Chapter 6: Walking, Fighting… and Nudity!

The bo whipped around, expertly striking it's precise destination. Saringai concentrated hard on his bo kata; movements were swift, powerful and experienced. It was a beautiful day today, so Saringai decided to practice his kata on the grass just under the tree. He was so wrapped up with his own training that he didn't notice the four cheetahs watching with awe from the branches.

"Hey Master, could you teach us to do that?" Raphael asked in English, excitement glistening in his eyes. It had been two weeks since the boys had been mutated, and they had already undergone significant changes. The biggest change was their ability to learn. They were very fast learners, Saringai had observed. He concluded that maybe it was because of their fast metabolism and lifestyle, then again, they were mutants and it could have been anything. It had only taken three days for the cheetahs to learn how to pronounce every sound needed in the English language, and it took the rest of the week for the cubs to learn how to structure their sentences. They could now speak English quite fluently and used it most of the time instead of 'animal talk'.

Another difference was their dew claw. Over the past two weeks, the fifth toe had doubled in size and became an opposable digit. Their other toes also became longer, but not as much. This came in handy as the cubs could now pick up things with their front paws. Saringai took advantage of this new ability and began to teach the boys how to write, add and subtract.

The only other thing that had changed over the past two weeks was the shade of their coats. Leonardo's coat had lightened to what could be called a blonde, while on the other hand, Michelangelo and Donatello's coat had darkened. In the animal kingdom, this coat would be considered as a dark brown. Raphael's fur was the only one that remained its original colour of tan/light brown.

"I plan to, Raphael", Saringai answered. "But first you must learn how to walk on your hind legs", he added.

"Oh cool!" Michelangelo and Raphael said together. Both were excited, but Michelangelo helped to show that excitement more than his brother did by jumping up and down on the branch. Leonardo tended to be a bit more reserved while Donatello was still fascinated with the bo in Saringai's hand.

"Well, come down here and I'll teach you", Saringai called. In less than a minute, the cheetahs climbed off the branch (or the dining room wall as you might say), ran through the dining room and bolted down the stairs to their Master. They sat in a line, oldest to youngest and put on a big grin. The leopard couldn't help but smile back at the eager youngsters.

"Walking is fairly hard at first because you are not used to balancing all of your weight on your hind legs. But sure enough, practice makes perfect, and soon it will become almost natural. Any volunteers?" Michelangelo, like a puppy dog eager to please it's master, bounded forward. Saringai bent down and held Michelangelo's front paws, slowly lifting them up, allowing the cub to get a feeling of what it's like on two feet. When the little cheetah seemed to have adjusted his balance, Saringai very slowly and carefully let go of his front paws. Michelangelo's eyes widened as panic started to settle in. He lost his balance and fell backwards, landing on his butt.

"Unco", Raphael muttered under his breath. It was loud enough for the leopard to hear.

"Raphael, you're doing this next, so I wouldn't be teasing your brother if I were you", Saringai said sternly. Raphael gulped. Michelangelo gave Raphael one of his 'ha ha, you got busted' looks. Saringai helped support Michelangelo to stand on his two feet again. "Are you ready?" Saringai asked, not wanting the cub to panic again. Michelangelo nodded in reply. Saringai let go of his two front paws just like before. The cheetah wobbled a little before managing to balance perfectly on two legs. Michelangelo beamed a giant smile up at his master. The leopard smiled back with satisfaction.

*****

Three months later…

"Hiyah!" The cubs kiaied in unison after completing a fairly well trained kick to the head. Once again, Michelangelo's attention was diverted as though something was bothering him.

"MICHELANGELO!" Saringai yelled. He hated raising his voice but it was one of the easiest ways of getting the cub's attention. Everyone in the room stopped what they were doing. "Michelangelo…" Saringai repeated "… please pay attention. Don't make me tell you again."

Saringai remembered when he first started training Michelangelo. He was energetic, fun-filled and was prepared to try new things. Recently though, he seemed to be getting restless and somewhat uncomfortable. This attitude was starting to irritate Saringai. Saringai knew that Michelangelo could be better, if only he put more effort into it and took it more seriously.

