Chapter 29: The City of the Gairen

Leonardo drew his katana as the first officer rushed the group, and he knew that his brothers had reacted similarly. Additionally, he noted that their gairen traveling companions were also armed and holding their own against, if not utterly wiping the floor with, the officers they faced. Leo jumped over a wooden weapon he could not put a name to, it seemed like a variation of a staff, but the shape was unlike anything he had ever seen before. He leapt backwards to avoid another strike before catching a third between his swords. From there he went low and knocked the feet out from under his opponent. The gairen with the weird staff was back on its feet almost instantly. A pricking at the edges of Leo's senses told him that another gairen was getting far too close for comfort. On in front, one behind, Leo jumped and a quick split kick knocked both to the ground. The strike rendering them harmless without killing either one. Once they were down, Leo looked for his next target. He spotted John cowering near some trees, no one was trying to harm the man... er, gorak...er, whatever, and Leo continued his scan. Spot seemed to be having some difficulty and Leo jumped into the fray again, this time offering aid.

Spot was surprised when the blue-masked turtle jumped in and knocked his three-section staff wielding opponent away. They had recognized earlier that these children were skilled far beyond their years, but this was most unexpected. Spot said a quick thanks and used one of his own short staffs to pick off another opponent.

"Coming at you, Togue!" He shouted as he kicked the officer toward his comrade.

Togue greeted the new arrival with a sharp blow from his three section staff. Raphael stood at Toguean's back and caught a staff not unlike Donnie's bo between his sai. With a quick flick of his wrists he had snapped the weapon in two. A sharp kick put the officer on the ground and out for the count. Raph jumped away and launched himself more deeply into the fight.

Kizinarri sighed as Spot came up behind him and turned so they stood back to back. "Why must it always be like this?" He asked of his comrade.

"I really couldn't tell you." Spot replied as they jumped clear of two rushing opponents who ended up taking each other out.

"I just seems so pointless." Kizinarri hooked another officer with his S-staff and spun around as he pulled his opponent toward him then kicked out hard enough to pull the other gairen's feet out from under him.

Don saw Kiz's move with the S-shaped staff and made note of it. That wasn't something he wanted to get caught by, and he was facing an officer with the same weapon Kiz carried. Donnie watched the gairen closely and made his move quickly. He went low first before bringing around the other end of his weapon at a higher level. The gairen caught his bo in the curve of the S-shape and quickly spun his weapon, ripping the bo from Don's hands.

In the moment Don realized that he'd been disarmed he faked a kick before punching the gairen in the neck. The gairen fell, but before Don had the chance to try and retrieve his weapon he found himself under attack by another opponent. He ducked the three-sectioned staff and grabbed the S-shaped one that had so recently been dropped. Don raised the S-shaped staff just in time. He whipped it into a vertical position and the rope of the three-sectioned staff wrapped around the S-shaped one just above his head. Michelangelo came up behind the gairen at that moment and quickly put him down with his nunchaku.

"Thanks, Mikey." Don said as he threw the three-section staff entwined S-shaped staff aside and flipped across the distance to his own weapon.

"No prob, bro." Mikey commented quickly as he came back to back with his brother. Mikey spun his weapons defensively and grinned at an opponent in front of him. Only a split second passed before the gairen grew tired of the grin and rushed at Mikey. The turtle quickly downed the gairen and hopped away from his brother's side in a quest for more opponents.

He came across a gairen with a single nunchaku and grinned broadly as he went into an elaborate series of movements using both of his own weapons. He didn't miss the slight widening of the eyes he got from the gairen he faced. This was the fun part. Michelangelo had been born to show off.

"Mikey, Behind you!" Raphael shouted as he threw a sai and disarmed the gairen behind Michelangelo of the short staff he carried. Having drawn the officer's attention away from his brother, Raph focused on downing the distracted gairen while Mikey dropped the one in front of him and darted after another.

"Why can't you people just let us go home?" Raph shouted as he punched the gairen who had come up behind Mikey and left him on the ground.

