Chapter 3
The First Night
"Whoa! Rewind a bit, man! We are where?" Moe the Mole asked, one hand tugging at his dreadlocks.
"Dungeons and Dragons? That game that you guys have played a few times over the years?" asked Casey. "With pen and paper and all those strange dice?"
"The very same." Tyroth answered.
"Well, didn't we take a massively wrong turn somewhere." said Bill the duck, scratching his feathered head. "But how did we end up here, and not Skyrim?"
"I wish I knew. I was certain that we would go to Skyrim, that I knew how to use the talisman, but clearly something went wrong."
"Well, if you ask me, this seems a lot better." said Hacker the Spider. "I don't really like the cold and snow."
"Are you certain that this world is from this game of yours." Splinter asked.
"We are, master." said Leonardo.
"Like, totally so." Michelangelo cut in.
"Tyroth, Sephie, Mikey, Donnie and I all played characters that possessed magic when we sort of became them because of that enchanted die that we told you about. I don't know exactly why, but I guess that we're a little more sensitive or attuned to that kind of energy, and once we took a moment to stop and feel the aura of this world, we all instantly recognised it, and Tyroth did so faster than us, having magic normally."
"However, it's not exactly the same, but rather like a neighbouring frequency on a radio, meaning that this world could be almost identical to the one our game took place in, but still very different." said Tyroth. "Or it could be completely different, there really is no telling, especially with all the different worlds that both the creators of the game and the players have created over the years. But that remains to be seen."
"What do you mean by that?" his father Richard asked.
"While this isn't were we intended to go, it is still possible that we can start our new lives here instead."
"It sounds like we got a choice in the matter." said Jack. "But what about the talisman? I guess that we can just bring it out here and use it, but I still don't understand how it worked in the first place while inside that anti-magical field."
"Oh! I know that!" Michelangelo almost cheered, raising his hand as if waiting for permission to speak from Tyroth, who gave him a quick nod. "An Anti-Magical Field stops all kinds of magic, except the most powerful ones, like almost God-tier items and spells. The talisman must be one of those, since we did get here."
"Very well done, Mikey." Tyroth praised with a smile.
"You really knew that?" Raphael asked with a confused look on his face.
"Yeah. I really like that game, so I actually read the books. Surprised myself with that, truth be told." the orange masked turtle responded with a sheepish smile.
"Getting back on topic." Tyroth said, clearing his throat a little. "Like I was going to say, we do have a choice here. We could use the talisman to again try to reach Skyrim, though I understand if any of you don't trust it after the mishap we just had, or we could stay here instead."
"So we're choosing between two places that most of us don't even know about? Feels a bit like we're stuck between a rock and a hard place, boss." said Sharky.
"Yeah, could we get some more details, please?" said April.
"I'll do my best." the dragon said, trying to gather his thoughts. "When we left Skyrim, years ago, they were in the middle of a civil war and dragons had just returned from basically being extinct, but we have no idea how all that turned out, so we don't know how things are right now. Back then, however, there were humans, elves and two kinds of beast folk, cat and lizard respectively, and as one might suspect, there were prejudices against certain groups from certain other.
On this world, however, there is no telling if there's war nearby or not right now, and we also don't know if they even speak any languages that we know, so we could have a lot of trouble with that as well. On the other end however, there should be a good chance that it is common knowledge of other realms, such as the Elemental Planes and the Astral Plane, and the creatures that dwell there, so people shouldn't be too shocked with us, especially not if travel between the planes is fairly common. But even if that isn't the case, there is a good chance that there are many different humanoids and other sentient creatures here, we're talking elves, orcs, lizard folks, minotaurs, shape shifters, bird people, fairies, angels and many more."
"Sounds like we'll stand out the least here then." said Devina. "And I for one won't have to deal with any of those vampire and bounty hunters that were after me back on Nirn, so this place gets my vote."
There were some murmurs among the people, as they discussed what choice to make, but in the end, they more or less agreed to give this new world a chance, especially since several of them didn't trust the talisman to work and might send them to a place far worse than where they already were.
"Okay people, gather your stuff, and let's head out!" Tyroth said in a loud voice. "I want the elders and the children in the middle! Sharky, Raph and Mona on the right, and Heather, Mikey and Kate on the left! Jack, Devina, Donnie, Sarah and Percy in the back, while Sephie, Amber, Jake and Leo are in the front with me! Keep your eyes, ears and noses open for any sign of people and dangers!"
"So what's the plan?" Patch the Badger asked.
"Like Donatello said, we need first to find a source of fresh water, and hopefully people after that. Oh, and one more thing. Be careful by whom you praise, swear or curse, they might just exist here and could be listening, or someone claiming to be them."
The group wandered throughout the forests for several hours before the sun began to set, and they decided to set up camp in a small glade for the night.
The sky was clear and the stars shone brightly like tiny gems in the distance while three moons made their way across the night sky, one blue, one green and one white. Despite the clear night, it was far from cold, with only a small but pleasant chill in the breeze of the otherwise warm summer night.
Having sett up a couple of campfires, and cooking some simple food to eat, the group was finally able to properly start processing what had happened, and discuss it with each other.
"Okay, tell us straight, guys, who was it that attacked you?" Raphael asked, not wanting to beat around the bush.
"If we only knew, Raph." Tyroth responded, taking a bit of his food. "There was so much that didn't make sense with our foes."
