Back home, we aren't too goo either
It had been just about 2 months since Leo had arrived in Brazil.
And so far his stay hadn’t been too bad (in Leo’s opinion) but his father always said that there was always room for improvement, and his choice or not, Leonardo lived by those standards. His father’s standards.
At this point Leo had crafted a subconscious routine; Leo took up morning walks, he would walk and sometimes run to the ocean side and back, for food he would have one or two meals a day if he was lucky but it was mostly fruit and fish since Leo wasn’t too keen on hunting animals on land when he was literally built to hunt fish instead. Sometimes Leo would swim in his free time then get firewood for him and Lars then they would watch the sunset.
It was the most peace Leonardo had felt in years.
Leonardo would occasionally glance around his cave, he liked it here. In the back corners he had his bed and a rickety old desk that he’d fixed up, it was where he stashed his books and craft stuff like his sewing kit and art setup, he even had a small forge for his swords, which he hung on the wall.
He also had a small medical station on a table near the center of his cave, it was also where he ate, when he felt like it at least.
That was another thing Leo appreciated about this arrangement, that he could do whatever he wanted, he could eat when he wanted and as much as he felt like, he could run and walk and be as loud as he wanted with no one to tell him to shut up but himself.
When you put it like that it sounded a bit crazy.
But Leo didn’t care, he was free and he was happy and that’s what matters.
Then why did he feel so guilty?
Leonardo wanted to write to his family about everything that had happened but it all felt so surreal, that if he were to reach out to them his delusions would crumble and the crushing reality of his happiness being temporary was too much.
But his family needed to know he made it and that he was alive and somewhat safe.
It wasn’t fair, but that doesn't matter anymore; it never did.
So… Leonardo sucked in a painfully deep breath, picked up his pen and forced his shaking hands still as they wrote each word with care.
‘Dear, whoever is reading this.’
—--------------------------------------------------------------In New York:
“Dear, whoever is reading this.”
“Well that’s a stupid way to start a letter.”
Mikey received a smack to the head “OW”
“Shut up and listen, you bone-head!” Raph turned back to Donnie who rolled his eyes, something he had taken up to doing more often since Leo had left.
“I hope you guys are doing well, because I’m doing pretty good.
I honestly really don’t know what to write so here are some details that I think you guys would find somewhat interesting:...”
Donnie looked up from the old and tired paper in his hands “Since when does he care about what we find interesting?” he muttered.
“So far I have had a couple strange encounters, that were frankly just weird, with some of the native animals. Did you know jaguar claws are really sharp? There are a lot of large bodies of water and the scenery is very nice.
I have made a sort of friend with one of the animals, he’s a capybara and I’ve named him Lars, he was a bit weird at first because he stalked me for days but eventually he became a sort of pet, I guess.
I’m sorry if the paper is messy, I had to basically box with a monkey to get it.
And no, do not ask about it.
I don’t know if you guys would even be able to respond to this because I had to jump through a lot of hoops to figure out how I was going to send it, to who, to where, and how, which I’m not even that sure of. I just wrote April’s address on it and shoved it in a random postman's bag. If you are reading this then I guess my luck is getting better.
There really isn’t much to say about anything, really, it’s pretty boring but that’s just because the monkeys hate me for some reason. But tell Dad that I’m learning a lot of valuable information and whatnot. Which, obviously I haven’t, unless you count dehydration or hunger but besides all of that it’s not too bad over here.
Maybe when I get this whole thing sorted out, we could all come over here. It’s really not that bad, the humidity is nice and there’s a fair amount of things to do (if you’re on the monkey's good side, obviously) and a lot of things to see and things to try (don’t tell Mikey but I’m so glad I’m not eating pizza every other day.
I’m not crazy yet but I’m telling you that there’s this weird thing between me and the animals here, they’re all acting really strange, as if they’ve never seen a giant turtle before, they realised that I wasn’t food quick enough though so that’s a pro.
And here’s a piece of advice, if you want to go for a swim KEEP YOUR SHOES ON, there’s nothing too dangerous in the water but the stupid jaguar that tried to taste test me decided that if it couldn’t get me then my shoes would be enough.
What kind of cat eats shoes???
Anyways, I’m fine and I hope everything is just as fine over there in NYC and that there isn’t too much chaos.
(I have absolutely no idea how to write letters, like how do I say good-bye? Do I say ‘till next time’ or something?)
Good-bye.
-Leo
PS: to whoever is reading this, tell everyone that I miss them (and Casey, I suppose…) also don’t touch my stuff. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, do not touch my stuff.”
All four of them sat in silence for a while.
“I’m a bit concerned…” April piped up, breaking the silence.
“Same” they all agreed.
Donnie gently put the letter onto the table, careful not to damage it “It’s not like we can exactly do anything… It was Dad’s decision to send him so if we do anything to help it could be seen as disobedience.” His comment only made Raph angrier “The actual fuck are you thinking like that for?! He sounds nothing like- like… Himself! It's weird and not like Leo at all. I say we bring him back- Hell! We should go after him!”
Donnie sighed and readjusted his glasses “I understand, Raphael. But it's only been three months, we should give him some time to adjust to his surroundings better, he might get better on his own…”
Donnie hesitated for a moment, mentally recalculating what he wanted to say.
“No, actually you’re right,” he settled on common sense. “We should get him back! This is the stupidest punishment I have ever heard of a parent giving their child.”
Everyone agreed, no one daring to interrupt the genius of the family mid-rant.
“ It’s very unlikely that he’ll be anywhere near where he was pre-Kraang let alone pre-Shredder. So not only is there no point but it’s insanely dangerous! I mean a JAGUAR tried to taste-test him but instead ate his shoes?! I’m not suggesting he’s going crazy but he’s been isolated from any kind of contact for 3 months! If he’s not crazy now he will be by the time he gets back!”
When Donnie finished talking, his face was red with anger.
“You finished?” Michelangelo asked and Donnie nodded “Well, while you guys were going back and forth, I’m very grateful you can see reason now ‘D, but I’ve actually been following the international shipping schedules and we can hijack a ship OR a plane by the end of the week.”