heeeeeelllllllllloooooooo everybody! sorry for the wait but i think i'm getting over my writers block! anyway...here's chapter eight of 'loneliness' just so you know, about two years have passed since the last chapter. so...yeah! thanks for sticking with me and reviewing!

enjoy!

Mikey scanned the forested hills, he'd been here for years, at least three. He sometimes regretted leaving, but knew his brothers would fare better without him, three was the magic number. Jumping from his branch he collected a few more nuts, they weren't poisonous, he'd eaten them before, he thought. Popping one into his mouth he walked along the forested glade. Sunlight trickled through the trees, and he could hear hundreds of birds. Sighing contently he walked to his hut, it was simple, but it was home. Trying to ignore the sudden pang of longing for the lair, he dropped his nuts into the already full basket he'd woven. The small makeshift cot in the corner, and the rough table he'd made were the only furniture, unless you counted the stump he used to sit on.

"Hello house." he said, wondering if his voice had changed, it would have been gradual, so he didn't know. He walked to the small pool he'd purposefully built a corner of the house over and peered in. The scar raph had given him stood dark against his light green skin, a new one under his eye, from fur-face, was just as dark. He glanced at his right shoulder, he'd had the bandage on for a while, it was probably healed. Sitting on his log he gently started unwrapping it. It was a new scar, also dark green, which confused him. He always thought scars would be whiter...but maybe mutants were different. Donnie would know. Mikey was surprised at himself, he knew he could never go back. Right? Nodding and scolding himself mikey reminded himself that they probably hated him for being away so long. If he came back, who knows how they would react? Sighing, mikey glanced at the sky, it was almost noon, he was bored. He saw a glint from the grass outside and scowled, what was that? Mikey walked over and bent to see what it was, it was a glass fragment.

"What the?" Mikey said, picking it up in his hands, "how did this get here?" then he remembered, he'd thrown his t-phone into the woods about a year ago, then moved here a few months ago and built his hut. This could be part of it. He scanned the ground, and spotted another one a few feet away, just to give himself something to do, he went and picked it up. Mikey sighed.

"I wish I hadn't broken you." he murmured, but followed the trail of glass anyway, had some animal carried it around? As he was walking through a clearing, he felt a pain in his foot.

"Uh, ow." he said, lifting it, how had he not seen that? Mikey bent to scoop up the broken remains of the phone, and gasped. The screen flickered feebly. He ran to his hut and lay it on the table, sure, the screen was cracked and the back missing, but he had apparently not hurt the electronics too bad. He could see through the broken screen that someone had tried to call him. After three years? Dedicated family. Placing the glass fragments on the table as well he stretched. Life here was boring, and he'd been making plans to go to Louisiana, to see his frog friends, maybe he could stop by the lair, just to say hi. He shook his head, he might go through New York, but if his brothers saw him they'd make him stay.

Donnie sighed, and replaced the t phone on the desk, it was a long shot, how would their phones even work anymore? He got to his feet. Might as well do a patrol, solo of course.

"Sensei!" he called, "i'm going on patrol, I'll be back." sensei nodded to him.

"Stay safe Donatello." he murmured, "come home." donnie nodded, even though his father couldn't see him, and got into the shell raiser, it was pretty hard to operate, because there was only him. But he'd improved at driving. Donnie revved the engine, remembering how much leo loved to drive, where was his older brother now? He pulled up out of the subway and drove slowly around the corner, a flashing light alerted him to engine problems.

"Of course." he muttered, taking his foot off the gas, "what is it this time?" his question was answered by a spark. And then an explosion. Donatello was thrown a good fifty feet into a wall, it luckily didn't crash down on him, just cracked a bit. The shell raiser, on the other hand. Was irreparable. He couldn't even see half of it, getting to his feet, he winced, he'd knocked his shell loose, pulling it back into place, he reflected that sensei had said to stay safe, he didn't make it a mile, and he'd broken the shell raiser. Good job donnie. He said to himself, and how was he going to get this thing back into the sewers? Drag it? That seemed to be his only option, so he pulled out his grappling hook and wrapped it around the biggest un-fractured section of the vehicle he could find. Hoping that the ramp controller was still functional, Donatello climbed into the husk of a subway car once more, and told it to lift up. Hearing the grinding from the alley he sighed with relief.

