Chapter 3
"Scelerophibia"
Her eyes fluttered open, trying to adjust to just waking up from her unconsciousness. She allowed a groan of pain to escape her lips as she tightly shut her eyes which had not adjusted to the light of the near by fire, trying to rid of herself of the vertigo which plagued her. Slowly, the female turtle forced herself into a sitting position.
Don looked up at the professor before instinctively putting a hand on her shoulder. He looked at her skin in the war glow of the yellowing fire. Without realizing, his fingers massaged her tense, tight shoulder. Her skin was smooth, yet scaly under his touch.
"Thank you," said the female turtle softly still keeping her eyes closed.
"It's no problem," answered Don as softly as she did while he continued to massage her shoulder.
"Don, my boy, it appears that you will not have to worry about finding a way to bring your lady friend home," laughed the professor.
The female terrapin looked up at the source of the voice before letting out a high pitched shriek, causing the professor and Don to jump back in shock. She began to scoot herself backwards, too scared to stand, only to be backed against the metal fence.
"Well, this isn't going as well as I had hoped," said Don, looking up at the professor who just nodded and watched the other turtle.
Not even my own kind would give me any good attention, thought Don as he continued to look up at the professor. He then turned his attention back to the shaking figure whose eyes were wide and face had paled. He was confused as to why she was so scared. He followed her scared look towards the professor.
"What's wrong?" Don asked the female turtle, still confused over what had happened.
"Hu…human," she said as she pointed to the professor.
"Humans?" asked Don, almost not believing what she had said.
Don looked at the professor's shocked look on his face and then back to the scared turtle. His confused expression turned into a soft expression as he made his way over to the young turtle. His eyes showed his concern for her as he knelt down next to her and put a hand upon his shoulder.
"Come on, don't worry. They won't hurt you. They found you and rescued you," said Don, calmly, as if he were talking to a child.
Suddenly, without warning, the female turtle jumped into his arms, crying as she wrapped her arms around the stunned male turtle. Don looked at the girl turtle before giving her a comforting hug. She buried her face into his neck, holding back her sobs from being scared. He placed one hand on her maskless head and stroked it, relishing the feel of her skin beneath his fingers. His eyes closed taking as much as he could in.
"Shh…it's okay. Everything will be okay. I promise, nothing will hurt you," said Don as he slowly soothed the crying girl turtle.
She's so tiny, I almost have to wonder, no, I can't, thought Don, trying not to give in to his inner desires. Attention was all he wanted, some appreciation other than the occasionally 'good job.' If she was his, she could give him the attention that he desired, it would give him someone to talk to and if she could understand him enough, she would be his partner in the lab. He pushed the thoughts out of his head as she began to calm down.
"You don't have to worry about the professor and them, they're good men. They're the ones who found you and tried to do everything they could to save you. They're the reason that I came. I had no idea that you were here," he said trying to get her to trust the humans a little.
She gave him a confused look before looking back over at the human men. Her mind raced as memories of her past flooded into her mind. She shook her head, forcing the memories to scatter, leaving her at peace for a little while. Her eyes went back to the men standing around as she timidly stood up and walked over to them.
"Thank you for saving me," she said timidly, looking down at the ground, unsure what to expect.
"It was no trouble, my dear. I'm just glad to help," said the professor as he placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.
She looked up, almost expecting something horrible to happen but nothing came. She smiled before blushing and turning her head to the side, looking at the ground.
"I…I'm sorry I screamed," she said embarrassed with her earlier actions.
"Do not worry about it. You merely have a horrible case of scelerophibia," laughed the professor.
"The fear of bad men," said Don and the girl turtle at the same time.
Don and the girl turtle turned and looked at each other in shock before smiling at each other as if they knew what the other was thinking. The surprise was suddenly interrupted by a small ringing sound, causing Don to suddenly go through his belt.
"What's up Leo?" asked Don as he answered his shell cell.
"Where are you? Are you okay? Splinter's worried about you," said Leo on the other end.
"I'm still at the junkyard," said Don still looking at the female turtle.
"Everything okay there?" asked Leo.
"Yeah, I found something I think I might bring back as well," said Don not quite sounding normal.
"What? Don, are you okay?" asked Leo, slightly concerned.
"Yeah. I'm fine. I'll explain later," said Don as he hung up, not giving Leo a chance to respond.
God, I was hoping that Calli would have done something for Leo, thought Don as he groaned. He threw his shell cell back into his belt before looking at the shell-cycle. He knew it was big enough to fit two of them if he was careful about it. A smile came over his face.
"Is everything okay?" asked the girl turtle as she looked at Don.
"Yeah, come on, I'll bring you with me. You're not safe here," said Don as he walked up to the girl turtle and the professor.
"But I thought you said they were good men," said the girl turtle, not quite getting what he was saying.
"They are but I mean there are others who aren't. I want to bring you with me to keep you safe, where there are other turtles like us," said Don.
The girl turtle nodded in agreement. She could see his point on that.
"Affirmative," she said.
Don smiled as he walked over to the professor and shook his hand.
"Thank you, Professor, for everything," said Don, feeling that a thank you was not enough.
"My pleasure, my boy. How could I let an extraordinary creature like this young lady die? It was a pleasure helping you, my dear," said the professor as he took the girl turtle's tiny hand.
"I am forever in your debt, sir," she said.
"Call me Professor," he said as he placed his other hand over hers.
"In that case, please, call me Elara," she said.
"Named after the mother of Tityus, the giant," said Don and the Professor.
She nodded slightly.
Don slapped his forehead, realizing that he had never introduced himself to her and here he was about to take her home without knowing her name or her knowing his. He mentally kicked himself for his lack of manners.
"And I'm Donatello, Don or Donny for shot," he said, still kicking himself.
"After the great sculptor of the Statue of David," she said as she smiled.
Don nodded, feeling a little easier.
"We should get going. Come on, I think there should be an extra helmet in the extra compartment somewhere," said Don as he opened up the compartment to the shell-cycle.
He soon dug out another helmet which he handed Elara. She took it with a slight hesitation before watching Don put the helmet on. She watched how it went on before putting it over hear own head. Don checked to make sure the helmet was tight enough before getting onto the shell-cycle, moving up to make sure Elara had enough room for herself to get on. Once she was on, he turned to her.
"Hold on to me tightly. I don't want you to fall off," he said to her through the helmet.
She nodded before putting her arms around him and holding onto him tightly. Since Don was in front, she could not see the content grin he had on his face. Don, you let Calli slip through your fingers to your older brother, don't make the same mistake twice, said Don to himself as he revved the engine to the bike. With that, they were off, ready to bring Elara home, to meet up with the rest of the family.