Chapter
Eleven
Juxtaposition
"They don't understand what it is to be awake, to be living on several planes at once. Though one cannot speak with several voices at once." - T.S. Eliot
If it was even possible, the door to the underground home (or lair as a few from the topside had come to start calling it) flew open, a panicked looking Casey Jones standing in the door way for a moment. His dark eyes darted back and forth across the large open expanse before him that melted together living room, dining room, and game area together in a rather loft sort of way you normally saw in the trendy apartments in near Greenwich Village. With one double take, his gaze landed on five pairs of eyes that stared at him from directly across the room. Focusing immediately upon the female of the group, Casey dashed for her, surprising everyone at how fast he could move when motivated to do so by unknown reasons.
Sliding up to the grey-eyed girl who had been in the process of whipping out a rather impressive beat down through the arcade game she was playing, he grabbed her by the shoulders and stared her straight in the eye. "Sara! You're a girl right?!" His tone of voice bordered right on the edge of frantic.
"Uhh, the last time I checked, yeah." Sara stared at him with a rather wide-eyed and stunned look on her face.
From behind her, Michaelangelo and Donatello snickered while exchanging grins with one another. Even Raphael couldn't help but smirk from his place in front of the TV along with Leonardo. All four boys earned a rather quick snapped glare from Sara before Casey shook her by the shoulders, and started to ramble off a torrent of a quickly spoken concern.
"You gotta help me out here kiddo! Aprils' birthday is coming up and I don't know what to get her! She keeps saying she doesn't want anything, but I know that's bogus, you girls always want something even when you say you don't! All we loving men want to do is please you girls, and all you do is torment us with your twisted logic and riddles!! Why?! Why do you do this to us?!" The stress was quite evident.
Blinking a few times, Sara couldn't help but feel like a flood victim at that moment; It all happened so fast. Just, woosh, all gone. "Uh... we're sorry?"
Looking at one another with a blank look, Michaelangelo and Donatello burst into a fit of laughter as the whole scene was just way too funny. Leonardo chuckled, especially since he happened to have a better view of the dumbfounded look on Sara's face as Casey flipped out on her.
"Maybe if you tried speaking at a much more slower speed, then perhaps Sara-san would not look so much like a deer caught in the headlights." Splinter chuckled as he appeared from the dojo and moved on into the kitchen to fetch himself a cup of tea he had been brewing.
"Yeah, what Splinter said!" Sara nodded in agreement with what the elder sensei said while wriggling out of Caseys' hold on her shoulders. "And why you blaming a bunch of stuff on me anyways? I haven't even started dating anyone yet to be accounted for in that circle of torture you just outlined!" She snapped while jabbing a finger against his chest to back him up.
Running a hand through his hair and grinning sheepishly, Casey shrugged. "Sorry kiddo, I'm just stressed out."
Eying him for a moment, head inclined as if to give him a judgmental look, Sara exhaled an exasperated sigh before folding her arms over her chest and nodding. "Apology accepted. Now, how do you want me to help you?"
As if some sort of huge weight had been taken off his shoulders, Caseys' eyes lit up as he grabbed Sara in a huge bear hug and spun her about. "Oh my god you're a total lifesaver princess! I owe you big time!" He grinned while setting her back down on the ground, oblivious to the fact that she was swaying just a tad from having her world up heaved and sent through the spin-cycle.
"Yeah, sure, whatever you say Casey." Sara mumbled while trying to shake the dizzy spell from her head before the room got anymore swirled and abstract in its coloring. "Just promise me you won't ever do that whole pick me and spin me thing ever again." Regaining her sense of balance wasn't at all hard, it was just a bit annoying to have that feeling of not being steady on her feet. As Casey opened his mouth to say something, Sara made it a point to set her index and middle finger from her right hand against the middle of his forehead, stopping him cold. "I'm serious."
"Okay, okay; spin the Sara and be maimed, got it." Casey rolled his eyes while swatting her fingers away. "So you guys really busy right now?" He glanced over the top of her head at the two turtles brothers who were still laughing and had to now lean against one another just to stay on their feet.
Glancing back over her shoulder, a flat glare pulling her mouth into a frown, Sara looked back to Casey. "Not any more apparently." She sighed. "When is Aprils' birthday anyways?"
"Tomorrow?" Casey winced a grin as he could already see the unamused look coming across her features before she glanced over to Leonardo just to confirm this.
Giving her a sympathetic look, Leonardo nodded. "Sorry Sara, Aprils' birthday is tomorrow." The loud smack of a hand hitting forehead caused the eldest of the four brothers to pull a rather chagrined look.
"Baka jin." Sara grumbled while pulling her hand from her forehead. Mumbling something else in Japanese under her breath, she pushed passed Casey and headed for the door.
