Flights of Fancy

Disclaimer: I only own my own characters, which happens to be everyone other then the TMNT and Renet.

Chapter 13 – Prophecy

It seemed to Leo that they had hardly agreed to seeing, the sorceress, Tira when they all of a sudden appeared on the edge of a very large meadow. The meadow was full of long grass and multi-coloured wild flowers that bent and swayed in a cool breeze. Leo could hear the unmistakable sound of running water coming from somewhere in the meadow and he often thought he saw a slight reflection of an, as yet, unknown object that was hidden from their view point on the edge of a wood.

The meadow seemed full with a wide assortment of strange creatures and beings, which often required the four turtle brothers to cast a second or third glance at the inhabitants still in a bit of shock that they were not exactly the strangest things to walk in the world of Necron.

Don turned his head spotting easily five varied species " What the…." He couldn't quite finish his sentence as he stared slack jawed at the creatures, which his rational mind told him just didn't exist.

Mike however seemed fully in his element, like he was a young child on his birthday or Christmas overjoyed by all that he saw. He pointed to a willowy looking creature that walked by wearing a dress of yellow gold leaves, its skin was brown " That has got to be a dryad or tree spirit." He exclaimed.

' The young willow tree.' Shanza agreed.

Mike grinned " And look over there I think that is a flower fairy." He gestured to a creature that rose up from out of the wild rose bush then darted down into another flower, " And a wood nymph." Mike gushed pointing out yet another creature.

A sudden shadow passed over top of them and Mike looked upward to spot a blue coloured horse with dark blue wings "A Pegasus!" he yelled.

Raph grimaced and ducked " Bad enough with birds that fly." He muttered thinking of the missiles that a winged horse might drop on unsuspecting beings below.

Shanza laughed, ' All the large winged beast are careful when they must leave things behind them.' She stated simply ' And Mike it is Pegasian not Pegasus.'

Mike gave an embarrassed laugh and a small grin " Sorry."

' It is all right a natural enough mistake for those who come from your world.' Shanza replied, she rather liked his enthusiasm.

Don turned " How can you know about all these creatures Mike when I have never even heard of half of them?" He arched an eye ridge as it was usually his place in the team to tell his brothers important facts.

Raph snorted, " You know Mikey always reading his comic books, watchin' movies, and reading fantasy type stuff."

Don nodded " Yeah that is right. Its just I always thought that kind of thing was all" Don glanced around at the creatures near him trying to find a delicate way of saying they didn't exist, " Just someone's imagination is all."

Gimod rumbled ' I'm a very large figment don't you think?'

' My foster mother used to say that not every thing in life can be explained,' Shanza spoke sincerely, ' There are many things we do not know or accept and so we miss half of the magic that is in our world to be found.' She paused and gave Don a deep look ' Many people in your world used to believe in the creatures you see here and lived at one with them. There are others who still believe perhaps they see what you do not.' She blew out a breath of air and gave an affectionate glance to Mike ' He is innocent and pure of heart. Never letting the darkness keep him down you are very lucky to have him.'

" Lucky for Mike he is a goof up" Raph scoffed shaking his head, " I mean you don't know what it is like, hardly has enough brains to come in out of the rain."

Mike shrugged " I like the rain."

Raph grinned a little " See what I mean?"

Gimod lowered his head so he could stare Raph in the eyes ' Innocence does not mean lack of intelligence. For those who are innocent hold a great wealth of wisdom of their own.'

Raph guffawed at that, he slapped a hand on his leg " Then Mike ought to be a gold mine of untapped intelligence" Raph paused his laughter dying suddenly, " Guys suddenly I'm very afraid," he confessed.

There was the sudden sound of pounding hooves and a dark streak raced by them something flicked across Raph's face.

" What the devil?" Raph wondered as he spat a bit.

Suddenly the streak slowed a few feet away showing the powerful hindquarters of a dark chestnut horse, with a long brown and white mane and tail. The horse spun around on its hind legs revealing the upper half of its body to be human.

