M'ou igamo Donatello= My name is Donatello

Eso deska?= How are you?

Suya butil= Be nice

Noyaloko= Stay alert


Chapter 14

Another day had passed and they had only made it half way through Lullin Territory. April hardly said anything since the incident with the poisoning and Don was starting to get really worried about her. He tried to get her to speak up, but she just wouldn't. He figured that maybe she just needed some time to process things. "Let's set up camp."

April sat down on her mat, still not saying anything. Don sighed. "Do you want to talk about it or not?"

April shook her head. "Not really, no."

"Well, we should talk about it at some point. We're going to be travelling for a little bit more so if there's any problems, I need to know."

"I already said I was sorry."

"Yeah, but you never said what you were sorry for."

"...You almost died because of me." she said as she felt her eyes begin to well up.

Don had a feeling that was part of the problem. "You don't have to worry about that. You made up for it by saving me."

"But it's like you said. It wouldn't have happened in the first place had I just listened to you. That's what you've been trying to tell me these last few days and... I just wouldn't listen." she wrapped her arms around her shaking body as she cried silently.

Don sighed, he never wanted to see her like this. He never wanted them to argue. He rubbed the back of his head. "Well, I haven't really been listening to you either lately." Don said in an effort to make her feel better.

"And I don't blame you. It's like you said, I've been acting out. I wasn't being a very good friend. I was so desperate to bring you back to Earth that I almost ended up losing you altogether." she said as she wiped her tears away. "I'm sorry, I'll be better. I promise."

Don didn't say anything at first. Instead he grabbed her blanket and draped it over April's shoulders. "I appreciate that. I really do, but I know there's more to this. I don't want to fight with you anymore. So I'm, essentially, gonna ask you the same thing I've been asking since you got here. What exactly made you react the way you did? What did I do? You've never done things like this before so there has to be a reason."

April let out a shaky breath. "There wasn't a good reason for how I've been acting."

"Fine, but what was your reason?"

"I... just missed you." she sniffled. "You and your brothers have been gone for two years and we never heard from you. Even though you had the ability to come and tell us where you were... you didn't. I thought something happened to you guys and when I saw you, I was just so excited to bring you home. When you told me you didn't want to go home, then that hurt even more."

Don couldn't stop himself from letting out another sigh. He knew there was something else going on and he was partially to blame. "I guess we both haven't been very good friends lately huh."

April laughed a little at that. "Yeah, I guess not."

"I'm sorry too, April. I never wanted things to end up like this."

"I know."

"Forgive me?" Don asked.

"Only if you forgive me."

"Deal." Don held out his arms to her, waiting for a hug. Which she returned without any hesitation.

She wiped the rest of her tears away and smiled up at her friend. Friendship restored, Don stood up to head out and get something for them to eat. As soon as he left, April let out a relieved sigh and looked over to Luna who responded by growling at her. Startled, April looked back at the fire. Right, she's still isn't very fond of me.


Don had woken up early as he usually did. Only this time, he didn't wake up annoyed. He looked over to April and decided to let her sleep in for a bit. He stayed curled up to his furry friend and was about to drift off back to sleep when he felt that something was off again. He stayed still, waiting for anything to happen. That's when he felt it, a presence nearby.

He didn't want to immediately jump to conclusions or anything because it just could've been an overzealous villager straying out too far. He hoped that that was all it was. Unfortunately, that was not the case. He snatched up his bow and using the wooden lower limb, he blocked the oncoming projectile that was dangerously close to hitting Luna and readied his arrow in the direction it came from. He studied his surroundings thoroughly waiting for any sign of movement. The sudden jolt woke Luna up and seeing Don on high alert made her do the same.

A shadow sprinted through the forest, using the early morning sunrise to their advantage as best they can. He fired his arrow, but the shadow managed to get away with the arrow just missing him and hitting a tree. "Calm down, Luna. They're gone." Whatever sleepiness he felt before was now gone.

April woke soon after, hearing the rukus. "What's going on?" she asked, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. When she saw an irritated Don inspecting his bow, his focus on the dart sticking out of it. "What happened?"

"Someone tried to get the jump on us."

"Were they after you?"

