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Raphael strolled through the forest leisurely, taking his time to stop and look at the various insects and animals that he encountered. His pace was slow, and his movements were silent. Due to being raised by his adoptive father, Splinter, he was trained thoroughly in the art of stealth and knew how to enter and exit an area without disturbing even a leaf. Raphael bent down to examine a poisonous fuzzy caterpillar as it inched its way across a leaf, when he suddenly heard a commotion to the right of him. Nonplussed, he turned to see what was happening.
The first thing that Raphael saw was a young boy, around the age of six or so, running towards him like his life depended on it, and it just might, if the small angry mob was anything to go off of. When the boy grew closer, however, Raphael saw a small bundle in the boy’s arms and rushed forward before he realized that he wouldn’t be able to do anything in his invisible state. He cursed under his breath and watched helplessly as the boy continued running. He grew more confused, however, when the boy kept running straight for him with a fierce determination and what looked like desperation.
The boy made brief eye contact with Raph and he felt a shock run through his body. This boy… could see him? Before he could process this information, the boy tripped on a protruding root and did everything in his power to protect the baby in his arms as he went tumbling down.
Raphael, praying that this would work to whoever would listen, rushed forward and snatched the boy and the baby up into his arms and took off in a sprint towards the spring he knew was nearby. The men shouted in surprise and confusion when the boy suddenly disappeared, yelling to each other about blood magic and the work of the gods. They shouted to each other to leave so as not to also face the wrath of the gods and blundered their way through the forest and back towards the nearby village.
Raph didn’t stop running until he was sure that the men were truly gone, and even then he only slowed to a light jog until he got to the spring. Whenever he spotted the natural source of water, he slowed to a stop at the riverside and looked down at the boy in his arms. Raphael gasped in shock at the blood gushing down the boy’s head and quickly set him down gently on the forest floor. Raphael took off his specially made kimono, uncaring of barring his reptilian-like body to the unseeing world, and made a pillow for the boy out of it. He used the sash to wrap the boys head somewhat, and settled his head down so he could rest.
Raphael then looked to the baby in the boy’s arms who had begun to squall like a newborn chick, and prayed that this would work. Raphael reached out for the bundle, and miraculously, his arms did not pass through her. However, when the child looked to see who had touched them, they blinked unseeing eyes up at him and looked around in confusion.
‘Ah, so that’s how it is, is it? I guess this little street urchin really is my soul mate, huh? Gods, if Leo could see me now, he’d gawk at me standing naked with a baby in my arms. Hell, I would, too.’ Raphael thought bitterly.
After gently petting the bundle into a restless sleep, he began to take in the small boy next to him. His hair was black and wild, but greasy from uncleanliness. He breathed with his mouth open, showcasing his gapped teeth, showing just how young this boy truly is. His skin was tanned from frequent exposure to the sun, and his bones stuck awkwardly from his skin, indicating famine. He had on ratty and oversized clothes, furthering his theory. The boy’s head had stopped bleeding, which Raphael breathed a sigh of relief at.
The little girl, if Raphael is guessing right, in his arms, however, has full cheeks covered in freckles and red hair as soft as silk. Her clothes, though slightly dirty, fit well and her skin is as clean as if she’s just been washed. ‘What is their relation, I wonder. Siblings? Perhaps, though they do not resemble one another much. But, I have heard that sometimes siblings look nothing alike. It would explain why he protected her during that fall.’
Raphael waved his hand at the boy and his clothes mended, the previously unrecognizable colors becoming white and a rich blue once again. His skin was cleaned before his very eyes, revealing small freckles and a couple birth marks. His hair, which was matted with infrequent brushing, smoothened out and became wavy and shiny.
‘That’s better.’ Raphael thought, no longer as bothered by his appearance as he once was. ‘And when he wakes, I will provide him with something to eat. I can’t have my soul mate starving, after all.’
When the boy finally awoke, he did so with such a force that he startled Raphael out of his doze. The boy sat up quickly, then clutched his head and groaned out in pain.
“Hey, hey, calm down.” Raphael spoke, not recognizing his voice for a moment because of its disuse, but powering through the strangeness.
The boy snapped his head up, stared at Raphael, and then looked down at the baby in his lap, and did not calm down. The boy lunged forward so fast that Raphael almost startled again, but stuck his hand out just in time so that the boy collided with his hand instead of him, trying not to jostle the baby too much.
“Calm down, kid, there’s no need to panic, alright?” Raphael spoke sternly, keeping both hands on the boys’ shoulders and holding him in place until he tired himself out. The boy struggled futilely for a few moments, and then slumped in his hold. “Good. Now I’m gonna let you go, and then you’re gonna explain why those guys were chasing after you, alright?”