Raph stepped back gaping at the creature, for while it had a horse's body right up to the forelegs and chest, the human torso from waist on up, including human arms, was most definitely feminine and she was wearing a short top of dark blue, that didn't cover her full midsection for some of her belly was bare. She had two pert equine ears at the top of her head.

" I am not a devil or demon of the underworld, nor would I try to bring one to me by calling for it. Then again perhaps you can get away with it" the creature remarked giving Raph a scathing look as she shook her long hair and folded her arms over her chest " As you seem to be one of their legion." She snorted.

Lobo moved forward getting between Raph and the speaker " Forgive him female centaur he meant no insult. However if you have taken offense you may take it up with me and my pack."

She cocked her head and twitched an ear, shifting her hindquarters slightly under her before tossing her head slightly sending her hair rippling all the way from the top of her head down to her waist " It seems you were at least smart enough to acquire the right friends."

Lobo growled once and the centaur gave a look Shanza's way before rearing up on hind legs and cantering off with her tail switching from side to side.

Traba inhaled some air his lip curling as he did so " That mare seems to be nearing her heat." He remarked with a roll of his eyes.

Gimod gave a strange laugh ' Centaurs are known for two things archery and love and they never miss what they aim for.'

Shanza snorted sharply and struck out with one hoof towards Gimod ' Centaurs hold the promise of new life breaking free of turmoil thus they are symbols of fertility and power.' She corrected.

Gimod arched his own eye ridges ' Like I said…'

Mike watched the centaur leave " I thought centaurs were always male" he mumbled.

Shanza almost smiled though it was physically impossible for her to do so ' In the other worlds centaurs are almost always depicted as male however they are not like the phoenix who is the only bird of it's kind.'

" I guess I never thought about baby centaurs or where they might come from." Mike admitted.

Shanza bunted Mike with her nose ' Come we should find Tira she ought to be somewhere near the castle. I can always introduce you to Symbia later she seemed to be in a hurry.'

Shanza stepped out into the long grass and glanced behind to ensure the others were close. ' Watch your step.' She cautioned.

Raph nose told him at least one good reason to watch his footing as they headed into the meadow, the other reason soon became apparent as often they were warned or yelled at by little beings that they had almost trod upon quite accidentally. So the boys started to use ninja skills to warn them of others nearby to avoid stepping on one of the fairy folk.

As they moved through the meadow many of the creatures called out to Shanza and Gimod but none of those that called got in the way of the group.

Marina leaped from her vantage point on Leo's shoulder where she had been riding to now sit on Shanza's back with her head in the air, the catafly was clearly basking in the glory and attention the other beasts paid towards Shanza.

Shanza had clearly said castle in reference to Tira's home and yet as they peered over a hill top the turtles could all clearly see that there was no castle in sight. Not even anything that looked like a castle for that matter.

" So where is this castle?" Leo asked suspiciously wondering if perhaps it was a small castle for the fairy folk themselves.

" Right there" Lobo barked gesturing with a toss of his head to the only human home in the meadow area, it was a log cabin looking like it consisted of two floors, and a large windmill made mostly of stone, wood and cloth on the East side of the cabin that was placed near the stream.

Outside the cabin was a congregation of pegasians, unicorns and centaurs all gathered around and conversing with a small woman dressed in a simple white gown. As Shanza drew closer to the group, the other creatures parted and the woman came forward to greet the new arrivals. Tira moved surprisingly quickly and with great grace, her hands and face were slightly wrinkled and her hair was white, and she had eyes of blue.

Marina sat up straighter " That is Tira!" she exclaimed quickly before settling back in a sitting position on Shanza and purring loudly for all to hear.

Don gazed at the sorceress they had heard so much about, and while they had to be very aware and observant of so many things that he could almost always guess a persons age to within a few years of their correct age, he found that this woman's age eluded him.
Don sidled up to Leo's side and whispered very softly " How old do you think she is?"

Leo shrugged in reply shaking his head " I'm not sure Don. She could be any where from her thirties to her nineties or older." Leo was just as perplexed as Don was on that count and he didn't bother hiding it either.

