The Dragon Heart (Sequel to Rainy Day)

The Dragon Heart
Chapter One - It's a Kodak Moment

Leo

I sit around the kitchen table along with everybody else. Mikey and Donnie sit to my right, Belle and Raph to my left. Seth, Sophia, Joi and Lana are on the other side of the table, and Maxine is on the couch. After Sophia helped us get her back to normal, wearing off the hypnotysm, we celebrated. She and Don are dating now, but she gets exhausted often, as a side effect of the spell being newly broken. As I come back from my deep thinking, Sophia smiles at me from across the table. I sometimes find it unnerving knowing she can read my mind, but she's really sweet. She and I get along well, and I really like her brother as well. He's nice.

Suddenly, the fridge opens on it's own and a Pepsi floats out and over to Max. The fridge shuts, and then Max casually cracks the top of her soda. I guess I forgot to mention, Max is Graced too. She can move objects with her mind. Don finds it fascinating, the others don't make a big deal. We've seen amazing Graces before.

"So, I hear South America is lovely this time of year," Belle says. I smile.

"Is it?"

"Yep. Two months. The ten of us, April and Casey. A nice tree hut a while away from the nearest town. Maybe outside Rio. What do ya say, Fearless?" She bargains.

"Sounds pretty good, actually. Brazil, Rio. Two months, and on the bright side, it's warm there. Better than the option of Hawaii," I glance at Mikey, who shrugs it off. "Or Mexico, which is really busy this time of year," I look over at Joi, who smiles.

"You are brilliant," Raph tells Belle, who punches him in the shoulder. Don gives her a killer glare. She used her right arm, which is still bandaged up. A bit of blood's seeped from the bandage, and Belle pretends not to notice. To her, it's just another soon-to-be-scar for the hall of fame.

"You really shouldn't move your arm yet," Don sighs. Belle smiles. He knows she isn't going to listen. He says it anyway, being the protective older brother that all of us are toward Belle.

"So, it's settled. Rio." I say. "I'll call April." Everybody nods and we disperse. I head to the phone, and the others goto the bedrooms, or living room, or in Belle and Raph's case, the dojo, but Sophia just walks to the fridge and pulls out a cherry coke. She sits back down at the table. She knows what's going on without looking, and she puts a hand to her forehead.

"Headache?" I ask. She nods.

"It sometimes sucks when you never get a second of peace and quiet. I can't even put up a mental barrier against it all."

"Tylenol?" I offer. She smiles.

"Please." I pull it out and hand her two. She dry swallows them. "They always make me drowsy, but they lessen the pain," She murmered.

"Why don't you go lay down? I'll let you know if anything happens." I say. She nods and picks up her coke. I watch her walk over to the storage room where she and her brother were sleeping.

I dial April before I forget.

"Yo?"

"Hi Casey," I laugh. "Is April home?"

"Yeah, one sec, Leo. April!" He calls. "Phone! It's Leo!"

"Hello?"

"Hi April," I say. "How are you?"

"Good, but I have a feeling that isn't why you called. What happened? Is Belle still gone?"

Oh. Nobody told her! "No, Belle's home. She has been for a day. Anyway, she wants the twelve of us to go on a family vacation, and so I figured I'd call and see what you two think about Rio."

"Rio? I have always wanted to go! Count Casey and I in! And why haven't you called before now?" She demands.

"We were celebrating." I say sheepishly.

"So, the twelve of us. And who might that be?"

"You two, me and my bros, Belle, Lana, Joi, Sophia, Seth and Maxine. You wanna get plane tickes for you two and the ten of us'll hide in cargo?" I offer.

"Sounds good. I'll call you when I've got the tickets." She says. I can tell she's smiling. "Bye, Leo."

"Bye, April." She hangs up and I put the phone back on the hook. I walk into the living room, where Max, Mikey, Joi, Lana and Seth are watching TV. Don's in his lab, Raph and Belle can be heard from the dojo, and Sophia's probably asleep by now.

"What's playing?" I ask.

"Transformers 2." Mike says, not looking up. "April and Casey comin?"

"Yeah." I sit on the floor in front of the couch and take the popcorn from the coffee table. I settle back and watch the movie, forgetting all about Ri and Katar, for the moment.


I wake the next morning wit an upturned bowl of popcorn on my head, seven empty soda cans on the table and the TV still blaring.

"You look so peaceful when you sleep," A voice says, startling me. I jump and whirl around, but it's only Sophia.

"You scared me," I laugh. "Morning."

"I scared the unfathomable Leonardo? Must be my luck day!" She smiles.

"Ha ha, very funny, Sophia."

"So, two months. How many canisters of tylenol do I need?" She asks.

"Probably only one or two, but I just know Donnie'll go overboard on the med supplies. After all, we wil be in a different country."

"Please. It's only Brazil," Lana says, making both me and Sophia jump. I guess she was too distracted to read Lana's mind.

"Could you stop sneaking around?" I ask a bit annoyedly. Lana just points to herself and smiles.

"Stealth Grace. You don't like it? Deal." She grabs a cherry coke and walks over to the couch. Mikey and Max lay sprawled on it, Max's lower body on the floor, Mikey's lower body on the top of the couch. Seth had managed to claim a chair, and he lay with his head over the side, his legs over the other side, and a bowl of pocorn in his lap. Joi claimed the other chair, but she's just hugging one of it's cushions on the floor. I go up to Raph's room to check on him, trying to be quiet.

Raph's door squeaks. We've been meaning to oil it for months, but never got around to it. I step carefully, putting pressure on the squeaky hinge so it's near silent. I smile at what I see. Belle lays next to raph, her head resting on his arm and his other arm around her waist, keeping her hugged tightly to his chest. As I look at them, Belle stirs, but just rolls over, resting her face on Raph's plastron. He smiles in his sleep and wraps his arm around her more tightly.

It's a kodak moment... I think as I grab Don's camera from next door, turn off the flash and snap a couple pics of them like this. I grin and sneak back downstairs. Lana laughs as she sees the pictures.

"They'll both murder you for that!" She says.

"Probably." I admit.

"I think they look really sweet," Sophia takes the camera and hooks it up to Donnie's picture printer. It whirls out two copies of the photos and she smiles at them.

Don's the next to wake up. "Mornin'," he says groggily as he walks over to the coffee maker. I chew my lip, debating what he'll say about using the camera and picture printer...

"Hey, Don? It's OK of I borrow your camera, right?"

"Yeah...why?" He asks suspiciously. Sophia hands him the pictures of Belle and Raph. He laughs.

"I wouldn't show them until about three, that's when they're the least likely to kill you."

Lana and Sophia roll their eyes. Mikey stirs, josteling Max, who falls on the floor, bumping into Joi, who jumps, knocking over Seth's popcorn and causing him to fall. Soon, they all lay in an untidy heap on the floor.

"Ow!" Mikey groans. Joi smacks him. "Ow!" He says again, louder this time.

"Sssh!" Sophia shushes him. "You'll wake the lovebirds!"

"What?" Seth asks, rubbing his head.

"She means Raph and Belle. You guys gotta see these pictures Leo took." Lana says.

"It's a kodak moment," Don agrees.

"Exactly what I thought when I saw them." I smile. They pass around the pictures.

"Aaaw," Mikey says. "It is a kodak moment!"

"I swear, Mikey, you are of a different species," Joi mumbles.

"No duh. I'm a mutant turtle!"

"So are your bros, but you are an entirely different species!" Joi argues.

That kicks it off. It is a full blown Joi vs. Mikey match. We all watch. "I haven't seen one of these in a while," Don says.

"So when do you think thos two'll wake up?" Sophia asks.

"Wait for it..." I say, listening to the rather loud argument.

"Can it down there, I'm tryin ta sleep!"

"Calm down Raph!" Belle retorts.

"But-"

"Raph!"

"Fine!"

Cute!! Lana is dating Donnie!! And Raph needs to watch that temper...

Lol, I know craz'd, that's the funny part!

The Dragon Heart
Chapter 2 - Hi ho, hi ho, its off to Rio we go...

Donnie

I roll my eyes as Belle and Raph come down the stairs, Raph rubbing his arm. I guess that Belle punched him after he started shouting. That would be the Belle-like thing to do, after all. She yawns and stretches her arms. while Mikey grabs her favorite cereal from the cupboard beside him and hands it to her.

"Thanks, Mikey," she says sleepily.

"No prob, Bells." He answers, grabbing the milk and splashing it over his own full-to-bursting bowl.

Raph just grumbles to himself as he opens a pepsi and grabs a piece of toast. Belle sits down next to him at the table a moment later, shoving a spoon into her cereal with force. She brings it to her mouth mechanically, her eyes shut and her hair falling over her shoulder. Just like old times.

"I wonder how long it'll take April to secure those tickets," Leo says.

"I hope it's soon. Rio will be fascinating," I think aloud.

"Mm," Belle mumbles an agreement. Mikey nods, and keeps shoveling food into his mouth. He eats like a truck driver, or a bottomless pit. It gets really annoying. Raph dosen't bother to nod or mutter a consent, but we all know he wants to go, too. Seth suddenly grabs everybody's attention by dropping his head on the table, then phasing right through the chair and falling hard on the floor.

"Ow!" He rubs his arm, which he banged on the way down.

"He does that when he's tired," Sophia explains.

"I wish I had powers," Joi says blandly. "We have here, four mutants, three Graces and two dimension hopping kids with supernatural abilities. And me."

"You're special in your own way, Joi," Leo tells her. She smiles and then walks over to the abandoned couch. "By the way, we really should clean up the living room," He trails off.

"Sure." Max lifts a hand and all the cans from the table fly into the recycling. Belle sticks her tongue out boredly as Max cleans up the living room effortlessly.

"You'll get a better handle on your elemental abilities, Belle." Sophia assures her.

"Ok, when?"

Sophia just shrugs, but I get the feeling she actually does know. You get that feeling a lot with her. She glances over at me and smiles a bit. But I know the look in her eyes. She's trying to ell me she dosen't know everything. I disagree, I think she does. She shakes her head a bit. I nod slightly. She rolls her eyes and smiles.

