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Chapter Text

Ever since he was four years old, Leo dreamed of his father coming home. His dreams were almost like the fairy tales Mother used to tell them when she was still alive, except this one hadn't come true yet. Each day as he scrubbed the pots and pans and cleaned out the stables and tended the palace fires, he thought of what his father would say.

"I am ashamed of you, brother," his dad would always say in his daydreams, "You have forgotten your promise." And then maybe his father and uncle would duel and his father would win, or perhaps his uncle would realize what he had done and beg forgiveness, and sometimes Leo himself was the one to duel his uncle. He never killed him, he didn't think he had the heart to do that, but whenever they 'dueled' he always won with one of the sword tricks his father had taught him, and then his uncle would apologize.

But those were just daydreams. His father was supposed to come home years ago, and it was more than likely that he had been killed on his journey. In the meantime, Leo was used to the life of a servant, and anyway if he told anyone his heritage they wouldn't believe him. His uncle would, of course. His uncle knew who he was and where he came from, but Leo was certain that it would be dangerous to let him know that he remembered. He was only alive right now because his uncle still had some small sense of duty.

"I promise to look after them, my brother." He had heard his uncle say on the day their father left, "I will treat them as my own sons."

But for Leo, the promise had been broken. His uncle was the one who put him where he was, placed even lower than scullery maid. The only reason his uncle had not killed him outright was because of that promise, and yet, his uncle was the one who ordered that he always be "kept busy" amid unsanitary conditions. It was only Leo's own resolve that had kept him alive this long.

And the reason for that resolve was his brothers. Brothers who no longer remembered him.

His uncle might have tossed him out of the family's immediate circle, but Leo suspected that was only because he was the oldest. Without Leo, their uncle would be permanent custodian over his brothers. He was effectively king of the castle. So Leo was fairly certain that his brothers wouldn't be harmed as long as they didn't become a threat to their uncle.

His brothers had cried as he had when he was forced to leave them, but they cried because they thought he was dead. As the years passed he watched over them as best as he could, and he witnessed that they seemed happy. He didn't envy them their happiness, but he was always on the lookout for them in case their uncle betrayed them as he had betrayed Leo and their father.

And that betrayal ran deep. Everything he had, had been taken away from him by his uncle. He didn't even have a real name anymore.

"Dirty, grab the fattest chicken in the henhouse and butcher it for the Steward's dinner. And be quick about it!"

"Soot-face, clean the yard. Make every acre presentable."

"The cellar is dirty, boy, and none of the servants want to clean it. The idiots think it's haunted. You've got one hour."

"I swear, Lazybones, you get slower every day. The next time I lend you out to plow some farmer's field, I expect you to finish the entire field in one day! The oxen do it just fine, why can't you?"

When he reached a certain age, Leo decided to stop daydreaming that his father would return. But it seemed that he couldn't. He just couldn't give up hope that easily, no matter how ridiculous a hope it was. Dying men clutch at straws, and Leonardo clutched at his dreams.

In the meantime, he resolved more and more fiercely to look after his brothers-brothers who were so near, yet so far away, and so very much in danger.

There was Raphael, the hothead who tried to act tough but was frightened of responsibility. If he ever got in a fight with their uncle, Leo needed to be the first to know. Then there was Donatello, the genius who might one day realize that their uncle was usurping their rights. And then there was Michelangelo, the trusting child who held a feast every year on the occasion of Leonardo's "death". He would be the easiest for their uncle to corrupt.

For the moment, his uncle was satisfied and his brothers were safe. The boys were given anything they wanted, and they hardly ever had to lift a finger. As for Leonardo, he continued his work with gusto, doing whatever he was told to do without question. He needed to keep up his resolve, and force himself to stay in good health. He wasn't doing it for himself, he was doing it for his brothers in case they needed him. And perhaps even now they needed him, although they didn't know it. There were many things he could do as a servant to make them more comfortable.

"The fires are dying," one of the servants told him on a cold night, handing him the key to the bedrooms, "Take care of it. I have been informed by Steward Oroku Saki that Prince Donatello has a cold."

Yes. All the hard labor he was doing and the secrets he was keeping, he was doing it all for his brothers.

Chapter Text

Leonardo tried not to work too quickly as he stoked the fires in his brother's room. Mikey was sprawled out in his four-poster bed, warm and cozy and snoring gently, and Leo was content to be so close to him even though he was asleep.

This was the part of his duties that Leo liked best: taking care of his brothers personally, by keeping them warm. It was also the time when he was nearest to them, even though they were asleep. As soon as he was done, Leo stood up, looked at his brother fondly and walked out of the room, locking the door behind him.

Raphael was next. He was also snoring, but much louder than Michelangelo. He didn't stir as Leo unlocked the door and walked inside. He was probably used to the sounds Leo made as he moved around, which was a good thing, because Leo had heard horror stories from the other servants about what happened when you woke up a sleeping Prince Raphael. Those stories were not pretty. Privately though, Leo liked to think that on some level his brother remembered him and trusted him enough to allow him to come in the room at night.

Donnie was last, but not least. Unlike his other brothers, Donatello was not sleeping soundly. He stirred and mumbled the entire time as Leo put on a new log. If he could have, Leo would have gone over to comfort him-but that was forbidden to all servants.

Suddenly, Donnie gave out a cry and sat up awake. He looked around him, confused, until his eyes settled on Leo stoking the fire. There were tears in those eyes.

"It was just a nightmare," Leo said, doing the forbidden and speaking to his brother, "All is well, your majesty."

Donatello stared at him, as if trying to take in what he was saying.

"S-servant," he said finally, "T-take me to my brother."

Leo nodded and stood up. "It is cold in the hallways at this time of night," he said, "Can I get you something to keep warm?"

"R-robe," Donnie said, "Closet. Left side."

Leo retrieved the robe and handed it to his brother. "Follow me," he said, and he was more than a little surprised when Donnie grabbed his arm and held on tight.

He led Donnie out of his room and down the hallway, not even bothering to lock the door behind them, and without asking which brother he wanted to see he took him to Raph's room. They entered without knocking, and Donnie tore his hands off of Leo's arm and raced from the doorway to Raph's bed.

"Raph," Donnie cried out, and suddenly he was in Raph's arms.

"Donnie? What is it? What happened?" Raph said sleepily, trying to figure out why Donnie was hugging him.

Donnie didn't answer, so Raph turned to Leo.

"What happened?" He repeated.

"Nightmare, your majesty." Leo answered.

"Is this true?" Raph asked Donatello, and Donnie nodded.

"Well, what are you doing standing there?" Raph asked, and Leo realized with a start that he was speaking to him, "Don't you have anything better to do?"

Leo bowed his head and turned towards the door to leave.

"Wait!" Raph stopped him, and Leo turned towards him obediently, "Don't you dare tell anyone about this. There was never any nightmare, you understand?"

"Yes, your majesty." Leo said, bowing once more before leaving the room and locking the door behind him.

Donatello would be fine, now that he was with Raph. So as Leo walked down the hallway, he risked a smile. He had just spoken with two of his brothers, for the first time in years. This was the best day of his life.

But now, he had a job to finish, or there would be repercussions. He needed to stoke the fires in the servant's quarters, and perhaps he should also prepare Donnie's room in case he decided to come back for the night...

"Hi there!" Mikey shouted, and Leo jumped. He had just been walking past Mikey's room, but had not noticed the open door. And just what was Mikey doing up, anyway?

"Can you take me to Donnie's room?" Mikey asked.

"Yes, your majesty," Leo said, "But he isn't there at the moment."

"Oh. Is he in Raph's? I'll bet he's in Raph's. Hey, maybe you can help me! What do you know about shadow people?"

"Shadow people?" Leo asked, confused.

"Yeah!" Mikey said, "I've been seeing shadow people in my room. Donnie says I'm just imagining it, but he told me to let him know if I saw any again. And I just did, so I was gonna tell him."

"Have you told the Royal Guards about these shadow people?" Leo asked, frowning.

"Yeah, but they didn't believe me." Mikey said, "I mean, I thought I saw a giraffe once and it turned out to be my closet, and they laughed really hard at that. And then there was the time I found the dragon's egg in my sink, but it wasn't really a dragon's egg, it turned out to be this really cool stone I found once at the beach but I forgot all about it and put it on my counter and-hey! Maybe you can come look."

"At the stone?" Leo asked.

"No, for the shadow people!" Mikey smiled, "I mean, you haven't seen them yet, so you can tell me if they're real or not. Come on, come on come on!"

Leo suddenly found himself dragged into Mikey's room. The fire was roaring just as he had left it, but there was something different. Something...off.

"Here's where I first saw one!" Mikey said, dragging him towards his bed and pointing at the other end of the room, "Right there, by the window!"

The window. It was open, but Leo hadn't opened it.

"Highness," he said, "Did you open the window?"

"No," he said, "The servant who made the fire did. Donnie says it actually helps the fire, although I don't know how, that just seems silly. It really annoys me, because I have to keep getting up to close it. Oh! And here's where I saw another one," he said, dragging Leo off towards another corner.

But Leo wasn't really looking at where Mikey was pointing. Someone else had opened Mikey's window, and that funny feeling...suddenly Leonardo realized that they were not alone in the bedroom.

"...And that's where I first beat Raph at marbles," Mikey was saying, "He was really mad, of course, but I won fair and square. Hey, over here! I saw one once on top of the doorsill-a shadow person, not a marble. 'Cause that would be silly. I tried keeping a marble on the doorsill once, but it kept rolling off every time Raph closed the door-"

Someone was watching them. But why? Why didn't their watcher do something, anything? Why was he or she just keeping to the shadow?

Maybe the intruder was expecting Leo to disbelieve Mikey, just like everyone else.

He needed to get his brother out of there.

"I think, Prince Michelangelo," he said finally, even as he walked over to close and lock the window, "That perhaps your brother is right. The light could be playing tricks on your eyes."

There. He said what the intruder wanted to hear, even if his brother did deflate a little when he said it. Now he needed to get Mikey away. He decided to play on one of his brother's weaknesses.

"Would you like me to take you down to the kitchens?" He asked, "Surely you are hungry for a midnight snack."

"Really? Oh wow, that sounds great!" Mikey said, practically tearing out of his room, "I never get to see the kitchens at night! Well, almost never. I did a few times, you know, and Donnie once helped me make the perfect dessert out of-"

"Wait a moment, let me lock your door," Leo said purposefully, locking the door behind them and hopefully locking the intruder or intruders inside the room, "Now, let me show you to the kitchens."

He took Mikey by the arm and led him through the twists and turns of the hallway, half-listening to Mikey talk until finally they entered a sitting room that had not been used for many years.

"This isn't the kitchen." Mikey said, confused.

"Prince Michelangelo, I have something urgent to tell you," Leo whispered, even as he closed the door they entered through, "There was someone in your room."

"So I was right? Awesome!" Mikey said.

"Not awesome, bad." Leo corrected, "Highness, I have been tending the fires at night for you and your brothers for years, and I've never once opened the window."

"So," Mikey said, confused, "Who has?"

"That's exactly my point." Leo said, "Someone has been sneaking into your room and watching you. Mikey, you have been seeing someone in your room."

"Um, yeah, that's a bit creepy," Mikey said, missing the fact that Leo had called him by his nickname and not 'majesty' or 'highness', "What should I do?"

That was a good question. Who exactly would be spying on Mikey? Was it someone sent by their uncle, or someone else? Would it hurt for Oroku Saki to know what was happening, or would he be in the perfect position to put a stop to it?

"I think," Leo said finally, "That you should inform your brothers first, and then your uncle."

That way, if Saki was behind this, his uncle couldn't talk Mikey out of telling any of brothers about it.

"Okay," Mikey said, "Will you help me?"

To have to stand up and tell his brothers about the 'bad feeling', about how he never opened the window? And then to tell the same thing to his uncle? Was there enough proof for anyone to believe them?

"Yes," Leo said, although he often dreaded what would happen if he so much as spoke to his uncle, "I will help you."

It didn't take them long to get back to Raph's room. Mikey was utterly confused about the direction, but Leo could walk the passageways in the dark-which he often did, as a matter of fact. To Leo's surprise, his brothers believed them. Raphael took it especially seriously.

"You're not going back in your room until we've got this straightened out," Raph had told Mikey, "If the servant says he never opened the window, then I believe him. He never opens my window."

"Or mine," Donnie added, "Although I do have to tell you, that would help your fires."

"Get in the bed with Don, Mikey." Raph ordered, "And try to get some sleep. I'll take the chair. Servant," Leo looked up as he was being addressed, "I want you to summon the Royal Guard. Tell them to come to my room immediately, but to be quiet about it. They'll inform Saki, and I'll make sure that someone checks out Mikey's room tonight."

"That Usagi fellow seems capable." Donnie offered.

"You're right," Raph said, "I'll have him do it. If there's anyone there spying on Mikey, Usagi will catch them. Well, what are you waiting for, a kiss on the cheek? Get going already!"

"As you wish, Majesty," Leo bowed, and then he turned and ran out the door. He heard Raph lock it behind him.

After Leo alerted the Royal Guards, he went back to his midnight duties stoking the fires in the servant's quarters. The guards were summoned, the Uncle was summoned, and Mikey refused to leave Raph's room. The warrior Usagi arrived, and within seconds had pulled out a darkly-clothed ninja from Mikey's closet.

"This one says he has been spying on the Prince for some weeks," Usagi reportedly told Saki when he presented the ninja, "He enters the room through the window and watches the Prince throughout the night. I suggest we discover who it is who has hired his services."

Leo heard all this from the servant's gossip the next day. He was grateful that he didn't have to talk to his uncle, but chances were high that sooner or later Uncle would come and find him, 'the servant who didn't open the window.' And he was fairly certain that, despite the fact that Mikey was now safe, his uncle wouldn't be so happy that he spoke with his brothers.

And for all he knew, it might have been his dear old Uncle Saki who had been spying on Michelangelo.

Chapter Text

Leonardo was shivering, sitting in a wet puddle of water in the middle of the cellar floor. He had been right; his uncle was not happy that he had spoken with his brothers. But since Uncle Saki didn't know that Leo remembered his true heritage, Saki claimed that the punishment was for another reason.

"Servants should not speak to their majesties unless spoken to," Oroku Saki said, pacing in front of the shivering Leonardo, "And they certainly are not allowed to check their rooms for 'shadow people'. While I appreciate that you alerted the Guard to a grave danger befalling Prince Michelangelo, you must understand that such actions should not go unpunished."

Leonardo didn't trust himself to answer.

"For that punishment I will be lenient, in light of the service you have done for my youngest nephew." Oroku Saki continued, "You are hereby banned from your duty of taking care of the fires at night, and you are to spend the day alone down here in the cellar. When you come out at dusk, I expect you to continue your other duties. Do you understand?"

"Yes Master," Leonardo shivered, bowing his head.

Oroku Saki stopped pacing, and bent down to look at the turtle.

"You have much spirit," he said, "That is not good for a slave of your stature."

Slave? Did Oroku Saki just call him a slave?

He was a servant. Wasn't he?

"However," his uncle continued, "In place of one chore, you must have another. I will think of an appropriate duty for you to do during your free hours at night."

Leonardo bowed his head once more, and his uncle smiled wickedly in approval. Without another word, Oroku Saki walked away and up the cellar stairs. The door slammed shut with finality, trapping Leo in the dank basement that was widely rumored to be haunted.

At least he wasn't chained to the wall.

It took Leo a while to gain the courage just to stand. Sure, he had been in the cellar before, and when you think of it he'd probably been in there more often than anyone else in the castle. But there was something about the place that always gave him a twist in the stomach. There were creepy creaks that came from the direction of the wine barrels, there were mysterious dark stains on the wall that took on evil looks although they could have just been mold, and there was the fact that the floor always had a little bit of water on it even though there was never any discernible way for water to get there.

Leo forced himself to go check the back corners, just to make sure that he was really alone down there. Better to check now than spend the rest of the day wondering about it. All he had to see by was the candle that was lit once a day and raised above the cellar, so it was easy to imagine soldiers or ninjas hiding in the darkness beyond the candle's reach.

As soon as he was confident that he was alone-you know, aside from the bugs, mice and rats-Leo walked back under the light and sat down on the last step. It was going to be a long wait until sundown.

For the first hour, Leo gave himself something to do and went around cleaning the basement. He only did whatever it was that he could see with the light of the candle, and once he was done with that he decided not to go deeper into the darker corners of the cellar. For the second hour, he decided to practice the ninja moves his father had taught him so long ago. The occasion was rare that he could actually practice them unseen, but he always had them running in the back of his mind.

He was just in the middle of a complicated kata, which he was doing with an abandoned piece of wood he found underneath the stairs, when the cellar door opened.

Leo quickly hid the piece of wood behind his back.

"Whew, it's dark down there," a voice above him said, "Are you sure this is the right way?"

Wait a minute.

"Prince Donatello?" Leo asked, "Is that you?"

He discretely threw the piece of wood to one of the dark corners and ran up the steps. There was Donatello, and next to him was Mikey.

"Hey, it's you," said Mikey said, a big smile forming on his face, "Thanks for finding out about that ninja dude, man!"

"What are you doing down there?" Donnie asked, looking appalled as he peeked down the stairs over Leo's shoulder.

"Um," Leo said, "Well, um, you see-"

"They don't make you clean that all by yourself, do they?" Mikey asked.

"Mikey!" Donnie reprimanded with a harsh whisper.

"No, it's alright," Leo said, "Sometimes they do ask me to clean down here. But what on earth are you two doing here?"

"What, can't a Prince get to know his own castle?" Donnie asked.

"Yeah," Mikey said, "We were just, um, checking things out, you know?"

"You're lost, aren't you." Leo concluded. It wasn't a question.

"Yes," Donnie sighed, looking a little deflated, "We're trying to find the library."

"And the kitchen!" Mikey said.

Leo smirked, leaning against the cellar bannister. These two were way off track.

"Take a right down that hallway," he said, "The Guard's quarters are down there. They'll have someone who can show you the way."

"But we wanna do it ourselves!" Mikey said, "We're explorers!"

"Speak for yourself, Mikey." Donnie said, rolling his eyes, "I just want to get there. I knew we should have taken the usual way."

"What, and miss all this adventure?" Mikey said, "I mean, look! I've never even been to this part of the castle. And now there's this basement that I've never even heard of before! Come on, Donnie! Let's check it out."

"You don't want to come down here," Leo said, blocking the passage down the stairs with his body, "This cellar is supposed to be haunted."

It turns out that was the wrong thing to say. Mikey's eyes grew bright with excitement, and he fairly burst past Leo.

"A haunted basement!" He called out, racing down the stairs, "How come no one ever tells us these things?"

"Is it really haunted?" Donnie asked Leo, the both of them still standing at the top of the stairs.

"That's the rumor," Leo said, "It's definitely creepy enough."

"Hey guys, come check this out!" Mikey shouted, already so far deep into one dark corner that they couldn't see him, "Look what I found!"

Leo obediently walked down the stairs and followed Mikey's voice until he found him, Donnie close behind him.

"Look!" Mikey said, and Leo could just make out by his shape that he was pointing at something, "Is this a sign of the ghost?"

There on the wall in front of Mikey was something that looked a little like a turtle. Funny, Leo had never noticed that before. He reached out his hand and touched the symbol, and in doing so realized that it was carved into the wall.

"No Prince," Leo shook his head with a smile, "This is the symbol of your royal heritage. You've seen it on the royal flag in the banquet hall."

"You're right! But Oroku Saki never uses it." Donnie said, "I almost forgot all about it."

"Well," Leo said, "If your ancestors placed this symbol here when they were building the castle, perhaps you can find it in other places."

"Cool!" Mikey said, "Like secret clues!"

"Speaking of secrets," Donnie said, "Did you notice all the water on the floor here? There hasn't been rain around here for ages. I'll bet there's an ancient underground river that flows directly underneath this cellar!"

"Why would they build the castle over a river?" Leo asked.

"To get fresh water in times of war," Donnie said, "Here, let me see if I'm right. Get me that candle, will you?"

Leo looked up at the candle that was offering light over some of the cellar. It was forbidden for any but the Candlemaster to touch it. But hey, he was in a lot of trouble anyway right about now. And Prince trumped Candlemaster any old day. So Leo went over to the rope that held the candle in place over the room, untied the knot and slowly brought the candle down.

"Thanks," Donnie said, taking the candle, "Now let's see if I'm right!"

Donnie led them further into the corners, and for the first time in his life Leo saw them as they really were without the shadows. Mysterious edges and corners turned out to be discarded pieces of furniture and broken tools.

"Wow, this is so cool!" Mikey whispered, "Maybe we'll see the ghost!"

Donnie and Leo both rolled their eyes, but Leo couldn't help himself when he started smiling. This was fun.

"What's in here?" Donnie asked, holding the candle to the furthest edge of the cellar.

Leo was just about to reply that it was just the wall, but the candle showed something else.

"No way," he said, "There's another door?"

A stone door. One that blended in to the wall.

"I think my theory is about to be proven right," Donnie smiled.

"And what theory is that?" Mikey asked.

"I think," Donnie said, "That this door leads to a well. To be used only in emergencies, of course. But it's so old that people forgot all about it."

"Then let's open it and see!" Mikey said.

Leo stepped forward and grabbed the handle. He'd often touched that handle when he was in the darker corners of the cellar, but until now he thought it was just another something jutting out from the pile of formless shapes.

It was unlocked, so he opened the door.

Donnie stepped in first, followed by Mikey and then Leo.

"Aw, it's just a room." Mikey pouted.

"An empty room," Leo noted, "Maybe this was used as a storage closet."

"Wait," Donnie said, "Do you hear that?"

There was a distant sound, but none of them could quite make it out.

"Hang on," Donnie said, handing the candle to Leo, "I have an idea!"

"Not another one," Mikey said, "I hope this one at least has gold at the end!"

Donnie bent down and felt along the floor. Then, with a loud "A-HA!" he grabbed the handle of a trapdoor and swung it open.

Instantly the distant sound intensified, and Donnie looked at them with triumph as they both peeked over his shoulder. Leo held the candle as low as he could, and they could just make out water racing by below them.

"Told you," Donnie smirked.

"That is so COOL!" Mikey said. "Wait until I tell Raph that Donnie found a hidden river!"

"But why would they go to so much trouble to hide it?" Leo frowned, "It's just a well."

"Not just a well," Donnie said, "It's part of an underground river. One that probably goes above ground at some point."

"Oh." Leo said, "Oh."

"What is it?" Mikey asked.

"It's a security issue," Leo said, "If enemies knew about this, they could probably use it to sneak into the castle. That's why this room-" he looked around him, "This room was probably a guard room."

"Precisely." Donnie smiled.

"Wow," Mikey said, "So, think there's anything else cool hidden in the castle?"

"Maybe," Donnie answered, "You know, if there is anything else, I'll bet that it's probably close to one of the turtles symbols like the one we found earlier."

"Yeah," Mikey said, "Like, the turtles are pointing to the hidden places! So let's get looking!" He grabbed Donnie and Leo, and began pulling them out of the room.

"Hang on, Mikey!" Donnie said, wrenching himself away, "I need to close the trapdoor first."

That done, the three of them left the hidden room and Leo lead the way back to the stairs. For some reason, the cellars didn't seem frightening with his brothers down there. It actually felt pretty comfortable and home-like now. While Mikey and Donnie started brainstorming about all the possible areas they could search for another turtle clue, Leo put the candle back where it belonged.

"Why don't you start with the banquet hall?" Leo offered, tying the knot in the rope that held the candle aloft, "I mean, the symbol is on the flag. Maybe it doesn't need to be carved into palace stone to show that something's there."

"That's a great idea!" Mikey said.

"You know, you might have something there." Donnie said.

"Wanna come and show us the way?" Mikey asked.

That made Leo pause. He really, really wanted to go on an adventure with his brothers, but if Oroku Saki knew he had left the cellar, or even that he had spoken with the Princes...

"I'm sorry," he shook his head, "I have to complete my duties down here. But I can tell you the way to the hall if you're lost," he grinned at them.

"I think we can find it for ourselves," Donnie said, "I mean, we just turn right once we get to the top of the stairs and head straight, right?"

"No," Leo chuckled, "How is it that you guys are constantly getting lost? This is your own castle, for crying out loud!"

"Hey!" Mikey said, but he smiled as he said it, "Don't blame us. This place is huge!"

"Take a left as soon as you leave the cellars," Leo directed, still smiling, "Then take the first right. Head straight until you see the diamond suit of armor, then follow where he's looking until you reach the banquet hall."

"Wait. We have to go where he's looking?" Donnie asked, "Can't you be a little more specific? Like, tell us if it's left or right?"

"No," Leo grinned, "You're on a clue hunt, right? So follow the clue!"

"Go where he's looking, got it!" Mikey said, "Come on, Donnie. Let's go, let's go let's go!"

Leo couldn't stop grinning as the two of them not-so-silently marched up the stairs and left the cellar. The suit of armor was looking up, at the balcony. He wondered how long it would take the two of them to realize that the banquet hall was on another floor.

He settled down on the last step just as Mikey let the cellar door slam shut. Now that he knew about the secret room in the cellar, perhaps he could put it to use someday. As long as his uncle didn't know he knew about it, he could hide out there if he ever needed to. And then there was the prospect of the hidden river...if people could use it to come into the castle, perhaps it could also be used to leave the castle.

If he ever needed to, maybe he could use that to his advantage.

Chapter Text

Leo was restless and hungry. He was used to being hungry, but he had no idea what to do about the restless part. Being confined to the cellar alone all day was turning out to be an interesting experience. He had a lot more time to think than he normally had, and even though he had spent many working hours telling himself what he would do if he had the time, he honestly didn't know what to do now that he actually had it.

Although he was hungry, Leo certainly wasn't thirsty. He could have drunk out of the wine barrels, but that would be too easily discovered. Instead he took the candle from its place again and searched around until he found a suitable container and some rope, and then he used this to pull some water from the river down below. It needed to be tested anyway. It turned out to be some of the cleanest water he'd had in years.

He then used the candle to search out all the hidden corners of the cellar and pull together in a pile anything that he thought might be useful to him. Extra cloth, albeit old and dirty, from an old cushion would be perfect for patching up his clothes. He could use those pieces of wood for cooking, and so on and so forth. He carried the pile of potentially and currently useful material into a corner that was normally too dark to see and left them there. He didn't dare risk putting anything into the empty guard room just yet, since the Princes were likely to come down to visit it.

He also used the time to practice his katas with the piece of wood. When dusk finally came around though, Leo was sitting on the last cellar step, bored out of his mind.

That was when the cellar door opened, and his uncle walked heavily down the stairs. Leo quickly stood up to face him.

"Have you learned your lesson, maggot?" He asked.

Leo slowly nodded his head.

"Good," his uncle said, "I have come up with the perfect job for you to replace the one you messed up. As soon as you are finished with all your daily chores, come see me in the dojo."

Leo nodded obediently, and correctly assumed that his uncle was telling him to leave the cellar. He ran up the stairs as quickly as he could, leaving Saki alone in the basement.

It took him longer than normal to get everything done, since much of his daily work outside required light. Thankfully some of his duties, like helping with the cooking, couldn't be done until the next day, and some of them had already been done by someone else. Unfortunately though, Leo realized that the staff would give him twice as much work to do tomorrow.

At three in the morning, he was finally done. Leo tentatively stepped into the dojo, hoping that Saki had left and yet dreading that he had, because if Saki had given up on him tonight there would be severe punishment tomorrow.

Fortunately or unfortunately, his uncle was still there, standing with his back to Leonardo.

"You are late, sloth." He said without turning around, and Leo merely kneeled in apology.

"Do you have no excuse?" His uncle asked.

"None that would be satisfactory." Leo answered without thinking, and he immediately regretted his words. He was basically inviting himself to be punished.

"You are correct," Saki said, surprising Leo with his words and turning to face him. "In some respects, child, you are wise beyond your years. Still, you are late."

Leo braced himself for punishment.

"I will let it slide just this once," his uncle said, "Because I do not have time to hand you your punishment. Let me show you to your new daily task."

Confused, Leo got up and followed Saki through the dojo. On the other side was a room which belonged to Saki and Saki alone, a room where even the Princes were not allowed. Back when their father was in charge and the boys trained in the dojo daily, the room was the King's meditation room. It had been Leo's favorite place in the whole palace.

He wasn't exactly keen on going in there now that it belonged to his uncle, but he followed him in anyway.

It was definitely different. Weapons of all kinds were placed on hooks on the walls, but the crowning achievement was the harsh suit of armor that was displayed on the wall.

"Every night," Saki told him, "You are to clean and polish each and every one of these weapons, until I can see my reflection in every one of their blades. The armor," he gestured to the imposing suit, "must be given very special attention. Should you fail in giving anything in this room its proper attention, the punishment will be severe."

He picked up a nearby gauntlet, from which protruded several sharp spikes.

"And whenever I am wearing this armor," his uncle told him, "You are to call me Master Shredder."

