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This is a mistake. Mistake, mistake, mistake, mistake. That specific word seemed to be in a particularly stubborn mood as it, frustratingly enough, continued to echo off of the walls of Raph’s brain. Large, disproportionately sized, three-toed feet ran underneath him, offering him plenty of support, but also giving her movements a more clumsy air as she tried to keep up with her energetic baby brother. He held the much smaller toddler’s hand tight in his own, like an owlet gripping the bark of the tree it called its home, fearful to let go and explore the unknown world outside. And, unfortunately, that was exactly what their goal was today. Only the sound and smell of the splashing, filthy sewer water beneath their feet could out-do the roar of the young turtle’s own heartbeat. Splinter wasn’t often very happy about them going out on the surface, especially without him. Raph was only ever, rarely, the exception to this rule, typically in the cases where Splinter needed assistance in gathering small things. She was commonly given permission to bring one of his three brothers along on these trips (considering his intense fear of being alone), but this far? No, never in a thousand, million years would they have ever been allowed to do this, to be here, if their father had anything to say about it. They were breaking one of the most important rules, and threatening to get all of their previous exploring-privileges revoked (which, might she add, she had very, painstakingly, worked hard to earn; it wasn’t the easiest feat, earning a rat’s trust when you were four turtle tots, two of which were constantly fighting and causing trouble, and a youngest who had a knack for disappearing). What would Splinter say if he saw her now? If he saw either of them now? They were quite literally running right towards the danger that they had always been warned to steer clear of. The young snapper could feel his chest tighten as his breathing began to pick up, her chest unhappy with the lengthy running she had put it through. Mikey was always the brother who, most commonly, wanted to join Raph on these trips. Donnie was constantly distracted with something else, and Leo… well, Raph couldn’t trust Leo enough these types of adventures. Mikey, on the other hand, was smaller, and easier to control, as long as you were holding one of his hands. Unfortunately, he was also one of the most curious, and after he and Raph had taken the same route through the sewers a few times over, Mikey had voiced his interest in traveling down a previously unexplored sewer. Raph couldn’t remember what he had said, exactly, but it had been along the lines of ‘hey, Raph!! Dee told me that there was a forest that way. Big and green and buggy!!! I wanna see da bugs!’ Of course, Raph had rejected the idea, as culpable as it had made her feel. He needed to turn the box turtle down three times more afterwards, until the asking finally stopped. But, as one could expect, Raph was a bit soft sometimes, as today came to show. Raph could still remember waking up to the sound of Mikey yelping- he had tripped over the snapper’s rather fast-growing tail while the oldest had been asleep, and had hit his head on his way down. Of course, this led to a series of tears running from the youngest’s wide eyes, and a strong pang of guilt had punched Raph hard in the chest. She had tried her best to counsel her little brother, but the orange turtle wouldn’t calm down- not until he had offered for them to go on a walk. That had brought a moment of calm sniffling, rather than hard sobs, and the walk generally worked. Raph had been prepared for them to return back to the lair, but Mikey had paused at that specific sewer tunnel again. This time, Mikey had been smart about it, ignorantly guilt-tripping Raph as he recalled the whole tripping-over-tail situation, and said that only going down that particular tunnel and seeing the forest would calm him down. Raph had wanted to say no again, but, honestly? They were both merely toddlers, and curiosity was woven into their systems. He had to admit that he couldn’t help but wonder what was down there, or what a forest really looked like. New York city didn’t have many of them, anyhow. When Raph had later asked him about it, Donnie had explained that it wasn’t a real forest, merely a significantly large park with a surplus of trees, and a lack of humans, in comparison to others. Raph hadn’t asked how Donnie knew all of this, assuming that he had likely learned the majority of it from that weird broken ‘tablet’ Splinter had gifted them. Raph personally hadn’t been a very big fan