A/N: Hello everybody! Gear up for chapter 2~! Very excited to publish this one. I hope all of you are having a great start to the weekend (or the end, it's Sunday where I'm from) and I hope that this chapter can cheer y'all up if you're feeling slightly down. Please do read and review and let me know what you think about everything so far :D
As always, I do not own TMNT!
The Beginning: Part 2
She stared at the four of them, and they stared right back at her, faces filled with varying degrees of surprise and slight horror.
Slightly dazed and extremely fascinated, she observed them, running her eyes over their green skin, rock-hard shells and various weapons. There were four of them, huddled in a cluster near the railing. It looked like they might have dropped somewhere from above, but Ella didn't think it was a good idea to step around them and peer over the metal railing just to find out where. She didn't feel like she wanted to know how sharp their weapons were.
She trained her eyes on them, gaze roving over each turtle. They each had different coloured masks—blue, red, orange and purple, covering their faces. A dark green cloth belt wrapped around their waists, and their elbows and knees were protected with pads. What most fascinated her, however, was that each turtle had a weapon. Specifically, traditional Japanese weapons. Ella recognized them from some of the books she'd read on feudal Japan. A pair of katana swords, a bo staff, nunchuks and a pair of sai. Damn, those are the real deal, aren't they?
A slight cough drew her attention back to the four figures standing rigidly on her balcony. The moonlight shone on them, highlighting the curves of their muscles and their facial features. With a jolt, Ella realised that they were really... aesthetically pleasing. Attractive.
Oh my gosh, she thought, feeling her cheeks begin to flush at such thoughts. Nope, nope Ella, these are turtles. Turtles. Get a grip.
"Not to interrupt your sightseeing around my balcony," she started, raising an eyebrow at the look of shock on their faces as she began to speak. What was up with that? Had they never seen girl before?
"But, like," she continued, gesturing in confusion at them. "Who are you, and why are you trying to break my sister's tripod?"
The turtle closest to her, the one with the mean looking katana blades and blue mask, followed the direction of her gesture and blanched immediately at the sight of the fallen tripod, most likely the source of the crash she'd heard earlier on. He turned and held up his hands, sapphire blue eyes wide and looking almost like a child trying to get himself out of trouble.
"Now, miss," he began, and Ella, honestly, was kind of shocked of how deep his voice sounded. It seemed authoritative, almost leader-like, if you could overlook the youth laced in it. She raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms as she leaned back to peer up at him. She'd decided then and there that they probably weren't going to hurt her, cause if they were, they wouldn't have gone onto the balcony or made so much noise.
And so she stared at them, mouth quirking up in slight amusement as she continued to watch the blue masked turtle stammer out an explanation. "W-we didn't mean to disturb you, we just needed a place to rest for a while and tend to our little brother's injury—"
That got Ella's attention. She stood up straight, amusement gone from her face. "Your little brother's hurt?" she demanded, blinking up at him rapidly. Her question seemed to put the turtle at a loss for words, and he glanced at the other turtles for help.
"That's none of your concern. Why don't you just scurry back into your apartment and leave us alone?" This time it was the red masked turtle who answered her question, voice gruff and snarky as he glared at her, green eyes appearing almost catlike in the dark.
Her eyebrows shot up immediately. Placing her hands on her hips and swinging her gaze to his direction, she snapped out, "Watch it, Red. You're on my balcony, and therefore in my apartment.
Ella saw shock register in his eyes before irritation replaced them. How it was possible that his glare increased in intensity, she didn't know. But what she did know was that she felt pleased with his earlier shock. The surprise in his eyes clearly implied that he hadn't expected her to reply to him that way.
Well, if they thought that she was some sort of weak little girl, they had it coming.
She looked back to Blue (she decided that that's what she's going to refer to them now, their mask colours) expectantly, and he hesitated for a while before stepping aside, much to Red's chagrin.
Now that he wasn't blocking her view to Red and Orange, she finally saw that Red was actually supporting Orange. The other turtle, their little brother, was bleeding profusely from a gash on his arm, and try as he might by pressing his hand tightly to it, he couldn't stop the bleeding. He was staring at her with an innocent look in his eyes, mouth open and baby blue eyes shining.
"Is that Pusheen?!" He gasped out loud, a huge grin stretching on his face as he stared in delight at the shirt she wore. Ella blinked, caught off guard by his question, realising that the black shirt she'd worn wasn't a plain shirt as she had thought. She nodded, smiling at the turtle's exuberance.
"I've always wanted a Pusheen t-shirt! Oh, and a plushie! But my brothers won't let me, but I guess it's kind of okay, because I have Ice Cream Kitty back at the lair—!" He rattled off excitedly, only stopping when Blue turned to fix him with a stern glare. He deflated immediately, the light in his eyes dimming. Ella saw the disappointment in his face, and gave him a sympathetic smile, to which he responded with another blinding one at her reassurance.
And she couldn't help it; her heart clenched at the pure joy and innocence radiating off of him, and immediately it reminded her of someone else. Stop that, she shook her head slightly, one hand closing tightly as she struggled not to think of him at a time like this.
"I'll be back with a first aid kit." Was the only thing she said before she turned, ready to retrieve it. She paused by the threshold, as though considering something, and then, "You're welcome to come in. I'm guessing y'all don't exactly want to be seen by anyone else."
She didn't turn to see whether they followed her in, instead she marched towards the kitchen, flipping the living room light on as she passed by it. Rummaging around the cupboards for the first aid kit she knew that her mother stored somewhere, Ella couldn't help but feel a thrill of excitement race through her.
