Chapter 6

Leonardo cracked his eye-lids open and quickly balanced himself on the uncomfortable tree branch he had been sleeping on. Once he was settled, he stretched his sore limbs as much as he could without falling and resisted the urge to scratch his irritated bug-bitten skin. Getting up and leaning against the tree's trunk, Leo turned to view the landscape around him.

The other trees surrounding him told him what he already knew: that they were in a forest. But being up at this height now gave him a bird's eye view of his location, telling him that they were at the foot hill of a mountain. And below them was a large valley. Leonardo's attention was instantly drawn to the 'village' in its center. Leo gave an inward sigh of relief. 'Finally, a lead!' He thought.

Eying his still sleeping partner, Leonardo examined Karai. She was sleeping soundly, but her hand was clenched around her tanto. On her arm, the wound's blood had dried; though it still remained soaked on the cloth wrapped around it. It wasn't as bad as he imagined it was. His arm as well was bandaged with his wrist guard after giving some of his blood to Karai.

Images of last night flashed through his mind and Leo subconsciously rubbed his neck where two holes remained. Feeling un-easy, he decided to get away to where he would feel safer.

Once on the ground, Leo let the peace of the forest distract him for a moment and closed his eyes. How in the world would he ever get home? Licking his dry lips Leo opened his eyes and decided to focus on more immediate problems. He was terribly thirsty and knew that if he found a stream he would find food as well.

Leaving Karai, He set out into the unknown letting his instincts guide him to a stream or river. Picking up a strong stick on the way, he used one of his katanas to start sharpening it into a spear. Chipping away at the wood he wandered absently till his ears picked up rustling in the grass.

He stopped walking and turned to look for the source of the noise. Three ears shot up in the air as a strange rabbit sat nibbling at a flower in the long-green stems. Leonardo stayed absolutely still as he slowly raised his spear. Pinpointing his target, he tensed his muscles and threw the spear forward. The rabbit jerked its head up and turned to flee when it sighted the spear, but it was too late. The spear hit home with a soft thud in the soil.

Leo walked up to it and retrieved his spear. Kneeling down, he examined the so-called rabbit. It had all the features of an earth rabbit except for the four ears. Thinking of last night, he guessed that since the predators were far more advanced here that the other animals needed better defenses. A tiny voice questioned in the back of his head: how did he hear the rabbit when it was so far away just nibbling on a flower? But he pushed it out of his mind.

Picking up the rabbit, he rubbed one of its ears quizitively and noticed that it was limp and broken. Probably why it hadn't heard him before. While he kept looking at it, he felt the absence of his smartest brother deeply. How he longed for his brothers to here with him. They had always faced these kinds of challenges before together. But he quickly reprimanded himself for thinking such thoughts. If his brothers were here than they would be in danger, so it's better that they weren't. Plus he had taken care of himself and kept his family safe before, right? Nothing had changed…except maybe Karai's presence.

Taking his kill, Leonardo continued to walk through the forest. Soon he came to a running river near the bottom of the hill. He stepped toward the edge of it and stared at the water, surprised that it was literally blue; almost like his face mask. He cupped his hand and put it in the water. The water was cold, but felt good. Raising his hand to his lips with the supposed-water, he took a tentative sip. It tasted a little strange, but other wise it seemed alright. 'Beggars can't be choosers.' he thought to himself. Kneeling down to drink more, Leo stared at his reflection in the rippling water. And nearly fell back in surprise when another reflection appeared beside his own.

Karai apparently had woken up.

Leo let out an exasperated sigh and eyed her angrily. "Don't give a warning or anything." He said dryly. Karai ignored him and gestured to the water. "Is this water drinkable?" Leo nodded, "Well, I'm not having any side effects so I'm assuming, yes."

She went to the water and drank some carefully. Once she was satisfied, she proceeded to clean her arm wound. Leo watched her while silently wondering how she had appeared beside him so silently without him noticing her at all. It was a worrying sign.

"Do you plan on going to the village?" Karai spoke up.

"….It seems like that's probably our best bet." Leo answered, annoyed at how fast she was catching on.

Karai nodded and finished re-bandaging her arm. Getting up she turned toward him and eyed the rabbit. "Hungry?" Leo asked. She raised an eyebrow at him.

Eventually, they had, with much difficulty on both parts, started a fire and cooked the rabbit. Leonardo had asked her if she wanted hers raw but she just glared at him. He shrugged back innocently. They quickly ate and put out the fire to avoid being detected.

Afterwards, they decided to wait for the cover of darkness to visit the village. And for once in his life, Leo would've preferred to go in the sunlight.

TBC….