Part 4-The Expedition Begins

The next morning…

After a warm and hearty breakfast at the lodge, the turtle brothers put the first layer of their mountain gear on and packed up their backpacks with the rest of their gear, as well as food, water, and cooking equipment. Donnie also packed a first aid kit, in case anyone got injured during the mission.

They left the lodge to see Yukiko waiting outside with Master Splinter standing next to her. It was then that they noticed that Yukiko was wearing her complete mountain gear, which was pink and white in colour, as well as a big brown-coloured backpack on her back.

"Good morning, my sons…" Master Splinter greeted his sons as soon as they were next to him and Yukiko.

"Morning, Master Splinter…!" The turtle brothers greeted their father and sensei back with a bow.

"Good morning, my senpais…!" The female rabbit greeted the brothers with a little wave.

"Morning, Yukiko…!" The turtle brothers greeted their female rabbit friend back.

"Someone looks ready to go…!" Mikey said to Yukiko with a cheeky smile.

"Yes, this is my normal attire for when I go on a mountain expedition…A kimono is never suitable for this type of work…" Yukiko explained with a smile and a giggle.

"I can imagine…" Donnie said with a nod.

"Anyway, we should do a briefing on what we might be up against during our mission up in the mountains…" Leo suggested in a more serious tone.

The others agreed before Yukiko took out a map from her backpack and unfolded it. The turtle brothers and Master Splinter gathered around her and studied it.

"Is this all based on the Tibetan mountains?" Donnie asked in awe when he saw only mountain illustrations on the map.

"That's right, Donatello-san; these lines start from the village entrance and then up towards the top of the mountains…" Yukiko confirmed before she saddened and rolled up the map as she spoke again.

"However, this map is quite old and needs to be updated, meaning that we will have to take alternative routes depending on the mountain conditions…"

"That's ok…All that matters is that we reach the area that Usagi is located and bring him back home safe…" Leo said adamantly.

"Still, we must be careful as the weather conditions on the mountains can become unpredictable and may cause delays during the mission, to a stage where we might have to end the mission and turn back…" Yukiko warned cautiously.

Raph, Donnie, and Mikey became nervous after hearing that from Yukiko since they didn't want anything to go wrong during the mission, especially since they noticed how adamant and stubborn Leo was currently being.

"I know there are risks, but we have to try and overcome them if we want to find and rescue Usagi…!" Leo said with even more determination, though it did not ease his brothers' nervousness any lower.

"Leonardo, as much as we all want the mission to succeed, there will come a time when you must take a step back and think about what is best for both yourself and your team for when something does not go as planned…" Master Splinter advised firmly.

Leo looked at his sensei before looking at his brothers, whom he now noticed how nervous they looked. This made him feel guilty for being a bit.

"Don't worry, everyone; everything will be fine, and I promise that I will not put us all at risk...ok?" He said reassuringly.

Despite being a bit nervous still, the three younger brothers nodded to say that they understood and accepted Leo's words.

"Well then, shall we get moving?" Yukiko asked whilst adjusting her backpack on her back.

"Yes…Are you guys ready? Because once we start this mission, there will be no turning back…" Leo said in a serious tone.

"We've already told you, Leo; we're not letting do this alone…!" Mikey immediately said with determination.

"Yeah! We're in dis together, whether ya like it or not!" Raph said next in agreement.

"That's right! Besides, you'll definitely need my medical expertise if you're going to make it through this mission in one piece…!" Donnie said confidently.

Leo looked at each of his brothers with amazement; he couldn't believe that they were still willing to risk their lives to help him and Yukiko find Usagi in the mountains.

"Thank you, my brothers…" He said gratefully with a warm smiles, making his brothers smile back.

"Be careful out there, my sons and Yukiko…and good luck…" Master Splinter said supportively.

"We will, Master Splinter, and thank you…We'll be back soon…" Leo replied with a nod and a bow, with Yukiko and his brothers doing the same, before they all begun their walk towards the start of the mountain trail.

"Bye, Dad!" "Goodbye, father…!" "See ya later, Master…!" Raph, Donnie, and Mikey said their goodbyes to their sensei as they waved at him before turning back to continue their walk.

Master Splinter waved back at his sons before he watched them go with hope in heart that they would find Usagi alive, despite the dangers that they might face along the way.

