Chapter Text
Raph snorted in surprise as he was jostled awake, being shaken by familiar hands. He grumbled, blinking slowly before setting his gaze on who was waking him up.
His eyes focused on Donnie. His little brother was staring intently at him with wide eyes and a pinched line for a mouth, expectantly looking down at him. He was almost too dark to see- the only light in the room coming from the window on the far side, which outlined Donnie’s shape but not much else.
Raph curled his beak and rubbed his eyes, stretching out his legs and moving his tail out from under him.
“Whaddyou want?” he asked sluggishly.
“I need company”, Donnie answered, hopping up to sit on Raph’s plastron. “To the library”.
“Ugh…this late?”
“Technically this early. It’s four am. Sorry in advance. But I really don’t trust these creepy constantly-eyeing-us acolytes, and I wanna find out more about this island before we’re thrown into anything”. Donnie then gave Raph a big, grating smile that was a clear plea. “I’d really appreciate some help digging around in there”.
Raph sighed heavily at his own faltering will, and slowly sat up, making Donnie slide off the bed and comfortably onto the floor. He tossed his covers off and stood, the wood below him creaking as he did so.
Raph wasn’t used to wooden floors. He was used to concrete and metal ones, comfortably in the sewers. This was all already a kind of different he wasn’t a big fan of.
Raph shook himself to fully wake himself up, and gently patted Donnie along, leading them both out of the room as quietly as they could go. Raph eyed Mikey and Leo as they passed- both sound asleep. He couldn’t help but give a small, fond smile as they exited, but the warm feeling was halted by Donnie’s hurry down the hallway.
“What exactly are you lookin’ for, anyway? They already explained the whole island around their pond thingy” Raph asked as Donnie hurriedly led them down.
“Structures, mainly”, Donnie responded. “There was one big one the guide refused to elaborate on, so I’m mostly curious about that one. But, anything else is always nice to know about too”.
“You wanna keep me in there for hours”, Raph said dryly, brow furrowing.
“Don’t worry, time will fly”, Donnie replied with a dismissive wave. “After all, you’ll be helping me dig through it all. Right?”
Donnie turned back just a bit to face Raph with that particular expression. The one that, despite Raph’s groaning at how long he’d spend on one thing, indicated curiosity and passion and excitement. Raph was never one to deprive Donnie of that. To deprive any of his brothers that, really- so with a hearty sigh, he complied.
“Right”, Raph huffed. Donnie smiled wider, and Raph felt his frustration melt. Only a little bit, though.
He wasn’t gonna rob him of happiness and excitement. Especially not now. Not after everything.
As they nearly stepped outside of the housing and onto the open island, Donnie reeled back in the doorway, causing Raph to freeze and instinctively reach out, stopping just before he grabbed Donnie’s shoulder. “What? What is-“
Raph’s questioning dropped off abruptly. He tilted his head, listening to what he was sure he heard but also he was sure he couldn’t have heard because of where they were.
They were underground…so why did he hear rain?
“Amazing..”, Donnie breathed, and with his chin lifted upwards, he stepped outside.
Raph swallowed his hesitation and went after him.
“Sweet Stommel, look at this”, Donnie said in awe, taking in the space above them. Instead of the grand, high up caverns that glittered, storm clouds sat above the island- and only the island. They rumbled but lightning never showed face, and rain pelted down on the both of them. “But how…?”
“Yokai magic, I guess”, Raph offered with a shrug.
“Answers”, Donnie said sharply, snapping his fingers and whipping his head in the direction of the library. “Answers there- c’mon”.
Raph’s frown deepened, having just found the rain to be nice. He decided to enjoy it while he could, lifting his head a bit to let the raindrops wash over him, pleasantly coating his scales and spikes.
He’d hoped their newfound outing would be on the surface…but he supposed, with the rain there, this could be the next best thing. And, if he set aside his grievances with being woken up, he guessed hanging out with Donnie in a library wasn’t so bad either. At least it’d be quiet. That was something his headaches have been craving.
Walking up the steps to the library, the canopy halted the rain’s descent and redirected it away from the brothers, sending it into thicker puddles at the stair’s base. Raph looked back at it as Donnie tested the doors, grunting with effort. When Raph didn’t hear the telltale sound of doors opening, he turned back to walk up and help.
Placing his hands on either door, Raph started to push. Donnie stepped back as something started to creak, and with a final heave, the doors pushed open, cool air rushing inside as if it had missed the library’s company. Donnie gasped with glee, running in as a crack of thunder sounded overhead.
His damp footsteps echoed against the marbled floors as he stepped in after his brother, and he craned his neck to look at the towering ceiling, carved to look like some dynamic illustration of a vicious battle. Before he could read too deep into it, Raph huffed and looked down, diverting his attention back to Donnie, who was busy running his fingers along the spine of the books, leaning over a bit so he could get a good look at the titles as he passed.
“I have to pick the really good ones”, Donnie said, slightly under his breath. It wasn’t hard to hear, though, as his voice- along with the sounds of muffled rain- resonated against the library’s walls. “I get the feeling we won’t have much time before those acolytes and tribunal people badger us again. We need to learn as much as we can in the time that we have- I just wish I could get a better scope. I haven’t spotted any index”.
“Maybe there’s better stuff towards the back?” Raph offered, just throwing something out there.