"....I guess. But, Leo, I should warn you, we need a lot of supplies." Belle says. Sophia and I look up, and I realise there as been an entire conversation wile we were silently arguing.

"Like what?" Leo questions.

"Well, to start, wood, which we can get there, hammers, nails, saws. Blankets, food and water, pillows, hammocks. Any other convenience needs we can probably get in Rio." She tells him.

"Okay. We can get a crate, say it belongs to Casey and April, then we'll have it shipped to Rio in the cargo hold of our plane. Easy," I put in. Leo nods. Belle chews her lip, a sure sign she's thinking. After a minute, she gives up.

"Whatever. I'll leave you two to the details, and Raph, come spar with me," She says.

"No weapons!" Raph holds his hands up. Belle laughs, and hands Leo her sais.

"Watch these for me," she starts to turn away.

"Belle," Leo says. She stops. "Knives, kunai and your dagger, wherever it is." She pulls a rather long, deadly looking dagger from her left boot, takes off her leather jacket, outfitted with kunai wherever they vcan be hidden (including the lining) and hands them to Leo. Then, she reaches into her pockets of the pants she's wearing and hands Leo her balisong knives. Joi and seth's eyes widen at how many weapons she can hide on her person.

"I've had a lot of practice hiding weapons," She tells them, sensing their eyes on her back. "Leo knows, and he makes sure he has them when I spar, just in case I get mad and try to skewer someone."

"Right. What else have you got?" Leo asks. Belle grumbles and takes her grappling hook from her waist. Leo looks at her expectantly again, and Belle mutters something like 'you aren't my mother' as she takes a bracelet from her arm. Leo presses the red jewel button on it, and three spikes point out.

"Happy now?" Belle turns out her pockets, revealing nothing, and her red and black t-shirt is too tight to hide anything under it.

"Yes." Leo takes Belle's weapons and stashes them in a hiding spot behind the bookshelf once she's safely in the dojo.

"You really are cautious with her," I point out.

"I'm overprotective. But so are you, Raph and... not so much Mikey, but you get the point." He shrugs.

"You all really care for her, don't you?" Sophia asks. Leo and I are taken aback. By this time, Mikey's playing video games with Lana, who's pretty good herself, despie being deprived of them most of her life. Max and Joi are reading magazines, and Seth..... he's invisible somewhere, I think.

"I win!" A feminine voice breaks the silence.

"No fair! You cheated!" Raph retorts.

"How?"

"You're graced!"

"So? You're a mutant, and you don't hear me screaming it to high heaven!"

"I don't have powers either!"

"Not fair! I don't have control over that!" Belle shrieks. Raph starts to say something else, but we hear a thud. Leo, Sophia and I rush over. Raph and Belle lay in a heap on the floor, Belle having tackled him.

Seth appears behind them. "I will never get bored with you guys," He smiles. Belle and Raph glare up at him befoe Leo and I help them to their feet, Leo picking Belle up and Me puuling Raph's arm till he's standing.

The phone rings.

"I'll get it," Leo dashes over, and Belle falls again. Her eyes start to glow mildly, and she throws a gust of wind at Leo, causing him to trip just as he grabs hold of the cordless. I pick it from his hand and turn it on.

"Hello?" I ask.

"Hi Don. Sounds chaotic over there." April says. I hear Belle and Leo bickering, something they are very good at, gunshots from Mike and Lana's game, and Raph and Seth's laughter.

"You have no idea," I grin.

"I think I do. I know you guys."

"True. So, what's up?" I change the subject.

"I got the tickets for Rio. Three days from now, six am."

"Ooh, Raph and Belle on a plane at six?" I wince. "Maybe doable."

She laughs. "Casey has a crate ready, because I know you'll have to bring a bunch of stuff, am I right?"

"Spot on."

"So, think you'll be ready?"

"Sure. Lemme tell the guys, and I'll call you later."

"Bye, Donnie."

"Bye, April." The line goes dead, and I toss the phone at Leo, who throws me a dark look.

"What? You wanted it!" I say. He sticks his tongue out at me, and Belle tackles him. They roll on the ground for a minute before Raph and Seth haul them apart. He's pretty strong for fourteen.

"I need a tylenol!" Sophia groans.

"Why are they fighting this time?" I ask as I lead her to the kitchen.

"It started with Leo dropping Belle, turned into him making her leave, and ended with Leo being an inconsiderate jerk. That was before the tackling."


"We ready?" I ask Leo. We're heading to the airport three days later. He looks behind him at where Belle and Raph are walking like zombies, still half asleep. He smirks and turns to me.

"We're ready." We all file into the sewers, most of us trying to avoid Mikey, who had way too much sugar on his cereal this morning. As I look at him, bouncing up and down like some kid's yoyo, Max taps on my shoulder.

"Yeah?" I waait for her to say something.

"How long is the plane ride?" She asks.

"I think it's around eight hours."

"K. I'll sleep most of the time."

"I think that's what the Zombie twins are doing, too." I jerk a thumb at Belle and Raph. Max giggles behind her hand. Then I notice something. In Belle's jacket pocket is her mp3. I didn't think she'd take it. I grab it before it falls into the sewage, then climb up the ladder after Leo. We're at the airport.

"Which plane?" Leo asks. I look at the labels on all of them, then point at a jumbo-jet that's getting ready to load passengers. We sneak aboard the cargo hold, and Raph and Belle automatically go look for someplace to sleep. But first, she holds her hand out for her mp3.

"I see a lot when I'm asleep," She tells mme.

"I've noticed." I place the red device in her hand, and she smiles before following her boyfriend to a crate filled with straw. She curls up on her side, puts her earbuds in, and her face takes on a peaceful expression. Raph smiles at her before lying next to her. I nudge Leo.

"It's a kodak moment... again."


I let out a breath and open my eyes. Leo's grinning next to me, and my younger Bro and Belle have decided to rejoin the living.

"We're here." Leo tells me excitedly. I nod and slide in behind some crates. If we had the proper equipment, we would have jumped out when te wheels lowered.

"We ready?" Joi asks.

"We're ready. Rio, here we come," Mikey says. We laugh as we prepare for landing.

Chapter 3 - What else don't I know?

Raph

"Are you sure you know were you're going?" April asks Belle, who's currently up ahead, hacking the jungle apart with her machete.

"Of course not! I'm going by memory only over here!" She calls back. We're all a good ten feet behind her.

"Memory?" Don asks. He's huffing, everyone is. We're all carrying big backpacks full of supplies. "You've been here?"

"Yeah. I lived here for a month and a half. I was pretty sad to leave." She says. Belle's whacking and walking with an eighty-pound bag on her back like nobody's buisness. I'm surprised.

"She remembers something about a big tree in a clearing next to a wide river," Sophia tells us. "She built ten platforms in the tree, with bridges attatchin them. She thinks we can upgrade it into a temporary home."

"Apparently I have no further need for talking, I'll let Sophia tell you what I'm thinking." Belle states, and all we hear for a while is the swish and thud of her blade cutting the vegetation.

"I need rest!" Mikey announces some time later. Belle drops her bag in a clearing, and we all sit. She still holds her machete though, and she hits a tree with it, making a dull thud.

"I'm gunna scout the immediate forest, see if anything strikes my eye," She says.

"Need me to come?" I ask, feeling a bit uncomfortable at the prospect of Belle alone in the jungle by herself.

"She'll be fine. Nobody anywhere near means her harm," Sophia answers my thoughts. I nod and fall back into my bag as Belle smiles at me and dissappears into the brush. Sophia cocks her head, listening to Belle, and the rest of us are too tired to speak for a couple minutes.

"I can't believe she used to live here and never told us." Leo shakes his head.

"Did you ever ask her about the places she lived?" Joi asks.

"She used to tell us little stories, like if the power was out or we were having dinner and we didn't want to talk or watch TV or anything. We'd ask Belle to tell us a story. She's been to Kenya, Italy, Canada, Japan, Russia, Ireland, Egypt, Greece, and now, apparently, Brazil." Don explains. "She knows a lot about mythology and religions that way."

"Yeah, she told us about a street fight she got into in France where some punks jumped her and one of them had a knife, which somehow got stuck in the Eiffel Tower." I laugh.

"She also did a lot of travelling before she ran away. She's been to twelve different countries in her life," Leo says. "But she never told us any stories about Brazil."

"I remember going to Greece and America when I was young," Lana thinks aloud. "But never as many as Belle's been."

"I've never really been anywhere. Just Japan and America," Max says. "I lived in America most of my life, and then this guy found me.... I think his name was Esoki or something, and he told me I was graced."

"Etsosuki?" I growl.

"He's got a strange Grace." Lana tells us. "He can detect other Graces. When he's near a Graced person, he knows it, and he can find them."

"That explains how he found Belle," Seth says.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," April states. Casey nods vigorously, his eyes wide.

"Belle's past. You know about her Graces, we told you about them after she was injured. But I guess we never told you about the scars, the running away, that kind of stuff," Mikey says. Don, Leo and I nod.

"Anyways, Belle's past is a touchy subject, as is mine. The best part of my past was her," says Lana.

"Belle's found somehing," Sophia says. "A stream, or a landmark, something to go on. I think we should follow her."

"I'm right here." Belle speaks up, making me and Leo jump. Everybdy else seems less surprised, but I guess we forgot how amazing her ninja vanish and reappearences are. She smiles at me, and I grin back, just happy she's with me again.

"So, are we almost there?" Mikey asks.

"We are there, Mikey." Belle and Sophia say in unision. "It's about eight hundred metres that way," Belle adds, pointing in a direction that was loosely east. "Five minutes, Mikey, unless you want to run it."

"I'll walk, thanks," He says, smiling his usual goofy, toothy grin and starting off where Belle pointed. Said girl shakes her head.

"Sophia, you lead them along." She says. Sophia nods, and I give Belle a question-mark face. She smiles, and then turns and heads he opposite direction we are. I see her a minute later, travelling along the tree branches. She stops and winks at me, and I grin before heading off, following the machete trail to Belle's old tree house-thing.

"Nice structure," Don says, nodding and measuring the ten platforms with his big turtle brain. I smile. "We could use, maybe three more platforms, then make sure they're protected from the weather and we've got ourselves a temporary home."