of it, but the softshell was hooked immediately, and threw a fit whenever Leo tried to take it. Focus, Raph. You have to focus! With a sharp shake of her head, Raph turned his attention back to the present. The feeling of his mask tails brushing against the back of her neck, along with the bouncing of the fairly heavy football helmet resting on his head, helped to ground her a little, providing him with enough focus to catch the light leaking through a manhole ahead of them before Mikey could. Almost immediately, she halted to a stop, almost throwing Mikey back in the process. “Raff!! Raff, it’s right dere!! Come on, you promithed!” Mikey complained, his missing front teeth made even more prominent as the tot did a dramatic pouting expression. All Raph could do in response was gulp; a startingly loud action compared to the rest of the sewers. They shouldn’t be here- Splinter would kill them! They were so far from the lair, and what would happen if they actually went to the surface? What if humans saw them? What if they were taken, or- or- Negative thoughts suddenly dropped into a startled jump as Raph felt both of his hands being taken into much smaller, softer palms. She hadn’t even realized her steadily increasing heart-rate, or her short, quickening breaths. When Raph looked down to see her hands in Mikey’s, he took notice of the fact that they were, ever so slightly, beginning to shake. Involuntarily, she felt himself grimace, before his attention was brought back to Mikey’s face as the youngest began to speak. Once eye contact was made, Raph immediately found himself relaxing ever-so-slightly. “Hey, Raff, dis will be the only dime if you want, i promith. But I wanna see the bugs. We can brag about it to Leo n’ Dee!!'' he chirped, a cheery grin crossing his features like a joyful fish flashing over the surface of water on a warm, summer day. The expression only faded slightly as it took on a more questioning note. “Please?” The eye contact remained for a few seconds more, the sewers slowly becoming more quiet as Raph felt his breathing slow. When she could finally bring himself to make any gesture of some sort, she gave a soft sigh, before doing a small nod. “Ok-kay, Mikes, but only once. And no telling dad, or going m-more than five feet from the manhole, okay?”“Five?!”“Okay, Mikes?”His brother gave a small, exasperated sigh as he rolled his eyes. “Otay,” he finally agreed, looking up to meet Raph’s eyes with his own once more, before releasing a cheeky giggle and turning away, scrambling for the ladder that would lead up to the manhole cover. “Hey, y-you have to wait for me!” Raph called, although he couldn’t help but feel his own excited smile begin to tug at the edges of his lips, the thrill of the whole situation so strong that she hardly even noticed her snaggletooth as it annoyingly, although harmlessly, caught on her lip.It didn’t take either of them long to scale the obstacle of the ladder- from their few trips with Splinter to the surface, they had learned a little bit about teamwork, and it provided faster progress this time around. Though, of course, there were still areas where they could have improved- especially considering that Raph almost fell after panicking over the thought of Mikey losing grip on the ladder twice. But -somehow-, they made it, and Raph carefully brought his hands above his head, raising the cover of the manhole to peek out into the area above. Immediately, she almost stumbled off of the ladder from the bright light of the world outside. Some rays of sunlight had trickled in through the holes and imperfections in the cover before, of course, but that was nothing compared to tackling the entirety of it. Fortunately, her tail was there for extra support, and she managed to stay stable enough to keep himself stable. He couldn’t be so sure about the chances of this remaining, though, as he felt as if all of the air was sucked out of his lungs. While such a situation would have previously been caused by fright, this was a far more positive feeling. Awed, Raph looked around the ‘forest’, wide-eyed and gaping. Greens, browns, oranges, and yellows mixed in with each other like sewage and water, although much more pleasing to the senses. The tweeting of birds that Raph had only ever heard on Donnie’s tablet was so much louder up here, and much more natural and clear, too. Even more noticeable than all of the other senses, the smell was a completely new sensation. Sure, the sewer air was constantly humid and thick, but while that often smelled like waste, this smelled like the complete opposite. It smelled fresh, wild… green. Was that considered a smell? Raph was shaken