So this chapter was really hard to edit because Katt B. wrote it when she was sick. For some reason when she gets a cold, her fingers don't keep up to well with her brain and her brain doesn't stay too well on the train of thought. Lol!

Please review! All advice, suggestions, and critiques are welcome!

-Ravyne

**DISCLAIMER: WE DO NOT OWN TMNT**

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Strike of the Dragon

PART 2

12

3-6.2: "Raph"

Another branch comes flying towards him but Raph ducks just in time, abandoning Mikey to face the incoming slap.

"Ow!"

Raph chuckles under his breath as his younger brother falls backwards to the ground.

"Dude, that was rude," Venus glares, taking a step up behind Mikey to help him back to his feet.

"And you're crude," Raph shoots back.

"If you both don't stop right now, you're going to be screwed," Venn warns from the front of the group.

"You just got chewed!" Mikey adds with a cheer.

"Ugh, you people are so prude," Donnie rolls his eyes.

"Stop it!" Casey whines, grabbing his ears.

They come to the planned clearing and Raph's eyes find her immediately. Ryu stands atop a giant boulder, eyes closed and hands outstretched casually to her sides with her palms up. She's practically glowing from her power, rocks of smaller sizes floating around her in a circle as she stretches it through the air towards them.

"Leo, I hope this spot is okay?" Venn asks as he drops the bag next to his feet.

"Works fine for me, everyone start stretching," Leo calls out. They all spread out to do just that before their training session begins; Raph sitting down next to Mikey a few paces away from Venn and Venus.

"Go over there and get her down," Venn whispers under his breath to her, just loud enough to Raph to catch his words.

"No way," Venus argues, "I'm not becoming a pawn in her drama. I don't know if you've noticed, but she's been acting weird lately."

"Yes, I have thank you, but right now she needs to put it aside. We have a job to do."

"And you need to understand that when Ryu starts acting weird, it's best to keep your distance until she sorts it out. Besides…" Venus trails off as she glances over at Ryu's still form on the boulder, "This 'weird' streak…is probably going to last longer than a tantrum."

Venn follows her gaze, "What do you mean?"

"Remember that night…when we had taken out that alien that had tried to come across as April's mom?"

"Obviously," Venn rolls his eyes, "Ryu had changed and you had to stop her. What of it?"

"Afterwards, when she said she needed to be alone and went outside to take a breather…well…" Venus lowers her eyes to the ground, fiddling with a piece of grass between her fingers.

Raph watches the deep confusion play out on the girl's face as Venn grips her shoulder gently.

"Tell me, Venus," he asks.

"I don't know, maybe I'm just being paranoid."

"You're ruled by the wind element, Venus, so you know when a change happens. That's not paranoia."

Venus sighs and glances back at Ryu, "When she came back in, something seemed different about her; something off. Something dark was there, attached to her almost."

"By attached, do you mean-?"

"I mean attached," Venus stops him, "Like a parasite; it was small but still there."

Raph's gaze shifts to Ryu worriedly. He has noticed that she's been acting weird lately, but he's sure it's just because of his crazy move back in the dream world. The memory suddenly makes the back of his neck warm and he stands up hastily to his feet, "Enough stretching! Let's train already!"

He hates this feeling. Nervous, unsure, wobbly. It's driving him nuts. He's not sure how to handle it at all.

"Alight, Raph, chill," Leo chuckles, "You and Donnie are up first."

And so it began, all of them taking turns to spar one-on-one and then in double teams until on Donnie and Casey were the last ones who hadn't fought each other.

"Just watch and learn, Red. I'll show you how a real man fights," Casey smirks as he draws out a hockey stick from across his back.

"If she's going to learn from anyone, it's going to be from a real ninja," Donnie argues.

Their weapons move, clashing against each other with a loud clack. Across the clearing, Ryu's finger twitches and a floating stone to her left toddles a bit in mid-air.

There's another loud clack.

"Just face it, Donnie, I'm better when it comes to fighting with a stick and you know it," Casey laughs.

"Sure you are," Donnie agrees sarcastically with a roll of his eyes, "Against weaklings like the purple dragons maybe."

Casey swings his hockey stick with an angry shout and Donnie blocks it easily. Clack!

"I've taken down way bigger than those small fry since then and you know it! Me and April have been sparring a lot too," Casey pauses to smirk at the turtle, "All that alone time together…I've hardly seen her around you at all."

Ryu's jaw locks as her teeth clench tightly. The boulders she's balancing in the air all burst into dust and float to the ground in a fine, dry mist. Everyone jumps at the explosion, flinching back a few paces.

The wind picks up in a quick gust, blowing Ryu's hair up from its place tied on her left shoulder and flipping it up in front of her face as she spins around to face them. Her eyes are almost glowing from her anger, a slight tremor rushing under the earth below their feet. Her chest rises and falls quickly in frustration as her lips part.

