Rene – Hehe, I do that with the Bible as well. But somehow I always end up in Psalms o.0 But as you said, whatever you point to it always seems to relate to the situation that you're in… which kinda freaks me out sometimes :P I'm glad you had a wonderful July 4th and I hope you enjoy the rest of the story.
A/N: There are some new ninja weapons that are mentioned in this chapter, so instead of including an out-of-place description within the story, I've decided to just describe them here;
Shuriken – Ninja throwing star. It was usually used as a distraction, though it could be used as a weapon.
Kama – The kama is basically just a sickle, with a 11-12 inch blade and a slightly longer handle. They are usually used in pairs and swung in various arcs and crescents. When the slashing motions are combined with the forward momentum of the ninja, devastating effects can result. If a chain and weight is added to the base of the kama's handle, then the weapon is called a kusari-gama. On the Fox Box version of the TMNT, you can see the kusari-gama be used by some Foot members.
Fukiya – Blowgun. It can be used for shooting darts or as a snorkel to swim underwater unnoticed.
Shobo – The shobo is a ring that is worn on the middle finger which has a dull/sharp piece of wood attached to it. It is a small weapon and was used to strike pressure points within the body – the neck was the main target.
Chapter 32: Starlight Questions.
Four years later. Kauai, Hawaii.
A young man treaded lightly through the thick fens that covered the forest floor. With a video camera attached to a tripod, which in turn was slung over his shoulder, the man searched for the perfect location to film the new movie he was currently working on. The island of Kauai had been used numerous times for various blockbuster movies, such as 'Jurassic Park: The Lost World', 'Jurassic Park III', 'Dragonfly' and the classic 'King Kong', 'South Pacific' and 'Lord of the Flies', while the nearby lake was featured in the beginning of 'Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark'. It seemed to be the perfect place to film a movie that was set on an island, despite the recent rumours that something evil lurked in the woods.
The man was about to shrug off the negative gossip he had heard about the mystical 'beasties' of Kauai when all of a sudden he thought he sensed someone following him. He stopped and looked around, only to find the usual trees, ferns and leaf litter. The man shook his head thinking that his imagination was playing tricks on him before continuing on with his search. A flash of green whirled by on his left, while something else darted from tree to tree on his right. The man rationally thought it was a bird at first, but when he realised that there were no bird calls being sounded through the air, he started to become spooked. A metallic object then suddenly flew past a few inches in front of his face. That was all he needed in order to start running in the other direction as fast as he could; too freaked out to continue his search for a movie location.
When the human was gone, a hoot of laughter erupted through the prehistoric-like forest. Michelangelo, Raphael and Diana emerged from their hiding places with large smiles across their faces. Raphael was now twelve years old and his bandanna was long enough to reach the top of rim of his carapace. Yet although his ninjitsu training had only increased and developed over the years, the prepubescent boy still had a slim build.
Diana, on the other hand, was now eight years old. Due to her dedication and genuine interest in the martial arts, her white bandanna was slightly longer than what Raphael's was when he was at her age. When it came to training, she was like her father, always trying to perfect the new moves she had been taught. Her technique was excellent, unlike her older brother, however she didn't have the natural fighting skills that Raphael had. Diana didn't respond to her instincts and instead relied heavily on her training, which made her highly predictable when it came to sparring. In order to break her out of the habit she was starting to develop, Leonardo had recently started training her with a weapon, the kama. For the time being, Diana was starting to rely on impulse when it came to weapon combat, but her parents knew that she was still young and that she had a long way to go.
"Did you see the look on his face?! Priceless!" Raphael grinned at Mike and Diana.
"You didn't have to throw a shuriken in front of his face though," Mike said on a more serious note.
"But then we wouldn't have scared him away so easily," Raphael commented.
"Isn't this the fifth film crew member this month?" Diana asked both Mike and Raph.
"Yeah… They must be planning something big," Mike muttered, reminding himself that he would have to talk to Leo about the recent rise in human encounters. "Now get your shuriken back," Mike ordered Raphael. The boy groaned in response. "C'mon, you threw it, now you get it back," Mike remained firm.
Raphael waded through the ferns until he came to a tree. On a closer inspection, he found the small metallic object lodged in its trunk. Carefully he gripped the sides and tried to pull the shuriken out, but it didn't budge. "I can't get it!" Raphael complained.