" Well at least I'm not alone." Don replied with relief.

Leo nodded " Yeah, I thought for sure everything Splinter had taught us had just failed me."

Don rested a hand on Leo's shoulder as Tira came up to them and gave them all a warm comforting smile.

" It is good to see you are all safe, Gimod old friend, glad you and your wyrms are ready to aid us again."

' I am always willing to help you Tira for you gave me hope when I had none.' Gimod responded.

Tira bowed slightly " We haven't heard from Demon Wing yet Shanza but he should be along shortly." She then turned to look at each of the turtles " Now I have never seen the likes of your kind on Necron before, so you four must be from one of the worlds Necron borders."

Don nudged Leo though, his brother needed no such encouragement from Don to respond to the silent questions Tira was asking.

" Permit me to introduce my brothers and myself." As Leo introduced his brothers they all bowed before Tira.

" We are all from the world of Earth, which our friends here" Leo gestured to the pack, Shanza, Marina and Gimod " Assure us is one of the worlds that borders your world now and again. However we were brought here through a form of magic, a friend of ours Renet, uses."

Tira grinned " I am familiar with Renet a nice lady, very strange but very nice."

" Until she sends you on wild goose chases" Raph grouched.

" My brothers and I ended up being split up and meeting with the various inhabitants we are traveling with and they felt you might be able to help us." Leo concluded.

" Perhaps I can, however if Renet sent you here there must be a reason for it." Tira decided.

" If you say one thing about us helping you in this coming war" Raph said sharply.

" I don't know if you would be of much use to us being as you have no magic of your own or do you?" Tira wondered as she scowled puzzling over the information.

" None of us have magic but we do know…" Mike began but Raph came up and clamped a hand over Mike's mouth.

" We've known Renet for sometime and let me tell ya while she is a nice girl she is a bit scatterbrained. She probably didn't realize that this war was coming on. On our world we gotta hide because people might not accept us you know, so Renet wanted to just give us a treat by letting us roam a world where people might accept us more."

Gimod rumbled in amusement ' Seems they are figments too.'

Tira grimaced " I suppose that is possible but…it doesn't make much sense for I doubt Renet would use her magic to bring you here when she might be endangering you."

Lobo came forward and lowered his upper body slightly to the ground " Tira, Raph here mentioned earlier that he talked to Merlin and the owl sprouted poetry" the toshe hinted wagging his tail.

Tira looked up the scowl vanishing as her face brightened visibly " Do you recall what Merlin said?" she asked eagerly " If you can tell us his words exactly it could mean all the difference to saving Shanza's son and both of our worlds."

Raph knew the words but he didn't like or care for the way Tira had almost pounced on him upon hearing about it. He crossed his arms over his plastron and glowered at Lobo darkly " Just what is so blasted important about what the bird says?" he demanded. " First these guys get excited that his words might hold a clue. Now you get all excited. How the hell do we even know that the information is meant for you or that you are the right people?" Raph insisted.

" Raph!" Leo snapped in irritation, " If you know something to help you could tell them at the very least what you know. Near as I can sense they aren't hiding any thing from us."

Lobo growled, " Have you all ready forgotten that if the dark forces of Necron gain the upper hand that even your world will suffer?" The toshe's hair bristled " Besides who ever heard of a unicorn who fought for darkness or evil."

Marina nodded her head and jumped nimbly over to Raph " Don't listen to them, especially the dumb dog you are making the right move you know," she assured him " Cataflys always say knowing is better then telling."

Mike looked at the others " You know what I think Raph forgot what the bird said. Probably didn't even pay attention to it" Mike looked at Leo and Don " Come on you know what Raph is like."

In the outburst that Raph's declaration had caused, he quite clearly heard Mike's goading and resented it immensely. " I remember all of it I just don't want to encourage any stupidity."

Leo glanced Mike's way giving him a slight nod, before turning to smile at Don the two brother's knew that Mike would be able to get the information from Raph , that was if anyone could.