"OK." Belle agrees, looking up at the half-finished home. "I was still working on it when....they showed up in Rio."

I nod. Don grabs a random piece of paper from his bag, and a pencil, and starts drawing renovation blueprints. I roll my eyes, and Belle jumps down, landing beside me and grinning. I take her hand and pull her over to the river. We sit on the bank and dip our feet in.

"So you lived in Rio and built a house by yourself," I muse.

"Basically, yes. I like Rio. I wanted to come back to this place after New York if I could, but then I got....sidetracked," She looks over at me and smiles.

I laugh. "I seem to be good at that," I wrap my arm around her shoulder and pull her closer.

"Maybe I just get distracted easily."

"So it wasn't my charm and good-looks that kept you in New York?" I ask, mocking hurt.

"Face it, Raph. You are a giant turtle. It was your soft side that kept me in New York."

So, what else don't I know about you?" I ask.

"Hm. I hate country music. Can't stand it."

"I knew that. What else?"

"I draw."

I nod. "You'll have to show me sometime. What else?"

"I can sing, I can manipulate air and wind, and I hate brussel sprouts." I have to laugh about that one.

"And?" I prompt.

"Ummm.... well, I guess there's..... My Grace mark."

"What?" I ask.

"Every graceling has a rose bud tatoo at birth. It's a brand." She says. "It starts off as a vibrantly coloured bud at birth, and it grows and develops as your Grace develops."

"You have one?"

"I have two, one for each grace." She turns her left wrist over, then dips her right hand in the water and rubs it over the skin of her left wrist. As he makeup comes off, I see them. Two roses, one a royal blue, one a glittering silver. They're connected to each other by a swirling black stem, complete with leaves... and thorns.

"The blue is more open than the silver," I point out, taking her wrist gently and running a finger over the tattoo. She nods.

"Neither of my graces have fully developed. The blue one is for my fighting grace, the silver for my elemental grace. I'm far from finished the elemental one."

I nod, slowly absorbing this while Don chatters in the background, and I hear Leo groan, probably because Don's in full-on talk-while-he-works mode, which happens to be really, really, really annoying.

"I think Don needs wood," Belle says, bringing me right back to earth. She laughs at something in my expression and gets up. I follow automatically. "Follow me," She turns and walks a ways into the woods, until she reaches a really big bush.

"A bush? A bush?" I ask incredulously.

"No. Not a bush. An ingenious hiding place." Belle takes the camo/leaf patterned tarp off the pile of wood planks. I nod. "See? No bush. Wood." I grab a couple planks and stick my tongue out at her. She smirks and grabs a few, and we head back, dropping the planks at Donnie's feet. He stares down at them in surprise, his mouth shutting for a second. He nods his approval and grabs a hammer.

"So, who's helping?"


Belle and I haul wood back and forth so Leo, Mikey and Don can do the sawing and hammering. Seth helps, Sophia is the messenger and Lana and Max are dealing with the already made huts. Getting rid of rotting wood, weaving ropes, setting up hammocks and other needs. Casey's working on the rooves, and April and Joi've been working on finding a shortcut to Rio for supplies. No such luck yet, it takes at least an hour to get back into the city from where we are.

Belle and I talk as we work. I refuse to let her off on her own, too paranoid she'll leave again. But I know she won't.

She won't put me through that again.

Will she?

Chapter 4 - Bishop

Bishop steps off the plane at the Rio de Janeiro InterNational Airport and looks up. The sun is shining, but Bishop's stressed. He is chasing aliens down in Brazil, a sighting of them in a forest nearby. Green men. The aliens Bishop remembered from his abduction years ago were gray, but the colour of the alien's skin made no difference until they were dead, and the threat eliminated.

Bishop smiles grimly at these thoughts and walks over to his assistant, Renee, who is bringing his luggage to the limo. Bishop would have liked a commando unit and vehicle, but no such luck with the Brazilian authorities. He's stuck with a heavily tinted limo. Bishop slides in, closes the door and re-adjusts his sunglasses.

"Take me to base," He commands the driver, who nods silently. Renee sits stiffly across from her boss, dreading the hunt for aliens. She never wanted to be in this business, but she didn't have a choice. You don't say no to Agent Bishop.

"Status report," Bishop demands. Renee clears her throat before speaking.

"The traces of DNA from the area near the sighting reveal mutated genes. We are unsure in this time whether it is from radiation coming off the Japanese shore, or if it is a new alien species. I have full progress reports for you at Base." She says. Bishop nods. He looks out he window as the limo's caught in heavy traffic. He rolls his eyes toward the rooves, stopping when he sees a teenage girl jumping across wide gaps as if it's nothing. This is the first thing about her that catches his eye. The second is her hair. It's black, with red streaks running through it, root to tip, and the roots and tips of every strand shine the same red as the streaks.

There is something unnatural about her.

Belle stops running across rooves and jumps lightly down into an alley, blocking Bishop's view. But Bishop has seen her now, and he wants to know who she is. He gets out of the limo and wades through the crowds, trying to spot the girl again. It takes a few minutes, but soon he spots her buying some Mexican take-out food and turning toward him. There's a blue, silk bag around her left wrist. Bishop keeps advancing until he bumps into her.

"Watch it, this food's goin' to my bro!" She protests, moving the bag to safety. It's true, she was buying a big, foot-long burrito for Michelangelo, who's still eating like a truck driver.

Bishop raises an eyebrow. "So sorry," He says unemotionally, but his multi-purpose sunglasses now have at least five pictures of the girl streaming to his team, and his laptop, back at the limo.

"Just use your eyes next time," Belle snaps. She's already in a bad mood, she dosen't need this. She tries to shove her way past this guy, but he dosen't budge. "Move, dude," She snarls. Bishop stays where he is. Belle growls, clenches her fists, then uses a gust of wind to knock the man out of her way. He does a double-take of her retreating back.

How in the world did she do that? Is she an alien? A new race? The key to my super-humans? I need her DNA. It could put me ahead at least twelve years, He muses to himself. Then, he turns on his comms link.

"The girl I sent you pictures of. I need to know everything about her. Who is she, where does she live, how long has she been in Rio, even what flavor ice-cream she eats for godssakes! As soon as possible, I need to know every little detail about that girl!" He growls into it as he stalks toward the limo.


"Jeez, people are jerks these days," Belle mutters as she walks through the jungle. "Who was that guy, even? Acted like some big-shot rich dude with an attitude adjustment and a problem with teen girls."


"Do you have anything?" Bishop asks impatiently as he walks by his team of compuer-hackers.

"No, Sir. She was never spotted by security cameras, no ID, birth certificate, school records.... it's like she just appeared. No life, no records." One says.

"As if she was hidden, her entire life swept clean," Another adds.

"I have something! A New York security camera," A third announces. Bishop walks over and the intern, Toby, plays the video stream. What Bishop is staring at is a friendly all-on-one sparring match between Belle and the turtles, one of their favorite games (even though Belle always wins), but Bishop misenterprets it as Belle and the turtles fighting seriously, until the last twelve seconds of video, where Belle's kneeling on Raph's chest, and she leans down and kisses him gently before getting to her feet, and Raph hugs her. Leo smirks, Don and Mikey smile.

"She's important to them," Bishop says, a menacing tone taking over his voice. "The turtles. And if she's here...."

Bishop whirls. "We need to find that girl, as soon as possible!"


Belle kicks a rock out of her path boredly. She holds the food in one hand, and she can feel the weight of the contents of her silk bag on her wrist. She sighs at the heat, and moves the air around her into a wind, cooling herself down. She knows she's only about five minutes from camp. She knows Sophia can feel her prescence as she climbs up into the massive tree-structure. There are thirteen platforms, and seven of them are free ones. They're set up for training and meditating, and a kitchen and those needs. Belle walks over to the room Mikey and Leo share, and drops the burrito in Mikey's lap. He grins up at her.

She smiles back and walks next door to Raph's room, which he was sharing wih Donnie. She grabs his hands and pulls him down to the river with her.

"So, where'd ya go?" Raph asks.

"I got Mikey one of those massive burritos, and I was picking this up. It's supposed to help me with control." She drops te silk bag in his hand and he shakes the contents out.


"You're telling me you let the girl just dissappear?" Bishop demands, outraged. "This is unnacceptable!"

"Sir, she wasn't caught on camera or anything.... she was just there, then gone," one of Bishop's men stammers. Bishop sweeps the contents of a lab table to the floor, startling a scientist and breaking several beakers.

"Nobody dissappears into thin air," Bishop says through clenched teeth. "Now, I want you to find that girl! She can lead me to the turtles, and then my research will be put ahead by decades! With the five of them under my control..." Bishop's eyes glaze over as he fantasizes it. One of his workmen shakes his hand in front of Bishop's face, but he dosen't notice, dosen't care. The workmen and scientists shrug and leave the lab. Quitting time came early.


"It's a necklace," Raph says blandly, looking at the long silver chain with sapphire pendant. Belle nods.

"I'll wear it when I train, and then take it off after." Belle puts a hand to her other necklace, a locket that Raph had given her before she left.

"Ok. So, how is training coming along?" He asks.

"Ok. I'm getting better with wind, and Sophia wants me to try water next, but I'm not really sure. I mean, what if I never get the hang of it?" She asks dejectedly. Raph puts an arm around her shoulder.

"You'll do great. I know it."

Belle nods, still fingering the locket. "Y'know, I never took this off from the time you gave it to me," She says.

"I'm actually pretty glad to hear that," Raph says. Belle yawns.

"I need a nap before Sophia starts me training again," She says, getting up and walking toward the platform-room she shares with Lana.

"I'll be out here if ya need me."



Bishop stares at the computer screen, composing all the data of his big search. He had been out in the jungle for all of sixteen hours and nothing. No sign of the aliens. And then, there's the girl and the turtles. Bishop tries to push them to the back of his mind, but he can't. He wants to know, and when Bishop wants something, he gets it. That is just the way Bisop works. (Yeah, I'm making fun of him.)

Bishop's lip curls. He can't stand it. He wants the aliens destroyed, he wants the girl, but more importantly, he wants the turtles as his lab rats.

"Renee!" He snaps. She hurries into the room, a clipboard pressed against her chest.

