Attention Readers: I want to thank those that pointed out my error with the sudden spelling change from Mikey to Mickey. It is all adjusted now, and I apologize for not noticing this sooner. Sadly, FanFiction stopped sending emails about the reviews I've been getting.
Chapter 9 – The Presage Sika
The sky looks dark, with black stormy clouds threatening the horizon. The wind is so brutal that the trees sway from side to side. Indeed, the weather could turn to rain at any moment.
Leonardo wonders what he was thinking about leaving the house to walk on a night like this. Regardless of feeling like cabin fever, he should have asked someone to join him for safety reasons. It also raises the question of how long he has been walking. When did he even leave the house?
With a sigh, Leonardo looks at the river. It is noticeable how angry the water seems, crashing against the sharp rocks. He can't help comparing the claw-like stones to the talons of the Kraang's mech suit.
He suddenly felt danger, like being followed by a predator in the shadows. Leonardo wishes he had his swords with him. He might not be able to portal since he is still far too weak, but he can at least try to appear threatening to whom or what is stalking him.
Leonardo feels very afraid and tries to walk faster along the path. Where is he going? He wishes he knew. It isn't until that moment that Leo realizes he is lost and can't find his way back to the farmhouse. He would call his family for help, but what would be the point? None of them are nearby to hear him.
A loud but familiar eerie mechanical noise has Leonardo freeze in his tracks.
It isn't possible, yet when Leo turns to the trees, the big bright red eye of the mech suit turns and looks down at him. The dark silhouette of it alone has him petrified. Each heavy metallic step it makes has him shaking.
How did the Kraang find him? What about his family? If he's in danger, his family must be too. He suddenly fears for their safety more.
As the giant mech gets closer, it lowers itself to all fours, and right before Leo's eyes, the evil red eye dims and turns into two smaller dark eyes. The crown on top of the mech's head morphs into large antlers.
Leonardo stops shaking when he realizes he is now staring at a deer. It stands straight, with majestic grace, enormous antlers, a soft white coat, and a muscular build.
The presence of this creature has Leonardo rightfully confused. For one moment, he feared for his life at the sight of the Kraang, to now being face to face with a gentle stag.
"Huh?" This is all Leo can utter past his lips.
Without warning, the stag snorts loudly and stomps a hoof onto the ground. Then, before Leo knew it, it suddenly charged at him.
"Uh ho," Leo gasps.
He tries to back up as fast as he can but slips on the riverbank behind him and crashes into the angry river, nearly hitting the jagged rocks.
OoOoOoOoOoOo
Leonardo wakes up with a jolt. He sits up, breathing heavily and wiping some cold sweat from his brow. He forgets where he is until the warm crackling of the fire reminds him that he's at April's family home on the farm.
To his annoyance, he must have dozed off sometime after breakfast. Leo questions how he could be in a coma for three weeks and still be tired.
It takes him a few minutes to collect his thoughts and control his breathing, but the second he starts calming down, a sharp writhing pain seizes along his midsection.
"Ahhh!" He cries in agony.
Leonardo remembers that each time he gets up too fast, this happens. Donatello did some tests, and it is most likely because he is still healing. His shell is fully recovered, thanks to Draxum's adhesive, but his insides are not quite there yet. Again, this boils down to the issue that he lost so much blood, and his internal system is playing catch up.
The pain leaves him paralyzed for a few more minutes, and Leonardo realizes he is alone. He is about to wonder where everyone disappeared when he hears Raphael and Michelangelo outside.
"Okay, Mikey, get ready for my punch of fury!" Raph warns.
"Bring it," Mikey responds in a taunting way.
It sounds like they are sparing, Leonardo deduces.
Splinter decided that everyone should focus now on training since they know Leo is improving.
After the pain subsides, Leonardo attempts to get up.
He walks by the gurney and leans on it for support as he makes his way to the window. Leo bends slightly forward to look at what is happening outside.
As he figured, they were all training – and by the looks of it, they were having fun practicing and, to Splinter's displeasure, playing in what was left of the snow.
Leonardo smiles as he witnesses Michelangelo throwing a snowball and smacking Donatello on the back of his head. As the teens have a good laugh, Donnie and Splinter are the only ones annoyed. That is until Donnie gets revenge by using his mystic tech to create a small title wave of snow, burying everyone but him and Splinter.
The spectacle was so amusing that Splinter even joined in a good laugh with Donnie.
Leo wishes he could join them, but because of his situation, he must remain inside.
With a frown, Leo turns away from the window and looks at the small table beside him.
Sitting by a lamp is the remaining bent handle of his broken sword that Donnie rescued from the fight. The other day, Leo tried to fix it with his Ninpō, but he couldn't focus on his mystic mojo because of his physical pain, fear, and guilt.
His family figures it is because he is still weak from being in a coma for three weeks, but Leo knows it isn't just that. The more he remembers, the more horrifying the reality is for him.
