Raph opened his eyes to a face full rain. He'd been sleeping so peacefully before the sky had decided to ruin it with a downpour. Raph sat up mumbling to himself and brushed some of the water from his eyes. Not that it did much good, the stuff just kept coming, intent on drenching him.

He squinted through the rain, trying to get his bearings. Trees? Where the hell was he? Instead of skyscrapers, branches reached endlessly upward and the ground was covered in fallen leaves, pinecones, and short ferns instead of concrete. The sweet scent of decay lifted from the earth. Definitely not New York.

He looked down, picking up a handful of leaves and dirt in his hand. Not Central Park either. The rain washed his hand clean as he unclenched his fist. His hand trembled a little at the effort, the raindrops finding alternative routes down his hand at the motion. His whole body ached with fatigue. Why?

Raph tried to stand but the intense desire to vomit hit him with the force of a well aimed punch. He quickly turned onto all fours and threw up everything he had in his stomach… which wasn't much.

The rain tapped out a furious rhythm against his shell as Raph breathed heavily, eyes shut. Damn nausea. Raph waited another moment before wiping his mouth with the back of his hand and pushing himself onto his feet.

Raph tried to remember how he'd gotten here but it was like grasping at soap bubbles, the memory kept slipping away. Raph growled in frustration. That was just fine. He'd find Donnie or Leo and they'd remind him… But… where were they? Where was Mikey?

Raph's hands balled into fists as he scanned what little of the forest he could see. No sign of them. No sign of Mikey. Something was wrong. He didn't know exactly what but whatever it was it had to do with Mikey. He was in trouble. Somehow he just knew.

His brothers had to be here somewhere. Mikey had to be here somewhere. Where? Raph spun, checking every direction. He quickly gave up, racing off between the trees, hoping to run across one of his brothers by chance.

"Mikey!… Leo! Donnie!" As he ran, he yelled out their names. It felt pointless. Every call was swallowed up by the forest. Where the hell were they? His heart pounded, breath coming in ragged bursts. His vision blurred from the rain and desperation. Mikey. His breath caught at the name. His heart felt like it was yanked out of his chest. Mikey! Raph's eyes shut for a second, trying to block it out.

In that moment, Raph failed to watch his footing. The ball of his foot skidded on a particularly slippery patch of ground and his feet whipped out from underneath him. He hit his head hard on the way down.

Raph groaned. His head pulsed in angry hurt as his vision dimmed and then returned. Raph shoved himself off the ground and scoured for someone or something to take out his mounting frustration on. Of course, there were only trees. More goddamn trees for as far as he could see. Which wasn't far in this stupid weather.

His rage spiked. Raph stalked away, still scrutinizing his surroundings for any signs of his brothers, his head pounding out an angry rhythm. He walked on and on. Raph scanned back and forth with increasing urgency with every passing minute. He'd been looking for almost an hour now and hadn't spotted even one of his brothers. Where in the hell where they!?

Raph rubbed the back of his head in frustration. He needed to find them before nightfall- he felt danger crawling around every corner. He didn't want to stay out here any longer than he had to. Probably concussion induced paranoia. If that was a thing. But he kept a tight grasp on his sais anyway. The unfamiliar territory, the giant, gnarly trees and the storm that made it impossible to see five feet in front of his face or even tell when night would arrive…

For all he knew, it could already be nightfall! Raph sat heavily on an overturned tree and put his head in his hands. He felt completely overwhelmed… and lost. In this mess, he was never going to find his brothers.

Mikey…

Raph's tears combined with the rain that ran down his face. He wiped furiously at them but the drops just kept falling. For some reason, a memory leaped to the front of Raph's mind. Mikey came in to the lair with tears streaming down his freckled cheeks. Unconsolable after a botched skateboarding stint. He'd hit his head pretty hard and Raph vaguely remembered Donnie mentioning something about one of the signs of a concussion was feeling emotional and anxious or something. The only thing that got Mikey to stop sobbing was Raph promising to go out with him next time and show him the trick to doing it right.

"Pinky promise?" Mikey had asked through watery eyes. Raph had rolled his eyes and replied,

"Pinky promise."

Man, he missed them. He didn't even know how long it'd been since he'd last seen his brothers. And he wasn't appreciating the time away like he usually did. At least when he went top side to cool down, he knew they'd be home, waiting, when he returned.

Right now, he knew nothing, not where they were or where he was or if they were ok. It was equally infuriating and upsetting.

And for all he knew Mikey could be dead by now. Raph let out a shaking breath to calm himself. No, he was still here. He knew it. Concussion or no, he was going to find his little brother before anything bad happened to him.

"Pinky promise, Mikey." Raph murmured. With that Raph got up and looked around him. He had no idea which direction he'd come from or which way to head. He stared for a moment. To hell with it. He picked a direction that seemed right and plunged into the forest's forlorn depths.