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Chapter Text

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star
/stär/
See definitions in: Science
noun
1.
a fixed luminous point in the night sky which is a large, remote incandescent body like the sun.
2.
huge celestial bodies made mostly of hydrogen and helium that produce light and heat from the churning nuclear forges inside their cores.

That's what his brother said they were, though Leo didn't understand most of it. He didn't need to. He was content with just looking at them.

"𝘓𝘰𝘰𝘬, 𝘋𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘦!" 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘶𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘨𝘢𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘥, 𝘫𝘢𝘣𝘣𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘴𝘬𝘺. 𝘈 𝘩𝘶𝘨𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵, 𝘣𝘪𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦. 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘭𝘦𝘥, 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳'𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. "𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵!"

𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘫𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴. 𝘈𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘴, 𝘋𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘦 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘓𝘦𝘰 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦. "𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘢 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘰𝘯𝘦! 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘢' 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘵?"

𝘚𝘭𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘬, 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝘈𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴, 𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴, 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘣𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳'𝘴 𝘫𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘭.

"𝘚𝘶𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘋𝘶𝘱𝘦𝘳……𝘗𝘪𝘻𝘻𝘢 𝘗𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘵!"

𝘋𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘦 𝘴𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺, 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘯𝘦𝘸, 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘱𝘢𝘨𝘦.

"𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸."

"𝘚𝘰?"

"𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘢 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘵 𝘓𝘦𝘰."

"𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘴𝘴𝘴?"

𝘈 𝘨𝘪𝘨𝘨𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘭 𝘰𝘯 𝘱𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘳.

"𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘢 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘓𝘦𝘰, 𝘔𝘪𝘬𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵."

"𝘔𝘪𝘬𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥!"

"𝘠𝘦𝘢𝘩, 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘪𝘧 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥, 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵."

"𝘏𝘶𝘩, 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵."

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘣𝘰𝘺𝘴 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦. 𝘓𝘦𝘰 𝘴𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘷𝘦. 𝘏𝘦 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘋𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳, 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘥. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘓𝘦𝘰'𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦. 𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘕𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘯𝘰 𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘶𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴, 𝘯𝘰 𝘥𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱.

𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘋𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘦.

"𝘗𝘴𝘴𝘵- 𝘨𝘶𝘺𝘴"

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘥, 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘴 𝘴𝘸𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘪𝘴𝘦. 𝘞𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘢 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯? 𝘋𝘢𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯. 𝘈 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘢 𝘱𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘴, 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘪𝘯 𝘣𝘰𝘺𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘹𝘦𝘥; 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘣𝘪𝘨 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘙𝘢𝘱𝘩.

"𝘋𝘢𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶!"

"..."

𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘰𝘴 𝘦𝘳𝘶𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯, 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴. 𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘋𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘣𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘥𝘢𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘴.

"𝘊𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨?"

"𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺! 𝘏𝘦’𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘸𝘰."

𝘔𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘴.

Leo smiled fondly as he thought back to that day. Splinter had caught them and they got in trouble. Sentenced to wash the dishes for a week. Blegh. Donnie was not happy.

Though that moment ended prematurely, Leo still thought of it as one of his most cherished childhood memories. It was one of the rare peaceful moments they had as kids.

"Hey,"

Leonardo looked up as Donnie loomed over him. His brother had his bō staff with him. Oh, goody; Leo knew what that meant.

"Dad wants us to train, 'Nardo." Was all Leo heard before he was hit on the head with an overly large stick. He turned and watched as Donnie sauntered out of the living room. He stuck his tongue out at his brother’s back in silent retaliation.

With a huff, Leo got up from where he was sitting on the couch, taking a moment to stretch out his muscles, and bringing his fingertips to his toes. It was probably unnecessary though, his father only let them train by watching videos. Normally Leo would be ok with being lazy, but he wanted to be able to impress his father with his ninja moves, not his ability to watch tv.

Finishing the stretch quickly, the slider walked into the training room, strapping his ōdachi onto his back on the way. He took a seat next to Donnie (and almost sat on his bō but we don't talk about that) and leaned back onto the side of his father's chair.

He had to admit, this was a nice Thursday morning.

