It was now pouring rain and a lone turtle sat motionless in it. The forest floor where he sat was completely black, save for the occasional lightning strike, which would be followed by a bone-rattling crash of thunder. He had meant to make it to his 'home' in one quick go, but his body and mind urged for a break a few miles shy of the destination.

Leo's mind was blank as he concentrated on the stream of rainwater that poured from the end of his beak, into the puddle that surrounded him. He barely made notice when lightning struck nearby and illuminated his surroundings enough to notice that he was sitting in not only water, but blood.

His blood.

But he felt no pain, only numbness.

Another flash of light, and a growl that shook the earth sent his mind spiraling through the events that had just taken place no more than a couple dozen minutes prior.

Flashback

The convoy re-entered Astilla. The men with their guns jumped from the vehicles and began their assault. Bullets flew through the air, occasionally hitting a mark. Those unlucky enough to feel the bullet enter their bodies crumpled to the ground, crying out in pain. Some made no sound at all as they fell. It was utter chaos.

Leo spent all of his throwing weapons in an attempt to quell the attack. A couple of soldiers were unlucky enough to stray too close to the tree line and feel the sting of razor-sharp metal. One instance called for Leo to reveal himself in order to remove a handful of men who were in the process of ravaging a slender brown-haired woman. The four humans saw him of course, but only one would ever be able to speak of it. Before the last of the men could be eliminated, he brought up his rifle and hip-fired in Leo's direction. One bullet grazed his left shoulder while the other embedded itself into his right trapezious (the muscle between the neck and shoulder). Leo carried on indifferent; the attempt did nothing to save the man's life.

Leo moved fast, his cloak flew behind him, making him appear as an indistinguishable blur. The woman looked on as he promptly retreated to the tree line, before running for safety. She couldn't believe her eyes. It was the spirit that Santiego had been preaching about.

Once again looking out over the village, Leo noticed Santino and a group of his men make their way over to the orphanage. The Priest stood outside the entrance begging for the usurpers to leave his children alone. No such luck. Two men walked around the building, throwing gasoline in and around it. The orphans' cries could now be heard and only intensified once a couple matches had been tossed into the fuel.

Everything happened in slow motion, and for whatever reason, Leonardo's limbs simply could not move fast enough. By the time he was close enough to do anything, the building was engulfed in flame, and no sounds came from the inside.

Santiego screamed in horror but the militia leader brought a pistol up to his head and pulled the trigger. The Priest's body limply fell over to the side.

Leo was in shock. He couldn't believe his own eyes. He could do nothing more than breathe as he watched Santino and his goons return to their jeep. He barked out an order and the onslaught stopped, forcing the remaining gunners to make their way to their jeeps as well. Several dead bodies of their own were dragged along with them, but some remained to rot at the expense of the villagers.

As quickly as it had started, the killing was done.

The convoy drove off, the living mourned over the dead and Leo turned away in disbelief, horror and shame. It would be a long walk to his cave, and it was starting to rain.

End flashback

The memory made him physically ill. He lurched forward and puked up what little food he had. The stomach acid mixed with the blood and water to create a wretched concoction.

It's all my fault. I killed those men and left them there to be seen. That pig lashed out on those people because I lost control!

He felt sick again and began a fit of dry-heaving to the side. Once he recovered, he couldn't help but wonder,

How is it that Raph can always lose his coo,l but never has to face outcomes like this?

He shook his head at the thought. It really wasn't fair. The one time he acts on raw impulse, the lives of so many innocents are spent.

He missed home. He wanted to go back to his family so bad right then. He wanted to hear their words of love and encouragement. But that wasn't going to happen. He was failing miserably at his mission, and he wasn't going to return until his task was done. He couldn't go back to his family as a failure.

With that, the injured terrapin rose to his feet. The world spun once his knees fully extended.

Blood loss, he thought. He could feel the sting of his wounds more and more now. He just wanted to get back to his cave before he bled out completely.

The remainder of the walk took longer than expected, but the Leo arrived in due time in one piece.

It was still pouring rain outside, and by now the loss of blood and cold-bloodedness was taking its toll on the turtle. His body shook violently and his breathing came and went in quick bursts of air. Leo stumbled over to his 'bed' and started rummaging through his bag that lay nearby. It was hard enough feeling around in the dark, but his shaking hands weren't helping any. Finally he found some fishing line and a needle. Even in his mental state it was clear that the wounds had to be stitched up. His cloak was thrown off in a clumsy manner and it landed with a wet thump on the ground.

He stood out in the rain again to wash away the blood that had started to seep since his arrival. He rubbed the damaged skin to make sure the areas were disinfected. Numbed by the cold the wounds weren't sore on their own, but his rubbing stung like a hot poker was being held against his flesh. The pain was harsh, but he knew an infection could mean the end of him. Taking a seat on a rock, he started analyzing the damage, unfortunately, it was too dark. He let out a sigh of frustration and stood.

His mind was starting to get groggy, so he rushed to get a fire going. It didn't take long for a descent flame to emerge from the kindling he had ready for use. After adding some more wood to the fire, he again took a seat.

Carefully threading the needle, he hesitantly tended to his shoulder. With every dip the needle made in his skin, a fresh gush of blood oozed out. Leo wasn't a huge fan of needles, let alone continuously poking one into his own skin. Repairing him and his brothers was normally Don's job; he was the medic.

Once finished, his left arm was completely covered in blood. Tiredness pressed on however, so, so did he.

It took some effort to effectively look at the other bullet wound, and his heart sank when he did finally catch a glimpse of the hole that was so close to his neck. Hesitantly, he closed it up with a couple, or so, stitches.

His fingers then immediately fumbled around for an exit wound, which he couldn't locate. The bullet was probably lodged against his shell just below where his skin connected to the carapace. Determined to find it, he felt again; this time concentrating hard on what he felt.

Bingo!

It was no exit wound, but there was a faint bump that had not previously been there. Somehow, he figured, the bullet was just beneath his skin, perfectly aligned with where it went in.

Getting it out would be just as important as the stitches themselves. Leo leaned forward in an attempt to stand, but instead fell to his hands and knees. Consequently, he crawled over to his cloak and found a tanto.

"This is gonna hurt" he warned himself. To get a good a view as possible, Leo twisted his neck as far right and back as he could. He made note of where the bullet was and proceeded to draw the knife up. When the blade pierced his skin, he couldn't help but let out a gasp and pull the knife away. The skin where he was cutting was already tender, and the slit caused an explosion of pain.

Taking a few panted breaths, he again brought the blade up and, gritting his teeth with great force, made and incision. Once the metal was past the skin, he began clumsily spooning around, trying to rid his body of the little intruding piece of metal. Every twist shot stings of unbearable pain through his shoulder and up his neck. Leo's face was contorted with infinite creases and was sleek with a layer of sweat. His breath came in short, pained gasps, and tears were slowly drifting out from under his scrunched up eyelids.

Finally, the bullet fell out of his skin and rolled onto the rocky floor with a distinct 'clink'.

Leo knew that if he stopped working at the wound, going back to stitch it only moments later, would be unbearable. With the needle and thread, he again craned his neck to the side and make five sloppy stitches.

Once it was closed off, the tool fell from his hand. The cave was getting dark and blurry, even with the fire. There was no sound and then there was complete darkness.

Leo slumped forward and fell in an awkward laying position on the floor, ready for some sleep.

Hope you guys are liking the story thus far, if anyone has some idea for what they want to see, I've got the story pretty well complete in my head, but I am open to ideas! Thanks peeps!