Leo bowed his head appropriately.

Saki stepped towards him and was about to say something else, but a knock on the door halted him.

"Who is it?" He asked.

"It is I, Miyamoto Usagi."

"You may enter," Oroku Saki said, sitting cross-legged on the ground and gesturing for Leo to kneel.

The door opened just as Leo was settled, and in walked the warrior. To Leo's surprise, Usagi looked to be about the same age as himself.

"I have come to give you information I have learned about the intruder in the Prince's room," he began, and then looked pointedly at Leonardo as if asking Saki if he should continue as long as Leo was in the room.

"Speak," Saki said, "The servant will hold his tongue."

"I have interrogated the prisoner," Usagi said, "He has not told me anything about himself or who hired him, but I was able to follow what he left unsaid. I traced the trails he left behind and discovered that he is one of a ninja clan known as the Foot."

"Is that so?" Saki asked, "I have heard tell of this clan."

"As have I," Usagi said, "Truly, Steward Osaki, this is news of an alarming nature. I do not understand why the Foot clan have their eye on the youngest prince, but I assure you that I will take great pains to ensure his safety and that of his brothers."

"See that you do." Osaki ordered, "You are dismissed, warrior."

Usagi bowed and left the room, closing the door behind him.

"You would do well to hold your tongue about this matter, maggot." Saki told Leo, "Usagi knows how to keep matters quiet. If this news becomes common knowledge, I will know immediately that you are responsible."

"As you wish, my lord." Leo answered him.

"Good," Saki said, standing up and gesturing for Leo to do the same, "Now, begin your duties. Once you are done, I want you to immediately report for your morning chores."

Leo nodded obediently, and stood up. He managed to mask his exhaustion behind a grim exterior as he took down the first sword and grabbed a polishing rag from the corner.

By the time noon came, Leo was exhausted. If he had known that he wouldn't sleep at all, he would have tried to catch some sleep when he was alone in the cellar. But he hadn't, and now he had been busy all day. He was right when he thought that the servants would give him extra work to make up for his 'disappearance' the previous day. Whether they had known where he was or not didn't matter, what mattered was that he hadn't done his work. So here he was, grooming the horses in the stables and trying desperately not to fall asleep standing up.

"Are you stableboy as well as armor-polisher?" A voice had asked him, and Leo turned around to discover that the warrior Usagi was directly behind him.

"Sometimes," he answered, "Have you come for a horse, warrior?"

"Yes," Usagi said, picking up a brush and-to Leo's surprise-joining him in grooming the horse, "This is my loyal stead. I have been keeping her here ever since I was called to the palace. It is good to know that she is well taken care of in these stables."

"She is a good horse," Leo commented, letting Usagi take over grooming. He learned a long time ago that it was always best to let the owner take care of their own horse when you were in the same stable with them.

"I must admit that I admire your technique," Usagi said, "Her coat has rarely looked this good in all the years I have owned her. Please, show me how you groom her."

It wasn't an order. Usagi was asking him to show him something, and he genuinely wanted to hear the answer.

"Certainly, warrior." Leo responded, "Let me show you on another horse."

He chose a horse that had yet to be groomed and quickly got to work. Usagi turned out to be a fast learner, following his movements and observing how he worked. When he turned back to his own horse and finished grooming her, Leo noticed immediately that he was using the same motions that he had just taught him.

"This is an excellent method," Usagi commented, "It provides a thorough grooming in half the time. Did you come up with this technique yourself?"

"Mostly," Leo admitted, "I watched the master groomsmen and learned from them."

"My friend, you would make an excellent warrior." Usagi said, "You have a talent which many warriors take years to master."

"And what talent is that?" Leo asked, secretly pleased to be called 'friend'.

"You are quick to take note of the actions of others," Usagi said, "I suppose that is why Steward Osaki takes such an interest in you. Perhaps he will one day promote you, and you may well become a Samauri yourself one day."

"You are mistaken, Warrior Usagi." Leo said, "He is not interested in promoting me above my station. Besides," he said wryly, "The Steward is ninja, as am I."

"I do not understand how you can be so honorable, yet so set on the ways of the ninja." Usagi shook his head good-naturedly, "They are traitors and spies."

But then Usagi smiled, and Leo knew that he had found a friend.

"I must ask you to excuse me, Warrior." Leo said, bringing himself back to the present, "I must hurry and continue with the horses, and then I must go on to the rest of my duties."

"Surely you will rest first," Usagi said, "My friend, I can tell that you are tired."

"Please," Leo said, waving away his concerns, "I would feel better once my duties are complete."

Which wouldn't be until very late that night, but Leo wasn't going to tell that to Usagi.

"Very well," Usagi said, standing up and bowing-actually bowing!-to Leonardo, "It was very nice meeting you. It is not often that my horse has such a good groomsman."

"Thank you," Leo bowed back, "But her healthy condition is largely to be blamed on her owner."

"I thank you," Usagi responded, "But her present coat-"

"Usagi! Yo, Usagi! Are ya there?" Called out a voice, interrupting them, and soon the owner of that voice burst into the stables, "Whew! What's with all these flies? Usagi, I need ta speak with you!"

Leonardo and Usagi both stood at attention as Raphael ran up to them. What was happening? Leo hadn't seen or been near his brothers while they were awake in years, and now in the space of a few days he was running into them everywhere he went!

"What is your command, High Prince?" Usagi asked, bowing.

"Don't leave the palace just yet, Usagi." Raphael said, "We've got a problem."

"If you will excuse me," Leonardo spoke up. Much as he hated leaving, he realized that whatever Raph had run in there for was for Usagi's ears only.

"No no, stay," Raph ordered, "You're the servant who found out about the window, right? And the stuff in the basement. So you can hear this too."

"You are the one who alerted the Guards?" Usagi asked, looking at Leo with something that was suspiciously like admiration.

"Listen," Raph said, "Donnie and Mikey-well, they've been looking all over the house for hidden passages and stuff. They've been at it since yesterday. Anyway, today they found something in Mikey's room."

"What?" Usagi asked, "What did they find?"

"A passageway," Raph said, "And you have got to see where it leads."

"Well friend," Usagi said, turning to Leonardo, "Your chores will have to wait. The safety of the Princes is at stake."

"I'm afraid I must disagree," Leo said, "Your hands are capable, Warrior, and I must finish my work."

"Don't," Raph said, "Look kid, this is important."

Kid? Did his little brother just call him kid?

"It's about Mikey," Raph said, sounding worried, "And I don't trust the guards to know about this. That's why I came to Usagi. And the only reason I let you listen in was because I want you to come too."

"Alright," Leo said, since it was all but impossible for him to get out of this if Raph really and truly wanted him to come, "But Oroku Saki can't know that I was ever there with you."

"Why not?" Usagi asked.

"Please humor me," Leo said.

"Fine," Raph said, "Let's just hurry already!"

The three of them quickly left the stables, and Leo hoped against hope that no one saw him leave. Raph led the way around the castle until he was standing directly under Mikey's window, and then he jumped up and began climbing the vines.

"Are you slowpokes coming or what?" He asked, already halfway to the window.

"This is the method of entry which the intruder used," Usagi said as climbed, "I must remember to destroy it and all other such easy entrances into the castle."

Leonardo was a little slower to follow them, since he hadn't eaten much that day and didn't have as much energy. At last he climbed into the room.

Chapter Text

"Hey, it's you again!" Mikey said, almost knocking Leo out of the window as he ran forward to hug him-actually hug him!-as he entered.

"You brought the servant?" Donnie asked.

"Why not?" Raph said, "He's better than the guards, and he knows how to keep his mouth shut. Besides, Mikey seems to like him."

It was just the five of them in Mikey's room: Leo, Usagi, Donnie, Raph and of course Mikey.

"So where is this passageway you have discovered?" Usagi asked.

"Right over here," Donnie said, stepping towards the bed, "We found it after noticing the symbol of our ancestors carved into the wood by the foot of the bed."

"That seems to be the sign that there's something to find." Raph explained, "Show 'em, Mikey."

"Right!" Mikey said, jumping towards his bed, "Look, all you have to do is left up this board at the bottom of the bed, like this. And then-"

The entire bed suddenly lifted straight off of the ground, and not just the bed but the wooden boards underneath the bed. That left a gaping hole in the ground, which opened up to show them a flight of stone steps.

"-That happens." Mikey concluded.

"So the ninja wasn't after the Prince at all," Leo began.

"He was searching for this passage." Usagi finished.

"Yeah," Raph said, "But it gets better. You should see what we found down there."

"Come on," Donnie said, leading the way with a lamp in his hand.

The five of them all followed him in.

"Everybody watch your head," Donnie said from the bottom, and he pulled a lever. The bed lowered back over the hole, and suddenly they were all in the dark, which was lit only by the light from Donnie's lamp.

"This way," Donnie said, suddenly looking pale in the dim lighting.

Usagi stepped closer to Donnie and followed just behind him, one hand unconsciously on his sword. Mikey was just behind the both of them, while Leo and Raph brought up the rear.

The passage went slowly downward.

"Look at this," Donnie said as they walked, gesturing to the wall, "We are in between floors. This place was built right into the castle, and if you look at all the holes in the wall, part of the reason it was built was probably to spy on the servants and the guests."

He walked over to two eye-holes in the wall and peeked through them.

"I can see the main hall from here," he said, before walking off. Usagi and Leo both looked through the eye-holes as they went past them.

"We are probably behind the paintings which hang from the balcony on the main level." Usagi concluded, "I wonder if anyone can hear us as we speak."

The other four stopped in their tracks and looked at one another. From that moment on, they were much quieter as they walked.

"Here," Donnie whispered as they came to a door at the end of the passage, "This is the reason we asked for you, Usagi."

He opened the door and they walked inside. Raph closed the door behind them.

The inside of the room was filled with gold. There was enough gold coins, gold furniture and gold gilding to take up the light from the single lamp and spread it all throughout the room. But it wasn't just gold that was in the room. There were plenty of other colors as well: there were diamonds and pearls and chests that were closed and probably locked, and purples and oranges and reds and blue. And yet the main color of the room was still gold.

Leo gasped in amazement. He recognized some of the furniture. And the pearls-they were his mother's. The blue cradle near the door had been his, the red one had been Raph's, and the closet in the back behind the golden desk had been the same closet which once held his mother's wedding dress. Maybe the dress was still in there.

"This room is a marvel, but I do not understand." Usagi said, glancing around the room, "Why do you require my assistance?"

"Because of this," Mikey said, taking a piece of paper off of a nearby dresser and handing it to Usagi.

"It seems that all this stuff was supposed to go with Father on his journey," Donnie explained as Usagi read.

"But he hid it in this room instead." Raph concluded.

"Why?" Leo asked.

"Because he never intended to bring them with him," Usagi said, setting the paper down. "He needed an excuse to hide his treasures, so he claimed that he was taking them with him."

Usagi bent over Leo's cradle and took out a toy that was still inside. It was an ivory statue of an elephant, smoothed over so that a child could play with it safely.

"Your father didn't trust his own brother enough to leave these with him." Usagi continued.

"Yeah." Raph said.

"But why would Dad hide these things from his own brother?" Donnie asked.

"Another question is this," Leo said, "How did that ninja know that the King hid his treasures here, and that the entrance to this place was in Mikey's room?"

"A good question," Usagi said, placing the toy back in Leo's blue cradle, "A further question is this: what are we going to do with this knowledge?"

"Maybe we should ask Uncle Saki," Mikey said, opening the drawers of one of the dressers and taking out one of Leo's old toys, "Ooo! What does this do?"

"Well, we know that we're not going to tell this to our uncle." Raph said, as Mikey tried to open the jewel-encrusted egg-shaped thing that he had taken from the drawer, "Dad didn't trust him. Besides, if he knew about this we might just disappear in the night like our brother."

"Your brother?" Usagi asked, confused.

"Raph!" Donnie said, glaring at his brother as if he was going to hit him.

"Look, I don't know alright? But it's possible," Raph said, "All I know is that this stuff was supposed to go with Dad on his trip. But it didn't. And maybe Dad never left either. And maybe, just maybe, Saki offed our brother in the middle of the night too."

"Wait," Mikey said, still trying to open the toy, "You're talking about Leo, right?"

Leonardo shifted uncomfortably.

"Are you speaking of your brother who died as a child?" Usagi asked, "Do you suspect that your uncle-"

"Raph always thought so," Donnie said, and Leo turned to look at Raph with amazement, "Anyway, it's no use arguing over it. He's been dead a long time."

"So, just to be clear, we're not telling Uncle Saki about this," Mikey said, still struggling with the child's toy.

"Yes, Mikey. We've established that a long time ago." Donnie said, a little exasperated.

"I will not tell your uncle about this either," Usagi said, "But I am very glad that you told me about your findings. I must watch your room more closely, Prince Michelangelo. In the meantime, I am going to suggest to your uncle that you are moved to a different bedroom for your safety."

"And watch our uncle," Raph said, "I wanna make sure he's not the reason Dad hid this stuff. Remember, he may be the Steward, but since I am the future King you answer ta me."

"Understood, your highness." Usagi bowed, "And might I suggest that our friend here," he gestured to Leo, "Would also be a good candidate to keep an eye on your uncle."

"It is true," Leo supplied, "As Usagi saw last night, Oroku Saki has asked me to polish the armor in his room by the dojo. I would be in a good position to alert you if I see him planning anything suspicious."

"And have you?" Donnie asked.

"Not yet," Leo said, "But I swear that my allegiance is to you Princes, the true heirs to the throne. I promise to keep my eyes open, and alert you if I discover a threat to you and your throne."

"You do that." Raph said.

"In the meantime, I want to see if I can find out anything interesting in Dad's notes." Donnie said, "Maybe he left a clue somewhere about why he'd hide these things here."

"Just be careful that Saki doesn't discover what you're up to." Raph cautioned.

"Um, can someone help me with this?" Mikey said, holding up the egg-shaped toy.

"Let me try," Leo said, taking it from him. He turned it over and opened the bottom to reveal the wind-up, and after a few twists set it down on the dresser.

"Dude. How'd you know that was there?" Mikey asked.

But Leo didn't answer him. He bent down to watch the toy as the music started, and Mikey bent down to join him.

"So, this thing plays music?" Donnie asked, bending down to join them.

"If that's all it does, why are we watching it so closely?" Raph asked, bending down next to Donnie.

The music crescendoed, and at that moment the top of the egg burst open to reveal the little blue-masked ninja that Leo had always enjoyed watching when he was small. The tiny ninja spun in circles as it went through a miniature version of a kata in time to the music, and at the end of the song it bowed as the egg closed and the music ended.

Everyone let out the breath they had been holding.

"Wow," Mikey said.

"That was amazing!" Donnie said, "I've never seen such technology."

"Pretty cool, I'll give it that." Raph said.

"Truly, a marvel of engineering." Usagi stated.

"Who wants to see it again?" Mikey asked, grinning as he grabbed the egg and began to wind it.

Chapter Text

Leonardo finally finished polishing sometime around midnight. It had been extremely difficult, but he managed to finish all of his chores that day without anyone realizing that he had been gone for an hour around noontime. It helped that he had some incentive to finish them quickly: he had been ordered by Raph to meet with the Princes and Usagi as soon as he was done with his duties, and he was anxious to meet them as soon as possible.

Standing up, Leo carefully put the last piece of armor in its place and softly wiped off any stray fingerprints. With a sigh of relief, he then placed the polishing cloth back in its rightful position and exited Saki's weapon room.

Only to stop at the threshold of the door when Saki himself blocked his exit. His uncle looked like he had just been about to enter the room.

"Maggot," Oroku Saki frowned, "Did you think that you could leave this easily, before finishing your chores?"

Leo bowed. "I have finished, my lord." He said simply.

"I will be the judge of that." Saki exclaimed, pushing Leo to the side as he entered the room, "Let me see your work."

Saki picked up one sword and looked at it intently, shifting it to see it in the light. Then he picked up another sword, and another. He made his way to the suit of armor and studied that carefully as well before turning to Leonardo.

"You may leave," he said with a frown, "But be certain to give me this level of perfection every night from now on, or there will be consequences."

"Yes Master," Leo nodded, and left the room with relief.

It didn't take him too long to get to Raph's room. He knocked on the door twice, and Usagi opened the door for him.

"Where were you?" Raph asked him, not bothering to get off his cozy chair at Leo's entrance, "You were supposed to be here hours ago!"

"I was held up," Leo said, sitting on the ground, "Sorry."

"You have been polishing." Usagi said, wrinkling his nose.

"Yes," Leo said, wiping his eyes to stay awake, "Oroku Saki's suit and weapons."

"Usagi, wake up Donnie and Mikey." Raph ordered, and for the first time Leo realized that the two were sleeping on Raph's bed.

"As you wish, Highness." Usagi said, moving towards the two sleepers.

"I don't know why we've included you in this, servant," Raph frowned, "But since you know as much as you do, you might as well be in it all the way."

"Anything I can do to help." Leo said, struggling to stay awake.

"When was the last time you slept, my friend?" Usagi asked, shaking the two Royal Princes.

"Oh, the servant's here?" Mikey asked groggily, sitting up.

"What took you so long?" Donnie asked, yawning.

"Duties." Leo said, standing up so that he wouldn't fall asleep where he was sitting, "What is your command, Highnesses?"

"Wait. Before anyone gives you a command, I must ask that you answer my question." Usagi said, "You were tired when I saw you this morning, and I know that you were up in the early hours of this morning. When was the last time you slept?"

Leonardo didn't exactly want to tell them, but he didn't want to risk avoiding the topic any longer. It was better to tell them and get it over with.

"The night you discovered the ninja, Warrior Usagi." He said.

"Wait. You haven't slept since then?" Donnie asked, rubbing his eyes.

"Is that normal for servants?" Mikey asked.

"It is for me," Leo was quick to reassure him, "Now, please answer my question. What can I do for you?"

"I think you should sleep," Raph said, getting off his chair, "You're no good to us if you aren't awake enough to think."

Leonardo frowned. "Prince, I assure you-" he began, but Raph cut him off.

"Look, you won't be missing much." He said, "Donnie told us earlier that he couldn't find anything yet about why the King would stash his stuff here instead of taking it with him. Actually, we were just waiting for you because we wanted to search the castle for some more clues."

"At night?" Leo asked.

"That's why we wanted you," Raph grinned, "From what I hear, you know your way around this place. We didn't want ta waste the whole night trying to find a room when you could just take us there. We could, but we don't wanna. But," Raph frowned, "Usagi's right. You're too tired."

"Nonsense." Leo said, standing up, "I am perfectly able to handle anything that is required of me."

"Are you questioning me and my authority?" Raph asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes." Leo replied immediately.

Donnie and Mikey gasped. No one ever talked back to Prince Raphael.

"Huh." Raph smirked, "You're pretty fearless for a servant, you know that?"

"You're not changing the subject," Leo said, "I can take you to any room in the castle, except for the rooms forbidden to servants. But even though I can't get you into those, I can tell you where they are. However, aside from the one in the Banquet Hall, I haven't seen the flag with the turtle symbol in years. Then again, I didn't see the turtle in the cellars until Mikey spotted it, so there might be more hidden in the castle."

"Like the one in my room," Mikey said.

"Exactly." Leo said.

Raph looked at Leo, Mikey, Donnie and Usagi.

"Alright," he said, turning back to Leo, "You tell us how to get from here to the Banquet Hall. But you're staying here to rest up while we search."

"Didn't we already search the Hall?" Donnie asked.

"I didn't." Raph said, "Only you and Mikey. And Usagi's got better eyes than any of us, so he should search too."

"Sounds fun!" Mikey said, "A midnight adventure."

"But without me, can you find your way back to this room?" Leo asked.

"Eh, we'll wake someone up if we need to." Raph shrugged his shoulders, "Now tell us how to get there already."

Leo sighed, and sat down on the floor. "Go down the hall to the right," he began, "Stay in the main hallway until you reach the three hallways, and take the one on the left. Follow it down the stairs and get off on the landing with the giant painting of your Queen Mother. Then just follow that hallway until you get to the large wooden doors that have Steward Saki's coat of arms above them."

"That's the banquet hall?" Donnie asked, "I always thought that was the door to the museum."

"Wait. The giant wooden doors?" Mikey asked, "Dude, I've never come in the banquet hall that way. I've always come in through the front."

"Actually, that's the back." Leo smiled, "The wooden doors are really the front."

"Would you guys stop being so boring?" Raph asked, tapping his foot impatiently, "Let's just go already."

"First," Leo said, "Can you repeat the directions back to me?"

"UGHH!" Raph groaned, "Usagi, you got the directions, right?"

"Of course," Usagi bowed, "Down the hallway to the right, take the left hallway, stop at the landing with the painting of Her Majesty and enter the Hall through the large wooden doors. And to come back, the process would be reversed."

"Good." Leo nodded.

"Now we're going. You," Raph said, stepping towards the door at the same time he was looking at Leo, "Stay here and wait for us to come back. But get some sleep."

He opened the door even as Leo nodded, and Donnie and Mikey jumped out of Raph's bed. Within seconds, the four of them-Raph, Don, Mikey and Usagi-had left the room. And Leonardo, completely wiped, finally let himself fall asleep on the floor of Raph's room.

He felt someone put something on his back. Something warm. Leo was instantly alert, but he had trained himself well enough to keep from moving. Sometimes some of the servants messed with him when he was asleep, and the trick was figuring out what they were up to and then deciding whether it was wiser to move or pretend to still be asleep.

"Do you think we should move him?" Someone asked.

"I don't know, Mikey. We might wake him."

Wait. The Princes? Mikey and Donnie? What were they doing down in the-Wait. He wasn't sleeping downstairs. He was in Raph's room. And someone had just placed a blanket over him.

It was a pretty comfortable blanket.

"Why is he sleeping on the floor?" Raph asked, confused.

"Remember, Prince Raphael." He heard Usagi say, "He is a servant. He would not allow himself to rest on your furniture without your express permission."

Leo finally realized that he should get up. It took all the willpower he had, but he managed to open his eyes and sit up. The comfortable blanket fell off his shoulders, and he instinctively began to fold it. His muscles ached and he hadn't slept enough to make up for the lost night of sleep, but he had enough.

"Majesties and Warrior," Leo addressed them, placing the folded blanket on Raph's bed without raising himself from his knees-he had fallen asleep next to the bed, so he only had to reach over a little-"Did you find anything?"

To his surprise, everyone in the room was staring at him with their mouths open.

"How'd you do that?" Donnie asked him.

"Do what?" Leo asked.

"Dude, you totally just woke up. And you're not even sleepy." Mikey said.

"It's a gift." Leo teased, "But seriously, did you find anything?"

"No." Raph frowned, sitting once more in the chair, "I'm pretty sure we searched all over that room, but we couldn't find anything."

"If there is something to be found, it is very well hidden." Usagi said, "However, it could be that the turtle symbol in the flag is merely coincidental."

"We're going to call it a night." Donnie said, "We'll try again with another room tomorrow night, when everyone is asleep. And maybe I can find some information in Dad's desks about why he left that stuff in that room."

"Yeah, you do that," Mikey said, yawning, "It's getting late now though, so I'm going to bed." He plopped down on Raph's bed, and was snoring within seconds.

"Get to bed too, Don." Raph said.

"Not this time," Donnie shook his head, "You've slept on the chair for the past few nights in a row. Let me have a turn."

"Nuh uh, no way," Raph said.

"Raph, there's no need to keep watch tonight." Donnie said, "Let me have the chair, alright?"

"Both of you can sleep on the bed," Usagi interceded, stepping towards Raph, "It is certainly large enough to fit all three of you. I will take the chair and guard you in your sleep."

Raph looked like he was about to argue, but instead he gave in with a sigh. "Fine."

Leo took this as his cue that it was time to leave, so he got up off the floor. "Good-night, your majesties." He said with a bow, and when Raph returned his good-by greeting with a grunt he quietly left out the door.

Now it was time to go to his corner in the kitchen and get as much rest as he could before the start of the next day. But first, since he wasn't in a hurry to go back to sleep just yet, he might as well check out the Banquet Hall.

Sure, his brothers and Usagi had already looked all over the room. But still...well, he really didn't have a good excuse. He just wanted to join in the search.

It didn't take Leo long to reach the Banquet Hall. Once inside he lit the candle by the door, and judging by how low the wax was, it had already been lit that night by the explorers who had come before him.

The first thing he did was check out the flag which flew the turtle symbol. The flag itself was mounted on a pole on the wall next to several other flags, all of which hung down proudly over the large table. Leo stood on a chair and then jumped from the chair to the ledge that jutted out from the wall, in order to get close to the flag-wait a minute. Why was there a ledge built this high up into the wall? Up until now, he had always thought that this was very convenient for trophies or dusting the flags, but was the real reason for the ledge so that people could get close to the flag with the turtle symbol on it?

Leo took a closer look at the flag and the pole it was mounted on. There was something slightly different about this pole-it was not placed on an equal level as the other flagpoles. This made the flag he was interested in rise just a little higher than the other flags. Maybe if he followed the direction the flag was pointing...yes! It was pointing directly at an old lamp in a niche, straight across from the flags.

"That must be it!" He said.

Jumping down from the ledge and bouncing off the chair he had used to get to the ledge, Leo raced around the table until he was directly across from the flag again.

But something was wrong. There wasn't a lamp there.

With a frown, Leo grabbed another chair and stood on it-wait a minute. There was another ledge here? A higher ledge? How come he never noticed that before? Stepping off the chair, Leo stood on the ledge. Suddenly the lamp and its niche came into view, and that was when he realized: the lamp was hidden. You couldn't see it unless you were right on top of it.

Reaching forward, Leo touched the lamp.

"What's so special about you?" He asked, "Are you another clue?"

One thing was certain, though. The lamp was extremely dusty, probably because no one ever noticed it to dust it. Leo started dusting it with his fingers, only to have the lamp fall into his hands. At that moment the empty spot next to the lamp niche suddenly fell back, leaving an empty hole.

Surprised, it took Leo only a moment to realize that he had found the tunnel. So the lamp, when pulled back, opened up the secret passage! Jumping down, he grabbed the candle that was lighting up the Hall for him and then used the chair to get back up to the ledge.

Then, in such a flurry of excitement that he didn't even think of going back to get his brothers, Leo stepped into the hole in the wall. There was a lever here on the inside, so Leo pulled it and the hole closed behind him, leaving him in the dark with nothing but the lamp and a forgotten passage to explore.

The passage was dusty, but the air was clean so he supposed it must lead out somewhere. Or maybe it was connected to the ducts that piped fresh air into the castle. Either way, Leo was determined to explore this passage on his own while he had time. Maybe it was allowing himself a little too much freedom, after all he had a full day of chores tomorrow morning, but these past few days had been more enjoyable for him than any time he could remember. What harm could a little exploring do before bedtime?

"And anyway," he thought, "I'm technically the High Prince, so this is technically my castle. I can do what I like and explore however much I want in here."

That wasn't what the cook or the stable-master or Saki would think, but it was enough for Leo to rationalize his current adventure. The tunnel seemed to go on for a long time, twisting and turning in different directions, and Leo was starting to wonder just how many tunnels there were in this castle and where they all led when something happened that nearly made him drop his candle.

And that something was that he turned a corner and found himself face-to-face with a red-haired girl holding a candle of her own.

Chapter Text

If Leo was surprised, the red-haired girl was surprised even more. With a shriek she stumbled back, and the candle she was holding fell and went out.

"Who-who are you?" She asked, stepping back into the shadows.

"I was about to ask you the same thing," Leo said, bending down to pick up her candle off the floor, "How'd you get in here? It obviously wasn't how I got in."

He held the candle to his own until it lit, then offered it to the girl.

"You're a palace servant," she said, stepping forward and taking the candle. As she did, Leo noticed her clothing.

"And you're from the village outside the gates." He concluded.

"So..." she said, "It looks like we both would be in trouble if anyone found out we were in here."

"Looks like it." Leo said, "So, care to explain?"

"Only if you do." The girl said.

"Alright," Leo said, "I'll go first. I came in from the Banquet Hall."

"Wait," the girl said, "The Banquet Hall? That's where this leads?"

"Yeah," Leo said, confused, "So, how'd you get in?"

"A hidden passage in a guardhouse," she said, "The old one standing just outside the palace gates. I found the entrance last summer."

"So, this leads to the old guardhouse." Leo said.

"No," the girl shook her head, "It leads to the library. A different passage leads to the guardhouse."

"Wait, what?" Leo asked, "There's more than one passage?"

"Of course there is," the girl said, "Don't you know the stories?"

"No," Leo said.

"Oh. You grew up here in the palace, then." The girl said, "Well, back in the village we have this rumor. I didn't actually believe it until last summer, but they said this place was full of secret passages. So far I've discovered two, and tonight I discovered this one too, so that makes three. Sometimes the entrances are hidden, even in the already secret passage. To get to this one I had to push the correct stone in the middle of another passageway."

"Wow." Leo said. Just how many passages were there in the palace?

"So, this is your first time exploring then?" the girl said.