“Ah! Yes! With the scrolls; that makes sense”, Donnie chimed, and rushed towards the back.
Raph didn’t really get why Donnie needed him there. He could’ve snuck off on his own to peruse; Raph didn’t think it would’ve been a big deal. Then again, those acolytes were pretty nosy. And Raph understood not wanting to be alone somewhere unfamiliar very well.
Raph made a point to follow Donnie, but not quickly. He tried looking at the books too, but the letters were small, and only half of them really legible to Raph. They seemed old- and also written in maybe some old yokai language. Some were kanji- he recognized that at least, but reading it was a different story.
“Raph! Back here!” Donnie's voice sounded, and Raph turned his head towards the source. Donnie waved him down from a far table- long, with a deep blue fabric across it. On the fabric, Donnie had seemingly sprawled out a lengthy scroll, its gold handles stretched to either end.
Raph complied and went over, eventually taking his spot looking over Donnie’s shoulder.
“Check this out”, Donnie said with a point. “This details the battle the tribunal faced years ago. I don’t see them specifically, but there are those ‘dragon avatars’ they were talking about”.
Inked onto the parchment were definitely four dragons. They weaved around each other, looking pretty- but their teeth were bared, and their eyes were blank. Facing them was a part of the paper that was way more inked. It took a vague but unmistakable shape of the monster they were told the story of.
Raph would try not to admit it too often, but that Umibōzu guy already gave him the heebie-jeebies. How many mysterious, powerful creatures did they need to deal with before they were allowed to just chill out in the lair?
But they were heroes. So they had to do what heroes do. And if that meant taking down some giant shadowy evil yokai monster, then that was what they had to do.
“Interesting”, Donnie mumbled, eyeing a different part of the scroll.
“Hm? What?” Raph prompted, leaning over to see what Donnie saw. It wasn’t much. To Raph, anyway- since he couldn’t read it. Donnie probably could, though.
“Umibōzu had forces- from the sea”, Donnie informed, running his finger along the print. “It seems the dragons weren’t the only ones fighting them off. They had assistance, but it doesn’t elaborate on it much aside from calling them ‘the dragon’s champions’. Strange. I wonder what dictates that. It can’t be the tribunal; it doesn’t look like them on those illustrations over there”.
Donnie huffed, rolling the scroll back up in a quick motion. “That scroll was a vague retelling of their battle. A bedtime story, if anything. Doesn’t help us too much. I wonder if there are any more documents on the champions, or how the tribunal attained their powers. Maybe more info on Umibōzu that will make it less of a mystery to us”.
“We could just ask the tribunal”, Raph said, motioning towards the outside. “Maybe they’ll tell us if we’re specific”.
“Look, I love you, but I don’t think we can rely on them for much. They’re theatrical, but not in a fun way. From their exposition dump, it seems they want to be mysterious. I’ll have to double-check with Leo on that, but I usually know where to get the facts. And THIS is where we get the facts”.
“Whatever you say”, Raph responded dismissively, eyeing the door.
“I’m going up to the second floor. You can stay down here- let me know if you spot anything”, Donnie said quickly, and without time for another word, his shell sprawled open into its hover mode, and he flew upwards onto the balcony, disappearing behind the marble and gold.
Raph sighed, his knuckles rubbing against the table.
Help research? That wasn’t exactly his forte. Whatever training the tribunal had in mind, he could probably handle that. But Donnie was asking him to find the “good stuff”. Whatever that meant.
Carefully pulling a random scroll from its pedestal, Raph tentatively opened it. He made sure to not cut any of the paper on his claws or spikes, keeping the scroll held as far out in front of him as he could. As it unfurled, Raph saw images instead of letters, which was good for him. He could at least try to interpret drawings.
The scroll revealed what was clearly a dragon. Big surprise. But sitting in front of the dragon was a crowd of various yokai, all on their knees. They held their amulets up toward the dragon in what looked like some kind of praise- and while the dragon towered over them, it craned its neck down to regard them.
“Uhh, I maybe found something?” Raph called up, and he quickly saw Donnie’s head poke over the edge. “It kinda looks like these acolyte guys worship the dragons. Something to do with their amulets?”
“I think it’s pretty obvious they worship dragons”, Donnie responded flatly. “I mean, have you SEEN their architecture? If it’s commissioned by the tribunal, talk about self-absorbed”.
“Uh. Yeah”, Raph said stiffly, quickly folding the scroll back up. “Right- obvious. Uhmm. I’ll probably go back to the books”.
All Raph got in response was a hum, and Donnie disappeared again.
Raph started towards the entrance, watching as the scroll section was cut off, making way for the shelves of books instead. He sort of pulled them out one by one, only to put them back in their place. He did this until the creak of the door sounded again, and he sharply turned his head to see what was going on.
A small acolyte, looking something bug-ish, halted in the doorway when he saw Raph, then promptly breathed a loud sigh of relief. “Oh, good; there you are. You weren’t in your room so we figured you’d be somewhere nearby”.
“Hmm? What’s this for?” Donnie asked from the upper level, leaning over the railing.
“Oh, good! You’re both here”, the acolyte breathed. “Training is about to begin; your brothers are already on the stealth training grounds”.
“At four-thirty?” Raph asked, eyes widening.
“In the rain?” Donnie tacked on with a grimace.
“Master Hisomi requests your presence”, was all the acolyte had to say before giving a quick bow and hurried back out of the library.
