I'm back! as promised, here's another chapter about our fearless leader! as not promised, the next one is not about my favorite red masked terrapin, but soon i promise! anyway, this picks up right where the last one left off. enjoy!
Once the three humans got over the fact that Leo was a turtle, he found himself peppered by curious questions.
"How did you get like this?" Jack asked in astonishment,
"Can i touch your shell?" seven year old jane begged eagerly.
"How long have you lived here?" Claire wondered, Leo smiled.
"To answer that," he said, "is a very long story, but i've lived here for about three years." then he frowned, peering across the water. "We should focus on getting you home though, this is no place for a family."
"I suppose you're right." Jack agreed, "you don't happen to know how to start a fire do you? Smoke signals or something." Leo laughed.
"For smoke signals, you want a smoldering patch of grass or leaves, they can't be dry or they'll just burn, only use wood to cook things."
"Where did you learn all this?" Clare asked as her husband and daughter went to find leaves. Leo smiled.
"My father taught me and my brothers about wilderness survival…" his voice trailed off, two of his brothers were probably using their learned skills as he spoke.
"You have brothers?" she asked in surprise, "are they...like you?"
"Yeah." Leo shrugged, "we're all mutants, turtle ones, my father was a large rat." he laughed at the look on claire's face. "He was a human first, it's a really long story, but yeah there's me, then Donnie, Raph, and Mikey." he sighed, "i haven't seen them for three years."
"Oh!" Claire said, almost relieved, "i thought you were going to say they were here with you!"
"No, i'm alone." Leo shook his head, "it's mostly my fault anyway."
"Leo leo leo!" Jane called, running up,"look how many leaves i can carry on one arm!" Leo smiled and accepted the leaves, kneeling to start the signals.
"Good job." he congratulated her, "where's your father?"
"He's getting more, he'll be here soon." Jane answered with surety, "mom! We saw a real palm tree, with coconuts in it!"
"Ooh, amazing!" Claire said, entertaining her daughter's excitement even though a palm tree with coconuts in it was within sight of their wreck. She looked up at Leo. "are there any animals here?" she asked anxiously, Leo shook his head.
"No, except bugs and birds, and me, no animals." Leo narrowed his eyes in concentration as he rubbed the two stick together, he glanced at Claire. "Can you look through the stuff in your lifeboat? You might have a lighter or a set of flint and steel."
"Oh! Of course!" she said, kneeling beside it, "i'm sorry i was just thinking about you."
"It'd be hard not to." Leo observed, "pretty much we got exposed to a chemical and turned into this." he shook his head, watching Jane run along the ocean, "your daughter reminds me of Mikey in some ways."
"Tell me about them." Claire suggested, locating a 72 hour kit and opening it, "it will give you something to do, and you've been alone for some time."
"Alright." Leo said, surprising himself, "well, i am, was, i am the oldest," he shook his head, "well, we're all the same age but i act like the oldest, i was my brother's leader, we're ninjas, we protect New York and the world pretty much."
"You live in new york?" she asked in surprise, "i haven't seen you."
"Well, we live in the shadows, if most humans saw us we'd probably be dissected on sight." he shrugged, "anyway, after me, there's Raph, who likes to think of himself as the second oldest,'" leo sighed, "i haven't seen him for over three years actually, you see, Mikey is the youngest, or most immature, and one day, I kinda made him feel like we didn't care about him." he closed his eyes for a moment, "and then Raph hurt him, and he ran away, we never saw him again." Clare gasped, putting a hand to her mouth, having abandoned her search for flint and steel, leo glanced up. "Can i use that lighter?"
"Oh, yes." Claire handed it to him.
"And then, three months after Mikey left us, Raph and i got into a big fight about it, Donnie, he's the third brother i guess, he tried to get us to stop, but i goaded Raph into getting too angry." Leo felt the scar on his arm and sighed, "he attacked me and knocked me out, and then left. I don't know if he was so guilty or what, but he never came back either, i...we didn't look for him." Leo stopped what he was doing and lowered his head in shame, "i just let him leave." Claire was silent, Jack had rejoined them and was listening. "I failed my brothers." he concluded, "and i can't be there if i failed them, they're probably all back home by now." he shrugged, "Donnie stayed with master splinter guess, i haven't heard from them since i left." Leo clicked the lighter and lit a palm leaf, it started smoldering and he blew softly on it to make the flame grow.