/

1 hour later…

"And we race, race, race, through the snow, snow, snow!"

Mikey's joyful voice echoed around the snowy landscape as the orange-banded turtle ran through the snow like a little kid experiencing his first white Christmas.

Earlier, the group had walked on dry flat ground at the start of the expedition before they came across the first layer of snow, where Mikey immediately became excited and trudged through it like a train with his face full of glee since he always loved the snow despite being cold-blooded like his brothers.

"And we race, race, race, through the snow, snow, snow! And we race, race, race, through the snow, snow, snow! And we race-"

"Mikey! Knock it off!" Raph shouted in an annoyed tone, because he was starting to get fed up with his brother's childish behaviour.

"Oh, come on, Raph; let him have a bit of fun whilst he still can…!" Leo said with a playful smirk.

"Huh? Yer seriously allowin' dis!?" Raph questioned with a baffled look since it was unusual of Leo to allow Mikey to behave in such a childish way during an important mission.

"Leo has a point, Raph; things will get more challenging as soon as we move further up the mountain, so we should enjoy the positive side to the mission while we can…like playing in the snow…!" Donnie said in agreement with Leo's words whilst he gathered some snow in his hands, rolled it into a ball, and threw it at Raph.

The red-banded turtle didn't see the move coming, and the next thing he knew, his face was covered in snow. He then heard laughter coming from all sides.

"Ooh…! Yer gonna get it now, Brainiac!" Raph shouted out with a mocking glare as he gathered some snow in his hands and rolled it into a ball before he ran towards Donnie, who shrieked and started running for his life.

"Snowball fight!" Mikey shouted in excitement before he gathered some snow, rolled it into a ball, and threw it at Raph, who dodged it and threw a snowball back at him which struck him in the face.

Leo and Yukiko moved out of the way to avoid getting hit, and they both started making a bunch of snowballs and threw them at the others. Mikey and Donnie teamed up, with Mikey making the snowballs and Donnie using his accuracy skills to throw them at Raph, Leo, and Yukiko.

Sometime later, everyone in the group was laid out exhausted on the snowy ground after their snowball fight and taking a moment to regain their senses.

"Alright, alright, that's enough now…Calm down, you guys…" Leo commanded whilst still catching his breath.

"Yes, we have an important mission to find my cousin after all…" Yukiko pointed out with a smile.

"Ok, ok…we'll stop…" Mikey said as soon as he got his breath back from all the running and laughing that he did.

"Good, now let us keep moving; it will be dark in a couple of hours, so we need to get to the next level of the mountain and make camp…" Yukiko pointed out wisely with an amused smile before she resumed her walk up the mountain.

By the time they reached a suitable spot to set up their tent and make camp for the night, the sun was already close to setting.

"Man…you gotta admit that's an awesome sunset…!" Mikey said in awe as he watched the sun go down.

"You're right, Mikey…it's a beautiful sight to behold…" Donnie said in agreement as he stood next to his little brother and watched the sunset himself.

"It is a rare sight to see, since we're always below ground and spending most of our time in the sewers…" Leo pointed out as he approached his two youngest brothers to see the sunset too.

"Ya tellin' me…" Raph said in agreement as he stood next to Leo and looked at the setting sun.

"I wonder if my cousin is seeing this, wherever he is on this mountain…" Yukiko said in wonder and sadness due to still worrying about Usagi's wellbeing.

"I'm sure he is, Yukiko, and don't worry; we will find him…Right, my brothers?" Leo said confidently.

"Right!" Raph, Donnie, and Mikey cheered in unison.

"Thank you, my senpais…" Yukiko said gratefully before she got serious and spoke again.

"Now, let us head inside the tent and have some dinner before we rest for the night; we have another long day ahead of us tomorrow…"

The turtle brothers agreed, and they followed Yukiko inside the tent to begin their dinner preparations and eat before they could head for bed and re-energise themselves for another challenging day ahead of them.

/

Author's Notes: Finally finished this chapter, had to take my time with it due to a bit of Writer's Block.

By the way, Mikey's cheerful chanting as he ran through the snow was inspired by a scene in a Spongebob Squarepants episode where he and his friends were involved in a competitive slay race.

I hope you like it, and more chapters will be up soon ;)