" Sure you remember it Raph" Mike replied agreeably " The same way you recall all of Splinter's lectures."

" There is nothing wrong with my memory" Raph fumed. " I knew I should have killed that blasted bird when I had the chance."

Gimod narrowed his eyes ' Allow me to hurry this along we don't have that much time to waste.' Gimod slashed his neck out and scooped Raph up into his mouth his teeth holding Raph very still, the dragon's hot breath blowing against him so there was no escaping the stench from the dragon's mouth.

Marina escaping Raph's shoulders, in the nick of time giving a frightened howl as she leapt to safety before the dragon jaws snatched her up as well.

' Now listen here. We dragons are not known for our patience, so I would advise you to tell us what you know now! Or else I will have to make you very uncomfortable until you do tell us Merlin's prophecy.'

Raph hadn't heard Gimod's last remark about hurrying things along but he could see his brothers were worried, and watching the dragon anxiously and Mike looked nervous in spite of the fact Shanza was standing and grazing as if totally disinterested.

" Prophecy?" Raph managed.

Tira called out from where she stood " Merlin's poetry is always a form of prophecy of things to come that is why it is so important that we know exactly what he said, so hopefully it may be worked to our favour."

Raph grunted, his stomach heaving from the smell that assaulted his nostrils but he realized he couldn't fight the dragon while locked securely in its massive jaws, so with a great deal of reluctance he agreed to tell " But only if you put me down you overgrown snake!"

Marina looked dejected " Humph!" she snorted and flicked her tail in the air " I suppose I really shouldn't have expected better of him considering the company" at this she wrinkled her nose, " he keeps."

Traba barked once a the cat before falling silent and starting to plot his revenge against this catafly that acted so superior.

Gimod lowered Raph to the ground standing him on his feet, then the dragon raised one foreleg and draped his hand on Raph's back the front fingers splayed so that they were placed on Raph's shoulders the lethal talons barely pricking at Raph's scaly hide.

Raph gritted his teeth and even though it caused him a bit of pain to do so he drew one sai and bent his elbow pointing the weapon over his left shoulder.

Gimod sensing the thoughts in Raph's mind let loose a loud bellowing roar, thrashing his tail hard on the ground, the noise was enough to cause some of the creatures in the meadow to break into a panicked run.

" Listen you will do a lot more roaring if this weapon hits ya" Raph cautioned he had gripped his sai tighter, and his ears were still ringing from the roar Gimod had let loose, but Raph refused to back down or give in to the dragon.

Gimod knew that Raph meant it, and while the weapon the turtle handled was not as imposing as the sword, the little dragon was still very much aware that it could be dangerous.

Gimod laughed a bit ' Ah the mosquito can indeed threaten the dog. Very well, I will let you go because you have proven that you are either very brave or very stupid.' With that the dragon lowered its front foot to the ground ' Either way I think I like you so you best talk fast now before I find out you are the latter.'

Raph turned and bowed slowly to Gimod " I still say it means trouble for all of us. I know what that bird said and if I'm right it means we are stuck here till the war is done."

Leo shifted at those words not sure if they could afford being away that long. What would Splinter think about their disappearance.

" Please go on, perhaps you misread his words it is possible." She urged making it sound like an urgent plea, without making it sound like she was begging for the information.

Raph sighed, not in the least comforted by Tira's words he took a breath and repeated what he had heard.

" He said the way home is longer then you think. Like to like guides you must seek. Follow your guides true or in danger you'll sink." Raph paused as he reflected on that part and the next bit in his own mind, " Dangers great will bar the gate demanding your retreat. True guides one and all follow their call. To unite four in faith, yet not alone for stronger you'll stand with your guide at hand." Raph took another breath before concluding, " Challenge the dark wall with the strength of all. Then the four may pass through the door their journey's end."

Raph couldn't help but heave a heavy sigh it seemed there was no going home for them until he and his brothers took on the dark forces of Necron and Raph had to wonder if ninjitsu would be enough.

TBC