saisdontmatter | (no subject)

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[When sickness hit the Hamato household, it swept through like wildfire. And ever since Splinter found himself with two sick little turtles on his hands, he was determined to keep the other two as germ-free as possible. So as soon as they woke and they ate their meager breakfast, he shooed Raphael and Leonardo out of the den, hurriedly telling them to bring back anything they found of use before being pulled away by his sick ones' alarmed whimpers.

Raphie was more than happy to leave the den. It stank like throw up in there, and being hungry made it even worse. Ever since Donnie and Mikey got sick, Splinter hasn't been able to go topside for food, and splitting a can of tuna fish and a couple slices of stale bread with Leo left him feeling hollow inside. He'd been growing a lot lately, way more than his brothers, and it was making him feel hungry all the time. Maybe they'd be able to find some cool stuff while they were out, or even some more food.

The only problem is, he has no idea where to look. Splinter doesn't usually take him out on scavenge runs. It's because he's too noisy and doesn't listen, but his brothers tell him it's because he cries too much. But that's because they're stupid and Splinter doesn't take them either! No one gets to go except for Leo, because he's a daddy's boy and the favorite. And a stupid idiot, but that's besides the point.

So. That leaves two nine year old turtles and one mission. Raphie looks at his brother, shrugs, and starts shuffling off to wherever his feet take him. Because there's no way he's gonna let Leo tell him where to go. He'll just walk until he finds something.]

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[Leo, on the other hand, narrows down on his task with his trademark pinpointed focus. All of Sensei's warnings weren't issued just so he could hear his own voice. Topside is a dangerous place. If the humans find him and Raph, they'll take them away and put them in a cage, and they'll never see home again. No matter how cool this place is... they have to be careful. He forgot that for a minute.]

[He stalks up to the nearest trashcan and lifts the lid, holding it over the opening to shield its contents from the rain. He has to stand on the tips of his toes to peek inside, and almost immediately his snout crinkles as the smell of garbage intensifies. Ew. So not appetizing. Still, they've been eating out of these things for years, so he'll just have to put up with it until he can find the non-spoiled stuff.]

[He glances back at Raph, who is... not even paying attention, is he? Rolling his eyes, Leo calls to him in a loud whisper.] Just keep lookout!

Yeah, fine. [He calls back, shuffling his feet petulantly and forgetting to whisper. There's no humans in sight. Not like the last time where they were passing right over their heads. So it has to be safe.

As Leo rummages around, he still can't keep his eyes off the sky. His hunger now forgotten, all he can do is try to imagine what all those ladders could be leading up to.] I wonder what's up there?

Just windows into the building and stuff. [he says in a hushed voice, climbing onto a damp wood pallet to stick his arm in the garbage and rummage around. He grimaces, plucking out an empty beer bottle, and sets it down next to his foot before plunging back in.] Sensei says the top of the building is flat, and you can see the streets from high up. But there's nothing up there except pigeons.

Really? [If he wasn't so petrified of humans sneaking up on them, he'd be running up there right now. He likes pigeons. A lot. He's even tried to bring a few wayward ones home as pets. But Master Splinter always told him no...

Then his eyes settle on the windows. He knows what windows are for in houses. He's seen them on TV. They're for humans to look out of.]

You think somebody's watching us up there?

[The question actually makes him nervous at first, and he stops rifling around in the trash to crane his neck upwards for a look.]

No... I mean, probably not. I think the windows are just there so they can get out in case of a fire. [He sounds a little unsure, but it's called a "fire escape" for a reason, right? Besides, why would a human want to look down into an alley? This is where they throw all their trash!]

[He can tell Leo doesn't really know, and that makes him nervous enough to spur him into focusing. Folding his arms over his chest, he casts one more sidelong look at the dark windows above before shuffling over to his brother's side. He doesn't want to admit he's scared, so he just doesn't say anything, waiting for Leo to show him where to look.]

[Leo blinks as his brother shuffles closer, but it's not hard to figure out that Raph is getting kind of scared. Flashing him what he hopes is an encouraging smile, Leo scoots over on the wood pallet and tilts the trash can lid at an angle so his brother can see inside.]

Forget the humans; we have to find stuff to bring back home. Sensei always just takes everything he can find, and then we sort through it once we're underground again to see what we can use. [His expression shifts faintly into dismayed realization as he looks back down at the trash.] But... we didn't bring any bags with us.

[His snout crinkles at the smell of rotten fruit and curdled milk as he peers into the garbage can. None of it looks very edible. Nothing like the pretzel smells wafting down from the runoff grate.] That stuff looks gross anyways. I don't think you're doing it right.

