I'm starting to wonder if I need a tissue box nearby xD
"Calm down Raph. *crashing noise* ok then maybe just a little?" Mikey asked while holding the 'Dragon Leo' in his arms as he watch his older brother's fuse slowly dwindle down and when it blew you better be in the next country.
Raph only calmed down a bit when the dragon sneezed and blue flames burst out of its mouth. This caused Mikey to jump in surprise and fall onto his bottom and knocking books down from the shelves; causing them to land all over and some even hitting his head.
"Come here knucklehead." Raph said extending his hand out to help Mikey. Mikey grab Raph's hand and with a little effort pulled Mikey to his feet. Shrugging his shoulders he started to remove a book from his head when the dragon dived at Mikey; causing him to drop the book on the ground. The little dragon flew and landed on the book cover. Staring at the turtles almost telepathically telling them to grab the book.
Don walked over and picked up the book; placing the little dragon on his shoulder he started to skim the each entry as his brothers looked over his shoulder.
"Ahem do you mind." Don asked with a annoyed look on his face.
"Sorry Donnie." Raph and Mikey said in unison. Raph walked back over to where Leo was being stored; lying on his shell he started to remember the first week without Leo.
~Flashback~
Raph stretched his entire body as he made his way to kitchen. Mikey was making breakfast while Don was helping Splinter get into his seat. Raph took his place at the table and closed his eyes; trying to still hear the noise of steel slicing through the air or the sound of heavy breathing, something to remind him that his older brother was still here with them and not traveling to Japan to see the Ancient One. Donnie got Splinter his tea and everyone else coffee.
"Shell." Don muttered under his breath. Everyone looked up to see that Donnie placed a cup of tea not just for Splinter but for-
"Leo." Raph whispered.
Splinter closed his eyes and bowed his head, Mikey went back to his cooking while Raph just stared into his mug. Donnie was about to take the cup when Splinter raised his hand, slowly Splinter stood up from his seat and walked over to the other cup of tea. Splinter picked up the mug with a shaking hand and walked over to the sink, emptying the cup into the sink he walked back over to his seat; leaving the empty mug on the counter to be cleaned.
Silence took over the family, the only sound of in the make shift kitchen was the sizzling from the pan and even that was being blocked out. The empty chair at the head of the table was the only thing the family would stare at until Mikey started serving everyone.
"Here you go guys one for everyone. Now can someone go get- "Mikey smacked his hand to his mouth.
Looking down at his hand he saw the breakfast he made every day and the one extra plate he would make for Leo. Raph quickly stood up, taking the plate from Mikey's hand he quickly smashed the plate on the ground. Glass fragments and food spilled and scattered on the ground.
"Raphael, what is the matter?" Splinter demanded.
Raph panted heavily, suppressing he instinct to yell, he sprinted out of the lair and into the sewers. Looking around to see if anyone followed him, Raph started to yell at the top of his lungs, smashing his fist into the stone wall of the sewer until his knuckles bled.
Raph continued until all of his adrenaline vacated his body and he collapsed into a small stream of sewer water. Raph didn't care about getting wet in fact it helped out a lot. Masking the tears that started to form and fall off his face and into the small stream, his body shivering from the cold sewer as it met with his slightly warmer reptilian skin.
'Nothing is gonna be the same.' Raph thought.
For the next few months the same routine still played out for the day, the morning breakfast where Donnie and Mikey forgot that Leo wasn't there anymore, causing Raph to run out the lair and return soaked and shivering from lying in the sewer water. Then the afternoon practice and sparring, and odd number placed one of the turtles on the side lines forced to watch and remember that their eldest brother was with his new master.
Finally the evening would come and they would venture out to the roof tops, playing ninja tag or hide and seek, but when they either found everyone or tagged the last turtle they would remember that they were one turtle short. It was finally six months later that it fell into everyone's mind that Leo wasn't there. No more extra portions of breakfast or tea, no more pondering about their eldest brother. No, Leo was now out of their sync and soon they fell into their own little routines of what they did to pass the time until Leo returned.
Letters back and forth about their adventures helped but on the holidays and each of their birthdays, each turtle face them with a solemn face; one person's disappearance left a void in everyone's life.
~End of Flashback~
Raph quickly wiped his face, tears started to form as he remembered the long nights he would stay up and wonder if Leo was going to step into the lair and 'I'm home.' Raph looked over to his younger brothers, Donnie was still reading the book that the little dragon landed on while Mikey was playing with the little dragon, and Splinter was communing with the Tribunal with the Ancient One on how to deal with Cobra.
"Got it!" Donnie exclaimed, startling everyone in the room. The little dragon flew and landed on Donnie's shoulder while Raph and Mikey walked over and sat near Don.
"What did you find out Donnie?" Raph asked.
"I know how to find Cobra." Donnie stated. Mikey and Raph looked at each other
"Um… Donnie knows when Cobra's near cause of our chi marks." Mikey said.
Don shook his head and said, "Yes we know when he is near but we don't know where he is. With what I read this book we'll be able to find Cobra and get the Tribunal to drag him back here so we can finally kill him and free Leo."
Raph and Mikey smiled, Mikey was jumping up and down with excitement while Raph panted Donnie on the back.
"So how do we find him?" Mikey asked. Donnie looked at the ground with a sad look.
"Tell us Don what do we need to do to find Cobra." Raph stated. Donnie pointed at the little dragon.
