Disclaimer - I don't own anything, honest, other than my one and only OC, and you're gonna meet him here in this chapter, too. :0) Everyone get your fork and knives ready, 'kay?
Thanks to Askre and Cynlee for beta-reading. You guys are the best!
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Chapter 6 - By Any Other Name!
"LEO!" Raph yelled.
Mike, who had also seen Leo fall, called down to his brother in red, "What happened, why did he jump?"
"He didn't, he slipped!" Raph began climbing down the truck.
"Leo? Slip? No way!"
"The branch, it's covered with moss," his brother pointed to the limb in question.
Remembering his own encounter with the slimy growth, Mike cringed and ducked his head. All too late, he realized that he should have warned Leo before his brother climbed down to the dreaded branch. Still, it was hard to believe that Leonardo, of all people, would just fall off a tree, moss or no moss.
"What happened, though? Something must have distracted him, right?" Mike was anxious now, sitting just below Don as he studied the water below him.
"I think Leo saw something," Don remarked, "because just before he slipped from the branch, he acted surprised."
Then, as Don and Mike watched as Raph worked his way down the tree, "Hey, RAPH?" Mike yelled out, "Where ya going?"
"Leo's in trouble. I think I saw something go into water with him and it don't look good!"
A second earlier, Raphael had caught a fleeting glimpse of something moving by the waterfall. When he glanced in that direction, for just a second, he noticed a long narrow-bodied creature slip into the water. It went under the surface almost immediately, but Raph had a good enough look to know that it had a tail and a long snout and all he could think of was 'gator' - or maybe even 'croc', since he wasn't sure which species would even live here in this place. For all he knew, the portal could have sent them somewhere near Africa, South America…or even China.
Yet, one thing he did know and that was, from where he sat, he didn't have the right angle to leap into the pond to help his brother. There were just too many branches in the way.
Without taking time to worry about the consequences, Raph knew that he had to get to a point where he could jump into the lake.
"Trouble, what kind of trouble?" Don yelled out.
"Don't have time t'explain it t'ya, genius," Raph growled, now shimmying down the tree trunk fireman style, where there was a brief absence of branches.
Don looked over towards the waterfall and saw the once-mirror like surface of the pond ripple, the way it would if something had slipped into the water - something large. Suddenly, he saw a dark shape swim just under the surface as it headed towards Leonardo, with something like a tail swishing from side to side as it propelled the shape quickly through the water.
"Come on, Mike, we need to get moving!"
"What is that thing?" Mike had seen it, too, and his voice betrayed his concern.
"Don't know, but I agree with Raph - it doesn't look good!"
Following their brother's lead, Mike and Don likewise clambered down the tree trunk. They quickly jumped or swung from limb to branch to limb as the opportunity presented itself, until they reached a point where they could leap into the water. They weren't too far behind their red-masked brother, either, so when he finally made his jump, they followed suit.
In that split second before plunging beneath the surface of the pond, Leonardo realized the creature on the rocks had slipped into the water with him. His imagination now spun out of control as he began to panic, the word 'crocodile' creating in his mind scenes of dismemberment and torn limbs.
Suddenly, though, a memory came to him from his past, back when he was a child besieged with imagined fears. It was Master Splinter's voice, "Be the calming influence in your storm, Leonardo." Just remembering his father's words gave the turtle not only comfort but focus, too.
Using what he had learned from years of training under the ninja master, Leo quickly re-centered his mind again. He focused on what he had to do rather than worrying about the unknown. Immediately, he surfaced and then turned to swim for shore. With his katana still strapped to his back, however, he found he couldn't swim as effectively as he needed to. Still, he knew he wasn't too far away from dry land. Maybe he could make it?
Well…at least he hoped he would make it.
Great, just great, I tell Mike to be careful and what do I do? Yeah, good going, Fearless! he chastised himself.