"Yes, Sir?" She asks.

"I need some kind of jungle transport. I want to cover more ground. Send out a small unit as well, and do not alert the authorities. They'll have my head if they find out." He demands. Renee nods and leaves. She's getting sick of Bishop being... well, Bishop. She decides she'll go with him, and then she would see about getting 'lost' in the enourmous jungle.


Mikey and Sophia watch Belle go into her room for a nap. She's still getting re-adjusted to the time-change.

"I'm glad she's back." Mikey says. Sophia nods.

"She is too. I'm hot. Let's go drench Raph!" Sophia pulls Mikey out, and they sneak up behind Raph and knock him into the water.

"Hey! MIKEY!" He shouts. Leo comes out a second later.

"Belle's trying to sleep y'know. She made me come out and tell you she'd kick your butts from here to next week if you didn't shut up."

"Why dosen't she come out here and make us?" Mikey challenges loudly. The rest of the family comes out to see what's going on, including Belle, who's now wearing a bikini top and short board shorts.

"You're going down, Mikey," She says.


(Yes, I know chapter 4 was extreeemly short, ut don't worry, only three chapters unttil we hit the Big Plot and then, chapters will be longer, and filled with more action, comedy and drama. I have a lot of tricks up the ol' sleeve for this story.... )

OK, i've put up three chapters with NO replies. I won't put up chapter 6 until I get feedback, and then we'll never reach chaper 7 with the big event.

Chapter 5 - The Water Fight

Mikey

As Belle comes out from her hut, I scramble to shore and start shivering. I don't want to be caught in a fight with her, so I hold up my hands, but about a half-minute too late. Belle slams into my midsection in the perfect football/ rugby-style tackle, and we both hit the water. I sputter as I come up, and Belle's head raises slowly as well, just like April did when her Uncle's puzzle cube sent us to the wasp world and we dove into the river, only Belle's face lacks the seriousness. She's grinning from ear to ear, and I feel myself grin in return. She splashes me and I spit water out. I then decide things are moving too slow, and I tackle Belle.

Big mistake.

Belle goes down, but she drags me to the bottom of the river with her. She then kicks me so hard I resurface with a welt on my leg. I gasp for air as Belle pushes up. She splashes me, and I duck, realizing we're both laughing. I grab Belle's ankle and lift her through the air before slamming her back into te water. Her skin begins to tinge pink, because the water's a bit colder than we'd expected. She resurfaces and glomps me, disbalancing me and knocking me backwards. I laugh and splash her, and she returns it by flipping onto her back and kicking the water at me.

"Aw, c'mon!" I laugh, shielding my head. Belle grins before I kick water into her face. Then, she looks at me with an unamused expression. I pull myself ashore, and she does te same.

"Get back here you mutant!" She yells. I scream, a bit like a little girl, and run away. But Belle's almost as fast as I am. She dives, grabbing onto my shell and sending me sprawling. I throw her off, and she lands back in a shallower part of the river. She sits there, half in the water, half out, and glares at me. I can't help it; I laugh.

Belle's eyes glow, and she growls, raising one of her hands, fingers outstretched towards me. I feel absolutely certain she's about to blast me with a wind, but I watch in amazement as water, yes, water, shoots from her fingertips, splashing me all over and I fall backwards, landing on my shell.

"Oh, my-" Joi squeaks. I look up. Everybody's watching Belle in amazement. I stare. She's looking at her hands, her eyes wide as the moon and her face openly shocked.

"Did I.... did I just....?" She trails off, blinking rapidly and beinning to shiver. Raph goes over to her and scoops her up, following Donnie to the kitchen.

The kitchen is a hut, with an openable place in the roof for smoke from the fire we cook stuff on. We have pots and pans, and a grill for cooking stuff over the fire. It works quite well, actually. Raph sits Belle next to the fire, and Leo puts the kettle over the blaze. I dash into my hut and grab a blanket, handing it to Raph. He drapes it over her shoulders, and a moment later, Belle just sits, looking at her hands as if they're some mutant limbs she never noticed before. Leo hands her a mug of tea, steam drifting off the surface. Belle stares at the murky liqid before taking a sip. Raph and Donnie kneel beside her. I watch, still a bit in shock.

"Did that really just happen? She just did that thing?!" I ask.

"I...How?" Belle seems completely out of it.

"You need rest," Don tells her. He nods to Raph, who picks Belle up and carries her off toward her hut. Lana comes up to me and hugs me. I wrap my arms aaround her.

"That was wierd," She says. I nod.

"Yup."

Getting no replies suck, don't they?

I just recently got back from hiking, that's why I didn't reply at all. Srry...

It's K. I didn't even mean to put chapter 5 up yet- it's only half done, but my mom took my laptop, and I had to post early or she'd delete it.

5 contn'd. Still Mikey.

I wake up to rain. It rains alot, in my perspective. I could definately do without it. I stand from my hammock and look around. Leo's meditating. I decide not to bug im any more than I usually do, mostly from the after-shock from yesterday, and go off in search of something to do.

"Mikey!" Lana waves as she says my name. She bounds over to me.

"Hey Lana," I say, grinning. "What do you wanna do?" I ask.

"It's raining. We have two options: Raid the 'kitchen' or play I-spy in the hut."

"I vote for both!" I laugh. "I'm an I-spy kinda guy. Now, for the kitchen!" I grab her hand and pull her after. She laughs.


"I spy something wet," Lana says, looking out the window of my hut. We couldn't go in hers, because Belle is still exhausted, Don's checking up on her periodically, and Raph's constantly in there, freaking out over her.

"The rain," I say blandly. She nods.

"I spy something bored," I say.

"Me," Lana sighs. "I hate the rain."

"It sucks," I agree.

"Pass me a chip?"

"Take the bag," I hand her one of four chip bags we have ready.

"Hey guys," Don says, walking into the room wih something behind his back.

"Hi Donnie," I wave halfheartedly.

"You look bored."

"We are," Lana says, staring out the window. Don smiles.

"I think I can fix that," He tells us.

"How?" I ask, intrigued.

"Well, you were soo tired you forgot to pack your comic books," Don says as he pulls a stack from behind him. I scream, and dive for the comics.

"Thank you thank you thankyouthankyouthankyou!" I rush as I hand Lana half the stack.

"Little brothers," Don says, walking back the way he'd come.


A few hours later, Belle rushes into the hut and shuts the door behind her, panting.

"Do you guys have a place I can hide?" She asks.

We nod.

"C'mon," I pull her over to my hammock, she lays down, and then I cover her with blankets, chip bags and comics.

"Belle!" Raph roars. He bursts into our hut, Don following closely.

"Where is she?" Don asks. We look at him with total question mark faces.

"What?" Lana asks.

"I was checking Belle over, and she woke up, tripped and fell on my scalpel, and now she won't let me help."

"So I'm gonna make her," Raph says. "She needs to heal, like everybody else."

"Good luck, hothead," Lana smirks. I chuckle.

Raph growls, and he and Don leave. Belle peeks out of the blankets.

"The cut was so small it's probably nearly healed by now," She says.

She pulls herself out of the hammock and grabs a comic book, wrappingg herself in a blanket. Lana and I shrug and take swigs out of the Dr.Pepper we stole from Leo's secret stash.

"Belle!" Raph calls. Belle looks at her hand, where a pink line can be seen beneath her thumb, squeaks, and flies out of the hut.

"Wierd family," I say.

"Yup," Lana agrees. "Pass me that issue, will ya?"

Little brothers...I testify to that. Mine is almost exactly like Mikey, but in a bad way...

6 - Practice

Belle

I wake up to new aches. In my shoulders and neck mostly. I sigh a deep, melodramatic sigh and roll out of my hammock, hitting the wood floor with a thump. After a groan, and about two minutes, a pair of strong arms haul me to my feet. It's Raphy.

"Hi, baby," I say sleepily.

"You ain't gettin' enough sleep. I can see it in yo' face," He states. I nod. "You wear yo'self out all day trainin' and swimmin' and hikin', and you ain't sleeping at night either? What's wrong wit' you B?"

"Nothing!" I say defensively. Raph sighs, but smiles.

"What am I gonna do wit' ya, B?" He asks.

"I dunno," I slur tiredly.

He kisses my forehead and I rest my head on his plastron. "You need sleep. I'll tell Sophia you gon be late to your session." He picks me up and lays me on my hammock. I close my eyes, exhaustion overcoming me.

"What am I gonna do wit' ya?" Raph asks again, sofly, but I'm already to deep to answer him.


"Try again," insists Sophia. I groan, dropping my hands and brushing a wet hair out of my eyes.

"I don't want to try again! It's too exhausting," I say.

"Try." Please, Belle? Try for me. Try for Raph. Please? She adds in my head for good measure.

"Fine," I grumble. I close my eyes and lift my hands, concentrating my hardest on making the water follow. I find it so much easier to control air, but then, I've ben working with air since I was five, so eleven years.

"You aren't concentrating hard enough," Sophia's voice breaks through my mental fog, and my eyes snap open. A small rise of water splashes back down. At least this time it didn't drench me.

"I'm going." I turn on my heel and start walking.

"Belle!" Sophia says in a voice that would make the sun dance if she asks it to. I am immune.

"No, Sophia. I'm tired, sore and wet. I'll work on it tomorrow, but not now." I say firmly. I walk over to where Donnie and Leo make experimental huntin weapons- it really damages the meat if we just stab them, and then we don't have a great chance of chasing and catching them. I shoulder a bow and quiver, and climb a tree.

Animals are smart, but easily led, and I have good aim. Like, really really good aim. I trhow a small stone into the bush behind a doe, and it races forward. I've already notched an arrow, and I shoot, taking the doe down swiftly. I believe in a clean, easy kill. I hate making innocent creatures suffer.

I drag the doe into camp and leave it inside the kitchen. I refuse to skin and clean them; the boys do that. When I look outside, April and Joi are swimming. They've become good frinds. Same with Joi and Leo. I think something might be going on there. I smile at the thought and turn around. Don and Max are in the living room hut thing. Raph and Leo are training in the dojo hut Leo insisted on. Lana and Mikey are reading comics, Sophia's still outside and Seth's behind me.