“We don’t even know where the stealth grounds are!” Donnie scoffed, gliding down to land next to Raph, hovershell whirring. “A little unprofessional just leaving us here, right?”
“We’ll figure it out”, Raph assured with a pat, and pushed the door open, frowning at the storm clouds above them.
Donnie hurried down the steps, part of his shell detaching and hovering above him, shielding him from the rain. He turned to look back at Raph and winced. “Sorry; I don’t have anything on me to cover you”.
“No worries; Raph likes the rain”, Raph responded, and held out a palm, gathering water in it to drive his point home.
“Alright, then”, Donnie said, a shrug in his tone, before turning away again and starting down the path, hand on his chin. “Stealth grounds…I remember more open areas being towards the east. Maybe it’s over there”.
“Lead the way, then”, Raph prompted, and followed Donnie as he hurried along, putting in a mall-walk that was spurred on by both timeliness and frustration. Raph could even hear Donnie’s agitated muttering, and he couldn’t blame him.
They knew stealth. Why did they need to be up at four-thirty to practice it? To be fair, Raph and Donnie were already up, but Mikey and Leo had looked so peaceful when they were sleeping. Raph wanted to snap at the acolytes for bothering just that. His little brothers needed their sleep; it was good when they could actually fall asleep and be content in it. Good and rare.
But as much as Raph wanted to fend off the acolytes and the tribunal, he wouldn’t. And who knew, maybe they’d be done with the stealth training in no time. They were ninja, after all.
Eventually they did find what had to be the stealth grounds, since he saw a few acolytes, Hisomi and Leo and Mikey all there. Mikey in particular looked downright miserable, curling over his knees as he sat to let most of the rain hit his shell. His deep frown was visible from there, and Raph had to fight off the urge to pick him up and tote his brothers away from the field.
Clearly there was no time for that. Through the curtain of the rain, Raph could make out most of the field. For supposedly training in stealth, it had a weird setup. That being it was empty. It was about half the length of a football field, stretching across between two small walkways, lined with statues.
And emerging from the fog was Hisomi. The large dragon yokai had his hands folded behind his back, and he regarded each of the turtles by tilting his head at them, but nothing more.
“Hey, pal, since you’re in charge of the island, are you in charge of this rain?” Leo piped up, tilting his head to the side. “Because it’s really bumming us out, and it’d be nice to train in some clear weather”.
Hisomi let out a sharp breath. “No. Rain is good for covering your sound. Use it”, he grunted, voice low, gravelly and barely audible, then turned back to face the field. The beads around his waist moved as he did, but they didn’t make a sound.
“Mmkay. Sounds good”, Leo drawled, giving a look to Raph that was a hardly concealed ‘yeesh’.
Raph turned his head back to the tribunal member, watching as the yokai slid his large foot across the smooth ground of the field, and suddenly stones appeared seemingly out of nowhere, materializing across the field in a deliberate pattern. They were low, though, and Raph was certain that he wouldn’t be able to completely conceal himself behind any of them.
“I will be across the field. Approach me without me sensing you, and you may proceed. One at a time”, Hisomi said, and without another word, leapt across the field to the other end in one stride. Raph gaped at him as he turned the other way, facing away from the turtles.
“Uhm. Okay. Who’s first?” Leo prompted, turning to the rest of them with his hands on his hips.
“Not me”, Raph said, raising his hands. “I can’t fit behind those rocks”.
“Since you’re wondering, why don’t you go first, Nardo?” Donnie offered, motioning to him. “Set a standard, O Leader”.
Leo pouted at him, but looked back to the field, narrowing his eyes at Hisomi on the far end. “Fine”, he huffed, turning his body to face his obstacles. “I WILL go first”.
True to his word, Leo bounded onto the field, taking a quick tumble to fit behind one of the rocks. Raph watched, leaning over to get a better look as Leo peered at Hisomi from the side. His weight shifted a bit before he went to the next rock, then the next. Hisomi didn’t move, and about halfway across, Leo paused to stare at him again. Raph could see the signs of Leo weighing his options even from over there, and a few moments passed before he apparently decided to go on, not hiding behind the rocks anymore.
Instead, he was practically crawling, keeping low to the ground. Raph could only see his figure at that point, but he saw Leo move slowly, creeping along until he got up to Hisomi. Tentatively, he reached out, going to wrap his hand around the yokai’s ankle, but was stopped before he could. In a flash of yellow, the ground lit up, and Leo slid, twisting and falling before Hisomi.
The yokai turned, and Raph saw his mouth moving as he talked down to Leo, but he couldn’t hear what he was saying. Then, another flash, and Leo was practically yanked back to the start, sent toppling to his brothers’ feet.
“Ow”, Leo grunted from the floor.
“What’d he say?” Mikey asked as Raph helped him off the ground.
“He said he heard me dive behind the rock from the start”, Leo grumbled, brushing off his arm. “He could’ve just said so then…”.
“Huh. Maybe the rocks aren’t the key, then”, Donnie said, looking back over to the field and folding his fingers under his chin. “Let me try something”.
His shell sprawling out to hover mode again, Donnie swiftly lifted off the ground and shot into the sky, the rain covering his figure, trail of purple gone as quick as it came. Squinting, Raph could see Donnie’s approach from the far end, descending from the rain’s fog. He didn’t quite make it to Hisomi, though, as his figure was surrounded in that yellow light, and he was thrown back to the start. Before he landed, Raph sidestepped to catch him, bracing the weight.