--

A thick blanket of fog covered the ground. The city that never slept seemed to be resting tonight.

Leo leaped from rooftop to rooftop, mist swirling at his feet each time he touched down. It was clearer up here, the dense fog unable to reach the highest buildings. The slider paused to take a breath, skidding on the concrete tiles. Leo ran a hand along the top of his head and let out a long sigh. He glanced up at the sky, stars greeting him with a twinkle. It really was pretty up here. Leo slapped himself gently on the cheek and shook out his arms. He was ready.

The teen slid out his ōdachi and stared into his reflection. A twinge of guilt pierced him. It felt wrong to be training without his family. Like he was betraying them or something. Nevertheless,

Nevertheless, Leo needed to learn how to use this thing. He felt so useless during that battle with that scary bear robot thing. Albearto, he thinks it’s called. Raph and Mikey could use their powers just fine(aside from the occasional mishaps). Donnie didn’t even need mystic energy to stop the bear in the end! Leo was just the face man. The guy to crack jokes and get thrown around. The guy who didn’t really know what he was doing. Sure, he had good swordsmanship but all this mystic stuff was bigger than slashes and stabs.

His grip around his ōdachi tightened. He needed this.

Silence pressed against his head as Leo took a deep breath; he pretended to slash an invisible enemy and leapt into the air, landing behind said target. He drew a circle around the target and envisioned a portal forming where he had drawn. The slider watched the spot intently, willing anything to happen. A spark, a noise, movement, anything, 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦!

His imaginary enemy stayed put, staring at him with a taunting smirk. Leo yelled in frustration and waved his sword around, clearing the fog around him. This was stupid. What was he thinking? Familiar emotions of inferiority bounced around in his head. Maybe he would never get this.

Leo stared at his ōdachi once more, the shiny metal reflecting his defeated face. The slider spitefully dropped the sword by his feet and glared at it. Mystic magic wasn’t cool if you couldn’t 𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙞𝙩!

The slider sat down and wrapped his arms around himself, hugging his legs to his chest. How was he supposed to explain that he was secretly 'training' and hadn't made any progress at all? With a groan, Leo put his hands over his neck. This was so pathetic.

Another glance at the stupid weapon only caused him to blink in confusion. The rooftop had become shrouded in fog, not reaching further than his ankles; but still much thicker than before. Milky white was all he could see below him. Where had his ōdachi gone? He felt around for it but came up empty-handed. '𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭?'

Fog pooled around his ankles, tickling his legs. Leo shifted at the strange sensation. With a grunt, the slider got onto his hands and knees, carefully inspecting the rooftop for his sword. His fingers came into contact with something rough. Thinking it was the tuska of his ōdachi he grabbed it. The tuska squirmed under his grasp and he yelped, releasing the 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘵-𝘵𝘶𝘴𝘬𝘢 and flinching back.

“Wha-whatever’s out there, better watch out.” He stuttered, scrambling to his feet. “I’m dangerous even without my ōdachi!” The fog didn’t respond. An object grazed his foot, causing Leo to jump, driving away the ever-growing mist. “It’s ok Leo.” He muttered to himself, scanning through the fog. “You’ve got this.”

A slithering noise echoed off the building behind him and Leo swiveled to face it, arms flailing out into the fog. Fear panged in his chest. '𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘺.'

“Who’s out there?” Pizza supreme, he hated how scared he sounded. ‘𝘙𝘢𝘱𝘩 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘰-’ He brightened. ‘𝘙𝘢𝘱𝘩! 𝘔𝘺 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴!’ The teen’s hands flew to his phone only to remember that he had left it…back at the lair…so he wouldn’t get followed. Leo inwardly groaned. ‘𝘜𝘨𝘩. 𝘐’𝘮 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴.’

Something brushed his ankle and he cursed, backing up. Fog pressed against his scales, making him squirm in discomfort. ‘𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨-’ That train of thought was abruptly cut off when something grabbed him and hoisted him up into the air. He screamed, thrashing in the grip of whatever it was.