"Sort of," Leo said cryptically. This girl seemed nice, but she was still a stranger. "I've been noticing hidden things in the castle lately."

"You mean the turtle, the symbol of the Royal Family, right?" the red-head said.

"Yeah," Leo said, confused.

"Thought so. In the village, the elders say that symbol means good luck." The girl said, sticking out her hand, "I'm April. What's your name?"

"I-I don't really go by my name here," Leo said, shaking her hand, "Most people just call me boy or servant."

"That's stupid." April said, "Just tell me your name."

Leo opened his mouth, but all that came out was something that Usagi had called him.

"Friend." He said.

"Alright, if that's what you want to be called." April said, "Well Friend, maybe we can search for the treasure together."

"Treasure?" Leo asked, surprised.

"Yeah. Don't tell me you haven't heard about the treasure! Wait. I guess you haven't." April frowned, "Wow, you palace folk don't know anything, do you? Anyway, the rumor is that there's an entire room full of treasure hidden here in the palace somewhere. They say the King left his most prized possessions there instead of taking it with him on his last journey."

Leo's mouth dropped. What? This girl was talking about the very room he had been in earlier that day. Or was it yesterday now? It didn't matter. What mattered was that the village apparently knew about that room.

"Are-are you sure?" He asked.

"Well, that was the rumor anyway." April said, "I didn't think it was true either. But then I found that secret passageway in the guardhouse, and I thought hey, maybe the treasure is real too! So I've been looking for it for a year now. It's supposed to be a whole room filled with gold!"

"But," Leo said, "Why would the King just leave all his most prized possessions here?"

"There's a rumor about that too," April said, "They say-not that I believe it of course, that'd be treason, but anyway-they say that the King didn't trust his own brother. That's why he hid all his stuff."

"But why hide it here?" Leo asked, "If he didn't trust him, why not take it with him?"

"Yeah well," April frowned, "The story goes that the King knew he would be attacked on the road, so he wanted to ensure his treasures would be safe."

Leo's mouth fell open.

"What?" He asked.

"Remember," April said quickly, "I don't really believe that stuff. It's just that-well, if I can find just one piece of gold in these tunnels, it would help out my family. A lot. I'd share it with you of course, if we found it together."

"Do you have any idea why the King thought he would be attacked?" Leo asked.

"Just the rumors," April said, "Hey, listen Friend. If you want to talk more about this, why don't we meet at the abandoned guardhouse at noon tomorrow? Or today, I guess. Right now I'd like to continue exploring before it's too late and I have to head back home."

"Um, sure." Leo said, "Mind if I join you?"

"Why not?" April smiled, "Let's go the way you came. Be sure to tap the stones along the way in case there's another passage. And if you see the lucky turtle sign on the wall anywhere, let me know."

The two of them slowly made their way back to the Banquet Hall, tapping the walls as they went. April liked to talk about her life in the village, but she interrupted him several times to point things out.

"See that?" She said, pointing to two holes in the wall that Leo hadn't noticed, "Those are hidden eyeholes. There's almost always a catch or spring you have to find before you can see through them. While they're open anyone can hear you, so you have to be quiet."

She continued walking down the passageway, "I think one of the Royal Ancestors liked to spy on the gossiping servants or something."

Finally they reached the end of the passage, and April listened very carefully to make sure that there was no one in the room on the other side of the hidden entryway. Once she deemed there was no one there, she pulled the lever and the passage door appeared.

"So this is the Banquet Hall," April said, poking her head into the room, "Very nice."

"We aim to please." Leo said, stepping out of the hole onto the ledge.

"You aren't going to explore some more?" April asked.

"I wish, but it's late." Leo said, "I'd better get back before anyone notices I'm gone."

"Yeah, same here." April said, "See you tomorrow, Friend."

"You too!" Leo said, jumping to the ground, not caring that the wind blew out his candle.

April closed the passageway from the inside, and Leo straightened the room, putting the candle back in its place. Then, still walking in the dark, he left the room and began heading toward the kitchens.

Only to have a light thrust into his face.

"Who's there?" A voice asked, and suddenly the light pulled away at the same time Leo recognized that voice.

The light-bearer was Prince Raphael.

"Highness," Leo said, surprised.

"You," Raph said, sounding just as surprised, "You just walked out of there, but I just came from there. Why didn't you tell me?"

"Tell you what?" Leo asked.

"That you found the passage." Raph said, "How else could you just walk outta there?"

Leo looked at his brother. Raph was alone, which meant that he had left his brothers sleeping upstairs with Usagi. It also meant that he had somehow remembered the route to the Banquet Hall.

"Yes," Leo smiled, "I found it."

"Then show me!" Raph said, practically dragging him back to the room.

"Alright, alright!" Leo said, wondering if April could already be at the other end of the secret passage by now, "Once we're in, I have something important to tell you."

"Why not tell me now?" Raph asked, closing the Hall door just as Leo set out the chair and used it to reach the ledge.

"There's a hidden lamp here," Leo said, ignoring his question and pulling on the lamp, "It opens the passage."

The door opened, and Leo saw with relief that April was no longer in view.

"Cool," Raph said, handing Leo his candle and jumping up the chair to join him, "Let's see where it goes!"

As soon as Raph was in the hole with him Leo kicked the chair back and stepped inside to pull the lever that shut the door.

"Right," Leo said, taking the lead down the passage, "But now that we're in, there's something you should know."

"What?"

"I met someone down here." Leo said.

"You're kidding." Raph said.

"Nope." Leo said, and he retold his adventure, only slightly abbreviated to leave out April's name. By the time he was finished, they were at almost the same spot where Leo had met April.

"So this girl you met told you about the village rumor," Raph summarized, "And you're going to meet her tomorrow to talk about it more."

"Exactly." Leo said.

"And I'm going with you." Raph said.

"You can't do that!"

"Why not?"

"Well, you're a Prince. You'll be recognized. And we're going outside the Palace, so that's hardly suspicious for the High Prince, isn't it?"

"Then let me borrow some of your clothes." Raph said, "Problem solved."

"Sorry, but this is all I've got." Leo said.

"You've only got one pair of clothes?" Raph asked.

"Yeah. Why?" Leo asked.

"Nothing." Raph said, looking away confused, "But I'm still going. This is my dad we're talking about."

Leo groaned. "Fine," he said, "But you can't tell anyone about this. Or we'll both be in trouble. And we'll get Ap-the girl in trouble as well."

"Fine, I won't even tell my brothers." Raph said, "I'll meet you tomorrow ten minutes before noon at the Palace gate. Guess I'll just borrow some of Mikey's clothes when he's not looking to make my disguise."

"Sounds like a plan," Leo said, "The shabbier, the better."

"With Mikey, that's not a problem." Raph said, "Hey, what's this?"

They had reached the end of the passage. There was a lever built into the wall just before where the passage opening should be, and without even pausing Raph pulled it and the passage opened.

"Oh. This is the library." Raph said, poking his head out and looking into the gilded room overflowing with books.

"Next time, maybe we should wait and listen to make sure there's no one on the other side of the door." Leo cautioned.

"Hey, wait a sec. If you met a girl from the village, how'd she get into the passage from here?" Raph asked, jumping out of the passage door and into the room, "This is my Dad's old study. The forbidden library."

"I think she said that she got into the tunnel from another passageway," Leo said, staying in the tunnel, "We're going to have to check the tunnel more closely."

"What are you doing still standing there?" Raph asked, "Aren't you coming?"

"I'm not allowed in there, remember?" Leo asked, "Anyway, what if the passage closes on us and we can't find it again? I can't be seen coming out of the room if I'm not allowed to go into it."

"Good point," Raph said, heading back to Leo, "Let's go back the way we came. We can explore this room more with the others tomorrow."

He climbed back into the tunnel, but just as he had one foot in it something caught his attention.

"Hey, what's this?" He asked, reaching out and grabbing one of the books off the shelf, "I didn't know Dad was into wrestling!"

"High Prince, focus!" Leo said.

"I'm taking this with me," Raph said, pulling the book down off the shelf, "Alright, I'm ready."

He stepped inside the open passageway and Leo closed the door.

"Let's get back now," Raph said, "We have to get some rest."

"Agreed," Leo said, starting to feel tired again, "And remember, don't tell anyone about our little outing tomorrow."

"Wouldn't dream of it," Raph said, "We're going to get to the bottom of this, kid. One way or another, we're going to figure out what happened to my dad."

And mine, Leo thought.

Chapter Text

"I can't believe I'm actually wearing this," Raph said, picking at the worn out clothes he was wearing as they headed to the guardhouse, "Do all peasants wear clothes like this?"

"It's not that bad," Leo said.

"Bad?" Raph said, snapping his head towards him, "This is great! It's not stuffy or heavy and it ain't too itchy. I want all my clothes ta be made this way."

Rolling his eyes, Leo stepped off the pathway and grabbed a handful of dirt from the ditch next to the road.

"Here," he said, tossing the dirt onto Raph, "You're too clean."

"Well gee, why don't I just roll in the stuff?" Raph asked sarcastically.

"Not a bad idea, it would definitely be an improvement." Leo smirked, "But it might make us late."

Raph huffed. "Ya know, anyone else who said that would get thrown in jail. Alright then Fearless," he said as the guardhouse came into view, "Where's this girl we're supposed ta meet, anyway?"

"I'm right here," April said, stepping out of the bushes that separated the pathway they were on from the guardhouse, "And to my understanding, it was just going to be the two of us meeting, wasn't it?"

"Heh," Leo said, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand, "Well, uh, you see-"

"Are you crazy?" April shouted, "Don't stand talking here! We could all get in big trouble if anyone hears us. Let's go inside. You too, muscles."

The two of them followed her inside the abandoned guardhouse, and as soon as the heavy wooden door had closed behind them April sat down on the dirt packed floor.

"Alright now," she said, gesturing for the other two to sit down with her, "What's the big idea bringing someone else with you, Friend? I thought you said you would get in trouble if anyone knows about the...wait. He does know, doesn't he?"

"'Course I know about the passages," Raph said, feeling cranky at having to sit on the bare floor. And at the fact that April was talking about him like he wasn't even there.

"He's been searching the castle with me," Leo said, "We're trying to figure out what happened to the King."

April shifted uncomfortably. "Be careful," she said, "Saying that could get you arrested."

"But it's true." Raph said, "Saki ain't the King, he's only the Steward. And we know that it's 'cause of him that the King's missing. You know that."

"So that's it," April said, looking at them very carefully, "You want to overthrow him. You know, if I even hinted that I agreed with you about Lord Saki, my entire family could be put in danger."

"We're not asking for you to join us," Leo said, "We just want information."

"Stuff you villagers know that we don't." Raph said.

"Then we can leave, and be out of your way." Leo finished.

"Oh no you don't," April said, "You can't."

"What?" Raph asked.

"Don't you get it?" April asked, "If I tell you what you want to know, it could get back to them that I was the one who told you. On the other hand, if I don't tell you, you could arrange for someone to find me searching the passages. Well, it's not gonna happen! I'm not going to put myself in danger, and I will not be blackmailed! Besides, we're just going to keep running into each other in the secret passageways. We can't just be out of each other's way."

"What do you want to do?" Leo asked.

"I want an agreement," April said, "And an exchange."

"Explain." Raph said.

"Fine," April said, "I want to be a part of your plans, because if my life is on the line I at least want to know when you guys are in trouble. So, I'm joining you on your quest from now on."

"What? You can't be serious!" Raph said.

"Hold on, Raph." Leo said, holding up a hand and actually stopping the High Prince from speaking any further, "What about the exchange?"

"I don't know if I can trust you yet," April said, "And besides, I don't want to give you something for free. I want to exchange information for work. Muscles here would be really useful around my dad's farm."

"WHAT?!" Raph cried out, standing up, "That's ridiculous!"

"No, it's not." Leo said, "You're saying that if we do some work for you, you'll give us information?"

"Right," April nodded, "And then I'll know that I can trust you."

"But how can we trust you?" Raph asked, "What if you're only doing this for some free labor?"

"Because we can just go and tell everyone that she was in the palace," Leo said.

"Right!" April chirped, "But if you do that, I get thrown in jail and you don't get your information. And good luck trying to get anything out of the other villagers."

"How do we know you really have what we want?" Raph asked.

"Aww," April said, "Is the big scary servant afraid of a little work around the farm?"

"What? No!" Raph said, "It's just that-well, it's just that-"

"Listen hothead," April said, standing up. Leo quickly stood up with her. "I'm in this with you anyway. I was ever since I found our Friend here in the passageway. We'll just all incriminate each other unless we work together. But if you want what I know, the only way you'll get it is by doing as I say. Besides," she bopped Raph on the shoulder, "You've got the muscle for it."

"What do you say, Raph?" Leo asked, looking at the Prince for permission.

"Well, when ya put it that way..." Raph said.

"Great!" April said, "I'll show you what to do. But first," she stuck out her hand, "I'm April. And since I heard our Friend here call you Raph a few times, I'm guessing that's your name. So now we know each other."

"Um, ok." Raph said, taking April's hand and shaking it. It was a far cry from all the bowing he was used to getting. "Nice ta meet you."

"Likewise," April said, "Now come on! The house isn't going to fix itself."

"I told you that you'd be great at this," April complimented, handing Raph a hammer.

"Yeah yeah," Raph said, taking a rusty nail from her as well, "All I did so far was fix the window."

"We've been trying to close that thing for years," April said, "And all you did was slam it shut? Seriously Raph, you're pretty strong."

Raph grinned, and turned back to his current task of placing the window shutter next to the window.

"Um, guys?" Leo said, looking up at the position of the sun in the sky, "I think I've been away from my duties for too long."

"What!" Raph asked, slamming the nail in violently with the hammer before turning to face Leo, "You're just gonna leave me here?"

"You said you were free all afternoon," Leo said, "But if I don't do some work soon, I won't have any dinner."

"Oh, rough." April said, "Did you at least start on making the fence?"

"Yup," Leo said, "I'll be back later to finish it. In the meantime-"

"Just go," Raph said, turning back to his work.

"Right," Leo said, and he turned to leave.

"Don't worry, Raph." He heard April say as he walked away, "I'll ask my friend Casey to join you. I can always pay him with bacon."

"There's bacon?" He heard Raph ask.

By the time Leo returned after working in the kitchen, the fields, the cellar, the attic and the stables, April's house was looking a lot better. Raph even seemed to be enjoying himself. He was sweating up a storm, the sleeves of his outfit were rolled up and much dirtier than when he'd put them on, and he was smiling in a way that Leo hadn't seen in years. There was another kid there, he must have been that Casey person April was talking about, and he looked just as dirty and happy as Raph. The two of them were up on the roof, probably fixing the shingles.

"Hey, Fearless! Come meet Casey," Raph said as soon as he had caught sight of Leo, "This bonehead's pretty handy with the tools here."

"Yo! Cool to meet you." Casey said, waving, "Hey, who do ya think is faster at nailing stuff, me or Raph?"

"Um," Leo said, "I don't know."

"That's cool," Casey said, "'Cause I'm faster. Just watch!"

"In your dreams, Casey Jones!" Raph said.

"Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to introduce these two," April grumbled as she came up to Leo, "Geez Friend, you look terrible! What did they have you do?"

"The usual," Leo said vaguely, "I'm ready to get back to work on that fence."

"Are you sure?" April asked, looking at him critically, "You don't want to rest first?"

"Thank you, but I'm fine," Leo frowned.

"Alright, if you insist." April said, "Oh, and we're almost done for today. You will not believe how much work those two did."

"So, would you mind meeting in the guardhouse later?" Leo asked, "We're still curious about the information."

"Sure thing," April said, "Although, you might want to introduce me to Raph's brothers first."

"What? Why?" Leo asked, surprised.

"Raph might have mentioned them to Casey once or twice," April said, "But seriously, if we're going to work together on this, you're going to have to be honest with me. His brothers are looking for the room too, right?"

"Not exactly," Leo said carefully, "They're looking for the truth behind what happened to the King."

"But they're looking for the room too," April said, "Right?"

"Um," Leo said, looking around them to make sure they were alone aside from Raph and Casey, "Maybe it's best if we talk about this in the guardhouse."

"Alright," April said, "We'll all meet at the guardhouse at midnight. And let Raph know to bring his brothers, will you?"

"Got it." Leo said.

April nodded, and then hurried away to do whatever it was she needed to do, leaving Leo by the pile of wood that was supposed to become the fence. So of course, he got to work right away.

As soon as Raph and Casey were done with the roof, April directed them to help Leo. The completed product looked a little sloppy at intervals because of their help, but Casey said it added character to the fence, and Raph agreed. As a reward for all their hard work, April presented them all with a chicken dinner, cold drinks, pie and the promised bacon. Raph wolfed his meal down so fast that the food almost didn't touch his plate. Leo hadn't seen his brother this enthusiastic about eating in a long time.

When the meal was over and it was time to leave, Leo practically had to rip Raph and Casey apart.

"Come on," he reasoned, "We'll both be missed in the Palace unless we leave right now!"

When he finally managed to get Raph on the road back to the Palace, he had to interrupt Raph's enthusiastic tale of some cool things he and Casey were planning in order to tell him what April had said to him.

"Alright," Raph said, sounding more like the High Prince and less like the guy who just fixed up April's house, "So, we're gonna have to tell her everything, even that we found the room. I'll let Usagi know as soon as we get home."

Leo snuck Raph in through the kitchens, and after playing a little avoid-the-guard, managed to get them both safely back to Raph's room.

The look on Donnie, Mikey and Usagi's faces when they entered the room was priceless.

"What on earth have you been doing?" Donnie asked, standing up.

"Tell ya after I'm cleaned up," Raph said, grinning like a maniac as he raced for the bathroom.

"Friend," Usagi said, looking at Leo, "Why is the High Prince dressed like that? And just why is he all dirty?"

"Don't tell him, Fearless!" Raph called out from behind the closed door, "I'm gonna do it!"

"Dude, did you see how happy Raph looked?" Mikey asked.

Leo sat down on the floor and crossed his legs. As soon as Raph was out of the bathroom, they were going to explain everything. And Usagi was probably going to be mad that no one told him about the girl in the passageway in the first place. Wait a minute...Raph didn't even tell them they found the passageway, did he?

Oh man. This was going to be a long evening, wasn't it?

As soon as Raph was out of the bathroom, he asked the others if they had any luck searching the castle that day.

"Nope," Mikey said.

"We searched the Banquet Hall again, and a few other rooms," Donnie said, "But we didn't find anything."

"Well, maybe ya didn't look hard enough," Raph said, "'Cause last night, Fearless here found the passageway."

And just like Leo predicted, that opened up a very large can of worms.

Chapter Text

By the time everything had been talked over and everyone was on the same page, it was already late into the night. Leo had to leave the group to complete all the evening duties which he let pile up, including his nightly job of polishing Saki's armor.

"If I'm not back by midnight," he told his brothers and Usagi, "Go to the guardhouse without me. You can fill me in on all the details later."

It seemed to take him longer to get everything done, and Saki was especially concerned about the quality of his armor that night, so by the time Leo finally got to the old guardhouse it was long after midnight.

"About time you showed up," Raph mumbled as he walked inside.

"I was just telling their Highnesses and the Warrior Usagi the tales from the village." April said as Leo sat down.

"Yeah!" Mikey said, and then because he spotted a look on Leo's face he added, "She didn't know we were princes until Usagi told her."

"Seriously though, knowing that, it all makes sense." April said, "I mean, I did think that His Highness Raphael was a little too clean today. And look!" She showed Leo something small and golden that was in her hand, "High Highness Donatello brought me a coin from the Treasure Room. This will really help my family."

Donnie blushed, but didn't say anything.

"April has agreed to help us join us in our quest to discover what happened to the King." Usagi explained.

"Think about it," April said, "If the Treasure Room is real, then so are the stories about what happened to the King. And since you three are the King's Sons, you deserve to know what happened."

"So, what happened?" Donnie asked.

"Well, I already told you about the rivalry, right?" April said.

"Right!" Raph said, "You said that Dad and Saki were rivals."

"That's the rumor," April nodded, "Anyway, the story in the village is that the King loved his brother, but for some reason he didn't trust him. When he received that distress signal from the Daimyo, he knew that he'd have to leave the Palace. But he didn't like leaving all his stuff behind, because he knew that Saki would try to take the throne. So the King hid his most prized possessions."

"I'll bet that the villagers know about this because he hired some of them to help move his treasure, instead of relying on the palace servants." Donnie added.

"Makes sense," Usagi commented, "The Steward likely had his own spies among the servants."

"So why didn't the King take his treasures with him on his journey?" Mikey asked.

"Like I told our Friend here in the passageway," April gestured to Leo, "The story is that the King knew he was going to be attacked."

"How would he know that?" asked Donnie.

"And if he knew that was gonna happen, how come he left us with Saki?" Raph asked.

"Alright, so I've got to warn you," April said, "These are just the stories. Village rumors. They may or may not be true."

"Sure looks like they're all true." Raph grumbled.

"It all has to do with a clan called the Foot and their leader, called the Shredder." April said.

They all looked at her.

"What?" Leo asked, worried.

"That is the same clan as the ninja in young Michelangelo's room," Usagi frowned, "They are not a worthy clan."

"Did you say the Shredder?" Leo asked.

"Yeah," April said, "The Foot clan has been terrorizing the country for years, much longer than I can remember. They just don't come near the palace, so I've never worried about them. Anyway, word came to the King that the Shredder was going to attack him on the road. That's why he didn't bring any of you Princes on the journey with him. And that's why he hid his treasures-it was in case he didn't make it back."

"So," Raph said, "All we need to do is find the Shredder, and ask what he did ta our dad!"

"Raph," Donnie said, "We don't know if it was actually him. Those are the village rumors; it could have been normal bandits, like we thought this whole time."

"It wasn't." Leo said.

Everyone turned to him.

"What?" April asked.

"I've been polishing Saki's armor every night," Leo explained, "And the first thing he told me was that whenever he was wearing it, he was to be addressed as Master Shredder."

"No way," Donnie said.

"What did the armor look like?" April said quickly, "Does it have a gauntlet on the left hand?"

"Yes it does," Usagi interjected, even as Leo nodded, "I once caught a glimpse of it in his private room."

"Oh my gosh," April said, "That-that is the symbol of the Shredder!"

Raph stood up. "Are you kidding me?!" He shouted.

"Wait," Mikey said, "How can our Uncle be the leader of the Foot? Isn't he from the Hamato clan, like us?"

"That doesn't matter," Raph said, "What matters is that the head o' this Kingdom is the leader o' the Foot! And he offed our Dad!"

"You don't actually know that," Leo said, "He may still be alive somewhere."

"Anyway, Lord Saki is not the head of this Kingdom." April said, looking at Raph, "You are."

"The maiden is right," Usagi said, "By all laws you are the heir to the throne, High Prince."

"So, all we need to do is ask our Uncle to step down." Mikey said, "After all, he's only supposed to be Steward until Raph is old enough to be King, right? So all we need to do is tell everyone that Raph's old enough."

"That's not so easy, Mikey." Donnie said, "Do you think Saki will just hand over the Kingdom to Raph? Especially after what he did to our Dad, his own brother, to get it?"

"And what he did ta Leo." Raph said. This time, none of his brothers argued with him. It seemed a lot more possible now that Saki would have gotten rid of the oldest Prince.

"So, what do we do?" Mikey asked.

"The Townsfolk are behind you, Raph. Well, most of them anyway." April said.

"But that is not going to put you on the throne." Usagi said, "Your uncle has an army, and we must presume that he will be able to call to arms everyone in the Kingdom."

"Then we must find another army, a bigger one." Leo said, "Usagi, what do you think about asking the Daimyo for help?"

"The Daimyo?" Donnie asked, "Wouldn't he side with our uncle?"

"Perhaps he would," Usagi said, "If he recognizes your uncle as the leader of this Kingdom. However, if we can convince him that your uncle is in fact the Shredder, his aid would be invaluable."

"So it's settled then," Donnie said, "We'll go to the Daimyo."

"So, we send him a letter explainin' everything?" Raph asked.

"No," Usagi said, "A letter from you to the Daimyo will certainly be read by your uncle. I must go and deliver the message myself."

"Wait, what?" Mikey asked, "That's like, a billion miles away or something!"

"Why you?" Donnie asked, "We could always send another messenger-"

"You do not understand," Usagi shook his head, "The message cannot be written, or Lord Saki will find a way to read it. The messenger must be one of our number. Due to my rank I can gain an audience with the Daimyo, so I must be the one to leave."

"But how will he believe you?" April asked, "You just said that you can't give him a written letter."

"You could use the Seal." Leo suggested.

"Good idea, I forgot about the Seal. Let's do that." Raph said.

"The seal?" Donnie asked.

"What seal?" Mikey said.

"The Seal is a token," Usagi explained, "It is something for the King to send to another King or Daimyo for aid, instead of using a letter. It is said that the Seal is usually hand-delivered by a messenger."

"Basically, it's a distress signal in disguise." Raph added.

"It should be enough proof for the Daimyo." Usagi said, "It is only used in times of great distress."

"April, can ya show me the way to the Library using the passage?" Raph asked, "It'll be a faster way ta get to the Seal."

"Sure thing, Highness." April said, getting up.

She walked up to the back wall of the guardhouse and pushed on one of the old lantern holders that was still bolted to the wall. Instantly a portion of the stone wall swung inwards, and there was the passageway.

"Let's go!" April said, taking a candle from Usagi, who had anticipated that she would need one.

"But what if Saki realizes that the Seal thingy is gone?" Mikey asked.

"He doesn't know what it is." Leo responded, just as the passageway door closed behind Raph and April.

"Wait, he doesn't know?" Donnie asked.

"Certainly not." Usagi said, "If everyone knew what it was, the token could be copied. It must be something recognizable to other leaders, but it must also be able to get through enemy lines in case the messenger is detained and his belongings stolen."

"Makes sense," Donnie said, "So, why does Raph have a different seal than Saki?"

"Lord Saki has no seal," Usagi said, "At least, not this kind of seal. Your uncle is a Steward, but the Seal is only used by the King, and only in extreme circumstances. And in any event, it is highly unlikely that Lord Saki would ever find the need to use it."

"But how does Raph know what the Seal is, when Uncle Saki doesn't?" Mikey frowned, "I mean, we were really little when Dad disappeared, and Leo was only four when-"

"Ask Raph yourself, Mikey." Donnie quickly interrupted, "Maybe it was hidden somewhere that only the High Prince sees."

"Perhaps." Usagi said. He looked over at Leo curiously, "I wonder, Friend. How is it that a servant such as yourself knows about the Seal?"

"Oh. Uh, I hear about a lot of things." Leo said, "Most people forget I'm in the room when I'm working."

"Hm." Usagi looked thoughtful.

The four remaining occupants of the room then fell silent, and waited. At last the hidden passageway door opened, and out stepped Raph and April.

"Got it!" Raph said, a giant grin on his face.

"What is it? Where is it?" Mikey asked, stepping practically in Raph's face to see what new thing he brought with him. Donnie was also looking more than a little curious.

"This!" Raph said, drawing a sword from its scabbard. A sword that Mikey and Don didn't realize he was even wearing.

It was just as bright and polished as the last time Leo had seen it, so very long ago.

"It's a sword?" Mikey asked, frowning at it.

"Yup!" Raph said, and he held it out to Usagi, who immediately took it. "A good warrior is always holding onto his sword, right? So no matter what happens, the warrior carrying this Seal won't lose it."

"I certainly won't," Usagi said, eyeing the sword as if it were made of solid gold, "This is quite a marvel, Highness."

"Look at the craftsmanship on that thing!" Donnie said, eyes wide, "This must be over a hundred years old."

"And look!" Mikey said, "It's got the turtle symbol on the blade!"

"Right!" Raph said, "See, that's the important part. That's how the Daimyo will know it's the real deal. That, and the words on the other side."

Usagi turned over the sword, and on the other side of the blade was an inscription in another language.

"What does it say, Prince Donnie?" April asked, looking at Donatello expectantly.

"Oh! Um, I uh...I don't know every language, April," Donnie said nervously, "Um, let's see here..."

"It asks fer help," Raph said, "And it says that if whoever gets the sword doesn't give any, he's gonna be cursed and lose his crown."

Everyone in the room looked at him like he had two heads.

"What?" Raph asked, "I didn't make it up. That's what it says."

"How do you know that?" April asked.

"Leo told me, a long time ago." Raph said, "He probably heard it from Dad. See, Leo was always doing stuff like that-talking his head off about whatever Dad told him."

Standing behind Usagi, Leo smirked.

"But how would you remember that?" Donnie asked, "You were only three years old!"

"Come on, Don, think about it." Raph said, "This thing is the Seal. It's supposed ta be this big secret thing, something only the Kings are supposed ta know. Leo made me swear not to tell anyone that this was it, unless there was an emergency. 'Sides, I've always had a good memory."

"That's a really good memory." Donnie mumbled.

"So," April said, "That's all we need to convince the Daimyo, right?"

