Sorry about the delay! Enjoy!
Also, the end of this chapter gets very Anti-Apriltello. You've been warned.
In the midst of this time of frenzy and panic, Casey didn't think he'd feel so bored without the turtles or April. He had plenty to do, Master Splinter had made sure of that, but every action felt empty without taunts from Raphael or Donnie's eyerolls. They needed to be found, or Casey was going to go insane.
Master Splinter had put him to work with the upkeep of the dojo, which wasn't difficult given that the four main inhabitants were missing. Time was spent picking up garbage and looking for any clues as to what had happened. While Casey played the maid, Splinter poured through ancient texts, looking for anything related to a demon that possessed and kidnapped people. It had only been a couple days, but the stress was beginning to get to the old rat. Never before had he been at a loss such as this.
As Casey began to put away the cleaning supplies after a long day of work, he caught a glimpse of how the guys' disappearance was really taking a toll of the rat. The door to the dojo was cracked only slightly, but Casey could see it all. Splinter stood in front of a picture frame he knew too well. Raph had mentioned the significance of the old family photo to the masked vigilante in passing, but Casey had never seen his sensei this sentimental before. Then, with one slow movement, the rat placed another photo next to the one of his family, and Casey didn't have to squint to know what it was a photo of; it was becoming a shrine of the lost.
"Master Splinter?" Casey asked. The rat turned toward the dojo door slowly, knowing full well that the teenager had been watching him.
"Yes, Casey?"
"I'm finished cleaning."
Splinter nodded, "yes, thank you for the help."
The hockey-player shrugged. "No problem."
The rat noticed that the boy made no movement towards leaving. He sighed, "I haven't figured out a way to get them back."
"That's okay, Master Splinter," Casey's shoulders sagged. "I'm sure you'll figure it out."
But just as he made a motion to leave, billowing black smoke began to fill the dojo. He threw a terrified look to Master Splinter, who was by his side in seconds, preparing for the worst. Within minutes the dojo was transformed into a chilling ebony cloud.
"Yoshiro!" called Splinter. "Yoshiro, where are my sons?"
"And April!" Casey added.
A soft chuckle built from amidst the fog. Casey attempted to take a swing at the laugh with his hockey stick, but ended up being met with more taunting.
"Yoshiro, I know it is you!" yelled Splinter again, with more fury. "Where have you taken them?"
The chuckling ceased, and the cloud in front of them began to clump and take shape. Each puff stacked until the towering emerald frame of Yoshiro floated before them, black eyes peering holes into Casey's.
"Hamato Yoshi, so mice to see you again," the spirit flashed a row of narrow, crooked teeth.
"Hey! Master Splinter's' a rat, not a mouse!" Casey yelled.
The black caverns rolled. "Whatever."
"Where are they?" Splinter growled.
"Those four lizards and the girl?" Yoshiro asked, bored. "Oh I haven't done anything to them, yet."
"You lay a hand on any of them and I'll-!"
"-You'll what, Yoshi?" The spirit raised an eyebrow. "I don't know if you've noticed, but I have the advantage here. I'm a ghost. Your fighting skills won't work on me."
The rat was silenced.
"What do you want?" Casey snarled.
"I want the rat," the spirit stated. "It never really was about those kids, you know, but you had to drag them into this, Yoshi."
"Show me my sons, Yoshiro!"
For a slit second, the ghost seemed to be at a loss. But he quickly recovered saying. "First you come, then you can see your sons."
The rat's head lowered and Casey was struck with disbelief. "What did you do to him Master Splinter?"
"I don't know," he mumbled. "But this may be the only way to get them back." The rat straightened and leveled the spirit's intimidation level. "I will go with you Yoshiro."
"Really?" the ghost asked in awe, but then quickly regained his composure. "Yes, of course."
"But you must return my sons and April!" Splinter said firmly.
"Yes, yes good," Yoshiro said eagerly. He raised his fingers and the smoke began to swirl around them.