Landing in his arms, Donnie blinked in confusion. “Wh- but I went in from above! That’s a great vantage point!”
“We don’t know what this guy wants! They’re all vague”, Raph growled, setting Donnie down. “I’ll stealth like a BOSS! He won’t see me comin’!”
His frustration propelling him ahead, Raph darted onto the field. He couldn’t hear anything but the rain, so Hisomi shouldn’t either! If the rain was supposed to be covering their sound, then he’d make the sound rain makes.
He let his heavy footsteps fall as he ran, trying to match the sound of the raindrops landing, but he skidded to a stop before he made it, Hisomi turning around to face him. Raph stopped just before the yokai, eyes wide.
“You were running at me”, Hisomi said, voice low and flat.
“Uh..yeah. Did it work?”
“No”.
Raph saw the yellow light surrounding him, and he felt like his stomach was gonna fall out of him as he was flung back to the start, landing where his brothers were, his spikes being almost lodged in the ground. He kicked, forcing himself upright, and glared at Hisomi across the field, who was already turned back.
Raph snarled, his beak curling at the yokai. “Okay, Mad Dogs, we are gonna GET this dude if it takes us all day!”
“All day? But-“ Leo started, before Raph cut him off with a hearty “ALL DAY!”.
Needless to say, their next few attempts were kaput. Mikey had done his first try using the method of tip-toeing in a straight line. It was cute, but it didn’t exactly get the job done, as he was sent flying back like the rest of them. (This made Raph want to snap at the tribunal member more than anything, but he shoved it aside. If they were able to beat this guy’s tests, that was all the satisfaction he needed).
Again and again they went from different angles, with Donnie even taking another route off the field to dip behind the statues along the walkways. Leo leapt onto the rocks, hopping across each of them. Hisomi didn’t need to catch Leo there since he slipped on the slick surface and face-planted into the field.
Raph, at one point, tried his dad’s ‘stick to the shadows’ rule. So, he lifted a rock off of the field and crept beneath it. Did he think it would work? No, but it was worth a shot.
Again and again and again they flew back to the start, and Raph’s shell was starting to ache from how much Hisomi was tossing them around. They were on what had to be their tenth or eleventh round of trying to catch him when Leo’s latest attempt was busted. He landed at their feet with a pathetic noise, rubbing his carapace and pouting.
“Maybe it’s a mystic thing”, Mikey offered out of the blue, tilting his head at the field. “I mean, this whole dragon thing they’ve got going on has to do with mystic stuff, right? Maybe they want us to use that”.
“That would make sense”, Donnie responded, crossing his arms. “But our ‘mystic stuff’ is a bit…glow-y. Not exactly subtle”.
“Ugh! You mean I could’ve been using my swords this whole time?! I thought this guy wanted us to do basic ninja training trial stuff, not a mystic test”, Leo whined, yanking one of his swords out of its sheath. “What a joke”.
With a strong toss, Leo sent his sword flying. Before it could make it across the field, Leo’s markings lit up, and in a flash of blue he took his sword’s place, flying directly towards Hisomi. The yokai sharply turned and grabbed Leo, his hand being able to fit around Leo’s whole torso. Leo grunted, kicked, then slumped in Hisomi’s grip. “Are you kidding me? What do you want from us?!”
“No flashy moves!” Hisomi snarled, his tone finally raised. “If you’re going to be mystic, be smart”.
“I thought that was pretty smart”, Leo said, the frown apparent in just his voice.
“No. The rain is your friend. Use it!”
Without another word, Hisomi threw Leo back. No mystic glow this time- just a toss, which sent Leo back to the other end and into a deeper puddle.
Leo’s hand curled into a fist before he even lifted his head, and when he did, his glare was accentuated by the mud on his face. “C’mon! And I thought DAD was bad at details!”
Raph felt Leo’s frustrations- maybe even more. His ninpo was no good for stealth. He turned giant and red; what good would that do him?! Not to mention him and his brothers getting tossed around did nothing but frustrate him even more. He was used to sneaking around the city- using tight spaces and rooftops- anything urban. This was NOT that. Just a bunch of wet rocks and a yokai at the end who seemed like he saw and heard everything.
“Huh”, Mikey grunted, his frustration not near as blatant as the rest of theirs. He didn’t even look agitated- just curious. “Maybe I can try some mystic stuff”.
“Woah, hey, be careful”, Raph said on instinct, his hand falling on his brother’s shoulder. “Nothin’ big, okay?”
“I wasn’t going to do anything big!” Mikey shot back, shoving Raph’s hand off. “I was just- look, this guy said the rain is our friend. Maybe he was being literal when he said ‘use it’”.
“Please. Rain can be used for…water wheels and accumulation and whatnot. We’re not waterbenders, Mikey”, Donnie said, practically laughing.
“No, I know, but maybe..!” Mikey started, then sighed. “Just. Trust me, okay?”
“Hey, we trust you”, Leo said, voice softening as he placed his own hand on Mikey’s shoulder. “If you have an idea, try it”.
Mikey gave Leo a small smile, then turned towards the field. He stepped up to stand just before it, then looked up to the clouds as his spots and markings started to glow, ninpo flaring up. Raph felt it in his chest. They always felt it when another did something, and Mikey’s ninpo was like fire, warming him up inside. It made some of the chill of the rain go away.