"Correct," Usagi said, taking one of his own swords out of its scabbard and sheathing the Seal in its place, "I will leave first thing in the morning."

"But how are you going to leave?" Leo asked, taking Usagi's now scabbard-less sword from him in an act that might be called a servant reflex, "Won't the Steward get suspicious?"

"Do not worry, my Friend." Usagi said, "I will tell him that I am on an errand which involves uncovering the Foot clan, the same clan whose members have been sneaking into Prince Michelangelo's room. And that is the truth, is it not?"

"Yeah," Raph nodded.

"But if you leave," April said, "Who will watch over the safety of the Princes?"

"That is a good question." Usagi said, looking everyone in the eye, "The soldiers cannot be trusted to hold your best intentions over those of your uncle. I would advise you not to do anything to provoke the Steward while I am gone."

"But what if Saki finds out that you went to the Daimyo?" Donnie asked, "What do we do then?"

"In that event," Usagi said, "You must deny any involvement in my actions. It is imperative that you stay in your uncle's good graces while I get help."

"But," Mikey said, "What happens if-"

"Prince Michelangelo," Usagi said, placing a hand on the young Prince's shoulder, "I promise you that I will be back within this castle long before the army I bring reaches the borders of your land. I will make sure that you and your brothers are brought to safety, my young Lord."

And Mikey nodded.

Early the next morning, Leo was already at work in the stables when Usagi came in.

"You are an early riser, I see." Usagi noted with a smile, "I did not ask you to saddle my horse, good Friend."

"Good luck on your journey, Warrior Usagi." Leo responded.

With a nod, Usagi mounted his stead. The scabbard that held the Seal seemed just a little brighter than the one that did not.

"I have noticed that you are often overworked." Usagi said.

Leo stopped shoveling manure. "It is nothing I can't handle," he said quickly, before returning to his work.

"Be that as it may," Usagi said, "I would like to ask of you an additional favor."

"Anything." Leo said, turning to face Usagi.

"Are we alone?"

"Yes." Leo said, "No one else comes out here until after daybreak."

"Then I will dare to speak freely." Usagi said, "Watch over the Princes. If their uncle even so much as considers them a threat to himself, they are as good as dead. If you learn that they are in danger, I ask that you take them out of the palace and bring them to the Daimyo's realm. They will be safe there."

"You don't even have to ask." Leo said, "I will protect them with my life."

"Good." Usagi concluded, "Now, I must depart. Thank you, my Friend."

Leo opened the stable doors, and within seconds Usagi and his horse disappeared into the morning darkness.

Chapter Text

"What are you doing here?"

Leo looked up from grooming Saki's favorite horse. There was Raph, standing in the stable doorway.

"Grooming." Leo responded, "Did you come to ride? I can saddle your horse for you if you like."

"What? Uh, no." Raph said, stepping inside the stables, "I came ta be alone. There's not supposed ta be anyone in here right now."

"I can leave if you like." Leo offered.

"Nah, I'm good." Raph said, leaning against a stall door. There was a book in his hand. "So. Did Usagi leave already?"

"Early this morning," Leo answered, "Before the sun was up."

"Right." Raph said, "Well, I'm gonna read."

He held the book up and started opening it.

"There's better light outside," Leo said.

"I'd rather not." Raph said, "Mikey and Don will both see me."

"What's wrong with that?"

"You try getting stuck reading in the same room as those two." Raph said, "Mikey'd make fun of the book, and Donnie'd make it boring with charts and stuff."

"Is that the wrestling book from the library?" Leo asked.

"Yup." Raph said, "Now let me read, alright?"

"Of course, your majesty." Leo said, turning back to the horse.

The silence lasted only about ten seconds.

"Hey, wait a minute." Raph frowned, "This ain't about wrestling."

Leo looked at him curiously.

"Whoa, come see this!" Raph said, practically running towards Leo, "Here, look! But don't...don't read it outloud."

Leo put down his brush and took the book from Raph with concern.

Leonardo gave Donatello wood, nails and a hammer today, and the child built a miniature catapult.

"What?" Leo asked, accidentally kicking the horse's stall with his foot as he quickly stood up. He read some more:

I was unaware of this until after the children were asleep. I must have a talk with Leonardo in the morning.

Raphael has lately been attempting to teach Michelangelo how to walk. They played in the gardens today, and presented me with several worms as presents.

Leo turned to Raph.

"High Prince," he said, handing the book back to his Raph, "This is something that your brothers need to see."

"And April," Raph said, taking the book, "She's in on this too."

"Right." Leo said.

"Look, we need ta talk about this right away," Raph said, "Go get Ape from the village, and bring her to the guardhouse right away."

"As you command," Leo said, immediately rushing out of the stables.

Once everyone was assembled in the guardhouse, they went through the secret passage to the Banquet Hall and out into the corridors of the castle. Leo thought that Raph was leading them into his bedroom, but apparently Raph thought this was something that required the utmost secrecy. He led them to Mikey's room. There was no one guarding it, so they walked right on in and Mikey opened the secret passage underneath his bed. A couple minutes later, and they entered the Treasure Room.

"Wow," April said, awestruck, "So this...this is the Treasure Room!"

If it was possible, the gold and jewels had somehow become more magnificent than the last time they were here.

"But why are we here, Raph?" Donnie asked.

"Yeah!" Mikey said, "You didn't tell us or anything."

"It's 'cause of this," Raph said, placing the wrestling book on a solid gold desk, "I found it in the library."

"It's, um, very nice." April said.

"It's the King's diary." Leo said.

"What?" Donnie asked.

"Why would he hide it there? Better yet, why was Raph reading?" Mikey asked. Raph glared at him. "Heh heh, just kidding bro!"

"He must have had a reason to hide it." April thought aloud.

"Agreed." Donnie said, "So, what's the plan Raph? Do we read it now?"

"I guess," Raph said, "Do ya think this will tell us something we don't already know?"

"It might," Leo said, "Should we read it page by page, or skip to the end?"

There was half a beat of silence until-

"Skip to the end." Everyone chorused.

Raph opened the book backwards, so that the last page was the first one they all saw.

"Alright," he said, "Here goes. Michelangelo said his first word today. He was calling for Raphael-"

"Wait, what?" Mikey asked.

"This is a diary, Mikey." Leo said, forgetting to call his brother 'prince'.

"No, I mean, my first word was Raph's name?" Mikey asked, "That's really cool."

"Raph," Donnie asked, "Is there anything on that last page about why Father would have to hide his journal?"

"No," Raph said, looking at the page, "It's all about family stuff."

"Maybe we'll have to look harder." April said, "Although, this is really cute." She pointed to the page, "It says here that you liked to fall asleep in the King's arms, Mikey."

"Good old Dad." Mikey smiled.

"Wait." Leo said, "Everybody, quit. Do you guys hear that?"

Everyone became silent. There was a strange sound-almost like a small wave.

"I hear something all right," Raph said.

Before anyone could stop him, he raced to the Treasure Room door and flung it open, leaving the diary on the table. The sound intensified, like a giant murmur, and just as Leo realized what it was Raph was in the corridor at the peepholes, looking through them down into the hallway below.

"What's going on?" Mikey asked.

Donnie just raced to another set of peepholes and started looking.

"There's a giant commotion in the main hallway," Raph whispered, "Something's happening; the soldiers are gathering arms. We've got to get back to my room before they start looking for us."

"Why would they be looking for us?" Mikey whispered loudly, following Raph as he broke away from the peepholes and started up the stairs.

"Because whatever's going on is important, Mikey." Donnie said, yanking the lever to open the passageway door under Mikey's bed, "And we're the Princes."

"Um, guys? I know this is bad timing, but just so you now, there's another turtle symbol." April said, pointing to the ceiling.

"That's great! We'll check it out later." Leo said, hurrying after Donnie.

"Come on, guys! Hurry it up!" Raph called out, already at the top of the stairs.

The rest of them followed him, and they only waited around in Mikey's room long enough for the passageway trapdoor to fully close. Then they all rushed to Raph's room.

"Alright," Raph said as soon as Leo had closed the bedroom door, "Fearless and April, you two get in the bathroom."

"Why?" April asked, even as Leo headed for the bathroom.

"'Cause you ain't supposed ta be in here and if I'm right we're gonna have company, that's why." Raph said, "Now get going!"

Someone pushed Leo from behind, and the next thing he knew he was on the other side of the bathroom door with April.

"And remember," Leo heard Raph say, "You guys gotta let me do all the talking here. Got it, Mikey?"

There was a knock at the bedroom door.

"You may enter." Raph said, in his 'official' voice.

Although Leo couldn't see who entered, it must have been soldiers based on the sound of their boots.

"Royal Princes," someone said, "I bring grave news. War is imminent on the Kingdom."

"Who is the enemy?" Raph asked.

"They are known as the Purple Dragons," the soldier said, "We just received word that they have encamped within the surrounding woods."

April, who was practically leaning on Leo to listen through the door, gave a startled gasp.

"WHAT?!" Raph cried out, and by the sound of it he jumped to his feet, "How could an enemy get that close without us knowing it?!"

"I do not know," the soldier responded, "But I assure you, you are perfectly safe within the Palace walls."

"What about the villagers?" Raph asked, "Are they being evacuated? Protected?"

"Raphael, calm yourself." This was a new voice. Saki's voice. Leo frowned. "General, you are dismissed."

"Yes sir."

"I am handling it, High Prince. Rest assured, the villagers are being brought onto the Palace grounds as we speak."

"Good," Raph said, "So, what's the plan?"

"Let me discuss that with you privately." Saki said, "Come, Raphael. Donatello and Michelangelo, remain here."

Still in the bathroom, Leo and April waited until the bathroom door opened.

"They're gone," Donnie said, taking April's hand and leading her to a chair, "Don't worry, April. I'm sure your family will be alright."

"I-I hope so," April said, "Do any of you know anything about these Purple Dragons?"

Mikey and Donnie looked at Leo, but he shook his head. "I've never heard of them," he confessed.

"This is bad, this is so bad," Mikey said, pacing the room, "Usagi is out there! What if he runs into those guys? What if he doesn't know they're in the woods?"

"I'm sure he's fine, Mikey." Donnie said, placing a hand on Mikey's shoulder, "He left hours ago, so I'm sure he left before they got here."

"Besides, Usagi is a skilled Warrior." Leo said, "Even if he did run into them, he wouldn't have any trouble getting past them."

"Right," April said, "Don't worry about him, Highness. I'm more worried about the villagers. We have no weapons, and some of us live farther away from the castle-"

"I'm sure they're fine, April." Donnie said, "If the Purple Dragons haven't attacked us yet, that means they're still pulling themselves together. That gives all the villagers the chance to get to safety."

"I'm still worried about Usagi," Mikey said, "What happens when he gets back from the Daimyo, and we're still at war with these guys?"

"We'll worry about that when we come to it," Leo said, "In the meantime, the castle is preparing for war. Raph is going to be pretty busy. April, we'll need to get you back to your family so they aren't worried about you. Prince Donatello and Prince Michelangelo, you're going to have to start preparing to do whatever Raph tell you to do."

"In other words, nothing." Donnie frowned. "Saki's going to take charge of this, and Raph might help a little, but we're just going to have to sit here and wait. At least if we were soldiers, we'd be able to fight."

"That's not true," Leo said, "You're a great strategist and inventor, Prince Donatello. Maybe the best in the kingdom. You're a great asset to your brother, and he knows it."

"That's right!" April said, "You can come up with something no one else could even think of, Prince Don."

Donnie blushed.

"Okay, so here's the plan." Mikey said, surprising everyone with his initiative, "Donnie, you take April to wherever they're keeping the villagers, and then start planning cool attack things and castle defense systems stuff for Raph. And you, you're coming with me."

"Wait, what?" Leo asked.

"I'll explain on the way," Mikey said, taking Leo by the shoulders and starting to push him towards the door, "Don't wait up for us, guys! This might take a while."

"You'd better do as he says, Friend." Donnie sighed, "I hope you're not planning anything stupid, Mikey."

"Who, me?" Mikey asked innocently, already opening the bedroom door, "Whatever gave you that idea?"

"No. No no no no no!" Leo said, taking a giant step back, "This is stupid, Mikey!"

"Come on," Mikey said, "It's not like I'm asking you to go with me. Just saddle this guy up, and I'll be back before you know it!"

'This guy' happened to be one of the fastest horses in the stable.

"Going after Usagi is a bad idea," Leo said, "You're more likely to run into the enemy army than to find him. Because he's long gone."

"I'm not going to run into the enemy!" Mikey said, "Look, I've got my village clothes on. Everyone will think I'm a villager."

"That's not the point!"

"If you won't help me saddle him up," Mikey said, "Then I'll have to assume that you refused a direct order from one of the Royal Princes."

"I'm still not doing it." Leo said, "You're putting yourself in danger, Prince, and I can't let you do that."

"I'll tell my uncle on you." Mikey said.

"You can't do that!" Leo said, "Do you know how badly I'd get punished just for speaking to you?"

"Look, the point is that I'm the Prince here," Mikey said, "So you have to do as I say, right?"

"Right." Leo said grudgingly.

"So saddle the horse already!" Mikey said.

"Fine." Leo grumbled, "But if I can't stop you, I'm coming with you."

"What?" Mikey asked.

"That's right." Leo said, placing the saddle on the horse, "And you can't change my mind about it."

Mikey grinned. "Got it."

Within a few minutes the horse was correctly saddled, and Mikey hopped up.

"Come on!" He said, reaching an arm towards Leo.

"I think I'd better get on after we leave the Palace grounds, in case anyone sees me." Leo said.

"Psh. Why bother? They're all so busy inside, they're not going to look out in this direction at all." Mikey said, "Not one guard bowed to me as I came out here, remember? So no one's paying attention."

"Not yet," Leo shook his head, "Let's go over to the front grounds. That's a wide open area, so it's probably where they're setting up all the villagers. We should be able to leave out the front gate while everyone else is coming in. Once we're out, then I'll get on."

"Sounds like a plan!" Mikey said, bouncing in his saddle. "Come on, let's get going!"

Mikey rode his horse from the stall to outside the stables, and waited while Leo closed the stable doors.

And all the while, Leo knew that this was a really, really bad idea.

Chapter Text

As soon as they were out of sight of the palace gates, Leo climbed up behind Mikey on the horse and together they rode into the woods.

"Alright," Mikey said when they came to a crossroads, "Now, which way to the Daimyo do you think Usagi took?"

"Probably the direct route," Leo said, "He's on official business and he wants to get there fast, so I doubt he'll take any of the longer ways."

"Unless he was being followed." Mikey offered.

"Prince, why would he be followed?" Leo asked.

"Well, he told the Steward that he was searching for stuff about the Foot clan, right?" Mikey asked, "So maybe Saki had him followed because of that."

"Maybe," Leo said, "But I still think he took the direct route."

"So that's where we're going!" Mikey said, taking the path on the left.

"Wait! Don't go this way," Leo cautioned, "If the Purple Dragons are smart, they'll already be watching all the main roads."

"Nah," Mikey said, continuing down the road, "They're probably just busy setting up camp or something. Now hang on tight! We're going to gallop. We gotta catch up to Usagi."

"Let's just get through these woods as fast as we can," Leo mumbled.

The horse began to go faster and faster until they were in a gallop, and suddenly-almost too fast for Leo to see what happened-the saddle broke. Mikey slipped off with it sideways, and although Leo managed to hold onto him and slow his fall Mikey's weight ended up pulling both of them to the ground.

The horse, meanwhile, kept on running.

"What-what just happened?" Mikey asked, sitting up.

"Get down!" Leo shouted, pushing Mikey to the ground, "Listen, whatever you do, don't tell anyone who you really are," he whispered.

"What?" Mikey asked.

"Just trust me!" Leo whispered.

"Alright, you snail fodder! Get up."

Leo slowly stood up, and Mikey quickly followed.

The road they were on was now surrounded by at least twenty rough-looking armed men and women.

"What's going on?" Mikey asked.

"We've got you surrounded," the roughest, biggest looking guy said. He was probably the leader. "Say hello to the Purple Dragons, kiddies."

"You cut the saddle, didn't you." Leo said. It wasn't a question.

"Of course we did." The leader said, "We were gonna steal that horse like you two villagers did. Or maybe you didn't steal it, you were just gonna run to the neighbors for help. It doesn't matter. We lost the horse, so you'll have to make up for what we lost with manual labor."

"That doesn't sound fair," Mikey said.

"Oh, it's fair all right." The leader said, "That is, fair to us Dragons. Tie 'em up!"

"Hun, why don't we send them back to the village as a message?" Someone asked as Leo's wrists were being tied behind his back.

"Because you never know when someone might be worth something." The leader responded, "And besides, at least one of them knows how to ride a horse. Put them both in the prison; I'll deal with them later."

Rough hands lifted Mikey and Leo off the ground, and suddenly they were off the path and being carried through the woods.

"You know," Mikey called over to Leo as they went further and further away from the path, "I am really, really sorry I got you into this."

The prison was a structure that sat in the middle of a clearing, where it could be watched on all sides. When Leo and Mikey were brought inside, one of the Purple Dragons grabbed a weapon from a rack on the inside wall and brandished it in from of one of the cell doors.

"Now don't anybody get any ideas," the Dragon said, apparently talking to whoever was inside the cell, "Anyone tries to escape and they'll get it good!"

The cell door was unlocked and opened, and someone shoved Leo and Mikey in.

"Here ya are, slimeballs. Get used to your new home." Someone said, and the door clanged shut behind them.

"We'll leave you ta get ta know each other," the Dragon with the weapon said, "Sleep tight!"

And with various pitches of unfriendly laughter, the three Dragons who had thrown them in the cell walked heavily out the prison door, slamming it behind them.

"Um, hi?" Mikey said, looking at all the people in the cell with them.

There were at least five prisoners, not including the new arrivals, and all of them looked dangerous. There was a giant, who looked like he was strong enough to lift up the back wall of the castle, and there was a creepy guy who kept staring at them from the corner. An old man in a cloak was standing just behind the giant, and the remaining two prisoners looked just as wicked as the Purple Dragons. Those two might have once been bounty hunters.

And all these cellmates were staring at them, sizing them up.

"Alright," the giant said, crossing his arms, "Which city?"

"What?" Leo asked.

"Which city?" The creepy guy in the corner asked, "Don't make us say it again, boy."

"We're not in a city," Mikey said, "We're outside the village."

"Which village then?" The giant asked.

"Children," the man in the cloak said, "Let me explain. This prison travels from place to place, and we have been to many villages and many cities. But we do not always know where we are."

"What? That's terrible!" Mikey said, and to Leo's horror, he raced over to the old man's side and gave him a hug, "We're outside the village by the Palace."

"Mikey!" Leo said, stepping close to the young Prince, "Please excuse my brother. He can be a little enthusiastic sometimes."

"It is alright," The man with the cloak said, just as Mikey let go, "Leatherhead, you may relax. These children offer us no threat."

The giant, who had been hovering close to Mikey, took a step back.

"The Palace." The giant named Leatherhead said, "Then we have traveled a long distance."

"It has been a long time since I have laid eyes on it," the cloaked man said, "I originally came from this area, myself."

"Don't tell them anything about us," the creepy guy in the corner said, "They're only going to spill it to the guards the first chance they get."

"No we won't!" Mikey protested.

"Mikey, let me do the talking, alright?" Leo whispered.

"Okay, but we need to come up with a way out of here." Mikey said, "So don't we all need to talk about that?"

One of the bounty-hunter-looking guys scoffed, and the creepy guy started laughing.

"Escape?" He said, "There is no escape."

"Some of us have been here for a long time," Leatherhead explained, "I myself haven't seen the other side of that cell door in ten years."

"Ten years?" Leo asked, "You don't even get out to move the prison?"

"Nope." The creepy guy smiled, "The Purple Dragons take care of that for us. Keep dreaming, kid." The creepy guy turned away from them, "I'm going to get some shuteye. Anyone wake me and they're dead."

Mikey shivered, and Leo pulled him close protectively.

"Do you miss your home, little one?" The kind man in the cloak asked.

"Well, yeah," Mikey said, "But I don't miss it a whole lot, 'cause I haven't been gone long enough."

"At least your brother is here with you." Leatherhead said, looking at Leo.

"What? Oh, um, yeah," Mikey said, "Yeah, we're totally brothers! Totally, totally brothers!"

Leo smacked him in the stomach with an elbow to get him to shut up.

"I can see the family resemblance," Leatherhead said, surprising Mikey, "Still, if you came in here alone, littlest one, I would have thought you belonged to a higher station in life. Your hands haven't seen the amount of labor that your brother's hands have seen."

"He's the youngest," Leo was quick to explain, "We kind of spoil him. But he does his fair share of the work in the kitchen."

"The kitchen?" The man in the cloak asked.

"He's one of the best cooks you'll ever meet." Leo said with pride.

"Really?" Leatherhead asked.

"Yeah!" Mikey said, looking at Leo as if to ask, 'How did you know that?' "When we get out of here, I'm gonna make you the best meal you've ever tasted!"

"I am glad to hear it." Leatherhead said, "I can see why your family does not give you too much work in the fields, young one. Yours is an exceptional personality."

"What is your name, Child?" The cloaked man asked.

"Mikey." Mikey said.

"And yours?" Leatherhead asked, looking at Leo.

"I'd rather keep that to myself for now," Leo said truthfully.

Leatherhead nodded his understanding.

"Tell me," he began, very carefully, "Since we have not been here for a long time, how are things at the Palace these days?"

"They are as well as can be, considering that the Purple Dragons are about to attack." Leo answered.

"Yeah," Mikey agreed.

"And the Princes? How are they doing?" The cloaked man asked.

"They're good," Mikey said, "High Prince Raphael is-"

"Wait. The High Prince is Leonardo," Leatherhead interrupted, "Is it not?"

"Um, no." Mikey said, "Not anymore."

"What?" The cloaked man asked, "Has Oroku Saki chosen Prince Raphael to lead over his brother?"

"Um," Mikey said, turning to Leo.

Leo took the hint and answered the question for his brother.

"The High Prince Leonardo," He said, speaking his own name for the first time in years, "Was declared dead about ten years ago."

"What?" Leatherhead asked.

The cloaked man bowed his head, and one of the two scary tough guys-who Leo thought hadn't been listening-took off his hat.

The creepy man in the corner started laughing, still facing the wall.

"Serves him right," the creepy guy said, "He was probably a spoiled brat anyway."

"Do not speak ill of the dead," Leatherhead chastised, "Young ones, this is a terrible blow. Tell us, how did he die?"

"In his sleep." Mikey spoke up, "That's what they said, anyway."

"It would seem that Saki did not keep his promise to keep the Royal Children safe," the cloaked man said.

"You know about that?" Leo asked.

"My boy, everyone knows about that." Leatherhead said.

The mood seemed to blacken and the black seemed to stiffen. Leo couldn't bear it for much longer, so he straightened himself up.

"Listen," he said, "Are you sure there's no way out of here?"

"We have tried everything." The kind man in the cloak said.

"The cell doors are stronger than they look," Leatherhead explained, "The Purple Dragons have reinforced the bars."

"Well, we're going to try harder." Leo said, "There's no way I'm going to let these Dragons take us from our home, Mikey."

Chapter Text

"Would you like me to tell you a story?" The man with the cloak offered, looking at both Leo and Mikey.

"Um," Mikey said, looking at Leo.

"A story would be great," Leo said, patting Mikey on the shoulder, "You listen while I think up a plan to get out of here."

"Alright," Mikey said, sitting himself as comfortably as he could on the prison floor, trying to put himself as far away from the creepy guy as possible, "What kind of story is this?"

"It is a tale that was handed down to me by my father and his father before him, about one of my very ancestors." The cloaked man said, "Once, a long time ago, there lived a young Knight who was in love with a beautiful woman-"

Leo tuned the story out, despite the fact that he really wanted to listen to it. But the story was being told so that Mikey would forget where they were, and Leo couldn't afford to forget. He needed to find a way out of here.

He tested the bars on the door, each and every one. Then he tested the walls of the prison, careful to avoid the other prisoners. The back wall must lead directly out of the prison, but there were guards out there, and unless all the prisoners could escape at once the guards would easily stop any escape attempt. The side walls, if he remembered what he saw when they came in, were attached to the cells on either side of their own.

The floor was wooden and it was above the actual ground, but if they made any tunnels they would be spotted as soon as the Dragons lifted the prison to move it. If they could manage to dig a tunnel out without being noticed, the prison was being guarded on all sides, so once again they all needed to leave the prison at once or they would be overwhelmed.

There was an entire rack of weapons within the prison itself, but it was only accessible if you were on the other side of the cell door. So if they could escape through the cell bars, they would automatically have that small arsenal of weapons at their disposal.

Leo walked back to the bars again, and tested them once more.

"Leatherhead," he said, calling the giant's attention away from the story, "Did you say that these bars have been reinforced?"

"They have," Leatherhead said, "We have attempted to escape more than once, young one. The Dragons have learned not to take us for granted."

"Could you break these bars if they weren't reinforced?" Leo asked, turning to look at him.

"Without question." Leatherhead responded.

"Then tell me," Leo said, looking at him, "Are the cells next to us reinforced as well?"

"Not to my knowledge. Why do you ask?"

Leo smiled. "What do you say about breaking through the wall into the cell next door?" He whispered.

Leatherhead stared at him for a moment, then he smirked.

"That is an excellent idea," he whispered back, "It would be easy for us to escape from there. We will have to wait until after the next guard comes to check in on us. Then we will be left alone until morning."

"Alright," Leo said, "In the meantime, let's test the walls for their weakest point."

"Agreed," Leatherhead said, "But let me caution you, young one. Do not tell anyone else of this plan, not yet. We do not want to raise any false hopes." He looked pointedly over at Mikey, who was completely engrossed by the cloaked man's story.

"Point taken." Leo said, "Let's get started!"

The two of them went through the prison, their hands hovering and pounding over every inch of both side walls. Aside from some taunting by the creepy man in the corner, no one took any notice of their actions. Mikey and the cloaked man were both too occupied to notice, and the other two prisoners looked they they had fallen asleep.

"This one." Leatherhead said, smiling-actually smiling!-as his hands rested over a certain spot on the wall.

"Are you sure?" Leo asked, looking where the giant's hands were.

"Oh, yes. This is definitely the weakest spot." Leatherhead pounded it with his fist once more, as if to prove his point.

"Then all we have to do now is wait for the Dragons to do their checkup." Leo said.

Leatherhead nodded.

The wait for the guard seemed forever. During Leo's wait Mikey fell asleep, leaning against the cloaked man. The cloaked man also fell asleep, along with the creepy man and the other two prisoners. Leatherhead looked like he was asleep up against the wall, but Leo could see that he had his eyes half-open.

Finally the guard entered, and Leo pretended to be asleep as well. The guard held up a candle and tried half-hardheartedly to peer into the cell, and then left. As soon as the Dragon was gone, Leatherhead stood up and walked over to the spot they had memorized as the weak spot.

"Here, I'll help you-" Leo said, standing up, but Leatherhead shook his head.

"Oh no, I've got this." He said, and to Leo's surprise, he punched at the weak spot with his bare hands.

The entire wall shook.

He punched again, and once more the wall shook.

Again and again Leatherhead punched the wall with his bare hands, until finally there was a small hole in the wall.

"Good," Leatherhead said, waving his hands to try to take away some of the pain, "The hard part's over."

And he resumed punching.

When the hole was large enough that Leo felt he could fit through it, he stopped Leatherhead.

"Hang on," he said, "Let me go through first. I can clear debris from the other side."

"Good idea," the giant said, and he helped Leo through the hole.

As soon as Leo was on the other side, he moved away some of the larger debris that had fallen from the hole. If Leatherhead was going to fit through here to break down the bars, Leo would make it easier for him to punch his way in.

"Stand back," Leatherhead warned, and Leo obediently stepped back so that Leatherhead could resume punching.

While he was standing out of the way, Leo looked around. The cell was eerily similar to the one they had just left, but it seemed bigger because it was empty. The bars did look a lot plainer, and Leo walked over to them to test them. His hand went out, and he pushed against them a little-and with that push the entire cell door slipped open.

Leo stood there for a second. The door was unlocked?

Leatherhead was still punching away on the other side of the wall, so Leo walked out of the cell and tapped on the bars of the cell that Leatherhead was in.

"You can stop now," he said, and Leatherhead looked up at him in shock.

"How did you-what?" He asked.

"The door was unlocked," Leo smirked, "So, where are the keys to this cell?"

"Over there, in the corner." Leatherhead pointed, so Leo casually walked over and got the keys.

"It was unlocked?" Leatherhead asked.

"Yup." Leo said, unlocking the door.

"All this time, and the cell next door was unlocked..." Leatherhead repeated.

Leo threw the cell door open.

"Alright, everybody out!" He said.

"Hmmm...what?" Mikey asked groggily, "Are we leaving?"

"I don't believe it." The cloaked man said.

"Wait, what?" The creepy man asked, standing up, "How did you get that door open?"

