Don blinked. He moaned as he pushed himself off the cold stone floor. As he regained consciousness, he remembred where he was and what was going on. He rubbed his eyes. He must have dozed off or something. He blinked rapidly again, and then sat up against the wall. He stomache did a little flip as he moved, and he grimaced. "Usagi?" he whispered, looking to the side. Usagi was sitting against the wall too, in the same place he had been when Don had fallen asleep. He looked to be deep in meditation. Don bit his lip, wondering if he should disturb him. He leaned over, and put a hand on Usagi's shoulder. Usagi gasped and opened his eyes, and looked at Don. "Oh, you're awake..." Usagi said, shaking his head slightly and leaning against the wall. "Yeah, sorry about that..." Don apologized, and Usagi put up his hand. "No, no it's alright. Now, do you have any ideas as to how we're going to get out of here? Because I don't." "Well...not re-"
Suddenly, they heard slow footsteps from down the hall. Then, the Dameiyo's son came into the light, and continued to walk slowly towards them, with those menacing slow footsteps. "How are you feeling?" he asked, with mockery in his voice. Don growled, and he could almost feel his eyes shoot fire. "Like I wanna kick your-" The Dameiyo's son unlocked the cage, and two guards darted in. One snatched Don up of the ground, and bound his hands. The other did the same to Usagi. Don struggled, where as Usagi just took a breath and glared at the Dameiyo's son. Then, Donettello heard a voice inside his head. "Don, Donny?" it said, and it echoed slightly. Don felt his eyes widen. He spoke back with his own mind. "Emily! Where are you!" "Don, be careful! He's going to sentence you to-" Don waited for Emily's thoughts to finish the sentence, but he didn't hear another sound, except the buzzing inside his head from all the confusion and the poison. He didn't know how Emily had contacted him, speaking through the mind was a challenging ninja skill that took many years to learn. But, she had and she had given Don enough information to know that he and Usagi, and maybe even the rest of his family, were in big trouble.
WITH LEO
Leo, Nicole, Jeniffer, Chris, and Sasha had found the trees near the palace, and thought that this would be the best place ot hide. They had hidden inside them, making their way towards the middle of them before lying Leo down on the ground. Nicole dug into her jeans pocket as Jeniffer and Chris sat down, Sasha in Jen's lap. "What are you looking for, Nicky?" Chris asked his sister, but he got no response. Nicole took out some leaves, and a bottle of liquid. "What ARE you doing?" asked Jen, but Nicole gave her a sharp look to tell her to shut it. Then, she looked up at the sky through the leaves, that was starting to twinkle with stars. "It's getting dark, we should stay here. Leo is in no state to travel at night, and neither are we." Chris nodded, and sighed as he leaned against a. "Chris, stay here with Leo, me and Jen are going to go get wood for a fire. There doesn't seem to be any around here." said Nicole, and Chris nodded. Jen, on the other hand, stared at her. "We're going in THERE! Where there could be guards camoflaged into the trees or hiding in the mud!" "Jeniffer, we're on a mission, not in the army." Nicky told her, and Jen scowled.
"We'll be back in a while." Nicole told Leo, and Leo smiled. "Try not to get hurt." he said, his eyes pleading it. Nicole smiled softly, and she and Leo kissed tenderly, before she and Jeniffer ran silently into the trees.
WITH RAPH
Raphael and Katie walked silently down the hallway, barely being able to see where they were going. Then, Katie pointed out a doorway with light pouring out of it. Raph and Katie hugged the wall, sliding along it. Katie peeked around the corner and gasped and drew back. "There's someone in there." she whispered, and Raph growled. "I'll take him out." he hissed, but Katie stopped him. "Let me take care of this one, Raphie." Raph raised an eyebrow. "What?" "Watch the Lady Ninja at work." Katie said smugly, and hugged the wall again. She peeked around the corner, and the guard's eyes flashed as he saw the movement. Katie stepped out from behind the wall, and Raph almost grabbed her back. Katie smiled at the guard, and then slowly blew him a kiss. "Can you help me?" she asked him softly, and the guard grinned and started towward her. "What are you-" Katie put a finger to her lips, and motioned for Raph to hide in the shadows, and he did so. The guard appeared in front of Katie, and made a move to put his arm around her waist. Like a bolt of lightning, Katie unsheated a dagger and stabbed the guard square in the chest. Just as quickly, she ripped it down and out, and the guard's chest spurted blood as he slumped to the floor. Raph came out of the shadows, and stared at her. "What was that? That was...awesome!" Katie smiled brightly. "Seduction. A power only female ninjas have to their advantage." she informed him, and Raph blinked. "Well...where the heck did you learn that?" he asked her. "My mother was a wise woman, both Ninja and Healer. She taught me and my siblings all we know." Raph shook his head, still impressed by Kate's skill, and the two of them entered the room.