"Hi, Seth."

"Dang. You're good," He smiles as he walks over to me and leans against the wall. "What's up?"

I don't say everything I'm thinking. Instead, I tell him the half-truth. "I'm..... worried. I have one of those feelings you get when something awful's about to happen."

"I thought only Sophia and I were that sensitive," Seth muses, and a piece of white-blond hair falls into his face. He wipes it away quickly.

"I dunno. I'm not usually this sensitive." Truth. "But I'm sure everything'll be fine. I might be overreacting." Lie. Total, complete lie.

Seth slides me a funny look, because he knows I never overreact, but he just shakes his head and leans back against the wall again, looking at the ceiling.

"Raph's really worried about you," he tells me. I nod.

"He has been since we got back from Japan," I smile slightly.

"More lately. He calmed, and then his worry just flared up again."

"How do you know?"

Seth rolls his eyes. "I talked to Sophia, dummy."

I stick my tongue out at him, but it's a half-hearted gesture. I sigh. "I need some music," I mumble, and Seth follows me to my room, and my iPod. I have more than three hundred of my favorite rock songs, including some by Jet, Bon Jovi, Simple Plan, Green Day.... you get the point. I shove one earbud in and slide down the wall. Seth, being the type of kid he is, sits beside me and takes the other earbud.

We sit there for a while like that. Seth dosen't ask many questions; one of the reasons I love hhim like a little brother. I smile slightly at the thought and close my eyes, letting the world fade and the music come into focus.

"Belle?" A hand shakes my shoulder. I groan.

It's Seth, and he's smiling as he shakes me. "You fell asleep," He says.

"Mmm, OK," I say, pulling myself from the void that I came from.

"Sophia wants you," Seth adds. I nod. She wants me to practise even though she knows I get huge migranes. I sigh and leave my iPod in Seth's care, jumping lightly out the window and walking silently to Sophia, where she and Leo are meditating by the river. Leo is oblivious to my arrival.

"Ready?" Sophia asks. I nod. She smiles. She knows I'd much rather work with the air, but I don't.

I find it absolutely ludacris how I listen to this girl.

I raise my arms, the water moving with it, and my eyes start to glow. I find this easier than yesterday, but that dosen't make it easy. The cyclone starts without my notice, but it dosen't prevent it from swallowing me into the river. I hear Sophia scream.

"Somebody's doing this to her!"

"What? How?" Leo asks in a panic.

I don't know how, but I do know I'm bein drowned. Slowly, my breath lets out and I suck in air. Blackness hazes the edge of my vision. It slowly clouds over, and I get the feeling of being suspended.

This is what I get for practising...


"Belle!" The voice is panic-stricken. Hands move over my chest and put pressure on it, and I suddenly realise I'm not breathing.

I cough and sputter, vomiting up water. I get to my knees shakily, and I get the feelin of being surrounded by people. Somebody wraps a blanket around me, and then I'm pulled into a crushing hug.

"Raph.... can't breathe," I wheeze. He loosens his grip. My throat hurts and I hate the fact that this kind of thing always happens to me.

"What happened?" He asks. I cough. My throat scratches and I consider wringing my own neck for it.

"I don't know." Lie. I know, and I need to do something about it. Now.

Almost drowning is what you get for not sleeping, Belle.

Chapter 7- Branded

Leo

One week. So little can happen, and so much can happen at the same time. I mean, not much happened for the past week, we trained, ate, explored, some of us even went into Rio. But everybody was on ede. Sophie says everybody's been edgy, and that Belle isn't the only person keeping secrets rigt now. Sophia and I are talking a lot now. Mosty about how everybody is right now. Even I have the feeling something life-shaking is about to happen.

I'm hoping I'm wrong.


"Point."

I shake my head and look at the end of the blunt practise stick. It rests against my shoulder. A point, and it's right next to the place Karai stabbed me. Once upon a time, I mean. "Point. Nice."

"You weren't even trying, broseph. What's wrong?" Belle takes the stick from my shoulder and leans against it.

"What do you mean? I'm fine," I lie. She raises an eyebrow, and it really creeps me out how she does that so perfectly.

"You aren't fine. I can see it in your eyes, Leo. Now what is wrong?" She demands, walking up and placing her palm on my arm. I turn my head and stare at her tan hand for a second before opening my mouth to lie again.

"Don't bother lying to her, Leonardo-san. She can sense it." Joi walks up to us and Belle smiles a smug smile, looking like Mikey when he gets what he wants. I shake my head. She really is like a little sister.

"What's wrong? Leo?" Joi snaps in front of my face and I flinch. I must have blanked out. I sigh and massage where my temples would be if I had any.

"Nothing's wrong! I'm fine, just leave me in peace!" It's one of those rare moments when I actually snap, get angry, one of those moments that never happens anymore. I wish they'd keep skipping over me and moving on so I don't haave to deal with them anymore.

Belle looks at me suspiciously, mutters something, and then tosses down her stick and leaves in a frantic run, climbing up a tree and leaving Joi and I to decipher her last words before she stormed off.

"There's magic in the air."


"I sense it, too, and so does Seth. Something is upsetting the balance in our area, but it dosen't stretch as far as Rio. Not yet," Sophia says when I get everybody, save Belle because she's up a tree and nobody can get her down, to come talk about what Belle said. Raph and Mikey look thoughtful for once, something I've never seen on them before. Don's keeping an eye on them in case they drop dead or something. Raph and Mikey being serious? What's the catch?

"I don't understand any of this. I mean, what Belle does isn't really magic is it?" I ask.

"Sort of. What she does.... well, as far as I can tell, Belle's always had somethin inside her that was closer to everything than anybody else. Now, enhancing that, she's the physical embodyment of all six elements." Sophia tells us.

"Okay." Mike says slowly. "what?"

"She means that I'm the Keeper of the Elements." Belle swings in through the window. "It's a role, and one person every millenium fills it. Normally, this person dies young." She grabs a coke from the cooler and cracks it. "The elements can get out of control anytime because... well, they're pretty unpredictable. Unless this person can master them, they aree consumed by the elements and turn into a walking shell for about two hours. That's what happened to King Tut." She pauses and sighs. "And then they die."

"Nice joke. Not very fnny, Belle," Raph says.

"She.... she's not joking," Maxine says quietly. "This kind of thing happens alot in history. The same thing happened to Tut, some guy in ancient Greece, and a few others."

"It's grusome, but not everythin is pleasent." Seth mutters quietly. April and Casey have one white. I don't blame them. Joi grabbed my arm a while ago, and she clings to it sadly.


"Mikey?" I ask. Raph, Don, Belle, Mikey and I are in Mikey's and my room, and he's laying on his hammock. I turn away from him and sigh. Raph's scratching his head. I wonder why. And then, he starts rubbing at his left wrist. just like Mikey was earlier. I grab his riht hand and keep it steady.

"What's wrong with your wrist?" I ask.

"I dunno. It's just bugging me." He shrugs.

"Let me have a look at it," Don says, taking Raph's left wrist and gasping. "What the shell-?!"

"What?" Belle comes over and looks, then her eyes fly open wide and she blinks rapidly. "The Dragon Heart," she says, as if she can't talk too loud.

"What's that, B?" I ask.

"It's a brand. A mystic brand. It gives you one mystic power." I look at the silver and red pattern etched into Raph's skin like a tattoo. Belle goes on. "I've read about it. The dragon heart is like a living thing. It thinks. It chooses a group of victims and changes them. Their form. It turns humans into dragons, hence the name, but I have no clue what it'll do to you guys."

"I do," Don says softly. "It... so strong...." we follow his gaze to Mikey's hammock. but Mikey isn't there. Instead, I see a belt, mask, nunchakus, pads and a tiny, infant turtle. "The magic wore off the mutagen in his blood," Don squeaks. I hug him. We all stare at Mikey, and then Raph looks at his wrist.

"It's almost as bad as dying," he says. Then, he takes Belle's face in his hands and kisses her. Don and I look away, and my gaze settles on Mikey. Then, Raph scoops Mikey up in his arms, and runs off to his room. I look at Belle. She's stony faced, but I know what she's feeling. I put an arm around her shoulders and she rests her head on me. Don stares at his left wrist. There's a silver and purple mark etched into the skin. The dragon heart. It is destroyin our family bit by bit, and I instantly realize that this thing is what's causing all the trouble. It tried to drown Belle, to get her out of the way. It's making me angry, and seperating us. It's rooting us out, one by one.

I look down at my wrist, and sure enouh, there it is, curling it's silver and blue designs over my wrist, and marking me. I take Don by the hand, get Seth to take Belle away, and then walk into Raph and Don's room. I see baby turtle Mikey, and Raph, laying in his gear, awake, but infant. He's nudging his sai. I pull him off, take off my gear and sit down to meditate for the last time. I see Don doing the same.

This is it...


I wake up in a room with three strange guys standing over me. I instantly kick out, and the one with the orangey hair grabs my foot and swings me around. I groan. The one with jet-black hair laughs. The dark-brown haired one shakes his head, but smiles.

"Who the shell are you?" I ask, my voice righing stronger than I feel.

"Nice to see you can talk, Leo," The orange haired one says, and his blue eyes twinkle with laughter.

"What.... Mikey?" I ask, recognizing the surfers accent.

"What? You know which one I am? Dang!" Mikey snaps but smiles.

"Nobody's as annoyin as you, Mikey. That's how fearless ova there could tell," The black-haired one, Raph says with rolling eyes.

"Brothers," Don groans. "anyways, you OK?" He turns to me.

"My back hurts. But.... how are you human?" I ask dubiously.

"The Dragon heart," Raph says, holding up his tan wrist and showing me the mark, still burning red and silver. It almost looks like it's moving, but it's so undefined I can't tell.

I look at my own tan-ish skin and then attempt to look at my hair, but it's pretty short.

"You're blonde if that's what you're rippin your hair out for," Don tells me. His smoky-gray eyes look too small for his face riht now, but I guess the facial structures btween us now and us then are different.

"Eyes?" I ask.

"Green, very green," Raph tells me, then tosses me some clothes. "Man you're lucky it was Seth who found us and not one of da girls," he chuckles. "Mindya, Seth went straight to Rio after that, so only the five of us know about the change, I think."