"Ok, now just drag a two ton monstrosity down into the sewers, won't be too hard, right?" he asked himself sarcastically, and took up the difficult job that was left to him. When he got it into the sewers he dropped it dejectedly, he'd never get it to the lair on his own. It would never work again, so he should just leave it here. Unwrapping his grappling hook, he placed a hand on the remaining tire. "Sorry, i didn't mean to blow you up." he told it. Unsurprisingly, it didn't respond. Donatello turned and walked towards the lair. Three years had passed, yet he still couldn't function as a soloist. Had he really been so dependent on his brothers? Deciding not to answer that question, Donatello called to splinter.

"Sensei! I'm back! Already…" he said, and sighed. Splinter came out of the dojo.

"Donatello! Are you alright?" he asked, seeing his sons many bruises.

"Yeah, I'm ok." don said, "but the shell raiser blew up, i forgot to check the engine before i left." sensei raised an eyebrow.

"You will find other things to occupy your time." he murmured, "than dwelling on your brothers." Donatello looked up at his father, he had just gotten to his feet again, after leo to hurt, before he left, he hadn't been in the best of health.

"Yes sensei." don said, bowing his head, splinter patted his shoulder.

"Come." he said, "let us get you cleaned up."

Raphael stared at the faint light, coming from far away. This huge cavern place hadn't been too hard to locate, and then he found the forest of stone… huge stalactites and stalagmites had formed columns and looked like huge stone trees, there were about a hundred stone trees. An exit on the side of a mountain was only a few hundred yards away, and no humans ever came here. He sighed. The hundreds of scratches on the wall signified about, three years of him living here. So, that would be, over a thousand scratches. Wow. raph groaned, why did he even care how many there were? It's not like if he reached a certain amount he could go home, for all he knew, leo was dead because of him.

Raph grabbed his sai, the one he hadn't broken yet, and walked towards the light, he might as well find something to eat, other than the rodents in the cave. He never wanted to eat rat. When he stepped into the sun, he blinked rapidly, trying to get accustomed to the sudden change of light. Then he glanced around, there was a town about ten miles down the side of the mountain, and a cliff that kept them from discovering him. But that trek took two full days to get there and back, along with getting supplies. So raph only went to the town about once a month. He sighed. Why was he acting like a big softie today? He was moping around here like he was a lost puppy dog, but then again… his eyes wandered to the horizon, was he lost? Raph shook his head and grunted. He had promised himself he could never return, at least until… he stood stalk still. He had subconsciously made requirements? What was wrong with him? Until what? One of his brothers found him? Or tried to anyway. But they had no idea where he was, and how would he know if they wanted him? Raph sat dejectedly on a log, they definitely didn't want him.

Leo rubbed sand over the blade of his sword, making it shine. About two and a half years ago he'd woken up here, on this desert island. He'd planned to die, but this worked as well. He couldn't hurt his brothers in any way now. He stood up and gazed across the shining water, he had no idea where he was on the planet, but he was pretty sure he was on earth. Leo chuckled to himself. Of course he was on earth.

"I need to get some sleep." he said aloud, but did not make any movement towards the shade of the palm trees a few yards away. Instead he stared up at the sky blinking against the bright sunlight. He couldn't bear to sleep, he was only plagued by dreams of home, of his brothers that he'd never see again, heck, maybe was was actually dead, and this was his punishment. Leo chuckled. If he was lucky, which he definitely wasn't, that would be the case, but he was alive. Leo closed his eyes,

But what the eldest didn't know, was that the youngest brother wasn't dead. And neither did the eldest die. He lived in a strange land for the rest of his life. The youngest brother never recovered, but did not die until the eldest did. Where they met in the afterlife.

That was his ending to the story, Mikey and raph were fine, they went back home, and lived happily until leo died, and then Mikey finally left this miserable world as well. He sheathed his sword, in the old scabbard he'd had for years. He's have to find a replacement soon, or make one. A scabbard could only take so many patches before it became useless. Leo shook his head, he would never make a replacement. This and the sword in it were the last things he had from home, with the exception of his sun bleached mask. He reached up and rubbed the frayed mask tail between his fingers. If only… he thought longingly. But he could never return home.

so...it looks like Mikey's path might cross donnie's soon...or will it?