"No." he said, pulling the dart out of his bow. They looked like the ones that Mikey had brought home, so it had to be for Luna. "I think they were aiming for Luna. Just like back home, the lakras are the target." a look of concern crossed his face. "We're going to need to be on high alert from now on. Especially at night when we make camp." She nodded her head, understanding. "That goes double for you." he pointed in Luna's direction. Luna agreed with a chuff. "Let's get moving. I want to be in Azbani Territory as soon as possible. I'll feel a lot better." Without question April wrapped up her mat and blanket and got ready to leave.

They spent some of the day in an uneasy silence since the attempted ambush. April could tell that Don was really on edge. She looked around, trying to come up with something to talk about to try and get his mind off of it. Her eyes happened to land on the lantern he was holding. She remembered that it wasn't like any ordinary oil lantern. This used some sort of glowing rocks. She was curious about it. In fact, she was curious about a lot of things here. She figured she would ask about that first. "Hey Don, what's up with that lantern of yours?"

"Hm?" her question seemed to snap him out of the funk he was in. He looked down at the lantern in his hand. "Oh, they don't use fire and oil here. They use something called pa'a fui, which means sun stones in Avati." he explained to her. "Sun stones absorb light throughout the day and by the time night falls they'll have absorbed enough to stay lit all night. They found it to be much easier than the oil lanterns that they used to use."

"So they don't use them at all anymore?" April asked, interested.

"Well, they do. Just for certain situations. Like when a couple gets married, at the end of the ceremony, the couple and all of the villagers release floating lanterns into the sky."

And that was the start of how April began asking about Don's Verterran knowledge. All day April asked whatever question came to mind. "So, you learned their entire language?" she asked.

"Yeah." Don said, almost embarrassed. "I learned to read, write, and speak it fairly quickly. Leo did too. Mikey and Raph... not as quick, but they do know some things."

April shrugged. "Say something."

Not fazed by being put on the spot, he quickly said one of the basic sentences that he learned when he and his brothers decided to stay here. "M'ou igamo Donatello. Eso deska?"

April processed what she heard for a moment then took a guess to what he said. "Hi Donatello. I'm doing okay."

Don looked to her, almost surprised. "You figured that out pretty quick."

She shrugged. "I assumed you were just telling me your name and I heard the other phrase a lot when I waited in the infirmary for you guys. I just used context clues."

Don chuckled, his nerves melting away... temporarily, at least. He still had to keep his guard up. Nightfall came and the questions kept coming. "What are these little bugs that come out every night?"

"Those are the Tashin."

"Oh, these are the Tashin?" she asked.

Don nodded as he ate. "Tashin means spirit guides. When someone dies, they guide the spirit back to the goddess of the territory."

"The tree?" she asked, still understandably skeptical.

"Right. The tree."

April stared up at the night sky, watching the Tashin. "Do you really believe in deities like that?"

"Yeah, now, because I've literally seen them."

"You have?"

"Yeah, it's part of becoming a guardian. We had to travel to all four territories, meet the king and queen there to make sure they remember who we are. Then we go and meet the goddess of the territory. I guess you can consider it a rite of passage." he half shrugged.

"But... how? How do you go and just meet a higher being like a goddess?"

"Easy really. I'll show you when we get to Azbani Territory."

"That'll be interesting." she said.

Then the next morning she continued. "... so, a guardian, huh?"

"Yeah, you have to be chosen by one of the goddess' in order to become one, though."

"How do you know when you've been chosen?"

"Then you'll be given their gift of sight and speech. Not everyone can receive the goddess' gifts though. You have to earn it. If they decide that they don't like or trust you, then they'll kill you."

April's eyes widened a bit. "Bit excessive."

"Sure, but it keeps genuinely bad people away from them. If you're anything like Kai and his people. I'd say it's pretty justified considering what they've done." he said nonchalantly. "I mean, he killed children and infants just for the fun of it. They don't get sympathy from me."

Although, she wasn't a fan of Don's nonchalant attitude towards death and killing, she had to at least agree with that. Someone like him doesn't deserve sympathy. "So as a guardian, you are dedicated to protecting the villagers and, I guess...royalty."

