Whew, finished another chapter. Dunno how much longer I'm gonna spend on this story, but I know there's a few more chapters to go. Don't forget to tell me what you think too! Okay, I guess there's not that much happening this time…still it always makes me happy to hear from readers. But of course, the story must go on…
Leo was awakened when he felt someone shaking him, and tiredly swiveled his brown eyes to meet a pair of blue ones. He sighed, about to close his eyes again when he suddenly remembered everything that had happened, and shot straight up.
"Sorry, didn' mean t' scare you," Mikey slurred hoarsely. He touched Leo's shoulder again, hoping to calm his older brother down. Leo looked to Mikey and settled into a sitting position next to him.
"Mikey," Leo said softly, taking the youngest's hand in his own. "You…don't sound too good." Leo stared at Mikey's pale face and placed a hand under his brother's chin to tilt the turtle's head up into the morning sunlight. Leo frowned concernedly. "You don't look very good, either."
"Thanks bro, jus' what I wanna hear 'n the morning." Mikey attempted a sarcastic grin that turned into a pained grimace when he started to cough.
Leo immediately retrieved a water bottle from his pack and coaxed Mikey into drinking half of it. And after fighting a weak protest from Mikey, Leo made his brother lie back down and tucked the turtle back in the two blankets. He gingerly placed a hand over Mikey's forehead and said, "You still have a high fever, so no moving around. I don't want to lose you over this."
"Leo, 'm not gonna d—" Mikey stopped at Leo's firm glare. "Okay, okay…" he mumbled in compliance.
"Good," Leo said. "So, what did you wake me up for? And keep it short; your throat is bad enough as it is."
Mikey tried to clear his throat but it only resulted in a few faint coughs. "Well, I was up first n' Dagger tol' me to wake you 'n said…" Mikey trailed off, trying to stop a cough from coming. He waited until the tickling feeling in the back of his throat subsided.
"What did he say?" Leo encouraged. Mikey had gotten worse, he knew, and hoped that Mikey hadn't noticed the slight wince he made at his brother's feverish dialogue. He could tell that it was taking Mikey a lot effort just to talk.
"Dagger…he wanted t' meet with you an' discuss his duel," Mikey finished listlessly. "Whazzat mean by the way? His duel…" Leo nodded resolutely to show his understanding. He then told Mikey about the deal he made with Dagger from last night, and his plans to persuade King. By the end of Leo's story Mikey's face had become a little paler, but he smiled anyway. "I like your plan, bro."
Leo smirked. "Knew you would approve." Mikey was about to respond when he suddenly cringed. Leo watched as Mikey then shook his head sluggishly. "What's wrong?" Leo asked.
"Ugh…headache again," Mikey muttered.
"Again?" Leo said worriedly.
"Mm. It-it'll pass—" Mikey jerked his head to the side and took in a sharp breath. He closed his eyes tightly.
It tortured Leo to see the youngest in so much pain, but he had no idea how to help his brother. He reached out and held Mikey's hand. "Oh, Mikey," he sighed. After a few minutes, Mikey finally started to relax, though he was still in bad shape. Leo noticed the youngest was breathing harder than before and beads of sweat started to appear on his forehead.
"You have t' go, Leo," Mikey whispered.
"What? You mean to see Dagger?" Leo used a corner of the blanket to wipe Mikey's forehead. "I can't—Mikey, I won't leave you, especially when you're—"
"—don' have t' leave me…" Mikey interrupted, "…jus' carry out your plan, or I'll haveta use my blackmailing powers." He gave a weak version of his trademark smile.
Leo sighed, giving in. "Okay fine, but I'm gonna have to carry you there. Think you can make it?"
"Yeah, 'm tough as...well, Raph on a bad day," Mikey replied with a tired grin. He propped himself up on his elbows and lifted his head up, but couldn't quite manage to sit up more. Leo took the opportunity to lock his arms underneath Mikey's and heave his little brother up. Mikey grabbed tightly onto Leo as he felt his head spin and couldn't help but whimper when he was shifted to Leo's shell.