out of the daze as Mikey impatient tried to push him aside, desperately trying to catch a look of the outside, wild world. “Mikes, be careful! You don’t w-wanna fall!” Raph scolded, feeling her heart jump as she could have sworn that, for just a second, Mikey’s foot lost grip on one of the ladder’s foot-holds. “I wanna see!” the box turtle complained, trying to get onto his tip-toes the best that he possibly could. Giving a small sigh, Raph quickly sent a glance around them, trying not to get distracted by all of these new sensations as he searched for any potential dangers. Thankfully, there didn’t seem to be any, at least not immediately. “Okay, c’mere-” Raph started, turning and, carefully, wrapping his arms around his brother in a gentle, practiced hold, slowly bringing the smaller turtle out of the sewers and onto the grass above. Then, Raph crawled out of the manhole herself, giving an exasperated sigh as she caught her breath, his chest feeling startlingly tight and his breathing raspy. Gosh, he hated when this happened… but at least they were free from too much more running, for now, at least. Closing her eyes, Raph wrapped his hands around one another and squeezed them softly, taking in a deep breath before slowly exhaling. Feeling himself begin to calm down, he gave his small, spiky shoulders one more roll before sliding his eyelids open once more- only to see that there was a significant lack of a particular green and orange turtle. In a sudden rush, all of that previously obtained calm was gone. “Mikes? M-Mikey!” She called, suddenly finding herself thrown into a state of panic as her eyes failed to catch the familiar orange fabric of her brother’s mask. “O’er here!!” The voice was a relief to hear- especially considering the fact that, overall, it felt laid-back and relaxed, and maybe even excited. Not so fortunately, it sounded further away than it should have- far enough away to be out of sight of the manhole. A small, itching feeling began to pester at her chest; a bit of a different sensation than that which was awoken by his asthma. It made a weird type of silent harmony with the prickling, paranoid tickle he felt between his shoulders, like an itch she just couldn’t satisfy. Quickly, Raph rushed to try and catch sight of his absent brother, releasing a long-winded sigh of relief when her gaze finally caught tangerine fabric and orange freckles. “Mikey, I t-told-“ he started, before clearing his throat, annoyed by the poorly placed stammer. “I told you not to go more than five feet from the manhole! You know dad’s n-not gonna b-be-” she tried again, before pausing, caught off-guard as her eyes drifted to what his little brother held in his hand. Was that… a mushroom? Hesitant, Raph glanced around, trying to find where his brother had acquired it. It didn’t take long for a rather burly tree to catch his attention. It was wrapped in a natural garland of shelf mushrooms, decently large ones compared to his small palms. It took a few more moments until it finally clicked. “Mikes, you s-shouldn't have touched that! We don’t know if it’s p-poisonous or venom- venomous or whatever dad said dangerous things are… Mikey, are y-you even listening?” He seemed to be distracted doing something that Raph could only recognize as digging a stick into the lighter side of the fungus. This caused his lecture to pause, and, carefully, Raph approached the box turtle and moved behind him, looking over his shoulder to see, exactly, what he was doing. Truthfully, it didn’t clarify much. “What’cha up to?” She mumbled, not wanting to get rid of his stern demeanor, even as her curiosity grew.“Draw’n! Dee said there was a forest here, so I used his tablet n’ looked it up. These are drawing shrooms!” Mikey exclaimed, his enthusiastic smile digging almost as deep into his features as the stick was into the mushroom. “Drawing mushrooms?” Raph repeated, not completely understanding as much as it would seem Mikey wanted him to. “Mhm! You draw, n’ POOF! It hardens! It’s like wood,” the toddler explained, voice cheerful and excited as he continued to draw. Does that really work? Raph wondered, a bit hesitant, but interested nonetheless. Had Donnie put these ideas in Mikey’s head, or had he really found out from the internet? If it was the latter of the two, then it had to be true. Everyone knew that the internet knew everything, anyhow- besides much about turtle or rat people. Even though Raph had managed to locate her brother, that uncomfortable feeling between his shoulder blades refused to go away, and she found himself casting her eyes around their surroundings apprehensively. He felt so.. Exposed, out here. It