"Let me try," Mike lent a helping hand. The adult gripped the shuriken and tried his best to yank it out, but it still wouldn't move. "How hard did you throw it?" Mike wondered as he tried again. Suddenly the metal throwing star dislodged and Mike fell backwards and landed on his carapace from his own momentum. The two children started to laugh at his stunt, causing Michelangelo to smile at his own antics as well. Yet the giggling stopped when Mike's eyes didn't move from the top of the tree.
"What are you looking at?" Diana wondered. Mike pointed to the forest's canopy.
"Do either of you remember how many coconuts we've got left at the lair?" Mike asked the two children. Raphael and Diana remained thoughtful. To them, coconuts were like milk; they could never remember whether or not they had too little, or too much. Mike sighed when neither of the younger turtles answered. "I s'pose we'll just get three then while we're here," Mike decided. The adult swiftly took a sai from Raphael's belt, aimed, and threw the weapon towards the clump of coconuts at the top of the tree. He missed entirely and the sai went plummeting towards the ground.
"You suck Mikey!" Raphael teased while Mike retrieved his weapon.
"Oh really?! Since you're such an expert, why don't you try?" Mike challenged playfully. The adult gave Raph his sai back, which the boy then aimed and threw. The single sai clipped one coconut, causing it to wobble slightly, but it still didn't fall. "As you were saying…" Mike teased.
"At least I hit it!" Raphael replied while crossing his arms.
"You need to throw it with more force," Diana advised her older brother after observing the whole situation.
"I'll race ya to the top," Raphael challenged his half-sister, still in a competitive mood. The girl shook her head, knowing that she wasn't good at climbing trees. Diana handed him a single kama, and seconds later her brother climbed to the top of the coconut tree like a monkey. Ever since they had escaped from the zoo, Raphael had practiced climbing trees, mainly because he simply wasn't afraid of falling anymore. No one else on the turtle clan could climb as well as him, making the boy highly useful in coconut food raids. Kauai had a huge coconut plantation, so the amount they took could never be noticed, and if all their other food resources failed, they could always rely on eating the coconuts for survival.
"Heads up!" Raphael called out after hacking at the clump of coconuts at the top with Diana's kama. Mike and Diana immediately stepped away as three heavy round balls dropped to the ground with a thud. A few seconds later, Raphael was on the forest floor once again, safe and sound.
"Good job," Mike complimented the boy while he picked up the round sources of food off the ground. "C'mon, let's go," Mike said happily when he was comfortably holding the coconuts in his arms. The trio set off in the direction of their lair. Michelangelo wiggled his toes as they walked through the forest. Even though he had lived there for years, he still loved the outdoors. Despite the fact that he was half expecting a tyrannosaurus or another dinosaur to leap out a grab him most of the time because his imagination kept on running wild, he still loved the atmosphere of the place. The island was just so mysteriously beautiful that Mike could never get used to or bored with the location.
The sunlight trickled onto the forest floor, making dappled shapes and swirls amongst the leaf litter. A couple of native birds twittered in the canopy while the faint hum of running water could be heard in the distance. The environment was so tranquil, starkly contrasting the busy and loud New York streets that Mike and his brothers were used to when they were growing up. The air was fresh and cool, not foul like the drafts in the sewers were.
Although it seemed like a paradise, when they had first moved to Hawaii, a lot of lifestyle changes had to be made. Leonardo and Venus were the first to adjust completely to their new surroundings; both of them feeling more relaxed and content with the seclusion of the area. Also it was closer to how traditional ninjas lived and trained, making the place seem more sentimental and greater to raise children in. Michelangelo and Donatello however took a long time to adjust. With Mike being so reliant on popular culture and with Don loving electronics, both of them had to compensate their interests and adopt something else to do. They hated the first couple of months, but when the 'twins' started to hatch, they had plenty on their plate to do.
While Mike was occupied with his child for the next few years, Donatello started to get into agriculture. During the first couple of months in Hawaii, they had to frequently visit the towns located around the coasts. But soon Donatello used the fertile volcanic soil to their advantage, and started to grow their own crops. After years of investment and time, the family were now growing a number of different vegetables and fruits in various places around the island; not wanting to grow them all in the same place as it would look suspicious from the air. Utilising the crops they had grown, the coconuts and the fish from the fresh water rivers as food sources, these days they only had to go into town for emergency purposes.