"We'll explain later," Leatherhead said, taking Mikey by the hand and pulling him out of the cell, "Right now, we need to come up with a safe way to get out of the Dragon's camp."

"Can't we just walk out of here?" One of the tough bounty-hunter looking guys said, grabbing a sword off the weapon's rack.

"I'm all for that," the other tough bounty-hunter guy said, "But where do we go?"

"Do you think there's a map in here somewhere?" Mikey asked, looking for one underneath a sword on the weapon's rack.

"Something tells me that is extremely doubtful since we are in a prison, young one." The cloaked man said, a small smile on his face.

"Boy," Leatherhead said, turning to Leo, "How do we get out of these woods?"

"The fastest way would be by following the road." Leo explained, "In one direction it leads to the castle, and in the other it leads to the Daimyo's realm."

"Then that is where we should go." The cloaked man said.

"Hey wait a minute, who made you the leader?" The creepy man asked the cloaked man.

"If you don't like what he has to say," Leatherhead said, staring at the creepy man, "Then you will have to answer to me."

"It is smarter to take that road," The cloaked man said, "In light of the fact that there is a war brewing on the castle. Do you agree, my friend?"

The creepy man huffed and crossed his arms, but said nothing.

"Good." Leatherhead said, "Now that that's settled, how will we know which direction to take once we find the road?"

"Oh, that's not too hard." Mikey said, "My bro-um, my other bro-is really smart about stuff. He said that some kind of mushroom grows on one side of the tree but not the other, so if I'm ever lost all I've got to do is find the side with the mushrooms and follow it home. Well, as long as I'm on the road. If I'm off the road I have to follow stars and stuff."

"Huh." The creepy guy said, "Is this true?" He looked at Leo.

"Yup." Leo said. He never doubted Donnie's skills.

"Well then." Leatherhead said, "It seems that all we need to do is find the road."

"In the dark, while avoiding the Purple Dragons." The creepy man said.

"Right." Leatherhead concluded, "So, everyone grab a weapon. Except you, Mikey."

"Aww." Mikey whined, "Come on! I can fight."

"I'm not going to take a weapon either Mikey, if it makes you feel any better." Leo said.

"We'd better hurry," the cloaked man said, "Do either of you boys remember the way from here to the road?"

"No," Mikey said.

"Yes." Leo said.

"Wait, what? How could you remember that?" Mikey asked.

"There's no time," Leatherhead said, "Children, stay inside. We'll head out first and deal with the guards surrounding the prison. Once they're knocked out, we'll have to leave fast if we want to stay one step ahead of the Purple Dragons."

And so despite Mikey's protests, Leo and Mikey remained in the prison while the others left the building. Within the span of a few minutes, the cloaked man opened the door and beckoned them outside.

"Quickly now!" Leatherhead said, ushering Mikey past an unconscious guard so fast that he probably didn't see the guy there, "It won't be long until the others realize what happened. Which way?"

"This way," Leo said, and he lead the way out of the clearing that surrounded the prison and back into the woods.

After what seemed like a long time, they finally reached the road. Once there, Mikey silently pointed out the mushrooms growing on the side of a tree, and it was obvious which direction lead to the Palace.

"Right," The cloaked man whispered, "Now, on to the Daimyo."

"We must be careful not to walk on the road itself, in case the Purple Dragons are still watching it." Leatherhead pointed out, "Keep the road in your sight, but do not walk too close to it. And keep your eyes open for any Purple Dragons."

"Wait," Leo said.

"What is it now?" The creepy man asked.

"We're not going with you." Leo said.

"Yeah," Mikey said, "Our home is that way." He pointed backwards.

"Children," The cloaked man said, "Are you certain that you wish to go that way by yourselves?"

"We'll be fine," Leo said, and Mikey nodded.

"Good luck then," the creepy man said, waving his newly-acquired club in a farewell salute.

"Come with us to the Daimyo," Leatherhead suggested.

"Nah," Mikey said, "Besides, they'll miss us back home."

"Alright." The cloaked man said, "Go home to your family. But be careful, and stay in the shadows."

"We will." Leo said, "Good luck on your journey!"

"Good-bye, children!" Leatherhead said, hugging Mikey.

"Wait!" Mikey said, "Can you give a message to Usagi for me?"

"To whom?" Leatherhead asked.

"Usagi," Mikey said, "He's a friend of mine who went to see the Daimyo. Can you let him know about the Purple Dragons and that there might be a war here soon? He doesn't know about it yet, but it's important."

"I will seek him out and give him your message, young one." Leatherhead promised. He looked at the cloaked man, who was standing next to him, and understanding passed between them.

"I also promise." The cloaked man said.

"Thanks!" Mikey whispered loudly, "I owe you one. Good-bye! Oh, I almost forgot! What's your name?"

The two tough guys and the creepy guy were already walking further into the forest, but apparently the creepy guy wasn't too far away to hear the question.

"The name's Slash," the creepy guy said, and then he turned around and walked away, content not to look back again.

"I meant my new friend." Mikey mumbled.

The cloaked man chuckled.

"Like your brother," he said, "I would like my name to be kept hidden for now. However," he smiled, "You may call me Master Splinter."

And then he gave them one last farewell, and the five former prisoners of the Purple Dragons all walked towards freedom. Leo and Mikey, on the other hand, started to walk in the opposite direction.

Chapter Text

"You know, I'm really glad I had that nap back in prison. Otherwise, I think I'd be very tired right about now. You know, since it's so late and-"

"Mikey, quiet down." Leo interrupted, stopping in the forest and signaling Mikey to do the same, "We're not home yet, and we might need to get past some of the Purple Dragons to get there."

"Why?" Mikey asked, "They're not going to be out here at this time of night, right?"

"Mikey," Leo groaned, "Did you forget that we literally just escaped from them? They're going to be out searching for us, if they haven't started already."

"Oh, right." Mikey said, falling into step behind Leo as the two started moving again, "I kinda thought they'd be after Master Splinter and Leatherhead and the other guys instead of us."

"Maybe," Leo said, "But they don't know which way anyone was heading. And besides that, they're going to attack the Palace if they haven't already, so there's probably going to be more Purple Dragons the closer we get to the Palace."

"Oh man, I didn't think of that." Mikey said, "That means they probably won't let us in the main gate, since the enemy can just follow us in. So how are we going to get back inside?"

"That's what we're going to find out," Leo said, "But we have to be very quiet."

"Okay," Mikey whispered.

They walked a little more in silence, keeping the road in sight to their left, and Leo stopped them every once in a while to listen to the sounds of the forest.

"So, where are we going?" Mikey whispered.

"We're going to check out the Palace defenses," Leo whispered back, "To see if we can sneak in over the wall or something."

"Yeah, but won't the Purple Dragons be able to sneak in that way too?" Mikey asked.

"Yes," Leo sighed, "But it can't hurt to try. Maybe there's a way in that they haven't found yet."

Suddenly, he stopped. Turning around, he grabbed on to Mikey and yanked the both of them to the forest floor, covering Mikey's mouth with his hand as he did so.

Maybe Mikey would have asked Leo why, but at that moment they both heard crunching sounds that definitely didn't belong to a forest animal.

"You think they came this way?" Someone asked.

"That's what the boss thinks," another someone answered, "Keep your eyes open. They can't hide in these woods forever."

The crunching sound of the Purple Dragons stomping in the woods came closer and closer, and one boot stepped so close to Leo that he could have reached out to touch it.

The boot stopped.

"Drat this job," the Dragon who owned the boot said, "It's too dark to see anything here. Why couldn't we have a lantern or something?"

"'Cause that'd tell them we're coming." The other dragon said, "Now come on! We've got to bring back at least one prisoner or Hun will have our heads."

"Yeah yeah," the Dragon said, and the boot finally moved away from Leo, "You said that last time about the pudding."

Leo and Mikey stayed on the ground, listening to the two Dragons move through the woods. When they couldn't hear them any longer, Leo stood up and helped Mikey up with him.

"That was a close one," he said, shaking just a little.

"You know," Mikey said, "I've been thinking. The Dragons don't know about the secret passageways, right? So all we need to do is sneak into the old guardhouse, open the secret door and BAM! We're back in the Palace."

"Mikey, that's brilliant!" Leo said, "Come on. Let's hurry."

The two of them raced through the forest as fast as they dared, occasionally stopping to listen for the sound of anyone else who shouldn't be with them. Finally, they made it to the edge of the forest. But before Mikey could even think about stepping into the clearing between the woods and the Palace, Leo yanked him to the ground.

"This is bad," Leo said, lying down next to his brother, "This is very, very bad!"

"Oh man," Mikey whispered, trying to get himself as low as possible to blend in with the forest more, "They've camped out in front of the gates!"

It was true. In front of them, where there should just be empty space, was an entire army. There were no campfires, which is probably why they didn't notice the camp earlier, but there were plenty of tents and dozens of tough-looking men and women. The Palace gates were closed, something that neither Mikey nor Leo had ever seen before, but the Dragons didn't seem bothered by it. The old guardhouse in front of the gates looked intact, but Leo's heart sank when he saw it.

"So, how are we going to get to the guardhouse without anyone noticing?" Mikey asked.

"We don't," Leo whispered back, "Don't you see that light on inside? They're probably using it as their headquarters."

"Really? Not cool." Mikey asked, "So, how are we gonna get inside?"

"Good question," Leo said, "But first things first. We're too close to the enemy right now; we need to get out of here."

"Where can we go?" Mikey asked.

"Let's check around the castle," Leo said, "But we've got to be very careful not to run into any Purple Dragons who might be guarding the perimeter."

"Think they're also in the village, or can we go there?" Mikey asked.

"Let's try to get inside the castle first." Leo said.

"Right, good plan." Mikey responded.

The two of them carefully stood up and once again made their way through the woods, keeping the castle in sight on their left.

"Dude, if we keep going this way we're going to have to turn around soon or cut across the Palace lawn." Mikey said, "The river can't be too far off."

"The river?" Leo asked, "I didn't realize it was this close."

"Well, yeah." Mikey said, "Good thing Raph and Don know about the well in the basement, huh? I mean, that way no one has to come out past these Dragons for water."

"Mikey," Leo said, "You're a genius!"

"I am?"

"Yeah!" Leo said, "Think about it. All that water underground has to come from somewhere, right?"

"But it can't come from this river." Mikey said, "The river is above-ground and the basement river is below ground, remember?"

"You don't understand," Leo shook his head, "Remember how there was a guard room by the well? They expected that people could come through there from the river."

"Well, yeah," Mikey said.

"So that means," Leo continued, "That there must be a way to get there from outside. And since the only other river we know of is this one outside the castle, it's got to be the way in!"

"How?" Mikey asked, "This river goes away from the castle, not towards it."

"Well, the way in must be hidden somehow," Leo said, "Let's get to the river and find our way in!"

Leo took a step forward, and then to his surprise Mikey tackled him to the ground, bringing them both behind a tree.

"Quiet," Mikey whispered, covering Leo's mouth.

Leo became as still as possible, but his eyes searched what he could see of the forest. Mikey didn't let go, and the both of them stayed there on the ground.

"Did you hear something?" A strange voice asked.

"No. Did you?"

Leo could feel Mikey jump. That second voice was all too familiar.

Saki.

"I thought I did."

"Is everything clear?"

"Let me check..."

Leo closed his eyes, and he felt Mikey's hand tighten over his mouth.

"...All clear, Master Shredder. There's no one here."

"Good. How is my army?"

"In good condition, Master. We are ready whenever you give the command."

"And the Purple Dragons?"

"Foolish and ignorant," the second voice said, "But they pledge their allegiance to you. I do not trust them to keep it."

"Neither do I." Said Saki-or was it now Shredder? "Nonetheless, they will serve their purpose. Tell my Foot ninjas to stay alert. We will wait until after Purple Dragons have done their work."

"Yes, Master."

"And I don't want any conflicts with these Purple Dragons," Shredder added, "So keep the Foot out of the woods until I give the signal."

"Yes, Master."

"Well, what are you waiting for? Get going!" Shredder shouted. Leo and Mikey heard a cry of pain, and there was a small shift in the wind as the ninja lackey sped through the forest.

"Idiot." The Shredder remarked, and the tree they were hiding behind shook violently. The Shredder then stomped off through the woods. He certainly wasn't very careful to keep quiet; he made so many rustling noises on his way out that it seemed he was hitting the tree branches on purpose.

At last Leo shifted, and Mikey took the hint to mean they could stand up again.

"Whoa," Mikey whispered, "Do you think he's gone?"

Leo carefully walked around the tree they had been hiding behind, and saw three very long scratch on the other side.

Shredder's gauntlet.

"The river is in that direction, right?" Leo asked, pointing ahead of them.

Mikey nodded.

"Then I think he's gone back to the Palace." Leo said, "See all these marks over here, and those fallen branches? He must have been using his gauntlet as he left."

"So how'd he get out of the Palace?" Mikey asked, "Maybe we can follow him back, and-"

"I think we'd both prefer to stay away from him right now, Mikey." Leo interrupted, "Let's keep going to the river."

So they started walking again. There was no denying that the two of them were moving faster now. Still using the Palace on their left as a reference point, even though it was hidden by the woods half of the time, they only stopped when they finally got to the bank of the river.

"See?" Mikey said, "I told you the river goes in the wrong direction."

"Come on," Leo said, leading the way along the riverbank, "The river begins with the waterfall. Maybe there's a secret tunnel there or something."

"You think so?" Mikey asked.

"It's worth a shot." Leo responded.

Mikey started to lag behind Leo as they made their way alongside the river. Occasionally the two of them had to duck behind a tree or fall to the ground to avoid being spotted by a Purple Dragon, but finally they made it to the waterfall.

"Are you sure this is the place?" Mikey said, looking at the falls, "The river still goes the wrong way, so how could this be the same one that's under the Palace?"

"Let's get a closer look at the cliff," Leo said, carefully making his way around wet rocks to look more closely around the waterfall.

"Careful," Mikey cautioned, walking so close to the waterfall that he could feel its spray, "Don't fall off!"

But even as he said that, Mikey slipped on a rock.

And promptly fell into the path of the waterfall.

"Mikey!" Leo shouted as loud as he dared, but his brother was nowhere to be seen.

"Mikey! Where are you?" Leo asked, climbing down as quickly as he could.

"Mikey!" He shouted again, and he scanned the river for the missing boy.

"Here, dude!" Mikey coughed, his voice muffled, "I'm over here!"

"Where are you?" Leo asked.

"I found your cave," Mikey said, and to Leo's surprise he poked his wet head out from behind the waterfall, "Dude, you have to come see this! Just don't go through the waterfall the way I did, that's a lot of water falling and it kinda hurt a little."

"There's a cave behind the waterfall?" Leo asked, carefully maneuvering himself behind the falls. He couldn't help getting wet, but he did manage to miss most of the water that came down from above.

His legs weren't so lucky, though. Apparently, water from the river managed to flow behind the falls, and Leo found himself standing knee-deep in water. It was flowing water, but it wasn't flowing fast enough to knock them both off their feet.

"Yeah," Mikey said, "At least, I think it's a cave. Kinda hard to tell without a candle or anything."

"Hm," Leo said, feeling around, "There's definitely a slope here. That must be why the water is coming this way, it's flowing downhill."

"Do you think this is the same river underneath the castle?" Mikey asked.

"Probably," Leo said, "I'll bet it turns a corner or something up ahead, so that it goes under the Palace."

"So let's get a candle and start exploring!" Mikey said.

"We can probably make a torch from tree branches, as long as we're careful not to get it wet." Leo said, moving towards the waterfall entrance, "Come on, the sooner we start the sooner-"

He stopped in mid-sentence.

"What?" Mikey asked, "What is it?"

"Lights," Leo whispered, "I thought I saw a fire on the other side of the waterfall."

"Is that a good thing, or a bad thing?"

"It's a bad thing," Leo said, carefully poking his head out of the back of the waterfall, "Yup, clearly a bad thing." He said as he pulled his head back in, "There's a lot of Purple Dragons out there right now. And it looks like they're setting up camp. If we go out there now, we'll definitely be spotted."

Mikey gulped. "So, lucky that we're hidden, right?"

"Right," Leo said, "But this leaves us with a big problem. We're going to have to go exploring in the dark."

"What?!" Mikey asked.

"Quiet! They're outside the waterfall, remember?" Leo said.

"In the dark?" Mikey asked, "How are we going to find our way home in the dark?"

"Don't worry," Leo said, taking his hand like they did when they were kids, "We'll stick together. And since there's a guardroom above the well, it can't be that hard to get there, right?"

"Right," Mikey mumbled.

"So let's get going," Leo said, "The sooner we get there, the better."

Without letting go of Mikey's hand, Leo carefully led him into the darkness, until they couldn't see where the waterfall was anymore.

"Alright," Leo said, talking outloud for Mikey's sake, and maybe his own, "All we need to do is follow the direction of the water."

"Um, it's kinda getting deeper over here," Mikey said.

"Really?" Leo said, stopping, "It's getting shallower for me. Here, come right behind me and try to walk where I walk."

"Whoa, that's a lot better," Mikey said after scrambling up behind Leo, "What's up with this weird place, anyway?"

"It's a natural cave, Mikey." Leo said, "It's going to be a little weird. Just be careful to stick close and don't let go. We're going to have to pick out way carefully, since we can't see-"

"Whoa, check it out!" Mikey said, pulling Leo's hand in a direction opposite of where they were going, "I think I found some hidden stairs!"

"You what?" Leo asked, "Mikey, you haven't let go of me at all! How could you find any stairs?"

"I've been feeling the wall this whole time," Mikey said, "You know, so we don't run into it."

"There's a wall?" Leo asked, "What am I saying? Of course there's a wall. We must be up on the bank of the river, that's how we're mostly out of the water!"

"Come on, come on! Feel!" Mikey said, "Don't these feel like stairs?"

Leo obediently felt the side of the cave.

"They are stairs," he said, "Stone steps...Come on, Mikey! Let's see where they go!"

Scrambling around in the dark but not letting go of one another, the two of them found where the steps began and slowly climbed up them.

"We'd better be careful not to fall or anything," Leo said, "Whoa-looks like that was the last step, Mikey."

"Now what?"

"Let's find out," Leo said, reaching with his free hand to feel alongside the wall, "I think that we're entering into a doorway. Maybe there's a-wait. There's something here."

"What? What is it?" Mikey asked.

"Hang on, let me see." Leo said, feeling the thing he had banged up against, "It's some kind of box...Wood. There's a nice big pile of wood here!"

"That makes no sense," Mikey said, "Why would you keep wood in a cave?"

"To keep it dry?" Leo asked rhetorically, "Let me have both hands for a few minutes. I think I could get a fire going."

"With just sticks?" Mikey asked, letting go of Leo's hand.

"Sure, if you know how." Leo said, working with two pieces of wood that were about the right size, "Don't step away from where you are, Mikey. We have no idea if there's a hole in the middle of the floor or anything."

There were a few moments of silence, until finally Leo created a spark. He carefully fanned the spark into a flame, and after tearing some cloth from his sleeve for fuel, he held the flame on the end of one long piece of wood like a torch.

"Cool, dude!" Mikey said, "Look where we are!"

Leo held the torch high. They were in a room built right out of the cave, but it was a room nonetheless. The only entrance was the doorway they had walked into, but along the side of the room was a low fall, reaching about to the waist. Above that wall was nothing but darkness.

Mikey raced to the low wall, and beckoned Leo to come closer.

"This must be like an old secret hideout or something," Mikey said, "You can see the whole cave river from here!"

"It's an old guard post," Leo said, "Like the room in the cellars. If an enemy comes down the river, and especially if they are using lights to see, they'll be spotted by the guards here before they know what hit them."

Mikey was still entranced by what little the view showed, but Leo turned around.

"Hey!" Mikey shouted, "You're taking away the light! I can't see the river anymore."

"Sorry," Leo said, "But we've got to find a way out of here. Are you coming?"

"Fine," Mikey said.

The two of them carefully went down the steps, which was a lot easier now that they could see, and they walked alongside the river again.

"It's cool that we can see now," Mikey said, "'Cause now this looks like a path."

"It is a path," Leo said, "The guards must have come from somewhere, and I doubt they came from the waterfall. I think our best bet to find the way out is by following their trail."

"Whoa, look!" Mikey pointed, "It's a secret door!"

Leo stopped, and looked at the crevice.

"Not so secret," Leo said, "But we wouldn't have seen it if we weren't following the path."

The two of them walked through the hole, and kept going. The sound of the cave river started getting louder.

"I think the river runs into a few other underground rivers," Leo reasoned.

"Hey, we're back to the river again!" Mikey said, pulling Leo forward out of the natural passageway, "Look! It's faster now."

"Mikey, slow down! We need to follow the path," Leo said, slowing to a stop, "Huh. The ground here isn't as traveled. Where did they go from here?"

"Maybe up those stairs to that trapdoor?" Mikey asked.

Leo looked up, and held the torch higher. Sure enough, right on his left there was another set of stairs, and there was a trapdoor hanging above the river.

"But how did the soldier guys get from the stairs to that trapdoor?" Mikey asked.

"Let's find out!" Leo said, hurrying up the steps.

"Whoa, slow down dude!" Mikey said, hurrying after him, "Why are you so excited now?"

"Mikey, don't you see?" Leo asked, "That's probably the trapdoor in the cellars. We're almost home!"

"Really? Cool!" Mikey said, "Wait, wait wait! Don't go up yet!"

"Why not?" Leo asked.

"Let's just enjoy the moment." Mikey said, inhaling deeply.

"What moment?"

"The moment where we're underneath everyone we've ever known," Mikey said, exhaling loudly. "Okay, that was cool. Alright, I'm ready to go now."

"Fine," Leo said, "Now come on!"

He grabbed Mikey with his free hand and practically pulled him to the top of the stairs.

"Now what?" Mikey asked once they were at the top, "The trapdoor isn't over the steps, it's over the water."

"Maybe they had a ladder or something they could let down to connect the two." Leo suggested.

"Kinda cool that these steps don't go anywhere," Mikey said, "We're like, at the top with nowhere to go! Who would build steps like that? Hmm, maybe I will, someday, just to weird people out, and then I could-"

"Focus, Mikey! We need a way over. How good are you at climbing?"

"Wait, what?" Mikey asked.

"Nevermind, I'll try." Leo said, handing Mikey the torch.

"Dude, don't leave me!" Mikey said.

"Don't worry, I just want to test something out." Leo said.

He grabbed a hole in the cave ceiling above him, and smiled.

"And I was right!" He said, "There's an iron bar in here. It's rusty, but it's here. There are handholds built right into the ceiling."

Leo then grabbed the next one, and the one after that. The light from the torch Mikey was holding was too dim for him to make out the next hole, but he grabbed at it anyway and found the handhold by feeling for it.

"Careful!" Mikey cautioned, "You're right over the river."

"Just a little more to go," Leo said, swinging himself towards the trapdoor, "All I need to do now is find a way to open this..."

He kicked at the door with one of his legs, and it swung upwards a little.

"Perfect!" Leo said outloud, "Alright, now for the hard part..."

He moved as close to the trapdoor as possible, then bunched himself up and kicked. The door swung open, and Leo could hear the dull thud of it hitting the floor as it opened all the way.

Leo grabbed the open side of the door with first one hand, then the other, and slowly pulled himself through the opening.

"You did it! You're in!" Mikey shouted as he pulled himself up.

Leo finally made it, dragging himself entirely through. The small guardroom in the cellar had never felt so welcoming, even though he couldn't see any of it without the torch.

"Just hang on, Mikey." He called through the hole, "I'm going to find some things in the cellar to make a bridge for you."

"No need, I've got this." Mikey shouted back to him, and Leo poked his head through the hole.

"Mikey, what are you doing?" He asked, "Get back to the stairs!"

Mikey was unable to respond, but it was clear he wasn't listening. He was holding the torch in his mouth, which must have been uncomfortable and was certainly killing the flame, and he was swinging across the handholds like he had been doing this his whole life.

Finally, even though Leo thought every second that his brother was going to fall, Mikey made it to the trapdoor. Without even bothering to take the torch out of his mouth, he grabbed the side of the trapdoor with both hands and pulled himself through feet first.

"Ta-da!" He said, taking the dying torch out of his mouth.

"Mikey, that was insanely stupid." Leo said.

"Not more stupid than what you did," Mikey said, "Hey! We made it, we're home!"

"Almost," Leo said, "Let's put out that torch before we leave this room."

"How are we gonna put it out?" Mikey asked.

"Just drop it through the door," Leo said, moving to the other side of the door, "Then don't move until I close it."

"Cool!" Mikey said, "Alright, here goes!"

He dropped the flame, and it fell down through the cave. At last it hit the river, and the light went out.

Leo closed the trapdoor.

"I can't see anymore, dude." Mikey whined.

"That's alright, I know my way around." Leo said, grabbing Mikey's hand, "Come on. Let's get out of here."

The two of them made their way out of the secret guardroom, closing the door carefully behind them.

"Hey, I can see the light over there!" Mikey shouted, pointing to the single light that always shines through the cellars.

Leo let go of his hand, and the both of them walked-or ran, in Mikey's case-to the light.

"We did it! We did it! HAH!" Mikey shouted, dancing at the foot of the cellar stairs, "We made it home! And we're alive!"

"Yeah," Leo smiled, "But I think your brothers are going to kill us."

"Who cares? I haven't seen them in forever!" Mikey said, "We've been gone all day, and maybe all night. Let's go, let's go let's go!"

And he practically dragged Leo up the steps that led out of the cellar.

Chapter Text

"Wait a second, Mikey." Leo said, pulling Mikey back just as he was about to open the basement door, "We're going to have to make our way upstairs carefully. You're still wet from that waterfall, and I don't think we can explain that to any of the guards in the castle."

"Going into stealth mode. Got it." Mikey said, "Lead the way!"

Mikey graciously stepped aside, and Leo put his ear up to the door. As soon as he was satisfied that there was no one passing by in the hallway on the other side, he opened the door and motioned for Mikey to follow him.

The two of them carefully made their way upstairs, until finally they reached Raph's room. Naturally, Mikey opened the door without knocking.

"Hiya guys!" He shouted as Leo closed the door behind them, "We're back! Didja miss me?"

"Miss you? What are you talking about?" Raph asked, looking up from his armchair.

"You know, I thought something was missing." Donnie asked, looking up from Raph's desk.

"What?!" Mikey asked.

"Relax kid, we're just messing with ya." Raph said. So of course Mikey tackled him into a hug.

Raph took another look at Mikey and Leo, and frowned. "Wait a sec. You're all wet. And Fearless, your outfit's torn up. What exactly have you guys been doing?"

"Exploring." Mikey said, tossing himself first into a one-sided hug with Donnie and then into one of Raph's chairs, "What have you guys been doing all day?" He asked cheekily.

"Preparing for war, obviously." Donnie said, "Saki wants me to think up new ways to defend the Palace. Right now I'm thinking up different ways to make the enemy as uncomfortable as possible."

"And I'm working on a few battle strategies." Raph said.

"Have you guys been working on this all day?" Leo asked.

"Nope." Raph smiled up at him, "Got a lot more done than that. Come on, we'll have ta talk in private."

He got up and gestured that they follow them. Donnie sighed reluctantly, but put away whatever pieces of paper he was working on.

"And I was just getting somewhere," he mumbled.

"You guys gotta see this," Raph said, walking over to his bed. He grabbed the bedpost and yanked it to the left, and immediately a hole appeared in the wall next to the bed.

"Whoa!" Mikey said.

"You found another secret passage?" Leo asked, excited.

"Yeah, isn't it great?" Raph asked, clearly pleased, "Come on, I'll show you!"

Donnie handed Raph a candle, and the two of them led the way into the passage. Leo pulled the lever next to the door, and just like he expected it closed the passageway behind them.

"I found it earlier, after my 'talk' with Saki." Raph said.

The passageway took them upwards, in a steady incline, until it finally leveled off again.

"Speaking of Uncle Saki, where is he?" Mikey asked, "Is he back from the woods yet?"

"What do you mean 'back'?" Donnie asked, looking at him intently, "Mikey, the Castle is sealed off. No one can get in or out, not even Saki."

"Are you sure about that, bro?" Mikey asked, smiling broadly, "'Cause we saw him in the woods earlier. He mentioned something about a ninja army."

"I think you guys played one crazy game," Raph said, shaking his head, "At least it kept you out of trouble, Mikey. As far as I know, Saki's been in his room all day. He's taken full command over the Palace for the war."

"And you're okay with that?" Mikey asked.

"No," Raph said, "But it's not like I can do anything about it."

"High Prince," Leo began, "I should tell you where we were today-"

"Hey look!" Mikey interrupted, pointing up ahead, "Isn't that some of the treasure from the Treasure Room?"

"Yup." Donnie said, skillfully moving around the pile of treasure.

"We started moving it already." Raph said.

"Moving it?" Leo asked, "What do you mean by that?"

"Hang on, we'll explain in just a sec." Donnie said, stopping in the passageway and pressing a stone in the wall.

