"Did you talk to him?" Diaval asks.

Destiny sighs and leans against the porch railing, stretching her torso from her chair across the short gap. She twists her body gently, working out the aches in her back from sleeping badly last night.

"Yeah," she says, her gaze flickering out to the trees. "Just the basics. I don't want us to hate each other, his voice is deep—"

"Doesn't want m'here."

She looks to her friend, eyebrows lifting. He doesn't move a single muscle, not even to change his facial expression. His eyes are the only thing that show any kind of emotion.

"Doesn't want you here?" Destiny clarifies. When Diaval nods, she purses her lips. "Leo?"

"None of 'em want m'here," he continues, his snaggletooth moving upwards just enough to show that his jaw has clenched.

"They're just nervous," she says. "I'm sure they just need some more...time. I mean, I needed time to get used to you."

"They desire it sometimes," he mumbles, leaning further back in the chair. The wind rustles his pale hair. "Done bad things to 'em, don't blame 'em, suppose."

She sits up, angling her body towards him. "Okay, uh...why are you saying stuff like that? Donnie said that he'd only ever seen you stay back at Foot HQ, maybe use your bow."

He keeps watching the forest. "Mhm, weird."

They sit, her eyes on him but his eyes on the forest. She wants to question him further, get some answers, but Diaval is hard enough to get information out of as is, even if they are friends.

He brushes some hair behind his ear and her attention is brought to the side of his head for long enough to notice three silver earrings in his right ear; one standard earlobe piercing and two in the higher arch of his ear: the helix, if Destiny remembers correctly.

"You've got pierced ears," she says, changing the subject. A sense of relief comes over her when she sees him relax a little. "I never really noticed before."

"Just the one ear," he responds, reaching his fingers up and brushing the rings. He glances down at her for a second.

"Three in one ear, though? You never thought to switch it up?"

His attention wavers back to the forest. "Nah."

She leans onto her hand, smiling softly. "Just thought it looked cool?"

There's silence as he looks at his lap, his hands knotting together. His knuckles turn white. "Sure." She opens her mouth, but he stands abruptly and points. "They're coming back."

Destiny follows his finger to where Raphael is emerging from the woods, Leonardo slumped against his side and obviously in pain. Destiny hops over the railing and breaks into a sprint towards them.

"Guys!" she calls upon getting closer. "What happened?"

"He's just tired. We did a lot today," Raphael says, adjusting Leonardo slightly as he says it. The blue-masked turtle makes a dry noise and squeezes his eyes shut. "The medicine Donnie gave him isn't working as well as we hoped."

"R-Raph, I-I'm..." Leonardo makes another gagging noise and his hand claps over his mouth.

Destiny straightens up and moves to the weakened turtle's other side, taking his free arm and throwing it around her shoulders. He swallows thickly, his neck limp, as if it can't support the weight of his head anymore.

"Rest will help, Leo," she murmurs as the trio starts off towards the house again.

----------

Leonardo sits in an armchair by the fire, staring in to the flickering flames. Everyone else is scattered around the living room: Raphael and Casey on the couch with Destiny in between them, Donatello on one of the singular armchairs, Michelangelo on the floor in front of the TV, and Diaval leaning against the wall near the exit. There's an open space on the chair across from Leonardo but he isn't about to sit down there.

April places a tray of mugs filled with steaming tea in front of Leonardo just as he lets out a heavy sigh.

"I just can't stop thinking about Master Splinter," he admits. He looks up, his eyelids lifting slightly. "Maybe he's not really gone."

"We saw it happen," Donatello says, shrugging his hands as he casts his gaze to the floor. "Shredder threw him down a drain pipe."

"Maybe Leo's right," April defends, clutching her mug of tea. "I mean, Splinter was a great ninja master."

"The greatest in a century," Raphael agrees.

Destiny hugs her knees to her chest and exhales, leaning her chin on her legs as her shoulder bumps Raphael's. Ahead of them, the Crognard theme song begins playing on the television screen.

Michelangelo perks up. "Hey dudes, the show's starting," he whispers, awed, and brings himself closer to the TV.

There's a sudden buzz of electricity and the house is plunged into darkness, all except for the fire. Destiny straightens up. Diaval inches closer into the room, his eyes darting to and fro. Michelangelo shrieks and collapses to the floor dramatically, whimpering over the lost entertainment.

"Aw man! You gotta be kidding me!" Casey exclaims, flinging his hand out in frustration towards the TV.

"It's just a blown fuse. I'll fix it in two shakes of a turtle's tail," Donatello says, getting to his feet.

Destiny shakes her tail twice. "There. Is the fuse fixed?"

Donatello shakes his head as a teasing grin brightens her marred face. He leans over and pokes her nose with one finger, making her laugh.

"Haha, you're hilarious, Des," he says.

She shrugs. "I try."

Raphael smirks to himself and April covers her mouth with her hand as she giggles softly. Leonardo's face loses some of its sorrow, but only some.

Donatello starts towards the exit, but then a gust of wind whistles around the house and into the chimney. The fire flickers and then dies. The tension rises. Raphael turns in his seat before standing.

"The fire got a blown fuse too?" Diaval whispers, standing directly behind the couch.