wasn’t as dark, isolated, or familiar as the sewer tunnels, and the snapper couldn’t get the fact that running into humans was even more possible up here than in the world around their home out of his head. They needed to get somewhere a bit more safe- protected, even if just for her own comfort. The mushroom-adorned tree specifically caught his attention. Gently, Raph placed her hand on Mikey’s shoulder, easily cupping his palm around it; it was startling cold compared to the warmth of the world up here. “Hey, Mikey, how ‘bout we s-sit against the tree? S-So we don’t gotta stand while you draw an-anymore,” he offered, relieved when his youngest brother gave a nod of agreement. It was a bit awkward, trying to figure out how to sit against the hard, rough surface of the tree with his spikey shell and tail in the way, but Raph managed to figure it out. Mikey, on the other hand, found the whole process to be much easier. Once they had both settled down, the area had taken on a much quieter presence, uninterrupted by any voices besides the singing birds above their heads. The end of Raph’s tail flickered back and forth occasionally, her anxiety failing to melt off of her skin like the startling amount of sweat on her arms. He felt far from safe up here, but, at the same time, he wanted to try and calm down for Mikey. If they were here, one of them may at least enjoy it. “So, what’cha drawin’?” She finally asked, breaking the silence with a soft-spoken voice. “I don’t know yet, but it’s gonna be amazin’!! Do you want it when it’s done?” Mikey asked, turning his shimmering gaze up to meet Raph’s. “Erm- s-sure, buddy,” she agreed, giving his brother a small smile, although her response was clearly hesitant.As Mikey drew, Raph went silent once more, listening to the crude sound of the stick digging into the flesh of the fungus, creating a design she likely wouldn’t understand until after it was finished. Carefully, he adjusted his sitting position, laying his tail next to him, as if she were a fox looking for the warmth of her own fur to comfort her in cold weather. Although, the longer he allowed himself to enjoy their surroundings, the more he felt himself relax. There didn’t seem to be any danger here… at least, not anywhere close. Maybe he could calm down, and actually enjoy being somewhere that felt so… magical. It was truly amazing, the difference between this place and the city. And it wasn’t even a real forest! What would it feel like, to travel deep into some true, wild woods- to fully embrace the amazing sensations he felt now? He couldn’t even imagine, and she couldn’t help but wish that there were some of those places nearby, rather than parks like this. They sounded like they would be more safe for the family of five, like they wouldn’t be the most wild things that walked between those trees. Maybe they’d finally feel like they belonged, like they fit. A small, aching feeling began to paw a Raph from inside her chest, and he shook his head, holding back the strong urge to talk to himself and try and comfort that uncomfortable presence. He didn’t want to disrupt Mikey’s peaceful quiet, nor bring any unwanted attention to them just to talk to herself out loud, rather than in her own head. Turning his gaze towards his hands, Raph raised a palm, made a weak fist, and then spread his fingers again. He did this a few times more, the pattern becoming something of a comfort as he repeated it enough, and his mind wandered away from the darker thoughts again. They were here. They were really here. This was new. She should be enjoying it, like Mikey was. And, even though there were so many thoughts she could be spending this time combing through, Raph forced himself not to dig too deep into them. His mind liked to go wild sometimes, to disobey orders and do whatever it pleased, often resulting in him ending up in a hole deeper than he had originally anticipated, unrecognizable voices whispering those negative things into his ears. But, if she focused only on the present, only on what was outside of her body and her mind, he felt that he should be able to tame that beast, even if just for a little bit. So, of course, this meant that Mikey would gain his attention again. When Raph managed to refocus on her brother and what he was doing, she found herself a bit startled when she realized that Mikey was onto his third mushroom. Mikey absent-mindedly turned his body, leaning his shell comfortably against Raph’s leg, humming happily as he continued working on the newest project. With a bewildered blink, the snapper focused on the mushroom closest to him. It looked the most similar to the mushroom that Mikey