Immediately, a portion of that wall fell outward and down. What was once a solid wall was now a pathway leading down into another passage below them.

"Come and see this!" Raph said, pulling Mikey down the pathway.

"Dudes, check it out!" Mikey said once he was in the other passage, "It's the same secret tunnel that goes from my room to the Treasure room!"

"Wait," Leo said, "How-?"

"Remember earlier today when April spotted the turtle on the ceiling?" Donnie asked him as they both stepped down into the other passage, "Well, apparently Raph found out what that turtle symbol meant."

"We think this is how Dad got the Treasure in there in the first place." Raph said, "It's easier ta bring the heavier stuff through my tunnel than to go down Mikey's stairs."

"And we're going to move it all back into Raph's passageway so our uncle doesn't find it." Donnie said.

"We know Saki's lookin' for it 'cause Dad mentioned the tunnel in the Diary." Raph added.

"The diary talks about the treasure?" Leo asked.

"Yup." Raph smiled, "It says right there in black and white that he hid his treasure in a passage ya get to from Mikey's room, and that his own brother doesn't know anything about it. And then we hear from April that the servants are going nuts, 'cause Saki's been looking for a book missing from the library."

"So of course," Donnie said, "We've surmised that our Uncle only knew that the treasure's here because he read it in the Diary. That's why he's been sending his Foot soldiers to search Mikey's room at night."

"So we're just gonna move the whole treasure room, in case he finally finds it." Raph said, "You guys missed out on a lot now, didn't ya?"

"Oh yeah?" Mikey said, "Well, you guys missed out on a lot too, you know!"

"April and Casey said they'd be here in the morning to help us more with the moving." Raph continued.

"Wait," Leo said, "Casey's in on this now too?"

"Of course he is!" Raph said.

"Dude, this is so exciting! I haven't met him before." Mikey said, "But won't Usagi be upset that we let another person in our group?"

"Meh, we'll deal with that later." Raph said, tossing the question aside.

"You know Raphie," Mikey said, wagging his finger, "You shouldn't put off later what you can do today. You just reminded me of one of the guys in a story Master Splinter told me."

"Say what?" Raph asked.

"Who's Master Splinter?" Donnie asked.

"He's this really cool guy we met in prison!" Mikey said.

Leo facepalmed.

"Prison?" Raph asked, "Prison? That's where you were all day? Playing in the prison?"

"Mikey, what were you thinking?" Donnie asked.

"And you, what were you thinking, Fearless?" Raph asked, turning to Leo, "Letting Mikey go to the prisons? He ain't allowed in that part of the castle for a reason!"

"Hey, it wasn't his fault! I made him!" Mikey defended, "Besides, it wasn't our prison! It was the Purple Dragon's prison!"

"What?" Donnie asked.

"Alright," Raph said, crossing his arms and turning to Leo, "Explain. Now."

Leo opened his mouth, but Mikey interrupted.

"It was all my fault, okay?" he said, "I wanted to warn Usagi about the Purple Dragons so I made him saddle a horse for me and then he came too, and we snuck out when the gate was open but we got captured and he pretended to be my brother and we got put in jail, and there was this really nice guy named Master Splinter and a cool guy named Leatherhead and a creepy guy named Slash and two other guys and Master Splinter told me stories, and I fell asleep, and then we escaped and saw the Purple Dragons by the gate and Saki in the forest but he was all scary and stuff, and then we snuck back into the castle and that's all that happened so leave him alone!"

Donnie and Raph's mouths were open.

"You were a prisoner of the Purple Dragons?" Donnie asked, "Mikey!"

"What?" Mikey asked, "I didn't plan it that way, bro!"

"Did they tear off your sleeve?" Donnie asked, gesturing to Leo's torn sleeve.

"No." Leo said, "The Dragons only roughed us up a bit, and the prisoners didn't hurt us."

"He tore it up on purpose so we could see in the dark." Mikey said.

"I needed to turn a piece of wood into a torch." Leo explained, "We were in a cave."

"How'd you get from the forest to a cave?" Donnie asked.

"The waterfall." Mikey said.

"It's a long story," Leo said, "We found a cave behind the waterfall and it led us to the well in the basement."

"Well, that answers how you got back in the Palace." Donnie said, "Especially with the main gate closed."

"Yeah, and with the Purple Dragons using the old guardhouse as their headquarters." Mikey said, "We would have totally used that secret passage to get in if they weren't there first!"

"The Dragons are in the old guardhouse? That's good to know." Donnie said, "Maybe we can put some chemical in the secret tunnel, like, pipe it into the guardhouse from behind the closed passageway. Hey, we could put something really stinky there! Hah!"

"Wait a second," Raph said, speaking up again for the first time since Mikey explained what happened, "Donnie, are you just gonna totally ignore the fact that Mikey was put in a prison?"

"No," Donnie said, "But don't you think some of this is good for us to know? I mean, we're most likely fighting the Purple Dragons in the morning."

"Look," Raph said, turning to Leo, "I get that you probably thought ya had no choice going with my bro. And I appreciate ya taking care of him, honest. But next time, don't let him do something so stupid, and don't let him get captured!"

"Yes, Highness." Leo bowed.

"Now get out of here!" Raph said, pointing towards Mikey's room.

Leo bowed again, and obediently started walking.

"Raph, it wasn't his fault!" Mikey said, "He's the one who helped us escape."

"I don't care," Raph said, "He put you in danger, Mikey."

"I put me in danger," Mikey said, "Yo, Servant! Get back here!"

Leo stopped walking and turned around.

"With all due respect, Highness," he bowed, not daring to look at Mikey's eyes, "I must obey the direct order of the High Prince over that of your own."

"Hah!" Raph said, as Leo turned around and started walking again.

"Wait a minute," Donnie said, "Stop! Don't go out that way, Friend. Saki took away Usagi's guard on Mikey's room, so there might be a ninja searching there for this passage. Go out through Raph's room."

"Fine. Do what he said." Raph said, crossing his arms.

Leo bowed at Donnie and Raph, then started to walk back to the other passage.

"What, you're not on my side Donnie?" Mikey asked, sounding very upset.

"It's not that Mikey," Donnie shook his head, "I just think this can all be settled tomorrow, after cranky here's had a good night's sleep."

"Hey!" Raph said, "I'm not cranky."

"That guy saved our brother's life," Donnie said, "And you're yelling at him?"

"Wait bro, before you go!" Mikey said.

Leo didn't stop until Mikey slammed him into a hug and nuzzled his head against Leo's neck.

"Thanks for everything," he said, finally letting him go.

Leo couldn't speak, he could only nod. Then he turned around, hiding all of his emotions, and started back the passage they had come in. It didn't matter that he didn't have a candle.

"What the heck was that?" He heard Raph say behind him.

"Did you just call him your brother?" Donnie asked.

"Yeah dudes," Mikey said, "He pretended to be my bro, remember? And he totally saved my life like, a million times today."

"That doesn't mean you can call him your brother!" Raph yelled.

Leo ignored the rest of what they said, which became easier as their voices became fainter and fainter. At last he reached the end of the passage and stepped out into Raph's room. After leaving Raph's room and closing the door behind him, Leo began walking towards the kitchens.

Or he would have, if he didn't turn a corner and run straight into the Shredder.

"Filth," the Shredder said, grabbing him by the shoulder.

Leo didn't dare move.

"Is this where you've been hiding?" His uncle asked, the gloved hand that grabbed pinching him tightly, "You disgusting piece of slime!"

Shredder turned around, pulling Leo down the corridor with him.

"Don't think I haven't noticed that you've been slacking off on your duties." His uncle explained, "What, you thought I wouldn't notice? Is that why you stopped your work in the Stables, you thought I was too busy to notice? Well child, for your information I did notice. You left a horse, my horse, only half-groomed. And further, the fastest horse in the stables is missing from the castle. And it is all your fault."

They were walking faster and faster now, and Leo was having trouble keeping up with the Shredder's stride.

"If you were one of my men," Shredder said, leading Leo up a flight of stairs, "I would have you executed. But you are still useful to me."

They reached a door, and Shredder opened it.

"You will have no food or water for three days." He said calmly, leading Leo inside the room, "And you will perform only the duties I give you within this room. If I find you slacking in your work again, I will punish you to oblivion."

Leo knew this room. It had been his Father's room. It wasn't the bedroom; it was the room you had to enter to get to the bedroom.

Which was now Saki's bedroom.

"You are not to leave this room under any circumstances." Shredder said, "And if I ever find you on the Prince's floor again, your punishment will be much more severe. Understand, maggot?"

Leo nodded his understanding.

"Good." The Shredder said.

Suddenly his hand, the hand attached to the gauntlet, swung out towards Leo while the other hand held him in place. Leo cried out in alarm, but when the hand pulled back there was not a scratch on him.

His other sleeve, the one that he had not torn to make fuel for a fire, was now floating lazily to the floor.

"There. Now both sleeves are equal." Shredder said, letting go of Leo and turning around, "Do not test my mercy again, Child. Remember that."

Leo felt his newly-torn sleeve and nodded again, even though Shredder couldn't see him.

"Now," the Shredder said, turning back to Leo, "We will begin your punishment. As soon as I hand you this armor, I want you to make it shine like it has never shined before."

Chapter Text

Three days without food and water can seem like a millennium, even more so when the only person you have for company is your crazy uncle. But Leo plugged through, knowing that it would all be worth it if he could get back to his brothers safely-and if he could uncover anything in the meantime about his uncle that might put those brothers in danger.

The first day-or was it the first morning?-Leo had already spent the whole night awake polishing Saki's armor. He wasn't surprised when the news arrived at dawn that the Purple Dragons had attacked. Saki came in and out of the room all day, chaining Leo to the chair whenever he left, and Leo spent the time trying to figure out what Saki's plan was. Why was he uncle hiding his alliance with the Purple Dragons? And why hadn't he revealed his Foot army to the Palace?

That first night, as Leo was once more polishing Saki's armor, one of the Soldiers asked for entrance into Saki's antechamber. This was the small room where Leo was being held prisoner, and which led into the much larger room that was Saki's bedroom. The request from a soldier to enter Saki's antechamber was something that only occurred in extreme emergencies, so Leo was a little surprised that his uncle allowed it.

"Steward Saki," the soldier bowed, "I bring news of great turmoil within the Palace."

"What kind of turmoil?" Saki asked.

"Internal disputes." The guard said, "The Kitchen is in an uproar. Apparently a servant of theirs disappeared during the chaos of the war preparations, and now no one can find him."

"That is hardly my concern." Saki scowled.

"It is not the only case," the soldier said quickly, "The groomsmen at the stables reported a servant missing as well. So did the maids, the gardeners, the Candlemaster-practically everyone in the Castle is reporting a missing servant."

"They can't have gone far, not with the Purple Dragons surrounding the palace walls." Saki said, "Why are you bothering me with this information?"

"Well, you see," the soldier said, "There's a problem. No one knows any of the servant's names. It's as if they never existed."

"What?" Saki said.

"All we know is that they're all around the age of this boy over here," the soldier gestured to Leo.

"I see," Saki said, looking at Leo, "Well then. I want you and the other soldiers to quell these internal disputes as quickly and efficiently as possible. I don't want to have to enter a battle with a divided Castle behind me. Now, leave!"

"But my Lord," the soldier said, "What about the work these servants left behind?"

"Have everyone else divide the work among themselves." Saki said, "I have no time for non-existent servants. And next time, do not question me. Dismissed!"

The second day, Leo was starting to wonder whether Saki's punishment had been merciful or extremely cruel. He was used to being hungry, so that didn't bother him too much, but there is only so long that one can go without water, especially when that person was always polishing armor or stoking the fire.

On that day the war seemed to be going badly, at least in the morning. Saki was gone all day, but Leo didn't need to see his uncle to know what was happening. The servants and soldiers running down the halls outside Saki's antechamber were enough to tell Leo what he wanted to know. Then, at around noon something happened and the tide turned. The servants in the castle were decidedly happier, and Leo knew that whatever happened was important when his uncle returned that night. Saki, dressed as the Shredder, was mad. And he was not just mad, he was enraged.

That was when Leo knew that his brothers, and possibly Casey and April, had been behind whatever had happened. He just hoped that his uncle wouldn't figure that out.

By the third day, Leo was losing energy. He was definitely slower when it came to polishing. Thankfully, Saki was too angry to notice.

"They should have told me this days ago," his uncle was saying to the Captain of the Guard, "And the only reason I find out is because of yesterday's defeat? This is unacceptable!"

"With all due respect, Master Saki." the Captain of the Guard bowed, "They can't have gone far, not in their condition. And-"

"Their condition?" Saki interrupted, "Their health was anything but poor. Do not take me for a fool. They could not have escaped and avoided recapture for so long without being physically capable. No, we must prepare for the worst now."

"And the Purple Dragons?" The Captain prompted.

"Tell Hun to keep up the search." Saki said, "We will deal with their incompetence later. For now, I fear we need their alliance to handle what will soon be coming."

"But Master, surely we can quench this before it even begins?" The Captain asked, "He is older now, and likely unrecognizable."

"It is not so easy." Saki said, "Come, let us speak further in private."

The two of them left the antechamber and headed down the hallway, leaving Leo alone and unchained for once. Still, he knew better than to leave the room while his uncle was angry, so he continued working. Just as he was almost finished with the final piece of armor, the door opened.

"Uncle Saki? Sorry to bother you, but I had a new idea about the Castle defenses I'd like you to try-"

Leo quickly stood up, surprised, at an equally surprised-looking Donnie.

"Saki's not here right now," Leo said, "He left to speak with the Captain of the Guard."

"You," Donnie said, closing the door behind him, "What-what's going on here?"

"What do you mean?" Leo asked.

"We thought you'd left, or been kidnapped or something." Donnie said, "Raph thinks you ran away because you were mad at him, and Mikey's been pretty upset. And then there's all those other servants we hear about who disappeared-"

Leo smiled. "Don't worry, I've been here the whole time." He said, "Saki's orders."

"Why?" Donnie asked.

"Um, it's complicated." Leo said, "But listen, you really shouldn't be here. Not when I'm here, anyway. It'll get us both into trouble."

"How so?" Donnie asked.

"Just trust me," Leo said, "Listen, I should be back out in the Castle tonight or tomorrow. I'll meet up with you guys then, alright?"

"Alright," Donnie said, taking a step towards the closed door.

But then he stopped, and started walking towards Leo instead.

"Are you sure you're alright?" He asked, "You don't look too good. Have you been getting enough to eat?"

"Donnie," Leo said, "I'm fine. Now get out of here, quickly! If Saki comes back-"

Suddenly he heard it.

Footsteps.

"Oh no," Leo said.

"What?"

"He's back." Leo said, "Quick, hide!"

"Hide? Hide where?" Donnie asked, confused.

"I don't know, anywhere! Just hide!"

The door burst open, and even though he was surprised Donnie managed to step behind a window curtain just in time.

"Maggot!" Saki said, walking alone into the room, "Are you finished polishing my armor?"

"Yes Lord Saki," Leo said, giving the piece he was polishing one last swipe of the cloth, "This is the last piece."

"Good," Saki said, examining the work, "I was beginning to think of letting you go another day without food or water. Have you learned your lesson sufficiently, filthy one?"

"Yes my Lord," Leo answered.

"Very well." Saki said, "As I have no further need for you today, you may leave. Once you have replenished yourself, I expect you to return to your duties around the Palace. I have grown weary of all the servants in the Castle complaining because you aren't there to fulfill your obligations."

Leo bowed.

"Now leave!" Saki said, striding through the antechamber to his bedroom, "I have too much work to do to be bothered by you any longer."

Leo bowed again, and waited until Saki's bedroom door had closed completely. After he was certain that it was shut tight, he sprinted to the window and grabbed Donnie from behind the curtain. Without waiting to see if the movement had attracted any attention from his uncle, Leo fled with his brother out the antechamber door into the corridor.

The two of them raced down the hallway, up flights of steps and across multiple landings, not daring to stop long enough to see if they were even being followed. At last Leo yanked Donnie into a never-used bedroom, locking the door behind them.

It took a moment for the both of them to catch their breath.

"What-" Donnie began, looking at Leo with fear in his eyes, "What on earth was that? Uncle Saki-I knew he was the Shredder, but...how long have you been going without any food or water? What was he even punishing you for, anyway?"

"Sorry," Leo said, "It's just that-well, he's forbidden me to speak to any of you Princes. He caught me on near Raph's bedroom three days ago, so he must have thought I spoke with you."

"Hang on, let me think." Donnie said, "That's around the time all the servants started disappearing, right? So when he did that, no one noticed you were gone."

"That's not exactly it, Don." Leo smiled, "There's only ever been one missing servant. I guess I do a lot around the Castle."

Donnie looked at him thoughtfully.

"Yeah," he said, "Yeah, I guess you do. I've never noticed that before."

Suddenly Leo realized his mistake. He was revealing too much, and all at once. Donnie was pretty smart, he might even put all the clues together and realize that Leo was his brother.

But if he realized that, it would make Donnie a much bigger target for Saki.

"Oh," Donnie said sadly, looking around, "Huh."

"What? What is it?" Leo asked.

"Nothing," Donnie said a little too quickly, "It's just-I don't think I've been in here since I was a kid."

And now Leo realized his second mistake. He had just handed Donnie a clue. After all, what were the odds that after their frantic race through the Palace they would end up in the High Prince Leonardo's old bedroom?

Chapter Text

The old bedroom. Why had he brought Donnie straight to his old bedroom?

"No one is supposed to come here," Donnie said, "Except to clean, of course. Did you come here to clean? Is that how you knew this would be empty?"

"We'd better get going," Leo said to Donnie, trying to take his attention away from the room, "I don't think Saki followed us."

"Right," Donnie said, unlocking the bedroom door, "You know, you didn't have to run away like that."

"Sorry. I just...panicked." Leo said.

"Which is something you don't do, at least not since I've known you." Donnie said, stepping out of the room. "As soon as we get to Raph's room, you're telling me everything that happened back there with Saki."

"As long as you tell me what you guys did yesterday." Leo said quietly, looking down the hallway to see if there was anyone who might be listening.

"What makes you think we did anything?" Donnie asked, leading the way.

"Because it made Saki really, really mad." Leo explained.

"Oh." Donnie said, "Fine, we'll tell you after you eat."

"What? No!" Leo said, "If I go back to the kitchens they probably won't let me leave. I need to see you guys first."

"You can eat at Raph's." Donnie said, "We'll have something sent up for you."

"I can't do that!"

"You don't have much of a choice." Donnie said, turning to face him. "You haven't had anything to eat or drink for at least a day."

"I had some water, Don." Leo said, rolling his eyes, "It's kind of hard to go too long without it."

"We'll get you some food then. Remember, I'm a Prince, so you have to do as I say."

"Not the 'prince' card again, Don." Leo said.

"Well, it works doesn't it?" Donnie asked, "Now come on. I think I know the way from here."

The two of them crept down the corridor, keeping a much better eye out for soldiers than when they had run down the hallway. Finally they made it to Raph's room. The door to that room was starting to look more welcoming each time Leo saw it.

"Hey guys," Donnie said, opening the door, "Look who I found."

"BRO!" Mikey shouted, throwing himself into Leo's arms, "I missed you!"

"What's this?" Raph said, poking his head up from the chair he was sitting in, "Donnie, what's he doing here?"

"Our uncle was keeping him in his antechamber," Donnie explained, closing the bedroom door, "He hasn't had anything to eat for at least a day."

"What the heck?" Raph said, standing up, "What was he punishing you for, Fearless?"

"He thinks I talked to you." Leo said.

"But you did," Mikey frowned, "So what?"

"You're Princes. I'm a servant." Leo explained.

Raph walked over to his dresser and grabbed something from the top, but Leo wasn't paying too much attention.

"I brought him here to tell him what we did, and to get him some food." Donnie said, "They'd make him work right away if he went back to the kitchens."

"Here." Raph said, thrusting something into Leo's face.

"W-what?" Leo asked, "Raph, that's your water!"

"Just drink it already! We can always get more."

So Leo took the glass and drank, slowly at first, then faster and faster. Suddenly the glass was gone, yanked right out of his hands.

"Hey!" He said, turning to Donnie.

"Not too much at once!" His brother reprimanded, "It'll make you sick."

"Sick?" Mikey asked, "Not gonna happen! Come on, sit down over here!"

And he sat Leo down in the nearest chair.

"There!" Mikey said, "Feeling better, bro?"

"I thought we were over this whole 'bro' nonsense." Raph complained.

"Nope!" Mikey said, "Feeling better?" He asked again.

"Yes, thank you." Leo said, "Can I drink some more now, Donnie?"

Donnie handed him the glass again, and this time Leo finished it.

"So just how long did you go without anything ta eat or drink?" Raph asked.

"Three days, duh." Mikey said, "That's how long he's been gone."

"That's impossible, Mikey." Donnie said, "Well, you can go without food for three days. But water? If he went without water all that time he wouldn't have been able to run earlier."

"I'm tougher than you think, guys." Leo said, "And I told you, I was able to get something to drink. Speaking of which, can I have some more?" He asked, stretching the glass out towards them.

"I'm calling the servants." Raph said.

"What?!" Leo asked, standing up.

"To bring up more water, Fearless!" Raph explained, "And some food. We haven't had lunch yet. What, you thought I'd turn ya in or something?"

"And we're getting the story," Donnie said, looking at Leo, "The whole story of what happened."

"So, let me get this straight." Raph said, drinking from a goblet that had been brought up for him, "You got punished because Saki thought you had seen us?"

"For the last time, yes!" Leo said, reaching for a slice of bread.

"What happened to your other sleeve?" Mikey asked, "How'd you tear the other one off?"

"I didn't," Leo said, "Saki did, with the gauntlet. He was trying to scare me. Alright, your turn. What did you do yesterday that helped the Palace, but made Saki so mad?"

"That was awesome." Raph said, swinging an arm over Donnie, "We totally took out their main weapon."

"They were utilizing a catapult," Donnie said, "It was backing up their army."

"So we just snuck outside through the gatehouse and broke it!" Mikey said.

"WHAT!" Leo shouted, "You went through the secret tunnel to the gatehouse, even though you know that's the Purple Dragon headquarters? What were you guys thinking?"

"We were thinking that we didn't want that catapult to cause any more damage." Donnie said, crossing his arms.

"Besides, we were careful." Raph said, "Donnie was the one who broke it. Me and Casey just stood watch."

"And what did Mikey and April do?" Leo asked, assuming that they must have been a part of this.

"Don't be silly, bro!" Mikey said, "April didn't do anything. She just sat there in the guardhouse while I went to find their enemy food."

"Wait, you two separated?" Raph said, turning to Mikey, "Didn't we tell you not to do that?"

"You guys don't know just how important food is in the middle of a war!" Mikey said, "I had to make it taste bad to ruin their day!"

"So you left April alone in the enemy headquarters." Leo pointed out.

"Hey, it all worked out didn't it?" Mikey said, "They totally had to stop attacking us."

"Yeah, they ran out of men." Raph said, "Most of 'em were probably still in the woods, looking for escaped prisoners."

"Do you even realize how dangerous that was?" Leo asked, "The last time I was in here, you yelled at me for putting Mikey in danger. Don't you see that you just did that yourselves?"

"Alright, we get it." Donnie said, rubbing his forehead, "Next time, we're going to plan this out better."

"There isn't going to be a next time." Leo said.

"You are most correct, my Friend."

All heads looked up, towards the door.

"USAGI!" Mikey screamed, throwing himself onto their friend, "You're back! Did you get my message?"

"If you mean the one you delivered to me by one who calls himself Leatherhead, then yes." Usagi said, "That is the reason I arrived here safely. But I think we need to discuss how you came to meet him, Prince Michelangelo."

"Heh heh, funny story," Mikey said, scratching his head.

"And we need to discuss why you are speaking so openly here." Usagi said, "Surely you know that it is better to speak where no one can hear you?"

Raph sighed. "Yes, Usagi." He said, "How much did you hear?"

"Enough, your Highness." Usagi said, "I managed to sneak into the Castle without alerting your uncle to my presence. I fear this is no time to tell him that I've returned."

"How'd you get in?" Mikey asked, "Did you use the guardhouse passage or the waterfall?"

"What?" Usagi asked, "No, I climbed over the wall. But we will discuss that momentarily. We must hurry to Prince Michelangelo's room so that we can reach the passageway and speak without fear of being overheard."

"Or we could take the shortcut," Raph said, walking over to his bed and opening up the secret passageway.

"There is another secret passage?" Usagi asked.

"Come on," Donnie said, lighting a candle, "We'll fill you in on the way."

By the time they reached the Treasure Room, Mikey had more or less told Usagi everything that had happened while he was gone.

"And we've got most of the treasure out of the room, in case Saki finds it." Mikey concluded, even though Usagi had already seen the treasure in the passageway to Raph's room.

"This is quite a tale," Usagi said, looking around the almost-empty treasure room, "Filled with prisons, splinters and waterfalls, catapults and gold. I am not sure if I should commend you for your actions, or scold you. What I don't understand," he looked at Leo, "Is why Saki chose to keep you near him when he punished you."

"At any rate, I learned a few things by watching him." Leo said, trying to take the focus off of himself, "He was very upset when the catapult broke. But today he was even more upset, and I think it was because he finally learned about the escaped prisoners."

"Yes, the prisoners." Usagi said, "That reminds me. On my way back from the Daimyo I heard a rumor-"

"What did the Daimyo say?" Mikey interrupted, "You didn't tell us yet!"

"Oh." Usagi said, "Well, I presented him with the Seal." He took the sword out of his sheath and handed it to Raph. "He immediately called for his attendants to leave so we could speak privately. I told him of your problem with your uncle, and he reaffirmed that he recognizes you as the true King, High Prince Raphael. And if it is true that Oroku Saki is indeed the Shredder, the Daimyo has promised to come to your aid."

"In other words, he isn't gonna do anything until he knows for sure." Raph said, "Here, take the sword back. I don't have a place ta put it yet."

"Very well," Usagi said, taking the Seal back from Raph and sheathing it, "The Daimyo said he was going to keep an eye on the events here. That was before your messenger arrived with news of the war, Prince Michelangelo. I must say, it caused quite a stir within the Daimyo's realm."

"So, what's the Daimyo going to do?" Leo asked.

"I was unable to speak with him," Usagi said, "The news came after I had left the Daimyo's presence."

"Saki's not going to ask for help against the Purple Dragons." Donnie commented, "He's been undermining this entire war. We know he's been working with the enemy this whole time. So the Daimyo will probably say out of the fight."

"Unfortunately, I fear that the Daimyo will soon attack the Castle, if the rumors are true." Usagi said.

"What rumors?" Mikey asked.

"And why would he attack us?" Donnie asked.

"You just said that the Daimyo would stay out of this," Leo said.

"That is not what I said, my Friend." Usagi shook his head, "I said that he would keep an eye on the events here. And if the rumors are correct, there has been one very important event that occurred recently somewhere in this part of the world."

He leaned forward, as if even in that Treasure Room there was a chance that someone would overhear what he was about to say.

"They say that your Father, the rightful King, has escaped from his prison and turned to the Daimyo for help."

Chapter Text

"WHAT?!" Raph shouted, breaking the silence that had come over the room.

"He's alive?" Donnie asked.

"He is," Usagi said, "At least, according to the rumor."

"And you believe this rumor?" Leo asked.

"I believe that there is some truth to it, yes." Usagi said.

"I knew it!" Mikey shouted, "Hah! No one can keep our Dad locked up and get away with it!"

"This can't be happening," Donnie said, "We can't get our hopes up. Our father was ambushed, remember? By Saki."

"But Donnie," Mikey said, "No one ever found his body. So how do we know that he's dead?"

"If he is still alive, wouldn't he be held in the dungeons?" Leo asked, "The Palace is locked up tight, so where did he escape from?"

"Perhaps from the Purple Dragon prison, my Friend." Usagi said, "It is well known that the Purple Dragons guard their prisons, and take them wherever they go. Did you not mention a few minutes ago that Saki was upset about the escape of those prisoners?"

"Yes," Leo said, "One in particular. But none of the prisoners looked like the King."

"How would you know that?" Raph asked.

"Because I remember what the King looks like!" Leo responded.

"I don't." Mikey said.

"Of course not, Mikey. You were too little to remember." Donnie said.

"The King might not look like himself, not after being in a prison for ten years." Usagi said, "But there was enough time after the prisoners escaped for them to reach the Daimyo. You mentioned earlier some of the names of the prisoners. Tell me more about them."

"Um, okay," Mikey said, "Well, there was Master Splinter, Leatherhead, Slash and two other strong dudes. Um, Bro here talked to Leatherhead more than I did. Master Splinter told me stories. Slash was just creepy, and the other two guys didn't do much."

"What kind of stories did he tell you?" Usagi asked.

