So, for the next few chapters, I decided to depict some of the journey to Gongmen City so the characters could have interactions for character development.

Chapter 9: Being like the Wind

With the bright orange sun to their backs, the Ninja Turtles, Po Ping, the Furious Five, April O'neil, and Casey Jones leapt and ran through the mountain ranges, though Po was lagging behind a bit due to his heavy backpack

Coming down from the mountains, the group found themselves running across a long flat dirt field.

As they ran together, it became pretty clear that April and Casey were having a much harder time keeping up with the others, with even Po managing to keep ahead of them.

April ran at the pace of a regular jogger, keeping her back straight while taking short breaths as she tried to keep up, but was quickly lagging behind.

Casey was trying to keep up by using his roller blades to move faster, and while it worked a little at first, he too found himself falling behind the rest of the group.

"Man…" Casey panted as he felt like he was already feeling tired. "... you guys… sure are… fast."

"Yeah…" April breathed heavily while still jogging. "We've only… been traveling for a… few miles… and you all look like… none of you have even broken a sweat."

The Turtles and the Five shared a good laugh as they continued to pull ahead. This brought memories back for Leo, Raph, Donnie, and Mikey as when they went on their first mission with Po and the Five a few weeks after the defeat of Tai Lung, Po and the Turtles were barely able to keep up.

However, as they trained more and more, the Turtles and Po quickly found their speed and endurance rising to the point where they were eventually able to keep up and even surpass the Five.

April and Casey, however, did not have that sort of training.

But as they ran, Casey felt a strange instinctive feeling coming over him, like a whisper into his doggy ears telling him something.

And he decided to listen to it.

Glancing down at his feet, the vigilante-turned dog put away his roller-skates and got down on all fours, running like an actual dog would.

April blinked as she glanced at her friend. "Uh, Casey, what are you doing?" She asked.

"Trying something new." Casey replied, still running on all fours as he began to go faster and faster, quickly catching up with the others.

Casey cheered and whooped as he finally caught up with others. "Aw yeah, check me out, yo!" He said gleefully.

Po, the Turtles, and the Five grinned at their ecstatic friend. "Not bad, Jones." Raph smirked at his best friend, giving him a friendly shoulder bump.

It was then that April came to a full stop, glancing down at her lioness paws. She wasn't human, at least, not anymore. They were in a new world, and she and Casey had new bodies…

… and she supposed it was time to start embracing that.

So, in a leap of faith, April sprung onto all fours and ran as fast she could, quickly catching up with the others.

To say the others were surprised at her sudden speed was a small understatement.

"Whoa, look at you, April!" Donnie gasped in amazement.

"Aw yeah, dudes!" Mikey cheered. "April and Casey going lightspeed, yo!"

Casey gave April a light playful bump as they ran. "Nothing beats running naturally, huh?" He asked with a grin.

Tigress ran up beside them with a smile. "Trust me, the rush is incredible." She said, remembering how she felt the first time she ran on all fours when she returned to the Jade Palace with the Five.

April nodded, grinning wildly. "Yeah, this is awesome!"

The group began to pick up speed as they rushed forward, going faster and faster until they leaped off a large cliff and down into a small lake below.

Po, Leo, Raph, Donnie, Mikey, Tigress, Monkey, Mantis, April, and Casey leapt from rock to rock, staying above the water as they moved along while Viper slithered along the water easily and Crane flew above them.

All of them laughed and grinned as they leapt from the lake and into a large bamboo forest, flipping, twirling, and swinging from the trees like they were playing a game, eventually each of them leapt onto the top of the trees at the edge of the forest, riding the bamboo trees as they leaned down towards the ground.

Leaping off the trees, the group continued their journey across the land as things just couldn't seem to get any better.

Things just couldn't get any worse.

Leo, Raph, Donnie, Mikey, Crane, and Viper shivered as they, along with the others trudged through the howling winds of the high mountains.

"This… is not… awesome." Raph grumbled, rubbing his arms in a futile effort to keep warm.

Meanwhile, Po, Tigress, Monkey, April, and Casey walked through the snow unbothered (although Po was shivering a bit).

"Aw, you guys are just jealous 'cause we got these nice fur coats." Casey boasted, brushing some snow off his fur.

"Speak for yourself." Mantis muttered, peeking out from Casey's jacket pocket where he had taken refuge.

"Yeah, besides, I'm pretty sure we're all gonna catch hypothermia if we don't find a warm place soon." Donnie shivered.

Smiling sympathetically, April walked over and gently wrapped her sandy-yellow arms around Donnie, causing his body to go rigid as his green cheeks turned slightly red.

"Feel any better, Donnie?" She asked.

Donnie averted his gaze to hide his blush, "Oh, y-yeah…" He stuttered bashfully, already feeling a lot warmer now.

"Still, Donnie's right about one thing," Leo said, "it's getting dark out." He said, glancing up at the darkening sky. "And if we don't find some place to take refuge for the night, we're gonna end up like popsicles."

"Heh, I love popsicles." Mikey laughed weakly before shivering in the cold again.

"Crane, do you think you could spot any shelter or nearby town from the skies?" Tigress asked.

Crane shook his head. "Not in a blizzard like this." He replied. "Not to mention these winds would blow me away."

"Or we could stay the night in that cave over there," Po pointed out, jerking his thumb towards a small cave in the mountain-side, "just saying."

