Chapter 4: Saringai.
"They'll be here soon. All four of them".
"I hope so… Wait a sec, four? Isn't she with them?"
"No, I'm afraid not".
"Damn. You know what that…"
"Shh! They're coming. You know what to do".
*****
'We're not going to make it', Michelangelo thought to himself for the umpteenth time. 'I'm starving. I'd give anything to have something to eat right now'. Michelangelo, Raphael, Donatello and Leonardo slowly walked through the grassland, all starving and all confused. The sun beat down on Michelangelo's back. Heat waves swirled amongst the air. 'God I'm thirsty'.
"Hey… Raph".
"Yeah Leo".
"Do you feel… weird? I can't really describe it".
"Uh huh. I've felt like that ever since that orange crap spilled all over me", Raphael answered. Donatello stopped walking.
"Raph… say that again?" Donatello said with curiosity written all over his face.
"What? Why? You hearing impaired or something?" Raphael answered quite rudely. Donatello's suspicion was correct. They could all now pronounce their 'h' sounds. Though this was nothing big in itself, if Donatello's observations were correct, then it was after the accident when the cubs had gained this new ability. It was as though they had been advanced, or evolved. Even though Donatello was bursting to tell his siblings about this surprising observation, he reluctantly decided to keep it to himself as he felt that they had all gone through enough for one day.
The cubs came to rest in the shade of a large tree.
"I'm so hungry!"
"Michelangelo, when are you not?" Raphael responded wearily, the heat finally getting to him. "We're doomed Michael. Doomed. There's nothing that we can hunt around here. We should have stayed with Shere Khan until we were a bit older".
"What? Raph, it's not like we had much of a choice you know. He was gonna kill us", Michelangelo retorted. He closed his eyes and tried to think of something else apart from his hunger. There was a snap in the tree. Michelangelo came out of his trance and looked up at the leopard prowling along a branch in the tree. The cubs quickly moved away, not wanting to be it's next meal.
"Stop! I'm not going to hurt you", the leopard explained after he jumped off the branch and neatly landed on the ground. It was easy to see that this was no ordinary leopard as he stood on its two hind legs. He was wearing an indigo pair of cargo shorts along with an indigo bandanna/mask to match.
"Why should I believe you?" Raphael asked with a hint of disgust in his voice. Michelangelo looked at the leopard closely. Something inside told him that he should trust the overgrown creature standing in front of him.
"Who are you?" Michelangelo asked.
"My name is Saringai. You all look tired and hungry. I can help you. Please, follow me", the leopard spoke with a deep understanding voice. The cubs looked to Michelangelo, who only shrugged in reply. They followed Saringai to a clean water hole. The cubs eagerly drank the cool water while Saringai sat back and watched.
"Must be thirsty", the leopard commented. "I've got some meat back near the tree if you boys want some".
"Yes please!" All the cubs said at once while in-between sips.
*****
"Where's the meat?" Donatello asked. A puzzled look spread across the cub's faces.
"Oh, it's here. Don't worry". Saringai pulled on a vine dangling from the tree. A part of the trunk lifted up to reveal a staircase in the middle of the tree. Saringai walked up the stairs. The cubs curiously followed. The stair lead to a platform hidden within the tree's thick branches. The cubs looked at their new surroundings. To the left was a small wooden bridge leading to another tree. Another bridge lead off to the front diagonal left. On the right wall was a rack where a bo fills one of the spaces. In the center of the room was a wooden table and a set of chairs. A mass of cords, wires and small gizmo's lay in a heap on the table.
Saringai finally spoke. "I know what you're going through. I know what that weird feeling inside of you is. If you agree to stay with me, I can teach you how to grow to your full potential. I can teach you many things, things far beyond your imagination. The choice is yours. Stay with me and see how powerful you become, or you can walk out the door and wonder what you're missing".
"What do you think guys?" Michelangelo whispered to his brothers.
"You're the eldest, therefore you're the leader".
"Whatever you say we do Michael".
"I don't care either way".
'Great! Just the response I wanted. I don't know what we should do. All I know is that we'll starve to death if we walk out that door. I don't know if we should trust him. He seems nice enough, but you never know, he might try to kill us just like those weird tigers. Wait a second… What am I thinking? This guy's got food!'
Michelangelo smiled. "So… where's this meat of yours?" Saringai smiled back.
"Welcome, my students".