"No kidding." said Jack. "I, for one, squared off with a few Foot ninja, or so I thought at least. The did look the part, but the way they fought felt off compared to the other times I've dealt with them."
"I saw a few that had automatic weapons." said Percy. "I'm talking full on assault rifles and stuff."
"And don't get me started on the assholes I had to fight." Kate almost growled. "Some were dressed like Foot ninja, but didn't fight like them, and then there were some that did fight like Foot ninja, but didn't look the part."
"I remember them, I can't help but think they might be some government black-ops kind of thugs." said Sharky.
"But we never saw the likes of the Shredder, Arashi or Arden." said Amber. "Not even a single one of Arden's creatures either."
"Long story short, we got no clue what or who we were really dealing with." said Jake. "But they were very skilled at what they did."
"No kidding!" said Hacker. "I didn't even notice that they were hacking our security, and they were taking it slow and steady too, treading very carefully to bypass every firewall and layer of protection I've programmed. If it hadn't been for me installing extra cameras and such, which were on a separate network and thus out of their reach, we would never have seen them coming."
"And we are very thankful for all the work you put into our security, Hacker. We would not be here now without it." George the Turtle said, the elder of Mutopia placing a comforting hand on the spider's shoulder.
"I still wish I could have done more."
"We all wish we could have done more, so join the club, Hacker old buddy." said Sarah.
"So they were skilled and knew where you lived." Leonardo summarised.
"Bet ya five bucks that I know who tipped them off." Rattletrap growled. "That traitorous, good for nothing raven!"
"Diablo." Raphael said through gritted teeth, but he refrained from saying anything more as he saw that his mate seemed uncomfortable with where the conversation had lead.
It was no secret that Diablo was Monalisa's younger brother, it was she who had brought him to Mutopia to save his life with the well's healing, only for him to betray them all and leave the sanctuary, risking to expose their existence to the humans with his so called crusade against sinners.
With a few rare exceptions, no one blamed her for her brother's actions, as they would have done the same in her place, and Monalisa had managed to work through the guilt, but she still felt responsible if nothing else, not to mention that she still cared for her brother.
"We don't know that it was Diablo." Tyroth said. "While he claimed that he wouldn't reveal our home, it's true that he's the only one that knew of Mutopia that we can't trust. Still, even if he did tell our attackers, we can't know for sure that he did so of his free will. I for one know just how… persuasive the Foot can be, if they were involved in this."
"As do I." said Amber. "But with how easily the broke through our security, they might just as well have had some machine or other that could find us."
"Whatever the case, we're here now, and they ain't." said Jack. "We can discuss this for years and it won't change what happened, so we might as well just get on with our lives in this new place."
"Once we've found somewhere to live. I'm not too keen on being a nomad, already done that once before." said Percy as he roasted a piece of meat over the fire.
"Quiet!" Kate said sharply.
"For real? What did I say now?"
"It's not you, vermin. I think I heard something."
Everyone went silent and started to scan their surroundings with both eyes and ears.
"There they are." Tyroth said, getting up and placing himself between the group and what he had found, and the others waited with baited breath to see what.
A pack of large wolves, at least twenty of them, emerged from the shadows, all snarling and growling, and one larger than the rest of them lead them.
Tyroth locked eyes with the pack leader, and the alpha recognised this act of challenge, taking several steps towards the dragon, growling and snarling even louder, but Tyroth didn't move. The wolf became even more agitated and began barking violently as it lunged a few feet at Tyroth, but he still didn't budge an inch.
With nothing having worked so far, the alpha wolf was forced to use its final option to assert dominance over the one who stood against the pack, attack. With its jaws open and the sharp teeth gleaming in the light from the fires, it again lunged at Tyroth, and this time it got a response from the dragon.
Tyroth thrust his upper body forward while unleashing a powerful roar, causing the wolf to stop dead in its tracks as its fur billowed in the force of the roar. When the roar had ended, the alpha was laying on the ground with its tail between its legs, whining loudly. Seeing this, the other wolves more or less followed suit, their hostility and aggression having been replaced by submission.
"Scram!" Tyroth shouted at the wolves, stomping one foot hard on the ground for emphasis, and the pack quickly did just that.
"Ha! That should teach those mutts whose boss!" Rattletrap laughed.
"Don't get too cocky just because I scared off some wolves." Tyroth said as he sat down together with the others again. "I know that you're all used to me being this nigh-unbeatable guy, but in this world, I am not at the top of the food chain. Even the magical powers I have can be matched by humans, and there are other far more powerful entities here."
"Tyroth's right." said Leonardo. "From my own experiences in the game, this kind of world has a lot of powerful creatures and spirits, so we do best to remain vigilant until we find a safe place. That said, I don't think we're at any great risk here in the woods, but we should still have people take turns keeping watch."
"Something tells me it's gonna be a long night." Michelangelo sighed. "And on top of that, we got no marshmallows."
Our heroes set out to find, well, whatever that's out there, and now you've all gotten a few questions answered, more or less anyway. Tyroth also makes it clear that he's not the strongest around any more, as gods and godlike entities are very much real in DnD.
Also, Mikey knows stuff, who knew. Something like this hasn't happened since the 2003 episode Return of the Justice Force. :)
As per usual, Bloodrayne666's characters are her own, as are the stories that I reference to, such as Falling Inside the Black, sequel to Oh Sister Where Art Thou?. Check them both out!