Don nodded. "It's basically what we were doing back on Earth except now there's just a title attached to it." Don paused for a second. "Although, there are other names that we have amassed while being here."

"Like what?"

"Rowandi, which means shadow hero. The villagers call us this often... and then there's Makandi, which means shadow beasts. Both names were given because of our ninja training and preference of staying in the shadows."

"Shadow beasts." April stated.

"Yeah, there was a time when objects would go missing in the dead of night. No one knew the reason and no one knew where anything was disappearing to. Since this was a time when they were a bit too lax when it came to locking their doors, they just chalked it up to an animal coming in and taking things. During that time, the villagers started calling whatever it was a makandi."

"That's an... interesting choice of a name for you."

"Yeah, but honestly, I kinda like the name. I mean, come on, shadow beast sounds pretty cool. So does shadow hero for that matter." April responded with a snicker. "But the issue is the word Makandi is a bit of a retired term since the original makandi probably isn't around anymore and people have learned to lock their doors and windows at night. The villagers came up with the new word for us, Rowandi, and that's what they've called us ever since. The only people who still use the term Makandi are Kai's men."

"But you've never stolen anything."

"To them, they think that we've stolen the throne from the 'rightful king'" Don answered. "They're the only ones that use the term anymore which makes it easy to tell who they are affiliated with. They're pretty scared of us though. Our fighting style is something that they aren't used to and our way of sensing when someone is nearby even without the goddess' sight tends to freak them out."

"I can imagine."

"Makandi ne sali toma. The Makandi knows all. Bit of an exaggeration, but if it intimidates them then let them believe in the mythos that is the makandi, I guess."

And while they were setting up for the night April stared out at the vast land in front of her. She couldn't help but be pretty entranced by it all. One thing was a constant, no matter where they were they could see black mountains. There was something ominous about them, especially at night. "What about those mountains over there?"

Don looked up from what he was doing. "That's Lakra Summit." April looked back and stared at Luna. "People say that a long time ago the lakras lived on those mountains and practically dominated. People would climb those mountains, trying to cross to another territory, but they very rarely made it. People assumed that they were eaten alive, or that they died because of how difficult and treacherous the climb is on your own. There were only a few people that made it though with the help of the lakras. From then on, they would tell their stories, actively discouraging people from climbing the mountain... at least on their own. How the lakra helped them when they were on the brink of death."

"So now the lakra live down here?"

"Yeah, some still roam around up there, I'm sure, but a lot of them came down here once the people realized that they weren't really all that dangerous."

"So how did they know that they could befriend them like you do?"

"One of those people that survived climbing the mountain was a vao himself and he was the first person to make the lakra that saved him his companion for life."

"So how long would it have taken us to get to our destination if we went through those mountains?" she asked.

"About two to three days I've been told and that's only with help from a lakra. With their speed and stamina, they're the only ones that can easily get through there without any issue."

As Don poked at the freshly lit fire with a branch. "Hey Don, what do you love most about Nati?"

Don flinched slightly before he tossed the branch into the fire. He sat down as he thought and a small smile spread across his face. "Everything. I love everything about her. Her caring nature, her kindness, her smile, her scent, even the way she clings to me when she's nervous or scared. Makes me want to protect her even more."

Listening to her friend talk so adamantly about his love made her happy. At least she now knew how he truly felt. Even if it did make her a little sad at the same time.


April's questions really made time go by and after a few days had passed, they made it to the edge of Lullin Territory without any issue. The attacker never made an appearance again after that first attempt which Don was both grateful and nervous about. He did try his best not to worry about it too much though.

Once they crossed over the edge of Lullin Territory it became mildly cooler. They were finally and officially out of Lullin and April couldn't be happier. "Finally, the heat was starting to get to me. How do people live there?"

Don chuckled. "Your guess is as good as mine. Some people just like warmer areas more than other places. Luckily for us though the area between Lullin and Azbani are well known for their hot springs."

April gave an overexaggerated gasp. "Does this mean I get to bathe?"

Don smiled and nodded. "Yes, you get to bathe." he turned to the lakra sitting behind him. "Go with her." Luna expressed her discontent by growling at her. Don pat her on the head. "She's good now, remember. Suya butil. Noyaloko."