"You know, I change my mind. I'm in the ring next," Ryu lifts her hand to point a finger directly at Casey nearly ten feet away, "I want to fight the wannabe."

"Wannabe?!" Casey yelps, the tip of his hockey stick hitting the ground.

Ryu drops her hand, glowering down at the younger kid, and she continues as if he hadn't spoken, "Someone needs to put your mouth back in its place."

Casey growls under his breath and drops his mask over his face, lifting his stick into both hands as he takes a stance.

"Let's see what you're really made of, child," Ryu's glare narrows as she drops to the ground. The second her feet hit the ground, she pushes out her power and it rumbles out across the area, tearing up the ground in a perfect circle between them all. The circle caves in, all the loose ground crumbling to dust to the bottom of a shallow pit, but five columns of rock are left standing in the wake—four in a circle with the final one in the center.

Venn and Venus share a look before he pulls out the canister of water he had brought with him from the house and digs out a piece of ice from inside. He taps the ice on the side of his gun that he pulls from his belt and the metal begins to glow a frosty blue as it starts to mutate. When it finishes, the metal is a neon blue, the barrel is longer and narrows almost to a point like an icicle, and the hammer is morphed like a snowflake. Taking aim, Venn blasts the single bullet at the bottom of the hole.

Frosty wind and fog explode into the air, making them all cover their faces quickly against the blast, but when it fades they find the entire hole filled with solid ice.

Ryu taps the toe of her boot on the ground behind her as she glares over the icy surface at Casey, "I'll make this easy for you. We'll play on your turf."

"Don't do me any favors," Casey growls.

"You want me to use my powers?" she asks, raising an eyebrow.

Casey's glare shifts to thought, "Uh…"

"Didn't think so," Ryu steps back so that she's situated in a sideways stance on top of one of the lone stepping stones in the middle of the ice and folds her hands leisurely behind her back. "Let's see what you've got, puck-head."

Casey pops out the blades on the bottom of his shoes, catching everyone off guard since they all thought he just had roller blades, and he flashes across the ice in a blur, "Bring it!"

Ryu narrows her eyes and takes a deep, centering breath, feeling herself slow down and focus; entering her battle-mode is getting easier and easier ever since her run-in with the 'Finger'. Donnie had explained to her that she had seemed different when she had faced him. And, of course, Ryu doesn't remember any of it.

The second her heart slows a beat below normal, her power stirs and reaches out towards her, but she calms it back. This battle she wouldn't use it. It's not like she'll need it anyway.

The corner of her mouth twitches as Casey swings his stick down on her head. She takes a step to the side and it hits the center of the earth stepping stone in the ice, not two inches from her toes.

"What the-?!" Casey starts to exclaim, but Ryu kicks him in the rear unhurriedly and he goes head first into the ice.

"Ryu!" April scoffs.

Ryu shifts a sideways glare at the red head, making the younger girl flinch, before turning back to the boy climbing up off the ground. He swings his fist at her legs and she leaps back out of the way, landing on the next rock platform nearby to wait for his next attack. This time instead of wasting energy to breathe, she simply stuffs her hands into her pockets and waits him out, trying not to roll her eyes at his slow speed. This time, instead of side stepping his overhead attack, Ryu leaps up to dodge his low swing at her ankles and flips over him; her hands grip his shoulders as she goes and she twists him backward. With a grunt, Ryu pulls him up and flips him backward over her head, slamming his back heavily onto the icy surface of the battle ground.

Casey cries out as the ice cracks under him and curls up on his side against the onslaught of the attack.

April shouts for the fight to stop and pushes past Ryu to rush to Casey's side. Ryu glares down at the red head who comforts the adolescent. "What is wrong with you, Ryu?!" April yells at the older girl, "Why are you acting out like this all of a sudden?!"

Ryu narrows her eyes, feeling her anger stir her power, but she holds back her true words and gives April the only thing she deserves, "Go find a mirror."

Venn leans against the porch railing, staring out at the barn with a hard look in his eyes. Beside him on the steps, Venus is busy tearing into yet another lollypop—making it her fifth one today.

"Venn, stop worrying about every little thing," Venus mumbles around her mouthful of candy.

He sighs and glares down at her, "If I don't, who will? Certainly not you; you couldn't care less about anything. And Ryu certainly won't because she's too stubborn to think half the time before she acts."

As if she hadn't even heard him speak, Venus continues, "Ryu will be fine. You know she gets like this sometimes. She'll come down off her high cloud and if she don't then I'll kick her ass down off it myself."

Venn bites back the words that had started to fill his mouth the second his mind registers her words. Off her high cloud…These recent actions don't seem like a high cloud, Venn thinks, his eyes drifting back over to the barn where Ryu had disappeared to not an hour before. Maybe this isn't a high cloud…but who's to say…that we will be able to get her down off it?

"Raph!"

The turtle jumps from his place by the front door, a post he'd taken to eavesdrop on the two on the front porch, and spins around as April comes stomping out of the kitchen.

