Leonardo tiredly huffed as the crunching of the snow faltered when he stood still. His muscles ached, his head throbbed, yet, his eyes relaxed when noticing the petite figure a few feet away in front of him. Her slim frozen fingers drummed against the oily metal of the gun that remained by her side. Dark eyes observed the giant terrapin, inspecting his unusually large mutated physique. Nevertheless, she remained on alert, locking her gaze with his, and not retreating. The Foot Clan leader remembered seeing him caged in the glass confinement - vulnerable and weak. However, even now when she saw him, all fatigued, he remained confident. Her eyes flickered over to his bare shoulder, admiring the kanji tattoo, but couldn't make out the meaning through the fog. After the long stance, Karai lifted the gun, aiming straight at him. Both hands cradling the handle, an index finger hovering over the trigger. This was the moment she was waiting for; him all alone, exhausted, and ready to admit defeat. Still, he didn't move nor flex at her aim, making her arch a brow. Instead of examining him, she looked at his eyes, noticing the blue irises flickering, and the softness of his stare. He didn't cower or plead for mercy, as many others would. Karai grew restless at the uneventful fight, but couldn't bring herself to pull the trigger.
The blue masked turtle sensed the young woman's struggle, yet, remained immobile. He imagined many thoughts running through her mind, calculating the aim and reflex if he were to attack, also, about the creature that she may find horrendous. Finally, he withdrew his katana blades, gripping the rubbed taped handles, before throwing them in front of him, amongst the snow covered ground, metal inviting the frozen ice around its edges. The ninja wanted her to retreat on her own, before either of them made a mistake on that cold winter night. He remembered when he saw her, at the lab, in the back, observing him being behind glass. The leader saw a bit of sympathy in her still eyes, thinking, that maybe, she could be on their side.
"What is your name?" He casually asked, wondering if she understood English. He only heard her commands to the Foot spoken in Japanese and wasn't sure. Her ears perked up, at the soft masculine tone of his voice, startled at his fluency.
Oroku Karai of the Foot Clan, she replied silently, not sure if she should answer him or not.
"My name is Leonardo." Scoffing mentally, she lowered the gun just enough to keep on alert, but enough to communicate. "Uh, do you think we could, um, converse instead?" Growing confused, she stepped back. "It's okay, I'm not here to hurt you, really, it's the last thing I want to do." Karai wanted to run, to flee, but couldn't seem to find the strength to do so. The more he continued to talk, the more frightened she became - scared about failing the mission.
"Stop." Leonardo closed his mouth, not wanting to scare her off. However, he stepped forward, one foot crunching the snow beneath his sole. She lifted the gun higher as he continued his walk. "Yamete!" He left behind the weapons, never glancing back, just concentrated on her alone and nothing else. The end of the cold barrel touched his hard plastron when he was a few inches from her. Angrily, she lifted her gaze at him. The ninja only tenderly smiled down as his right hand grabbed her wrists, lowering the weapon down. She faintly gasped at the tender grip, though couldn't bring herself to shift and aim. He continued his stare, while the icy wind blew through them. Leonardo noticed her slight shiver, the chattering of her teeth, and decided to untie the large thick navy colored scarf he wore with one hand. Karai only watched as he placed the material carefully around her neck, immediately warming her with the wool fabric. Her cheeks and nose were still red, but her shivering seized. The prickly warm scarf made her want to shut her eyes, to embrace the new feeling she hasn't felt in a long time.
"It's so cold out. You should wear warmer clothing." She bit the inside of her mouth, indecisive on what to do. The finger stopped hovering over the trigger, lowering the gun further down as the terrapin leaned forward, just close enough for his cheek to graze hers. "You should head inside, before the storm begins." Moving away, she almost missed the calloused skin on her chilled face. His bright cerulean eyes sparkled, and his gentle form, created an increased beat in her heart. Her cheeks burned, though, she thought, it could've been from the cold. He turned his head, body twisting to the right, and walked away to grab his katanas. The large terrapin didn't look back, didn't grew anxious, but only left her to do what she needed.
She remained standing in the middle of the snow covered street of Manhattan, alone and confused, but warmer than when she arrived. Her free hand rose to caress the warm wool of the scarf, ends dangling to her knees, making her almost laugh. Karai peeked towards his direction, but he was gone. Snowflakes began to fall heavily, alerting her to retreat. Before turning, she glanced once more, to where he stood, quietly thanking her warrior in blue.
"Arigato, Samurai."