The boy nodded and Raphael released him. He stared at the baby for a few more moments, and then sat down crisscross in front of Raph. “Can I have April back?” The boy asked, breaking his silence as he gazed up at Raphael with wide, wide brown eyes. Raphael pondered that for a moment, took in how seemingly relaxed the kid was, and nodded.
“No running off, though, alright?” Raphael gruffed out.
The boy nodded hurriedly and Raph huffed as he passed over the child. The boy eagerly took her and started inspecting her, and when he deemed her unharmed, looked up at Raph.
“Who are you?” Casey asked him curiously, his head tilted cutely.
‘Cutely? What?’ Raph quickly brushed aside those thoughts and focused on the conversation.
“If I tell you my name, you have to tell me yours. Names have power, after all.” When the boy nodded once again, Raphael knew he wasn’t going to get any more out of this kid unless he himself divulged some information first. “My name is Raphael, but my brothers just call me Raph, and I am the god of war. And you?”
The boys eyes widened in wonder. “Wow, really? So you’re a real life god? That’s so wicked! Why do you look like that? What’s with the mask? Do all gods look like you? How many brothers do you have? Are they all gods too?” The boy rushed out with newfound enthusiasm, surprising Raphael.
“Umm, yes, I am a god. I don’t know, I was just born like this. No, the other gods do not look like me or my other three brothers. Yes, they are all gods, also. And I was raised by the god of peace Splinter, who taught us ninjutsu, that’s why I wear a mask. Would you prefer if I took it off?” Raph asked, surprising even himself. Even his brothers hadn’t seen him without a mask in millennia.
The boy nodded hesitantly, as if he too knew that this was out of character for Raphael, so Raphael reached behind his head and untied the knot of his mask. The ribbon fell away from his face and the boy gasped, blinking his wide eyes up at him.
“Wow. You’re very pretty.” The boy stated shamelessly, reaching out a hand and laying it on his face. This shocked Raphael, who had never been called pretty or any form of the word, and he felt heat rising to his cheeks.
“Umm, thank you.” Raphael mumbled, caught off guard. The boy giggled, showing off his gapped tooth shamelessly in a laugh full of humor and joy. Raphael only watched as the mortal left himself completely unguarded and laughed like that was the funniest thing Raphael could have said. Suddenly, the boy’s stomach growled, and he clutched at his stomach in pain and whimpered.
Raphael felt a pain stab through his stomach, and clutched at his own abdomen in a twin show of agony. ‘What… what is this?’ The pain slowly subsided until it was merely a dull ache, and it appeared that the child no longer hurt either, as he straightened back up with only a small wince to show for it. Raphael summoned some fruits and cheeses and a blanket, laying out the blanket for the boy to rest upon and offering the food out for him. The boy hesitated, but then quickly scooted over onto the blanket and reached for an orange from the pile.
When the boy struggled to peel it, Raphael reached over and gingerly took the orange from him, peeling the orange for the child and handing him a slice. The boy took it and quickly plopped the slice into his mouth, eagerly moaning from the taste and swallowing quickly, blinking up at Raph expectantly. Raph chuckled at his eagerness and went about separating the other sections quickly, handing them to the boy one at a time until the entire orange was gone and the boy pointed to an apple next. Nodding in agreement, Raphael quickly pulled a small knife from his leg wrappings and started cutting off small sections for the boy.
The boy startled at the sight of the knife, but quickly settled back down. He opened his mouth for the awaiting piece, and Raph chuckled and popped the piece right into his mouth. ‘This kid definitely knows how to get what he wants, that’s for sure.’ Raph thought, much too fondly.
This process continued on until almost the entire pile of fruits and cheeses were gone. Whenever the boy shook his head when Raph reached for another piece, he nodded and wrapped the rest up in a cloth wrap for the boy for later. It was only then did Raphael realize that his stomach no longer ached, but felt warm and full.
“Alright, pipsqueak, now that you’re all fed, you gotta answer my questions, alright?” Raphael asked, but left very little room to actually disagree. The boy looked hesitant, but eventually nodded. “Alright, let’s start out simple. What’s your name?”
“Casey.” The boy answered.
“Just Casey?” Raphael questioned.
The boy shrugged and looked slightly embarrassed. “I can’t remember my last name. My parents died a few years ago, and I must have forgotten it sometime, but I can’t remember it.” The boy looked up apologetically, as if he had anything to be sorry for.
“Alright. Just Casey, that’s okay. And who is she?” Raphael gestured to the baby still lying in Casey’s lap, who had been surprisingly quiet during their entire exchange.
“This is April. She was with me at the house I lived in for kids like me and her. But, they were trying to give away to bad people so I took her and ran away. But, she got hungry, so I took some milk from a stand and those men started chasing me.” Casey explained, inching away a little bit like Raphael was going to yell at him or hit him.