"Fires don't have fuses," Donatello sighs. Diaval instantly tips his mouth into the collar of his cloak.

Raphael kneels down in front of the fireplace and pokes at the smoking wood. No embers come to life, not even a spark. He exhales sharply, a guttural noise sounding in the back of his throat.

"Great. Looks like we need more firewood," he says.

Donatello turns on a flashlight and shines it into the blackened pit, but it's hardly been a second or two before it flickers out too. He clicks the button rapidly, his forehead furrowing as he smacks it against his palm forcefully.

"Are you kidding?" he asks no one in particular.

Raphael sighs and stomps out of the house to get more wood. Diaval moves to the window and pushes the curtain out of the way with his pointer finger, watching as the red-masked turtle shoulders an axe and heads off into the woods.

----------

Raphael grunts and breathes heavily as he chops apart a tree, gathering the logs in a small pile as he goes along. Something sounds nearby and he tenses.

"What was that?" he whispers to himself, turning around.

The trees shake with a cold night wind. An owl hoots. Crickets chirp. A wolf howls in the distance. The red-masked turtle swallows and steels his nerve, reminding himself that the forest is always creepier at night.

"Destiny? Is that you?" he asks as the howl's echo resonates around him. There's still no response. The leaves rustle again. "One more time, who's there?"

Within the trees, he catches sight of something moving. He inches closer, axe in hand and ready, and he reaches out towards a quivering clump of bushes. The face of a stag appears for a moment, making him yelp, and the creature goes leaping off through the dark trees.

He takes a deep breath and laughs to himself about his skittishness. "Just a deer. Phew." He shakes his head and turns back to his firewood chopping. "Easy, Raph. Don't get paranoid," he mutters under his breath.

Just as he's about to swing his axe into another log, the sound of something distinctly humongous thunders towards him. He turns around just in time to see branches and vines surrounding his vision as a dark creature overtakes him.

All he can do is scream.

------------

"Raph!" Michelangelo hollers, his voice echoing in the air. He places his hands on his hips and huffs. "He's been gone for hours. RAPH!" he repeats, throwing his head back and marching off in another direction.

"Raph! Can you hear us?" Casey calls, cupping his hands around his mouth.

"Don't you think he'd answer?" April snaps.

Leonardo looks out at the forest, eyes narrowed with determination. The group turns to face him, awaiting his orders. "Alright, we split up," he says. "April and Casey, you guys take that way," he says, pointing out to the left. "Mikey and Destiny, you take that way." He points to the right. "Donnie and Diaval—"

"Split up? Are you loco, homey?" Michelangelo demands.

"April and Casey go off alone? Together?!" Donatello exclaims.

Diaval raises his hand slightly, his fingers quivering. "Could pairs be...switched? Wanna be with Destiny..."

Leonardo purses his lips, obviously annoyed. "Donnie, Mikey, and Diaval go to the right. April, Casey, and Destiny go the other way." Donatello still looks unimpressed. Diaval frowns and opens his mouth to speak, but Leonardo stares everyone dead in the face. "Those are the groups. That's final," he repeats sternly.

He turns away, wincing a little as he adjusts his crutch.

"What about you?" April asks.

"I'll wait at the farmhouse in case Raph comes back," he answers, his expression losing its determination. "I won't be much help out there, anyways."

Destiny frowns and takes a step towards him. "Leo—"

"I'm fine, Des. Just go and find Raph. I'll be here," his voice breaks, and he coughs in an attempt to cover it up before he limps back into the house.

Destiny bites her lip as her ears flatten and she takes another step, but Casey's hand grips her arm and pulls her away. She sighs and begrudgingly follows as they head off in the direction Leonardo commanded. Donatello and Michelangelo give Diaval a quick glance as the wizard clutches his bow against his side. The purple-masked turtle groans and jerks his head, urging them to get going. Casey throws Donatello a teasing glance, only serving to worsen the turtle's overall mood.

----------

"I've always hated these woods at night," April admits as they walk amongst the trees. "When I was a kid, I was sure monsters were gonna creep out and eat me."

A branch falls down in front of her with a loud crack, making her scream and throw her arms around Casey. A moment later, a bat flies from an old tree trunk and she buries her face against his chest, trembling.

Destiny tries not to laugh as April recovers. "You're scared of bats?" the wolf asks.

"When your dad turns into one and kidnaps you, it can change your view," April responds, still clinging to Casey.

Casey pulls away from the hug, although he keeps his hand on her shoulder. "No monsters here, Red, unless you count Casey Jones!"

He rears back and makes a terrible howling noise. April punches him in the gut and he grunts, the sound cutting off.

"Nice. Good arm," he moans.

Destiny smirks. "Yeah, if you're going to howl, make it realistic."

"What, and yours is so much better?" he challenges.

She glances at April. The redhead nods and grins, starting to rub her hands together. Destiny tilts her head back and howls into the night, lifting herself onto her tiptoes as she makes the sound fluctuate and drift far into the sky. She stops, drops back to her flat feet, and spins on her heel, continuing to walk away.

"Winner, Destiny," April decides.

"She's an actual wolf! Come on!" he retorts.

Destiny laughs, the barking behind it echoing in the quiet forest.