Here's another chapter. Okay, so I was wrong and there's not a whole lot of really interesting stuff in this chapter, though it's pretty thought-provoking towards the end. :D
Oh, and as an extra note, the italics is a dream.
Disclaimer: I don't own TMNT or its characters. Chris and his story belong to Solaris Prime. I get Amy and Gage.
"Amy, don't push yourself like that," Leonardo reprimanded for what felt like the hundredth time that day.
Of course, that wasn't counting the endless reminders I'd received from the rest of my family as well. It was always 'don't do this' or 'be careful' or 'you should've asked us for help' for the past week. That was probably the thing that annoyed me the most about my brothers: they too often forgot what an independent person I could be. I hated being confined to one area for hours on end. I wanted to move, despite my body's protests.
With a sigh, I leaned against the wall of the lair, dropping my kunai to the floor with a loud clatter. I was breathing heavily, though I'd only been standing for less than an hour. My calves burned and I forced myself to ignore it. I didn't want Leo knowing how much it hurt for me to be training.
"It's no big deal, Leo," I insisted. I didn't dare to move from where I stood, though. Leonardo walked briskly towards me and lifted me in his arms with little difficulty. One of his arms was behind my back while the other was under my knees. I crossed my arms in front of my chest obstinately, knowing he'd seen through my words.
"How long were you training?" he asked sternly.
"Only about forty-five minutes. It's no problem."
"You look like you've been fighting for hours." He walked over to the living area and set me on the couch. When he sat beside me, I leaned so my head was on his shoulder.
"You're over exaggerating, Leo," I muttered.
"Your legs are swollen. If you want to heal, you'll have to rest and let your body do that. Training until you're ready to collapse isn't going to help you in the least," he answered.
"Maybe, but what else am I going to do? I'm restless."
"Play some video games?" Mikey offered as he entered the room, overhearing the last part of our conversation.
"Read a book?" This one was Don, from his computer. I frowned and crossed my arms again.
"I'm out of books and Mikey, you get violent with your games, dude," I answered, recalling a time he dove across the couch to try and get an edge on Raph in the middle of one of their games. Michelangelo grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head.
"Whatever you do, I don't want you on your feet. You can hardly walk," Leo said, grabbing my attention again.
"How will I walk if I don't try?"
"Amelia." He now had a warning tone in his voice that I knew better than to argue with. With a sigh, I rested my head on his shoulder again and closed my eyes. As much as I didn't want to admit to my eldest brother, I was exhausted simply from holding myself up as I trained myself. It wasn't long before I drifted to sleep on Leo's shoulder.
I was surrounded by darkness, unsure of any of my surroundings. There was only my sense of self, as I could see my hands in front of me. Oddly, I was illuminated, though from no light source. As I glanced around me, I found nothing that would help me identify where I was. A shudder rippled through my body at the feeling of emptiness.
"Hello?" I called, hoping for some sort of response.
Instead, my surroundings changed abruptly, suddenly lighting up around me. For some reason, my vision wasn't affected by the sudden change in light. I took in my new surroundings before gasping in shock. I was in a room I recognized very well: the control room of the Shredder's hideout. Furniture was thrown about the room, my brothers along with them. Raphael and Donatello were beneath some furniture, while Michelangelo was unconscious against the wall and Leonardo was face-down on the floor, unconscious as well.
What shocked me most was the scene directly in front of me. I saw my own body on the floor, struggling to move. There were bruises covering her – or me, I should say – and I watched as my body trembled with the effort of simply lifting its torso. Only about fifteen feet in front of my body was a person I hadn't seen in nine months. Christopher was fighting the Shredder, only a short distance from Oblivion's Mouth, a black hole of sorts. They had matched blades and each was struggling for dominance. A painful phrase echoed through my mind, though it hadn't been said in this strange vision of mine.
'Don't act dumb, boy! … I can see your love for her… I will ease your pain… by killing you first.' Those had been the words Shredder spoke when I'd learned Chris' true feelings towards me.
"You're right," I heard Chris say, snapping me from my musings. I hadn't heard his voice in so long; it was surreal. "I can't throw you alone into Oblivion!"
"Chris!" I screamed. At the same, time, my body on the floor screamed the same. Tears began building in my eyes as I watched the scene play out. The image of me on the ground pled for him to wait, to give her time to help him.
"There is no time!" Chris answered. I tried to move forward, to stop him, but I was planted where I stood. When I looked down, there were two katanas in my calves, holding me still. While I felt a dull throbbing in my legs, there was no sharp pain as expected.
"Chris, don't! You can't leave us! You can't leave me!" my other self screamed. I watched as a pained expression crossed Chris' face.
"Amy…" He swallowed hard, and I saw his Adam's apple move. "I'm sorry." Chris shifted his weight, pushing Shredder and himself into the black hole. Almost instantly after they entered, the gateway to Oblivion disappeared, taking my brother along with it.
"Chris!" I yelled as my eyes snapped open. There were tears streaked down my cheeks and I quickly wiped them away.
"What's wrong, Amy?" Mona Lisa asked and I realized I was fully lying on the couch and she was in one of the armchairs.
"Nothing," I murmured. "Just a bad dream." I sat up fully and rested my hand on one of my calves, feeling the stitches beneath the fabric of my pants. My mind shifted to the image of the swords in my legs in my dream. Why had they been there? And why had I dreamed of Chris' death in the first place?
So, if anyone reading is good at reading between the lines, you may be able to figure out the significance of the dream. If not, well, it doesn't really matter. It's really just another thing to help you understand Amy's character. By the way, all the dialogue in the dream was taken directly from "Live and Learn" by Solaris Prime. That's all his. I just added in the stuff where the 'real' Amy can see stuff in a third-person perspective. Fun, fun. lol. Please R&R.