Tally nearly fell over when the smell hit her. It was a mix between a dirty diaper and rotten eggs, and it hit her nose like a freight train. Maybe because she couldn't see anything, her sense of smell was heightened for the time being. Well, she thought. If that's the case I'll make it a priority to never go blind. She felt her feet gush against something slimy and she jumped ten feet, a gross shiver making its way up her spine to her hair, making her yelp.
"Whoa dudette, calm down!" Mikey laughed to her right, steadying her. "I gotcha."
She blanched. "What is that smell?" she coughed. She felt nauseous.
"The sewer," Leo said plainly, grabbing her hand to lead her to the lair. Tally stumbled and reached out with her other hand for something stable. She touched the wall and felt the moisture there as well, and recoiled, shaking her hand violently with a feeling of disgust.
"You guys live in the sewer?" she asked, making a face.
Donny shrugged, then realized she couldn't see and spoke. "Yeah." He said.
"What'd you expect?" Raph snorted. "A high-end, fancy penthouse in upper Manhattan?"
"Well no." Tally replied. "But the sewer?" she asked again, stepping over something as Leo pointed it out.
"We can get virtually anywhere in the city this way." Leo explained. "It's safe too, no one comes down here, save construction workers and the occasional hobo."
"And we know how to avoid them." Mikey supplied.
"The lair's hidden in the walls," Donny grinned proudly. I designed the hiding mechanism, and it's virtually undetectable."
"Don't you guys think it's gross?" Tally asked.
"We grew up down here." Raph shrugged. "We played in the water, we got used to it. So no, not really."
"Sewer sweet sewer!" Mikey laughed. Tally once again felt her insides turn. How could these guys live in the sewers? Where else would they go, idiot? Her mind shot at her. She inclined her head. Good point. She reasoned. And it was smart, on the turtles' part. After all, they could get anywhere in the city undetected and disappear just as quickly. And, no one in their right mind would look down here, especially those…Foot guys that they had fought earlier. The bruise on her cheek throbbed as a reminder. They were safe down here. Then she thought of something really disgusting that sent another shiver up her spine.
"You guys walk barefoot. Everywhere." She said.
The turtles glanced at each other, before looking down. So they did.
"Used to it." Raph said again.
Mikey laughed. And after another ten minutes of walking, Leo stopped, and Tally bumped into his shell.
"Sorry," she flushed, taking a step back. Leo shook his head and pulled down the lever disguised as a pipe that led to their home. The brick wall rose up, or…what sounded like a brick wall to Tally, and made an entrance.
The five went in. The wall closed behind them and Leo took his bandanna away from Tally's eyes and re-positioned it on himself. Tally blinked a couple times before gaping. The last time she had been there, she had been half dead, which isn't exactly great condition for taking in the place. But man was it cool. It definitely smelled better in there compared to the other part of the sewer. It smelt like teenage boy, turtle rather, but it was much better.
It almost looked like a penthouse. It was definitely still a sewer, but it was furnished like a home. It must have been an abandoned water reservoir tank for the city, hallowed out. The entire place was wired for electricity, the warm lights beaming high overhead. It had a full, furnished living room in the center, with a long couch, a love seat and a recliner. All of them were old, but they looked like they had been well cared for. It even had a carpet! In front of the couches was a large TV, but nothing like Tally had ever seen. The turtles must've scrapped parts together and built it.
Off to the side was a full-fledged kitchen, complete with a fridge, a sink, an oven, counters, and a table with chairs. All of the appliances looked old, probably ten years old, but no doubt that they were still in working condition. On the other side of the kitchen was a small doorway with light streaming out of it. She had a vague remembrance of her being helped out of there. That must've been where she was saved. So like...a lab or something.
To the other side was a room that reminded Tally of an old karate movie. It had sliding paper doors that stretched all the way up to the ceiling of the little nook it was in, with the thick, black crossings on it. Like a dojo.
There was also a flight of stairs, leading to an upper level. Tally guessed that's where the bedrooms and bathrooms and stuff were. Did turtles even use bathrooms? She shook her head. She figured it was better to just accept things and move on at this point.
"This is amazing." Tally breathed, turning to look at her hosts. She had no other words. If she had known that this place was down here, she would have given up sleeping on rooftops and gone underside. All of the turtles seemed to beam with pride, especially Donny. Tally had a feeling that he was behind most of the home-y renovations this place had undergone. After all, he did save her life. He was smart. They all grinned at each other before a flash of panic washed across Raphael's face.
"Oh shit Leo," Raph said suddenly. "What's Splinter gonna say?" Leo locked eyes with his brother and both their eyes widened. None of the turtles had thought about that.
"What will Splinter say about what my sons?" A raspy voice said from behind them. Leo went ridged and gulped, looking at his brothers for an idea. They all shook their heads slowly. They had no idea. Leo turned around slowly and smiled at his father, allowing him to see the small red-head, who had previously been hidden behind the blue-clad turtle.
The two looked at each other, neither of them saying a word. Their reactions mirrored each other's; each of their eyes were wide, their mouths slightly open.
Tally blinked. A rat. A giant rat was standing in front of her. First turtles, now a rat?. And they had called him 'Splinter'. Odd name. And he had called them 'sons'. Guess there's no family resemblance, she thought dully. He was about as tall as her, if not slightly shorter. He was definitely old and he even had a beard hanging off his…snout. His nose and ears twitched slightly before he took a deep breath and spoke, flexing his hands on his walking cane.
"Hello." He said. "My name is Hamato Yoshi. You may call me Splinter." He bowed. Tally hesitated before bowing back, falling back into habit to when she took karate lessons.
"Um…" she swallowed. "Tally, sir. Tally Johnson." She said, and they straightened back up.
He inclined his head. "Tally." He said with a nod, turning to the turtles. "My sons, why have you brought this girl to us?" he asked in a steady voice.
Leo hesitated. He didn't seem upset. But one could never really tell with Splinter. He cleared his throat. "Master Splinter…" he began. "Sensei. This was the girl we found about a week ago." He supplied. "Remember?"
Master Splinter nodded thoughtfully.
"We brought her back to stabilize her before taking her to the hospital." Donny added in. "And we…kind of ran into her on patrol."
"Some Foot jumped us," Mikey said.
"And Tally helped." Raph finished.
"So we…I invited her back for some pizza?" Mikey asked hopefully.
"We blindfolded her Master," Leo added, "She has no idea where we are." He assured. Splinter's shoulders visibly relaxed slightly at the news, and he nodded.
Tally swallowed. "Sir. Mr. Splinter, sir." She said, confused by his multiple names, unsure of what to call him. "These guys saved my life," she said, her hand going to her stomach. "I'd be dead right now if it wasn't for them. Earlier, after we fought those…Feet guys, I got curious. Mikey did ask me to come back for pizza. And Leo was against it, but I pushed. I…I wanted to hear their story." She paused. "And I guess it's your story too, huh?"
Master Splinter was quiet for an awfully long time. The silence dragged out for forever, in Tally's opinion. Her anxiety balled up in her stomach like a knot. Finally, after what seemed like forever, the rat nodded.
"Donatello." He said. "Make us all some tea." He instructed, "Michelangelo, warm us up some pizza." He looked at Tally, and smiled slightly. "We have some stories to exchange."
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Um..hi. Sorry for the sporadic updates. I do plan on finishing this story. It just takes me forever and a day to get motivation to update. so. yes. also pardon for the typos.