As Mikey continued to stare up, lightning flashed through the clouds, its light dulled by the cumulus around it. But it was notably not natural. It didn’t feel like it, anyway.
The rain was mystic, wasn’t it? Maybe they weren’t waterbenders, but if anyone could tap into mystic stuff, it was Mikey.
Raph narrowed his gaze as more golden markings lit up on his little brother. They weren’t highlighting his natural marks, but rather forming new shapes on his scales. Two symmetrical dots under his eyes, and curves along his shoulders kind of like Leo’s stripes. Round shapes on his hands and feet, and lines where his shell met his plastron on his sides.
And suddenly, Mikey was gone. It was as if the rain had folded over him in an orange glow, and the glow faded along with his brother, both disappearing into the curtain. Raph gaped at it, a spike of fear surfacing that he had to shove down.
There was only one small sign of him- a shimmer against the water here and there along the path to Hisomi. Raph, Leo and Donnie stayed deathly quiet, holding their breaths in anticipation. After a few long moments, Hisomi jolted and turned, looking out towards the field. His head then tilted down, and where he looked, Mikey stood with a hand on the yokai’s arm.
“Good”, Hisomi said, and Raph breathed a laugh, pride sparking in his chest that he hoped Mikey could feel. “Teach that to your brothers. There is little time for you to remain here. You must move on to meet Chikara. She’s waiting for you”.
Teach it to them? But they’d just gotten started! If Mikey could figure out his own way of doing it, they all could, right? They didn’t have that mystic mojo Mikey had, but they did have their own talents. Hisomi could teach them to use that!
That didn’t seem to be in the plans, though, as Hisomi turned away and walked into the rain’s curtain, vanishing like Mikey had.
“Hey heyyy, good job!” Leo praised enthusiastically as Mikey ran over to them, beaming. Mikey threw himself at Leo, folding them into a hug. “See? I knew you could do it”.
“Thanks for having faith in me, Leon”, Mikey said with a pointed tone, shooting a look at Raph and Donnie.
“What? I believed in you! I just didn’t want you to hurt yourself!” Raph responded defensively, brow furrowing.
“Yes, yes, very good job, but can we talk about this somewhere more covered?” Donnie ushered, wringing his hands together.
“We’re gonna get wet again anyway”, Leo replied. “What’s the point of drying off?”
“I know, I know, but I don’t like my mask being damp against my neck like this”, Donnie huffed. “Plus it’s hard to hear through the rain. We don’t exactly know where to find Chikara yet, do we? We should discuss”.
“Okay, okay, I’m sure she’s in the area”, Raph said, pushing them gently along to the nearest building. They stepped through the falling water cascading off the curved roof before finding a dry spot, where Donnie promptly yanked off his goggles and mask and started to wring the fabric out, glaring at it.
“Would it kill them to just tell us where they are? Yowza”, Leo huffed, looking out into the courtyard.
“They’re weird”, Mikey commented, adding onto Leo’s sentiment with a nod. “But cool? But also weird. If they want us to save the Hidden City, why keep secrets?”
“Raph and I were barely able to touch on the library. An acolyte came to fetch us before we got to anything really good”, Donnie sighed longingly.
“That’s where you two were? Raph, he managed to convince you to go into a library?” Leo responded.
Raph shrugged. “He’s been wanting to go there ever since we got here. Might as well, right?”
“What time is it, anyway?” Donnie sighed, lifting his wrist to check his screen. “Wh- six-thirty? We were at that for two hours?!”
“Not enough time, if you ask me”, Raph huffed, crossing his arms. “We all should’ve learned a good way to stealth through that”.
“Well clearly they’re in a rush”, Donnie said flatly. “So I suppose we should find this ‘Chikara’ character. Who knows, maybe she won’t be as mysterious as her fellow tribunal members. Maybe. Hopefully”.
“Maybe!” Mikey said with much more enthusiasm than Donnie, and bounded off into the rain, skipping along.
Raph wished he could have that excitement. But strength was next; that was Chikara, he was pretty sure. He could handle strength. He could handle it no problem. Even if the tribunal member wanted to push him around, he’d just get big or clone himself and then boom: test done. It was mystic, too, which apparently fell into what they were looking for.
He elected to follow Mikey back into the rain, which was luckily starting to clear up. It still rolled down his scales and made him want to curl up under a blanket, but at least it wasn’t pelting them anymore. Water was better when it was moderate and still and therefore perfect for him to swim in.
Walking along, they seemingly made their way to the edge of the island. Along the wall, though, part of it opened up to a stairway- the arch that stood above it holding that familiar symbol the acolytes had on their amulets. The staircase led down and to the side of the cliff- smaller and less slanted than the stairway leading into the island.
Mikey stepped forward, through the arch and onto the first step, and gasped, looking down at something that Raph couldn’t see. “I think that’s it down there!” he announced jovially, pointing. “It’s on a flatter part of the cliff!”
Donnie joined him, looking down where the stairs led. “Ohh, a field on an outcropping! Interesting”, he observed, and the two hurriedly went on. Leo turned to Raph and gave him a shrug before following.
“Raph!” a voice called from behind, and Raph whipped around to face the source, then promptly grinned.