"Really cool ones!" Mikey said, "There was this one about a knight who wanted to know what it was like to be a normal villager, so he pretended to be one and got kidnapped by some slave traders. He ended up in a pirate ship, and the pirates wanted him to attack his dad's house, and he wouldn't do it. So-"

"Hang on, we are not doing story time right now." Raph said, "Did anyone in that prison seem like they could be royal?"

"You mean besides Mikey?" Donnie asked.

"Master Splinter mentioned that he was originally from this area." Leo said, and all eyes turned towards him, "And he asked about the welfare of the Royal Princes. Leatherhead mentioned being in prison for ten years, and by the way he stood in front of Master Splinter, I think he was protecting him."

"So Master Splinter could be our dad?" Mikey asked, "That's so cool!"

"That doesn't prove anything." Donnie said.

"Listen, Mikey." Raph said, turning to his youngest brother, "What exactly did Master Splinter look like?"

"Um, nice?" Mikey said.

"Tell me more about those stories." Usagi said, "What did he say about them?"

"Um, that they were true." Mikey explained, "They happened to his ancestors. One of them was about this knight who fell in love with this girl, but they couldn't get married because their parents were angry for some reason. So they used to meet in secret by this lake, and they passed messages to each other with an animal. Can you guess what kind?"

"A turtle." Usagi said.

"Yeah! Wait. How'd you know that?" Mikey asked, "I thought it was an eagle or pigeon."

"Usagi," Raph said, "Have you heard this story before?"

"I have." Usagi said, "In my travels I've heard many stories. This one is about the King and Queen who built this Castle."

"What?" Donnie asked.

"Haven't you ever wondered why the symbol of your family is a turtle?" Usagi asked.

"Wait," Donnie said, "That story was about our ancestors?"

"So that prisoner, Master Splinter," Leo began.

"He must be the King." Usagi said.

"I met Dad?" Mikey said, "Really?"

Leo walked over to a wall and leaned against it, then slowly sat on the ground.

"So he really is alive," Donnie said, "And both of you met him!"

"Dude, he was so nice, I should've known he was dad!" Mikey said.

"Hey, are you alright?" Raph asked, walking over to Leo.

"I'm fine," Leo said, his head in his arms, "It's just...I hoped the King would come back for so long. And now he's back."

"We don't have time to celebrate," Donnie said, "We have a problem."

"What's that?" Raph asked, all his attention on Donnie.

"The war." Donnie looked at Raph, "Don't you see what's going to happen now?"

"What?" Raph asked.

"The King is going to the Daimyo for an army," Usagi said, "To take back his home from Saki."

"There's going to be another war on top of this one." Donnie concluded, "And it's going to be soon."

"Oh man," Mikey said, "That does not sound good."

"That the last of it?" Raph asked.

"Yes," Leo responded, sweat streaming down his face as he carried the front end of the heavy desk, "Can you go check to make sure we got everything?"

"Sure," Raph said, running back into the treasure room.

"I hope there is room for this in the passage," Usagi said, straining to lift the back end of the desk.

"Mikey and Donnie will make sure there's room," Leo said, carefully leading the way, "Do any of you need a break?"

"Nope, I'm good." Casey grunted, straining with the middle of the desk, "I can't believe gold weighs so much."

"I can't believe that you guys aren't going to figure out how to roll it instead of carry it," April said, watching from the door and waiting to direct Leo if he needed any directing, "Seriously, that thing looks heavy."

"Yeah? Well, we're fine." Casey said, "I can't believe that you guys managed to find out about your dad and another war without me."

"Treasure room's empty," Raph said, grabbing the other side of the middle of the desk, "Not a single jewel in sight. How're we doing?"

"Making progress," Leo strained, "Remember, bend with your knees, not your back!"

"We know already, Fearless!" Raph said.

"We're good here," Leo said, slowly walking backwards up the incline into the next passageway, "April, can you go check to make sure there's room in the passage?"

"Got it," April said, disappearing ahead of them.

She came back a few seconds later. "There's room now," she said, "Just be careful!"

"Do not worry," Usagi said, pushing at the desk from his position at the end, "We will be!"

After some straining and pushing and stretching, the solid gold desk was finally set in place in the only clear spot in the passageway.

"Alright," Raph gasped, making his way over a pile of rubies, "Let's go make sure there's absolutely nothing in that treasure room or Mikey's passageway."

"I'll check first!" April said, bounding out into Mikey's passagway with one of the candles.

"Good," said Usagi, bending over like Raph, Leo and Casey to regain his breath, "We can each take turns to make certain that we have not missed anything."

After every inch of the treasure room and the connected passageway was searched and they were all positive that there was absolutely no treasure left, Donnie finally closed the wall that connected Raph's passageway with Mikey's.

"And that's done, for now." Donnie said, turning to look at everyone in Raph's passageway, "Now if Saki gets to the Treasure room, he won't find anything in it."

"But I don't think we should leave all this stuff here," Raph said, gesturing to all the treasure with them, "What if Saki finds this passageway somehow?"

"You are right, High Prince." Usagi said, "We need a more appropriate home for all this treasure."

"Yes, but it has to be somewhere that Saki won't look." April said, "Can we move it to another passageway? One that isn't so close to the treasure room?"

"So where's someplace easy for us to move all this stuff?" Mikey asked.

"How about Leo's room?" Donnie asked.

"What?" asked Leo.

"Leo's room." Donnie said, looking at Leo.

"Hang on, no one goes in there." Mikey said.

"Exactly." Donnie smiled, "The servants don't even go in there to clean. Saki would never think to look there."

He gave Leo another look.

"You make a compelling argument." Usagi said.

"There's just one problem," Casey said, "How're we gonna move all this stuff here," he gestured to all the treasure in the passageway, "to some other room in the Palace?"

"We'll figure it out," April said, "We're smart like that."

"Are we sure this is the best plan?" Raph asked, "Why not move it to another passageway?"

"That might work," Usagi said, "However, as soon as Lord Saki discovers the significance of the turtle symbol, we must assume that he will be able to find every passageway in the Palace."

"So," Leo said, "When do we start the move?"

"In a few hours." Usagi said, "I believe we have worked enough for now. We should rest."

"Right." Casey said, "I'll take April back to the villagers. Come get us as soon as you need us."

He picked up a candle, and with a chorus of good-byes the two of them started walking down the passage.

"I'd better go as well," Leo said, "I have abandoned my duties long enough. I will come back as soon as I can."

He bowed at the remaining Princes and Usagi, and started walking away without a candle, careful to step around all the jewels.

He had walked half-way down the passage when he heard footsteps behind him.

"Wait!" Donnie said, and suddenly he was next to Leo, "You can't go back there." He whispered.

"What? Of course I can," Leo said.

"No, you can't," Donnie whispered, "You've already been gone from the kitchens too long. Saki won't be so nice to you this time."

"I can take care of myself, Donatello." Leo whispered back, "I always have."

"No, you don't understand," Donnie shook his head, "I don't think he's just going to punish you this time. You can't go back there."

"Don," Leo said, looking at him as best as he could in the dark, "Is something wrong?"

"Remember how we went to Leo's room when we left Saki?" Donnie said.

"Yes," Leo said hesitantly.

"It was the first place you thought to go." Donnie said.

"Yes?" Leo asked.

"I realized it just now, when we were talking about the treasure. I can't believe I didn't notice it before. Maybe I didn't want to." Donnie said.

"What are you talking about?" Leo asked.

"I'm still trying to figure it out," Donnie said, "Because it doesn't make sense. But all the evidence is there."

"Don," Leo said, grasping his brother by the shoulders, "What are you trying to say?"

"The servants don't go in Leo's room," Donnie whispered, "No one does. So why did you choose to go there?"

"Because I panicked," Leo explained, taking his hands off Don's shoulders, "And I knew it was empty."

"Maybe," Donnie said, "But that doesn't explain everything. You know how that toy works, the one Mikey found in the treasure room. You know about the Seal. And then there's Saki. Why does he treat you like that?"

"Prince," Leo said, turning to Don, "I keep my eyes and ears open. I always have. So I've picked up a few things."

"So have I. And you can't go back to the kitchens." Donnie said, "We're in a war, and Saki's not going to keep his promise for much longer. You're in danger."

"Prince, I appreciate your concern, but I'll be fine." Leo said, "He's kept it so far, hasn't he?"

Then he stopped, and cringed.

"Sorry," Leo said, starting to walk again, "I think we're talking about two different things."

"So, we're not talking about the promise Saki made to keep the royal children safe?" Donnie asked, falling in step beside him.

Leo froze.

"That's what I thought." Donnie said, "Leonardo, I think we need to talk."

Chapter Text

"What did you just call me?"

"You heard me, Leonardo." Donnie said, "Or should I just call you Leo?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Leo said.

"Well, considering that there is only one Leonardo in this palace and he's pretty famous, I think you do." Donnie said, "Come on. Let's get out of here and go to my room. It should be safe for us to talk there."

Leo obediently followed Donnie down the passageway.

"Don," he said, "No one can know about this. Not even your brothers."

"Don't you mean your brothers?" Donnie asked, pulling the lever that opens the passageway.

"Fine," Leo said, "Just promise me you'll keep this a secret."

Donnie looked at Leo, and stepped out of the passage without answering him.

"It's important." Leo said, "Trust me on this."

"We'll talk in my room." Donnie said.

The two of them, now out of the passageway and in Raph's room, poked their heads out of his bedroom door. As soon as the coast was clear, Leo led the way to Donnie's bedroom.

"Alright," Donnie said, locking his bedroom door, "I haven't been in here in a while, but I don't think any ninjas are going to be searching my room anytime soon. It should be safe for us to talk in here."

"Don," Leo said.

"And then I'm going to have to find a way to keep you safe from Saki," Donnie continued, "That's not going to be easy, but now that everyone knows how Saki's been treating you we can hide you in one of the passageways."

"Donnie." Leo repeated.

"And once we tell them who you are-"

"You can't." Leo interrupted.

"What?" Donnie asked, turning to look at him.

"Don, you can't tell them. Or anyone." Leo said.

"Why not?" Donnie asked.

"Because of Saki."

Donnie walked up to Leo and gestured for him to take a seat on one of the chairs in the room.

"What has he done to you?" Donnie asked, "Leo, it's okay. No one is going to tell Saki that we know about you."

"Trust me, he'll find out somehow." Leo said, "Don't you think there's a reason I never complained? Don't you know why Saki doesn't want me to speak to you?"

"So what?" Donnie asked, "We know now."

"No, you know now." Leo corrected, "Saki doesn't know that I even remember who I am. And I want to keep it that way."

"What?"

"Do you remember those fairy tales that mom used to tell us at night, before we went to bed?" Leo asked.

"Fairy tales? I-uh, no, not really. She did that?" Donnie asked, sitting down in the chair opposite Leo.

"Yes, she did." Leo smiled, "Raph always asked for the one about the dragon, you liked the one about the inventor. Mikey was too little to ask for one, but he liked it when she made those funny noises."

"I don't remember that." Donnie said, frowning.

"Raph might." Leo said, "Anyone, those fairy tales always had a happy ending. But that's not how real life is like, Donatello. I learned that a long time ago. I've been trying to protect you, Donnie. You and Raph and Mikey. If Saki even thinks that you know what he did to get the throne, your life would be in danger. Please, Donnie. Promise me that you won't tell anyone who I am-at least, not until Saki is overthrown."

"Leo-"

"Donnie, please." Leo said.

"Alright," Don said, "On one condition. You have to stay here, and not go back to the kitchens. Or the stables, or the fields, or wherever else you go."

"I can't do that," Leo shook his head, "If I did, Saki would know what's going on. He keeps me close to him on purpose, Donnie."

"Leo, you're not safe around him." Donnie said, "And besides, once he realizes that Dad's coming with an army we're not going to be safe either."

"Why do you think that?" Leo asked, "You'll be fine. Even if Saki fights alongside the Purple Dragons against the Daimyo's army, he can't hurt any of you. Not with the people in the castle looking over his shoulder."

"But we're not safe now." Donnie said, "As soon as we find out what he did to get Dad's throne, we're as good as dead, remember? It doesn't matter what the people think, Saki's the one in charge."

"So what do you want me to do?" Leo asked.

"Stay here." Donnie said, "We'll hide you from him, just like we'll hide Usagi. We'll make it look like you ran away or something. And in return I'll-well, I'll keep your secret for you. But only until Saki is overthrown."

"I appreciate that Don, I really do," Leo smiled, "But I still don't think that will work. Saki doesn't know that Usagi came back, so he won't be looking for him. But as soon as Saki learns that I'm gone, I think he's going to assume that I told you who I am. He knows I've talked to you before."

"Then maybe it's time for all of us to leave." Donnie said.

"What?" Leo asked.

"While you and Mikey were moving the dresser earlier, I heard Usagi tell Raph that we might not be able to stay in the palace much longer." Donnie said, "Things will get dangerous once Saki hears that Dad went to the Daimyo. We might have to escape the palace."

"Oh." Leo said, "That's...pretty big news."

"Yup," Donnie said, "We'll probably have to take April and Casey with us too, to make sure they're safe."

"So, to escape you're either going to have to take the passageway to the guardhouse, or the river route." Leo said, "And the guardhouse is currently the Purple Dragon headquarters."

"Right," Donnie said, "So, you know, it would be helpful if we had someone with us who knows the underground river. You know, other than Mikey."

"Fine." Leo said, "I'll go with you guys then. But in the meantime, I have to act as if nothing happened."

"But something has happened." Donnie said, "You've been spending the day helping us out. You've been gone too long, Leo."

"Not necessarily," Leo shook his head, "As long as I get everything done today, it doesn't matter if I start late. Saki's busy with the war, so not going to know when I start working again, or where. He'll just know when I stop."

"Leo," Donnie said, "I know I don't remember you. But you're my brother, and I want to get to know you. I don't want you getting in trouble with Saki again."

"Trust me, I can handle myself." Leo said, "I'll be fine, Donnie. I've been doing this for years now. A little longer won't hurt."

"It better not." Donnie said, "I don't like this. Alright, look. Don't bother coming back to move things today, I'll cover for you. Get your work done. Then if there's time, come see us again in Raph's room. We'll let you know as soon as we have a plan."

"Right." Leo nodded, "Thanks Don. But you can't tell-"

"I know," Donnie interrupted, "Fine. I'll wait until after the danger's gone. But once it is, I'm not going to keep it a secret anymore."

"That's good enough for me." Leo said, "I trust you, Don."

Quickly he stood up.

"I'd better get going," Leo excused himself, "If I want to get done by tonight."

He headed for Donnie's bedroom door.

"Leo?" Donnie asked.

"Yes?" Leo asked, turning to look at him.

"Maybe sometime when this is over, you can tell me more about Mom and Dad."

Leo smiled. "I would like that."

There had been more chores than Leo realized. Some of them were additional duties that had to do with the war, but some of them were assignments that should have been done days ago. Apparently, everyone in the Palace was waiting for him to get back so they could give him more work.

It was nice to know he had been missed.

He managed to get done everything that could be done. It wasn't easy. But neither was knowing that Saki, also known as the Shredder, might soon go after his brothers.

When Leo finally entered Raph's room that night, he was so tired that he almost fell over. He almost didn't notice April and Casey there.

"It's about time." Raph said, and Leo felt rather than saw Usagi lead him to a chair.

"Yeah, we need you for this next part." Casey said.

"We've figured out a way to make the move work." Raph explained.

By 'the move' he meant moving the treasure, of course.

"Hey bro, you okay?" Mikey asked.

Suddenly Donnie was in Leo's face. "Everything alright?" He asked, suddenly concerned.

"I'm fine," Leo said, sitting up straighter to prove it, "What's the plan?"

"Well, we're gonna have to just move everything using the hallway outside." Mikey said, gesturing towards the hallway outside Raph's bedroom door.

"What?" Leo asked, "But how can we make sure that no one sees us move?"

"Don't worry, we've got that covered." April smiled.

"It's not the best plan, but it's the best we could come up with." Raph said.

"We have devised a method to keep the guards and servants from interrupting us while we move." Usagi said, "All that remains is to ensure that Lord Saki does not wander onto this floor while we are transferring the items."

"That's where you come in." Casey said.

"You and Donnie." Mikey said.

"If you're up to it," Don said, looking at Leo almost as if he was asking for permission.

"What do I have to do?" Leo asked.

"You two are gonna distract Saki while we move." Raph said, "Hopefully it won't take up too much of the day tomorrow."

"I've already drawn up the plan." Donnie said, pulling out a piece of paper and handing it to Leo, "It involves mixing certain chemicals and placing them in various positions around the castle. We might have to sneak out tonight for some of the organic ingredients."

Once again, he looked at Leo as if he was asking for permission.

"We figured, you know, that you know the Palace pretty well and won't get lost." Raph said, "So you and Donnie can do the distracting without getting caught."

"Okay." Leo said, "When do we get started?"

"Now." Donnie said, folding up his map. "We'll get everything set for tomorrow, and the guys will move everything first thing in the morning. I don't know how much longer we've got before we run out of time."

"So we're leaving afterwards?" Leo asked.

"Yup." Raph said, "Soon as everything's moved into Leo's room, we're going out the basement."

"But we've got to be very careful." Donnie said, "If Saki even gets a hint about what we're doing, we might not have time to escape."

"So it's all up to you guys. No pressure or anything." Mikey said.

"Got it." Leo nodded.

"You sure you're not too tired or anything?" Don asked.

Leo looked him right in the eye. "I'm fine. I would die for you guys." He said.

"Right," Raph said, "Okay, so Don's got the plan, and April and Usagi have it memorized. We'll start moving as soon as we get his first signal, and we'll let you guys know once we're done. Get to the basement as soon as you get our signal, got that?"

Leo and Donnie nodded.

"We'll see you guys then." April said, "Good luck!"

"Wait, we're not seeing you tonight?" Mikey asked.

"We'll be fine, Mikey." Donnie said, heading towards the door, "Come on, bro. We'd better get started."

Leo got up to follow him.

"Really?" Raph asked, "You're doing the 'bro' thing too, Don?"

"See you tomorrow, Raph." Donnie smirked, "You too, Mikey, Casey and Usagi. And uh, you too, uh, April."

"Good luck, Donnie." April repeated, smiling back at him.

"See you guys tomorrow!" Casey said.

"Good luck, young Prince. Good luck, my Friend." Usagi bowed.

"Don't forget about me!" Mikey waved.

Leonardo bowed at them all as Mikey enveloped Donnie in a farewell hug. Mikey then surprised him with a hug of his own, and at last Leo found himself on the other side of Raph's door with Donnie.

"Come on," Donnie said, "We've got to get started if we want to get things ready by morning."

He started to walk in the direction opposite to his bedroom.

"Where are we going?" Leo asked.

"To the Private Library," Donnie said, "I need to make sure some of my calculations are correct before we start mixing chemicals. Just be sure to hide if anyone comes in, you're not allowed in there yet."

"Alright. Can I make a suggestion?" Leo asked.

"What kind?" Donnie asked, looking at Leo in confusion.

"Shouldn't we head this way?" Leo asked, pointing backwards with his thumb, "It's shorter."

"There's a shortcut?" Donnie asked, dumbfounded, "Why didn't anyone tell me this before?"

Leo didn't answer, but he turned around and began to lead the way. He lead Don through a series of twists and turns, until finally they made it to the Library.

"On second thought," Leo said to Don, "I'm not sure I should go in there. It would be too easy for Saki to walk in and see me."

"I think we should risk it." Donnie said, "We're not going to be in there long, but I need to review some of the books without taking them out of the room. Saki might realize what I'm doing if he realizes which books I took. Besides, our uncle should be asleep by now."

Donnie carefully opened the door and poked his head inside.

"All clear," he said, "Come on, Leo. Let's get this started."

Chapter Text

"So, are you going to tell me exactly what we're doing tonight?" Leo asked, watching Donnie pull down book after book from the library shelves.

"Sure thing, Leo." Donnie said, grabbing one last book and heading towards one of the room's many desks, "Just as soon as you eat."

"Eat?" Leo asked, "Don, have you eaten dinner yet?"

"Oh no, I've eaten." Donnie said, setting down the pile of books and opening the book on the top, "But you haven't."

Leo didn't even bother to argue about that. He grabbed one of the chairs in the room and pulled it over for Donnie to sit on, and then grabbed one for himself.

"Donatello," he said, sitting down in the second chair, "It's too risky. I'm already risking my life just by being in here. Now if you're hungry that's a different story, but we can't call up food here in the middle of the night without Saki getting suspicious."

"He's not going to get suspicious." Donnie said, "The food's already here."

He bent down and pulled a basket out from under the desk.

"I realized that you would skip dinner." He said, passing the basket to Leo, "So I asked the servants to make this for me earlier. Go ahead and eat while I take a few notes. When I'm done, I'll go over the plan with you."

Leo looked in the basket, and his face fell. "I can't eat all this. It's too much." He said.

"Too bad," Donnie said, not even looking up at him, "Just eat as much as you can, and leave the rest for me later."

While Leo picked at the rich food in the basket and managed to eat some of it, Donnie looked through all the books on the desk, made a few notes on a piece of paper, put all the books back and then grabbed several more.

"This is the easiest part of the plan." Donnie told Leo, "I just have to make sure that all the calculations I did earlier in my room are accurate. So far I haven't come across any mistakes yet."

He picked up the next book.

"Oh." He said, "I grabbed the wrong one."

"Want me to get it for you?" Leo asked, pushing the basket aside.

"Sure," Donnie said, grabbing another book and opening it, "It's the small yellow book over there. Fourth shelf up, third book from the left."

"Got it." Leo said, walking over to the bookshelf. He located the right book, grabbed it from the shelf-and then promptly dropped it.

"Sorry," he said to Donatello, even though Donnie didn't seem to be paying attention.

Leo bent down to pick up the book from the floor, but fumbled and dropped it again. With a sigh he sat down and grabbed the book. He couldn't see if Donnie had even noticed that he dropped it, since he was now sitting behind one of the sofas in the room.

But why was he worried? Donnie wasn't going to punish him for dropping a book. If anything, he would punish him by telling him he was too tired to help out.

Leo fingered the edge of the yellow book, thinking. That was the moment that the library door opened.

Donnie yelped, and from the sound of it he got off the chair quickly.

"U-Uncle!" He said.

Leo's heart sank into his stomach. He couldn't see what was happening, since he was still behind the sofa, but this wasn't good.

"Donatello." Uncle Saki said, "What brings you to the library this late at night?"

"I-I-uh, well, just a little research." Donnie said quickly, "Don't tell Raph I'm still here."

"Hm." Uncle Saki said, "Was Raphael here with you earlier?"

"Well, there are two chairs here..."

Saki laughed.

"And the servants packed you a basket, I see." He said, and Leo thought he heard the sound of Saki sitting down, "Tell me. In your exploration of this library, have you seen a book about wrestling lately?"

"Wrestling?" Donnie asked, "Why would I be interested in wrestling? No offense, Uncle Saki. I'm just not inclined toward the same interests as you."

Saki laughed again. "Perhaps it is good that we are not interested in the same things," he told Donatello, "You are very intelligent, my nephew. I have been searching for a book here within the library, a book that seems to have gone missing. If you find it, do not hesitate to bring it to me."

"Of course, Uncle." Donnie said, "What's it about?"

"Wrestling." Saki said, "I understand that you are busy, so do not bother reading it. Just have it sent over to me if you find it."

"Sure thing."

"Good." Saki said, "I'm going to look for it again before I leave, but I do not expect you to stay here all night. There is still a war to fight, and I believe that I can use some of those brilliant ideas of yours."

"Really, uncle?" Donnie asked, "You mean it?"

"Certainly!" Saki said, "You may not be as useful as your brothers in battle, but you are very intelligent and provide good ideas for defense. Now, I am going to look once more for that missing book."

Leo heard Saki stand up. For a few horrible moments, he listened as Saki walked through the room in search of the missing book. Any second now, he would come across Leonardo hiding behind the sofa...

"Uncle Saki?" Donnie asked, just when Saki's footsteps were the loudest, "Here's an idea I came up with today for keeping out the enemy. Would you like to see it?"

And suddenly Saki was gone, looking over Donnie's shoulder and critiquing the merit of Donnie's new idea.

"I also came up with another one," Donnie said, "See? It involves using sulfur to-"

"That is very good, Donatello." Saki interrupted, "But I am afraid that I must leave you now. I have stayed here long enough. You may show me your idea in the morning."

And then, just as suddenly as he had come, Saki was gone. Leo waited until he couldn't hear Saki's footsteps outside the room anymore, and then he stood up from behind the couch.

"That was close," Donnie said, taking the little yellow book that Leo handed to him, "I didn't think he was going to leave."

Leo didn't trust himself to say anything.

"Alright," Donnie said, "I'm going to hurry this up a little."

Quicker than Leo thought possible, Donnie opened each book, looked through it, wrote something down and moved on to the next one.

"Are you even reading?" Leo asked.

"I can speed read," Donnie said, "It's very handy."

Just a little later Donnie announced, "Done."

So Leo joined him in taking all the books off the desk and putting them all back on the shelves.

"Okay," Donnie said, shelving books as he talked, "I double-checked all my calculations. We're good to go."

"That's great, Donnie." Leo said, "Where exactly are we going?"

"First, we need to stop by the woods for some fresh ingredients." Donnie said, "We're going to create a chemical mixture and set it up in various parts of the Palace. Whenever Saki gets too close to the hallway where the others are, we're going to set one of them off."

"And how is that going to help?" Leo asked.

"It'll cause a major distraction, trust me." Donnie said, "The tricky part will be making sure that we're not caught."

It didn't take too long for Leo to sneak Donnie out of the Palace.

Alright, so maybe it took a little longer than it should have. They needed to go out through the well in the basement, but when Leo looked into the well with a torch in his hand, he realized that unless they wanted to use the handholds in the cave ceiling and risking a fall into the river they needed a ladder to connect the well entrance with the underground platform.

Finding the material sturdy enough for the ladder took a little longer than they wanted, but at last with Donnie's ingenuity they made something from the junk in the basement and lowered it down the well. Leo went first and Donnie followed, closing the open trapdoor behind them.

The trip through the underground cave system took longer than planned, because every few seconds Donatello would stop and observe something new about the walls or the river. Finally, they reached the waterfall.

That was when their luck ran out.

"Leo, do you see those lights on the other side of the waterfall?" Donnie whispered.

"Oh no, I forgot." Leo said, "Just after Mikey and I found this cave, we saw the Purple Dragons set up their camp in front of it."

"Great," Donnie said sarcastically, "So now we need to find some way to get past an enemy camp."

"What exactly are we looking for?" Leo asked, "I might be able to leave you here and find it by myself."

"There's no way we're splitting up," Donnie said, "We're just going to have to find a way past the enemy."

"But we also need to find a way to get back in here once we have what we need." Leo pointed out, "And I don't want to get us both caught."

"That's a risk I'm willing to take." Donnie said, bending down, "I wonder if we can use mud from this river to camouflage ourselves? Here, rub this mud on your face."

"Um, Don?" Leo asked, obediently taking the river mud from Donnie, "Are you sure this will help?"

"Of course it will." Donnie said, straightening up with more mud in his hands, "Our faces will be much less reflective with it on, especially if we have to go right past one of their campfires."

"Alright," Leo said, rubbing it all over his face and arms and grabbing more mud as needed, "So, is the plan for us to just sneak by and hope to not get caught?"

"Guess so," Donnie said, rubbing mud on his own face and arms, "Unless we can think of something better."

Neither one of them could, so as soon as they deemed themselves covered in enough mud they snuck out from behind the waterfall and slowly made their way to the woods. Leo was in the lead, so that if there was an emergency Donnie might have enough time to run back to the waterfall.

They had left the torch behind the waterfall, far enough in the cave that no one passing by would notice its light. That meant they had no light with them, and since the night was fairly dark, the only sources of light were the enemy campfires.

Of course, they were trying to avoid those campfires, so they were trying to stay as much in the dark as possible.

After several minutes and a few close calls with Purple Dragon sentry guards, Leo and Don finally made it to a part of the forest where they felt comfortable enough to talk in a low whisper.

Donnie started searching the ground for whatever plants he had been looking for, giving Leo a very confusing explanation of the plants and their functions and what other plants they were similar to and the name of some distant king who used them. After half an hour they finally found them, all grouped together in one section of the woods.

"This is it?" Leo asked, looking down at the plants as Donnie handed them to him, "You know these grow inside the castle, right?"

Donnie stopped. "What?" He asked, his hand halfway in the dirt.

"By the kitchens." Leo explained, "They grow like crazy out there. I'm always weeding them out of the Chef's garden."

"Seriously?" Donnie asked, "We didn't even have to leave the castle for these?"

"Guess not," Leo chuckled.

Donnie started chuckling too, and Leo could see that he was shaking his head.

"Well, come on then." Donnie said, throwing the plants into a sack he brought with him, "We'd better get back to the castle with these."

The two of them crept back to the waterfall and snuck behind it, then made their way through the cave until they were back in the basement.

"Let's leave the ladder here," Leo said as they climbed out of the trapdoor, "We're going to need it later, when we all leave the castle."