Starting to feel hungry, Mike, Raphael and Diana made a quick pit stop to check how a few of the crops were going. Raph and Diana looked on as Mike checked the cabbages' leaves for signs of disease or other unhealthy properties, while also inspecting to see whether the crops were being irrigated properly. "This lot seems alright," Mike reported to the two children. "I don't think there's any need to inspect the other crops," Mike said, suggesting that they should go straight back to the lair.
The sound of running water got closer and closer the further they walked through the forest. The trio soon came to a familiar shallow and wide stream. This was their main fishing ground, where they would sometimes catch fish to eat. The stream was also a sign that their lair was reasonably close. Like it was a normal habit, the three turtles gently waded across the river, not even hesitating for a split second. Though unlike other times, Michelangelo stopped walking halfway across. He groaned when he saw an all too familiar little turtle further down the stream.
The three turtles watched in silence as Iris suddenly threw the spear she was holding and punctured a fish. Mike smiled at his four-year-old daughter. Iris was named after the goddess of the rainbow, although Donatello knew that Mike only used that as an excuse and that he really named Iris after the Goo Goo Dolls song. Her short, yellow bandanna suited her bubbly personality, and if there was one word that could summarise Mike's daughter, it would be 'loud'. Iris was known to holler, shout, sing, yell, growl, bark, snort, click, burp, pop, bleat and sometimes she would even roar. It was because of this reason, the adults were glad they moved away from human civilisation as the newest members of the clan didn't understand the dangers of the outside world.
Mike continued to observe his daughter from a distance as she splashed around in the stream, trying to grab the wriggling fish that she had speared. What was interesting, or freaky as Raphael would say, was that Iris had excellent aim for a child of her age. She simply had a natural talent for judging distances and adjusting her strength and angle accordingly. No one knew how she did it, but everyone had speculated that she might have inherited her aim from her mother. From what Leonardo could see, in the future Iris would be most suited to using projectile weapons. Although Mike really wanted her to learn how to use the nunchucks, even he couldn't deny the potential she had with learning the more traditional kunoichi weapons such as the bow and arrow. Leo had even speculated that she could also be trained more professionally in the shuriken and fukiya; making the rare one hit kills.
"Iris!" Mike called out. The little turtle looked at her father and grinned. Iris suddenly grasped the water-deprived fish and bounded over to her father.
"Look! Look! Look what I caught daddy!" Iris said with a very large grin, detaching the fish from her makeshift spear and holding it up. Mike smiled at his daughter. She wasn't as fair as Diana was at her age, as Iris' skin was quite tanned and her nose had a number of freckles caused by being out in the sun for extended periods of time.
"That's very good! But aren't you suppose to be having a ninja lesson right now?" Mike questioned. With a big grin on her face, Iris shook her head from side to side. That meant yes. Mike groaned, knowing that Leo was going to give him a hard time when he finally got back to the lair. "Iris, you know not to wander off. You don't want a dinosaur to come and eat you do you? You they only eat naughty children," Mike threatened. With wide and frightened eyes, Iris quickly stood by her father's side and hugged his leg for protection. Diana giggled at her naiveté, while Raphael simply rolled his eyes. Ever since they were little, Iris and Gabriel, Leo's son, were told that if they were to wander away from the lair too far, then dinosaurs would get them. Although it seemed as cruel as the boogie man stories, it was necessary to keep them close to the lair when they were young and reasonably defenseless as there still was the possibility of humans spotting them. However Gabriel had started to doubt the dinosaur threat, but it still worked really well on Iris.
Michelangelo handed the coconuts over to Raphael before giving Iris a piggyback ride. While she sat on top of her father's shoulders, the trio continued to wade across the stream. Ten minutes later, the turtles walked past a very familiar lake. "Guess what Iris! We're passing the Indiana Jones River!" Mike announced to his daughter. Immediately the two turtles started to sing and hum the theme song loudly, causing Raph and Diana to look at each other and roll their eyes simultaneously. They both knew the river's real name was Hulei'a Stream, but that didn't stop Mike calling it improperly because the opening scenes of his favourite action movie was filmed there. A few minutes later, the turtles turned inland and started to partly walk up the tall mountain that was in the middle of the island. It wasn't long then till they had reached their lair.
Mike and the three children looked around, noticing the small cave they used for shelter when the weather got rough, the collection of food that was ready to be either cooked or eaten raw, the Hog that was parked nicely between two trees, and the various inventions Donny had developed over the years. It was a rather shady location and it wasn't an obvious place for a lair, which was good considering there were a lot of plane flights over the island. As the four turtles walked in closer, they saw Leonardo and Venus looking very worried, however when the two saw Mike and Iris, their stance became more relaxed. "Iris! We've been looking all over for you!" Venus said with relief, though there was a hint of annoyance in her tone.