"Wow..." Katie whispered, and Raph nodded. The walls were covered cieling to floor in weapons big and small. There was also clothing and shoes in boxes in the corners. "Let's stock up, shall we?" suggested Raph, and Katie smiled. Raph approached the wall, and smiled as he eyed the smoke bomb filled rack on it. He snatched them all up and put them in his belt. He also saw a pack of Kunai blades hanging on the wall next to them, and put the back in his belt too. These tiny blades were good for throwing at nearby enemys, but could also be used as destractions.
Katie observed the wall too, and grinned evilly as she saw a long wire rope hanging from the wall. She took in down, and ran her finger along the blade at the end. "What's that?" Raph asked her. "I dunno, but all that matters is that anyone who gets in my way will get hit with it!" Katie hissed, and Raph smiled. "That's my girl." he said, and Katie beamed proudly. She turned back to the wall, and also took off smoke bombs, Kunai blades, and a BlowGun. "Ha! They make it so easy!" she snorted, and Raph nodded, smiling. Then, Katie peeked into one of the boxes, and grinned. "Now this is my kinda thing." she declared, pulling out a red Stealth Kimono. Stealth Kimono's were like Kimonos, except that they were for women and were shorted up to the thighs for easy moving and stealth, hence the name Stealth Kimono. "How do you think this would look on me?" Katie asked, and Raph chuckled. "Great Kate. It's actually a pretty good idea for you to put it on. It'll be easier for you to move around in that than in those jeans. Besides, that outfit looks pretty easy on the eyes if I put you in it." Katie smiled smugly, and told Raph to turn his back. Raph observed the Kunai blades with interest, running his finger up and down in and watching it glint in the light.
Katie tapped his shoulder, and he turned. Katie had changed into the Stealth Kimono, and Raph whistled. It was tight on her, just the right fit, and a black wrap went around her waist. The sleeves hung low, and it was very low cut. "Now THAT looks good." declared Raph, and Katie smiled. "Let's go."
WITH MIKEY
Kristin groaned and yawned as she was moved a few inches while she was sleeping. She blinked tiredly and looked around, and then down. Mikey was sitting up against a rock, shaking his head and looking around. "MIKEY!" Kristin squealed, and squeezed Mikey tightly, and he fell over with the force. "Ah, Kris! I need air!" he said, and she let go. "Sorry!" she apologized quickly, and he smiled his winning smile. "It's all right." Kristin grinned widely, and flung her arms around him again. "Oh, Mike you're okay! IloveyouIloveyouIloveyou!" Mikey laughed as he nearly fell over again, and pulled her off gently. "Easy, toots. I love you, too." Kristin smiled, if possible, wider and kissed his cheek. Linda let out a moan and sat up. "Kris, what's all the noise abou- MIKEY!" Linda flung herself at her brother and hugged him. "Mike, we were so worried!" Josh and Hannah had woken up too. Josh clapped Mike on his shell. "Hey Mikey, how's yer head?" Mike smiled. "Aching." Hannah jumped on Mikey's back and kissed his head. "Mikey!" "Hey, Munchkin!" he greeted, and tickled her.
Suddenly, they heard the crackling of footsteps on leaves and twigs. Then, the soft sound of heavy panting met their ears as well, and Mike and Josh stood up and drew their weapons. Suddenly, someone ran out of the trees, stumbling and looking behind them. Then, the somebody tripped and fell. They looked up, and their long sandy hair flowed out of their face. "Emily!" gasped Mikey, and he ran to her and knelt down to help her up. Emily was in a dress, that looked like it used to have been a very elegent dress, but was now covered in dirt and rips. It was tight on her legs and chest, and had a nice long rip up the side. "Emily, what happened!" exclaimed Chris, running over to her too and putting his arm around her. Emily was whimpering, and her cheeks were smudged with dirt. "H-he's going to...hurt him... He lied! He said if I did what he said he wouldn't hurt him!" Emily broke down crying into her brother's shoulder, and Chris ran his hand up and down her back. "Who?" "The Dameiyo's son! He's going to hurt him..." Mike raised an eyebrow. "He's going to hurt who?" Emily cried louder. "Don! He's going to kill Don!"
WITH JEN
Jeniffer and Nicole walked silently through the trees, picking up wood as they went. "This is getting to be waaaay too much to carry." whined Jen, stumbling under her load of wood. Nicole rolled her eyes. Then, she stopped short in her tracks, and stopped breathing. "What?" asked Jen. "Shh!" hissed Nicky, looking around. Jen listened for whatever Nicole had heard, and then she heard it too. A faint crackle of leaves. Then, Nicole's gaze shot upward, to a tree. "Run..." Nicole whispered, and instantly both girls started to run, dropping wood behind them. Jen hear Nicole cry out, and skidded to a stop and turned.
