Wow, this chapter was hard to write. Hey, guys! Yes, I'm still alive and kicking, just been really busy over the past 3 months with school and family. I will now work on the next chapter of Syndrome, if anyone wants to read that.
Hope you enjoy it and feel free to comment or fave.
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The red clan ninja didn't have to think twice about his turn to participate in the ceremony. He took the sticks from the panther mutant and took a moment to glance at his oldest brother. His expression was calm, yet his eyes were wide and his forehead shone with sweat. His other brothers and Casey were equally shocked, watching as if they didn't really believed Raph would do such a thing.
Raphael tilted his head to face moonless night before guiding the sticks to his mouth. The wood scraped painfully against his insides and he could actually feel the ends slicing into his tender esophagus. He could feel the thick blood draining from the inside of his throat, burning and making him cough. He tried the same technique the panther mutant did and just continued to shove the sticks down his throat, inch by grueling inch. He wasn't sure exactly how far down it was supposed to go, but he kept pushing himself until he felt something in his gut painfully stretch beyond what it was supposed to. With a swift movement, the turtle completely pulled the sticks from his body, leaning over while he gagged and spit out his own blood, leaving a little puddle between his feet.
He felt light headed and his throat burned uncontrollably. He felt his knees grow weak and began to stumble while trying to keep his footing. In a flash, two of the men were at his side, guiding him to the earth and having him sit up. Now the turtle sat next to the badger mutant who was still attempting to regain his strength. As for the bear and wolf mutant, they each had next to no difficulty completing this phase of their test, not even having to sit down and take a breather.
Once that was finished, Gibson looked to the panther mutant, nodding to him, "Bring the Asherah poles and drive them into the ground." As soon as he said this, the men jogged into the tree line and brought forth two thick logs about seven feet tall and three feet around with carvings in them similar to what Claire painted on Raph and the other men during the hunting ceremony. The men with claws dug into the tough earth and in about ten minutes made two holes six feet from each other. It took five men to carry one of the poles and put the dirty end in the ground, fill back in the hole, and then do the next one. Finally, a hawk mutant whose wings on its back were permanently mutilated due to the humans making him fight, brought forth two long lengths of rope, tying one rope to the top of one of the poles, letting the end be free, before doing the same with the other rope and pole.
"Now that you have all successfully purged your souls of human influence, we must cleanse your body of the influence of woman, by spilling your tainted blood." With that, Gibson and the panther mutant produced two thick, leather whips with long lengths of tassel wrapped around stinging nettle at the end, "Who shall be the first?"
Each of the boys hesitated for a moment, eyes darting to one another to see who the first shall be. Naturally, Raphael stood to his feet, wobbling slightly from his previous test. He needed to be strong and let his brothers and Casey see that he no longer wanted to be known as a hothead and a fool. No, he was strong and passionate and deserved respect. What he did next truly said his feelings about his brothers. He stood by the fire raging, reaching for the empty sky. The turtle untied his mask and held it in both hands, feeling the worn fabric between his fingers. With a final breath, he tossed the mask into the flames, finalizing where he truly wanted to be.
Leo scowled at his brother, a pang of betrayal sinking in. This was exactly like Raph; bottling up his emotions until they exploded. He'd warned his red masked brother about sharing their feelings with one another years ago, but Raph wasn't having any of it, not then, not now. He looked to his remaining brothers, "I don't think we're getting him out of this." With that, he sat with his legs under him on the ground, ducking his head, a sign of submission and respect.
"The fucks are you doing?" Casey Jones waved his golf clubs, pointing to Raph as the men began to bind his hands with the ropes, lifting his up so he stood on his toes and fighting to not strain his wrists, "Do you not see that they are about to beat the shit out of your brother?" The human demanded an answer.
The oldest turtle opened one eye to look at him. His gaze was sharp and steely with a hint of annoyance, "Show some respect to the village and maybe they won't attack." Just as he predicted, some of the mutants stopped howling at them and wiped away the foam that began to form on their lips, preferring to just simply ignore them all together. However, few of the younger men continued to bark and snarl and roar, taking a step forward.
Donnie whispered to himself, "At least he's going first, lessoning the chance of blood-borne pathogens." He held his Bo staff in front of him, his knuckles white-as if he was afraid he would drop it and loose his chances of life all together. He too took a seat on the ground, putting his weapon behind him, before bowing his head. It was obvious to them all now that Raph had no intention of allowing himself to be rescued, and he had to respect his decision.
Mikey, not knowing what to do, also took a seat and lowered his head. Casey on the other hand, held his ground with his golf clubs in front of him, ready if any of the mutants still snarling at him would attack.
That is when the second phase of the test began. Gibson and the panther mutant began to beat the turtle with their whips, the leather snapping against his skin. Raph couldn't help but gasp when the first whip made contact with his side. He could feel a red welt forming along the tender flesh, along with a thin line of blood began to drip from flesh. They hit again and again in the almost exact same spots before moving onto another, unmarked part of the ninja. Raph's eyes widened with each blow as the stinging nettle made him itch, twitching at the sensation. Because his back was covered by his shell, the men focused on the turtle's legs and chest and sides, striking the same spots over and over again without remorse.
They knew that this was the only way to allow the infection of women to pass from his body. Women were beautiful, yet soft and weak. They could not be trusted on the battlefield due to their emotions. Men needed to be hard and unwilling to let their feelings get in the way of what needs to be done.
Raph's muscles tensed with each blow, pulling at his restrains. This was a natural body reaction for anyone, to recoil in such a situation. His vision was constantly streaked with white as each blow struck his body. The last thing he saw before shutting his eyes again was one of the whips flying straight for his eyes. Then, he heard Donnie yell and Mikey gasp and Leo scream his name. He couldn't see. He couldn't see. He was able to just a second ago. He blinked rapidly as some of his vision began to resurface, but only in his right eye. Raph could feel fluids begin to run down his cheek where his left eye was a moment ago.
