Chapter 6

Leo stared blankly at the wood in front of him. He had lost track of the days he had spent inside the wooden crate. Twice he had tried to escape as soon as they pulled the lid off. Both tries had failed. Now they only gave him water with a hose through one of the holes. He had to be grateful for that little thing, but he had to keep trying to get himself out of here. His brothers didn't know he was so far from home. He had to at least contact them somehow, but what could he do locked up in a crate?

His stomach rumbled loudly. The feeding they had tried to do however long ago didn't go well. He hadn't gotten to eat a thing, being more focused on escaping his wooden prison. Jumping as soon as the lid came off, he was grabbed from both sides and shoved back down. In his weakened state and with the confined space, the fight he did put up wasn't enough. The lid slammed shut shortly after that, a mere slice of an apple tossed in before it was latched once more. After the men had gone, he greedily ate the little bit of apple.

Now he wished for another little slice. Anything to calm his rumbling stomach.

With no way to break out of the crate, Leo focused his mind inwardly to ignore the ache of hunger. He tried to meditate, having trouble finding a center in which to find peace. With a sigh, he tried to contact Splinter. A wandering mind didn't help the connection any when he finally felt his mind brush that of his Master's. The brush of his mind against Splinter's became stronger as he felt the rat latch onto him.

"My son."

"Father…"

"Are you alright."

"I am whole Master. Weak, but no injuries."

"I am glad. We are worried for you my son."

"I know." Leo knew this without a shadow of a doubt, trying to hold onto the feeling of his family.

"Your brothers will find you. They have just informed me of what they have found and are following leads. Do you know where you are?"

"On a ship. Beyond that, I don't know. Perhaps they are sailing to Japan or maybe China, but these do not look like Japanese or Chinese men."

"But Asian nonetheless?"

"Yes Sensei. How did you know?"

"Your brothers, or rather Donatello, found out the name of a man who comes to our city twice a year. His name is Basir. They seem to think he is the one in charge of what happened."

Leo nodded to himself, storing the name in his memory. He could feel his mind fading from the astral plain as his thoughts blearily wandered once more.

"Hold on my son. You will be home again soon," Splinter called urgently.

"I will… Sensei…"

The blue banded turtle slouched against the wall behind him, worn and tired. The hunger ache in his belly roared again. He shoved the feeling from his mind with difficulty and let his eyes close as he felt sleep over take him.

Not knowing how long he had slept, he was woken by a new rocking feeling. It was more violent and jerky than before accompanied by many shouts.

"Careful! Do not break crate!"

Sitting up straighter, Leo blinked sleep from his eyes. They were to their destination? His crate continued to move and when it didn't stop, Leo blankly came to the conclusion that they were traveling on land by foot now. Or else it had to be a very long ship as it seemed to be quite a long time as he listened to the men shout back and forth.

He didn't remember falling asleep again and blinked once more. The crate was finally still, however he could hear whispered voices.

"Not until we are back on our property. We will be there within a few hours."

"But he will starve."

"He will be easier to manage."

"But…"

"Do not question me!"

Silence rang through the air for a few moments followed by a cough.

"Well, you're the boss."

"Indeed."

"Raiders!" a new voice suddenly shouted.

Leo pressed his ear to the wall of the crate, listening to the chink of blades crossing in a fight followed by some gunshots. He began pounding against the wood, not wanting to be stuck in there with a fight going on around him. His pounding continued until he could feel blood running down his knuckles. Pain searing through his hand, he focus on an area by one of the holes. Minutes trickled by as the sounds began to fade, but he was rewarded by the splintering of wood. Standing, Leo stood back and ran at the weakened wood. Crashing through, he fell to his hands and knees. Forcing himself to stand, Leo blearily looked around, the sun shining brightly down on him.

Blood stained the sand around him. Many, but not all of the men lay in scattered heaps. Some ragged, others dressed with a little more class.

Cautious, Leo took a step forward. When a hand reached out for his ankle, he bolted forward, not deeming it wise to stay here with his weakened strength. Shouts followed his running feet, growing louder the faster he tried to run. A weight pounced on him, shoving him to the ground. Flipping over onto his shell, he shoved the rough looking man off him. Two of the men came at him as he made it to his feet once more. They all had short dark hair and darkly tanned skin. Some sported tattoos, while other had many piercings.