Then, the moment Leonardo began swimming for shore he heard something fall into the water to his left. Apprehensively, he whipped around, believing a second creature had been waiting in ambush. With one hand reaching for a katana, what he saw instead were his three brothers bobbing back up to the surface after plunging into the lake. His heart gladdened for a moment, but then he feared for their safety, too. Other than Raphael, Leo was the only one armed well enough to take on a beast like a croc or a gator.
Suddenly, a sound caused Leonardo to turn further around to his left, forcing him to face the waterfall. To his horror, the creature had more than cut the distance between them in half. In fact, it was almost upon him! With most of its body cruising just below the surface, the only part of the animal above water was its snout and long, rudder-like tail, which moved furiously back and forth, almost desperately, as it propelled the beast forward. Yet, it was the sound of grunting that Leonardo had heard. Now, it began to surface, preparing to strike, its mouth opened wide and lined with ominous teeth.
It hissed and grunted more and it was then that the blue-banded turtle prepared to face his challenge. He completed his reach for his katana, but as his hand wrapped around the hilt and he began to pull the sword from its sheath, Leonardo saw a sudden flash of red surge across his field of vision and intercept the attack.
The water in front of him then suddenly erupted into a frothy mass of shell and gray-green.
It didn't take long for Leonardo to realize, in the few second before the creature would have caught up with him, Raphael had surged forward and grabbed it. Now, with his arms wrapped tenaciously around the upper torso of the beast, he found himself engaged in a life and death struggle. The creature squirmed and writhed, snapping its jaws violently within the turtles' strong, stubborn hold. Suddenly, it ceased its resistance. But, before Leo had a chance to believe that Raph had subdued the creature, the animal began rolling in the water like a log, with his brother still holding on. It was a maelstrom of activity, with the red-banded turtle appearing every other second from the water as he rode the creature's back. Then, the animal stopped, but just as abruptly, it dove under the surface, with Raphael still holding on. A few feet farther away, it reappeared again within an explosion of water, as it shot up into the air, with Raph still riding it cowboy style. Then, as suddenly as it appeared, it disappeared a second time under the surface again, taking the mutant turtle with it, just like before. Only, this time, as the seconds flew by, the pond became eerily smooth and tranquil once again.
Treading water to keep afloat, Leo found himself screaming his brother's name, joining Don and Mike's own worried exclaims, "RAPHAEL!"
A moment later, the water lost its translucency as silt, probably undisturbed for years, roiled upwards from the bottom of the pond towards the surface. At first, the murky brown cloud confused, Leonardo and he backed away from it instinctively. However, when he saw the opaque water tinged with red, he knew his brother was in trouble.
With his swords pulling him down like an anchor, though, Leo knew he had to get out of the water before he could even think about helping his brother. After all, he could do very little for Raphael if he drowned. Yet, Leo also knew that he didn't have the time to swim to shore, either. So, he did what he knew he had to.
Shrugging his weapons harness off, he grabbed both katana and then allowed their sheaths and straps to sink to the bottom of the small lake. Handing one of his swords to Mike, "Your nunchukus won't work in the water, Mikey; you're going to have to use a katana."
Wide-eyed, Mike looked at the implement with some resistance. Yes, he could handle a sword; Splinter had made sure that all four of them had mastered each other's weapon, as well as other 'tools of the trade'. Just the same, Michelangelo hated sharp things, which was why he had originally picked the chuk in the first place. Just the same, the orange-wearing turtle understood all too well that Leonardo was right; his weapons wouldn't work underwater.
Taking the katana in hand, Mike gave a grim curt nod of acceptance to Leo, "Right, no problem, bro."
Donnie procured a short knife from his belt, "Just in case my bo is ineffective."
Leo nodded approval. Then, good to go, he turned to face the point of battle, where twenty-five feet below the surface of the pond, Raphael fought the creature. Leo quickly looked back towards Mike and Don, his face set determinedly, "We're flying blind, guys, so get focused. We're going to have to sense where this thing is!"
