A Million Miles Apart
A/N: It's new chapter time again! I'm sorry for taking so long to update this time, but I've had a bit of writer's block, and I've also been a bit busy the last few days! And I have some news for you! I have gone back to school now, so I may not be able to update as often as I have lately, just as a heads up. But I will try to update as often as I can, and I am free on Fridays, so I may be able to update on Fridays and weekends, but I can't make any promises. I'll try my best though.
Hope you'll enjoy this chapter and please review, favorite and follow!
Chapter 4, Sneaking towards the city
We walked through the sewers towards the lair, all of us crying. Raph was trying to hold back his tears the best he could, but they still fell down his cheeks in a small stream, and he was ferociously trying to dry his eyes, to no avail. Mikey wasn't even trying to restrain his tears and he was sobbing loudly like a little child. Usually Raph would tease or ridicule him, but right now he just placed his arm around Mikey's shoulders and hugged him close. And I had a real tough time holding back my own tears. I felt them running down my cheeks but I was still trying to stay strong for my younger brothers and be a strong pillar for them to lean against if they needed it. But I felt my chest and heart ache because I was holding back my sadness and my jaw trembled for the same reasons.
When we entered the lair we saw Splinter coming out of the dojo with a concerned and slightly angry expression on his face. He had probably been waiting for us for a long time now. He didn't look as if he was ready to listen to excuses right that second, and he didn't seem to notice that we had entered the lair with tears in our eyes.
"Where have you boys been?! April called me an hour ago and said that she and Casey had returned home by then. She asked if you were okay, but I didn't know where you were!" We looked at each other, except Mikey- who was still sobbing into Raph's shoulder. Raph and I didn't really know what to say to Master Splinter, but I knew we had to say it. I cleared my throat a little, swallowed hard and blinked to get rid of the tears that still wanted to get out of me. But before I could say anything...
"S-sensei..." Mikey's voice was cracking and actually I was kinda happy for it. Splinter looked up at us and when he saw our faces, he angry frown quickly melted in concern and worry and ran up to us. He placed his hand on Mikey's shoulder, looked him over and then turned to me and Raph.
"Boys, what happened?" He then seemed to think of something, looked at me, then Raph and lastly Mikey, and I could almost hear him count in his head. 'One, two and three.' He turned to me with firm, yet scared, eyes.
"Leonardo, what happened? Where is Donatello?" I took a deep, shaky breath and looked Master Splinter straight in the eyes. I wanted to show the pain through my eyes, but I knew I had to tell him too.
"Sensei, Donnie is... g-gone." Splinter's eyes widened, he grabbed my shoulders and looked me straight in the eyes, and I could see that he was terrified as well as slightly angry.
"Gone?! What do you mean, he's gone?" Raph let out a heavy and shaky sigh, pushed past us and sat down on the couch, with Mikey still clinging to his arm, and placed his arm around Mikey's shoulders.
"He was sucked into a Kraang portal, Sensei. One of the Kraang messed up the portal somehow and it backfired. Donnie was shot by one of them and..." Raph paused to take another deep, shaky breath, hugged Mikey a little tighter and closed his eyes tightly, letting his tears squeeze out of his closed eyelids.
"A-and he was sucked through the portal, just before it closed. We couldn't do anything to stop it from happening." Master Splinter paled, stumbled a little and was close to falling to the floor. I grabbed his arms to keep him from falling, led him over to the couch and helped him sit down.
"Donatello... No, my son. My poor, poor boy." I sat down beside him, placed my hand on his shoulder. He, in return, placed his arms around me and hugged me close. Usually I would be shocked since Master Splinter rarely hugged anyone of us, but now I knew that's what he needed, so I hugged him back. Splinter reached out towards Raph and Mikey, who shuffled closer to him, letting our father hold them close.
"Oh, Donnie..." Mikey whimpered into Splinter's fur as he cried. Raph hugged Mikey as well as Splinter, nuzzling his face into the red-brown cloth of Master Splinter's robe. And I leaned my head onto my father's shoulder and tried to stop myself from crying. But I then realized that everybody in the room, even Master Splinter, was crying, so I let go and let myself cry too.
The next day Professor Honeycutt and I sneaked out of the cave and into the woods. The professor had gone on and on about how dangerous it would be to leave the cave, and that the Federation soldiers were most likely to find us when we came to the city Peblak, about a mile away from his hideout. And while I had listened to what he told me, I tried to keep my confidence and the Professor's spirits strong.
"If that does happen and they do find us, I'm sure I could figure out a way for us to fight them or escape! I'm not just trained as a fighter, I've been trained in stealth and adaptability as well, and I don't mean to brag, but I'm pretty smart, too! We'll be just fine." I sounded cocky, I know. But I also knew that this wasn't Earth, and I had no idea how this city looked, worked or what to expect at all. But I couldn't really say that, right?
We travelled through the woods, kept close to each other and never said a word for the longest time. As we went, I looked around and took it all in. The trees were thick, tall and some of them had, instead of leaves, what looked like mushroom-tops, making them look like giant mushrooms. The grass was a dry red-brown and I felt it prick my feet like needles, it was so brittle. But it was the sky that really caught my attention. It was so dark blue it looked almost black and the million stars sparkled in blue, purple, red and white colors; the planets I could see strayed from blue, green, yellow, orange, red and purple. And some of them were so close they looked bigger than the moon back home on Earth! In fact, I wasn't sure if any of these planets were moons, but I knew it was a possibility. Every now and then there was meteor or an asteroid flying by the planet, making the scene look even more beautiful!