"Okay then. Ugh, I feel dizzy!" I push my face in my hands and Raph puts a hand on my shoulder.

"Get dressed and we can see who's taller now, me or you, kay Fearless?" he asks. Height's been kind of a competition for us for a long time. I nod and pull on the clothes before standing up. Raph's half an inch taller than me. Then I think of Belle, who used to be taller than us.

"How come our hair's so short?" I ask.

"We were bald fifteen years. You think we were gonna grow it to the floor in a night?" Don teases. "Unless you want annoyingly long hair."

"Heck no," I laugh.

"Let's go re-meet everybody," Mikey says. We leave our weapons where they are and go to see Belle, April, Joi and Max by the stream.

"Hey," Don says easily. Two of the four jump to their feet instantly and whirl around in defensive stances. April and Max are a bit slower to get up.

"Who are you?" Belle demands, a wind picking up and rippling the grass like waves. I hold my hands up.

"Whoa! It's just us. Raph, Mikey, Donnie and Leo!" I say.

"How?" April asks.

"The dragon heart," Sophia says from a tree. "It's a long story."

"One we have time for," says Lana from the other side of the river.

"Okay. It started with the Dragon Heart," Mikey begins.


(Note: Yes, I turned them human. And here's why: When I first made Belle, I put her in a dimension where the turtles were already human, and I had all these plans written down for it. When I started Rainy Day, I changed that. Now, I need them human, because I'm becoming more limited on things to do. So I made them the way I saw them with Belle. And now I can use them the ways I had already planned. Simple right?)

Human Ryrtles always appealed to me for some dang reason...*fangirl stare and drool*

Chapter 8 - The portal

Raph

"It started with the dragon heart. On a dark and stormy night, in an empty house high on a hill. Thunder was rolling, and lightning lit the sky on the horizon," Mikey begins. I slap him.

"The real story." I tell him. he sticks his tongue out and runs a hand through his ginger hair.

"Fine then, it all started for me, when my left wrist started to itch. I looked down, and I could swear I saw a silver thing on it. And the silver thing was moving. I thought I was insane, personally. And then, I was really tired. I lay down on my hammock, and I woke up like this in Raph and Don's room." He shrugs.

"You were the first. I nearly went into shock when I saw you," Leo says. Donnie nods vigorously. "I mean, when Don saw you, and I looked over, I was expecting anythin. Anythin but you turning into an infant turtle."

"I know. I was freakin out. I was so scared. I thouht I would lose my memory or something." I add.

"And then, I woke up as a human. It was so wierd," Don shivers.

"Have your powers manifested yet?" Belle asks.

"Powers?" Leo's voice shakes. "This is too much to handle."

"So we're human, and we get powers?" Mikey asks, his voice full of excitement.

"Yeah, I already told your brothers that," Belle says.

"Way cool!" Mikey jumps up and his blue eyes shine with excitement. His smile's way too big for his face as he starts runnin around. "Wat's my power? I wanna know what my power is!" Suddenly, he blurs, and nobody can see him anymore, but we can still hear him.

"What's my power?" He screams, suddenly stopping and becoming visible again- on the other side of the river.

"I'd say you turned into the road runner," April jokes.

"Cool!" mikey's eyes light up. "I have super speed! I'm the flash!"

"Good for you." I say sarcastically. "Now, if we can move on?"

"This is impossible..." Donnie mutters, running a hand through his hair and rubbing his eyes.

"Have you met me?" Belle asks, raising an eyebrow and smirking.

"I am a scientist! I have to be proven wrong before I accept it," he says.

"Prepare to be proven, then." Seth grins as he appears behind Donnie. He smirks and walks through a tree. Losing his concentration because of his giddiness, he attempts to walk through another tree, and smacks face first into it, falling over in the process.

"I'm proven, you can't keep your hold on your magic," Sophia boasts. Seth glares at her, a bit of blood starting to pour out of his nose.

"C'mon, dorky, let's get you cleaned up." Lana pulls him into one of the two ground-level platforms- Donnie's first aid room.

"I have super super speed! I have awesome ninja speed! I am the flash! Speedy speedy spee-dy!" Mikey sings. I clench my fists and Belle puts a hand on my arm. I look into her cool green eyes, and know to just let Mikey have some fun for once in his life.


"Omigosh Leoyouhavescales!" Lana squeaks about an hour later. Belle and I swing down from where we were in a tree and look at my brother. It's true, his arms are covered in royal blue scales."Holy shell!" I exclaim.

"This is too wierd!" Leo says in a panicked voice as he's covered in blue scales and leathery navy-blue wings sprout from his back. He starts coughing, and small bursts of fire come out.

"Dragon!" Belle exclaims, and we dive for cover as Leo grows to about the size of a horse, but more filled out. He shakes his head.

"I'm a freaking dragon! I want my shell back!" He says.

"That is so cool!" Lana walks over to him.

"That is too wierd," I say.

Leo shifts back to normal and clutches his head as it starts happenin again. He's screaming in pain, he's changing. Into a large, blonde wolf with big, frightened green eyes. Joi's come out by now aand she buries her head in his neck fur. Leo changes back into himself before turning into a tiger.

He shifted back to normal, shaking, sweating and scared. Joi sits with his head in her lap, stroking his hair and murmuring calming words. He grips one of her hands. Lana, Belle and I leave them alone.


Donnie and I are getting really annoyed with Mikey. He's running around us while we talk, and I'm fairly certain I'm about to wring his neck.

"Mikey, stop!" Don says, annoyed.

"But It's Fun!" Mikey calls.

I grab a rock and hit Mikey with it so hard her flies right over the river. Then, I go pull a tree out of the ground in that lame vampire movie.... what was it? New Light or sumthing?

"O yeah, maybe I can beat Belle in a fight now," I said, grinning from ear to ear.

"Don't count on it, buff-boy," Joi says. "You have to have skill, too."

"I'm a ninja. Does that mean nothing?" I ask.

"It does, Raphie," Belle says. I look up to see her hanging upside-down from a vine.

"Show off," I say.


Dreamland. I love it. Belle and I are on the roof the first time she admitted she loved me. We're about to kiss, when Don shows up. Believe me, I'm TICKED OFF.

"Raph? What in Shell's name are you doing in my dream?" He asks.

"Your dream? My dream!" I argue. And then Sophia steps in.

"It's called 'Astral Projection'. Donnie's doing it. It must be his new power," she says, her eyes gleaming.

"No, I'm not doing it because it's creepy, and I think you should stop now," Don says. Sophia dissappears, and soon Don yawns and does the same. I look at Belle, motionless beside me.

"Wierdest dream ever," I say.

"You're telling me," Belle says in Casey's voice. I scream.


I sit bolt upright in my hammock. Don does the same. "That was wierd." He says. I gulp and nod. "We should sleep now," he says. I nod, running my hands through my black hair and rubbing my brown eyes.

"No more watchin my dreams, OK bro?" I ask. Don nods and curls up, facing away from me. I do the same, and soon I'm asleep again.


"All that really happened?" Leo asks the next day. All twelve of us are next to the river, talking.

"Yes. We're not kidding," Don says.

"Hey! Look at the water!" Sophia points. It's swirling in the middle. Belle leans in too far to get a closer look, and falls in with a scream. Leo and Seth jump in after her, and the water turns orange. Mikey, Maxine and April dive in. It turns purple and Don, Lana and Joi are the next ones in. It turns red, and Casey, Sophia and I dive in last. it feels like I'm falling for hours before I land in the mud. And look up. And stare straight into the face of Jack Sparrow from the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. casey and Sophia land on either side of me.

"Do I know you?" Jack asks.

"No. Not yet." I say.

"How about you come with me, and we can talk about your.... situation," Jack points at the Black Pearl. "Savvy?"

"Sure," I get to my feet, the others do the same, and we walk on board. I look at my torn clothes. "You have spare clothes for us?" I ask.

"I might," Jack says. "But first I want to know who you are and how you got here."

"My name is Sophia and this is Raphael and Casey Jones. We're from the year 2011." Sophia says. Jack looks at us funny.

"Right. And I'm not Captain Jack Sparrow," Jack says.

"You're Jhonny Depp," Casey begins, but I slap him.

"Let's talk, Jacky," i say.

(I'm having a bit of trouble deciding where Mikey and his group and Don and his group land. I've decided about Leo, Seth and Belle, but deciding on the others miht take me a while. Help appreciated C:)

(I don't own Pirates of the Caribbean movies (I wish! Jack'd be my best friend!))

Powers (especially with the blonde Leo-wolf!!) AND Pirates of the Carribean? I'm ready to marry this fanfic now.

(I own nothing but Lana, Sophia and Maxine in this chapter, just sayin)

9 - What next? I mean, seriously?

Donnie

I clutch my head and groan, then scream. I am surounded by hostile-looking teen girls in fighting stances. In the middle of them is a woman who looks about mid-thirties, but still gorgeous with dark brown hair and a stern look. "Who are you?" She asked. "And why are you in my school?"

"I wish I knew, ma'am. My name's Donatello, and these are my good friends, Joi and Lana." I stand and offer her my hand, which she shhakes hesitantly.

"I'm headmaster Morgan. This is the Gallagher academy for girls." She says.

"Okay, we have no way of getting home, so do you know of a hotel where we can stay?" I ask.

"Stay with us. We have two rooms free, and yu may participate in our classes if you like," Ms. Morgan offers.

"That'd be great!" Lana says. We sign the papers right there, and Ms Morgan smiles.

"Welcome to the spy academy," she gestures to the manicured lawns and prim, perftect school. Our jaws drop to the floor.


"Spy school? What've we gotten ourselves into this time?" Joi asks, sitting on my bed. I have a large room to myself. One big bed, some clothes have been provided, some books and a class schedule. I start on monday, Same with Joi and Lana, but they share a room.

"I don't know, but think, we're ninjas. Piece of cake, we can whoop these girls eight different ways and not be seen doing it." Lana says confidently.

"I hope you're right, Lana," I say as we head to dinner. I feel akward looking out at the faces of girls, and only girls. Well, except the teachers.

"Can we sit here?" Lana asks a girl, who looks about sixteen, like us. She nods.