"Right on Casey, you actually got her muttering in Japanese." Donatello laughed while giving the former hockey player two thumbs up. "She only does that when she's annoyed with something. Normally I've heard it only when she's playing a game against me and Mikey."
Casey gave the purple masked turtle a short glare. "Good to know Donny, thanks for that man."
"Hey! You coming or not?!" Sara shouted from the door, scarf flying about her neck after retrieving it from the hook to her right. "I'd be more than happy to let April scalp ya alive!"
"Oh! Oh! I wanna come to!" Michaelangelo cried out while scrambling around Donatello and rushing up beside Casey, a hopeful look glittering in his big blue eyes. "Can I? I haven't been able to get April anything yet."
A grunt found its way from Raphael as he twisted on the couch to look back at his youngest brother, amber eyes set in a slight glare. "And just how do you plan on doing that? I don't know if you've noticed or not Mikey, but we don't exactly blend into a crowd."
"Your brother is right Michaelangelo." Splinter approached from his place in the kitchen where he had been observing the on goings in his home. "I am afraid I cannot let you go with Casey and Sara-san."
"Yeah, but!" Michaelangelo began to protest to the restriction, gaze darting towards Sara in hopes that she could help him out. There was a rather odd look on her face, it sort of reminded him of that spaced out look Donatello would get while listening to the endless mind-numbing chatter of customers calling on the tech support lines for help with their simple computer problems. For a moment, Michaelangelo felt his hopes in being aided by his friend sink. Until...
"Master Splinter," Sara turned her gaze to the aged teacher, whose gaze alighted in response to her addressing of him. "I sort of have an idea."
"Why are we here again?" Casey coughed, hands waving about to clear away the wispy streams of floating smoke that choked the air of an already small shop. The deep rich smells of several spices and herbs assaulted his sense of smell so much it started to cause his eyes to water just a little. His question was directed towards the teen girl who had led him into the small little shop stuck between two rather towering monoliths of a building-like structure that had seen better days no doubt.
Sara cast a baleful glance back over her shoulder at the former hockey pro. "Because you asked for my help, because you were incapable of getting April a birthday present before the day of said event." She hissed, eyes narrowing just enough to prove her point of him shutting up with the smart remarks.
Holding his hands up in a gesture of submission, Casey offered her a grin before glancing about at the various open shelves and bookcase like structures that loomed up around them in a sort of organized cluttered mess. Everything anyone ever wanted of Asian influence seemed to be crammed into every available space. Colored jars in an assortment of shapes and sizes were labeled with near ancient looking labels that held what looked like both English and either Chinese or Japanese (which one Casey was oblivious to). Lifting a brow at a small squat brown jar labeled Dragon Blood, Casey couldn't help but smirk. After everything I've seen and been through, I wouldn't doubt it at this point. He would have chuckled, but that might have ended up with him receiving another unwanted glare shot his way.
"Hey, Casey, do you know what April's favorite color might be?" Sara asked as she paused in front of a shelving unit with both crystal carvings, bonsai trees fashioned out of twisted copper wiring and colored quartz.
He shrugged. "I think it's yellow, maybe gold." He murmured while looking over the other jars beside the Dragon Blood. "Hey, what's all this by the way?" He gestured with a wave of his hand at the jars while glancing over to the teen.
"Ingredients for medicines." Sara grinned while coming up beside Casey. "Dragon Blood is supposed to be a cure all for every and any illness and disease. In some stories, it can even bring the dead back to life." Her eyes stared hard upon the labeled jar, a glimmer lighting across those grey orbs momentarily. "But they're just stories."
"Just stories?" Casey looked down at her with a raised brow. "Why does that sound so incredibly weird coming out of your mouth?" He grinned.
A punch hit Casey straight in the upper arm before Sara turned on her heel and walked off around the corner of another shelf. Grumbling under her breath, Sara shook her head while glancing off to her right to look over what items lined the shelves now. What sounded like a snicker snaked its way into her hearing and brought a pulled unamused look over her face. "It wasn't funny." She mumbled.
"Says you. But Casey did have a pretty good point; it does sound weird hearing you say something like that." The tone of Michelangelo's voice suggested he was grinning.
"Hey! You're supposed to be on my side!" Sara hissed while clutching a hand over her right ear, where under the fall of her long shoulder length hair an ear piece was slipped over. A laugh could be heard off in the background and she automatically pinned it down as Donatello. "I heard that!" The lower level of another snicker followed and all she could do was simply roll her eyes. "All right enough already, just tell me what you guys want to get April so we can get this done and over with."