Taking refuge in the cave and getting a fire going after many minutes of frustration and yelling. The twelve of them had to remain in a close circle around the fire to keep warm.

It was during that time that Po actually told the others that the Turtles had all already achieved inner peace, much to the Fives' amazement.

"So how did you do it?" Viper asked curiously. "How'd you each find inner peace?"

"We went on this thing called a vision quest." Mikey replied simply.

"'Vision quest'?" Monkey questioned.

"Or the Seishin-Syuou, as it's traditionally called." Donnie explained. "It's a trial all ninja must face in order to become a true Shinobi as it's the very first of the eighteen ninjutsu disciplines."

"The Seishin-Syuou, or spiritual refinement as it's otherwise called, is all about getting in tune with nature, becoming one with it to master yourself." Leo added.

"Interesting…" Tigress said, lightly rubbing her chin.

Crane then turned to April and Casey. "So have you guys done this spirit quest?"

April shook her head. "Oh no. I may be a kunoichi of the Hamato clan, but I've yet to go on my own spirit quest."

"And I'm no ninja." Casey said. "Just a friend trying to help."

Po then yawned, leaning against Tigress' shoulder. "Why don't we get some sleep, guys? I'm feeling tired after running all day." He said.

Tigress stiffened as Po leaned his chin on her shoulder, her cheeks lighting up with a light blush but she made no move to push him away.

Raph also yawned, stretching his arms until he felt his bones pop. "Yeah, Po's right." He mumbled, rolling onto his side. "Roll over and get some sleep, guys."

Mikey yawned, lying flat on his shell. "Ah, I'm right there with you, bra. My shell is tired." He groaned, quickly falling asleep.

The others quickly agreed that getting some sleep for the night would be needed as they still had a long journey ahead of them for the coming days.

Leo, being the boy-scout that he was, almost immediately volunteered to take first watch for the night while the others got warm and comfortable.

Minutes turned into hours, but both felt like forever as Leonardo leaned his shell against the cold stone wall of the cave, the sounds of the wind howling outside and the light snoring of his friends being the only thing to keep him company.

As he sat, Leo felt his eyes beginning to droop as sleepiness and exhaustion began to take over, the sounds around him beginning to fade into nothingness.

And just when he was about to conk out, Leo heard a slight snorting sound that caught his attention above all others.

Opening his eyes, Leo looked around to see where the sound had come from when he heard it again, this time coming from the entrance of the cave.

Turning his head, Leo was surprised to see a large deer buck standing just outside of the cave looking completely unbothered by the raging blizzard.

And it was a deer the blue clad turtle quickly recognized.

"It's you." Leo murmured, recognizing it as the same deer from their spirit quests.

The spirit huffed and seemed to nod before leaning its head just inside the cave before pulling out.

"You… you want me to come out?" Leo asked, trying to understand.

The deer spirit gave a simple nod before walking out into the raging blizzard.

Hesitantly, Leo got to his feet, glancing back at the others who still slept peacefully without a hitch, before following the deer spirit out into the cold harsh wonderland.

Leo shivered in the cold, rubbing his arms to keep warm, his mask tails blowing in the wind as he squinted his eyes to keep snow from getting into them, his feet dragging through the snow as he followed the deer.

After what seemed like forever, the deer came to a stop before simply staring at the freezing blue clad turtle.

"What is it?" Leo whispered over the howling winds. "What is your lesson?"

The deer did not verbally answer, staring back at the blue clad turtle with an unreadable expression before it simply walked closer to Leo, leaning in and lightly sniffing at where his heart was beneath his plastron.

Leo stood there in the snow before letting his arms fall to his sides. He then closed his eyes and took a deep breath, ignoring the cold completely.

Breathing in and slowly out, Leo slid his foot back in a small circle, creating a small trail in the snow as he waved his arms with the wind, remembering his father's words as they whispered to him in his mind.

"As a leader, you will learn that there is no right and wrong, only choices."

"My son, how can your brothers believe in you as leader, if you do not believe in yourself?"

"... if I can only impart one piece of wisdom that will remain with you forever, remember, giving guidance to your brothers and friends does not come from here. It comes from here."

"In darkness, look towards the light."

"... fear nothing!"

"Leonardo, you must be the leader in body and spirit. Be like the wind, let nothing weigh you down."

And he didn't.

And as Leo went through the movements, the wind and snow had suddenly stopped blowing at him, and was now flowing with him, following his movements as he continued.

Slowly, the winds from the raging blizzard mellowed out, moving in perfect calm harmony with the blue clad turtle.

Eyes still closed, Leo reached into the air, catching a single snowflake in his hand, with its form completely retained and showing no signs of melting, before lightly dropping it into the snowy ground.

Leo opened his eyes, the blizzard having stopped and now having become a light snowfall as he gazed at the deer, which had now taken a much more humanoid form with brown fur covering it's body, and lighter fur creating swirling patterns on it's sides and it's arms, with the head of the deer still intact.

Wordlessly, Leo gazed up at the tall spirit before standing up straight and bowing.

And when he rose from his bow, the deer was gone.

Quietly, Leo made his way back into the cave and sat down, feeling at peace as sleep overcame him.

Done. And just like that, Leo has been the first to do the inner peace technique! Hope you liked this chapter and more will be on the way! Later!