"I'm Cameron Morgan, but most people call me Cam. Or Cammie," she shrugs.

"And I'm Bex," a dark-skinned, gorgeouss girl from across Cam smiles. "And you're cute. What's your name?"

"Donatello, but my brothers and friends call me Don or Donnie."

"You're the only boy here. You're going to get a lot of attention." A bookwormish blonde says.

"He has a girlfriend," Joi says, fihting back laughter. Bex pouts, then sizes Joi up.

"I could take you."

"Not Joi!" Lana says. "Her name's Maxine."

"Where is she?" The last of the group, a punk-looking girl asks.

"Be nice, Macey," Cam says.

"Hey Liz, look at Mr. Solomon!" Bex whispers and the blonde looks across the room at a teacher.

"My girlfriend.... well, she's somewhere in the world. I'm not sure where," i say. macey nods.

"I know what you mean," Macey says.

I smile slightly, then press a hand to my head. I had a feeling I wouldn't be me for much longer. "If you'll excuse me, I have to go lie down," i say, then run out of there as fast as I can. I'm barely in my room before my head slips into Raph's.


"Alright, Jacky. We're three able-bodied crew." Raph says, staring at who I think is Jack Sparrow from the Pirates movies.

"She's a girl," Jack states, pointing at Sophia.

"Yes, Jack. Now that we're past the obvious, let's talk. I propose you take us on board in exchange for labour." Raph says. Compared to Jack, he's actually looking smart right now.

"I'm not making a girl perform labour on my ship. No, she stays for free. Anything else?"

"Yes. We'll need to see Tia Dalma," Raph adds.

"Done. Welcome aboard the Pearl, sailors." Jack smiles and shakes Raph's hand. Raph nods and fades away.


"Oy, my head." Mikey sits up and runs his hands through his ginger hair. He's laying on a field next to Maxine and April. Both of the girls are asleep.

"Great, jst great. I'm stuck in the MIDDLE of NOWHERE with NO ONE to TALK TO!" Mikey shouts. Suddenly, a girl bursts out of the bushes.

"GAH!" Mikey screams, then puts a hand on his chest and breathes deeply. "You gave me a scare, dudette," he says, beginning to smile.

"Who're you?" The girl asks.

"I'm Michelangelo, but most people call me Mikey. You?" he asks.

"My name is Mikayla. Duck!" She hits the deck as a large robot appears next to the bushes. It shoots off a round of bullets, barely missing them, and then another large robot, a blue and red one, starts fighting it.

"Thank god for Optimus," the girl says. "Get your friends and come with me."


"Don? Donatello? Donniewakeup!" Lana slaps me and I gasp. Then I grab her hand.

"No slappy Donnie!" I say. Joi laughs.

"What happened to you?" She asks, lending me a hand up.

"Astral projection happened to me. It's kind of a long story."

"We've got time," lana says.

"I slipped into Raph's head first. It was the wierdest thing...."


(It was short, I was tired, deal. I'm sorry, but where I am, it's almost 3 am.)

Whoo hoo! Turtles and Pop culture!! We got us somethin' beautiful!

Chapter 9- Home of the Transformers

Mikey

(Bumblebee can talk in this, just to let ya know, and he's as obnoxious as in the animated series.)

"Uhm, Okay," I pull Max and April up and we start running after Mikayla. I look back at the robots and keep running at normal speed for everybody else's sake. We see a yellow car with black stripes up ahead and Mikayle dives in the driver side, I get shotgun and Max and April pile into the back.

And then the doors shut.

On their own.

"Okay Bumblebee, take us to Sam," Mikayla says.

"What?" I ask as the car starts and the gas pedal goes to the floor, with nobody's foot on it! The wheel turns on it's own, and then we're flying down a country lane.

"What the h*ll is going on?" Max screams.

"Shush! Bumblebee's driving," Mikayla scolds. "I'm Mikayla. The blue and red transformer back there was Optimus Prime, and the car's Bumblebee."

"I'm April. This is Max and you've met Mikey."

"Barely." Mikayla looks at me.

"So we're stuck in one of my favorite movies? Has Chicago already been destroyed?" I ask.

"What?"

"No. This must be before Dark of the Moon. What a great film," I grin.

"Psycho," Mikayla mutters.

"Excuse me, I'm right here," I say.

"I know," Mikayla says.

"Nice," I mutter sarcastically.

"Guys, please. I'm trying to focus on where we are!" Max says.

"We're in the state of Washington," Mikayla informs her. "We're going to meet Sam, Leo and Simmons at the air and space museum."

"Mm, we're about ot meet Jetfire," I murmer.

"Who?" Max and April ask at once.

"Never mind," i say.

"Mikey, Jetfire's dead. The fallen's dead. That war's over."


"Who're they?" Sam looks at me like I'm some skinny kid. I'm not that skinny, just... not as built as Leo and Raph, that's all.

"I'm Mikey." I say.

"Max."

"April," she's the only one who holds out her hand.

Sam takes it, then turns back to Mikayla. "Why'd you bring them?"

"Megatron was after them! Optimus is fighting him as we speak." Mikayla tells him.

"I thought Megtron and Starscream left after the Fallen died." Simmons says, speaking up from where he and Sam's college buddy were with the Twins.

"Apparently he's back," I say, scowling.

"What's wrong?" Mikayla asks.

"My girlfriend, I'm not sure where she is. She might be here, she might be dead." I turn and say, "Excuse me for a minute," and then I channel my inner roadrunner and book it to a place less visited by humans.

I stare at my reflection in the pool as it's rippled by a single tear of worry.


"Hi. Back already?" Bumblebee asks as I get back. I stare at the car for a sec before laughing.

"Yeah," I say. "Back already."

"Max and April told us about your past," Sam tells me. "It seems pretty incredible."

"Says the boy who discovered an alien race," I laugh.

"You discovered two and a fake one," Sam counters.

"Touché," I say.

"Why are we here?" April asks.

"Small ceremony for Jetfire. Optimus's idea, because of how much he did for us. Ironhide's out back with Sideswipe and a few others. We're burying Jazz's remains as well," Mikayla says. "Optimus couldn't let him go. Now he can."

"We had better hurry," A big Semi truck with blue and red flames drives up. "There may be more decepticons nearby."

"And Megatron?" Sam asks.

"Fleed with Starscream."

"Then let's do this," Bumblebee says. I smile and slide in. Sam and Mikayla go in the green Twin. Max and April ride in Bumblebee with me.

I've seen the second movie. I know there's nothing left of Jetfire- I mean, Optimus took all his parts to defeat the Fallen, so how could there be? But there's his Spark chamber, laying on the ground next to Jazz's severed halves and a very large hole.

Optimus and Ironhide lower the three parts into the hole, then say a few words and bury them. Bumblebee stands next to me, as a robot. Looking at him, I start to get an appreciation of just how big the transformers really are.

"We're staying at a hotel a few miles away, with a big car park. You three should come with," Mikayla offers. Sam nods.

"Sure. We don't have any place else to go," I smile.

"Yeah! My new Buddy Mikey's comin with us! Party!" Bumblebee says. I laugh. He's like a robot version of me.

"Oh yeah!" i say. We fist pound, and Bee keeps on celebrating while I hop in circles, yelling, "Ow! Dang it! THAT HURTS!"

Everybody laughs.


(Once again, yes, it's short, but it's pretty late and I should probably stop writing before I fry my brain. More soon.)

Transformers FTW!!

Chapter 10- Fire

Belle

I wake up with Leo on one side of me, and Seth on the other. The blonds look puzzled as I rub my head and stand. There's a creek a few feet away and I look at my reflection. I see a shivering, worn out girl who's been through h*ll lately. My eyes are slightly faded. My powers need time to come back. It's happened before. I shiver. My short denim shorts and tank top are so not ideal for this weather.

"Anybody know where we are?" I ask.

"Nope," Leo says.

"No clue," Seth agrees. I laugh, then tense as I hear the sound of hoofbeats.

"Scatter!" Leo commands, and we're about to do just that when a riding party of around eight gallops into the clearing. The leader, a man who looks no more than tewnty six, stares at us. He isn't particularly handsome, but he has broad shoulders and dark hair and eyes.

"Who are you?" He asks.

"We don't have to answer that," Leo says confidently.

"As commander of the King's army, I have the authority to make you," The man says. I look at the faces of each of the riding party. One particular face, the face of a beautiful woman with bright red hair nd clear green eyes, stands out at me more than others.

"They mean us no harm, Brigan," she says. Brigan looks at her.

"You can read them?" He asks.

"...More or less," she says.

"Which can't you read?"

"Her," She nods to me and I stare right back defiantly. "We should still bring them back, though," She adds. Brigan nods.

"You can come willingly, or I can make you. Your choice," Brigan offers. I look at Leo.

"My eyes brighter yet?" I ask.

"Yep, a bit. Why?" He asks.

"Needed to know," I say, then raise my arms and close my eyes. A wind starts picking up around me.

"Fire!" Brigan screams, and my eyes fly open. I can't use fire yet, what's he talking about?

The woman is off her horse now and coming at me strongly.

"Knock her out," Brigan tells her. She nods and looks at me. I stare back, my eyes burning red. I feel her suddenly, trying to enter my mind. I pick up my defenses.

"I can't," Fire says. "She's too strong."

"I'll hav to do this the old fashion way then," Brigan says, rolling up his sleeve. I drop my hold on the wind and stare at him. Is he really challenging me to a fight?

"Brigan," Fire warns. "I may not be able to read her, but her friends are thinking of her. Her combat skills outmatch yours by many." The man closes his eyes.

"You try," He says, going back to his horse and petting it.

"You aren't from around here," Fire says. It isn't a question. Leo nods, taking a step in front of me to tell me to back off and leave this to him.

"You need a home."

Another nod.

"If you come with us, we can give you food, shelter, clothes, anything you need," Fire tells us. It's a bribe. I shiver behind Leo. He looks at me protectively, then looks back at Fire.

"Will any of us come to harm? Because if one of us does, I'll leave you alone in a room with a very angry Belle," Leo warns.