“Oh, okay. I figured it was something like that.” Raphael said, and summoned a bottle full of milk and offered it to Casey. Casey looked at the bottle curiously, and Raph cursed himself mentally, having forgotten that those have yet to be invented for another one or two thousand years. Ah, well. When he figured out what it was, he quickly thanked Raph and fed April carefully, making sure that she was drinking slowly. “So, who were these bad people you were talking about?”
“I heard them say that they wanted to buy April so that they could sell her off. They said that they could get a lot of money off of her because she is so young, and I knew that was bad, so I took her.” Casey explained, and Raphael felt his blood boil inside of him.
“That’s good, Casey. You were very brave to do that.” Raphael praised, not letting the boy see how angry he was. The boy’s cheeks flushed with happiness, and he grinned up at Raphael brightly. Raphael almost wanted to squint at how bright he was, but held off the urge to.
“Thank you!” Casey replied enthusiastically, but his grin quickly fell as he frowned in confusion. “But, how come those men didn’t see you? They didn’t say anything about you when they were yelling at me, and no offense, but you’re kind of hard to miss.” Casey eyed his bulging muscles like he couldn’t believe his eyes, and Raphael chuckled at him.
“No offense taken.” Raph assured, trying to pick his next words carefully and how much to tell him. He’s so young. “And, only people who are very special to me can see me. If they see me first, I know that I need to protect them because they are very important to me. Like my dad and my brothers. And you.”
“Oh. How come I’m important to you? I mean, I’m an orphan and you’re a god, I just don’t understand how I could be very important at all.” Casey looked down with furrowed eyebrows.
Raphael felt his heart throb in pain, and rubbed his carapace where his heart would be. “Casey, I need you to not freak out, okay? Promise me you’ll at least let me explain.”
“Okay, I promise, Raphie.” Casey said, trying out his name for the first time.
Raphael smiled down at the boy and prepared himself for the worst. “How old are you, Casey?” Raph asked, wanting to know how he should explain this.
“Oh, I’m seven years old.” Casey responded, obviously confused as to where this conversation was heading.
‘That’s a little older than I thought, but still so young. He must be so small because he’s not eating right.’ Raphael thought mournfully.
“Alright, umm, when I was really young, about April’s age, a goddess cursed my family. She said that my father was so cold hearted and unloving when she came to congratulate him on our adoption, that she cast that curse in the hopes of helping him and us find love.” Raphael stopped to make sure that Casey was following along with his story, and Casey nodded eagerly for him to continue. “So, until we meet our soul mate, no one besides our family can see us. Everyone walks right through us as if we’re illusions, and you’re the only person who has ever been able to see me besides my father and brothers.”
“So, am I your soul mate?” Casey asked, tilting his head to the side once again.
‘He looks like a puppy.’ Raphael thought.
“Yes, it appears you are. I did think you were going to be a bit older when we first met, but I suppose the fates wrote it out like this for a reason.”
“So, does this mean that we’re gonna get married?” Casey questioned with enthusiasm sparkling in his eyes.
Raphael spluttered, shocked at the question. “What?! No! I mean, not until you’re at least of legal age and we both consented to it.” Raphael explained, still a little flustered at the current topic. This is definitely not how he thought this conversation was going to go. Disgust? Yes. Horror? Perhaps. But enthusiasm? He would have scoffed if you had told him just ten minutes ago.
“Awww, but why? You’re so pretty, and nice. And you take good care of April and me. You’d be the best husband ever!” Casey exclaimed, buzzing with energy but keeping still so as not to wake April, who had fallen back to sleep somewhere in the middle of their conversation.
Raphael scoffed at the word ‘nice.’ No one had ever used that word to describe him, either. If Leo were here, he’d be laughing up a storm. “Okay, I really appreciate all that, but don’t you think it’d be a little inappropriate if I married a seven year old?” Raph reasoned.
“No! I think it would be very not-inappropriate!” Casey argued stubbornly, and his louder voice caused April to whimper slightly. Casey was quick to shush her and settle her back down quickly.
“Okay, pipsqueak,” Casey went to protest the nickname, but Raphael quickly held his hand up to silence him. Casey did so reluctantly and not without a pout to broadcast his displeasure. "I’m trying to explain this in a way you can understand, but it just doesn’t seem to be clicking. When you see adults getting married, they’re never your age, right? They’re always a little bit older so that they can know what they really want and decide that for themselves as adults. And when you get to be that age, I’ll let you decide, too. Does that sound okay?” Raph tried, pleading for this to work.
Casey looked up at him tearfully. “You’re not going to forget about me, are you?”