Just as the three brothers prepared to plunge under the water to join the fight, a few yards in front of them Raphael and the creature exploded into a frothy mass of red and green. Gasping for air, and with one arm still wrapped tightly around the struggling animal's neck, Raph had his other hand firm on the hilt of one sai. Leo could see that his brother had the more abusive end of the weapon deeply embedded into the beast's throat, right behind its massive head. A liberal outpouring of red now painted the water surrounding the creature, its lifeblood spilling forth from where Raph had lodged his weapon. The animal struggled desperately, almost panicky, and tried to go underwater again, nearly succeeding, but then it slowed its exertion, as it weakened.
Leo quickly joined the battle, taking several swift strokes through the water with one arm, while his opposite hand held onto his sword. His other two brothers followed likewise, each brandishing their own weapon as they swam.
As Leonardo reached the point of battle, Raph turned the dying creature parallel to his brother and quickly slid over its back to the opposite side. He kept his arm firmly around the beast's head, though, as the animal snapped frantically at the air. Nevertheless, and as if they had rehearsed it beforehand, Leonardo drove his katana deep into the animal's flank behind the front leg where the heart was. He gave hard twist of the handle, causing the creature to cry out in pain. It lurched once in a desperate attempt to free itself, but then, finally after a few spastic jerks, it fell limp within Raphael's desperate and tired embrace.
Now, instead of a wreathing animal in his arms, he had dead weight - literally. Raph gulped another desperate lung-full of blessed oxygen as he tried to keep afloat, going under as the lifeless animal pulled him down. Still, through stubbornness or just exhaustion, Raph refused to let go, continuing his hold of the creature, as he managed to break the surface again.
"Let it go, Raph!" Leo yelled, "It's dead." He quickly grabbed his brother to help keep him afloat.
"No," Don hurried over and reached Raph before he could let the creature go, "It's too big for the pond; it will only poison the water when it decays."
By this time, Mike had joined them and had grabbed the animal's tail. Don brought his arm under the creature's stomach to heft it back up to the surface and between the two of them, they helped Leo and Raph tow it back to shore. It weighed several hundred pounds and took all of their strength to do it, but after a struggle, they managed to drag it up onto the sandy beach.
Feeling earth beneath him once again, Raph moved as far from the creature as he could before collapsing on the ground, spent of all energy. He laid there on his plastron, breathing heavily as he took deep shuddering breath. With his legs out-stretched behind him, he folded his arms under his head, resting his brow on top of them. Completely exhausted, Raphael shook uncontrollably.
It was then when Don noticed the ugly red marks running down his embattled brother's left forearm.
"Let me see your arm, Raph."
"Lemme alone for a moment, will ya?" his brother growled, offering Don a baleful glance, "I just had a near-death experience for cry'n out loud."
"I'll give you five minutes, but that's all," Don warned gently, yet resolutely, "Then we have to treat your wounds."
Raph didn't say anything and only nodded. He continued to lie there, though, resting with eyes closed, trying to learn how to breathe again.
In the meantime, Leo and Mike couldn't stop staring at the creature.
"It was a gator!" Leo remarked breathlessly, his voice low and in awe. He knew he had come very close to becoming this reptile's breakfast. A sudden shiver ran through him, too, imagining what a horrific way it would have been to die.
With Leo's comment, Don's attention turned to the dead animal laying a few feet away. His interest piqued, he stood up and walked around the creature, bending down occasionally to look at its form. He saw that the front feet of the animal had scars, burn marks, and they didn't seem to be that old, either. It puzzled him. As he circled around the creature, he found the same thing with its tail, too.
"That's…strange," he muttered.
"What's strange, Don?" Leo asked.
"His front feet and tail both have burn marks, like it came in contact with something very hot or corrosive."
"What could have caused it?" Mikey asked.
