Part 5-Avalanche!
The next morning…
After a warm breakfast, Leo and his team left the safety and warmth of their tent before packing it up and continuing their climb up the mountain.
As they did so, they noticed that the snow layer was a bit thicker than it was further down the mountain, and the air around them was more cold and crisp.
"I-Is it me, or is it…c-colder up here than it was further down?" Mikey wondered as he felt a chill down his spine.
"Y-Yeah…I've noticed it too; it's because we're in a higher altitude and the temperature is known to drop the more we climb upwards…" Donnie answered as he too felt the air getting colder around him.
"We must tread carefully on this part of the mountain now, senpais; it has been known to have a lot of avalanche incidents here…" Yukiko warned whilst moving her ears to hear out for any possible noises around her.
"So, in other words, no loud noises whilst climbing on this area…" Leo specified, keeping his voice down a bit.
"Correct…" Yukiko confirmed with a nod.
"Ya hear dat, Mikey? No loud noises…!" Raph hissed at Mikey with a warning glare.
"I know, I know…! I'm not stupid, Raph…!" Mikey replied with a glare back at Raph before he and the others continued their climb up the mountain.
/
10 minutes later…
"Sniff…Sniff…Aah, Ach-"
Mikey quickly covered his nose with his arm to stop a sneeze from coming out, which had worked, and he breathed out in relief.
"Are you ok, Mikey? You're not catching a cold, I hope…" Donnie asked in concern when he noticed this first.
"Y-Yeah, I'm fine…the snow's just tickling my nose, that's all…" Mikey reassured his brother with a sniffle.
"Don't ya dare sneeze, Mikey…!" Raph warned him with a harsh glare.
"I won't, I-aah…aah…!" Mikey tried to reply, but another tickly feeling in his nose stopped him and a sneeze was starting to develop.
"No, Mikey!" "Don't!" The others told him anxiously.
"Aaahh…!" Mikey cried out as he battled to keep the sneeze from coming out before he covered his nose again.
"Phew…" Mikey then breathed out in relief a moment later when the sneeze didn't come out.
The others also breathed a sigh of relief. But suddenly…
"AACHOOOO!" Mikey couldn't stop another sneeze from sneaking out and he released it loudly without warning.
Everyone froze and Raph glared at Mikey with a growl, but didn't say anything for now.
At first, there was silence for a moment.
But then…
Rumble, rumble, rumble…!
The sounds of distant rumbling and heavy snowfall was heard from above them.
"Oh, no…" Donnie said quietly, dread showing on his face.
"Avalanche!" Yukiko cried out as she pointed at the incoming wave of snow.
"Run!" Leo shouted before he and the others ran down the mountain to try and get away from the avalanche.
"Stay close to the wall!" Yukiko instructed the turtles as they all ran close to the mountain wall.
As they ran, Mikey spotted a gaping hole, which looked big enough to fit one or two people into, within the mountain wall.
"Donnie, quick! Get into that gap!" He told Donnie, who was nearest to him, whilst pointing at the hole.
Donnie did what Mikey said and quickly ran towards the gap before diving into it. However, despite being the most agile of the four turtle brothers, Mikey did not get to it quick enough as the snow struck him like a strong ocean wave.
"Mikey!" Donnie cried out after witnessing the snow hitting and carrying Mikey away from him.
Luckily, Mikey managed to take out one of his hiking hooks and hit the mountain wall with it to stop him from going any further.
"Ngh! Don't move, Donnie!" Mikey shouted to stop Donnie from leaving the gap as he held onto the hook for dear life.
"Raph! Yukiko! Stay close to me!" Leo commanded as he held onto a large rock on the mountain wall.
"Hold on tight!" Yukiko cried out as she held onto Leo for dear life.
After another gruelling five minutes went by, the avalanche slowly came to a stop. The group was now just a waist deep in snow by the time it ended.
"O-Ok, senpais…It stopped, we can let go now…" Yukiko said as she slowly started to relax and loosen her grip on Leo's arm.
Leo and Raph followed her lead and carefully let go of the rock. Despite feeling a bit shaken, neither Yukiko nor the first and second oldest brothers were hurt. They managed to climb themselves out of the snow, which was thick enough to hold their weight, and then they looked further down the mountain to see Donnie and Mikey doing the same.
"Are you two ok?" Leo asked in a worried tone as he approached Donnie and Mikey, both of whom had just got their bearings.
"Yeah, I'm fine, thanks to Mikey…!" Donnie answered before he looked over at Mikey, who was still catching his breath and was slow in movement as he walked up to meet them.
"Are you alright, bro? Did the snow hit you hard?" He questioned as he went over to Mikey and steadied him.
"N-Nah, I'm ok…It tried to pull me further away from you, but I held on as tight as I could…" Mikey answered whilst rubbing his left arm.
"What da shell were ya tryin' ta pull back there, Mikey!? I told ya not ta sneeze so loud, and ya did it anyway like ya didn't care!" Raph scolded accusingly, not caring about whether or not Mikey was hurt.
"I-I'm sorry! It was an accident, I swear!" Mikey said defensively.
"Oh, yeah? And what about all those other 'accidents' ya did back then, huh!?" Raph questioned spitefully as he stomped towards Mikey through the snow.