"Where was she?" Leo sternly asked Mike.
"At the stream. Fishing," Mike said simply. Leonardo raised an eye-ridge.
"See! See! Look what I got!!" the girl excitedly jumped off Mike's shoulders and bounced up and down with the dead fish in her hands. A small spread across Leo's face when he witnessed her antics, though he quickly returned to a stern stance.
"Iris. It's good that you caught a fish, but you shouldn't wander off on your own. Especially when you have a ninja lesson. You want to be a ninja, don't you?" Leo asked. The little girl nodded immediately. "Well then, to be a ninja, you have to attend your lessons. Now don't wander off again or I'll get some dinosaurs to chase after you," Leo ended his rather short lecture. Iris frowned and gave her uncle the saddest puppy dog face she could muster, showing that she wouldn't do it again… at least for the next hour or so.
"I'm sorry about this Leo," Mike apologised on his daughter's behalf.
"She's got to stop wandering off like that. She's got to understand the dangers out there," Leo replied. Mike sighed and nodded his head.
"I'll give her a ninjitsu lesson and make sure she catches up," Mike said, taking on the responsibility.
"We saw a human in the forest earlier," Raphael reported.
"Really? Where?" Leo quickly became concerned.
"Near the edge of the wildlife reserve. Close to the coconut plantations," Mike said.
"He was part of a film crew," Diana added. Leonardo sighed. Filmmakers were the worst type of intruders as not only was there a threat of being spotted by a human, but also the scary thought of being unknowingly taped as proof of their existence.
"Hopefully he won't be too much of a problem," Leo muttered. The turtle then raised an eye-ridge at the coconuts in Raphael's grip. "Why'd you get coconuts?" Leo questioned.
"What do you mean?" Raph replied.
"Well we've got a stack load left to use," Leo said while pointing the large pile of coconuts near the entrance of the small cave. Mike, Raph and Diana all groaned. Leo simply smiled. "You guys forgot how many we had again, didn't you?" Leo asked. The trio nodded. "I suppose we could use a few more," Leo shrugged indifferently. With tired arms, Raph grumpily trudged over to the pile to dump his load, while Mike continued to talk to Leo. Diana meanwhile decided to visit her uncle Donatello.
She found him in his usual spot where he worked on his inventions. It also wasn't a surprise when she found her little brother Gabriel with him as well, since Don tended to be his favourite uncle. Named after the angel theme that was sort of started by Raphael, he wore a black bandanna and shared similar looks and facial features with his older sister. In some ways, Gabriel could be considered to be the exact opposite of Iris, in that he was usually a quiet child and kept to himself most of the time. He was very particular and precise with things, which was why he liked to help his uncle with his inventions. Combined with a rather long attention span, Gabriel was the perfect candidate to learn the Shinobi ways.
Venus always wanted to pass on her Master's teachings to her children, yet it didn't never seemed to end up that way. Although Raphael had learnt a few techniques off his mother, he still preferred to simply use his sai and only rely on his chi in emergency circumstances. Diana was starting to go on the same route as her older brother as she was normally strongly influenced by him. Iris, on the other hand, simply didn't have the patience nor the will to learn or meditate, which left Gabriel to solely inherit his mother's lessons. To Leo, it worked out well, as he was thinking of making Gabriel a more close range fighter. Due to his son's attention to detail, he was thinking of equipping him in his later years with the shobo, which, when combined with being trained in the Internal Arts, Gabriel would be able to accurately attack the enemy's pressure points and possibly stop their chi flow, which in turn could lock their joints or render them seriously ill. But it would take many more years of training till he became that powerful.
"What are you working on?" Diana asked Donatello as she headed over. Although Donatello was rather busy in recent years with growing and farming crops, he still managed to find the time to continue on with his passion of technology and develop a solar power panel. When it was first made, the clan wanted to use the electricity so that they could watch television just like in the old days. So they went into town, got a television, hooked it up to the solar panel… only to find that they didn't have any reception on their side of the island. After that plan failed, the panel was used for more practical purposes, such as powering up a grill so they didn't have to create an obvious bonfire in order to cook some of their meals. In more recent times however, another, smaller solar panel had been developed, mainly because Donatello realised couldn't live life without a computer.