He asked himself, what if it wasn't him that was hurt? What if one of his brothers, April or Casey, got hurt instead, or worse? Leonardo knows he would die inside if anyone else had been in his condition.
Leo has been punishing himself because he promised to get everyone out safely but failed. As a result, he is still determining where he stands with his team, which scares him.
Absently, Leo picks up the handle and almost instantly, a vision of the Kraang stomping on his sword, shattering his blade, jolts him away from his weapon. He quickly sets the broken handle back down on the table. As he does so, Leo notices one of Splinter's books.
Eager for a distraction from his thoughts, Leonardo picks up the book and makes his way back to the couch. Along the way, he throws another log in the fire before sitting down with a few layers of blankets over his legs.
OoOoOoOoOoOo
A little over an hour passed, and Leo was so engrossed with the book that he barely noticed Donnie coming inside.
"Hey Leo," Donnie says, walking passed the couch and straight for the fireplace.
Slowly Leo moves his eyes away from the pages to glance at his brother.
"Oh, hay Don. You finished practice already?" He asks.
"Brrr, yeah," Donnie shivers.
Realizing his brother may need something other than the fire to warm him up, Leonardo removes one of the blankets over his legs and hands it to him.
"Here."
"Thanks," Don accepts the blanket and wraps himself with it. "When did you wake up?" He enquires.
Leonardo shrugs and checks the number of pages he has read already.
"I don't know, about four chapters ago."
Donatello chuckles, amused that Leo is reading something other than a comic book.
"Are you learning anything from those books?" He wonders.
"Actually, yeah. However, some chapters sound familiar, like I've read them before." Leo says with a raised brow.
Again, Don chuckles because he knows something his brother doesn't.
"Okay, now what's so funny?" Leo responds in frustration.
"Dad read those books to you while you were in a coma. If I were to give a scientific guess, I'd say your subconscious absorbed the information. That is probably why they sound familiar to you."
Leonardo gives him a puzzled look before looking back down at the book. He understands that his family worried about him and did what they could to cope. However, Leo feels he missed out on so much for those three weeks.
"Oh," he finally adds with a sigh.
Before the two can say anything more to each other, the rest of the family rushes in from outside. Raph looks over at the fireplace and smiles to see Leo awake but frowns at Don.
"Donnie, Dad is unhappy that you left training early." The older brother warns.
"I was so cold that the feelings in my toes were gone." Don exaggerated his argument.
As Raphael walks towards his brothers, Michael rushes past him and leaps on the couch to snuggle up to Leo under the blanket.
"Ahh, Mikey, you're cold." Leo tries to push his youngest brother away, but Mikey overpowers him.
"And you're warm," Mikey scooches up against Leo while pulling the blanket over his shoulders.
With a heavy sigh, Leonardo gives up and lets his little brother snuggle. Finally, he closes the book and pats Mikey on the head.
Raph and Donnie chuckle at the antics as they sit close to the fireplace to warm up.
Casey and April grin amusingly at the four brothers as Splinter enters the door. He walks past the two humans and heads over to his sons.
"Boys! What do you think you're doing?" He shouts.
"Warming up," Donatello says as a matter of fact.
April stretches her arms before heading down the hall.
"I'll be right back. I'm just going to have a shower." She announces.
"Okay," Casey nods to April. He then turns to watch the boys talking with their dad.
"Leonardo, you're reading my books?" Splinter asks.
"I was. You know, since we don't have TV or video games here to entertain me while you guys are training." Leo says in a half-joking tone.
With a smile, Casey is glad to see, once again, that the Hamato Clan is whole. He lets out a little sigh before heading to the kitchen. He figures everyone could use some hot tea now.
OoOoOoOoOoOo
The next four days, while the others focus on training, Leonardo continues to read and study the books on Ninpō. Even when Raph and the others aren't training, the blue leader can't stop reading, even while eating breakfast, lunch, or dinner.
Regardless of his new-found hobby, he is frustrated that he isn't healing as fast as he should. Not just that, but whenever he tries to use his mystic powers, he is haunted by the memory of being brutally wounded by the Kraang.
He is sure the problem lies with his being afraid. Afraid to face the Kraang, afraid he won't be as strong as he should be, and most importantly, afraid he will fail his family again.
Reading the Ninpō books has helped remove his mind from the problem he is facing. Moreover, they are aiding in giving him an insight into what the problem could be. One section, in particular, explains another time when not just he but his brothers lost their mystic powers.
"Hey-hey-hey guys, listen to this," Leonardo says, waving his hand to grab everyone's attention at the kitchen table.
The other three turtles pause from eating their scrambled eggs to look at their brother.
"What is it, Leo?" Mikey asks curiously.
"You guys remember when the Kraang 'took' our powers last year?" Leo begins.
"How could we forget?" Donnie scoffed.
"Yeah, of course." Mikey nods.
"Whatcha getting at, Bro?" Raph asks.