"Raphael!" Leo shouted his immediate younger brother's name scoldingly to try and stop him from yelling at Mikey, but Raph just carried on like he didn't hear him.
"Why did ya join us on dis mission, eh? Cos ya had a vision like Leo did!? Dat don't make ya special enough fer a grown-up mission like dis! Yer also no help ta any of us cos ya don't know a thing about da dangers up here!"
"I-I…" Mikey tried to find the words to counter Raph's, but the red-banded turtle didn't give him the chance to.
"If I were you, I would climb back down dis mountain, go back ta da village, and stay there, cos we DON'T WANT YA HERE!"
Hearing those words finally broke Mikey. He looked at Raph as if his own brother stabbed him in the heart before his eyes filled with tears. He then quickly turned away and started running down the mountain whilst sobbing his heart out.
"Mikey!" "Wait!" Michelangelo-san!" Leo, Donnie, and Yukiko called out to the youngest turtle, but it was no use; Mikey continued to run down the mountain without looking back.
"Oh, way to go, Raph!" Donnie scolded his immediate older brother as he looked at him with a harsh glare.
"Hey! He needs ta learn ta wise up and do things da right way, otherwise we're all gonna get killed!" Raph replied ignorantly.
"So, is stating that he's not 'special enough' and that we 'don't want him with us' really going to help teach him that, Raphael-san?" Yukiko questioned with a raised eyebrow.
"I…Look, I was just-"
"Enough! We'll talk about this later…" Leo said with a raised hand, signalling Raph and the others to stop and be quiet, before he turned to Donnie and spoke again.
"Donnie, you and the others go and make camp further up the mountain. I'll go look for Mikey and come back to you…"
"Alright, but be careful…!" Donnie said nervously.
"Don't worry; I will!" Leo replied back reassuringly before he hurried down the mountain to catch up to Mikey.
"Come on, you two, let's head further up and make camp…" Donnie said flatly before he started his trek up the mountain. Raph and Yukiko looked at each other before they followed him.
/
Leo's side…
"Mikey…! Mikey…!" Leo called out his little brother's name as he continued his way down the mountain to try and find him.
Luckily for him, Mikey had left a trail of footprints in the snow as he ran, so he wouldn't have to look around randomly for him.
Soon, he came to a mountain cliff edge and he finally spotted Mikey sitting next to the edge with his legs close to his chest, his arms folded on top of his knees, and his face hidden from view in his arms.
"Mikey! Oh, there you are…! Shell, I thought that I-" Leo started talking as he got closer to Mikey, but he cut himself off when he saw his little brother's face which looked heartbroken and covered with fallen tears.
"Y-You shouldn't be here, Leo…G-Go back to the others…Y-You're wanted by them…I-I'm not…" Mikey said tearfully before he sobbed again.
"Hey, hey…don't cry, little brother…it's ok…" Leo soothed as he sat next to Mikey and wrapped an arm around him to give him a sideways hug.
"I-I'm really sorry, bro…I-I never meant for this to happen…!" Mikey cried out softly.
"Don't be…what happened earlier was beyond your control, Mikey…" Leo reassured, giving him a gentle squeeze.
"A-Am I really…not special or important…to you guys…?" Mikey asked sadly whilst hiccupping.
"What? Of course you are, Mikey…! You're just as special and important as anyone in our family! Don't let what Raph said get to you; he just wants to get this mission over and done with, so that he can go back home to his nice warm bed…!" Leo answered, shocked to hear that Mikey was taking Raph's words to heart.
"W-We both saw visions of Usagi, and yet…Raph said that it wasn't enough for me to be more helpful to you guys in this mission…" Mikey pointed out whilst wiping the tears off his face.
"You and I both know Raph by now, Mikey; he lets his anger do all the talking for him and he doesn't think twice before doing so…" Leo reminded his brother before he spoke again.
"You have always been helpful and important to us, bro; you keep us from thinking about negative things too much and you remind us that we're a family, not just a team of ninjas…!"
"R-Really…?" Mikey asked, though still feeling slightly sceptical about what Leo just said to him.
"Yes, really! In fact, I don't think we would've made it this far up this mountain without your positivity on this mission, Mikey…so, don't give up and go back just yet, please?" Leo answered, his voice both pleading and full of determination.
Mikey was stunned; he had never expected to hear those kind words from any of his brothers before until now. He smiled and wiped away more of his tears before he spoke.
"O-Ok…I won't…"
"Good! Now, let's get back to the others…!" Leo replied happily as he stood back up and offered a hand for Mikey to take.
"Yeah!" Mikey said before he accepted Leo's hand and was helped up by the blue-banded turtle.
The duo then begun their walk back up the mountain to try and catch up with the others before the weather changes.
/
Meanwhile…
After reaching a safer area on the mountain, Raph, Donnie, and Yukiko were able to find a good spot to camp for the night and they were currently pitching up the tent.
"Those clouds…I do not like the look of them…" Yukiko said nervously.
"Yeah, it looks like a storm is coming…I just hope that Leo and Mikey will be ok getting up here if it starts before they return…" Donnie said in agreement and in concern.
"Aw, they'll be fine…c'mon, let's get inside da tent before we freeze ta death…" Raph shrugged before he entered inside the now built-up tent.
Donnie and Yukiko looked at each other with worried expressions on their faces before they too entered the tent to get out of the cold.