Well, I worked hard on getting some dialogue in so hopefully this will suffice.
This will be a mature story due to strong language, blood/gore, and suggestive material.
Hope you enjoy it and feel free to comment or fave.
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Raphael yawned and stretched his muscles as he exits the tent. The morning air was crisp and the light filtered through the leaves of the trees, casting shadows on the turtle's face. Already everyone was hard at work, waking hours before he did. The women were busy cooking a breakfast of boiled grubs with rabbit and quail eggs along with fresh berries as the men sharpened sticks using primitive looking knives. Honestly, all the ninja wanted to do was look for Claire. He couldn't take his mind off of her after the way she acted the night before when the men came back with a bountiful feast.
He approached a wolf-woman stirring a pot of boiling insects, "Hey, you know where I can find Claire?" He got straight to the point, not wanting to waste time.
The woman nodded and pointed into the forest, not even looking up, "She's about a quarter mile that way hunting for berries." She said before going back to her duties.
He thanked her before heading out.
He'd never noticed before at just how magnificent this forest was. No beer cans, no tires or garbage strewn all over the place, just pure natural beauty undisturbed by man. Raphael climbed over a fallen tree that was maybe around a hundred years old, judging by its diameter. He couldn't remember the last time he saw something so incredible. In the distance, he could hear birds chirping sweetly to one another, singing songs of love, or of food, whichever. After all, he couldn't speak bird.
"Claire!" he called the tigress, cupping his hands around his mouth, "Where are ya?" He tried to continue walking in a straight line, but it was difficult with the trees looking all the same. Somehow, he managed to keep finding his way back to the fallen log and suddenly, nature didn't seem as appealing anymore; it was getting warm and the bugs liked to buzz around his face, possibly thinking he was just another plant from his green complexion.
"Raphael?" a voice behind him spoke. He turned to find Claire, holding a basket with a few wild berries in it, "What are you doing?"
"Lookin' for you, why else would I be callin' your name?" he didn't mean this to be rude, he genuinely wanted to know what else she would be thinking he was calling her name for, "I've been looking for you for like two hours!" he raised his hands for effect.
Claire smirked, "I've only been gone from the village for ten minutes, maybe fifteen at the most." She smiled, walking past the turtle, her tail flicking behind her, "So what do you need now that you found me?"
Now that Raph had finally found her, all alone with no one else around, he was speechless, "Well, I uh…" he really didn't know what to say so instead he just followed her to wherever she was going. They crossed the dry river bed filled with sharp pointed rocks, which Claire walked over like it was nothing and waited at the other side for her companion to follow. It took some getting used to, but the ninja didn't find it so bad now walking over sharp objects in the forest, he didn't even get a single cut.
"You still haven't given me your answer: of what you need." She knelt down by a bush covered in raspberries and began picking the plump little fruits with her claws to avoid the tiny thorns.
The ninja pondered on what to say. He could ask her about how her day was so far, or how she thought he did at the ceremony yesterday, or how he thought she was beautiful and how he would like to touch her fur and feel how soft he imagined it was. No, he shook his head, Stick to the basic. "So, um, your…tits look nice today." Raph slapped his hand over his mouth without even thinking. Shit, why did you say that? Nice tits? Now she's gonna hurt you! He braced himself for an attack by the fierce feline, but none came.
She merely, stopped and looked at him, her eyes full of questions and continued doing what she was doing, "I'll pretend I didn't hear that." She dropped a handful of berries into the basket, "But thanks: breasts are a sign of womanhood, so I will choose to take that as a compliment."
Raphael sighed, mentally giving himself a high five for dodging a bullet and knelt down next to her and started helping her pick the berries. They worked in silence, only the birds making any sound besides the light breeze that made the leaves rustle slightly. This continued until the bush was mostly fruitless and then they moved onto the next one.
"Anyway," Claire cleared her throat, "Other than my tits, what do you want to talk about?" Getting no response from the turtle that was still too nervous about messing up again, she continued, "Okay, I'll start: tell me about your family; your brothers who you spoke of before and your parents."
Alright, Raph, you can't mess them up too badly, "I have three brothers. Mikey is the youngest out of the four of us. He's a goofball and he does a whole lot of nothing if you let him. Other than that, he reads comic books all the time and plays video games like there's no tomorrow. Donnie is older than me, but not the oldest. He's a tech wiz and spends most of his time in his room or in his lab, inventing stuff like a nerd." He gritted his teeth, "And then there's Leo. He's a smug, no good, son of a bitch who thinks he's better than anyone else. He's the 'leader' of us, but I will never take another order from him ever again." He crushed the berry in between his fingers and let the red juices flow and drip onto the dead grass, "I hate him." He stated flatly.
Claire glanced at him. His face was contorted with rage like she's never seen it before. Surly he couldn't hate his own flesh and blood that much, "What about your parents?"
He scoffed, "My dad's an old rat and my ma's a radioactive pile of ooze; what's your story?" he spat out.
It was obvious that he held bitterness in his heart, but the tigress wasn't sure just how deeply it ran. Not wanting to provoke him any further, Claire spoke, "I never met my parents." She said simply, "They were kept in a compound for breeding mutants for the humans. Once I was born, they took me away and raised me by hand, teaching me to hate other mutants and be willing to attack on command." She paused to see Raph's reaction. It was less angry and more concerned than anything, "It was only when I was about four and three months into rigorous training by the suits that Gibson saved me from my tormentors." Her voice became dark, "Those murderers deserve every bite and punch that Gibson gave them. They nearly killed him too."