"Can i give you a suggestion?" Jack asked, Leo looked up in surprise.
"About what?"
"Your brothers." Jack replied, sitting in the sand next to Leo. "it sounds like you left because you felt like you failed them, right?"
"Yes." leo said, then frowned at the look on his face, "listen, i hurt mikey, Raph, and Donnie, my father, i hurt them with my careless actions, and so i left so iwouldn't hurt them anymore." he sat back as the leaf caught and piled a few more on, a steady stream of smoke went up into the sky. "Just feed this more leaves as they burn, but don't put out the fire, any rescue ships should come if they see it, and…" he stood, "please don't tell anyone about me." Jane rushed up to him, here eyes wide.
"You're leaving?" she asked, "but i wanted to touch your shell!" Leo smiled and crouched so she could reach his shell, she ran her fingers along the different plates and smiled.
"It looks like a cage Leo."
"Huh." Leo looked at her.
"Yeah, you're trapped in the cage."
"Jane!" Claire was mortified, "be nice!"
"It's true mommy, he's trapped in the cage, he wants to be in the cage, but he's trapped." Leo looked at the girl carefully now, she was not looking at his shell anymore, just up at him. "He's going away from us to stay in the cage, bye leo." Leo stood and Jane ran at a flock of seagulls, her parents came up to Leo.
"I'm sorry leo," Jack said, "she's always been different, she has trouble making friends because of it, she says things like that all the time and it tends to scare people." Leo regarded the small figure dancing on the beach.
"Don't try to dampen her." he suggested, "she seems very much to be tuned to people's emotions, like a whole lot of empathy, she can tell when people shut themselves out."
"Is that what you're doing?" Claire asked, "shutting yourself out?" Leo shook his head, walking back away.
"Watch for ships." he said, "get home safely."
"You could come home with us!" she called after him, "to New York." Leo stopped and stiffened.
"No."
"Are you sure?" Claire asked, Jack shushed her.
"Be polite, he doesn't want to be seen by humans and he obviously doesn't want to go home."
"You could see them again leo!" Leo turned.
"I'm sorry, but i can't." he said softly before walking away into the shade of the trees.
Leo watched the family of three board the boat that had been rowed ashore, they'd be fine, but then he saw a familiar face in the boat, one of the rescuers, Casey? Casey Jones? Last he had heard Casey and April went to europe, had they been on the same ship? Or on the ship that rescued the others? Leo saw Casey scanning the island and stepped forward a bit, barely visible, Casey didn't see him. The boat started back towards the ship that was moored beyond the sandbar, Leo frowned when he saw April there as well, and then Jack leaned forward, looking at Leo, before turning to the two other new yorkers and whispering something. Leo shook his head, no, he wouldn't.
Casey Jones never planned on getting shipwrecked, or rescued, but he was, and then when a smoke pillar wafted up from the island he volunteered to go help get the people off, there was three of them, a family. The young one seemed to have a broken arm, well splinted. Neither of her parents knew anything about first aid, he could tell by the way they talked about it. So, who had helped them? He scanned the island for more life, but didn't see any until the man he had rescued leaned forward, eyes trained inside the treeline.
"You two from New York?" he asked, barely audible, Casey and April were surprised, but nodded.
"Yes sir, why?"
"Ever meet someone named Leo?" his wife glared at him sharply but Jack ignored it, "because he seems to know you two." he nodded to the Island and Casey whipped around, leo? Leo was missing! How would he have gotten to the middle of the ocean? But there he was, April gasped, a hand to her mouth, Leo was standing just barely visible under the trees. When he saw them look at him he raised a hand in farewell before turning away and leaving, Casey stared after him, uncomprehending, and then a wave rose and blocked the small island from sight.
ooooooh, what happens next, you ask? well, you will never know! haha jk it's in the next chapter. anyway, thanks for reading and sticking with me, please please please review and thanks again!