"I called for dinner ten minutes ago," the red-head complains, "Can you please go get your brothers inside now?"

Raph rolls his eyes and heads out the front door, trying his best to seem like he hadn't been eavesdropping in on their conversation as he passes between Venus and Venn on the porch. Leo and Mickey are sparing in the yard—if you call Leo continuously dropping his younger brother to the ground over and over again sparing. He calls them in before heading into the barn where Donnie and Casey are working on their hunk of junk junkyard car.

"April is calling us in for dinner," Raph tells them, cutting off their argument about something he really doesn't care to know about. Casey jumps up off the floor under the car and he shoves his hands into the pocket of his sweatshirt as he stomps out of the barn; Donnie follows behind a bit slower in a similar mood.

Hesitantly, Raph shifts his gaze over to the other side of the room where Ryu sits at her desk silently. Her whole body is stiff, leaning onto the table top and staring intently at the flickering computer screen. Just do it, Raph, he tells himself, Just go!

Before his mind can catch up with his feet, Raph goes to her side and pulls out a small work stool to sit beside her, "Hey."

"Hi," Ryu answers without looking up at him.

Her answer is too short, too cut off. His eyes narrow worriedly, "So…what's up?"

"The floor."

"Okay, Ryu, spill. What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Sewer apples!"

Ryu jumps as he leaps up.

"I know there's something going on. I've overheard your friends talking about it. They know you better than your own family or do you even consider us that?"

The words hit her in the chest like a brick, knocking the breath right out of her; turning her blood cold. Her eyes shift up from the table to meet his, "That's not-."

"True?" Raph cuts her off. "Then prove us wrong."

Ryu leaps to her feet and turns on him, "You know, for someone who is supposedly 'family', you sure are being dictatorial."

Raph faces her challenge, putting his face close to hers, "Well, someone's got to be with you."

They both blink and pull away from each other.

"Uh," Raph mumbles, scratching his head as a hint of red tinges his face, "W-what I meant…is…I-I mean…I….uh…"

Ryu blinks, swallowing heavily, Someone's…got to…be with… She's unable to even finish the words in her thoughts. They just seemed too…

Raph abruptly turns away and heads for the door, "Just get inside or we're eating without you." For a second, she remains frozen in place, unable to move. Her heart hammers in her ears like thunder from a storm, which is exactly what her insides feel like at the moment. Her knees are shaking to the point of almost dropping her back into her chair….but she doesn't allow it.

Ryu pushes her chair out of her way and races off after him; he's halfway across the yard when she sees him from her place in the barn doorway. His head is lowered, eyes obviously to the ground, fists tightened at his sides. A smile pulls at her face.

Her body pulls her forward into a breathless race across the lawn, picking up speed with each step. Her hand reaches out, fingers trembling in hesitation. She's not even sure what she's doing. She just knows that she had a strong urge to hold his hand, to apologize for everything she's said and done. Ryu's fingers come mere inches from his wrist…a few centimeters…

MINA!

That same voice, the unknown scream, slams into her soul, pierces her ears, shudders her heart to a quivering halt. She spins on her heel, breathing laboriously, and scans the yard behind her for the source. Only shifting blades of grass in the wind move to create a soft whisper, but nothing more.

Her eyes narrow suspiciously, Where is that voice coming from?! Who is it?!

"Ryu?"

She jumps and spins back around. Raph gazes back at her worriedly.

"What's wrong?"

Ryu just stares at him for a moment, then looks back expecting to find the one who spoke so loudly before, "N…nothing…I-I'm…um…"

"Ryu?"

She turns back to him, pausing, but smiles weakly shaking her head, "N-no, nothing. I'm fine."

Raph's worry doesn't leave his face for a long moment but then he reaches out and lets a small smile pull at the corner of his mouth, "Come on."

Ryu's chest fills with warmth out of nowhere when he holds out his hand to her; she gazes down at his palm and then glances up into those intense green eyes. The wind swirls her hair as she smiles back and takes his offered hand.

They walk slowly back to the house. Side by side.

Ryu can't help but stare down at their hands, so different, so many worlds apart, and yet the only thing she can seem to think is, Warm, safe…home.

Author's Note:

Here's a layout of the text affects again:

Italics-any words in this affect are personal Thoughts or Sounds.

Bold-any words in this affect are Computer Messages/Text Messages.

"Bold"-any words in this affect inside quotation marks are Computer Voices.

"Italics"-any words in this affect inside quotation marks are Past words/Emphasizing.

"Bold/Italics"-any words in this dual affect inside quotation marks are Past Computer Messages/Past Text Messages.

Bold/Italics-any words in this dual affect are Voice of the Earth.

Italics/Underlined-any words in this dual affect are Voice of the Spirit Guides.

Bold Underlined-any words in this dual affect are an Unknown Voice.

Please let me know what y'all think so far! All reviews and advice are welcome! We love hearing from you guys. :)

-Ravyne