This was different, new. This only happened to the characters in her books.
But Ella knew better than to expect being swept up into some adventure. She'd probably only see them tonight and never again. Heck, she didn't even know if they'd come into the living room!
Swiftly she pulled out the first aid kid, hastily making her way back to where she hoped the turtles were. She spotted them standing awkwardly near the balcony doors, out of sight from any nosy neighbours, all wary and suspicious of their new surroundings.
Quietly, she released the breath she wasn't aware she'd been holding, and stopped a few feet away, holding up the white kit. "Here it is." She held it out to them, waiting patiently for someone to come and take it.
After a nod from Blue, Purple moved from where he'd been standing beside Orange and trying to staunch the flow of blood and took it from her, gently grasping the first aid kit. He regarded her with warm, brown eyes, before turning back to attend to his injured brother.
He got to work, and Ella watched in amazement as he expertly handled the cut with care, mopping up the blood that had started drying on Orange's arm. Her view was suddenly blocked when Blue stepped back into her vision, a firm look in his eyes.
Ella recognized it.
"I don't need to know," she blurted out immediately, and almost laughed aloud at the look of complete and utter surprise on Blue's face. Quickly, she explained, "It's none of my business, I get that. I only ask that you take care of your little brother's wound, in case it gets infected or worse."
She fidgeted slightly as his gaze roved over her, seemingly searching for something, when Red spoke up harshly.
"We don't need your charity," he snapped out, and Blue whipped around to hiss something at him in a language that she couldn't understand. Japanese?
"This isn't charity, it's called kindness." She answered, slightly shocked when his hostility at her lessened upon hearing those words. He observed her with those intense emerald green eyes as though she were a code that he couldn't decipher.
"God knows this city needs more of it," she mumbled as an afterthought, not seeing the way Blue, Red and Purple were glancing at her as though she'd grown a second head.
Silence followed after that, Ella patiently waiting for them to finish, not really willing to step away. She noticed that Orange kept glancing around the room, eyes sparkling in curiosity at all of the bric-a-brac in her living room. She guessed that it was because their living room was decorated oddly as compared to normal living rooms. Aside from the television and the couch, a couple of paintings hung on the walls, all belonging to her mother. Ella's piano was beside the television, currently closed with its surface littered with sheet music. A couple of her books were piled on the fireplace's mantelpiece, where her sister's VHS tapes were scattered amongst picture frames of her family. A couple of tiny statues of Egyptian gods were lying on the coffee table amidst the sea of beauty magazines.
All in all it was messy, an evidence of three women living in the same household who had vastly different interests. Her father's stuff used to be around the place, too, until her mother decided to keep away most of his things in order to close a chapter. The only thing left of his that they displayed was his detective badge, handed over to them by the NYPD after his death. It hung over the fireplace like a prized possession, glinting in the light.
Ella noticed the youngest turtle gazing at it, and she couldn't help but feel a flash of pride at the awe in his eyes.
"That was my dad's," she spoke up, and Orange whipped his head around to stare at her so fast that she was amazed he didn't break his neck in the process. "He was a detective in the NYPD, one of the best. He brought in a lot of criminals back in the day."
Her eyes flicked back to the badge, and her heart swelled sadness that she had to use the word "was" when talking about her father.
"What happened to him?" Orange asked with unexpected gentleness, as though he could sense what she felt. Out of her periphery, she could see Red studying her again, as though anticipating her response.
She smiled at him sadly. "He got into a car accident. At first we thought it was an accident, but it wasn't. Some of the relatives of the criminals he'd brought to justice had planned it."
Orange stared at her with his big blue eyes, and Ella was startled when she saw that they were teary. "I'm sorry for your loss," he sniffled, turning around to wipe his eyes on Purple's shoulder. Purple grumbled, but didn't say anything as his younger brother wrinkled his nose at him.
Ella smiled softly and nodded, feeling her heart warm towards Orange. He was such a sweetheart; full of purity and a kind understanding that so many people lacked nowadays. It made her think that although the... turtles standing before her weren't normal, they also weren't people she should be afraid of. They were kind, despite Red's obvious hostility, but she knew that was just a defense mechanism to protect his brothers. And they cared for each other immensely, evident in the fact that they were all huddled around Orange and treating him as if he were broken glass even though his wound was far from getting him killed.
It reminded her of her family, and her heart felt full as she watched them.
Soon enough Purple had finished sewing up the wound, replacing everything back into the kit and handing it back to Ella, who still stood a couple of steps away from them. He hesitated for a bit in front of her before his brown eyes settled on her face and he murmured a soft, "Thank you."
Ella smiled back, clutching the first aid kit to her chest. "You're very much welcome."
"Bye, dudette! Thanks for your help! Hope we can see you again next time!" Orange called as Purple and Blue hoisted him over the railing, carefully securing a metal hook on one of the metal bars in order to send him down. Purple followed down, and then Blue, after he directed a small smile in her direction.
Red was the last to go, balancing on top of the railing and preparing to jump down. Just as he was about to lunge, he stopped, turning and meeting Ella's grey eyed gaze. He held her gaze for a while, before offering a small nod and disappearing off into the night.
Ella waited a few moments before she sprinted towards the railing, one hand still clutching the kit. She peered over the edge, but they were gone, as though swallowed up by the shadows that lingered in the night.
Giddy from adrenaline and the realisation of what had just happened, Ella let out a delighted laugh, a huge grin spreading across her face.
That. was. amazing.