𝘊𝘭𝘪𝘱-𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘱

𝘊𝘭𝘪𝘱-𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘱

𝘊𝘭𝘪𝘱-𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘱

Leo shut up, straining to hear where that sound was coming from. It resembled metallic hoove steps, metal on concrete. It bounced around the buildings and echoed in his ears. The slider's head started to pound and he winced, body swaying with the motion.

𝘊𝘭𝘪𝘱-𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘱

𝘊𝘭𝘪𝘱-𝙘𝙡𝙤𝙥

𝘾𝙡𝙞𝙥-𝙘𝙡𝙤𝙥

Determined to escape from his tangled prison and find out who was out there, Leo began to thrash. His temple pounded more and more with every action but he did not care. Could not care. ‘𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬.’

His nauseating movements only caused him to spin a little, adding to his sudden vertigo. Resisting the urge to throw up, Leo shut his eyes and regulated his breathing. ‘𝘐𝘯. 𝘖𝘶𝘵. 𝘐𝘯. 𝘖𝘶𝘵.’

𝘾𝙡𝙞𝙥-𝙘𝙡𝙤𝙥

The prison tightened around his chest and Leo wheezed, breathing exercises down the metaphorical drain. The slider forced his eyes back open and pushed away the pain. His surroundings had changed a bit while he was 'out.’ The fog had cleared a considerable amount; he was now able to see the outlines of the surrounding buildings.

Actually, now that he could see them, his prison looked like pink vines. Strange.

𝘾𝙡𝙞𝙥-𝙘𝙡𝙤𝙥

He still had no idea where the hoove steps were coming from. Frustration bubbled in his chest, competing with the already rampant fear, confusion, and irritation. Suddenly, the slider stilled.

The steps had stopped.

Leo craned his neck as far down(𝘶𝘱?) as he could. A pair of artificial hooves met his eyes. He blinked, confused. What? He opened his mouth to say something witty, getting interrupted as he was yanked upwards by his mask tails. His prison moved with him, obviously bending to this metal-hooved loser's will. Unfair, in Leo's totally valid opinion.

Fighting the urge to scream, puke, and DEFINITELY not cry, the teenager mustered up the best glare he could, hoping to strike fear into his attacker. His act faltered when he saw who the culprit was. It was that weird guy from the hidden city! Dicksum? He thinks it is.

The caprid yōkai stared back at Leo with a cold expression. Leo inwardly cursed when felt himself shrink under the villain's gaze.

The slider swallowed his fear and bit his tongue. He was not scared of Dicksum. Nuh uh no way. He opened his mouth to insult the yōkai, searching through his mind for the perfect combination of words and teenage references.

"Now listen up you edgy ass Aquaman ripoff-"

Dicksum narrowed his eyes and ripped Leo's mask off his face, causing the slider to swing backward. Instantly, his nausea came back. Leo forced himself to swallow. ‘𝘋𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬, 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘤𝘳𝘺, 𝘣𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘓𝘦𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘶𝘮-’ A cool breeze blew across his scales and the teen shivered, not used to his face being so bare. He managed a strained chuckle.

"It's a bit chilly, ey? Maybe we should go inside?"

Dicksum moved to stand in front of Leo. Though he was upside down in Leo's eyes, he was still terrifying up close. The yōkai moved closer to Leo's face, seemingly looking over his features. The teen laughed nervously.

"What're you doing, big guy?" He laughed, though there was no humor to it. "Jealous of my handsome face?"

Predictably, he was ignored. The caprid simply turned and walked away. Leo let out an indignant squawk. ‘𝘏𝘦'𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦? 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘶𝘺!’However, before he could call out to the villain, he felt a sharp pain in the back of his neck.

The slider flinched and instantly felt the effects of- whatever he was just stuck with. His limbs went slack and his eyelids felt unusually droopy. He had never been so 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘺. Leo couldn’t resist the call to slumber, letting himself fade away. He was just so tired.