Casey jogged towards him, having donned new clothing that looked like the robes the acolytes wore. As she ran, he saw her tug roughly at the waist, so clearly it wasn’t her ideal outfit. But it seemed she was going with it anyway, and she leapt into Raph’s outstretched arms for a hug. He lifted her off the ground and squeezed as she squeezed his neck back with a grunt.
He dropped her, and she tugged at the robes again. “You’re training without me?” she scoffed, leaning over to look at the stairway behind him.
“Well, we didn’t think it’d be this early”, Raph responded, rubbing the back of his neck. “Me ‘n Donnie have been up for, like, almost three hours. Even if I knew you wanted to train, I don’t think I would’ve had time. These acolytes and tribunal guys are really rushing us along”.
“Why?” Casey grunted, crossing her arms in a sharp motion. “We can all handle some weird shadow thing from the sea”.
Raph made a face, but didn’t tack onto her statement. “Well, now you can train with us if you want. Apparently we’re going to go train with that ‘Master of Strength’ yokai. That’s right up our alley”.
“Ooohh, yes”, Casey said in a sort of hiss, then hopped up onto his shoulders, swinging her legs over to sit comfortably. Raph didn’t have the heart to protest due to all the tossing had just been subjugated to. It was definitely not the time to be sensitive.
As he went down the stairway, Casey folded her arms over his head. “Everyone else is still asleep. I can’t believe they didn’t feel that rush”.
“What rush?”
“The..ugh, you know, the ninpo rush. Leo’s got the statick-y feeling one, right? And Mikey’s is warm”.
“You felt that in your sleep?” Raph responded, smiling at her to show how impressed he was.
“Well, not really. I was too mad to sleep well. So I went jogging and found you. After those acolytes shoved me into their uniform, anyway”, Casey complained. “The gall of them, I SWEAR. My clothes were FINE”.
It didn’t take Casey too long to tap into their ninpo. While Dad and April had gotten it right away, Casey and Casey Junior hadn’t been with them as long. Well, not them them in CJ’s case. But Casey’s came along pretty quick when she started warming up to Raph. She’d been there when they drove that giant ninpo spear into Shredder, after all.
Casey Junior took a few weeks, but it came not too long after he started to feel truly comfortable with the ‘past Hamatos’. It was noticeable. He didn’t jump at every beep from the microwave anymore, and he’d lean back into the couch next to Leo and play video games. Raph had to hand it to him: the kid knew how to get used to things pretty quickly.
It was true; Leo’s ninpo was statick-y. It gave Raph that buzzing feeling he sometimes got in his limbs, but in his chest . Donnie’s was colder, like it was there to wake him up and make him look around. It was like a shot of caffeine, basically. Raph wasn’t sure what his own ninpo felt like, since whenever he used his ninpo he was usually focused on whatever he was punching. But he’d been told that it felt like when you tense your muscles up, but without actually tensing them. It made them feel bigger, and stronger.
Dad’s was hard to describe. It was there, but not as overwhelming as the rest of theirs. It was more grounding; like a light shining in their core, making them wanna hold each others’ hands to make sure they were still there. April’s was invigorating- it was less like a caffeine shot and more like an adrenaline rush, taking laps around their nerves.
CJ’s was in its infancy. They didn’t know exactly what his ninpo did yet, but when it happened they could feel it. It was a deep, darker blue, and it felt refreshing, like they’d just gotten a good drink of water after trekking through a desert. Leo described it as ‘hope’ once, and Raph liked that.
But he had to admit, he liked Casey’s a lot. Maybe it was just because they’d been out vigilante-ing a few times before the Kraang, but Raph felt her’s more than the rest of his family could it. It was like a shove in the back, but an encouraging kind. Something that helped him throw caution to the wind and follow her as she skated through the air on a brilliant pink light.
Bringing them both down the stairs, Raph could finally see what Mikey and Donnie were talking about. It was a big flat outcropping on the side of the cliff, the waves reaching up so high that sometimes droplets flew over, falling onto the stone. A giant, winding dragon was carved into the cliffside, its horns resembling Chikara’s own.
Said yokai was waiting at the base of the stairs, arms folded behind her back and having taken a wide stance. The wind moved her green robes, her blank eyes narrowing at Raph’s approach.
“Taking your time?” she asked, voice bold and smooth in contrast to Hisomi’s.
“Oh- sorry”, Raph said, hurrying down the steps. “Me ‘n Casey were just talking”.
“About?” Chikara questioned, and Raph frowned, nervousness starting to creep up his spine.
“Uhhh. Miscellaneous?”
“You should be solely focused on the task at hand”, Chikara responded firmly, then pointed towards the wall, against which his brothers sat. “Go there”.
Raph nodded and started to go over, but stopped as Chikara cleared her throat. “Is your…friend joining us?”
“I’d like to”, Casey answered in a way that seemed a bit less than nice, her nails starting to dig into his scales. Raph nudged her leg with his fist and chuckled tightly.
“Um, yeah. If that’s okay”.
Chikara took a brief moment of contemplation, snout curling, before she sighed and half-heartedly motioned to the wall. “Fine. Go over there”.
Raph held back a telling expression as he walked over to join them. Casey hopped off his shoulder, jogging over and making it before he did. Mikey hopped up from his seat and the two wrapped each other in a warm hug, with a small, pleasant “Hi, Mikey” coming from Casey. She smiled as she sat next to him, and Raph took the seat at the end, letting Casey lean against him with her arm.