Nicky had an arrow in her arm, and she was tugging at it, but it wouldn't budge. Jen rushed over to her, and took the arrow out of her arm. Nicole gasped in pain and clutched her arm tightly. "Don't squeeze it! Come on!" Jen yelled, and helped Nicole up. The two of them ran as quick as they could, dodging more arrows as they went.
"There's the clearing!" announced Jen, and the two of them ran for it, even though they had lost the archers long ago. Then, the two of them tripped on the same root, and tumbled out of the bushes and into the clearing. Jen looked up. Leo was up and walking! And Chris was sitting against the same tree they had left him at. The both of them were staring at Jen and Nicky. "Leo, you're okay!" exclaimed Nicky, and she tried to stand, but gasped in pain again and went back down. "Nicole, what is it?" Leo asked, kneeling beside her. Nicole was taking short breaths, and her eyes were shut tight. Leo spotted the blood on her hand, and his eyes went wide. "What happened!" "We ran...into archers..." Nicole said, and gasped again. Jeniffer nearly cowered as she saw the anger in Leo's eyes. "Great! I don't know how to heal this stuff! Chris?" Chris shrugged, and Leo put his head in his hands. "I know how." said Nicole, and Leo looked up. "But...how-" "I'll just give you...directions. Just listen carefully to me and everything...w-will be fine." Jeniffer spotted the shineyness in Leo's eyes, and knew that he was on the verge of tears. "Nicky... I don't want anything to happen to you..." Nicole smiled through her pain, and took a deep breath. " Nothing will happen Leo. I'll be f-fine." Leo smiled weakly, and Jeniffer sat on her knees next to him. "Yeah, Nicky." he said, his voice cracking. He sounded like he was trying to convince himself it was true. "You'll be fine. Just hold on, and you'll be fine."
WITH KARA
Kara, Derik ran as fast as they could away from the fire, deep deep into the woods. "Okay, we're all right now..." panted Derik, and Kara sank to her knees, panting. "What...do we do now? The others are probably in the forest too!" gasped Kara, and Derik shrugged. "I dunno. I guess we just go our own way. Hey, what's this?" Kara looked up and saw Derik examining a tree in front of him. He took Jill over his shoulders and placed her on the ground, getting closer to the tree. "What is it?" Kara asked, crawling over next to him. Derik squinted. "There's a...button?" Kara looked at the button on the tree curiously, and pressed it. The tree made a loud rumbling sound, and began to shake. "Eek!" shrieked Kara, and she leapt back from it. Derik stood up and backed away too, staring.
Then, the tree started to sink down into the ground. When all the noise and rumbling stopped, Kara, Derik and Jill approached the place where the tree had. In place of the tree was a dark hole. "Um...who wants to go first?" asked Derik, and Kara looked up at him. "I'm not." she said, and Derik shook his head. "Neither am I, toots!" Kara scowled at the name, and pushed his back, making him fall into the hole.
WITH ERICA
"Stop!" yelled Gary, and Erica skidded to halt just in time to not fall off a canyon wall. "This place just keeps getting more and more random!" she growled, wringing her hands in an exhasperated way. "Yeah, yeah. What do we do now?" asked Gary, looking around helplessly. "A kunochi is always prepared." declared Erica, grinning and taking rope off of her belt. "Nice call, Erica." Gary complemented, and she beamed as she hooked a shuriken to the rope and tossed it to the other side. She yanked on it, and nodded. "All right, go ahead." she told him, and Gary stared at the rope. "Uh...kay..." Gary gulped, and knelt down. He gripped the rope, and jumped. The rope tightened, and he clung to it with one hand, forcing himself not to look down.
He threw his other arm upward and gripped the rope with two hands, and slowly made his way across the rope. When he reached the other side of the canyon, he found a foothold in the wall and climbed up. He waved to Erica on the other side, and she nodded. "Hannah, hop on my back." she told her little sister, and Hannah nodded, jumping on her back and clinging to her kneck. Erica grabbed rope and jumped, dangling from it with hand, now feeling the whole weight of the little girl on her back. "You and Mikey definantly need to cut those midnight snacks, Hannah." Erica grunted, and Hannah giggled. Erica lifted her other arm up and grabbed the rope, and then started to inch herself to the other side. Gary helped her up onto the cliff side when she made it, and she let Hannah off her back and dusted herself off. "Piece of cake." she said, smiling, and Gary laughed. "Come on, let's see what we can find over here." he said, and the three of them walked into yet another forest behind them.