Chapter 6-Shelter and Forgiveness
The acolytes had been walking for the past 15 minutes; Donnie was walking with scratches on his body, whilst helping Leo walk after he began to feel dizzy due to blood loss from his leg wound, and a bruised up Raph was still helping a tired-looking Mikey who remained quiet since they left the forest. The others, on the other hand, had aching muscles as well as small cuts and bruises all over their bodies, so they too walked at a slower pace.
"Hey, look over there!" Adam said before pointing at something far in front of him.
Everyone followed in the direction that Adam was pointing at and their eyes widened; just over a mile away they saw a tall castle-like watchtower that seemed to have a few bricks missing but still looked sturdy and secure enough to live in, and next to it was a well and a log storage area for supplying and storing wooden logs to be used for creating a warm fire inside the tower.
"It's perfect! Good job, Adam!" Donnie complimented his friend with a relieved smile, which Adam returned.
"Yes, we can even keep a lookout for enemies whilst we rest," Faragi said in agreement.
"Then, let us go inside and settle in before it gets dark," Master Splinter said before heading towards the old building with everyone else following him from behind.
Once they got inside after gathering some of the logs from the storage area outside, the acolytes went upstairs from the entrance to the first floor that's halfway up the tower, where they found a seating area with a fire pit in the middle of the room.
After getting a fire started, everyone took a seat around the pit and began to treat their wounds using the water from the well, which was found to be working still, and clean bandages that Donnie had on hand and what they found leftover in the tower.
With everyone patched up, they sat in silence for a moment to take in what had happened during the mission so far whilst drinking some herbal tea that Master Splinter provided for everyone before Raph turned to Mikey.
"Hey, Mike…I want ta apologise ta ya fa making everyone put the full blame on ya fa what happened ta us earlier. I was stubborn and I let my anger do all da talking instead of taking da blame, and I never should've yelled at ya and told ya dat ya not my brother anymore, cos dat was uncalled for..." He said with an apologetic look on his face.
"It's ok, Raph…trust me; you had every right to say what you said back there…I shouldn't have let my cockiness and overconfidence get the better of me. Besides, I doubt anyone would want a mess-everything-up goofball like me as a brother anyway…" Mikey said sadly before he looked down from looking at Raph to hide the developing tears in his eyes.
"That's not true, little brother, you're a fun and great person to be with. We never should have ganged up on you like that, and I'm sorry for my part in the argument as well," Donnie said with a sad smile.
"Yeah, and we shouldn't have brought the past back up and into the argument. That was wrong of us and we all know that you are trying really hard to improve from your past mistakes," Joi said in agreement.
Mikey looked up at them with an astounded look on his face after hearing this. "R-really…?"
"Yes, and you came back and saved our lives with the moves that you have learned during our training, despite the way we treated you," Torra answered with a smile, which Mikey returned with tears rolling down his face before he looked down again and spoke in a shaky voice.
"Well, the reason why I came back to you guys as fast as I did back there was that…I saw the battle that was about to happen…in a vision…"
Everyone but Leo, Master Splinter and the Ancient One gasped in shock but also in surprise.
"Are you serious, Mikey…?" Donnie said with wide eyes.
"How's dat possible…!? I thought dat those who get dat kinda stuff was mainly Leo or Master Splinter!" Raph questioned as he looked from Mikey to Leo and Master Splinter.
"Master Splinter, the Ancient One and I witnessed Mikey having a vision with our own eyes, Raph. He was gripping his head and was groaning in pain during the process, and I had to steady him whilst he was going through it all since there was a chance that he would pass out after the vision had ended," Leo explained with Master Splinter and the Ancient One nodding in confirmation to say that it was true.
"It is possible that Michelangelo's intuition and spiritual abilities have grown stronger over time as the training continued and his strong desire to be there for those he loves may have helped to trigger the premonition that he had experienced not long ago," The Ancient One theorised, leaving the others speechless.
"Wow…that's amazing…" Said Joi in awe as she looked at Mikey with a surprised look on her face.
"Yes, and it was Michelangelo's vision and swift movements that saved us all back in the forest. Thank you, Michelangelo, from all of us," Faragi said before giving Mikey a smile of gratitude, with Joi, Torra, and Adam doing the same.
"Yeah, Thanks, little bro…", "Thank you, Mikey!" Raph and Donnie both said before Raph wrapped an arm around Mikey's shoulders to give him a sideways hug, whilst Donnie gave him a full hug after Raph let go.
"Do you see now, Mikey? You're a lot more important to us than you say you are, and you have just shown us that today." Leo reminded his little brother with a warm smile.
Mikey returned the smile before he looked at everyone. "Thanks, guys, that means a lot to me, and I forgive you all. Let's make tomorrow a new day and get this mission done!" He said and raised his cup high.
"Yeah!" Everyone shouted and raised their cups with Mikey's in high spirits. A moment later, Master Splinter spoke up.
"Now, you should get some rest, so that you are all refreshed and prepared for the journey ahead."
"Yes, Master Splinter, but someone needs to take the first watch and then switch over after 2 hours to ensure that we're safe while we sleep," Leo said.
"I will do the first watch, Leo," Mikey said as he stood up from where he sat, though he swayed a bit after doing so.
"I think you should rest first, Mikey, you still look exhausted from the last battle we had," Leo said softly to his little brother, but Mikey just waved off his concerns before he said, "Don't worry, Leo, I'll only be sitting and looking at the view around me for any dark and shadowy-looking baddies, and I will let you know right away if I spot anything like that."
Although still against the idea of letting Mikey take the first watch, Leo sighed in defeat knowing that his little brother would not back down without a fight. "Alright, Mikey, but you will do it for only an hour instead."
Mikey nodded with understanding and then set off up the stairs to the lookout point at the top of the tower after saying 'goodnight' to everyone.
After seeing Mikey off, everyone went to get a blanket and pillow each from an old storage room and then chose a space to sleep on. Soon, the acolytes began to fall asleep, unaware that the dark presence from earlier was slowly about to put its plan into action.