Raphael smiled down at him reassuringly and shook his head. “Never, pipsqueak. I promise.”
“Okay, then. I guess that’s okay.”
“Great. Now come on, I know exactly where I can find you somewhere nice and loving to stay.” Raphael reassured, picking up Casey after he adjusted April in his arms and settling him on his hip.
“Why can’t I stay with you, though?” Casey pouted up at him.
“Because I don’t live a life suitable for a child, much less a baby and it would be inappropriate for me to raise you if you’re serious about the marriage thing.”
“I’m very serious!” Casey reassured.
Raphael smiled and shook his head fondly. He’s found that he’s smiled more today than he thinks he has his entire life.
Raphael walked through the town and down a small road that connected to the town. He’s watched this town since it first formed, and many others, and knew about the man whose wife and child had died in a fire a few years ago. He knew the man is very kind hearted and sad, so he thought that two kids would be just what he needs to bring himself out of his funk and give these kids a good life. It also helps that the guy makes good money, too.
Raphael looked down at the kids and decided that yes, they deserved everything and more. When he finally saw the cottage that the man lived at, he walked up the path and through the gate with only a little trepidation. When he finally got to the door, he set the boy down and gestured towards the door. “But, what if he doesn’t like me?” Casey questioned, holding on to Raphael’s hand in a vice grip.
“He will, pipsqueak, I know he will. Who could refuse those doe eyes, huh?” Raphael teased, and Casey grinned slightly and looked back to the door. He took a deep breath and raised his hand and knocked three times.
They waited a few moments in tense silence, and then finally the door swung open. The handsome face of a man just into his twenties greeted them, but you could see the pain in his eyes which made him look older than he truly was. He smiled slightly when he saw Casey and crouched down to look at him. “Hello, young man, what can I do for you?” The man asked with a bit more of a smile.
Before Raphael could coach Casey on what to say, Casey was speaking. “My soul mate told me that you are a good man and that you could take care of us.” Casey said, looking up at him with wide, pleading eyes.
‘Manipulative bastard.’ Raph thought with a grin.
The man looked surprised, but humored him. “And who is your soul mate?”
Again, Raph went to tell him not to speak, but Casey beat him to it. “The god of war. He’s very handsome. He said that I needed somewhere to stay before we could get married. He said we have to wait cause I’m too young.” Casey pouted, and the man smiled at him in a way that showed he obviously didn’t believe him.
“Listen, you seem very sweet, but you really should go home to your parents before they start worrying.” The man tried.
Big, crocodile tears welled up in Casey’s eyes as he turned to face Raph. “I told you he wouldn’t like me! Can’t I just go with you?” Casey pleaded, tears streaming down his face.
Raphael was justifiably pissed off. Someone had just made his soul mate cry. So, of course, he acted without thinking and decided to make this man believe Casey.
“Back up a little, pipsqueak.” Raphael advised, and Casey did.
Raphael then proceeded to burn his symbol right into this man’s doorstep, a plain proclamation claiming Casey as his and telling this man that he was telling the truth. The man stumbled back a bit, and then looked on with wide eyes as the symbol burned out in seconds and left only the singed mark.
“Oh my gods. Oh my gods. Ummm, I’m very sorry, Raphael. It won’t happen again. I thought this boy was playing a game. A gods’ soul mate. Wow. Oh! Come in, come in.” The man stumbled for words, quickly fumbling with the door and opening it up wide. Casey walked up to the man and waved at him to crouch down again. The man did, and Casey quickly whispered something to him. The man smiled softly at Casey and reached over to ruffle his hair, then gently took April from his arms. “Just come inside when you’re finished, alright?” The man then quickly sped into his cottage, leaving the front door halfway open for Casey.
Casey turned back around and rushed forward towards Raphael, leaping at him and trusting Raph to catch him. Raphael did, of course, and Casey tightly hugged him around his neck. If Raphael were a mortal, he’d be worried about suffocation. “Promise me you’ll at least visit, right?”
Raphael nodded. “I promise. Every year on this day, I shall come to see you. If you ever need me, however, just say my name and I’ll hear you no matter where I am.” Raphael couldn’t believe that he was about to walk away from the one person he’s been waiting for his entire life. But, now was not the right time. He’d have all the time in the world when they were officially bonded and their life forces were intertwined, but until then, he has to let his pipsqueak go so that he can grow up.
Casey held on for what felt like hours, but he eventually loosened his hold and Raphael set him down so that he could go join his new family. Casey made Raph crouch down to his level and when he did; he pressed an innocent kiss to Raph’s cheek. Warmth bloomed where his lips touched and Raph smiled one last time at Casey before he stood back up and watched Casey head inside the cottage.
‘Until next year, pipsqueak.’