"Well, so long as you don't get the jar of Dragon Blood, I think we'll be okay." Donatello chuckled over the line. "Although it is the thought that counts. Giving someone a gift that supposed to cure illness and bring back the dead, does say a lot."
Sara was ready to snap back a rather smartass comeback to that little quip when Leonardo's voice cut in at the last second. "Don't listen to those two Sara. Most of the stuff in that store looks right up April's alley anyways. If I see something, I'll let you know." The relative cool, calm, and collected voice of the eldest brother seemed to smooth out the ruffled feathers as usual.
It seemed a bit odd, but Leonardo often reminded Sara of her sensei back home in Japan. Maybe it was the way in which he spoke, or just the fact he seemed to be in control at all times of himself and his own actions, while still acting his age off and on; but even still, his words dismissed the riled look that had crept over Sara at that moment. Running a hand through her hair, and emitting a small cough as if to clear her throat, the evident pink hue of some sort of embarrassment rising across the top of her cheeks caused her to turn her back to the store front windows. "Whatever." She mumbled while attempting to look interested in what appeared to be another collection of supposed antiquities.
Off across the street, almost directly across from that small little store that Casey and Sara had gone off into, the four turtle brothers crouched behind the lifted lip of a four story rooftop. They had their eyes glued to the windows of the small store, a set of high powered binoculars being passed between Michelangelo, Donatello, and Leonardo; while Raphael opted to merely keep his back to the store.
Through the use of Sara's own cellphone and two bluetooth pieces that Donatello had rigged up to link back to the same cellphone, there was an available means for Michelangelo to accompany Sara and Casey. Donatello of course wanted in on the little venture out, and Leonardo followed along as well as he both wanted to make sure things didn't turn for the worse and to grab a present for April as well. Not exactly wanting to be left behind, Raphael tagged along with a less than positive attitude like his brothers. And thus, the reason all four brothers were up on the roof trying to pick out a present from either one of them via Sara and Casey.
"Dude, what's that thing right next to you on the right?" Michelangelo's voice lifted through the ear piece, causing Sara to look into the given direction and lift a brow.
Sitting on the shelf just to her right, was a deep cherry wood colored piece that reminded her of the stand you normally saw showcasing a samurai's replicated sword, held what looked like a long wooden case of some sorts that was held closed with a single thin red cord. Curious now as to what this was, Sara stepped towards it, a hand reaching out as if she meant to lift it up from its stand. There was something akin to a pulse of electricity that vibrated from her inner being. It caused her to hesitate; hand hanging in mid-air as if she were unsure as to whether or not to continue forward. That strange feeling of an electrical pulse made its presence yet again making the hairs on the back of Sara's neck stand up.
That cannot be a good sign. Sara's brow furrowed as her initial thoughts reasoned against her curiosity. However, the latter tended to win out at the end of every self-argument, and thusly her hand moved forward again. The very tips of her fingers brushed against the smooth polished surface before they finally curled about to take hold of this mysterious object. Once full contact with it had been made, Sara's body froze. Stock still she stood with wide eyes as that same odd pulse vibrated out through her, and now it felt more like the vibration one felt when something large growled. The pulse faded quickly, leaving the teen to continue staring with wide eyes at the object still sitting up on its stand with her hand curled about it.
"Hey, you still there?" Michaelangelo's voice cut through whatever jumble of thoughts that were clogging Sara's mind and snapped her back into reality.
"Uh, yeah! Yeah, I'm still here Mikey." She murmured in assurance to her friend while picking the object up off its stand. With both hands she held it for a moment, staring at the smooth wood finish that seemed to hold no traces of dust upon it whatsoever unlike the other things clustered about its stand. Unwinding the red cord that had been twisted about a single gold plated oval shaped button of sorts, Sara stepped back from the shelf just a bit as she found that the two sides of whatever she had were able to slide apart from one another. Slowly, she she slid the two wood pieces away from one another.
As if triggered by just the mere sight of what was between the two carefully polished pieces of wood, the look in Sara's grey eyes changed. A vibrant blue started to seep out from the very edge of her pupils, crawling out towards the dark ring that surrounded the iris. There was a look of malice in her eyes that flickered to life; but she remained seemingly unaware of the change, as if the reaction were not her own. From in between the slowly separated pieces, the dark black feathers of some large bird were revealed; glistening in the dim light streaming through the dusty front windows. There was a reddish tint to the edge of the feathers that glittered when caught at the perfect angle by the light.
They were indeed rather large feathers. Seven feathers to be exact as Sara opened the fan all the way. They almost seemed to be the longest wing feathers you could pluck off a bird as their sheer size seemed to match that with the span of Sara's hand. Each feather had to be at least a foot long from end to end, or at least that was the best Sara could summarize in an estimate. There was something about the fan though that was starting to give her a very unnerving feel. Her face twisted into a small grimace as she looked the fan over carefully, so as not to tear the feathers.