"Dunno, Mike, it's just another mystery, but they look recent." Don then inspected the animal's head and ran his hand along its snout. He noticed how it sloped from its prominent forehead and turned up at the end, where the nostrils were. Don looked at its eyes, the pupils fixed in death. He noticed the bony, protruding areas in-between and surrounding each optic orb, the hard ridges giving the reptile the appearance of wearing glasses. They also seemed to be a clue for Donnie as to the animal's species, for he now began to smile a little. He next checked its teeth, which were ominous and many and quite easy to see, giving the crock wicked-like grin.
Donatello took one last look at the creature, before declaring, "It's a caiman, a spectacled caiman, which - if I'm not mistaken - is indigenous to Central and South America. Sometimes they can find their way to islands, though." He smirked, "They're quite adaptable and can handle a certain degree of salinity, if they have to."
Mike listened impassively to his brother's ramblings, too mesmerized by the creature to care. Finally, he asked, "It still looks like a gator t'me and just as deadly, 'specially with those teeth!"
"Yes, it may look like an alligator, Mikey," Don agreed, "but gator's are much bigger, growing to fifteen feet or more, whereas caimans average ten to twelve feet - from snout to tail." He paused as he gave one last assessment of the beast and then added, "This one is maybe nine feet all totaled - not quite an adult."
"Guess Leo should feel lucky, then?" Mike huffed and then asked, quite concerned, "So, now what? We thought this place was safe, but it seems that's changed?"
Leo sighed, "No place is perfectly safe, Mikey," he turned to glance at his baby brother, "but since there seems to be at least one caiman living here, there might be more, so we probably ought to be on our guard."
"Ya think?" Mikey grumbled sarcastically and hunkered as far as he could into his shell, which wasn't far enough for how he felt for the moment. He sat there on the grass, knees bent close to his body, his arms wrapped around them. He scowled at the dead reptile lying there in front of him and then, almost as an afterthought, Mikey pushed himself further away. "Gonna have nightmares for weeks, just know it!" he groaned.
Finally finding enough breath to speak, Raph turned over onto his side as he faced his brothers, "So, what now, bro's. D'we bury it or eat it?"
Mike's eyes rounded and he stood up in surprise, "Ew, eat one of Leatherhead's relatives?" He glared at the dead creature, "That's just - gross!"
"Actually," Don smiled at him, "Leatherhead is an alligator, this is a caiman. Considering our circumstances, I don't think he would blame us and, from what I've heard, they taste just like chicken."
Mike rolled his eyes as he threw his hands up into the air, "How come anything that sounds disgusting to eat always tastes like chicken? Can't it taste like something I don't like?"
"If it'll make it easier, Mikey," Raph chuckled, "I'll throw my voice and make it sound like a chicken, 'kay?"
Leo laughed, "If it weren't for your heroics a moment ago, Raph, you pretty much left yourself wide open for that one!"
Before Raphael could say something in rebuttal, Leonardo held his hand up defensively, "Seriously, bro, thanks for saving me."
"Yeah, dude," Mike remarked, "volunteering as gator bait wouldn't have been first on my list of things t'do."
Raph gave a small snort and finally allowed a smile. With a bow of his head, he accepted his brother's appreciation.
"Well, Raph," Don changed the topic "Times up. Got to get you disinfected."
Don had Raph return to the waterfall and, after they had climbed over and up the rocks, he insisted that Raphael place his affected arm in the cascading water. Although the power behind it was light, compared to when the fall was probably flowing at full capacity, it still irritated Raph's wound.
"Ow!" Raph yelled out, "D'we have to do it like this?"
"Yes, Raph," Don replied, "we have to flush out any bacteria." He shook his head, "In case it hasn't hit you yet, we don't have any modern plumbing here."
"Well, how long do I have'ta keep it like this," Raph complained, gritting his teeth.
"Just a few more minutes."
"A few? Like in how many is a few?"
"Longer than you're going to want to do it, that's how long."
Grumbling, Raph sighed, "Great. Remind me the next time we meet up with another gator…"
"Caiman."
"Whatever, Don, but remind me to toss Mikey in t'save the day. I'm takin' a vacation from any hero-work from here on out."