Donatello typed in a few things on the keyboard and stared for a few seconds later at the computer screen before answering. "I'm just fine tuning my map of the island. Adding the trails we use, known tourist destinations that we should avoid, things like that," Donatello summarised. Diana sat down on the ground beside her uncle while Gabriel crawled over so he could sit on his sister's lap.
"He, he calls it 'The Eye in the, the Sky'," Gabriel explained to his sister. Diana gave him a gentle smile before giving him a hug.
"So what are we going to use it for?" Diana wondered.
"Well, the program I've invented can read heat signals, so if there are any approaching humans, we'll be able to know their exact location. Also, I've mapped out other suitable places for lairs, just in case something happens, and it'll come in handy when Gabriel and Iris have to learn the trails that we use to get around the island," Donatello explained to her with his eyes still glued to the screen.
"Cool," was all Diana said in response after not knowing what else to say. "Have you heard anything from Sarah?" Diana wondered out of curiosity. Over the past four years Sarah had only managed to visit Hawaii twice, mainly because she was extremely busy in her field of work; always having a fashion show, magazine covers and stage production costumes to design. When she did eventually have time to visit, the turtles would usually meet her at night in one of the towns. Though the last time she came, she spent most of the night with Donatello. Don denied the claims that it was a date, but Michelangelo was still rather annoyed with the incident.
"No, I haven't heard anything from her for a while now," Donatello replied calmly, but Diana could sense the hint of sadness in his voice. Gabriel and Diana then simultaneously turned their heads to watch Raphael approach.
"Hey Diana. I want to show you something," Raphael said.
"What?" Diana asked while giving him a suspicious look.
"Come on, I'll show ya," Raphael urged.
"Can Gabriel come to?" Diana asked, as she wanted a witness just in case Raphael was planning on doing something horrible to her.
"Yeah, alright. But it'll be a bit of a hike," Raph warned the young boy. Gabriel silently looked over to Donatello.
"It's alright. You can go," Don said, giving Gabriel permission to leave. The boy smiled and quickly ran after his siblings. Pushing through a couple of ferns, the turtles started to climb further up the mountain, though it wasn't long till someone else joined the trio.
"Iris! Go home!" Rahael called out to the yellow bandanna-wearing turtle. Iris frowned and for the second time that day she used her sad puppy dog expression.
"Aww, it's alright. She can come," Diana gave in. Iris instantly smiled upon hearing her sister's words.
"No she can't! She supposed to be having a ninjitsu lesson right now!" Raphael argued. Iris made the sad puppy dog face again. Raphael stared at her and eventually began to feel sorry for the little girl. "Fine, she can come," Raphael grumped. Overjoyed, Iris bounded over to the others.
"Where, where are we going?" Iris instantly questioned.
"Somewhere special," Raphael replied.
"Why?" Iris questioned again.
"Because I want to," Raphael stated.
'So… where, where do you want to go?" Iris questioned. Raphael groaned, knowing she had only reworded the original question.
"Why do you want to know?" Raphael asked as an experiment.
"'Cause I want to," Iris replied.
"Want what?"
"To know!"
"Why?"
"'Cause I do!" Iris was started to get frustrated. Raphael simply continued.
"Do what you know?"
"Know what?"
"What you wanted to do," Raphael replied casually.
"Do what?"
"What you wanted!" Raphael said.
"What?" Iris remained silent for the next few minutes, holding an extremely confused expression on her face. Raphael smiled with success.
"That was mean. You shouldn't have used a ninja trick…" Diana whispered to Raph.
"It shut her up, didn't it," Raphael responded with a smirk. The group of turtles moved in silence as they climbed higher and higher up the mountain. Soon, after a few twists and turns through the rocks, they reached their destination. Raphael watched as Diana and Gabriel stood in awe of the beautiful waterfall, before frowning at Iris when he realised that she was already bored.
"Wow… How did you find this place?" Diana wondered.
"Leo and I did a bit of exploring last week so we could find another place to grow crops, or another, backup lair," Raphael explained. "We found this lagoon in the process," Raph finished. All four turtles looked down where the waterfall splashed and joined the deep and glistening pool at the bottom. A small beach could be seen from the outcrop of rocks they were standing on as well as some trees. Looking further away, they realised that from the ledge they were on, they could see all the way to the coast.