All of the boys were fairly good at hand-to-hand combat. Leonardo especially, as he dedicated himself entirely to the task at hand. He was a perfectionist, enough said. His technique was near perfect, unlike his brothers. The only problem was that he stuck to the rules and boundaries, like how glue sticks to paper, not allowing himself to be creative or to develop his own style, unlike his older brother Raphael who seemed to improvise and invent every move that he did. Leonardo had the technique, but Raphael had the vigorous fighting spirit. Saringai had noticed that Raphael's raw fighting made him somewhat erratic, versatile and unpredictable in sparring sessions. Saringai did not really disapprove of this, but wished that Raphael had a better attitude towards class. Raphael, like Michelangelo, was constantly not paying attention, lacked punctuality and tried his best not to participate in group activities. He simply did not listen to instruction, unlike Leonardo who attended class like some kind of ritual, which both pleased and bothered Saringai.

Donatello on the other hand was completely different yet again. The cub was a good student, always attentive in lessons and participating when needed. Yet he didn't have that survival instinct like Raphael, nor found it fun like Michelangelo and wasn't as determined as his younger brother Leonardo. Donatello was stable, neither good nor bad. He completed every move to the best of his ability, but only half-heartily attacked in sparring sessions. He was too gentle. Saringai tried to change that by telling Donatello to be more aggressive, but Donatello failed to live up to his master's expectations.

It wasn't just in class Donatello was like this. He was also like this in hunting lessons. The cubs were six and a half months old and needed to start learning how to hunt for their own food if Saringai wasn't able to do it. Saringai tried his best to teach the cubs how to hunt in cheetah style. He gave them hunting practice by allowing them to chase after their prey; of course they weren't able to kill it though. Out of all the cubs, Donatello was the one who protested against the training the most.

Saringai sighed. "Alright everybody, class dismissed". The four cubs exhaustedly headed to their respective rooms. "Except you, Michelangelo. You are to stay back". Michelangelo gave his brothers a look of despair before walking back to his master. Saringai waited till the other three were in their rooms before beginning his discussion. Michelangelo kept his gaze on the floor. The leopard bent down to Michelangelo's eye level.

"My student, something is bothering you. I can tell because it is effecting your studies. If you do not wish to talk about it, then I assume that it isn't important and I expect you to pay attention in class from now on. However, I am here to help you and I want you to tell me what is happening. It hurts me to see one of my pupils suffering in silence. Please tell me what is wrong".

Michelangelo's gaze still remained on the floor, slowly tracing his toe around. His teacher was right. Something was bothering him. Saringai reached out and held both of Michelangelo's shoulders with his two powerful yet gentle paws. "What's wrong?" Saringai asked again, more softly this time. The cub's cheeks began to blush and he started to twiddle his thumbs. Michelangelo stuttered out an answer.

"I… I was just um … wondering if um… we could wear some uh… pants because… well…" Saringai knew all too well what the cub was saying.

"I understand Michelangelo. Thank you for telling me what was wrong. Wait here", Saringai said, interrupting the cheetah's explanation. Saringai felt quite dumb for not picking this up sooner. He was sure that the other three had felt the same, only they hid their feelings better than Michelangelo did. Saringai made his way outside, walking over to the 'storage tree' as he had named it. The storage tree was less than a minute's walk away. It couldn't be attached to the living quarters by a wooden bridge because it was simply too far away and it would be suspicious to Saringai's enemies. Inside it were all sorts of miscellaneous objects from old weapons to cooking utensils, even old batteries. Saringai grabbed what he was looking for and headed back to the main tree.

When he got back, he called everyone into the dining room. Obediently the cubs came. Raphael gave a look of disappointment when he saw that Michelangelo wasn't bawling his eyes out like he usually did after Saringai talked to him alone. The leopard handed out two pairs of red cargo shorts and a red bandanna to each cub. All the cubs were delighted to finally have some clothes. Saringai helped them get dressed (except for Raphael who insisted that he wanted to dress himself) and helped them adjust their bandannas so that the eye holes were in the right spot. Saringai stood back and admired his little ninjas.