Searing Hurt Pt. 5

Leo

Crap, this is colder than I thought it would be. Leo let himself sink slowly to the murky bottom of the lake, conserving his energy and breath. The further down he went, the more frigid the waters became. By the time his plastron gently bumped into the pebbly bottom, he had to grind his teeth together to keep them from chattering.

Even with his limited sewer water experience, Leo knew he and his brothers could stay underwater for quite some time without having to come up for breath. It was weird, because he couldn't hold his breath half so well on land. As long as they relaxed and didn't move around too much, they could stay under for as long as ten to fifteen minutes.

Leo looked up and noted that Ara had followed him. She was pressed against the lake's bottom, her eyes wide as they scanned the waters above for movement. Every inch of her was quaking; from cold or fear Leo wasn't sure. He scooted across the pebbles and came up beside her, silently slipping an arm over her back and pulling her towards him so that the sides of their shells brushed together. Ara looked over at him, fear evident on her features. Leo offered her an encouraging smile, his thumb tracing slow circles on her shoulder. He forced his tense muscles to relax. Hopefully he could pass some calmness onto her. Fine, everything's going to be fine, we've gotten out of a lot worse…

"Where'd they go?!" Leo's gaze snapped upward. Three shadows came into view, the outlines twisting and warping as the waters swirled above them.

"I think they went in the water," the fox's- Ferns- voice piped uncertainly.

"Well, yeah, we know that," another voice snapped. This one belonged to the frog, Tad. "But why would they go down there? They gotta come up sometime."

"Exactly," the wolf's voice rang out, clear and sharp despite the water that lay between him and the turtles. "So we wait 'em out. Tad! Get over ta that side a' the lake. Fern, you watch that side. Keep your eyes peeled, and if ya see anything, call for me. I'll watch here."

"Yes, father," the two youths voiced in union, the shadows heading in opposite directions. The turtles stayed put, holding their breath and waiting as the minutes crawled by. Leo wracked his brain for a plan, ignoring the uncomfortable tightness that was growing in his chest as his body ached for air.

Finally, Ara slipped out from underneath Leo's arm, getting up and kneeling on the lake's bottom. Leo did the same, and Ara raised her eyebrows, wordlessly questioning what to do. Leo gestured for her to follow him and edged his way to the other side of the lake, a plan already starting to form in his mind.

The wolf had a gun, and judging by how close the bullets had come to hitting them as they were running away in the woods, he had amazing aim. Leo was sure the wolf had his eyes trained on the water, waiting for the first sign of movement, for the first sign of tell-tale bubbles or ripples. He wouldn't hesitate to shoot the first thing that broke the surface. They were going to have to be very careful with how they did this.

Leo guided Ara to the section of the lake just under the smallest shadow. His hand closed around a smooth rock, and he tried to relax despite the persistent throbbing in his head that warned him that he needed air, and soon. The plan was to wait until their pursuer's concentrations had begun to ebb, then get as close to the surface as possible and hurl the rock in the opposite direction. At the very least, it would create a distraction, and he and Ara could find a temporary place to hide, perhaps in some shrubs or overgrown grass. Leo figured the best place to hop up was right by the frog, who hopefully wasn't skilled enough to slow them down. Plus, the wolf would expect them to leap out somewhere at a gap, not near a mutant, and surprise was essential. It was a horrible plan, and he knew it, but they had to come up with something fast before they blacked out.

He glanced toward Ara. She was squirming frantically, her face twisted with discomfort. When she saw him glance her way, she stopped and gave a forced smile, nodding at the rock he gripped in his hand to show she understood. Leo gave her a quick thumbs-up before launching lightly upward and floating slowly, gently, to the surface. The longer he waited, the more off-guard the mutants would be and the better chance they had of escaping. He paused a few feet from the surface, taking advantage of the few extra seconds.

Suddenly, Ara grabbed at his arm, and he dropped the rock in surprise. Leo turned to find her eyes wide with panic. She gripped his arm with frantic urgency, and he cursed silently as it occurred to him that she might not be as good at holding her breath as he was. After all, he had started out as a turtle and had been a mutant for a lot longer than she had. To his shock, her eyes dulled, losing their bright panic and rolling back as she slowly started to sink to the bottom.

Biting back a cry of alarm, Leo struggled downwards, but she was sinking faster than his tired body could keep up with. His ears were ringing and his head felt as if it would split in half. They were going to die. No. No, he wouldn't let that happen. Calling upon every last ounce of strength, Leo pushed himself to her side, gripping her arms and shooting to the surface as angry splotches of color exploded over his vision.

Leo gasped for air, taking in sweet oxygen by the lungfuls. He struggled to the edge of the lake, heaving Ara's frame onshore before he clambered up himself, completely spent. Forgetting about the mutants, Leo turned to Ara. He fell to the ground with exhausted relief as he saw her give a weak cough and spew out a mouthful of water before gulping up lungfuls of air. When he had somewhat recovered, he crawled towards her, kneeling by her side and lifting her torso onto his lap.

Her eyes fluttered open, and she gave a weak, sheepish laugh as she looked up into his eyes. "Thought… I… c-could hold it," she croaked between gasps for breath.

Leo shook his head. "No, it's my fault. I should have considered…" before he could finish, two orange hands shot out and took ahold of Ara, starting to drag her out of his grasp. Leo looked up sharply to discover that Fern had snuck up on him while he was absorbed with Ara. His hand shot behind him. He had a katana drawn in the next instant, holding the tip to her throat as he clutched the nearly limp Ara closer to himself. "Just what do you think you're doing?" he growled, a hard lump forming in his stomach as he wondered how he was going to get their weak, oxygen-deprived selves to safety.

"Hey! You get that thing away from my sister!" Keeping half an eye on Fern, Leo glanced over to see that the frog—Tad, was it?—had clenched his fists and was glaring at Leo with a look of pure hate. Tad took a threatening step forward, reaching for Leo's katana. "Don't you hurt her, or…"

Out of instinct, Leo whipped his katana around toward the frog. Tad gasped, fear flooding into his big, golden eyes. Time froze for a moment as Leo looked into them. His innocent, frightened expression was one he had seen many times before on the face of Mikey, of his brothers. What was he doing?! Leo let the arm holding the sword go slack.

"Leo!" Ara's voice jolted him from his trance-like state, and he whirled around just in time to see that the wolf had reached them. He had his gun cocked and pointed at Leo, but Ara somehow found the strength to leap up, gripping both ends of the old hunting rifle in her hands and ramming her foot into the center with one swift kick, snapping the old thing clear in half. The broken barrel flew from the wolf's grip, but he held on to the butt and conked her swiftly over the head. Ara crumpled to the ground, unconscious.

With a howl of rage, Leo lunged at the wolf, only to have Tad tackle his legs. Leo fell forward, his jaw connecting with the hard ground. Blinking from the shock, Leo struggled forward, but before he could get his bearings, the butt of the wolf's rifle flew into his field of vision. It connected with his forehead with a sickening thud.

Black.