[His first instinct is to get annoyed, but... Raph's kind of right. His mask creases as his own snout crinkles again, eyes flicking back and forth against the grubby trash as he sifts through some more of it with his arm. This really is gross. He doesn't know how Sensei does it, either; the few times he was peeking out of the manhole, he was always so focused on watching for humans that he never really watched Splinter.]

But this is where Master Splinter looks! Maybe this one just doesn't have anything useful in it. [Determined, he leans forward and digs around a bit more. Then his fingers brush against something cold and slimy, and he yanks it out of the trash with a slight yelp.] Yuech!

Then try another one! [He points at another can a few feet away.] I'm gonna look in that one.

[Now that he's getting impatient, he's starting to remember his mission to find something good before Leo. He doesn't waste any time leaping over to the next can and tipping it on its side, sending a cascade of garbage everywhere. That'll help him look faster!]

Raph! [Leo hisses, hands clamping over his ears as the trash can loudly clatters across the asphalt. He looks around fiercely, taking special care to glance up at the windows and make sure none of them have shadows looking down into the alley.] Be quiet, shell-for-brains!

[The can clatters down with an echoing racket that startles the living daylights out of him. Now the humans are gonna come for sure!]

I didn't know it was gonna be that loud!

[This time, he at least remembers to whisper. He's still shaking as he starts rifling through the spilled trash, scrambling to find something before anyone finds them first.]

[Leo quickly sets the lid back on his own trash can, careful not to make too much noise. Then he leaps down from the pallet and goes around his brother, crouched in the overturned can and heaps of garbage, to inch closer to the alley's mouth. Wedging himself behind a dumpster, Leo peers out into the gray streets, wide-eyed and breathless.]

See anything? [he urgently asks under his breath, eyes darting up and down the sidewalk.]

[He's on his hands and knees, sweeping through papers and plastic wrappers, his heart pounding at his temples. There's nothing edible in these things. Nothing even useful.

Frustration builds like a pressure in his chest, but this time he remembers he has to be quiet. Though that doesn't keep him from throwing a handful of wrappers like weird confetti.]

No.

[The urge to throw another temper tantrum is so bad it hurts. He can't even breathe.]

This's stupid. We're not gonna find anything.

[Leo watches for a moment longer, his heartbeat slowly fading in his ears the longer they go without someone coming down the sidewalk. Cars are still speeding through the streets, cutting through long puddles and sending jets of spray into the air, but there's no way they can see him and Raph in the alley with how fast they're going.]

[He also can't see any street signs from here. But for now, at least, he thinks they're safe.]

[Releasing a breath he hadn't been aware he'd been holding, Leo squirms his way back into the alley, coming up to examine his brother's work. He's right; there's some food, but it's spoiled beyond usage. And the rest of the garbage is made up of beer bottles, cigarettes, plastic wrappers, and who-knows-what-else.]

[Leo's brow creases in worry. He's trying not to let it show, but... he's starting to run out of ideas.]

Well... sometimes we have to visit more than one alley before we find anything useful. [Sometimes they never find anything at all, but he's not gonna tell Raph that.]

[This isn't going anywhere. They're not gonna find anything, they're gonna get caught, and he's too hungry to keep looking around like this for no reason. It isn't fair. He's always known it isn't fair, but this first lesson in scavenging is driving home exactly how unfair it is.

He stands up from his pile of garbage, bits of plastic wrappers sticking to his knees. The upset look on his face tells just how close he is to another breakdown.]

I don't care. I wanna go home.

[Oh, no. He knows that expression on his brother's face all too well. They can't risk Raph throwing another tantrum, not here. A note of panic flutters in Leo's stomach, but he does his best to squash it, because he's the one in charge here. He looks around desperately, as though there might be food or other supplies lying right there if he looks hard enough.]

[But there aren't, of course. What should they do? Nervous but determined, Leo steps forward to put a stern hand on Raph's shoulder.] No, Raph! Think about Donnie and Mikey! We have to keep looking.

[He shoves Leo's hand off his shoulder with as much force as he can muster. He hates when people touch him when he's upset. They're just trying to make him think it's okay when it's not.]

I don't wanna look anymore, okay!

[The threat of tears burns behind his eyes. He's feeling too defeated to even think of helping anyone else. And he's way too frustrated to notice the sound of approaching footsteps at the mouth of the alleyway.]

