Mir'aifa= My love
Megasas ne mata-matuo= May the goddesses watch over you
Chapter 6
A while later, back in the forest right outside of Ithri, Don was out picking supplies for his journey ahead. Luna was lounging around behind him, soaking up the sun's rays. She would have continued that way if she didn't hear someone suddenly lurking nearby. Standing up and growling at the trees, she slowly approached where the person was hiding.
Don sighed, knowing who it was. "Why do you keep following me, April?" he called out to her.
April stepped out from her hiding place and approached him. "I just wanted to talk to you. That's all."
Before she could get too close, Luna stepped in front of her, keeping her from getting any closer to Don. "What exactly do you want to talk about?" he asked as he went back to collecting herbs. He was still irritated after what he'd heard her say last night to Nati. "And could you hurry? I've got to go soon."
April tried to move around Luna, only for the gray furred beast to stand in her way again. April only sighed. "Could you call off your... um... friend?"
"Luna does what she wants. I can't stop her." that wasn't entirely true. He just didn't want April anywhere near him right now. Luna knew that and was basically playing bodyguard. "What do you want?"
April sighed again. "Are we going to talk about what happened last night?"
Don shrugged, keeping his shell facing her. "There's really nothing to talk about." he deadpanned.
"Just let me explain..."
"Explain what?" he stood and finally looked in her direction. "How you scared Nati into thinking I was leaving? She's terrified now. She thinks I'm going to leave her alone."
"That's why we followed you here. To bring you back to New York."
"Well, if that was your only reason for coming here then, I'm sorry that you went through the trouble, but I'm not going back." having collected enough herbs, he started to head back to the village. "I kind of like it here."
"But what about-" April started to follow but was cut off by Luna's judgmental glare and a low growl.
"There are no buts, April. I'm not going back." he continued toward the village.
April stayed quiet as she remained behind Luna, trying to think of what to say next. They had since stepped out of the forest, and they could see the village only a few feet away. "Don, I don't think-" April started, only to be cut off, not by Don this time, but a lakra carrying an unconscious Mikey on his back.
Max ran right by them, heading for the village. "Oh no, Mikey! Come on, Luna." he took off at a run, followed by his lakra. April followed them. By the time they got back to the village, Mikey was being helped inside by Leo and Avery. Don got to the infirmary just as Leo and Avery had set Mikey down in an empty room. "What happened?"
"I'm not sure." Leo said as he watched Avery examine his youngest brother.
"It looks like a head injury." Avery said as she pulled a hand away from his head, revealing blood. "And his arm is scratched up as well."
Putting his needs on hold, Don shooed his older brother out of the room. "We got this."
Leo sighed and stepped out. April had finally caught up by that point and ran up to him. "Leo, what happened?"
Leo guided her back outside where Max was waiting patiently by the door, whining. He looked despondent. April didn't notice this, but Leo did. He was probably worried about Mikey, which was understandable. "Looks like he hit his head." he explained briefly and calmly. "We won't know what happened until he wakes up."
"How can you be so calm about this?"
"Who said I was calm?" Leo responded. "If this has anything to do with what's been going on lately, then I'm furious. I just can't let it get to me right now."
April looked at him wide-eyed. "What's been going on lately?"
Leo paused for a second, contemplating if he should tell her or not. In the end, he decided not to lie to one of his friends. "As you've heard before, lakras have been acting strange. They've been attacking randomly, and we don't know why. These attacks may have something to do with what happened to Mikey." he had to inform the others about what was happening. "Kuro!" he called out to his lakra, who was grooming himself out of everyone's way.
Kuro stood up at the sound of Leo's voice and approached him. "Come on, we have to get to the palace." he said to him as he climbed onto his back.
"What should I do?" April asked.
"Stay here and help if they need it." Leo said and took off toward the palace.
April stood there for a while wondering if she would be able to do anything. By the time she went back in, Don was making his way out of Mikey's room. "Well, is he okay?"
"Aside from his head, he just has a few scratches on his arm and some bruising. He'll probably have a bit of a headache, but he'll be fine."
April still wasn't so sure what to think.
Don moved past her and headed toward the dining hall where people were eating. There weren't many people there at the time, but they all made sure to wave and greet him as he walked by. He did the same back to them with a smile. He moved to the back room, where he knew food was being made. He saw Nati at a large cauldron stirring the contents to give to the patients. Sowa was the only other person there, but when he saw Don walk in, he smiled and took his leave. Nati looked up just then and saw him standing in the doorway, just watching her. Feeling the heat rising in her cheeks, she turned away, embarrassed. "How is your brother?" she asked.
"He'll be fine. Might have a minor concussion, but he'll be okay."
"Are you still going through with Tailaga ne Gaido?"
Don finally moved out of the doorway and approached her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her cheek. "Absolutely."
"Are you sure? Because I can wait."
"But I can't. I'll be okay. I'll make sure to take extra precautions. You have nothing to worry about."
