'Who does she think she is?' I thought to myself 'She's almost as bad as Leo, orderin' us around like that. I don't think I trust her yet. She's always wearin' that hood. I wonder what she's hiding.' The sound of footsteps tore me from my thoughts. It was Mesa followed by Donny. "I wanted to apologize for shouting at you guys. I felt your eyes on me. It was unnerving." "Apology accepted." Leo said calmly, looking up from the TV. "You're alright dudette." Mikey added. "Fine." I grumbled. Donny sat on the couch, opposite of me.
"Out of curiosity," Donny started. Mesa sat on the floor, facing all four of us. "How long have you been down here, Mesa?" Donny continued. "In the sewers? About a month. I've been going to the surface to get food. The past couple of days though, I haven't been able to find anything I'm not allergic to." 'Huh. She answered my question before I asked it. Probably nothing.' I reasoned. "Why are you in the sewers?" Mikey asked. "I got chased down here by thugs." she answered to her knees. 'Hmm. She's hiding somthin'.' I thought. "Is that the only reason?" I asked, a little gruffer than I wanted. "I had nowhere to go." After a few seconds of silence, she abruptly stood. "Thanks for everything guys. I'll get out of your.. uh.. hair." We all looked at her quizzically. She turned on her heel and left. We all looked at each other.
(POV Change)
'Whew! That was too close!' I thought as I left the guys. I was uncomfortable with them asking questions, but when Raph started to pry, that was enough. 'They'll be on my tail soon. I'd better speed this up.' I unfolded my wings, got a running start and began flying full-throttle. I dove under things and made as many sharp turns as possible. When I started to get tired, I stopped in a dark intersection, climbed over the doorway and clung to the wall. I heard footsteps from all directions. 'Why would they follow me?' I asked myself. 'Unless they are aware of what I am, which I highly doubt, they may be searching out of concern. But why would they be concerned about me, a girl they just met this morning? Well, I'm not normal, and Donny knows this. I also tried to dodge a few of their questions. That, in general, is a surefire clue that something's up.' I shook my head and waited.
I don't know how long I waited. I heard nothing, but knew they were still looking for me. I was beginning to get stiff and my palms were sweating. The wall was already slick from moss and sewage. I heard soft footsteps coming my direction. The ledge I was holding began to slip from my fingers. 'Oh no. Not now.' I was too stiff to move. I began to fall. I tried to catch myself with my wings, but I was a second too late. I hit my head on something sharp and everything I could see went black.
(POV Change)
I heard a splash in the intersection to my right. I looked and sure enough, through my night vision goggles I saw a blob of heat. "Hey guys! I think I found her!" I called. I lifted my goggles and walked over to her. What I saw tore my heart. She was on her back, her wings bent awkwardly. Pain etched her features and her breathing was ragged. My brothers joined me by her side as I knelt down. She was out cold. I put one hand under her knees and the other behind her neck, careful not to touch her wings. I felt a hot, sticky fluid run down my hand. 'Oh no.' I winced, then stood and held her to my chest. "We need to move, now! She's losing a lot of blood." I told them and ran off towards the lair. My brothers closely followed.
Just before we reached the door, I told Mikey to get my first aid bag. He nodded and dashed off to get it. I set her on the couch, keeping my hand on the back of her head. Mikey arrived with my bag. I had him hold her as I pulled down her hood, grabbed some bandages and tried to stop the bleeding. When it finally stopped, I cleaned the gash on the the back of her head and bandaged it. I took off her cloak, revealing what probably used to be a white tee shirt. The sleeves and back were cut off. She knotted it at the waist and the neck. I felt along the main bone of each wing. As I did, a bunch of feathers came off, tickling my nose. "Nothing's broken." I sighed in relief. Now that the danger was past, my brothers and I decided to take a closer look at Mesa. Mikey lay her on her side, careful not to crush her wings.
(POV Change)
She looked of Spanish descent. She wore white cargo pants. They had all kinds of stains on them. Some were dirt, and there were others I didn't recognize. Her hair was blacker than her cloak and had two white streaks in it, one at each of her temples. If she were sitting, it may have reached the small of her back. At about mid-length, there was a strip of white cloth tied in it. "I think I see why she knew where I was when I found her" I thought out loud, looking at her ear. It was almost level with the top of her head. Her face was nothing short of amazing. Her skin was smoother than glass. I let my eyes wander.
They rested on a strange marking. It looked like some kind of braid. It started at her hairline and ended at the tip of her nose. What shocked me most, was that it was a bright purple. Curiosity got the better of me and I reached out to touch it. As I did, I caught the attention of my brothers. I stopped and asked, "Think I should?" Mikey shrugged, "I don't know... Maybe not such a good idea." Donny answered. "Go on, Bro." Raph said. I took a breath and ran my finger along along it. It felt... HOT! I quickly took my finger off Mesa's forehead. Mesa awoke with a gasp. She looked at my hand then at me. "What have you DONE?!" she exclaimed and started untying the cloth in her hair. I looked down at my hand.
My finger had turned black and the blackness was spreading to the rest of my hand. I was really getting creeped out. "Calm down Leonardo, or it will spread faster." Mesa said, finally getting the cloth out of her hair. She licked both sides of it, put it to her lips and hurriedly whispered into it in a language I didn't understand. The blackness had covered my entire hand and had begun creeping up my arm. Mesa tightly wrapped the cloth just below my elbow, cutting off the blood flow. My vision blurred and was replaced with nightmares.