Only a few of the officers remained, and Xio noticed that the gorak was no longer being left alone. Two gairen were closing on the blue haired man and Xio rushed in to aid the frightened being. His weapons, not dissimilar to Mikey's nunchaku, spun rapidly. In the end he did not use them, opting instead to try the kick he had seen Leonardo perform earlier. The split kick was completely unsuccessful and Xio landed on the ground in a heap. Not that he was entirely surprised by the outcome, in fact he was able to use that to his advantage. From the ground he whipped out with his arms and wrapped the ropes of he weapons around the ankles of the officers that had been bearing down on John. A quick jerk landed both opponents on the ground and Xionicho jumped to his feet before swiftly delivering another blow to each gairen to ensure that they would stay down. By the time he turned around the battle behind him had ended. Between himself, his comrades and the turtles, they had made particularly fast work of the gairen officers.

"They're all alive." Togue reported. Even as he did he turned to Michelangelo who happened to be behind him. "You kids fought well and have passed the test." He then gave a completely confused Mikey something that seemed to be a bow. A bow that Mikey mimicked clumsily as it was nothing like the bow he had been taught.

Xionicho nodded at Toguean's report before he, Kizinarri and Spot all joined Togue in the strange bow. Leo returned it without much trouble, and Don and Raph looked at each other quizzically before also doing their best to attempt the awkward position.

"Hey, they tried!" Spot laughed when he caught the strange look on Togue's face at the turtle's attempts to bow correctly. The four turtles then stood and gave traditional Japanese bows as they had been taught so long ago. Motions that were equally awkward for the gairen to imitate.

"Looks better when they do it." Spot added at his and his comrades' attempts. Earning a laugh from his comrades and even a nervous chuckle from a couple of the turtles.

"Are you alright?" Xio asked of John as he offered the gorak a hand up.

"Y- you saved me." John stuttered in disbelief. Looking at this gairen now, he didn't see the stranger who was trying to pull him from his clam. He saw someone that might one day be a friend. While the gairen officers had been moving in on him, John had been silently begging Leo to come save him, but the blue-masked turtle had never arrived. Instead it had been Xionicho to come to his aid. The gairen also had a rather pleasant smile. A smile that John found himself returning as he accepted the hand up that Xio had offered.

Once John was standing again Xionicho made his way to the lead officer and nudged the unconscious gairen.

"Hey, wake up." He demanded. "No harm has come to you or your men. May we be on our way now?"

"Xionicho, you are reckless. You must stop putting our village in danger as you do."

"I told you they were harmless. You should know by now that my comrades and I would never bring untrustworthy beings into our forest."

"Yeah, yeah." The officer muttered, "Get out of here. Let them go home or whatever it is they want to do."

"Wait a minute, this whole thing was just a test!" Raphael demanded. "What kind of-"

"Let it go, Raph." Leo ordered quietly but authoritatively. "It's their world and their way." He could tell that Raph desperately wanted to say more on the subject, but a quick battle of the wills resulted in Leo as victor. He knew that he would pay for this victory later, but for now they would get to go home. The way Raphael had his arms crossed petulantly over his chest was more than enough to assure Leo of future punishment for said victory. Leo decided that he would deal with it when it came; this was not the time.

"Guys, can we get out of here before anyone changes their minds?" Don asked quickly. He didn't like this forest at all, and wanted out of this world. A small part of his mind could feel himself wanting to go back to Jiarlin and Gorijan. That part of himself frightened him. The drive to go back was weakening as he distanced himself from the city, but he could still feel it. He wanted to get home as soon as possible, the gairen weren't the only ones who might suddenly change their minds.

"Yeah, let's go." Leo nodded. He looked to Don to take them toward the potential portal. "You're the one who knows where it is. Lead the way."

Leo turned and noticed Xio and John having a quiet conversation. He smiled hoping that the little talk would turn into something that would keep the gorak off his back.