"We need the dragon to focus some of Leo's chi energy so that we can follow it to find Cobra." Donnie stated. Raph and Mikey looked at each other, "English Don." Raph said with his arms crossed against his chest.
Don sighed, "Leo was the last person to see Cobra and to see the amulet. The amulet bonded Leo 'spirit with his when he used the amulet on him. So to find Cobra we need Leo but because he is still imprisoned in stone we need his spirit animal but in a different form, we need-" "To do no such thing."
Donnie, Raph, and Mikey turned around to see the Tribunal members, Splinter and the Ancient One standing behind them.
"You will not use your brother's spirit animal to find Cobra." Kon stated.
"Why the hell not, it's the only way to find Cobra and to free Leo." Raph barked back. Splinter glared at Raph.
"You don't know the other half of what would happen if your brother's spirit in its most vulnerable state were to find Cobra." Kon said. Don, Raph, and Mikey looked at each other and then the little dragon that was now in Kon's palm.
"Yes, placing your brother's spirit animal into its purest state would help you find Cobra but at a cost." Kon took a deep breath concentrating, he forced energy into his palm and formed a sphere, the little dragon flew into the sphere and in a flash of blinding light the dragon turned into a bright blue flame.
"This is your brother's life force, given to him by the council and chairman of the Zodiac. This replaced Leo the Lion and gave your brother the freedom to return to you and never worry about disappearing ever again. In this form your brother's life is very fragile but it also very powerful. You can merge your chi with your brothers' and become unstoppable for a short period of time. But in doing so places your brother's life in danger because of what is already happening to him."
"Wait what's happening to Leo?" Raph interjected.
"Look into the flame Kama and see what is happening." Kon said extending his arm out to the turtles. Each of them looked into the flame, flickering and sparking the warmth of the flame made each of them feel protected but when they stared deeper into the flame they started to see what Kon was trying to tell them.
"T-the flame its s-starting t-to…" Don tried to speak but he didn't have the courage to say because if what he said was true then stating it would make it the news even more discouraging.
"Yes Donatello, it is as you were saying the flame is slowly failing so your brother is dying. If we don't find Cobra in the next three days your brother will be forever entombed in his cold prison and begin to perish. "Kon stated.
There was silence throughout the room, no one dared to speak or move. It was almost like the earth itself stopped. Mikey collapsed to his knees and started to cry uncontrollable, Donnie tried to comfort Mikey but even he saw that once again Cobra held their eldest brother's life in his hands. Raph on the other hand stood strong for his family, shredding no tears he walked over to Kon and asked,
"What else do you need to tell us?"
Kon nodded, "Yes Kama, the three of you know that you can merge with your brother's flame and become unstoppable but the same can be said about Cobra. He holds a tremendous amount of power thanks to the amulet and more than likely planned for you three to use your brother's life force to track him down. If he gets a hold of your brother's life force and merges with it then we will no longer try to retrieve Cobra alive. We will-"
"Don't say it!" Mikey cried out covering his ears and shutting his eyes tightly.
Kon deeply sighed, "We will need to destroy Cobra and your brother as well."
Night had fallen onto the Ninja Tribunal, they already broken the news about Leonardo's life and the cost of find Cobra through their brother. Kon looked at the other members of the Tribunal and back at the sphere that he was still holding on. The flame was still flickering brightly in the dim lit chamber room; still they all could see the difference between the glows from yesterday to today.
Chikara and Juto walked over to Kon and stood in front of the flame, the blue light casting off a blue tint onto their bodies. Illuminating Chikara's green eyes and deepening Juto's sapphire eyes, Chikara was the first to break the silence.
"We need to find this Cobra and bring an end to this. If we don't not only would it mean another life lose to the amulet but also ensured chaos and destruction just as the Tengu Shredder."
"Yes but if we were to use Leonardo to find Cobra then we would be risking everyone's life if Leonardo's life were to fall his hands." Juto said.
Meanwhile~ (In the cave where they retrieved the second artifact of the Tengu Shredder)
Water trickled down off the stalagmites into small pools of water that emptied into a stream that ran out of the room. A hooded figure stood in the middle of the room where the location of the second artifact was being held. The figure carefully removed an object from a pouch that was tied around its waist. Slowly the figure placed the object in the water, the object slowly sank to the bottom of the pond. The figure watched as the pool of water to part and an underwater alter started to rise up from bottom of the pond. The figure stepped onto the water and made its way until he was greeted with a lead box adore with gold on the edges and a Greek mythological figure on the top.
Backing a way slowly the hooded figure slowly removed the hood from its head, revealing a human face with burn scar angling across from the top of the head over the left eye and onto its ear, green scales appeared under his ear and ran until they were they met his jaw. He opened his now yellow and cat like eyes; his teeth revealing smile were now sharp and pointed at the tip. The top of his head was shaved with only a little fuzz left on the top.
He rubbed his hand over the carved figure and whispered.
"Soon my Master, once those turtles use the dragon to find me you and I will turn everything to stone for my name is Cobra."
The scales of Leonardo's life were going back and forth. If they were to find Cobra through Leo's flame they would risk Cobra using that power but if they didn't Leo would be lost and Cobra would be roaming the world in search for more power and the heads of the Hamato family.
very sorry for the late chapter!
and i have to once again give credit to Shadow-Star Hatake for helping me out :3 very unsure of how many chapters i want this to be... perhaps 11 or 12 is enough.