A small breeze slowly stirred, ruffling the ends of the feathers in a teasing manner. Sara glanced off towards the door of the small store, wondering if someone had walked in and the outside air had rushed through as an explanation for the slight chill that crept over her. Strangely enough, the door was closed, the small bell hanging over the frame unmoving and soundless. And yet... that same breeze continued to lift through that small aisle she stood in. Sara turned her attention from the door, eyes shifting to look at the fan once more.
Only...
The store was gone, the cramped little aisle replaced by damp mist covered earth littered with dead and rotting leaves from maple and oak trees that seemed to surrounded her on every which side her darting glance attempted to penetrate. Glimpses of dull sunlight streamed through the gnarled and twisted fingers of skeletal tree limbs that had all but lost their leaves. Squinting up towards the point where most of the light seemed to be coming from, Sara could barely make out the dark shape of a monolithic torii looming up over her and casting a rather long sinister shadow over her.
The blue that had been working its way towards consuming the given grey she had been born with, was near the point of consumption. Closing her eyes briefly as if hoping that once they reopened she would be back in that tiny aisle in the little hole in the wall antique store, a shadow crept in across her brow as her gaze snapped open; a brilliant cobalt blue gleaming in place of the grey.
In the air above the mammoth torii, the air twisted inward upon itself as if a whirlpool had formed, tightening towards the center before one deep inward heave pushed out and the monstrous shadow of some winged thing appeared with a murderous scream that sounded like a thousand crows calling out at once, before it darted down at her with remarkable speed.
Her heart raced with the sense of panic, but something else seemed to take over at the moment as her muscles tightened in preparation for the incoming attack. Her hands twitched with the eager sensation of ripping into the feather and flesh. As if fire had sprung upon her skin, her nerves roared with the agony of living fire spreading across her body as a dark red liquid seeped up out of her skin, gliding down her limbs and even out across her young face twisted in a snarl.
As if cued by the next scream uttered from the winged thing, Sara felt her body lung forward with hands extending out as if they were claws. Mere inches from the horrific clash that was sure to ensue, a blinding white light popped before her eyes and engulfed her tortured body.
Blinking only once, Sara found her gaze staring straight ahead at the dusty little shelf she had taken the fan from. A slow look of confusion started to overtake the expression of her face as she glanced about the cramped two foot wide aisle. What the hell was that?!
"Sara? Yo, you zone out on us or what?" Michaelangelo's voice broke over her hearing, bringing her attention to him and away from whatever had just... happened.
"Sort of. Sorry." She murmured while looking down at the fan still in open in her hands. The feathers were still, as if the small breeze had never existed in the first place. Folding the fan back together carefully, Sara rewound the strong about the clasp and quickly set back up on its display stand.
"I see we have a curious mind wandering about the aisles." An older male voice spoke up from somewhere off near the far end of the aisle Sara stood within. The voice belonged to a rather elderly looking man of Asian ethnicity; deep wrinkles having formed about the outside corners of his eyes and across his brow. A pair of thin wire rimmed glasses were perched almost upon the very tip of his nose. He shuffled down the aisle chuckling under his breath in response to the rather dumb struck look on Sara's face. "That fan you were looking at, it's very old with many many secrets wrapped up beneath that cord." He spoke in a soft but firm voice that was heavily tinted by a Japanese accent.
Glancing from the old man standing before her now, Sara stared at the fan for a few seconds before looking to the man again with a silent response she couldn't quite get out of her throat.
Again he chuckled while waving her off. "No need, little one." He stated while then gesturing towards the fan with a nod of his head. "I would have said you appeared captivated by that piece, but then I would be lying." He glanced at her from the corner of his eye, noting the steely look in her eyes that contrasted sharply against her befuddled facial expression. "I found that fan some near forty years ago when I was still living back home in Japan, before came over to America. There's a legend surrounding that fan, dating back some near thousand years or so. Bits and pieces of the legend are missing, but apparently this fan belonged to the King of Mount Kurama."
The look on Sara's face faltered, the appearances of confusion twisting into a mix of what seemed like realization and hidden fear mingled within anger. A glint in her eyes caught the old man's attention, who merely gave her a smile before turning away and shuffling his way back down the aisle, leaving the teen to stare after him in silence.
"...okay, that was weird." Donatello muttered over the line as he exchanged a look with Leonardo; who seemed to agree with that statement completely.
"Weird, Donny? No, no. Try more like creepy to the max." Michaelangelo corrected his brother.
While still staring after the now long departed old man, Sara's gaze hardened for a moment before she turned away and walked off down the opposite end of the aisle looking for Casey.