Raphael suddenly dived off the rock and plummeted into the water below. "Raph!" Diana screamed in shock. A wave of relief swept over her when Raphael resurfaced. "You idiot! You should have checked the depth first!" Diana yelled, getting angry at her brother's stupidity. Raphael simply smiled at her angry yet sensible suggestion.
"Nah, it's alright! Jump in! It's quicker!" Raphael urged her. Diana watched in shock as Iris pin dropped into the water below.
"Iris!" Diana yelled out, surprised that the little four-year-old would do such a stunt. The girl quickly resurfaced and giggled hysterically.
"See! It's safe!" Raphael tried to convince Diana and Gabriel. Diana was about to give in and jump, but she stopped when she noticed her younger brother's worried expression.
"I think I'll just climb down with Gabriel," Diana yelled to Raph from the outcrop.
"Well hurry it up already! There's something you've got to see!" Raphael yelled back, starting to get impatient. While waiting, Raphael swam to the secluded beach while Iris continued to play in the water. "Took you long enough. I told you it was quicker to jump," Raphael said when he saw Diana and Gabriel finally emerge through some trees.
"What did you want to show me?" Diana asked, getting tired. Raphael put a finger to his mouth to signal her to be quiet. The two, along with Gabriel, crept across the beach until some tracks in the sand could be seen. "Are those baby turtle tracks?" Diana whispered to Raph after studying the small flipper-like imprints. The boy simply nodded.
"A clutch must've hatched recently," Raphael answered. Gabriel suddenly poked his sister and pointed at something further along the beach. He then swiftly ran over, completely fixated on the spot. "What is it?" Raphael asked.
"Turtles!" Gabriel answered with delight. Raphael and Diana ran over just in time to see a mass of wriggling bodies emerge from the sand. The three watched in silence as the numerous baby turtle flipped and flopped their way to the water. They looked so helpless and fragile, but the three of them knew better than to touch them as they knew it could cause more damage than harm.
"They're so cute," Diana said as she admired the rare sight. "Iris! Don't touch them!" Diana ordered abruptly when she saw the girl almost pick one up from the beach. Iris backed off almost immediately, partly shocked at her sister's unusually stern voice.
"Where do babies come from?" Iris questioned as she ran up to join the rest of the group.
"Um… I think you should ask your daddy," Raphael answered.
"But, but daddy told me to ask mummy, then mummy told me to, to ask daddy, so, so they won't tell me, 'cause they won't say," Iris tried to explain her predicament.
"Well maybe they don't want you to know," Raphael replied with a smirk.
"Uncle Donatello told me that, that babies are made when a man and woman get together and fur… fertilise eggs 'cause, 'cause they're in love," Gabriel wondered, wanting confirmation.
"Uh… that's mostly right… Just keep it a secret from Iris, okay," Raphael whispered and winked to Gabriel. Gabriel simply smiled back.
"Keep what a secret?" Iris whined.
"Do you think I'll ever have kids?" Diana questioned, still looking at the tiny turtle hatchlings that were nearly at the water's edge.
"I dunno," Raphael answered without much thought.
"I wanna know!" Iris hollered. "Tell me! Tell me! Tell me!" Iris begged.
"Think there, there will be more?" Gabriel asked his older sister.
"Maybe. There might be another clutch that is ready to hatch," Diana thought. When Iris had calmed down, the four children crowded around the nesting site hoping to see more baby turtles emerge and enter the wide world. Before they knew it, sunset quickly came, leaving the four in the fast approaching darkness. "We won't make it back before dark," Diana voiced her concern from her spot on the beach.
"We can always just spend the night here," Raphael suggested softly, partially worried as well.
"Kids!" Leo called out collectively as he emerged from the cluster of trees as if on cue. Venus quickly followed his lead. Instinctively Gabriel ran up to his parents.
"There you are!" Venus uttered with relief when she saw all four of her children.
"We, we saw some baby turtles hatch, and, and we saw them crawl to the water and swim away," Gabriel said with excitement in his voice.
"So that's what you guys have been doing. We were getting worried," Leonardo said. The two adults looked to the sky and noticed that the sun had almost disappeared for the day. "We should start heading back. Uncle Mikey's almost finished cooking dinner," Leo said to his son, though he also directed it towards the other three as well. Diana and Iris sighed and started to follow the two adults, knowing that they had to leave the peaceful place. Raphael however, didn't budge. Curious, Leonardo instructed Venus to lead the others back to the lair while he dealt with the twelve-year-old.
"Anything wrong?" Leonardo questioned as he sat down beside Raphael on the sand. The boy gently shook his head.