Leo could feel Mikey's muscles strain and tremble as the turtle tried to hold himself up and said soothingly, "Mikey, don't struggle. I got you."
Mikey relaxed at Leo's suggestion and rested silently for a moment. "You always do," he murmured hazily.
Leo felt a little embarrassed at the comment and stayed quiet as he made his way out of the clearing. He always got him, huh? His thoughts shifted to Don and Raph again, and he wondered what his brothers were doing. He really needed Don and his knowledge in illnesses. He wasn't exactly sure that anything could be done for Mikey's fever in the situation at hand, but it always helped to have a calm and intelligent mind like Don's around. Heck, he could have used some rough support from Raph at this point. It was so…disorienting to wake up in a forest like this, especially in the presence of killer wolves. At least he was on their side. Well, except for one.
Getting back his original train of thought, he looked around and wondered where Dagger actually wanted to meet him. Suddenly, a wolf came out from the bushes and walked up to the turtles. Leo tensed and took a step back, ready for anything.
"Do not be alarmed. I will show you to the commander," said the wolf, motioning towards where he had come from. Leo gave a reassuring glance to Mikey and let the wolf guide him through the forest, though he still was on his guard for a possible trap. Not a minute later did he arrive to grassy clearing where Dagger was standing, along with the rest of the wolf army. It was quite a sight for Leo to see so many wolves in one place, but the most surprising thing of all was when he entered, every wolf had their head bowed to him. Leo stood there, not knowing what to do, until Dagger called him forward.
"You may place your brother down to rest," Dagger said to Leo. Mikey was lowered gently, and Leo placed the back pack he had also carried with him under his brother's head as a pillow. Leo lifted his eyes to Dagger, but remained on the ground next to Mikey. The wolves around him decided to sit as well and gathered around Leo, Mikey and Dagger.
"Hmm, this kinda reminds me of a pow wow…" Mikey said faintly. Leo shushed his brother, but couldn't hide the smile that crept on his face.
"Welcome to my army 'base', as we call it," Dagger greeted.
"Hao," Mikey responded weakly. Leo chuckled softly at the remark and placed a calming hand on Mikey's shoulder.
Dagger gave a curious look at Mikey and then turned to the large group of wolves. "My comrades, the day has come to free ourselves from King's long reign, and it is all thanks to these creatures you see beside me." Leo gave a proud smile at the recognition and squeezed his brother's shoulder comfortingly. Dagger nodded to Leo and continued, "I have told you all about my deal, and that King is to be persuaded to fight me by our new ally." Dagger turned to Leo. "And so my friend, we will follow under your orders this time."
Leo nodded in agreement and turned to the group of wolves. "Okay. Well this may sound a bit silly, but as serious as the duel may be, we need to be as..." Leo gave a devious smile, "…ridiculous as possible if we want this to work." The wolf army looked at Leo in confusion, and a few whispers were exchanged among the crowd. "It'll make sense, trust me. From what I remember, King is quick to anger with a nasty temper, especially if things don't go his way. I think—no, I know—that if we get him mad enough with a couple of well-thought-out pranks, he'll go ballistic." Leo scanned the mass of wolves. "Right?" he asked, hoping to reinforce his argument. A couple of murmured agreements and nods were seen among the wolves. Leo briefly glanced at Dagger, who wore a knowing smile. "Here's the tricky part. King will definitely want to know who was responsible. When Dagger reveals himself to be the culprit of the pranks, well, unfortunately I can't tell you for sure how he'll react exactly. But we can plan for a few situations that probably will happen, if you guys help me, and get him to fight Dagger." Leo paused, a little nervous that no one was responding. He turned to Dagger and said, "Does the plan sound okay?"
Dagger nodded triumphantly. "Comrades, I believe that we have ourselves a plan!" the wolf army instantly broke into loud, joyful barks and howls, and started to dance playfully around Leo, voicing their praise.
"Wondrous!" said one.
"A prank! On King!" happily laughed another, winking at Leo.