She stopped stirring the contents of the pot and turned to him. "I do not wish for anything to happen to you."
"And nothing will." he reassured her. "You have to trust me. You trust me, right?" She nodded, still nervous. He pressed a gentle kiss to her lips, making her feel warm and fuzzy. When he pulled away, she was left breathless. "Then you have nothing to worry about." he said as he wrapped his arms around her.
It had been a while before Mikey started to stir. His head was pounding as he forced his eyes open. When his vision cleared up, he looked around and noticed that he was surrounded by his family and friends. "Hey, you're awake." Don said.
He looked around him. Don had knelt down beside him with April right next to him. Avery was on the other side. Dax, Raph, Leo, and Beloose stood near the door. Mikey sat up with a groan. "What happened?" he asked, rubbing the back of his head.
"We were hoping you would be able to tell us that." Leo said. "Max brought you back here, unconscious."
Hearing the name seemed to snap him out of it. "Max! Where is he? How is he?" he asked in a panic.
"Take it easy, Mike. He's fine. He's outside, waiting." Raph answered his frantic brother.
Mikey breathed a sigh of relief.
"I need you to explain everything, Michelangelo." Beloose said sternly. "What happened?"
Mikey sighed and laid back down. "Well, I brought Suvri with me, and there was this guy that shot a dart at a random lakra that he'd found."
"Right. That was the person that Suvri brought in."
"Yeah, he was using a blowgun, and when he shot him, the lakra instantly started going nuts and attacked us. Max and Kosa managed to scare it off. The darts are in my bag."
Dax walked over to the corner of the room and picked up the bag. Rummaging through it, he found the two darts and the fruit found along the river. "Why do you have kyona fruit in here?" he asked.
"That was the other problem. After I let Suvri take that guy back to the palace, I decided to do some more exploring because just catching him felt too easy. I found those along the river, and it's not like it was just one. There was a trail of them. It seemed like they were placed there on purpose to attract lakras, and there was a weird layer of... something on it, so I figured you might know what it was."
Dax noticed the film as well and immediately knew what it was. "It is butuli extract."
"Butuli? But didn't the king and queen in Azbani have those removed because it wasn't benefitting the ecosytem." Don mentioned.
"Yes well, it seems that they may have missed some." Beloose said.
"What is butuli extract?" April asked.
"Butuli is fast growing plant that is native in the Azbani Territory. Only there was no actual use for them. Animal life can't consume them without getting sick or dying. Neither can people. And it destroyed nearby plant life as well." Leo explained. "If you plucked them, then another would grow in its place within a few days."
"They're like weeds. Very poisonous weeds." Raph added.
"And since all it did was harm wildlife and plant life and since it was at risk for growing out of control, the king and queen thought it would be beneficial to dig up all the patches they could find and destroy them."
Mikey sighed. "And that's what made Max freak out like that."
"Wait, Max did this to you?" Raph asked, shocked.
Mikey rubbed his head and sighed. "Yeah, he did. But I don't blame him because he ate some of those." he pointed to the fruit.
"Explain everything, Mikey." Leo ordered.
Mikey began retelling the events that led to him being in this condition. Everyone listened closely to what happened, and the worry started to set in. "This is concerning." Beloose stated, his tail lashing back and forth as he felt agitation set in. "Michelangelo, get some rest. The rest of my vao, come with me." he stepped out of the room with Dax, Raph, Leo, and Don. April followed too.
Once they all left the room, Avery smacked her husband's uninjured arm. "Ow! What'd I do?" Mikey exclaimed.
"You promised you'd be careful." Avery snapped back.
"In my defense, I promised that I'd come back alive." he said as he held his arms up. "And... I'm alive." Avery didn't find that too amusing and she let him know by giving him a death glare. "Okay, I'm sorry. I love you." he said quickly.
"What am I to do with you?" she sighed while shaking her head.
"Love me?" Mikey asked innocently while holding out his arms for a hug.
"I do love you. Very much. Now lay down." she ordered, ignoring the hug.
He dropped his arms and did as he was told, knowing that he was in a bit of trouble with the missus.
Beloose led them outside where there wasn't much activity going on. "It is clear that what is happening is no accident, the people of Emall are in danger. I now wonder when it's going to move here or to Tarrin."
"What are they planning by doing this?" Beloose asked.
"I might be jumping to conclusions," Raph said. "But I'm just gonna assume that they're setting up to break your brother out."
"I hate to even think about that possibility, but Raph might be right." Leo said. "Unless they're just doing this for fun. We have to assume that that's their goal."
"Either way, they need to be stopped before someone is killed. We need to know who we're looking for." Dax added.
"We may not know who to look for, but we know where we can start looking." Beloose started just as April had found them. "Butuli leaves are not native to this territory. They only grow in the swamp... in Azbani territory." he said, looking pointedly at Don.
"Which is where I'm supposed to be heading anyway." Don stated, knowingly.
Beloose sighed. "Yes, I am sorry to ask this of you during an important time, but..."