"I'll make sure of it myself," Fire offers. Leo accepts, then Fire climbs back on her horse and offers a hand up. Seth goes with another horseman. Brigan nods to me and offers me a hand. There's a hardness in his eyes, and I know he wants to keep an eye on me. I take his hand and sit in front of him on the saddle.

"What are your names?" Fire asks as we start riding.

"I'm Leo," he says from behind her. "That's Seth and Belle."

"Are they short for something?" she asks.

"Leo's is Leonardo, mine is Isabelle and Seth's name is just plain Seth." I say.

"I'm Fire, and this is Brigan."

"Hi," Brigan says from behind me.

"Hi," I reply, and smile.

"We're nearing King City," Fire says. "The rest of the Third is awaiting us there."

"The Third?" Seth asks.

"A group of five thousand soldiers, including Fire's own personal guard of twenty," Brigan says. I nod.


My rooms aren't enormous, but I like them anyways. Brigan set us up in the same hall in his brother's palace near Fire's small green house. I sit on my bed wrapped in a dress I'm not overly fond of, but it seems women's pants and shorts haven't come into fashion yet. I made Brigan convince the tailors to make me a special wardrobe before he left with the third. Fire knocks and comes into my room.

"Hello," She says, sitting down in a chair by the fire.

"Hi," I bring my knees to my chest and shiver slightly.

"You couldn't have picked a worse time to come here. It's almost winter," she informs me.

"I didn't really pick, it just sort of... sucked me in."

She raises an eyebrow. "Tell me," she urges. So I do. I tell her about me, about how I came to be here, I tell her everything. And she listens.

You don't know how good it feels to have somebody, a stranger even, listen to you and care. I've only felt that a few times before.


"I know you may not find this all that believable, but I completely understand," Fire tells me. I look at her, confused.

"I have powers, I've been treated as an outcast my entire life... I've known that pain," she looks down and I nod. It's hard to talk about something like that.

"I know this might sound mean, but it kind of helps me knowing I'm not the only one," I say. Fire smiles, then changes the subject.

"Brigan dosen't want you meeting King Nash until he gets back next week. Let's just say Nash has the tendency to fall hard for beautiful women. Even with Brigan there, he may be a bit senseless, so you need to think of something to do or say besides harm him that might convince im you're off limits."

I'm in love, I think. That should do it. A picture of Raph comes to mind and my chest tightens up. I can't relax, but I've never been one to cry, so, I don't.

"I'll bring dinner here in about an hour. If you want to explore the gardens, I brought you this. I think it suits you," Fire hands me a box and sweeps out of the room. I lift the lid and look at a fur-lined scarlet cloak.

"I guess here there's no suck thing as animal cruelty," I murmer. A passing maid hears me and speaks briskly and firmly.

"Cruelty to animals is something we do not endure. Cruelty to Monsters, well, let's say what they'd do to us is much, much worse."

I stare after her and shiver at the menace her words bring.


Snow hits the top of my braided head as I step into the garden. The cloak is wrapped tightly around me, and I couldn't be more happy with the warmth. I look at the perfect, crystaline world here, and am struck by a pang of homesickness.

"Hi, Belle," Leo says softly from behind me.

"Hi bro," I say.

"Strange world, hey?"

"You can say that again. And again, and again and about twenty times more."

He laughs. I hear another chuckle and look up at Seth, sitting in a tree. He grins at me, his ice-blue eyes burning with curiosity. I raise an eyebrow.

"You can see alot from up here," He climbs halfway down and offers me a hand. I take it and he helps me up, Leo following.

"Wow," I breathe. It's beautiful. Intensely blue sky contrasted with slate- coloured clouds and a red sun in the distance, and growing ever smaller. There are people bustling around.

"You can say that again." Leo says.

"And again and again and about twenty times more," Seth teases. I stick my tongue out at him. He grins. I put some weight on my foot on a branch below us. Then slip.

Leo grabs my hand before I fall. I smile up at him gratefully. He smiles back and pulls me all the way up.

"I wonder where the others are right now," i say.

"Miss Raph?" Seth asks.

"Yeah." I say. Leo nods.

"I miss Joi."

"You and Joi?!" Seth and I exclaim. He looks at us, smiles guiltily and nods.

"We'll see them soon. I think," He says.

"I hope," Seth adds.

"I pray," I whisper, looking up as the first star of the night shines.

Starlight, starbright, first star I see tonight....

Oh boy, I've got a feeling...that Nash is not very friendly

I'm changing to pretext instead. It's so annoying to write the way I have been. Pretext is how I usually write, and if I write the way I have been, I get confused and make mistakes.

6- Nash

Leo

Belle sat next to me on a high stone wall, her cloak pulled tightly around her. Her hair fell around her in waves, the red and black standing out in the white world.

She caught me staring and smiled. "Whatcha lookin at fearless?" She asked, a teasing lilt in her voice. I chuckled.

"Not much. Just making sure my sister's okay," I nudged her and smiled. She grinned, and her tan complexion glowed. The sound of hooves shattered the moment, and we both looked up, startled, as Brigan thundered into the courtyard below us. Belle looked at me, shrugged, then, with so much grace it almost looked unreal, she hopped down, her cloak surrounding her like a red halo.

" Prince Brigan," She nodded to him as he dismounted. He smiled and greeted her.

"Lady Isabelle. And how've you been since I left?"

"Fine, thank you for asking. This world takes a while to get used to."

"I'm sure it does. Nice to see you, Leonardo. May I ask, where is Seth?"

"He's in his rooms." I answered curtly. I had no reason to distrust Brigan, but something about the situation made me slightly uneasy.

"Well, I'm going to go see Lady Fire. If you'll excuse me," He walked away.

"Nice guy."

"Give him a break. He's in his twenties, he's crown prince, and he's the commander of the King's army." Belle told me.

"Maybe. Maybe I'm paranoid about meeting Nash later."

"Don't be. Worst case, he does something stupid, I hurt him and his officers and we leave the country."

"That's supposed to make me feel better?" I asked.

"No. It's supposed to prepare you for the worst."

"Joy," I muttered.


"Hello, Belle," I said, walking into her room. She was looking distastefully at the dress the maids had set out for her. It was forest green, silk, with a high neck and short sleeves.

"If they expect me to wear this then they are seriously messed up in the freaking heads," she said calmly. She then turned toward the wardrobe and brought out some riding gear; black pants, white shirt, red jacket, red boots.

"Yeah, I think you're too much of a ninja to wear a skirt." I mused.

"I'd rather walk around in the freezing cold in a bikini than wear a dress!"

"Yeah, but you could warm yourself up with a tropical breeze," I said, leaning on the door frame as she got changed in another room.

"Yes, but that's not my point," she told me, coming out and shivering. She stared hard at the fire, and the flames flickered with a slight change in wind.

"Shall we go, Lady Isabelle?" I asked mockingly, offering her my arm. She punched it and strode out the door.

"Ouch," I winced. "Now is that anyway to treat your almost-brother?"

"It's the way she treats me," Seth laughed. "And I've known her since she was fourteen. Almost three years. She may not have told you this, but it was her seventeenth birthday a few days ago."

"You're as old as Raph now," I laughed.

"Haha, worried about your little brother dating a younger woman?" She asked.

"No. Not really. Especially when its a younger woman who can kick his can from here to next tuesday."

"Can we go? I really want to get this over with," Seth said. We nodded and set off down the hall, Seth and I stationed protectively on either side of Belle.

Brigan was waiting for us by the door.

"My brother Garan has already told Nash of all you're abilities that he knows of, meaning hardly any, so Nash has of now decided he wants you all working in the interrogation room. I suggest you say no."

I nodded. Brigan led us into a throne room, where a tall man with blond hair and green eyes. He was staring at Seth and I with interest, and then at Belle with hunger. I narrowed my eyes and moved myself in front of her slightly.

"Welcome, guests," Nash's booming voice rang out. "I hope you will enjoy your stay here in my palace."

I nodded and bowed in fake respect to the king. Seth and Belle followed my lead.

"Come closer," Nash demanded, stepping from his throne, where Brigan was now standing. The three of us walked forward, Fire and Brigan watching with weariness and alertness.

Nash nodded to Seth and I, then took Belle's hand and kissed it. She gave him a hard look, but he didn't notice it.

After some careful introductions and interruptions by Brigan and Fire, Nash got right down to business.

"I would like the three of you to work for me. You two young men as soldiers, and Isabelle in the interrogation rooms."

"I apologize profusely, Your Majesty, but we are unsure of how long we'll be in your beautiful lands. We're only... passing through. We don't have the time to work for you," Belle explained. Nash glared down at her, then backhanded her across the face, knocking her down and causing her to gasp.

"Nash!" Brigan exclaimed, grabbing the king's wrist. I kneeled with Belle, and she looked up at me, her eyes filled with hurt and blood coming doen her face like crimson tears.

The king's large emerald ring was stained with her blood as well.

I picked her up, and turned to Brigan and Fire. Fire came close quickly and led us out of the room. Once we were safely in the hall, Fire turned to Belle.

"If you'll allow me into your mind, I can numb your sense of pain," she offered, but Belle shook her head.

"It's keeping me sane. It's the only thing stopping me from going back there and hurting the king."

"Normally, Nash is very good, humble even. But his power goes to his head sometimes. When he wants something, he tends to get it, and your refusal, though polite and very diplomatic, was too much for him to process." Fire explained as she led us back to Belle's room and sent a servant for a healer.

"I don't want him near her again," I stated firmly. "her injuries quite often scar, and Raph'll kill me."

"Raph?" Asked Fire confusedly.

"Her boyfriend." Seth supplied.

Fire nodded as I lay Belle on her bed. She sat up. "It's just my face, Leo."

"The healer needs to work on you," Fire said, as a small woman walked in.

"Where's my patient?" She demanded. I looked up at her from next to my bleeding sister.

"Out!" The healer demanded, and we all exited the room, where we ran into Brigan.

"We need to talk. The king's drunk and senseless. I need you to calm him down," he told Fire. "I'll stay with them."

She nodded, hitched her skirts and ran down the hall.

(It's short, it's late, I'll see ya in the morning.)

I still don't trust this royal family

Yeah, Brigan and Clara are okay, and so is their mother Roen, but Nash and Garan are a bit much.