--

A mutant's body hung upside down, suspended by the vines wrapped around its lower body. The prison slowly retracted and left the child on the concrete, allowing smaller, recently spouted vines to bind the slider's wrists and ankles. Two large creatures swooped down to pick up the mutant. They flew away, leaving no trace of any activity.

The fog cleared; the city that never slept continued to rest.

-–

Raph was suspicious; it was unusually quiet in the lair.

Sure, there was the usual background noise of Donnie's lab, machines forever humming their technical tune. There were the faint sounds of his father's snoring, likely coming from the TV room. Nothing out of the ordinary there. The snapping turtle paused his wrestling show, straining to hear what was happening around his home.

That's what was missing.

Familiar sounds of laughter and half-hearted insults were gone. No obnoxious pranks and jokes could be heard. Raph frowned, slightly unsettled. Everyone had their quiet days once and a while, but this was just strange.

Raph took a deep breath and exhaled, placing his phone on his bed. He hopped off and shifted his massive teddy bear to the crook of his arm.

The snapping turtle carefully stepped out of his room, glancing down the hall to see his brother's doorways.

Bright colors covered the outside walls of the closest room, reflecting the condition inside. Raph rapped on a wooden beam, peaking past the curtains into his brother's room.

A mash of colors met his eyes, bright but not unappealing. He glanced over the room. Various different art supplies covered the floor in what Mikey called 'organized chaos.’

"...Mikey?"

Some muffled shouts echoed down the hallway, causing Raph to stiffen and glance around, searching for the source of the noise. An orange-banded face popped out of purple curtains, eyes lighting up when they fell upon Raph. The box turtle stuck out his arm and waved at his older brother.

“We’re in here Raph!”

Intrigued, Raph walked over, taking care to not step on anything that Donnie may have left out of his room. The snapping turtle pulled back Donnie’s curtains. A concoction of technical purple met his eyes, filled with so many hues Raph didn’t think he could name. Violet LEDs bathed the room, enhancing the already overwhelming color. It was like amethysts aesthetically assaulted his eyeballs.

Donnie was seated on the floor. The softshell was slouched over his laptop, six fingers furiously typing on his “𝘋𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘦’𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘓𝘌𝘋 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘬𝘦𝘺𝘣𝘰𝘢𝘳𝘥.” Raph grimaced a bit at his little brother's posture.

Mikey latched onto Raph’s arm, dragging him into the room and bringing his attention to the middle of the room. He gestured wildly to a cube lying harmlessly on the floor. Mikey explained the cubes' purpose with enthusiastic hand movements.

“So- It’s a cube that grows into a room?”

“Not quite,” Donnie cut in, getting up from his laptop and bending in front of the cube, “It is a collapsible soundproof box that can be customized to the user’s liking. You may grow it to a limit of eight by eight feet and select how soundproof you would like it.” The technical turtle tapped a few buttons on the cube, none of which Raph knew the purpose of.

“The Screaming Chamber!”

“Yes, Micheal. The Screaming Chamber.”

“Wha…?”

Mikey released Raph’s arm and scurried over to the softshell. “Do the thing, Donnie!” A few more buttons were pressed and a low humming sound started up. The two younger turtles backed away and looked at the thing expectantly. Raph watched as the box slowly expanded. It seemed to be about seven feet tall and five feet wide. It looked dangerously close to the ceiling, corners scraping the edge of an arch.

Mikey skipped over and pressed a button, unlocking an invisible door. The young box turtle carefully opened the door and stepped inside, shutting it closed with a 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘬! behind him. Nothing seemed to happen. Was it supposed to start screaming or something? Then, a panel of the box went transparent, Mikey's face appearing on the other side. He grinned and waved at his two brothers. Raph returned the gesture. He could see Donnie fondly smiling in his peripherals.

Mikey opened his mouth and scrunched up his face. Raph furrowed his brows. Odd. He looked like he was posing for a picture.

"I don't get it." The snapping turtle said, looking to Donnie for answers.

"You will see, my clinically confused brother," Donnie smirked, sauntering over to the box. Mikey was still doing his weird pose, looking to be out of breath. Once again, odd.