Don held up his hand. "Say no more. I'll see what I can do."
"Thank you, Donatello."
April stopped the whole conversation. "Wait, so you're going by yourself?"
Don shrugged and sighed, already knowing where this conversation was going. "I was always going to go by myself anyway. It's just going to take a little bit longer now."
"Did you see what happened to your brother? And you still think it's a good idea to go alone?"
"Yes, and yes. I'll be fine. I know what to look out for now."
She looked at the people around her. She didn't understand how they could just let him go off on his own like this. She didn't like this. She didn't like this at all and she felt like she needed to voice those concerns.
"He'll be fine, April." Raph said. "He was trained for this."
Her emotions were starting to get the best of her. "I don't like this at all. And you," she pointed an accusing finger at Beloose. "aren't you supposed to make decisions to protect your people? What kind of king are you?"
As someone who was already insecure about the decisions he's been making, those words hurt Beloose more than she ever knew. He gripped his golden staff and looked down at the ground as he thought about what to say next.
"Whoa, April!" having heard enough, Leo stepped in. "What's gotten into you?"
"Yeah, you've been acting weird since you got here." Raph added.
"Now, now, my brothers." Beloose stopped them, voice now scarily monotone. "Your friend has a point."
"She does?" Don asked, wondering where he was going with this. He knew by the change in his tone of voice that Beloose was ticked off now. And when Beloose got ticked off, he got super petty.
"She does." Beloose nodded before turning his attention to the upset redhead. "Your reason for going is way more dangerous now. I would like it if you had someone with you anyway. So, April. How would you like to go with him?"
April was too stunned to speak. She wasn't expecting that as a response. "Absolutely not!" Don stated quickly.
"Why not? Your friend thinks you are incapable of handling this task and traveling on your own. If she thinks that, then she should go with you since I can't spare any other vao at the moment."
"I-I didn't say that." April stammered.
"You may as well have." Dax said with a sinister glare that made her uneasy.
"You do not have a problem with that, do you, Donatello?"
Don crossed his arms. He knew there was no way he was going to be able to change his mind. April had touched a nerve, and he wants her as far away from him as possible. Saying anything else would've been pointless. He didn't want this, but he didn't have a choice at this point. Thanks a lot, April. "Nope, no problem at all."
"Consider this a teachable moment, April." Dax said, continuing his glare.
"But-" April started.
"Let's hurry and get you some supplies." Don stated with an eyeroll. "We're already behind schedule."
Leo placed a hand on his brother's shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze of reassurance. Don smiled back. "You got this, bro." Raph said.
"Megasas ne mata-matuo." Beloose added in. He usually said this to anyone leaving the territory as a way of saying good luck on someone's journey, but this time it was more like good luck dealing with her.
"Thanks." Don muttered. "Leo, can you get some supplies for her. I have to tell Nati that I'm leaving."
"Sure, come on, April." he went back to his house to get his brother's unexpected traveling partner the things she'll need. April followed hesitantly behind, silently wondering what she had gotten herself into.
He headed back inside. Nati was now out of the back room and was now serving her patients something to eat. Don gently grabbed her hand and guided her away from the dining hall. She looked up at him and noticed the agitated look on his face. "What is wrong, mir'aifa?"
He didn't say anything until he found an empty room to occupy. Don sighed. "Okay, two problems. We found a lead on what might be happening to the lakras and it's in the territory that I'm going to."
Nati nodded, understanding. "That is good, is it not?"
"It is, but if I go there and figure out what's going on that means I'll be away longer."
Nati pressed herself against him. "I understand."
He wrapped his arms around her. "I knew you would, but... I wanted to come back to you as soon as possible."
"Your duty to the people is just as important. I will wait." she said as she reached up and gently caressed his cheek. "Now, what is the other problem?"
Don sighed again. "April is coming with me."
Nati's raised eyebrows was all that was needed for Don to understand what she was saying. "April had some choice words for Beloose and he didn't care for it, so he... suggested that she come with me."
"Punishment?" she asked.
"In a way, yes. Although, it might be more of a punishment for me, not her." he shrugged.
"Well... this could be a good thing."
"How?" he asked.
"This could be your chance to show and explain to her why you will not go back to Earth with her."
Don scratched the back of his head. "...I guess."
"I know you are upset with her right now, but she is your friend. I do not believe she would be acting this way unless she had a reason. Do not be too harsh with her."
Don thought for a moment. "Maybe you're right. But that doesn't make what she said to you okay."
"I understand... and I have let that go. Do not let one mishap ruin your friendship. Talk to her."
"Okay... I will." he wrapped her up in his arms. "I love you. I will be back as soon as I can."
"I know you will. I love you and please be safe."
With a final lingering kiss, he left on his journey with his new travelling partner. He really hoped that things wouldn't get harder for him now that she was tagging along.
Well, I sure hope April doesn't make things worse with her stubbornness.
Well, I know what happens. You have to wait and find out.