had started with, and so, she bent over (careful not to disturb Mikey’s position too much, of course), and picked it up. Leaning her shell against the bark of the mossy tree again, Raph raised the carved mushroom in front of her eyes, examining it. As Raph had predicted, he couldn’t exactly understand what it was meant to be- although, he was decently sure that he saw wings, and a fair number of legs. “That’s an ant!!” Mikey exclaimed, having leaned his head back so he could look at Raph, expression upsidedown. “Whadya think?” “An ant?” Raph repeated, trying again to count the number of legs this creature had. It was profoundly round, and if she was counting right, it was definitely more than six. Of course, neither of them had much experience in what ants actually looked like, so, after a moment of hesitation, Raph nodded in agreement, sending Mikey a grin that emphasized her snaggletooth enough to allow the sun to gleam ever-so-slightly off of it. “I think it looks amazing, buddy. What’s t-that one?” he asked, pointing over to the other mushroom that had been completed with a clawed finger. “Oh, oh! That’s a tree. This tree!! His name is George,” Mikey explained with a wide, happy grin. Definitely a different expression than what he had had before their walk. “And you’re working on w-what now?” Raph finally asked, going to peek over Mikey’s shoulder- only to get blocked by the box turtle’s round shell. “Nuh uh! This one’s a surprise! You can’t see it yet.” the youngest objected, before giving a small giggle at his own stubbornness. Raph let out a small laugh as well, leaning back once more, and letting her shoulders sag slightly as she felt the warm sunlight on her skin; a sensation neither of them were used to. “Okay, Mikes, unl- unless I saw it before you hid it,” he teased, causing Mikey to make a little gasp and dramatically hide it under two, small-sized palms. “I’m kidding, im kidding!” Raph giggled, lightly pushing his brother’s shoulder. “I promise I w-won’t look.”And he kept that promise, even as the mushroom continued to take longer and longer for Mikey to finish. What is he even carving? Raph wondered, confused by how long the process had become. Suddenly a sound caught Raph’s attention, and, at first, she thought that Mikey had finally completed his drawing. But, when he looked down at his little brother, it seemed like the noise had caught his attention as well. Raph’s brows furrowed. Another noise met her ears, this time more clear than the first- it sounded like the rustling of leaves, as if someone were moving through bushes or trying to climb a tree. Suddenly, that prickling feeling of paranoia was back, and he felt his heart drop and his stomach flip. On gosh, this was exactly what they didn’t want to happen- they had to get out of there. Mikey had to get out of there. Quickly, Raph stood, trying not to guilt himself as he caused Mikey to stumble and almost fall, although he was just barely caught by Raph. Snatching Mikey’s hand and holding it tight, Raph quickly ran towards where she remembered the manhole cover being. “My carvings!!” Mikey yelped, but Raph didn’t slow down as she tried to get them both as far away from where the noise was coming from as possible. It was far too loud for an animal that wouldn’t serve as a threat to the two, and Raph wasn’t about to take those chances. Her breathing immediately kicked up and his panic spiked. When the manhole cover was in sight, Raph quickly grabbed and lifted it, rushing Mikey in as the sound came closer and closer to the two. Mikey was in, and then it was Raph’s turn- And then the noises stopped. -- || -- ⚘ -- || -- Raspberry-chocolate brown curls bounced in the air as the gentle breeze played with them, its pull strengthened by April O’Neil’s quick pace. Whenever her parents allowed her to visit this park, she was overcome with such a strong sense of excitement… so many adventures were made possible merely by being here, in a place that you couldn’t find anywhere else in the city. The sensation was amazing, feeling wild and free, rather than being cooped up in a small apartment. Sure, the view was nice sometimes, and the noise had come to calm her when she tried to sleep, but it was an environment far more suited for those stuck-up popular girls at her school. Here, rather, felt so much better- more natural. The air wasn’t as fresh as it likely would have been in a real forest, but the view could’ve tricked her of such. Everything was so green and lively, much more natural than the tall, metal buildings surrounding the park. It made her want to run- which was exactly the urge that she bent into now, taking her time here to take