"Just looking, that's all," Raphael said while stared at the millions of stars in the sky. Leonardo looked upwards and admired them as well, leaving a few minutes of silence between them. "How did you know where to find me?" Raphael finally asked.
"Ever since we found this place you've visited everyday," Leonardo answered simply.
"I like it here," Raphael whispered. "I like how you can see the stars… I never knew there were so many," Raphael muttered more to himself than to Leo.
"Well you wouldn't have known. We can't see them at the lair because of the canopy, and you couldn't see them before when we lived in the city because of the lights," Leonardo answered in a matter of fact way. The two turtles remained silent for another couple of minutes while they stared in complete awe at the galaxies they could see from afar.
"Do you ever wonder how Silver's going?" Raphael suddenly asked.
"Sometimes," Leonardo answered truthfully.
"Do you think he's okay?"
"Well we haven't heard about him, so he hasn't been captured," Leonardo once again gave an informed response.
"Do you think we'll ever see him again?" Raphael asked quietly. Leonardo sighed and stayed silent for a few seconds.
"Maybe," he answered softly. As the stars continued to twinkle in the sky, Raphael began to wonder how long he would be able to see the sight. He wondered if the stars would ever disappear, if there'd ever be a time where he wouldn't be able to see them. The universe surrounded the world and could be seen by everyone, by everything. Yet in his childhood years there were no stars, only darkness.
"Dad… Diana said earlier today that five filmmakers have been seen throughout this month. Will they cause any problems for us?" Raphael asked with concern.
"Hopefully not. After all, we're ninja," Leonardo tried to look on the bright side.
"But do you think they'll ever find us?" Raphael was still reasonably worried.
"Well… there's always the possibility. But we'll keep hiding and they'll keep searching. It's just the way our world works," Leonardo summarised sadly. Raphael sighed and lay back on the sand, still staring at the starry night sky. With a smile, Leo copied and started to get more comfortable. "Know any constellations?" Leo asked. Raphael smiled and shook his head. "Neither. Not any in the Southern Hemisphere anyway," Leo replied.
"Is it true that they used to navigate ships by the stars?" Raphael questioned.
"Yeah, they used to know which way was North because of certain stars and constellations," Leonardo answered. The boy sighed, never realising how much there was indeed out there. At the same time, he was wondering who else in the world was staring at the sky right at the exact same moment they were; Silver, Sarah or maybe even one of their enemies. In an instant, Raphael remembered some of the other special times in his life, like the first moment he experienced life above ground in London, the night he attempted to escape from the zoo and even the time he buried his father. Every single time he looked up towards the sky, as if he was expecting an answer or at least some guidance for his troubled mind. It felt as though he wanted his life to be navigated towards safety, yet there were no stars to help.
But now he felt content, and now the stars shone as bright as the sun itself. It was, as one could say, happiness. Ever since his father had been buried, the stars had started to shine; visiting and comforting him every night without fail. Even with the shadow of the lair's canopy, he knew they were there, still shining brightly. "Do you think my father would be proud of me?" Raphael suddenly asked. Leonardo was taken aback for a moment, as the question seemed to have popped out of nowhere. Yet a large smile quickly swept across Leo's starlit face.
"I think you already know the answer," Leonardo said gently. The two stared at the stars for a few minutes longer until a cool breeze blew across the sand, sending chills through their shells. "We should start heading back now," Leonardo decided. The adult helped the boy off the ground and together they helped to dust the loose sand off of each other's carapaces.
"So what's for dinner?" Raphael asked as they started to walk off into the forest.
"Coconut casserole," Leonardo answered with a hungry smile. Raphael smiled back and continued to travel towards the lair. Unbeknownst to them, across the oceans and continents a woman named Sarah and a yeti called Silver stared towards the sky, and at that particular moment, the night sky answered with a twinkle of it's own; always shining, always guiding, always looking over an island and its mutant turtles.
A/N: Well, that's it. I hope you all enjoyed the story. It will be a while till I'll be able to start a new story due to the amount of homework that I keep getting. But once I finish school I'll have about four months to do absolutely nothing, so hopefully I'll be posting heaps on fanfics then. Currently I've got a satire and another tragedy fic planned, so I hope I'll find the time to write them soon, along with a couple of short stories. Then again, I could always turn this into a trilogy! Anyway, once again I'd like to thank you all for reviewing and I hope you enjoyed reading the story.