Now the men franticly began to untie the red clad ninja, speaking feverishly in a different tongue. Some of the other men began to even yell at each other, pointing fingers-or claws- at the mutant with the whip covered in new fluids.
Donnie jumped to his feet and sprinted to the scene where Raph stood, barely able to stand on his own, his hand to his eye socket, feeling for something- anything that would indicate where his eyeball was, but all he felt was a gaping hole filled with tissue and air. He felt as if there was a monstrous weight on his chest, but his arms were weak so he would not be able to lift it, "My eye." He wheezed, not able to breathe. His appendages began to shake.
His purple clad brother shoved past the other men surrounding Raph, "I have medical training!" He bellowed. When he finally reached his brother, he already had in his head what to do. Obviously, if we were in a more sterile condition I might be able to save his eye, but there is no telling just how clean these mutants are. They probably already stepped on it anyway. Raphael was now sitting on the ground, another mutant helping him to sit up.
"You are a medicine man?" The mutant asked, skeptical. At this point, Raphael was feeling his head spin and ache. He was still fingering his face, unwilling to let the thought of losing his eye enter into his mind, yet he knew his sight would never be the same again.
Donnie nodded furiously. Tucked away in his belt was a small kit of medical supplies, but nothing that would do what it needed to in this situation, "Yes. I've taken care of my brothers for years now in all of our fights, so I believe I qualify."
The ceremony continued as Donnie worked, now in the Tent of Sacred Healing, as the mutants called it. The wolf mutant was beaten, the men now careful to stay well away from his face. Gibson was the only one in the tent other than Raph, who lay on a bed of women's garbs, unconscious. During this time, Mikey attempted to see their injured brother, but the men refused to let them into the tent, claiming that outsiders were not permitted past the tent's flap.
"Can we at least look inside to make sure he's okay?" Mikey practically begged, folding his hands together as if praying that they would let him check up on Raph. He was no doctor, but he knew that Raph's condition was not good, "Please?"
The raven mutant with beady black eyes and large feathers protruding from his forearms and shoulder blades shook his beak, "Only a medicine man, the village leader, and the ill are allowed in this tent. He folded his arms in front of him, his talons planted firmly on the ground.
The youngest turtle groaned, turning to their oldest brother standing behind him. Leonardo's face appeared unemotional, but inside he was raging. He was hurt, more than the Shredder, Bishop, or any of his other adversaries could ever hurt him. He felt betrayed. He never knew how Raph actually ever felt, but assumed that he would be able to cool off by himself whenever he went into a fit. He also felt disappointed in himself; he is the leader, he should know what his brothers thought of him at all times, yet he overlooked their red brother as simply throwing tantrums and not really harboring a deep seeded hatred for him.
"What should we do?" Mikey's voice penetrated his thoughts. The youngest brother's eyes seemed tired. They were all tired. They had spent nearly two weeks searching, only to end up being rejected by Raphael, a wound far deeper than they had received before.
Leo answered firmly, unwilling to let his brother see how conflicted he was at the moment. H placed a hand on the other's shoulder, causing their eyes to meet, "We have to respect their customs if we want to avoid a fight. I believe they will let us see Raph" the taste of his brother's name was revolting, "as soon as he's better." The sounds of children flooded the air. The women came back about half an hour ago along with the children, expecting the ceremony to be concluded. Now the young mutants crowded around Casey Jones, poking at his skin and tugging at his clothes, giggling. They'd never seen a human before so naturally they were curious. The women hollered for them to keep away, but the children were being disobedient at the moment and decided to go up to the human. Casey attempted to try and bat the younglings away with his hands without hurting them, but the children were persistent.
Donnie cleaned and dressed the wound, not really being able to do much else. He instructed Gibson, who he assumed was the village leader, to hold his brothers head above the ground, to make it easier to wrap some sterile gauze around his head to put some pressure over the rolled up piece of cloth over his eye. The purple ninja marveled at just how huge Gibson was compared to his brother; his hands seemed to swallow Raph's head. He wondered what sort of genetic mutation could have caused such monstrous proportions to grow.
After Donnie took care of the major cause of injury to his brother, he could now focus on his battered body. Deep purple patches and abrasions formed over his body from head to toe, making Donnie's stomach drop. He began to fumble around in his First AID kit, pulling out a needle and some dissolvable stitching along with a few cotton balls and a tiny bottle of peroxide. Even before he could wet the cotton with the peroxide, Gibson put one of his hands over Donnie's making him stop and look him in the eye.
"No, do not attend to heal any of your brother's other wounds; the women will take care of it, like they will take care of the others." Gibson's deep voice rumbled in his chest.
The turtle sighed. He thought something like this would happen; with native tribes, tradition and ethics were everything, "Yes, well, with all due respect, Mister Gibson, I am very qualified in healing the sick, plus he's my brother. I will feel responsible if he gets an infection or if he has any internal wounds." Gibson's face seemed unchanged, "And anyways, the ceremony is over, right? So why would it make a difference if I or the women dress his wounds?"
The village leader made a sort of guttural sound in his throat, almost laughing, "You are very naïve, outsider, yet I can tell you are wise; I respect that. No, the boy's rite of passage is not over yet." He shook his head, "The last phase will last for many weeks, or even a whole lunar cycle, depending on how well the boys work together while they are gone."
Donnie didn't know what to say. A whole entire month? There was no way Raph would even be able to move for the next week, not to mention go off on some sort of trip. He had to tell Leo and Mikey before things could get out of hand, "If you don't mind, I'll be right back." Before getting a reply, he slipped out of the tent.