As the excited chatter died down, the wolves started to discuss their ideas on how King would act at Leo's plan. As Dagger organized the conversation, Leo listened to each story, and started to formulate ideas. Finally after an hour, Leo was surprised to see that the wolf army decided that there only could be two possible outcomes. Was King that predictable? From the accounts given, it really seemed to be so. They felt that King would either demand for Dagger's own army to kill him, or he would go after Dagger himself. The plan was that the army would refuse to heed their leader's commands and Dagger would announce the duel, or Dagger would simply let King go after him and declare that they must duel for the title. Leo also knew that it all depended on how mad King would be, but he knew he could trust the wolves to do their best…or rather their worst. Looking over the enthusiastic crowd, Leo felt bad for Dagger and the rest of the wolf army—their life under King's rule was really starting to sound terrible. What's worse, Leo thought, was that the wolves had believed their way of life, as harsh as it was, was what they deserved. He was extremely glad to have set these creatures on the right path.
But then again—Leo looked down at the sleeping form of Mikey, who had nodded off around the middle of the discussion. He knew he couldn't afford to waste any more time, but he had to see this through. He felt torn, guilty at his happiness for helping Dagger and the wolves while Mikey was suffering with a high fever. He gently nudged his brother's arm. "Mikey?" he said, waking up the napping turtle.
Mikey yawned. "Yeah, Leo?" he whispered drowsily.
"How do you feel? Are you in any pain?" Leo asked worriedly.
" 'M kinda hot," Mikey hazily explained. "I feel all…achy. An' my head hurts."
"Sorry bro," Leo said.
"S'okay," Mikey whispered in response.
Leo could barely make out Mikey's soft voice and leaned in a little closer to his brother. "Well, I wanted to ask you if…well I really don't have the right, and you're really sick, but its just—"
"—jeeze , jus' say it Leo," Mikey cut in, a little more awake.
Leo sighed. "I was wondering if it would be okay with you…if we could stay a little while longer, until Dagger wins the fight."
"That's it?" Mikey said. He shifted onto his side and closed his eyes again. "Dude, 'course we're gonna stay…gotta see Dagger beat the snot outta King…"
"Thanks Mikey." Leo relaxed, his guilty tension mostly gone. "You've toughed it out this whole time, and I'm really proud of you." Leo rubbed the back of Mikey's shell affectionately.
"Mmhm," was Mikey's tired reply. Leo could tell Mikey had been troubled over his weakened state, and he hoped that his brother realized that he, Raph, Don, and didn't think that any of this was his fault. He decisively turned to Dagger and said, "We need to find a hiding place. King can't distracted by anything, and there may also be a chance that he'll still come after us."
"Yes, you are right," Dagger agreed. He talked with a couple wolves for a moment and looked back to Leo, who had already scooped Mikey up into his arms. "This way," Dagger said, walking out of the clearing. Mikey clung to his brother like a child as Leo started to walk. Mikey tightly clasped his arms around his older brother's neck while Leo had one arm under Mikey's legs and another supporting his back. Sleepily, Mikey nuzzled closer to the warmth his brother provided and Leo chuckled at the cute scene. Once Dagger showed him where to stay, a space that was hidden by a circle of tall bushes, Leo set Mikey down again and then turned his attention to Dagger. He knew that wouldn't be able to directly help with the plan, so he discussed some of the specific details of the pranks.
"And remember," Leo finished, "if you have any questions or doubts, please come to me. I want this to go as planned."
"I will," said Dagger. "Be safe my friends, and I will be back shortly." After a gracious bow, he ran back into the forest.
Leo turned back to the resting Mikey and watched him with a growing concern. He remembered what Mikey had said about the fever, and in his solitude he couldn't help but feel a familiar wave of guilt wash over him. "Sorry," he whispered. Suddenly, he felt something touching his leg and jerked with surprise. He looked down to see that Mikey's was watching him with half-opened eyes, hand outstretched. Leo smiled and took the youngest's hand in his. "Guess I'm already forgiven," Leo chuckled softy. Mikey smiled weakly, closed his eyes again, and fell into a well-deserved sleep.