Chapter Two: The Snipe Hunt

The crackling of the roaring fire echoed off the ring of trees as Leonardo reread the note Splinter had left him and his brothers. Leonardo was still upset about Donatello's navigating mishap and, even though they found the right way to the camping ground, Michelangelo decided to talk, make jokes, and sing the entire time they walked. Leonardo was just grateful that now he could spend some time meditating while his brothers were busy with their own activities.

"Okay guys," Leonardo folded the paper back up and pushed it back into his bag. "Splinter said we were to bring three things that would help us reconnect to our inner spirits."

Donatello unzipped his bag and pulled out his items. " I brought a pencil, a pad of paper, and an abacus."

Raphael made a face at his brother. " Why?"

" Before we left, I created ten pages worth of math problems and I intended to finished them all before we go home." Donatello then went to work and Raphael snorted as he watched Donatello's fingers push the colored beads back and forth.

" What a geek."

Leonardo then pulled out his items from his backpack and set them down in his lap.

"You brought books?" Raphael scoffed. " You're both geeks!"

Leonardo glared at Raphael through the fire as he opened up a book of Japanese haiku, then watched as Raphael removed something from his duffel bag.

" You brought a dartboard?" Leonardo asked as he and Donatello watched Raphael take his other two items, which had been a hammer and a nail, and he pounded the nail into a tree trunk. Raphael then walked back to the fire, dropped the hammer and pulled his sais out of his belt.

" What! It clears my head!" Raphael then flung one of his sai right into the middle of the red and yellow circle.

Leonardo shook his head, then looked at Michelangelo, and his eyes grew wide with shock when he saw the items his youngest brother had brought.

"Mikey! What are you doing?"

Michelangelo looked up to find three pairs of eyes on him. "Uh, I'm reconnecting to my inner spirit?"

" You can't bring your Gameboy here!" Donatello exclaimed, then pointed to the portable disc player and the CD case next to it. " Splinter said not to bring stuff like that!"

Raphael smacked his own forehead at his brother's stupidity. " How dumb can you be, Mikey! How are ya supposed ta use that stuff if you ain't got batteries for it?"

Michelangelo let a smile slowly crawl across his face. " Hehehe. Oops! Didn't think about that!" His brother shook their heads and went back to their things. Michelangelo frowned as he looked into the fire, then rose his eyes back, checking to see if he was being watched. He then shoved his hand into his bag and pulled out a bag of marshmallows, a box of graham crackers, and five Hershey bars. He giggled as he stuck three marshmallows onto a stick and shoved them into the fire.

" Mikey."

Michelangelo stopped laughing and looked up, finding Leonardo's eyes fixed on his face.

He then pulled the marshmallows out of the fire and handed them to Leonardo.

" S'more?"

Leonardo blew out the breath he had been holding and grabbed the stick out of Michelangelo's hand. " No, thank you!" He then bent down, collected the rest of s'more supplies, and dumped them into his own bag. As he walked away, Michelangelo stuck out his tongue and made a face at his brother.

A few hours later...

" Come on you guys! You know the words!" Michelangelo jumped up from the rock he was sitting on and began to sing again. "Her name is Rio and she dances on the sand!"

Donatello grabbed his ears and shook his head. " Why couldn't I have been born deaf?"

"Just like that river twisting through the dusty lands! Come on Leo! I know you're a closet Duran Duran fan!"

Raphael leaned over and whispered into Leonardo's ear. " Please let me nail that dartboard to his shell!"

Leonardo sighed. " We need to find something to keep him busy!"

"And my idea won't?" Raphael laughed as Leonardo threw him a dirty look. " Okay, okay. I'll think of somethin'."

"Please hurry!" Donatello whispered as Michelangelo continued to sing and dance around. " He already told me he's doing Love Shack next!"

Raphael rubbed his chin as he thought, and soon an evil smile crawled onto his face. He reached into Leonardo's backpack and pulled out the black bag that Splinter had filled with their supplies, and walked over to Michelangelo.

"Oh, Rio, Rio, dance across the Rio Grande!" Michelangelo then stopped as he bumped into Raphael. "Hey Raph! Are you gonna sing too? I heard you do a mean version Addicted To Love in the shower yesterday morning!"

Raphael's eyes grew wide and he clenched his fists together. " How about I kick your-"

"Raph!" Leonardo whispered, then motioned to the bag in Raphael's hand. Raphael let his temper die down then he flung his arm around Michelangelo's shoulders and pulled him away from the fire.

" Mikey, I know how much you enjoy entertainin' us, but how would you like to do somethin' that's a little more fun?"

Michelangelo's eyes lit up. " Yeah! Fun is my middle name."

"So is annoyin', " Raphael muttered under his breath. " Anyway, Mikey. How would ya like to go on a Snipe Hunt?"

"A what?" Michelangelo scratched his head. " What's a snipe?"

Raphael pretended to be surprise. " You mean ta tell that you don't know what a snipe is? It ain't in that book of yours?"

Michelangelo shook his head.

Raphael then shrugged his shoulders. " That's okay. You'll know what it is when ya see it." He then shoved the knapsack and a tiny flashlight into Michelangelo's hands. " Now, all ya gotta do is go into the woods and call it. It'll come right to ya, then throw that bag over it."

"And?" Michelangelo asked.

" That's it." Raphael spun Michelangelo around and faced him to the dark woods. " Just bring it back here when your done."

"But how do I call it?" Michelangelo shoved his heels into the ground and stopped Raphael's pushing.

Raphael sighed impatiently. " Like this." And off the top of his head, Raphael began to make a sound that sound like a cat drowning in water, and Michelangelo froze in fear.

" I don't know if I want to do this, Raph. That thing sounds dangerous!" Michelangelo began to back away from the woods when Leonardo and Donatello appeared behind him.

" We're all going, Mikey," Donatello said as he held up his empty backpack.

" Yeah, " Leonardo agreed. " The first one to capture one gets all of the s'mores he can eat!"

Michelangelo's smile returned. " You guys are so gonna lose! I'm going to find the biggest snipe out there!" He then turned back to the woods and ran into the darkness. A few minutes later, Leonardo, Donatello and Raphael heard their youngest brother making the 'snipe call' and they fell into fits of laughter.

" I can't believe that moron fell for that!" Raphael held onto his stomach as he laughed.

Leonardo then stopped laughing as his began to worry. " I hope Mike doesn't get hurt out there."

"I'd be more worried if Mikey hurt something." Donatello returned to his abacus. " Where did you hear about snipe hunting, Raph?"

Raphael smiled. " Ask Leo. He was my first victim." Leonardo then rolled his eyes.

" You know, there really is an actual snipe." Donatello said without looking up from his pad of paper. " It's a migratory game bird that lives in wetlands and marshes. It's about the size of a dove and it has a distinct long, slender beck that it uses to plunge into the wet sand after earthworms. They nest in Canada and around the Arctic Ocean, then fly south every year to-"

Raphael then threw his hands into the air. " Okay, Professer, we get it!"