out her high energy and dart around the trees, like a ninja dodging oncoming enemies. The thought made her release a high-pitched, thrilled giggle, her chest buzzing with pure ecstasy. She loved it here. It chased off some of the loneliness that sprouted from of the fact that so few people her age seemed interested in being her friend. She was too “weird” for them. Too “crazy”. She wasn’t planning on changing anything about herself to try and fit into their mold of expectations, but it was a bit.. isolating, sitting alone at lunch… and everything else. But she was still a kid, and there were plenty of opportunities to make friends, ones that would love her as she was. April was snapped out of yet another one of her common day-dreams when she heard speaking ahead. The voice sounded apprehensive, but too high-pitched to not be another kid. An even younger kid responded, although April couldn’t make out either of their words. Excitement hit her in the chest like a pleasant sort of punch, and she couldn’t help but feel a suspenseful smile spread on her face. She didn’t recognize these voices. They sounded new. But they were here, in the park that often went underrated by most kids her age. Her classmates hardly ever talked about how amazing this place was, just how dirty. The idea that there were other kids who actually liked it here… it was more than a little bit exciting. Maybe April could actually make some friends.As she raised a small foot dressed in a bright sneaker and Jupiter Jim sock, April was moments away from going through the bushes and finding the potential friends when she heard one of them make a startled noise, and then the sound of the both of them running in the opposite direction from her. Her heart sank, and she knew that her parents would have told her to leave them alone. But they sounded scared, and if their cause of fear was her, she wanted to reassure them, to tell them it was fine. It was an instinct she didn’t quite understand, embedded deep in her chest. This was the feeling that inspired her to dart after the sounds of footsteps ahead. She was faster than they were, at least it seemed that way considering their noisy traveling through the bushes was growing closer, and soon enough, she caught a glimpse of them. Her movements paused for a few fleeting moments as she registered what she saw. Were they… covered in green paint? With backpacks on? It was a weekend… there was no school, so why did they need those, let alone two of them? And we’re those… durags? The other kids in her school would have ditched the mission as soon as they saw the sight, likely dismissing the kids as some weirdos who weren’t worth talking to. But the strangeness of the situation just made her more invested, more desperate to meet them, to say hello. The pause caused her to loose sight of the two seemingly younger children, before she picked up even faster than before. But, when she had finally broken through the bushes, confident she would finally catch the two, she stopped dead in her tracks, heart dropping. The noises had stopped, which meant that the two kids weren’t moving anymore. But they weren’t here, in the little clearing she had found herself in. All that was there was a measly manhole cover. Disappointment sapped at the excitement, and she felt her energy quickly drain, replaced by the dark emotion. She had lost them. “Oh,” she murmured, letting the situation slowly settle into her head for a few seconds more, before she shook herself off. She couldn’t let this ruin the rest of her play-time here. Kids ignored or ran away from her all of the time. It sounded awfully sad out loud, but she had gotten used to it- maybe she’d see these kids the next time she came here, and might actually catch up with them before they ran away from her. Maybe then she could understand whether they were reasonably scared or not. She felt as her brows furrowed in determination, and her hands balled into fists, her chest puffing out. Yeah, that was exactly what she would do! All friendships had some bumps in the road. She just had to see if she could smooth these ones out. With a smile, she laughed to herself, excited once more. And, with this newfound motivation, she turned around and began to skip back to where her parents had originally released her. She was sure they’d love to hear about her discoveries- of her plan. While running, though, she heard an awkward type of crunchy squish as she tripped over something her foot had settled on, tumbling over onto her hands and knees. She grunted, but it didn’t take long for her to stand up and brush herself off, unphased besides being a bit confused. Turning, April