Surrounded, Leo braced himself, waiting for them to lunge for him. He side stepped the first one, landing a punch to the man's nose. Feeling bone break under his knuckles, he turned to the next as a yelp rang out. A duck and roll followed by a kick to the man's stomach had this one down clutching his mid section as a gun dropped to the sand.

Panting and shaking from weakened strength, he took in the last four men. Two had the same tats and piercings, the other two looked a little more sophisticated and dressed a little nicer without the markings or metal adoring their skin.

The two tatted men raced forward, fists recoiled for a punch.

"Do not kill him," one of the more in charge men yelled out.

Leo ducked and spun around the first, hand coming down for a chop to the man's neck, sending him to the ground. With the other, he jumped out of range of the incoming fist, dodging punch after punch, one landing cheaply against his cheek. Growling, Leo slipped to the side of the man and pinched a pressure point on the man's neck. Briefly watching the man fall to the ground, Leo turned his gaze to the two men in charge of the operation. He glared darkly at them, challenging them to come forward. He wouldn't not be caught again and kept from his family.

"Contain him!" the dark hair man ordered.

The second one with blonde hair and a little more muscled lunged for him, grabbing at his arms.

Leo jumped back, eying what was strapped to this man's back. "My swords…" he whispered under his breath. Smirking slightly, he let the man continue to try and grab at him as to conserve what little strength he had left while tiring out his opponent. Slipping behind him, Leo pulled both katana blades out of their sheaths and swung at the attacking man. Not being fast enough, the man found the blades cutting deep into his side as he fell to the ground with a groan.

Turning his gaze away from him, Leo looked at the last man left standing. This one glared at him darkly with a greedy glint in his eyes. The blue banded turtle adjusted his grip on his blades and waited, feeling his muscles shake from exertion.

"No one escapes Basir," the man hissed.

No one except me, Leo thought wryly. With a smirk, he took a deep breath to gather his strength and lunged forward. No one would keep him from getting home to his family. He feinted a right swing and brought up his left blade, catching the man in the left side.

Blood dribbling down, Basir lunged to the right, picking up a long rifle and aiming for the turtle.

Leo dodged the shot to his feet and rolled to the right. Coming up behind the broken crate, he waited for the man to round the broken wood, he himself going the same direction. Stopping behind the confused man, he let one katana drop to the sand and gripped the man by the back of the neck. "You will not keep me contained," he hissed in the man's ears. As a gasp rang out, Leo pinched the pressure point until the man collapsed at his feet.

Looking around at the unmoving bodies, Leo merely stood still to catch his breath. He knew he had to get away. One of them could wake up any minute. Grabbing up his katana and the sheath from the dead man, he made a run for it out into the dessert, grabbing up a cloak like piece of clothing from what looked to be from one of the raiders his captives had shouted about. He hoped he was not going deeper into the hot terrain as he had to get back to where the ship had docked to hopefully catch a ride home. He longed to return to his family as quickly as he could.

Leo kept running, the cloak flapping around him as nothing but sand and more sand could be seen. It didn't seem to end as he continued on. His legs shook as he kept putting one foot in front of the other. His run quickly reduced to a walk as his chest heaved for air, only able to drag in hot, humid breaths. Blearily staring ahead, he kept on, feet dragging as his progress was barely anything at all now. His stomach rumbled violently, his tongue sticking to the roof of his mouth. Water and food were the only things on his mind, but water was more important right now. He berated himself for not checking to see if the men had any water on them. Surely one of them had something, but even if he wanted to go back, he couldn't tell which way was back. The wind that ripped passed him, blew away any tracks he made as soon as his feet left the sand for another step.

Vision wavering in the heat, he could've sworn he saw a pool of water. Getting closer to it, Leo felt his heart drop. It was only sand. Licking dry lips, he focused on keeping his feet moving. Lasting a few steps longer, he couldn't help but collapse to the hot sand in a heap. A shadow soon loomed over him, cooling the air slightly as he felt darkness finally take over him, not having the strength to find out who was standing over him.