Donnie just nodded, and Leo closed the trapdoor.

For the next half an hour, Leo helped Don mix up his chemical distraction in his royal bedroom. After Donnie mixed everything together exactly the way he wanted it, the two of them carefully poured the mixture into several little containers.

"This should be perfect." Donnie said, tying one end of a string to a container.

"So, how are we going to make these go off?" Leo asked.

"Well," Donnie said, "I'm going to set this up in a corner, and hold the container in place with this string. The other end of this string will be tied to a candle. After we light the candle it will burn down, and once it burns down to where I tied the string, the string will fall off. That will make the container fall, and when it breaks it will start the reaction."

"Smart." Leo said.

"Thanks!" Donnie said, "So depending on where I tie the string around the candle, we can have fifteen minutes or several hours to get away from this once we light it."

He took a candle from a box on his desk and showed it to Leo.

"The servant who makes these candles usually makes notches on one side of the candle," Don said, "Five notches means it will burn for five hours, six notches for six hours, and so on."

"I wondered if anyone would notice that," Leo said, taking the candle and staring at the notches.

Donnie stopped to look at him.

"You made the candles?" He asked.

"Among other things." Leo said, handing the candle back to Don, "So, are you going to tie the string around the first notch so that the string will fall in one hour?"

"Not really." Donnie said, "I'm going to make a smaller notch near the top to set them for a shorter time. As long as the flame doesn't go out-and it shouldn't, since we're going to set it up far enough away from the hallway-we can plan on these things breaking once we're safely out of the way."

"How are we going to be sure it'll break in time?" Leo asked, "I mean, we're doing this to distract Saki, so we might not be able to predict when we'll need it to break."

"I'm going to set most of them for fifteen minutes," Donnie said, pointing to a hand-drawn chart he had made in front of him, "Except for a few of them, which I will set for three hours, and one that I'm going to set for five. That should be enough time. Here," he handed Leo a map containing several floors of the castle, with little X's marked all over it, "This map shows where we're going to set them up."

Leo took the map and studied it carefully. "What if Saki realizes how they're going off and searches for all the lit candles?" He asked.

"I'm not too worried about that," Donnie said, "I've picked spots that should be out of the way, but I've made sure that there's an alcove or something where we can hide the candle. As long as he doesn't go searching around to see what the piece of string used to attach to, he's probably not going to find it. Especially not when he's investigating one of these things after it goes off. In fact, I guarantee you that he's not going to want to go near this thing after it goes off."

"Why not?" Leo asked.

"You'll see," Donnie smiled.

The two of them set up all the candles and containers, and finally they placed them all carefully in a box and carried them throughout the castle. Leo then took charge of the map and led Donnie to all the places he had chosen to place the containers, and they carefully set up everything.

"We've got to be very careful not to drop one of these." Donnie said, setting one of the containers in place.

"I'm not sure if I want to know, but what exactly will happen when these fall?" Leo asked.

"I'll let you find that out for yourself." Donnie said, "Just make sure that you're nowhere near this thing when it goes off, so Saki won't suspect you of anything."

When the two of them finally separated that night to actually get some sleep, it was only after several more hours of plotting and planning. Leo now knew exactly what it was that he was going to do the next day, and where he was supposed to be.

"There's always room for error," Donnie had told him before they parted for bed, "And since there's a war going on, we can't exactly be sure what will happen or where Saki will be. But I think that we're going to be well-prepared for tomorrow. Or today, I guess, since it's already tomorrow."

"Right," Leo agreed, "Hey Don, I was wondering. Exactly how will Raph keep the servants away from the bedrooms so everyone can move the treasure without getting caught?"

"Mikey." Donnie explained, "Because, you know, Mikey can get away with anything. He's going to declare that he's afraid of the enemy coming to get him, so Raph is going to ban the servants from coming on the floor and barricade the entire hallway. He's also going to set up guards just outside each entrance to the floor."

"So no one but Saki will be allowed in." Leo reasoned.

"Exactly." Donnie said, "And Usagi is going to keep an eye out for the Foot ninjas, in case they try sneaking in. I don't think they will, with all the guards outside the hallway, but you never know. Hopefully everything will go as planned."

So now everything was set. And as Leo crept into the kitchen and took his customary sleeping spot underneath the small wooden steps, he couldn't help but wonder if everything would go as planned, or if something really bad was about to happen.

Chapter Text

The next day, hours before dawn, Leonardo took a quick break from his morning chores to light the first of Donnie's candles in the castle. This was the three-hour candle, so it wasn't until he was busy working in the fields three hours later that he heard the sound of a small explosion. Not long after that, he became aware that there were more people awake in the castle than there should be.

It wasn't until he was called by the cook into the kitchen that he became awake of the green smoke and the smell.

"Oh wow, Donnie was right." He thought to himself as he plugged his nose while trying to air out the kitchen, even though the candle had been lit five rooms away, "There's no way anyone is going to want to get anywhere near the source of this."

Saki was obviously confused, since he was in touch with the enemy outside the gates and knew that they didn't set off the stink bomb. But then the second candle, one that Donnie lit, went off.

The entire castle went mad. Soldiers were running everywhere at once, servants were trying to encourage each other to clean the hallways but no one dared to get close to the smell, and there was a rumor that Steward Saki was mad enough for smoke to come out of his ears.

Leonardo was called to Saki, but since the cook had seen him working in the fields it was obvious that Leo had nothing to do with either stink bomb. Then, to Leonardo's horror, Saki sent him to try and clean up the mess.

That was when Leo realized how bad the stink was.

"My Lord," one of the soldiers said to Saki, just as Leo was asking him for permission to open all the windows in the castle, "The Prince Michelangelo has declared the Royal Bedroom quarters off limits, and High Prince Raphael has forbidden all entry. They are afraid this is part of an enemy attack, and have requested guards to be posted around each entrance to the hallway leading to the bedrooms."

"Very well." Saki said, "Do as they wish, for now. I shall speak with Michelangelo later. There are more important matters to attend to."

Suddenly, there was the sound of another small explosion. This was from another candle that Donnie lit, and unfortunately it apparently that he had lit it in the very hallway that Leo, Saki and the soldier were standing in. Green smoke suddenly surrounded them, and Leo suddenly found it difficult to breathe.

"Damn!" Saki said, and they were all forced to quickly abandon the hallway. "This is no coincidence. There must be an intruder in the castle," Saki said to the soldier, "Find him and bring him to me!"

"Right away, my Lord!" The soldier responded.

"My Lord!" another soldier called, coughing as he ran up to them, "My Lord, we have a problem at the gates!"

"What?" Saki asked, coughing into his sleeve.

"There's a fight." The soldier said.

"A fight?" Saki asked, "What kind? Is it the Dragons fighting themselves, fighting us or fighting the Foot clan?"

"I-I don't know, my Lord." The soldier responded, "The Dragons and Foot are fighting together, against an army bearing our banner. But all of our men are accounted for, sir!"

"What? How can this be?" Saki asked, sprinting forward.

To Leo's surprise, Saki grabbed him by the shoulder and dragged him behind him.

"Servant, you are coming with me!" Saki announced to Leo.

"But sir! Who will clean the hallways?" The soldier asked.

Saki ignored him, and lead Leo through the castle until they reached one of the towers. They raced up the tower just as another stink bomb went off in the hallway they had left behind. Saki dragged him up the flight of stairs, until finally they reached the top and could see over the parapet.

Below them, Leo could make out the fight outside the gates. The Purple Dragons and the Foot ninja, fighting together, were trying to repel an army that was about equal to their combined size. It was the first time Leo had seen the Foot ninja in the light of day, so he was a little mesmerized by their fighting style.

Suddenly he realized that the new army was fighting the Foot using the same techniques.

This new army, armed with silver weapons and white armor, fought under the proud banner of the Castle.

But not Saki's banner. These soldiers were fighting under the symbol of the Turtle. This was his Father's army, and they had arrived much, much sooner than Leo expected.

"How did they get in the Castle?" Saki mumbled, staring at the newcomers, "And if it wasn't them, who was it?"

Leo knew better than to answer his rhetorical question, but when Saki grabbed him by the shoulder and bent down to look in his face, he knew it wasn't rhetorical.

"How did they get in? Did you let them in, maggot?" Saki asked.

"Wha-what?" Leo asked, "My Lord, I-I haven't let anyone in!"

Anyone who wasn't part of the castle already, that is.

"Don't play me for a fool!" Saki shouted, "You know who this is, don't you? You know! And you let them in to set off those infernal stink devices."

Leonardo took an awkward step back, but refused to answer.

"You're coming with me," Saki said, reaching out and yanking Leo forward, "If anything happens to my palace, the firstborn of my brother will pay!"

With a start, Leo realized that Saki was talking about him, not Raphael. This was the first time Saki had ever acknowledged his birthright since that night, so very long ago, when he lead him out of his bedroom.

But he couldn't let the Shredder know that he understood who he was.

"NO!" Leo shouted, twisting away from the Shredder, "You cannot touch the High Prince Raphael!"

Saki caught him ferociously and pulled him back to his side.

"You will do as you're told, maggot." He said, "And you are coming with me!"

Stepping quickly so that Leo had to run to keep up, Saki dragged him down the stairs into the castle again, out the main gate and into the courtyard.

"We will defend the castle!" Saki shouted to the commander of his soldiers as he dragged Leo behind him, "Under the banner of my brother, some unruly soldiers will try to take it from me. But my brother is dead. For his sake, we will not allow these impostors entry. Rally the troops! We must drive them off immediately."

"Yes, my lord!" The commander said, and he began calling out orders to the soldiers around him.

"Bring me my horse!" Saki called, and immediately it was there.

Before Leo could blink, Saki picked him up and placed him on the battle stallion, then clamored up behind him without taking the time to put on any armor.

"We go to war!" Shredder shouted, "Let us fight against these heathens who dare to use my brother's sacred banner!"

Saki grabbed the reins, and Leo realized that he was going into battle with his uncle.

"Wait!" He shouted, twisting around, but Saki cuffed him on the head.

"Silence!" His uncle said, using his speaking voice this time, "You will do as I say!"

Leo made himself as low as possible, but he realized what was happening. He was a hostage now, and at any moment his uncle could waste him, especially if he thought that the true king was winning the battle.

As Saki positioned his horse in front of the closed gate and called out orders for the army behind him to assemble, Leo thought of his brothers and friends. Hopefully they would leave the castle without him. He hoped they would be smart enough to leave right away, even if they weren't done hiding the true King's treasure from their uncle. He wanted them to leave without even setting the last two smoke bombs, the one that would go off in three hours and the one that would go off in five hours to hide their escape.

Someone handed Saki a sword, and he held it out in one hand while holding the reins in the other. Now more than ever, Leo wished he had kept up practicing those sword lessons his father had taught him as a child. He could take Saki's sword, cut the reins out of his hands and spring from the horse to safety-but this was all wishful thinking.

Instead, Leo resolved to keep his wits about him in battle. At the first opportunity he had, he was going to escape.

Saki turned the horse around to face the troops gathered there and give them one last word of encouragement, so Leo took the opportunity to look around at them. He half-hoped that Usagi would be there, if only so that he could see a familiar face, but Usagi was with the others. Which was good, Leo thought, because Usagi was hiding from his uncle anyway.

The gates opened, and Saki's horse was the first one through them.

Chapter Text

Watching a battle from the castle tower was infinitely different from being in it. Within seconds, Leo had a new appreciation for the soldiers fighting. It took a certain kind of courage, and a belief in what you were fighting for, to enter something like this.

Saki, though, was not the kind of soldier Leo admired. He was fighting for power, and Leo could see it in how he tore through the Daimyo's army.

"Death to the traitors!" Saki cried, "Death to those who fight under my brother's sacred banner!"

Swords crossed left and right, but Saki was a skilled fighter. Even without his armor, he managed to deflect every blow. Leo realized with a start that it might be safer, after all, to stay on the horse with his uncle's skill protecting him.

But when the opportunity came, Leo took it instantly. Saki was busy protecting his left side and there was no one immediately on the right, so Leo slipped off on the right side of the horse.

He fell hard to the ground, and was almost stepped on by his uncle's horse. Rolling quickly, he made his escape on foot, hopefully before his uncle noticed that he was missing.

Now he almost wished to be back on the horse. It was dumb luck, not skill, that prevented him from getting seriously injured as he made his way across the battlefield. Twice he almost lost a limb, but he kept on going, heading for the forest as best as he could.

Suddenly a familiar face was in front of his own, and before he could think of who it was, Usagi had pulled him behind him.

"You should not be here!" Usagi shouted, fighting a soldier from the castle.

"Where are the others?" Leo asked.

"They are safe with Splinter," Usagi said, still fighting, "We left the castle as soon as we saw the Daimyo's army arrive."

Usagi won his battle, since the soldier he had been fighting took an opportunity to run away.

"Come," Usagi said, grabbing Leo's arm, "We must get you out of here! This is no place for one who is not trained."

Usagi lead him through the battlefield until finally it was behind them. They went through the woods, the sounds of swords and shouting fading behind them, until Usagi finally brought him to an encampment among the trees.

The soldiers guarding the camp let them through, and Usagi led Leo to a large tent that surrounded one of the tallest trees Leo had ever seen.

"I have him," Usagi announced, "He is safe!"

"Good." Said a familiar voice, and Leo suddenly realized that Raph was in the tent, sitting at a square table with some other officials.

"Prince!" Leo said, and fell to his knees.

"Get up!" another voice said, "Highness, who is this?"

"Commander Bishop," Raphael said, turning to the man next to him, "This is the faithful servant I was tellin' ya about."

"So he got out of the castle after all." The man named Bishop said.

"If you will excuse me," Usagi said, bowing, "I must go rejoin the battle."

"How is it going?" Raph asked.

"I cannot say, Highness." Usagi said, "Your Royal Uncle fights well, but so does your Royal Father, and both armies are well-trained...with the exception of the Purple Dragons, of course. At the moment, the battle is undecided."

With that, Usagi bowed again and left the tent.

"So," Raph said, turning to the others around the table with him-the man named Bishop, another man and a woman, "What are we gonna do?"

"We will let your father lead the troops protecting your brothers, as he desires to do." Bishop said, pointing to some stones on the table, "Our objective is to aid him in battle however we can until the river runs."

"I just wish Donnie was here," Raph said, "He's great at all this strategy stuff."

"Which is why he's at the river right now with your brother, that girl and the annoying boy." The woman at the table said, "Right now, according to our last reports, the main force of your uncle's army is placed here, here and here." She pointed to some of the stones on the table. "To increase the effectiveness of your brother's plan, we need to move most of that army over here."

The man named Bishop looked up at Leo.

"I have an idea." He said, then to Leo, "How would you like to help win this war?"

"Anything for the True King and the Princes." Leo responded.

"Good," Bishop said, "Then we will let you lead the army."

Everyone turned to look at Bishop.

"What?" Raph asked.

"This is the best way to draw Saki out," Bishop said, "We will spread the rumor that the High Prince has entered the battle, so of course Saki will rush to meet him."

"But Father said-" Raph began.

"You will not actually be leaving the encampment," Bishop interrupted, "We will send this young lad in your place. He is about the right age."

"Won't Lord Saki realize the deception?" The mysterious woman at the table asked.

"Of course he will," Bishop said, "He isn't going to keep up the fight once he sees that this isn't the real High Prince. But by then, the bulk of his army will be here, ready to help him fight the High Prince. Hopefully the river will be running by then. If not, then we can send out these troops here, here and here to corner them into position."

"Well, what d'ya say?" Raph asked, looking at Leo, "Are you up for it?"

Leo could see so many things wrong with this plan. He had absolutely no idea how to lead an army, for one. His uncle knew he really was the High Prince, for another.

But this plan would help out his family.

"I'll do anything for you." He said.

"Good," Raph nodded, "Bishop, we've got ta make this look as real as possible."

"Agreed." Bishop said, "The soldiers will have to treat him as the real High Prince, or Saki will realize the deception before it even begins. I'll gather your father's most loyal commanders. They will keep this a secret and spread our rumor to their troops."

"And we must send for your armor, Prince Raphael." The woman said, "If the boy isn't wearing your armor, the Lord Saki will know about it and suspect something."

"Armor?" Raph frowned, "I don't have armor."

"Of course you do," Bishop said, "Your father has been saving it for you for years."

Surprisingly, it didn't take too long for Leo to get ready. He had to be fitted with his brother's armor and seated on a horse, and all the while Bishop, Raph and the woman gave him bits and pieces of advice.

The last man at the table, who had been silent the entire time Leo had seen him, finally whispered 'good luck' to him, and suddenly Leo was off, surrounded on his left, right, and back by his father's most loyal soldiers.

"You are very brave, young one, to protect your High Prince this way." The soldier on his right said to him.

"I am loyal to the Royal Family." Leo said.

"Then, Brave One," said the soldier on his left, "We who are also loyal to them stand with you. We spent years in exile, waiting for the moment when the True King would return to his kingdom. We will not fail him now."

The soldiers led Leo to a spot where the woods cleared into the battlefield.

"It is the High Prince!" One of the soldiers with Leo shouted, and the army that the Daimyo had sent with Splinter took up the cry, "The Prince! The High Prince has joined the battle!"

Leo raised his brother's sword, and with a cry spurred Raph's horse forward. The soldiers around him sprang forward with him, and while Leo kept Raph's sword raised, it was the soldiers around him who made a path for him into the battlefield.

"Soldiers!" Leo cried, taking advantage of the fact that the new soldiers here did not know Raph's voice, "I call you to arms, for the sake of my father the King!"

The fact that Leo didn't really know how to fight with a sword didn't make any difference, since the soldier's around him-including ones from the battlefield now-were the ones doing all the fighting.

Slowly but surely, they fought their way through the battlefield to get into position.

"Down with the false Steward!" Leo shouted, "Down with the three armies of Saki, the Shredder!"

No one had told Leo to announce that Saki was the Shredder. But several of the castle soldiers, as soon as they realized that the Purple Dragons and ninjas were fighting alongside them for Saki, understood him and changed sides to fight with the Daimyo's army.

"The True King, my Father, has returned!" Leo shouted, "If you are not with him, you are against him!"

The soldiers guarding Leo stopped, and Leo stopped too, because he knew that they were now in position.

"Where is my Uncle?" Leo shouted, "Send word for him to meet me here, on the battlefield!"

He didn't have to repeat himself. The word went up around the field, from the mouths of enemy and ally alike, that the High Prince was challenging his uncle.

The soldiers around him fought to keep their position, and the battle around them raged, until suddenly it stopped.

Uncle Saki was coming on his black horse. Leo could see him making his way across the field.

At that moment, Leo noticed everything around him. How everyone seemed to be waiting, how the battle had all but stopped in anticipation of their meeting. How the soldiers around him tightened their hands around their swords. How Usagi was somehow there, standing on the ground next to him, his hand on the blade Raphael had let him keep.

And Leo also noticed, ruefully, how he had no real idea how to use the sword in his hand. He had been practicing with sticks for so long, he wasn't sure he could really use a sword.

Saki was here now. He had apparently taken the time to put on his armor now, his Shredder armor. He raised his sword and pointed it towards Leo.

"Raphael!" Saki called out, "I have always liked your spirit. Renounce your father, and you will be my heir to the Kingdom."

In response, Leo shook his helmeted head.

"Then," Saki cried, "You have spelled your own doom!"

At that moment, the ninjas struck. The soldiers around Leo were suddenly busy defending themselves from foes who had not been within their sights a few seconds earlier, and Leo found himself facing Saki alone. The entire battlefield had erupted into confusion, and even Usagi was busy.

"Now," Saki said, his sword raised at Leo's head, "Fight me, if you dare!"

Leo raised his brother's sword, and Saki moved. It was all Leo could do to defend himself.

"What's the matter, Raphael?" Saki asked, "You don't wish to fight your own uncle?"

"Stand down, Shredder." Leo said, "You may defeat me, but you will not defeat your brother the King!"

Saki had aimed a blow at Leo's head, but in his surprise he missed.

"What?" He asked, looking intently at Leo, "You are not Raphael. You are-"

Then he erupted.

"LEONARDO!" He cried, saying Leo's name for the first time in years, "I will DESTROY you!"

He renewed his efforts against Leo, and the sword slashed down so fast that Leo wasn't sure he would be able to defend himself much longer.

"Defend!" Leo heard one of the soldiers near him cry, "Defend! He can't keep it up much longer!"

"TO ME!" Saki cried, even as he hacked his sword at Leo, "TO ME, EVERYONE! CONCENTRATE ALL YOUR EFFORTS HERE!"

"SOLDIERS!" Leo called out in response, "TAKE OUT THE NINJA! DRAGONS, HE WILL NOT PAY YOU!"

"What?" One of the louder Purple Dragons asked, "No payment?"

Suddenly Usagi was next to Leo, on a Castle horse. "Fight me, coward!" Usagi addressed Saki, "You know the boy has no training!"

Leo thought it was almost cruel for Usagi to call him a boy when they were both about the same age, but he had no time to argue about it. The battle around them thickened, spurred on by the battle between Leo and Saki. Usagi jumped in to fight alongside Leo, but even with the swordmaster's help, Leo wasn't sure how long the two of them would last against an infuriated Shredder.

The sounds of the battle were blending together. Screams and shouts, metal against metal, the sounds grew louder and louder. Leo's ears were starting to buzz. He even thought it started to sound like rushing water.

"RUN!" Someone near him shouted, "RUN!"

Saki paid no attention, so neither did Leo. By the time he realized that everyone around him was fleeing, foe and friend alike, it was too late.

His horse bucked, and threw him to the ground. As the noble steed galloped away, someone grabbed him.

Then the river hit.

Chapter Text

Now that the river was trying to sweep him away and drown him, Leo finally had time to think.

He realized, first of all, that it wasn't normal for the river to sweep across this particular place on this particular field. He then remembered that someone had said Donnie had gone down to the river. So as he was struggling to keep his head above water, Leo realized with pride that it was his brother who had done this.

The soldier who had grabbed ahold of Leo and kept him in place was still holding on, and at the same time, he was keeping masterful control over his horse. Leo suddenly wondered what had happened to his own horse, but he guessed it had made it to safety. He hoped so, anyway.

The water subsided, and the soldier let Leo down to the ground. Saki was lying on the ground, weighed down by all his armor and sputtering out water, his own horse gone. Most of the carnage from the battle had disappeared with the river.

The soldiers who had been guarding Leo surrounded his fallen uncle and aimed their weapons at him. When Saki finally stood up, it was only to be captured.

Leo took several deep breaths, and slowly got up. A few horses nearby whinnied, and Leo noticed with relief that one of them was the one who had carried him into battle.

"Steward Saki," one of the King's soldiers said, "You are under arrest for treason."

Saki only scowled.

"Are you alright?" A voice asked, and Leo turned to see Usagi standing next to him.

"I think so," he said, still trying to catch his breath.

"Here comes the King." Someone announced, and Leo turned to see several horses galloping towards them from the direction of the river-that is, the place where the river normally was.

The soldiers all around Leo got off their horses, and everyone who wasn't guarding Saki knelt. Leo and Usagi followed their example.

"Dad!" Shouted another voice, and Raph galloped up to them from the direction of the encampment.

"I see that my brother has been captured." Leo heard the voice before he looked up to see the speaker, but he knew by the first word who it was; this was Splinter, his Father the King.

When he did look up, he saw his father, Leatherhead, Don, Mikey, April and Casey. And coming up to meet them was Raph.

"Yeah, we got him," Raph said, "Wow, you guys were great! Don and Mikey, you should come up with plans together all the time!"

"I still can't believe that worked," April said, getting off her horse.

"I knew it would!" Casey said.

"Hey, look guys!" Mikey said, pointing to Leo, "He did make it out!"

"You did well here," Splinter said, looking at the soldiers, Leo, Usagi and Raph, "You distracted him long enough for the plan to take effect."

Then Splinter walked towards Saki, who was still making himself look miserable.

"The battle is over," Splinter announced, "Your armies are disbanded. The Daimyo's soldiers are tracking down your ninja, the Castle surrendered itself to me before the battle was finished, and the Purple Dragons have left you."

"Hello to you too." Saki scowled.

"Saki," Splinter said, "I am ashamed of you, brother. You have forgotten your promise."

Leo thought that sounded familiar for some reason, but he had no time to think about it.

"Father," Donnie said, "Now that the battle is over, there's something I have to tell you."

"And I have something to tell you as well," Usagi said, "With permission, I believe this is important."

"Speak, Warrior." Splinter said, looking at Saki.

"It is about what the false steward called this loyal servant during battle." Usagi said.

"I heard it too." One of the soldiers next to Leo said, "He recognized the boy and addressed him by a name."

Leo almost jumped.

"I thought the child had no name." Leatherhead said.

"What was it you called the child, brother?" Splinter asked.

But Saki wouldn't answer.

"I know what he said." Donnie interrupted, "He called him Leonardo. Didn't you, Uncle Saki?"

Saki looked at Donnie with anger in his eyes.

"How did you know that?" Usagi asked.

"Because I found out myself, not too long ago." Donnie said, looking at Leo, "That's what happened, isn't it? You sent word that the High Prince was coming. We heard about it all the way at the river. But when Saki arrived, he thought it was Raphael. When he learned it was you, he thought...well, he thought we all knew. Didn't he, Leo?"

Leo looked up at his brother, who was still seated on his horse.

"Yes, that's what happened." He said.

"Knew about what?" Mikey asked.

"I get it," Raph said, looking at Leo, "I should have figured it out earlier!"

"Figured out what?" Mikey asked.

"Are these hints true?" Leatherhead asked, looking at Saki.

Saki still refused to answer.

"Child," Splinter said, looking at Leo, "When I first met you, I thought that you and Michelangelo were brothers."

"Dad, he remembers stuff." Raph said, looking at Splinter, "He's the one who reminded me about the Token, when we needed to contact the Daimyo."

"How can we be certain that this is true?" Usagi asked, thinking out loud.

"That what is true?" Mikey asked.

"Brave one," Splinter said, looking at Leonardo, "What is your name?"

"My name?" Leo asked, "I-I'm not sure I have one anymore."

"Come on!" Donnie said, "You know your name, Leo. Why do you want to hide it, after all Saki did to you?"

"Because I don't belong in that world anymore." Leo said, "I spent my life watching you Princes, because I wanted to make sure you came to your rightful place despite our wicked uncle. I am but a humble servant, and now that the King is back, I would like to ask to continue serving you."

"Child," Splinter said, once more addressing Leonardo, "Many years ago, my own brother handed me over to the Purple Dragons as part of a plot to take my wealth and kingdom. Now I have both my kingdom and wealth back. If you know, as I think you do, what happened to my eldest son, I beg you to tell me."

Kings do not beg. That was the first thought that entered Leo's head.

"Highness," Leo bowed, "I-I am not sure what to say."

"Tell me the truth." The King demanded.

What could he say? Leo thought hard, then opened his mouth.

"Many years ago," he said, "The Steward entered the High Prince's bedchamber, and announced that the youngest was feeling ill."

"The youngest? That's me, right?" Mikey asked, "Gee Raph, I don't remember that."

"Not me, dummy. Leo is the High Prince." Raph said.

"The High Prince got up and followed," Leo said, his face getting red, "But it was a trap. The Prince was...taken. There was a funeral for him, but he was not dead. I can say no more. That's what happened to your son, Highness." He bowed again.

"Wait, so Leo's alive?" Mikey asked.

"Father," Donnie began.

"Silence please, my son." Splinter said, "Leonardo, please continue with your story."

"That's all I have to say," Leo said.

"Tell me about your mother." The King said.

His mother?

"Highness," Leo said, bowing his head, "My mother was the most beautiful flower in the Kingdom, and the kindest. She loved all her children, and any child who wasn't her own, she loved just as much."

"Don't forget the cherries." Raph said.

"Right," Leo said, "She loved cherries! She used to say that a cherry a day is good for the soul. No one could refuse her anything, not even the King."

"That's very true," the King nodded, "She could be very persuasive."

"Sire, is this enough proof?" one of the soldiers asked.

"The Steward himself acknowledged it," Usagi pointed out, "And the Prince Donatello discovered it separately. I believe it is safe to say that we have most certainly discovered the lost Prince."

"What do you think?" Splinter asked, turning to Raphael.

"I'll tell you what I think," Raph said, getting off his horse, "I think I'm no longer High Prince, and I'm glad because that means I've got my brother back. Get it now, Mikey?"

"Really?" Mikey asked, grinning, "It's true that you're really my brother?"

Leo smiled. "Yes." He said.

Donnie and Mikey got off their horses, and together with Raph they all rushed Leo.

"I think we all can see the family resemblance," Casey pointed out.

"Be quiet, Casey." April said, "Let them hug in peace!"

"My son," Splinter said, coming up to hug all four of them at once, "You are now reunited with your family. Now tell me, what is your name?"

Leo looked up at his father.

"My name is Leonardo, and I am a son of the King." He said proudly.

THE END