I do not own the TMNT.

Hello.

It has been so nice hearing from so many new people. I'm glad you like my stories. Any day now I'll be getting a picture of human Mikey and I'll post it on my personal profile for you to see. I'm so excited!

XOXOXOXOXO

Decisions

Chapter 8

Katsuro dragged me by my hair all the way back up to my prison and punched me in the face knocking me to the ground. With a whispered word the door to the room transformed into a new door with no lock or doorknob facing the inside where I would be trapped.

"You are mine," he growled and slammed and the locked the door behind him as he left.

"What's going to happen now?" I thought holding my aching jaw.

My brothers and I had hiked none stop to reach Mikey in time, but the trip had still taken us a little over five days. That meant we had less than a day to rescue our little brother. Time was running out fast! Imagine our excitement when we saw the forest beginning to thin out. That meant that we were close to the edge of the small village that surrounded Katsuro's fort. We stealthily used what shadows were available to get as close as possible so as to get a visual of what was facing us. When we finally laid eyes on the ancient fort, we stood gaping in shock. Never in my wildest imagination had I thought it would be so…so…big.

"How in the world were we going to get in there?" I thought to myself frantically.

"How in the in' hell are we goin' ta get in there?" Raph whispered harshly, "Do you see the guards?"

I blinked in surprise at Raph's words. Sensei had always said that I had the ability to sense my brothers' moods and sometimes even thoughts, but I was beginning to believe that we were all actually very in-tuned to one another. Grinning ruefully, I focused on the fort and saw what Raph was speaking of. Shadow warriors were stationed at every entrance we could see to the fort and throughout the small village. This was not good.

"Leo let's get back in our 'monk' disguises," Donnie whispered excitedly.

"Why?" I asked, "What do you see that Raph and I missed?"

"The villagers seem to be preparing for a festival of some type. Do you see how the shadow warriors are forcing the people to help prepare?" Donnie said.

Looking, I saw that Donnie was right. The village was swarming with activity and in our disguises we wouldn't be recognized. The festival looked like it was going to take place in the courtyard of the fort.

"So what?" Raph said confused, "Why do we have ta put on these damn itchy things again?"

"If we can slip into the fort under the illusion of helping to set up for this festival then we can reach Mikey before the full moon," Donnie explained, "We have already tried to fight Katsuro head on and failed. If we use stealth we will be able to get to Mikey and get him out of here without getting hurt."

"But won't Katsuro keep tryin' ta get Mikey?" Raph growled, "We have ta end this Donnie."

"Your right Raph," I said, "But first lets get Mikey out of harm's way and then we can fight Katsuro without any distractions."

"All right!" Raph cheered softly as we put our disguises back on.

"Do you hear that?" Donatello said urgently.

We all froze and listened. Rustling was coming from some bushes nearby. Raph darted forward and pulled a young man from the bushes. He looked terrified.

"Don't hurt me!" he begged staring at us with fear, "I have done nothing to defy Katsuro. Please! I have a family."

"Calm down," I said softly, "We do not work for Katsuro."

"Then who are you?" the man said fearfully, "You must leave this place before Katsuro discovers that you are here. The man is insane."
"Tell us somethin' we don't know," Raph griped, "That in' pervert has kidnapped our little brother."

"Your brother? The child being held in the fort?" the man asked.

"Yes. My name is Leonardo and these are my brothers Raphael and Donatello. Our little brother's name is Michelangelo. What do you know of him?" I asked urgently.

"My name is Rinji and you will never get to him in time. Katsuro has kept our entire village at his mercy for years. We must serve him or face death. The festival tonight is to celebrate some spell that he is going to cast to enslave the world. Your brother has been left unharmed because Katsuro has decided that he will be the first to be enslaved."

"Never!" Donnie gasped.

"We are here to stop Katsuro," I said firmly, "Can you help us get into the fort."

"I can do better than that," Rinji said proudly, "I am a part of a rebellion that has been trying to free our people from Katsuro's powers. We will help you save your brother, if you will help us save our village from Katsuro's madness."

I looked at Rinji long and hard. My instincts were telling me that he was telling the truth.

"You have a deal Rinji," I said as I slid off the hat obscuring my face, "But there is something you need to know about the three of us."

"Demon!" Rinji gasped backing away.

"We ain't no demon!" Raph snapped removing his hat.

"Then…what are you?" he asked fearfully.

"Let me explain," Donnie said sliding off his own hat.

Donnie told Rinji our entire story. He even included what had happened to Mikey and how we ended up in Hyogo. By the time Donnie finished, Rinji now understood our situation and swore that his people would help us if we kept our end of the bargain. We all sat down to brainstorm over a plan. Things were looking a little better, but we did not have much time left.

To be continued.

Japanese to English translations:

Rinji-peaceful forest