"Don't you think that Gibson was a little excessive?" Raph wiped his hand on his knee pads to clear away some of the juice from the fruit, "I mean, did he really have to go through and hurt all those humans?" he thought for another moment, "I was always taught to fight as a last resort, is what I'm sayin'."
Suddenly, Claire stood, her fists clenched at her sides, her eyes wide, "You don't understand, do you?" she whispered.
Raphael stood also, slowly, "Look, I didn't mean nothin' by it, it was just a thought." He could almost feel that negative energy rolling off the tigress's shoulders.
"I hate humans." Claire began to take steps towards the ninja, causing him to take a step back with every step forward she took, "What they've done is unforgivable: They would pit mutant against mutant together, and bid on which would be the victor and they continue to do so as I speak." She stopped walking and looked at the turtle directly in his face, "Have you not noticed how Gibson is the only other reptile here?"
Now that she mentioned it, he hadn't noticed. All the other mutants were either mammals or avian the more he thought about it.
Her voice rose in intensity, "It's because they were the most valuable of all the mutants; the most formidable opponents, some even being venomous like Gibson. All were hunted down and forced to fight to the death and if they refused to fight, they were given drugs to make them want to fight. It would force them to use their animal instincts to slaughter one another." She began sobbing, "There was so much blood." Her mind began racing. Her breaths became shallow as she had a memory.
The crowd cheered, frantic at the current match. One of the mutants fighting was a bear and high on cocaine and couldn't help but sneeze constantly and stamp his feet because they forced him to inhale it. His opponent was another bear, also high on a drug. As soon as they saw one another they went berserk. They roared and bit and clawed, tearing off limbs and eating the flesh.
Claire cried from her crate. Her owner brought her down close to the dirt arena to have her watch and learn, "You see that?" he pointed to the victor bear, devouring the other. "That is what you shall do one day and you will make me a fortune."
"They nearly killed Gibson that day he took me: one of the feral mutants woke up and began roaring, waking up the humans, including my owner. They released a lion mutant that was still high from its recent battle and they fought. The only reason that we're still alive is that because the drugs were snorted, the lion had no sense of smell and couldn't find us hiding." She took a shuttering breath, "I pledged from that day forward to never trust a human again." She raised he hand to prove her point.
"Wow, that's a… lot to take in, Claire." There was no way that he could mention anything about Casey and April now, not to mention the fact that they live in the City. He felt sorry for her, but more than that, he felt the need to apologize, "I'm sorry."
"For what?" the tigress wiper her tears with her thumb, "You're not the one who forced us to fight for our lives."
"No, but I feel like a jerk now." He didn't know exactly what to say. After all, it wasn't in his nature to apologize, "I was ranting on about my brothers and how much they bug me with their habits when I had no idea just how much your people have been through."
Claire smiled through her sad memories, "Thank you, Raphael." She sniffed, "Now I know why I wanted to give you the crown of spots for the ceremony: because kings should know when to be humble."
They didn't speak for some time as they traveled back towards the village, Raph carrying the full basket. Just then, he spotted something in the corner of his eye. A small rabbit about the size of a squirrel munched happily on a blade of grass, not noticing their presence. They were about ten, fifteen feet away and just out of earshot.
"Hey, bet you I can catch that rabbit." He wanted to cheer her up after she got so worked up about her past. Before she could get in a word, he casually tossed the basket at Claire, who nearly dropped it, bounded toward the animal, not making a sound other than the soft groaning of the grass beneath his feet.
"Stop!" Claire shouted, dropping her basket and spilling the berries over the ground. The rabbit, scared and now aware they were watching it, used all the power in its little legs and big feet to run away, nearly being caught by the ninja turtle.
"Aww, I almost had it!" Raph turned to Claire, "What did ya do that for?" he made his way over to her, raising his hands in question.
Claire dropped to her knees, gathering the fruit that she dropped, "Only men are allowed to hunt- you are merely a boy, Raphael."
He stood there for a second before asking the question, "A boy?" he could feel bile rising in his throat. Did she really just call him a boy? He's saved the city countless times, traveled through time and space, and has been through different dimensions, all to be called a boy by another mutant? "No, see, that's where you're wrong; I am a man. I've fought all over the place and saved tons of lives and you have the nerve to call me a boy? I'm offended." He said simply, crossing his arm.
"Yes, a boy," she stood, having gathered all her berries, "Because you have not been through the rite of passage yet. Once you complete that, then you will have the honor of being called a man, and being able to hunt, and have a mate." She emphasized her last word, walking away while swishing her hips as if to prove a point."
Raph sputtered, rolling his eyes, "Okay then, Claire, what do I have to do to have the 'honor of being called a man'?" he followed close behind her.
Claire answered, "I can't tell you specifically what you must do, but I will tell you this," they crossed the dry river bed, the sun barely peaking over the tops of the trees as the days grew shorter, "Go to Gibson tomorrow morning and he will get the ceremony ready for you and other boys who wish to become men. Then, everyone will see what you are really made of."