“Who would like to go first?” Chikara said, her voice carrying over the cliffside. Her strong stance made the arena seem smaller, her bold presence filling it.
“Oh, I can”, Raph offered, taking the initiative this time with a raised hand.
“Very well. Join me on the battleground”, Chikara responded, and stepped to the side, motioning to the spot next to her.
Raph did as she said, hoisting himself from his spot and walking over to join her, his ninpo already flaring up inside him in anticipation. The others must’ve felt it too, from the way they tensed up. Casey grinned in a way that was almost disturbing, shifting excitedly in her spot.
Raph turned to face Chikara, ready to get his instruction, but before he could barely open his mouth to ask, he was sent flying back, skidding on the ground and nearly tumbling off of the cliff’s edge.
“Raph!” his brothers called in unison, and Raph made a point to quickly get back on his knees, shaking off the mean punch that was making him dizzy.
“You didn’t say start yet”, Raph said, knowing full well he was probably slurring some words, with how the ground was swaying. “That ain’t fair!”
“Umibōzu won’t be fair. Get up! If it and its forces were here, you would already be dead. I am being merciful. Stand and fight!”
Raph pushed himself onto his feet, collecting his thoughts that were tumbling around in his head like they were in a riptide. He pumped his fists together, digging his claws into the stone. He ran towards Chikara as he ran towards him, and his red fist burst to life, covering his arm. He reeled back a punch, but Chikara slid under him, taking his tail in her grip in the motion. With a swing that seemed like it was way too easy, he was sent into the stone again, making an indent this time.
“Hey, lady! Isn’t this supposed to be training?! You’re gonna break something!” Leo shouted from the sidelines, standing. At least, Raph thought he was standing. He looked pretty blurry.
“It is training! This is much better than anything Umibōzu will throw at you! Get up, turtle!” Chikara yelled back, baring her teeth down at Raph. “You’re slow. I should have expected that from your kind”.
“Hey! That is a hurtful stereotype!” Mikey called out, cupping his hands around his beak.
Raph hissed, his ninpo flaring up again, along with a spark of purple from Donnie, waking him up a bit. He snarled and lunged, bringing a fist down. Chikara lifted her hand and caught the punch, glaring up at him. “Punch harder! We aren’t playing Hisomi’s games!”
Opening her palm to his plastron, she sent it forward in a stiff motion. The force knocked the wind out of him, sending him skidding back again, closer to the cliff’s edge than the last time.
Raph got up quicker this time, only clutching his stomach for a moment. This time, both of his fists lit up, creating gauntlets.
“Resilient. Good. But that will only get you so far. Come on!” Chikara goaded, and Raph took the invitation.
Charging towards her, he decided to employ some agility this time. He ducked away from her defensive strike, and went to the side for his own. She blocked it, but he didn’t give her the time to send him back again. He went to grab the back of her robe, wrapping his claws around the fabric. As he tugged, though, she seemed rooted to the ground, barely moving an inch in spite of his pull.
“Clever, but not enough! Go on, pull harder!” she said, stilling to give him the opportunity.
Taking her offer, he took a note from her book. Lighting up red around his feet, he rooted himself to the ground like her, and pulled with all his might. It took a second, but he did pry her from her spot. Now that she was uprooted, it was like throwing a small sack, launching her towards the edge.
She flipped in the air, seeming as if in a free fall for a moment, before she straightened herself out and dove towards the ground, landing and making a mini crater. A few of the stones at the edge cracked and fell off, descending to the waters waiting below. “Good. Very good”, she praised, and Raph gave a lopsided smile, hoping one of his teeth wasn’t knocked loose.
“Land another good hit and we will move on”, Chikara ordered, widening her stance again.
Raph’s smile dropped, and he forced himself to shake it off, his ninpo sparking to life again. In an instant, he grew, several times his normal size. He took the vision of his projection, looking down at the rest of them. He was barely able to fit on the outcropping. Lifting his arm and balling his hand into a fist, he sent it downwards, red flying off of him in the motion.
His fist hit something; presumably Chikara. But as he squinted to see through the projection, he stared slack-jawed at the sight. She’d caught his projection fist! His giant, awesome, unstoppable projection fist! Well maybe not unstoppable, but-
During the bout of his disbelief, Chikara extended her hand, and wind gushed around them from the force. Cracks of light spread rapidly through his projection, and before he knew it, it shattered, and Raph was left dangling momentarily midair.
Wasting no time, Chikara leapt up, taking his arm in her hands. Raph felt his stomach lurch as she brought him around, and with a deliberate throw, she sent him flying into the stone, denting upon his landing. His vision danced, and he couldn’t make anything out. There was a ringing in his ears, and the only thing to signify what could’ve been her landing was a small vibration in the ground.
She was saying something, but Raph could hardly make it out, nor get even close to standing and finishing the combat. The most he could do was turn himself over to face the sky, and even that sent sharp pin-pricks of pain through his limbs and shell. Ow. His shell. The chipped off part of it ached like it hadn’t in weeks.
He didn’t see Chikara out of the hole he was in. Instead he spotted a blur of pink, flying towards where Chikara presumably was.
Shit.
Grunting in pain, Raph forced himself to sit up, even though every muscle begged him not to. It became easier, somehow- oh. His brothers were there. When had they gotten there?