looked to see what she could have possibly tripped on, only to be greeted by the sight of a partly-crushed shelf mushroom. It looked as if it had fallen from the bark of the tree it was next to, except… were those scratches in it? Curious, the young girl stooped over and picked up the fungus, examining it. It was startlingly stiff for a mushroom, stiff enough that the drawing that had been sketched into it was hardly even ruined by the pressure of her foot. It took her a moment to fully comprehend what it was meant to be, but, apparently, creative minds thought alike. After running her small thumb over the messy drawing and pondering it for a few moments more, she recognized it as a bug of some sort. It reminded her of the drawings that she would see kindergartners make. They were likely one of the only reasons she understood what this drawing might’ve meant to be. With a curious blink and a tilt of her head, April noticed two similar mushrooms, both with different scratches in their surfaces. Carefully, she crawled towards the closest one and picked it up. It was more comprehensible, considering the simple shapes of the creation. Fascinated, April gazed up at the large tree the fungi must have been taken from that could have easily been the inspiration for the drawing, before looking back down at the fungus, noticing a new detail she had missed before. Squinting, she tried her best to read it. “G.. gorg?” She paused, glancing back up at the mossy park sentinel besides her. After a moment of thought, she beamed up at it. “Well, hi there, Gorg,” she greeted, giggling as she reached for the last mushroom. This one took her a few moments longer to understand. They looked like a humanoid of some sort- a person, maybe? They looked big, broad, and had a smile on their face, along with a mask and a weird... chest plate, maybe? She tried to focus on the two words at the bottom of the drawing to the best of her ability. The largest of the two said something along the lines of “Raph”, and the smaller said “Micky”, maybe? Were those names? April’s heart skipped a beat as she realized who had drawn these. One of those two odd children must have… right? This last drawing resembled the little glimpse that she caught of the largest of the two... An idea came to her mind, and the young girl felt excitement jump in her chest. Quickly, she picked up a small, fairly sturdy stick from the ground, carefully snapping a mushroom off of the bark of the tree. Quickly, she tried to sketch out her own words, although it was surprisingly difficult to accomplish. The drawing surface wasn’t nearly as hard as that of the finished drawings yet, but she had never exactly written on a mushroom before, and she often wrote so fast that her writing was hard to comprehend anyways. She decided to take it slowly and carefully, like her teachers had told her to do on tests, so that they could read what she wrote and give her a proper grade. Once she had finished, April gave a satisfied “hmph”, picking up her own mushroom, before bending over and grabbing the strangers’ drawings as well, carefully placing them into a nook in the tree. She wasn’t sure if the two would return any time soon, but just in case they did, she wanted the drawings and writing to be spared from any animals’ hungry appetites. This was her last leap of faith, and she wasn’t confident if she would land safely with two new friends, or if this would fall through, but it was worth a try, wasn’t it? Chances were something that was your choice to take, and the downfall was most often just some sort of minor danger. She felt confident that she could face anything that came her way, though, so she couldn’t fear the consequences of this all that much. Once she had them safely placed in the nook, she could hear her parents calling for her near where she had first entered the forest-like park. Her name was easy to recognize, and her mother’s voice carried effortlessly through the air and to her ears. April risked taking another moment more to ponder the two kids she had just almost come in contact with. They had been scared of her, and probably weren’t coming back any time soon… Maybe she could keep this a secret adventure, a solo-mission. She didn’t want to scare them away again by bringing adults into the mix- she knew full well how intimidating adults could be. She did really want to tell her parents about this, but… maybe it wouldn’t be the best idea. They wouldn't have been happy at the idea of her communicating with strangers like this, anyways. “Coming!!” She called back, sending one more look at the soon-to-be abandoned mushrooms, before darting in the direction of her