"Might have to take a vote on that one, brother."
Raph snickered, "Yep, gonna be Mikey's turn next, fer sure."
A short while later and convinced his brother's wound was effectively flushed clean, Don and Raphael returned to where Mike and Leo still sat by the crocodilian.
Thankfully, Don found that Raph's scratches were not as serious as he had feared. If they had been bites, instead, it would have been a different matter all together. Considering the amount of bacteria in the caiman's mouth, not only from eating live prey but from possibly eating carrion as well, infection was a serious problem. That was trouble Donatello did not want.
Retrieving a small tube of antiseptic from another of his pouches, Don slathered the ointment into Raph's wounds. Given their line of work, Donatello had learned the hard way to have at the ready a small assortment of first aid supplies and, more often than not, they had come in handy, too.
Without any other means to wrap his arm, though, Raphael had to sacrifice his red bandanna for the task.
As they decided on what to do with the dead caiman, Don suggested, "I'll gather up firewood while you two clean the kill. Mike can join me." Don knew all too well that Mike wasn't the type to watch his brothers gut the dead animal, not with how wide his eyes were now becoming. Mike was more than glad for his brother's intervention, too.
While they were gone, Leo helped Raph dress the kill. They carefully skinned the creature and then reduced the remaining muscle into steak-sized slabs. They stacked them onto rinsed palm fronds they had collected and prepared beforehand. It was obvious the caiman would provide far more meat than they could possibly consume, but at least they would have protein. The available naturally growing fruit would not be enough nourishment for them.
Of course, Mikey was more than happy to join Don in his hunt for wood. Dissecting a large animal like a 'gator' - as he insisted on calling it - was the last thing he felt like doing, especially considering their mutant 'gator' friend back home.
"It's a caiman, Mike," Don reminded his brother as they explored the surrounding forest.
"If a gator and a caiman are reptiles, Donnie, and they both have sharp teeth, a long tail, and a snout, then it doesn't matter what I call it. I don't think there's much difference in how a caiman kills compared to how the other kind kills."
Don sighed, "Yes, I guess when you put it that way, Mikey, there isn't much difference after all."
Nevertheless, he did notice his brother was more subdued, unlike how Michelangelo was the previous day, when he dive-bombed into the pond. Now Mike seemed more reserved and a little more on edge as he trudged through the mostly unexplored rainforest. When Don announced that they had enough firewood, Mike almost yipped for joy, practically making it a foot race back to join Leo and Raph.
Once they returned to camp, Don dug a fire pit into the sand along the shore and lined it with some of the abundant volcanic rock. He next piled the collected wood on top of that, placing them in the middle in a crisscross pattern. After he stuffed all the openings with dried grass and smaller, thinner twigs, Don produced yet another fortuitous tool from one of his pouches - a lighter. After he ignited the kindling, they soon had a roaring fire.
Once the fire calmed down, they gathered up some of the remaining branches, stripped them of their leaves and smaller limbs, and sharpened both ends. Skewering meat onto one pointy end, they jammed the opposite end into the ground at a slant, to where the meat would hang over the hot fire. In no time, the aroma of roasting caiman practically made the turtles crazy with hunger
Well, at least three of the turtles seemed eager to eat. One kept thinking about how wrong it was to eat his friend's distant relative; regardless of how hard or how often Donnie tried to convince him otherwise. In fact, Mike went so far as to accuse his brothers of being cannibals.
"Look, Mike," Raph turned a raised eye ridge to his baby brother, "Just be glad it's the gator we're eatin' and not somethin' else."
Mike gave a challenging glance at Raph, his arms folded defiantly across his chest, "What exactly do you mean by that?"
"Well," a small, lopsided smile grew along Raphael's face, "hunger will make a person eat just about anything - or - anyONE!"
"Not funny, dude!" Mike huffed indignantly and scooted around to where he had his back to his brothers, now.