Mikey pulled at his hand while Leo and Donnie pushed him up by the shell, all working to get him on his feet, and each under his arms to support his weight once he was standing. When he stood, he was able to get the full picture of what was happening.
Casey had taken Chikara into the air, skating on her pink line higher up into the sky. Chikara was quick to overtake, though, twisting her figure until she was able to grab Casey in turn, sending her swiftly down. Leo was quick to react, extending a portal that Casey fell through. Then another, and another, sending her up and down until the fall was light, like a trip onto the stone rather than Raph’s crash landing.
As Chikara landed, Raph grunted with effort, trying to stand on his own. “Guys, don’t”, he grunted, swaying. “It’s a one-on-one”.
“You were down!” Casey protested loudly, nose curled into a fierce glare. “She was coming after you- I had to do something!”
“No, you didn’t”, Chikara hissed, and all of them turned to face her. “He’s right: this is a one-on-one. You are not fit to interfere, human. Do you realize the pressure we’re under? There’s no time to go easy on them”.
“Look at him- the guy can’t even stand on his own, no less fight!” Leo pleaded, motioning to Raph’s whole situation. “If you want us to be able to fend off this creature, we have to be fit enough to do it. That means NOT concussed!”
Chikara took a moment to take in their words. She stared deliberately at Raph, analyzing him, and Raph wished he could go into his shell like Mikey could. It was scrutiny at its finest; and it was over something he was supposed to be good at.
After a long, painful beat, Chikara huffed and turned away. “Very well. I will give you time to have breakfast and recover. Take him to the acolytes; they have healers. As for the rest of you, I want to see you back here in an hour”.
Casey hurried over to them, the fury clear as day on her face. Mikey took her hand in comfort, and they started to walk towards the staircase.
“Except for you, human”, Chikara said, and they all turned back to her again. “Stay with the rest of your clan. I’m sure the acolytes can give you all something to do if you’re that desperate to be active on our island”.
Casey trembled with rage, but Raph felt like he could fall over in relief when she didn’t say anything, even if it was killing her not to. Raph was well aware of her tendency to scream anything at the people who upset her, and he was glad that this wasn’t going to be drawn out longer than it needed to be. Even if a small part of him would feel good about Casey giving Chikara a piece of her mind. Raph could see the anger on all of their faces. Leo and Donnie’s were more muted, but there nonetheless. Mikey’s was mixed in with a pronounced pout, intercut with bouts of concern for Raph.
“Let’s go”, Leo mumbled, prompting them up the stairs. “Better get food before we get back to it”.
“I don’t wanna”, Mikey said, laced with a tone that made Raph wanna take him away and not look back. “I get they’re in a rush, but why do they have to be so mean?”
Raph wanted to offer his own advice, or encouragement. He wanted to say something about them all being able to do it if it hurt or not, but no words came out. Just a warm hum that earned a justified worried look from the rest of them.
It wasn’t a great-feeling trip up the stairs. At one point Raph swayed so far that he nearly fell off the cliff and took everyone else with him. Luckily that didn’t happen, as they all rushed to the other side of him and dragged him back to balance, then quickly pulled him to the top, making sure that there were no more hazards to be had.
Donnie let out an exasperated groan, throwing his head back. “She couldn’t have TOLD us where the healers were?! This tribunal, I SWEAR”.
“Any acolyte should do”, Casey said through her teeth, her entire face looking so pinched and angry it was starting to grow redder. “I can’t believe this. They request us to stay, beat us up, and expect us to do work?! If anything, since we’re SAVING the Hidden City and all, they should be treating us, not forcing us into whatever they see fit!”
“‘Sokay”, Raph interjected, causing them all to look at him with a varying range of surprise on their faces. “Look, I get it’s tough, but we’re tougher. We haven’t let anything bring us down before, so why should a bunch of stuffy tribunal people get that award?”
“Raph’s right”, Leo sighed. “As much as I don’t like it, we gotta put up with them. They’re the only ones who know a lot about this Umibōzu guy. Maybe we can find a workaround to their pushiness; I’ll dig in once we’re done with Chikara”.
“If we’re not dead by then”, Donnie mumbled, and Leo shot him a look.
“We’re not gonna die, Donnie. We can do this”, he said firmly, his expression blossoming into a determined smile.
“This new encouraging, hopeful drive of yours is starting to be grating”, Donnie responded playfully, nudging Leo as they walked.
“As long as it helps”, Leo replied with an obnoxious grin in Donnie’s direction.
Raph smiled at their banter, wanting to join in with them, but his head was swimming a bit too much to let him. He really hoped that these acolytes were good healers, because he did not want a concussion for the remainder of his stay.
He then looked to his other side, spotting Casey glaring down at the ground.
“Hey, Cass. You good?” he questioned, tilting his head.
“Mmh. I’ll stay with you when you’re healing. If they protest that I’ll beat them up”, she answered shortly.
Raph grinned, ignoring how the scrunching hurt his face. “Sounds good”, he said, then went quiet and let his brothers lead him along.
Whatever that tribunal had in mind, he wouldn’t let it split them up. They would get through this training, and be stronger for it. Then they’d throw Umibōzu back into the sea, using the tool that they always have. Sticking together, trusting each other, and having each other’s backs.
He just hoped he could stand up straight by then.