family, a smile plastered on her face. -- || -- ⚘ -- || -- Raph could feel his heavy breathing begin to calm as over five minutes passed since he and Mikey had hidden under the manhole cover. She hadn’t wanted to be spotted, but he didn’t want them to be followed home, either, so she had managed to withstand the urge to run back to the lair with Mikey, instead, he had kept Mikey far from the opening to the sewers, keeping a close eye on the odd human child who had been chasing them. She looked… Well, he wasn’t sure how to describe it. He had never met or seen a human so close before. Truthfully, she was both on the urge of panicking, but also on the urge of letting his curiosity try to see who, exactly, that had been. The child in him wanted to chase after her, to greet her and ask her her name, but he had to be more mature than that. She was responsible for Mikey and her family, and couldn’t risk freaking a human out… although, he had to admit that he felt significant guilt still from that disappointed expression on the girl’s face before she had left. She looked like Leo whenever Mikey accidentally destroyed one of his block towers, or like Splinter whenever Raph wasn’t able to keep his siblings in check enough to prevent them from breaking something valuable. He wanted to give her a hug. Perhaps that was the only reason why he had allowed Mikey and himself to go to the surface again, long enough after the girl had run away to be relatively safe again. Mikey was desperate to find his mushrooms, even with Raph’s argument that they should leave them there, and a part of Raph, hidden under the intense distress and fear that was causing her breathing to speed up, wanted to make sure the human girl was okay. Which was stupid- Splinter always told them how humans were dangerous, how they had to stay away from them, or they’d scare them. But… well, Raph wasn’t sure. Something felt different about this one, an instinct he couldn’t place. Now, Mikey was the one guiding her, rather than Raph guiding the younger of the two, back to the spot they had been previously found themselves resting.“Remem- remember, Mikes, we have to be quick- we don’t want them seeing us,” Raph said, voice as apprehensively stiff as her posture as he followed close behind the young box turtle. “Quick!” Mikey repeated in acknowledgment, running even faster, making it necessary for Raph to try to quicken his own speed to keep up, much to the snapper’s lungs’ dismay. After what felt like much longer than Raph could’ve sworn it had originally taken them to get to the tree before, they finally arrived at the trunk of the burly, bark-covered sentinel. But, much to their surprise, the mushrooms were gone. They weren’t anywhere on the grass where they had last left them. Mikey stopped, the hands he had held readily in excitement dropping slightly. “We’d they go?” He asked, voice soft and heavy. Raph raised a hand to rub at the back of his neck. “I’m.. I’m n-not sure. But they’re n-not here. I’m sorry, Mikes, I think we have to-“ Raph started, before being quickly interrupted by Mikey’s excited squealing, pointing up at a nook in the tree they had sat against. It wasn’t too high, easy for Raph to reach, and when she grabbed the fungi that had been placed there, she was startled to find one more than there should have been. “How many drawings did y-you make, Mikes?” Raph asked, casting a nervous glance back at his brother. The youngest raised his hand to his chin, pondering the question dramatically. “Hmmmm… three, I think!” He replied. “Why?”Cautiously, Raph lower his hands, carrying all four mushrooms in them as he brought them down onto the ground. Mikey curiously looked at the new one, and Raph slowely picked it up. “What does it say?”“I.. I think it says, ‘hi, Micky and Raph. I’m April.”Mikey gasped. “April?”“Yeah..”“Was that that girl?”“I’m n-not sure-“Mikey giggled in glee, quickly grabbing another mushroom from the tree. Raph’s brows furrowed as the young snapper anxiously fidgeted on her feet. “Mikey, what’cha doin’?” He inquired. Mikey paused for a moment. “I’m writing back!” He chirped, beaming. Raph raised a hand to object, to take the fungus away from her brother, but she paused, hesitated, and pulled her hand back. Maybe… maybe one response couldn’t hurt. The girl had not seemed entirely aggressive, and this way, they could get rid of that sour disappointment without being in danger. Splinter and the others never had to know.And, so, their adventure ended that day to the sound of woos against the flesh of a shelf mushroom, but with that same sound came the promise of further journeys, and perhaps even a blooming friendship, too.