Leonardo Hamato, awake and breathless. His family's elated faces and voices drone behind the rapid beating of his heart. He's home. He's finally made it, and it's all he ever wanted during the wacky, fast paced journey in Anavrin. Quiet, normal Lair. Not quiet currently, but certainly doesn't harvest dancing twisters or man-eating birds.
Mikey is the first to notice his temperament. Leo doesn't mean to make his family worry even more, but he left in the middle of a fight, and without finding Zera. They didn't really get to say goodbye to each other.
"Earth to Leo!" Raphael screams, snapping his fingers in front of Leo's eyes; he blinks, pushing his brain fuzz and curling one corner of his mouth to force a smile. He doesn't answer right away, and this troubles Raph. "Leo, are you with us?"
"Yes," Leo's quick answer skirts above a whisper. He massages his right shoulder and spiders up his neck. "I'm here, Raph. Just tired."
The flurry of conversation strikes up again, and he can't make out what anybody says so he nods and chuckles as he sees someone smile or laugh. The only one not laughing as much, and who normally does, is Mikey, and Leo avoids looking in his small blue eyes usually so full. Splinter smiles warmly and pats his shoulders. Can he sense it, too? Leo resolves the crippling worry basking over him and enjoys the reunion his heart desired for many days. Had he been gone for a long time? Donatello mentioned a few seconds ago about missing April's birthday; last he checked, the calendar read three days, but details before the journey are hazy. Asking his brothers would mean more explanation. His hands and legs are exhausted, and his mind is miles behind his body.
Sleep. That's all he wants now.
"Don't you dare fall asleep! Hey!" Raph shouts and pats his fingers against Leo's cheeks. Don shakes his shoulders, but Leo's eyes drift around the room and stay on Mikey's eyes growing bigger.
Lifting his caution, Mikey whispers, "You're going back to save her, aren't you?"
"What!" Raph shoves Don out of the way, knocking over a small table and a bowl of warm water. "Don't be a hero. Stay the fuck awake, Leo! You just came back to us."
"Let him go." Mikey squeezes Leo's arm.
Raph arches his hand back and locks his eye on his target: Leo's face. "Not without us!"
Zera of Anavrin, scared and heightened. Quick winds off the shore and the Littos' throaty growls merge with the stampede in her heart. She wobbles on her sore legs, stumbling through the sand and blocking the Rook's body from the approaching harm. Nipal shudders, terrified in his small hole by the Rook's head; he looks on at Lady Zera, worried for her safety and watching her legs quiver. She will not make it, he cries inside his heart.
He plops out of his hole and paddles next to Zera, picking up rocks and tossing them in the air. They miss the enemies and land snugly in the sand.
"Get back," she moans, barely able to lift her arm in the direction behind them. Nipal's whiskers slope and he whimpers in response, snuggling his head against her leg. She persists, "Move, foolish rabbit."
"N-no," he calls into her fur. "I stay here." He lifts his head and chucks another rock. It bounces off one Litto's good eye and sends it squealing across the beach. Nipal smiles and anchors himself against Zera's leg; she returns his smile with a tired one and hears another screech coming from a different direction. Up.
"Nipal! Duck!"
The Lucarucs dive-bomb around the two, leaving rogue black feathers raining around them. Their skeletal beaks lunge for a pinch of flesh and keep missing. Zera hovers over Nipal, feeling the brush of air slam into her back as the morbid birds attack. Nipal sees the hungry Littos through a gap between Zera's arms, still gnashing their teeth and crawling faster. Tears form around his sharp little eyes, and the sounds from the enemies drown his thoughts. Zera grunts from the pain shooting inside her body and squeezes Nipal tighter.
Shaking and sweating, the rabbit almost misses a nudge padding him in the hips. His eyes can't tear from the horror unfolding; he strokes his stubby fingers over the what's poking him, and he feels scaly skin and one toe moving. Two toes. He squeals, "Zera! The Rook is moving!"
Her strong hold loosens and she desperately watches for the rest of his body to move.
The back of Raph's hand meets with a mighty crack across Leo's face. Splinter, Don, and Mikey gawk at the show of aggression, and Splinter and Don wait patiently for a response. Mikey leaps to his feet and jams Raph in the shoulder, almost as hard as he slapped Leo. "Who gave you the right to decide for him?" he says through clenched teeth.
"What the hell, Mikey! He's our brother. What if he doesn't come back this time? Who's gonna look so smart then?"
Mikey's nostrils burst, and he closes his eyes for a second to calm down. He opens them again and peers down at Leo. "It's not your call," he mumbles offhandedly to Raph. "Don't touch him again."
Raph hastily moves, but Splinter's abrupt hand stops him, and Raph clamps his jaw and rubs his hands, still eager to put an end to this mess.
The world returns to Leonardo, and Mikey's homely eyes are the first to greet him. "I'm sorry, Bro," his soft voice breaks through the fog, "we'll figured something out, okay? Wake up and let's talk about it."
Zera and Nipal's hearts drop in their stomachs as the Rook's foot stops moving. Stone, once again. The Littos and two Lucarucs reach their devastating claws for Zera's damp, suseptible back, and she braces against the attack, knowing overwhelming pain and, eventually death, will follow.
A crackly scream, different from the creatures, and several short booms pierce through the air. Zera hears the Littos and Lucarucs crow and shrill in protest and doesn't feel the brute force of their attack. She shivers, more from fright than cold, and peers into an old Ymoh's cloudy blue eyes. A human, like she first saw Leonardo. They're rare and scattered, and it takes her by surprise.
His scrawny frame and large red, clunky bazooka in his grip wobble down the hill, spitting sand around his bare feet. The wind flaps through his sparkling black jumpsuit, a stark contrast between it and the burned sky, and she watches as he shoots more bullets at the Littos. They dash after whatever hits the ground from the bazooka and aggressively tear and fight each other.
"Them water worms like tacos, ya know?" his scratchy voice laughs, and he fires more food at the creatures. Nipal recovers from the shock and digs out of Zera's grip.
"Thank you, thank you!" he cries, falling backwards over the Rook's feet. "We were close to death!"
"Don't you get too comfy there, rabbit-ling," the old man arches the bazooka into the air. Zera and Nipal watch the Lucarucs regroup and circle a tight formation.
"We ain't won here yet!"
Next chapter: Leonardo receives a harsh lecture from his family. Can he convince them that he needs to return to the mystical land?