Nevertheless, despite their youngest sibling's complaints, when the meat seemed cooked well enough, three brothers ravenously dug in. Other than what they had for breakfast the morning before, while still in New York, all they had had to eat since arriving on the island were mangos and bananas. Meat, any meat, sounded far too tempting to ignore.
Mike refused to eat, though. Well after the others had finished their first helping, each had attempted to convince their brother to take at least one bite. Leo tried, Donnie tried, but still, Mikey snubbed their efforts.
Finally having enough of his brother's stubbornness, Raph threatened him, "I'm serious, Mike! I ain't gonna worry 'bout you any more than I have to, yer gonna eat if I have to make ya!"
"I'm NOT going to eat one of LH"s relatives!"
"It's not a friggin' relative, it's a stupid gator, dumb as they come, would make Leatherhead embarrassed to call him kin in any form." He lowered his voice, now, "If ya don't eat the cooked meat, maybe I'll dig up the entrails and organs and stuff them in yer mouth instead? How about THAT?"
Mike knew all too well that Raph always made good on his threats!
Reluctantly, the youngest turtle turned back around to face the now, glowing campfire. Tentatively and giving one unhappy glance at his brothers, Mikey reached over to the pile of meat resting on a palm frond. He hesitated after taking one of the smaller leaves to use as a plat, glancing over at Raph. His brother smirked and made digging motions with his hands, so, sighing, Mike took a small, pinch-size piece of the cooked caiman. He brought it up to his nose, which was already wrinkling in disgust. He hesitated again. When Raph acted as if he was about to get up and make good on his 'offer', the orange-wearing turtle stuck out his tongue to 'taste' the meat. He looked at his brothers, who were now on their third helping. He watched them with great interest. Mike then nipped at his piece of caiman, taking a small flake of it into his mouth, and working the miniscule portion between his front teeth.
As he closed his eyes, he chanted to himself, "It's only chicken, it's only chicken, it's only ch…" and then Mike's eyes brightened. He scrutinized the remaining piece between his thumb and forefinger, cocking one eye ridge up in curiosity as he turned it this way and that. Then, taking a deep breath, he popped the rest of it into his mouth.
The more he chewed, the more Mikey's attitude seemed to improve, and, as he grabbed up a whole slab this time for himself and placed it on his 'plate', he turned to one of his brothers, "Hey, Donnie, you're right; it does taste like chicken!" Michelangelo grinned wide but after a moment, it slackened just a little, "But, ah - bros - if we ever get back to New York, we better not ever let LH know what we ate, 'specially when April cooks her famous 'chicken-surprise' dinner!"
"Hey, I hear they have an exotics meat store up near china town," Leo deadpanned, chewing his mouthful of caiman meat, "I bet they sell gator meat. If we get back home, we could make April's famous chicken dinner with a real surprise!"
Mike only shook his head and scowled. "So not funny, dudes!"
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Many thanks to all who've chosen to keep reading and especially to all who reviewed.
To Anonymous reviewer, though - who reviewed twice under that mysterious nom de plume, thank you for your gracious comments. I don't know if I totally agree with your assessment of my story, but I appreciate your encouragement just the same. I think that as writers, as I have discovered with my own cooking, we tend to analyze our work a little more critically than our reviewers would. I know I do.
Still, it is an ego boost hearing someone else make such glowing comments. :0) I just may have to widen my doorways, now, in order to get my head through them. LOL
As for your questions, who said Isla De Muerta was an island of dead 'things'? It's just a name, right? If you remember the various shipwrecks near the island depicted from the 'fish-eye' view in the first movie, it was an island unapproachable, certain to cause death and mayhem, unless one knew the right course to take. Any island with such features would earn, and rightly so, the name - Isla De Muerta! It would be certain destruction for any crew trying to traverse its waters. Of course, I'm not saying that this is the island the TMNT's are on, but I thought I would address that question anyway. :0)
Where you do not list your penname, I will use this space to thank you for reading and for reviewing! Be blessed.