She huffed, still showing her distrust for the red-haired human, but reluctantly began walking toward the hot springs. "Go with her. She'll keep a look out."

"You sure? She still seems to hate me." she asked a little nervous.

"Yeah, she'll do it for me. She may not like it, but she'll do it."

April nodded and followed the furried beast into the woods. While that was happening, Don got camp ready. He collected food and got ready to start another fire. He had just placed some firewood and stone on the ground when he heard a loud roar coming from the direction of the hot springs. He hoped that it wasn't Luna. It could've been possible that there was another lakra roaming nearby. He dropped what he was doing and went to check it out.

When he got there, all he saw was steam from the springs. It made it difficult to see anything that was going on. He proceeded quickly, but with as much caution as he could. He could hear a commotion off to his left and headed toward that direction. He saw April hiding herself under the water while Luna had someone pinned down, giving them an icy glare. "April, what happened?" he asked.

"Luna heard something and attacked them. I couldn't see who or what it was."

He walked over to where Luna had someone pinned down. It was Watamu. "It's you again." Don said.

"Y-yes." he stated nervously.

Don told Luna to back down and she did, hesitantly, still keeping a close eye on the stranger. "We keep meeting up like this. Are you okay?" he asked, helping him up.

"Yes, I am fine." he stood and brushed himself off.

"What are you doing out here?"

"I was hoping to get a quick bath in after being in Lullin." he nervously scratched his head.

"Right, of course." he said. "Well, my friend kinda got here first. So, you can hang out with me until she's done."

"Oh no, I do not wish to intrude on a vao's journey."

Don waved that off. "It's no problem. We were just setting up camp anyway. You can stay with us for now." he couldn't quite put his finger on it, but there was something about this guy that Don just didn't fully trust. If Don was right in his assumption, then the last thing he needed was to leave him alone with April and Luna.

Watamu seemed to think about it before finally agreeing. "Alright, I will." he calmly walked alongside him back toward their temporary camp.

Once they disappeared back through the steam, April looked to the lakra sitting next to the spring she was in. She reached down to pet the lakra on head. Luna glared back at her. "I know you hate me, but thanks." she only looked away and huffed in response to that.


A little while later after April had finished her bath and changed into her other set of clothes. Avery had given her some leggings and a short vest with a white flower woven into it. She came back to sit by the fire. "Hey, didn't you say you were looking to get a quick bath in?" Don asked.

"Oh yes, I did, but I changed my mind. Why get myself clean when I have another few days left in my hike."

Don shrugged. "Alright, fair enough."

April couldn't help but notice Don's stiffness now that Watamu had shown himself. "So Watamu, how's your trip been going so far?" she asked.

"Oh, not so great, I have had many obstacles in my way. I am surprised I made it this far." he said with a chuckle.

Don looked him over again. "Are you sure you want to keep taking this route? It's not too late to change your mind and take the safer route."

"At this point, I am committed. I wish to get to Arazue's cave as soon as possible."

"I understand that, but if you're struggling as much as you claim then maybe you need to focus on safety rather than speed."

Watamu had to keep the sneer from crossing face. He dares insult me like that. "I will be fine, mak-" Watamu stopped himself mid word.

Don noticed that he had stopped himself and side eyed him. "What?"

"Nothing. It was nothing. I will be fine." Watamu said quickly.

"Mmm... okay. Maybe we should all turn in for the night. I'll keep first watch." Don offered immediately.

"Oh, I could keep watch if you'd like." Watamu offered.

"Nah, don't worry, I got it. I was made for things like this."

April rolled out her mat and blanket, now skeptical of the man as well. Watamu laid himself down on the ground and tried to pretend to go to sleep. Hoping that Don would let his guard down and fall asleep as well. He severely underestimated Don in that regard.


Watamu woke up the next day. It looked to be about high noon by that point. He sat up feeling sluggish. He blinked away the sleepiness and looked around him. He was alone. They had left him here and he missed his chance to strike. Knowing that he wasn't going to be able to catch up right away, he punched the ground in a small fit of rage. He had to come up with a different plan of attack now.


Well, April and Don made up just in time for another problem to arrive. Sorry if this seems a bit exposition heavy.