"This sure beats the starry night skies back at home!" I mumbled to myself, and meant it. Say what you will about Earth's night skies, but there was rarely anything to see other than stars, a few planets like Venus and Mars and maybe a falling star if you were really lucky. Here, you could see planets much closer and the sight was absolutely breathtaking. Professor Honeycutt looked at me, at the sky and then back at me.
"Mm, yes. It is a beautiful sight, is it not? It is a pity that this planet is as hostile as it is, or I would love to stay here just for the sightseeing alone." I smiled at him and then turned my gaze back toward the sky.
"Oh, I wish my brothers could see this. I bet they'd love it." Just as I had said that I immediately felt a sting of homesickness hit me. I had spent the night with the professor and most of the night I had thought about my brothers, Master Splinter, April and Casey. Were they all alright? Had they been sucked through the portal too but landed someplace else? Did they miss me at all? But then again, if they were all home safe and sound, they were probably happy I was gone. Nobody at home to mess things up, or whine and complain about things. No, they were probably relieved at my indefinite absence.
I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked back at the professor. He pulled me behind a big rock and placed his finger over his robotic mouth.
"Shh! Federation patrols are heading this way!" He whispered. We stayed behind the rock, as quiet as possible. After a few seconds I heard them, too; voices, yelling and shouting orders, heavy footsteps running this way, and then I saw them. Ten guys, dressed in dark green military overalls, helmets and boots, all carrying guns. What really caught my attention though was the fact that they looked almost exactly like humans! I'm not even kidding, there was little to no difference from these guys and most humans back on Earth! Conclusion? I have no of idea. One of them, who I assumed was their leader, turned to the rest of the men with a serious expression.
"Now, listen up, men! The fugitoid has left its hiding place, and General Blanque says it is around here somewhere! Spread out, look everywhere and find it! It is alone, so it shouldn't hard to find! Locate it, but do not harm it! I repeat, do not harm it!" It? Wow, that was almost worse than being called a freak. At least 'freak' acknowledges that you're a living creature, and not a dead, emotionless tin can.
The soldiers all spread out in the area, and three of the men came towards us. I pushed the Professor further behind the rock and placed my finger over my mouth, silently telling him to be quiet.
I moved closer to the men approaching us, placed my hand on my newly made bō staff, and prepared myself for a battle. Then, when they were only a few feet away from me, I struck. I swung the staff across one of the guys' heads, knocking him immediately unconscious. And just as the other two guys noticed what happened to their comrade, I swiped one of them off his feet, and then kicked him square in the chest, knocking him out as well. But the third one had backed away from the rock, and now he saw me. He turned to the other soldiers. I moved quickly, and before he could yell back to his comrades, I punched him in the back of his head, knocking him out as well. I quickly got behind the rock again and turned to the Professor.
"Are you alright, Professor?" The robot nodded and looked at me with (I guess) surprise and awe. He placed his hand on my shoulder and leaned close to me so I could hear him better.
"I say, however did you learn those marvellous fighting techniques?" I smiled smugly at him with a raised eyebrow, grabbed him arm and removed his hand from my shoulder.
"Oh, believe me, you ain't seen nothing yet! Now come on, we have to keep moving or the other soldiers will find us!" With that said, I pulled the Professor along with me and we ran through the woods, sticking to the shadows and the trees so we would have some place to hide, should something or someone catch onto our trail. Fortunately no one did find us, but we saw soldiers running around in the woods. And whenever they were seen, we jumped in behind some thick trees, under the roots or under big rocks.
"I am impressed, Donatello. It's like you are shadow; you move just like one." I smirked in pride and looked over at the Professor, who was nothing short of impressed.
"That's the idea. I've been trained to stick to the shadows all my life, and also to able to sneak around undetected by anyone. And if you think my stealth is impressive, wait till you see me in a real fight. Now that's a show." I made sure to keep my voice down, but I couldn't help but feel proud. Somebody was finally giving me compliments for something else than my brains! And it wasn't just any kind of compliment; it was a compliment for my ninja skills! I couldn't remember the last time that had happened. I was usually teased or made fun of, since I was the least skilled ninja of the family. It wasn't exactly a secret; everybody knew it, even Master Splinter.
Before I could start thinking about my family even more, I heard my soldiers running by, only a few feet away from our current hiding place. I grabbed the Professor by the arm, dragged him over to a huge tree with big, thick roots and we dove in under them. After a few minutes of no sound except people running, I heard voices.
"It must be around here somewhere! The trackers indicate it is in these woods, so it must be here! Find it, but do not harm it! General Blanque wants it unharmed, so I repeat, do not harm it!" 'Yeah, yeah. Search for him all you want.' I thought to myself. 'You'll never find him anyway.' After another few minutes, we couldn't hear the soldiers anymore so we climbed out from underneath the roots and started to run again.
After about an hour, I saw a big city getting closer as the forest got more and more sparse. I turned to the Professor, who still had a tight grip on my hand, even though I had let go of his arm by now. I guess he still held onto to me so he could keep up with me.
"Is that Peblak, Professor? The city you were talking about?" Professor Honeycutt nodded and pointed towards the city.
"Yes, that is Peblak. Once we get there, we'll have to find a spaceship, or somebody who can get us off the planet. And that means we have to find smugglers. But for now, let us go into the city!" I nodded to him and we started to move down the hills and towards the city.
A/N: Done! I hope the scene with the family grieving wasn't too sappy, but I thought that would be the reaction of a family who's lost a brother and a son. And we see our first glimpse of the Federation. I figured that since they looked like humans in the 2k3 cartoon, I would do the same here.
I hope you enjoyed the chapter and please review, favorite and follow! G'night everybody!