Across the sea
Imagine being shipped off by your dad to another continent because you acted out, Leo wasn’t denying it, he knew that he was being a prick and he didn’t know why he thought it would be fine after they defeated the Shredder (again) AND the Kraang.
He didn’t know what he was expecting, maybe a few days or even weeks in the Hashi? Or maybe being grounded for a couple months. Leo respected his sensei and his choices even if he didn’t see the reason behind them, so he packed a bag full of essentials and said goodbye to his family and caught the next cargo ship to Brazil.
And now he was here, Leo was sitting in a wooden crate that was just a bit too small for a 6.4 foot tall turtle but he made due with what he had, maybe this was what his father was sending him to South America for? To learn to be more resourceful, maybe? Leo closed his eyes as he felt another bead of sweat drip down his face landing on his forearm, it had to be around 35°C in the shipping container alone.
Leo winced as he shifted his weight off of one leg to another, he had been in this crouched position for around 17 hours, the cargo ship was 5 days into the trip but Leo didn’t know how much longer he could keep up the ‘fragile cargo’ bit for. Leo cradled how bag a bit closer trying to remain as small as possible even if he had cramps in his legs and neck, Leo didn’t eat for most of the trip instead focusing on conserving enough water to last the whole trip to Brazil from New York, he knew they only had a day or two before arriving. The thought of being able to move freely made this whole thing a bit more bearable.
“Get the anchor ready to drop! We'll be arriving in a couple hours!”
Leo almost melted when he heard the captain yelling at his men to prepare to dock the ship, he’d never thought he’d be so happy to hear someone yelling at others. Just another couple hours, another couple hours and he would have to find a way off this ship then find a shelter and maybe some food.
Just another couple hours, just another couple hours…
And then he could rest….
Leo jolted awake.
Someone was trying to move the crate he was in, he could hear muffled voices complaining about his weight, Leo internally scoffed, 280lb wasn’t THAT heavy was it?
Leo felt the box shift again, this time had to reach out to support his weight, to his dismay the men felt the shift and Leo could’ve sworn he heard one of the men tell the others to ‘open it up’ there had to be about three of them between the exit and him, he was so screwed.
When Leo was sure most of the men were gone he forced the crate open, snapping off the nails keeping it in place and jabbed the cargo worker in the head with the hilt of his sword when his back was turned, the worker collapsed and Leo dragged him to be leaning against on of the smaller crates and went to hide behind one of the bigger ones.
The two other cargo workers came back with crowbars in hand “Holy shit!” one of them exclaimed when he saw their coworker, they both went running towards the unconscious man giving Leo the perfect opportunity to sneak past them and up the stairs to the main deck.
All the other workers were busy tidying up or getting the ship ready to unload onto the dock, the sound of footsteps were everywhere, Leo scanned the deck for any way off taking his time to find a way out without taking any unneeded violent measures until he noticed a pair of footsteps coming up behind him yelling for a first aid kit, ‘Screw this’ Leo thought to himself, then promptly rand and flung himself off the side of the ship while hoping he wasn’t noticed.
The water of the Atlantic Ocean was cold on his skin, Leo hated being cold more than anything but at least it woke him up from his half asleep panic, he swam as best as he could to the shore and after making sure no one was there he emerged from the water and plopped down on the sand.
“Alright,” Leo said to himself “now to get away from modern civilization and into the rain forest.”