Casey grabbed Master Splinter's arm, "you can't do this!"
"Casey, I can handle this!" The rat tried to distance himself at the smoke began to pick up and engulf the two.
"No! He's too powerful." Casey choked, still holding firm.
"Let go!"
And suddenly the smoke was gone, as were the rat and the boy.
April awoke to a very large rock jammed into the small of her back.
She arched it, attempting to rid her body of the unpleasant sting, and rolled over onto her side. Her head rested on Raphael's warm plastron, and her arm absent-mindedly followed. Was it already morning? It seemed like mere minutes ago she had brought him out here for a little distraction from the stress of the day, it wasn't fair to be waking up after so little time to sleep.
But the caw of tropical birds cemented that it was indeed time to start the day.
The red-head lifted herself into a seated position, surveying the surrounding. The sun was just beginning to rise and peak through the trees, and it was now that April was able to see the full extent of the island's beauty. Flowers felt more colorful, the sun warmer, and even the annoying chirp of the birds seemed musical in comparison to the New York Pigeons.
"It'd be even more beautiful if we weren't trapped here," April mumbled.
She rose to her feet, noting the even snores from the red-banded turtle. April considered waking him up, but she was reminded of the dangerous implications if she and Raph walked back to camp together after being gone all night. Mikey would be sad he was left out, Leo would be quietly curious, but Donnie would immediately assume the worst. So leaving Raphael to find his own way back seemed to be the safest option.
As she arrived at camp, Donatello was already attending to the fire and April thanked her forward thinking.
"G'morning Donnie," slurred April, still rubbing sleep out of her eyes.
The purple turtle's expression brightened as April took a seat on a log. "Oh hey April! How long have you been up? I didn't see you in the tent this morning."
The red-head's stomach clenched.
"I figured you went out to collect firewood or something," Donnie continued innocently.
"Oh yeah! I did!" April exhaled out of relief. "I went to get firewood!"
"Awesome, so where is it?" he asked expectantly.
Crap. "I...uh...couldn't find any good sticks," she fumbled.
"Really? No good sticks in this jungle?"
"Nope!"
Leo broke the uncomfortable string of dialogue as he entered the campsite. "Have either of you guys seen Raph?"
"He probably went to go punch a tree or something," Donnie dismissed.
April couldn't help but feel a little uneasy by Donnie's disinterest in his brother. He was usually very calculated and organized, so dismissing Raphael like that meant he definitely was worrying about him.
Mikey followed behind Leo, looking more like a zombie than April felt, "yo dudes what for breakfast? I'm starving!"
"We're going to have to scavenge," decided Leo. "April, why don't we go find Raph and look for some berries or something?"
The red-head could see Donatello flinch ever so slightly out of the corner of her eye. "Uh, sure Leo!"
"Bro! Can I go too?" Mikey asked.
"No, Mikey," asserted the leader. "Stay with Donnie and make sure nothing bad happens to camp. We still don't know anything about this island or its wildlife."
"Please Leo!" the youngest turtle begged. "I don't think I'll be able to wait for you guys to get back."
As Leo was about to protest, Donnie lifted his hand. "It's fine! Let Mikey go, I can hold down the fort!"
April and Leo looked to each other. "You sure, D?" she asked.
"Oh yeah, I mean, this fire shouldn't be too much of a problem," Donnie said, a little too easily. "Plus, I don't want Mikey poking me every five seconds asking for a snack."
They nodded, and set off into the wilderness. April breathed a sigh of relief. Spending some time with Mikey and Leo would be good. They seemed so easy going and serene, and maybe that was because she wasn't caught in an intricate love triangle with either of them. Their presence was calming, as Mikey began to make up an adventuring song right off the bat.
He wasn't even about to conduct a second verse when they ran into a very groggy Raph.
"Raph? What are you doing out here?" Leo demanded.
Raph's eyes widened, as his gaze set of April, who promptly turned a shade as deep as his mask.
