making you imagine things?"
Splinter was a very, very old rat now. Nearly eighty-seven years old. So, it wouldn't be an odd occurence for him to see things that weren't actually there or forget certain things. However, this nearly never happened to the rat and when it did, Splinter was never as sure as he had been with Leonardo.
Splinter shook his head in disagreement towards the genius, "No!" He said, confidence and certainty seeping into his tone. "I am sure he left, my son. You must trust me on this!" Donnie nodded his head curtly in response. He trusted his father more than anything, and knew that when he was sure on something, he was sure. There was now no doubt in Donatello's mind that what his father spoke was the truth, but it left him confused. Where had his brother gone?
It was Mikey who voiced this question in the end and it was met with an awkward silence. The mutants all glanced at each other, daring the other to speak or answer but no one was willing. A lot of time passed before Mikey spoke up again, ending this prolonged silence. "Seriously, not one of you dudes have any idea?" Everyone shook their heads.
Splinter bit his lip. "My sons, there is one thing I need you to understand about this situation. I may not have any knowledge about where Leonardo had gone to or why he didn't tell us, but I sense something is bothering him. His aura seems troubled to me and it is effecting his meditation, sleep and you could even say his sanity. Because of this, I feel great concern for him. What this is to do with I am not sure, but I must ask you, my sons, to keep a close eye on him and hopefully this will pass or whatever if troubling him will be revealed."
The three brothers eyes furrowed before nodding in union. This was a surprise to them (Mainly because they couldn't detect auras as well as their master) and hadn't really noticed their brother acting strangely. Except maybe the last night when Leo had sneaked out and had returned with a bloody hand...
"Do ya' think this has anythin' to do with the guy?" Raph asked suddenly.
"What do you mean? What guy?" Mikey replied, raising a brow.
"The hooded guy, Shell-for-brains" Raph repeated, sounding annoyed. "Ya' know the one who slashed his hand. Maybe this has something to do with him. Leo could have gone out looking for revenge!"
Donnie shook his head in disagreement. "I doubt that Raph, that sounds more like something you would do; but I have also been thinking the hooded figure could have something to do with this. After all, Leo did act weird when he came home yesterday. Maybe Leo isn't letting on everything he knows."
"Should we ask him about it?" Mikey piped in.
Splinter shook his head, "No, my son. That could cause him to become more troubled than he already is."
"Then what do we do?" Raph asked. The red-clad terrapin was starting to look agitated and seemed ready to confront his eldest brother about their many questions. The turtle hated not knowing things as when you don't know anything, you can't do anything and he hated the sensation of being helpless. The turtle just wanted to know what was going on so he could go beat someone up and end his brothers apparent troubles.
Splinter noticed his son looking agitated and replied softly, "Wait."
"Wait?"
"Yes."
"But we can't just 'wait' here and let this continue on. I wan' answers!"
"We all do, Raph," Donnie stated.
"Your brother is right, Raphael. If you wish to find out Leonardo's troubles, then we must wait and hopefully, something will present itself. In the mean time, I think we should keep a close eye on Leonardo and see if he improves. If he doesn't, then we may have to take action."
I tried to add more dialogue to this chapter as I have not written much in my other chapters. I also wanted Splinter to be in the spotlight a little for this chapter as he has had quite the small role so far
Hope you liked this chapter guys
