So normally I would save this for Tuesday but this chapter is kind of 'padding' it's mostly just set up before the adventure really begins
Don was already beginning to feel anxious about the prospect of having to help round up the Cubs, at this new gigantic size he was terrified of the prospect of accidentally stepping on them…Or worse sitting on them!
So for the moment he decided to simply work on untying the vines that bound his and Belladonna's wrists and ankles, as he did that, the remaining visiting humans reveled themselves by coming out of the cabin as well as one Humanimal…
"Marzipan!" Don exclaimed "You didn't run off during the night! How did you…"
The pink and purple Ragdoll Cat-Girl yawned and said "I've been so stressed out about the upcoming mission to rescue my family…" She said sleepily "…That in order to relax so I can fall asleep, and put on my headphones and listen to my 12 hours of nature sounds soundtrack on my walkman."
Don chuckled, he and the rest of his brothers always perceived the kind of people who listen to soothing sounds for relaxation/sleep were very pampered, spoiled people it seemed a very 'Yuppie-ish' thing to do. (Then again Mizzer kind of was The Planet of the Yuppies before the Wrangler Invasion, both the Humans and Humanimals seemed to strive to make the Yuppie Lifestyle their goal) But this time that irritating Teen habit of constantly wearing headphones had been one teen's salvation.
'I'm only just 20 myself…' Don thought to himself realizing his disparaging thoughts towards teens of which he only just recently was one himself 'Have I become so much of a 'Dad' already?'
"We were just beginning to doze off…" Marzipan's human boyfriend Ichabod said "When I heard the flute music begin to play…Followed quickly by the sounds of Bill and Minsk racing out of the cabin with their mates pleading for them to stop, I quickly put two and two together and as Marzipan was just beginning to stir and quickly clamped my hands to her headphones and told her not to take them off for anything! Finally the music stopped soon enough the only Humanimals left were Marzipan and Demitri."
(Demitri, was Edward and Minks's son a handsome Mink-Boy named after Minsk's older brother)
"Fortunately…" Edward said "We don't have many more Cubs to round up, this is a small village only a little over one hundred Humanimals…not all the Humanimals have spouses or romantic partners and not all the families had babies or toddlers some only had older children who were easily able to follow their parents…So there are only 20 small cubs in this village and we've already rounded up 12."
"You were able to count all the villagers in a single day?!" Don exclaimed
"My mind tends to automatically count and categorize every Humanimal I see." Edward sighed "Like taking stock in an inventory, a holdover from my old Wrangler days I don't think I'll ever get rid of it."
Don could see that even though the Fellowship Crew had freed Edward from the Wrangler Brainwashing there would be a part of him that would always be a hunter even if he never hunted again…But upon further reflection Don realized this was admirable rather than alarming, a talent is like any tool it can be utilized for good or for evil, like Splinter said 'It's not the weapon but the arm that wields it' how many times in movies had Ninjas been characterized as inherently evil because of their 'sneaky, dishonorable' tactics particularly when compared to the Samurai.
That's when Don realized what he should do, he dialed the Dimensional Jumper on his wrist, the Wristwatch like device that had been designed for them by tech wizards of First Earth so they could easily 'jump across' Dimensions and also communicate with those in another dimension as easily as if they were just a block away, he immediately dialed for Splinter.
"Ah Donatello…" Splinter said "…How is your vacation?"
"Uh…Sensei…" Don said "There's been some…Complications…And he immediately told Splinter about the flute music that was most likely a Wrangler attack, but he didn't tell his Sensei about being grown to 20 feet tall he was just a bit too embarrassed to reveal that yet."
"I see." Splinter said "Unfortunately at the moment your brothers are tending to some rather delicate work in Forest and can't be disturbed, however I can send April and Casey over."
"That's good." Don said "The more hands on deck the better, we need two groups, one to form a searching party and one to watch over the little cubs particularly in case the Wranglers decide to come back for them."
Note Splinter said the brothers can't come over he just said they need to wait until their done with what they're currently doing