"I was...uh...gathering firewood," he stumbled. April hoped he wouldn't use that excuse on Donnie.
"Okay, well next time you decide to run off, let someone know," Leo scolded. "Just for that, you get to help us look for food."
Raphael nodded, obviously too tired to put up a fight, and fell into step at the back of the pack next to Mikey. From behind her, April could hear Mikey questioning further.
"What happened, bro? You look like crap?"
"Shut up, Mikey."
"Is that a twig in your shell?"
"What? No!"
"You must've really been going hard finding firewood."
Raphael groaned. April stifled a laugh.
As the morning progressed, the quartet was able to assemble a wide variety of berries and leaves to bring back for Donnie to identify. The whole length of the excursion, Raph didn't say a word to April. It was embarrassing enough to wake up on a grassy jungle bed, questioning your decisions from the night before, but the fact that April had just left him there without another word? Raph couldn't help but feel a little offended.
So when he found Leo, Mikey, and her walking down the trail, he wanted to run as fast as he could in the opposite direction.
Thankful Leo didn't press and Mikey was too hungry to notice anything, but the wide-eyed look April gave made it obvious she hadn't told anyone about last night. Not that he would care if she did, they didn't do anything. But the fact that she didn't tell made him wonder if she was processing things the same way he was. The last couple days had been a whirlwind, and Raphael had never felt so much raw emotion in his life.
When the crew got back to the campsite, Donatello was poking the roaring fire, looking more bored than he would probably ever let on.
"Hey D!" Mikey exclaimed. "Did any wild animals attack while we were gone?"
Donnie sighed and laughed. "'Fraid not, Mikey. Did you guys find anything?"
As Leo handed the purple turtle the berries and leaves that were found, Mikey and April retreated into the shelter, leaving Raph to take a seat on the log opposite his brother. He could tell Donatello had been giving him the side eye ever since they'd arrived, and it would only be a matter of time before he started asking questions.
"Where'd you head off to this morning, Raph?" The first question was innocent enough.
His throat clenched. "I was collecting firewood."
Donnie raised an eyebrow. "Really?"
Raph nodded feverishly.
"That's the exact same thing April said."
Crap "Really? That's funny I didn't even see her."
"Cut the crap Raphael I know what's going on." The tone wasn't furious, more like Donatello was offended his brother would think he was so stupid. This eyes didn't even stray from the berries he was sorting. "You like her, don't you?"
Raph didn't say anything. There was no way to describe how he felt in one mere phrase, and even if he could, he sure as hell wasn't saying it out loud.
"I don't think that's our most pressing issue right now, Donnie." It was then that Raphael knew he should've just picked himself off the log and gone back to the shelter to wait out his brother's obvious mood. And maybe he actually would have, if the red-banded turtle wasn't so stubborn.
"What is the most pressing issue than? Getting off the island? Defeating Yoshiro? Both of those seem pretty impossible at the moment." Donnie scoffed. "Or maybe you just don't understand how much April means to me."
"You know that's not true." Raph pressed his hands together, preparing for the oncoming storm.
"Then why did you do it?" Donatello's eyes were pulled from the berries to look into Raph's vulnerable emerald ones. His words were soft and rolled over the mind like a rising tide as opposed to a Tempest, so quiet it seemed like a question he didn't even want answered. Raphael never wanted to see his brother this way. Ever since their first journey into the streets of New York, he knew to respect his brother's feelings towards their friend. Sure there were times the red turtle found himself lost in conversation with the red head and wishing it would never end, and of course his stomach would flip every time she arrived at the layer. But April was Donnie's as far as he was concerned, so he just learned to live with it, and enjoy the small moments he got to be with her.
"We didn't even do anything," were the only words Raph could find.
Donnie shook his head. "You didn't have to."
Man this chapter was a long time coming. I just want to thank all of the reviewers for encouraging me, I really love your feedback!
This is a pretty busy time for me, so updates probably won't be coming quickly, but your reviews certainly motivate me, so keep it up!
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