"Well… According to this chapter, Ninpō is connected to our Chi. If our Chi is blocked due to trauma or external energy – causing fear, anger, and injury – That could affect our ability to tap into Ninpō. Last year when the Kraang used its sonic power on us, it must have shocked and blocked our Chi, resulting in us believing we had lost our power." Leo explains excitability as he bases it on what he reads.
The others take a moment to process the information.
"Wow, that does make a lot of sense," Don finally responds with a nod, showing he agrees with what is being said.
"…And when we rediscovered our purpose, we were able to unleash our power again," Raph adds.
"Right," Leonardo nods.
"You think, because you almost died, that could be why you are having trouble using your mystic power now?" Mikey asks with a concerned look.
"It does seem to fit," Leo sadly admits.
Raph leans in and reaches over to grasp his brother's shoulder.
"Hey, I believe you will get better. Soon you will be out there with us, training and using your powers again. You'll see." He says encouragingly.
"Thanks," the younger brother responds with a small smile.
Raph quickly glances down at Leo's half-eaten plate of eggs and, practically drooling, points down at it.
"You going to finish this?"
With a semi-annoyed look, Leonardo gradually pulls his plate away from his brother.
"Maybe," he growls.
Mikey and Donnie chuckle at what appears to be the start of a classic moment between the two older brothers.
Just then, Splinter walks in from outside, looking a little peeved.
"Boys, aren't you finished breakfast yet? Casey and April have already started on their morning training." He belted out.
"Sorry, Dad, we're done now." Raph quickly jumps out of his seat, taking his plate with him.
Donnie and Mikey rushed to shovel the rest of their eggs into their mouths before following Raph in putting their plates in the sink.
Splinter watches his three boys dash past him and pick up their weapons before heading outside. He then turns to his fourth son and smiles with compassion.
"…And you, my son, keep reading those books." He adds.
Leonardo stalls in sipping from his tea to respond to Splinter.
"Sure, Dad," he gives a weak grin before finally taking a sip from his cup.
The mutant rat man nods with a grunt before leaving the kitchen.
Later, Leonardo made himself worthwhile by washing the breakfast dishes before making more tea. Then, finally, he walks up to the fireplace, adds a fresh log over the flames and sits down with the next book.
As he reads a chapter on meditation, he realizes that since practice is out of the question right now, he could try meditating. He carefully goes over the instructions on the pages before placing the book to the side and easing himself down on the floor.
After getting himself in a comfortable position, Leonardo starts with deep breaths. Gradually, even the soothing crackle of the fire seems to fade as he drifts into the darkness of his subconscious.
A voice – a familiar female voice – starts to call out to him.
"Leonardo."
Before him, in the void, the spirit form of Karai appears.
"Gram-gram?" Leo asks for confirmation.
"Yes, my grandson."
"I never thought I would see you again," Leo stated with a hint of excitement.
"I've always been with you. I am here, especially now, because you are ready to advance in your training to become a Ninpō master," Karai says with pride.
"A – A Ninpō Master? Me? I can't heal myself, little alone be a master of anything." Leo argues.
"The Spirit Ancestors have chosen you. They've sent you a messenger to help guide you on your journey."
"What, when? Who is this messenger?" The young, confused turtle asks.
"You were introduced to him in your dreams. He foretold you must encounter your fears and choose if you would sink or swim when facing them."
After he recaps his dream, Leo realizes his gram-gram is correct.
"The deer," he says in a semi-guess tone.
"Yes," Karai confirms. "Now, let us begin."
Leonardo prepares to be instructed by his beloved ancestor and allows her to hold his hands.
"Focus on deep breaths. Let each breath relax your entire being and calm your mind." Karai begins.
After a few breaths, she feels Leonardo is ready for the next step.
"Now, focus on your abdomen and find where your energy is blocked."
"Okay," Leonardo nods, informing her he found where he is blocked.
"Good. Next, I want you to take your hands and start moving them in a circular motion. Like so."
Karai demonstrates by showing Leo the direction he needs to move his hands in front of his abdomen.
"Hai," Leo nods before following her demonstration.
After a few rotations, his body stripes begin to glow. Soon a blue aura explodes around him, and he suddenly feels the power of his mystic energy returning. Then, finally, Leonardo opens his eyes, and they shine with a hot blue-white glow.
"Good work, my grandson." Karai expresses her pride.
"Thank you, gram-gram, for teaching me this exercise." Leo bows respectfully.
"This is just the beginning. You need to learn more before you are ready to face your greatest fears."
Leonardo again bows, understanding the warning.
"I will do my best, and again, thank you."
A sudden chill pulls Leo out of his meditative state. He assumes the fire must have gone out for some reason and opens his eyes to figure out why.
To his shock, he is not inside the house. He has no idea where he is, but from what he sees, he is currently somewhere high in the mountains. Leonardo knows he must have teleported here, but the question is how?
"Eugh boi," he groans.
Unsure of what to do, he calls out to Karai.
"Gram-gram? How do I get back?"