[Leo sighs, compliantly retreating his hand. It looks like there's no calming Raph down, and if he keeps trying, he'll probably make him break into tears. Maybe Leo can take him back home and then come back out looking on his own. He's never been scavenging alone before, but at least he wouldn't have to babysit -]

[The sound of scuffing shoes against pavement makes him freeze in his tracks. Leo tenses, eyes swerving to the opening of the alleyway, ignoring his brother's outburst completely in favor of the approaching echo.]

[He stays like that for a second. Then, without warning, he seizes his brother's arm with one hand, clamps the other over his mouth, and gives him a forceful shove towards the shadows.]

[Raph squwaks under his brother's hand, stumbling into the shadows before he even knows what's happening. It only takes him a second of indignant struggling before he sees the shadow of a man pour into the alleyway.

It makes everything inside him go cold as ice. He holds his breath, shell scraping against the wet brick wall.]

[Leonardo's reaction is instinctual - as Raph goes still with comprehension of the situation, Leo huddles tightly in front of him, pushing the both of them against the wall with insect-like scritching sounds on the brickwork. His own shell facing out into the open alley, Leo cranes his neck to watch with intensity as the shadow spills over wet asphalt, drawing closer and closer like a growing pool of liquid.]

[His stomach jumps straight into his throat, and he presses into Raph a little more, trying to squish them both against the wall as much as possible. No way is anyone gonna get him, and especially not his brother.]

[Every day is a new experience and a new adventure. So goes the life of a free man, a philosopher, one human soul against the countless drones of the like-minded. The people on the streets are cattle, blind and deaf to the rhythm of the city, to the magnificent wonders happening all around them.

Henry C. Jacobs has been on the streets since he was twenty five, chasing a life of true freedom, true knowledge, true liberation from the hive-minded masses. Being a free man means he takes time not to become one of the horde of cattle, but to observe, to see and listen.

That is why today he has been intrigued by the sound of children's voices coming from a sewer grate. And now, from an alleyway not too far away.

There are many theories about things that lurk in the city's underground, terrible beasts, gargantuan creatures who were once mere victims of human ignorance, now long forgotten, growing more aggressive in the dark amidst the refuse.

Though he has a theory of his own about these children. Not human children, no... He had caught a mere glimpse of them through the grate before they disappeared. An intriguing flash of green, so much more than the ghosts of mere abandoned childhood pets.

Slowly, he makes his way into the alleyway, holding his hands in a peaceful gesture. Palms up. Keeping his voice and footsteps gentle.]

Hello? Is there anyone there?

[They seem to have disappeared again. How interesting. Though his curiosity is insatiable enough to keep him trying.]

Children? I'm not going to hurt you.

[Getting the life crushed out of him by Leonardo when he's already feeling more than a little claustrophobic being cornered in an alleyway by a human triggers something inside Raphael that's new and foreign and strange.

It makes him mad. Mad enough that he's not even scared anymore. Mad enough that he can hardly think about anything but kicking this guy's stupid old butt.

His hands wind into fists, crouching low in the small space behind his brother with a growl rumbling in his throat.

If today's taught him anything, it's proved how much he hates humans. Hates them so much he wants to rip this old guy's face off.]

[Leo tracks the human as it enters the alley, hoping that his heartbeat really isn't as loud as it sounds in his head. It's a big man with a dark complexion - and he's homeless, Leonardo realizes with a start, judging by his old, frayed jacket, the ragged scarf hanging around his plump neck, and even the gloves with the fingers cut out. Homeless people aren't as scary, mostly because they don't seem to have anywhere to hold the turtles captive, but often they smell horrible and drink out of nasty beer bottles. Leo doesn't particularly like them, even if they don't seem as dangerous as other humans.]

[What surprises him is when Raphael lets out a low rumble that vibrates through Leo's chest just as much as his own. Leo's gaze flits to him briefly, but he doesn't have time to react any more than that, because the human starts talking again. He instantly recognizes the voice; it's the guy from the grate. He followed them after all.]

[Swallowing, Leo pushes away from Raph and creeps closer to the shadow's edge for a closer look. He's not as scared anymore, but he's being cautious all the same.]

[No, maybe they are gone. Maybe he's just an old fool chasing dreams again. But this old fool is if nothing a stubborn one. He must explore all theories, glean all knowledge there is to glean, gather all facts. There were indeed children's voices, and an upturned trash can sits in the middle of the path...]

If you are hungry, I can find you something to eat.

[For food is the equalizer. As they say, breaking bread with your enemy will soon earn you a friend. And they obviously must be hungry to be going through these trash bins.

He just hopes it will work. He would so much love to see them with his own eyes, these green children of the sewers. He feels as though he's Odysseus, exploring strange creatures in far-off lands.]