I think I like being a turtles after all...
‘Guess I'll have to get used to the lack of conversation.’
Leo walked through the thick brush of trees, gently pushing the occasional bushes and branches out of his way
‘I wonder if they miss me yet’ Leo thought about what his family would be doing right now, he imagined that Mikey was probably playing the new video game he got or maybe he was reading a comic or watching one of his favorite shows, Donnie was probably cooped up in his lab working on something new or maybe finishing an old project and Raph…
"Leave us then! Leave us and I’ll never forgive you, I hate you.”
His immediate younger -twin- brother's words made his heart pang with guilt, he hoped Raph would finally see why he had to do this, why it was necessary. He’d barely been gone two weeks and he already missed them, he missed the lair and the constant life flowing through it, he missed his brother’s shenanigans. It felt so quiet, of course it was in fact not quiet, the trees moved to the wind, the birds sang and somewhere in the distance there was a running river crashing against the rocks. It just wasn’t the same.
He missed the constant chaos of New York, but at the same time he felt kind of relieved.
Leo came up to the river, falling to his knees and drinking as much water as he could fit in his hands greedily as if someone was going to take it away. Brazil was much warmer than New York but Leo was determined to endure whatever Brazil had to offer, he had to. The heat was very new but it did feel kinda nice, the humidity also.
Leo lifted his head to meet the blazing light of the sun as it slowly went doan, he couldn’t believe he was saying this; but he hadn’t felt this good in forever. Leo hummed in appreciation and maybe even relief, he was glad he wasn't in that box anymore, he took the opportunity to stretch out his limbs before continuing to walk through the forest.
Assuming that he had only another few hours left of daylight Leo decided to search for shelter, assuming that the water had to come from SOMEWHERE he decided that he should probably follow the river where he might find a lake or something like that where he could make camp for the night to finally rest after all that time in the crate.
***
Leo didn’t sleep.
There was his nagging feeling that something had been watching his every move, and no matter how far he went or where he positioned himself to the point where it got so unnerving that he gave up on sleep, instead he kept moving.
—--------------------------------
“What do you guys think Leo’s up to?”
Raph glanced at Mikey and scoffed “Probably having the time of his life for all I know, why?”
Mikey shook his head lightly, turning his attention back to his video game “I’m just worried, y’know? I mean I know you guys told me not to but I looked up some stuff about South America and it doesn't seem very…. Pleasant? I guess, there’s all these dangerous bugs and animals and DON’T even get me started on the diseases…”
Raph scoffed and rolled his eyes.
“Oh don’t be so dramatic, Raph” Donnie called out from the kitchen “I can hear you rolling your eyes from here!”
"I’m not being dramatic! And besides, even if I was, you can’t tell me what to do.” Raph retorted.
“WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?!” Raph yelled, turning around from his spot on the couch to look at Donnie.
“Chill, Raph. it’s just a paper cup,” Donnie said nonchalantly, he’d been getting more blunt since Leo had left and they tried to help him but no matter what ANYONE did all he did was dive deeper into his sarcastic nature that he hadn’t touched since he was a young child, he walked over and picked up the paper cut he had thrown at his immediate older brother’s head.
“You know he didn’t want to leave, right? I heard him practically begging sensei to let him stay and that he would take as many hours in the Hashi that he would give him.” Donnie sat down next to Raph “But I left before they could finish their conversation”
“He still left though.”
“He didn’t have a choice.”
“Keep telling yourself that.”
—-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Leonardo was sprinting as fast as he could, there was a FREAKING JAGUAR hunting him right now, how was he supposed to outrun a jaguar?!
Leo ran and ran and ran
but he couldn't out run that thing, but he could try. Or at least out last it.
So he kept on running, his self preservation instincts making him go for as long as he physically could without collapsing. Leo only started to panic when the faint sound of light but fast foot-steps behind him, the jaguar caught up to him faster than he anticipated it would and it pounced onto him, digging its long claws into his shoulder as it bared its teeth, ready to sink them Leonardo's neck.
Leo felt the blood trickle down his arm as the jaguar's claws only got deeper and deeper into his flesh, out of pure instinct, Leo reached for the overgrown cat's scruff, lifting it over himself like he would a car and threw it into the clear area in front of him, one of its paws touched the water and that was apparently enough to make it jump back in fear letting out a low hiss and run off back into the thick brush.
Leo stood there dumbfounded 'What the actual HELL was that about?'
He reached up to feel his wound, it was deep but it wasn't long enough for any kind of stitching.
Leo wouldn't admit this out loud but that was one of the best rushes of adrenaline he's felt since the showdown with Shredder, Leo was starting to think that he might ACTUALLY start to like it here, eventually (if this place didn't kill him first).