"You may want to cover your ears."

Before Raph could ask any more questions, the sound of Mikey's screaming overtook his ears. Hands frantically flew up to his head. The snapping turtle immediately looked at his brother, desperate to find out why he was distressed.

Instead of being in danger, Mikey only stopped screaming, sending a quick thumbs up to Raph and doubling over to catch his breath. Donnie gingerly patted the younger's back, clearly amused at Raph's bewilderment.

"Sorry 'bout that Raphie," Mikey said, face still tinged a bit red. Raph returned his earlier thumbs up, "But isn't it 𝙘𝙤𝙤𝙡?" A small hand grabbed Raph's arm and dragged him into the box. It was a blue-purple inside, with soft padding on the walls. It seemed to light up by itself, violet lights seemingly coming from nowhere.

It seemed normal.

The door clicked shut behind him and Raph swiveled around to see Donnie looking at them through the transparent panel. The box turtle beside Raph leaned over and double-tapped the panel; turning it opaque once again. Raph blinked, surprised at how well Mikey could navigate around this thing.

"How long have you and Donnie been workin' on this?"

"Only a month or two. I thought it would be cool to have a room to be however loud you want and not get in trouble!"

Raph nodded, understanding and interest crossing over his features. "That is so cool," He rubbed Mikey's head, "Raph's proud of you both."

A click sounded behind Raph and Donnie slipped into the room, leaving the door open. "I take it you enjoy our contraption?" Donnie asked, putting an arm around Mikey's shoulders. The latter grinned and leaned in.

"Of course!" Raph exclaimed, throwing up his hands to enunciate his point. "Leo would love this," He said, the absence of his third brother finally donning in him. "Where is he?"

"Out," Was all Donnie said, waving his arms to usher his two brothers out of the cube.

"Out as in get out or out as in he's out?"

"Both!"

"Oh," Raph paused, now standing outside the cube with his orange and purple brothers. "What do you mean, out?"

"Ya know, out."

"Gonna have to elaborate, Donnie."

Donnie sighed, bringing two fingers to his temple down to his nose bridge. "Raph, you know how Leo is. Just let him go out and enjoy himself. It's not like this is his first time."

Raph nodded, tension fading from his shoulders. Donnie was right; his reasoning made sense. "How long has he been out?"

"Approximately seven hours and forty-eight minutes"

Raph made a strangled noise. Donnie clicked his tongue. "Forty-nine minutes"

"EIGHT HOURS?" Raph barked, cringing when both Mikey and Donnie flinched at his outburst. Raph took a deep breath to calm down, squeezing the teddy in his arms that he forgot he had.

"I'm sorry," He apologized, beak falling into a tight frown. "When did he last call you?"

"Not once."

"𝗡𝗼𝘁-" The snapping turtle paused and inhaled. "Not once?"

"Look Raph," Donnie drawled, attention now on packing up his stray tools. "He just forgot his phone. I checked." He gave a pointed look at his older brother. "He'll be fine. Nardo may be a big dum-dumb but he can handle himself pretty well with that fancy sword business he's got going on."

Donnie paused and smiled to himself. "Not that I'll tell him that."

"Don't worry Raph!" Mikey piped up from behind, clambering onto his brother's shell. "Leo'll be fine!"

Raph rumbled his chest, attempting the same calming technique for his brothers on himself. "You're right." He said after a moment. "You're right."

"But if he don't come back in a few hours Raph's gonna start worryin.'"

A snort. "Yeah yeah…Now out! Out my room you ruffians!"

–

The steady drip of an old pipe echoed, muffled through stone walls. Concrete slabs laid the foundation, cool to the touch and impossibly thick. Darkness reached every corner, and no windows broke up the walls. A figure lay slumped in the corner, limbs splayed like it had been tossed there. Silence ruled over the room, only broken by the pipe's occasional 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘱 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘱 and rustle rustle of the now-stirring figure.

Everything seemed to freeze when the prisoner opened their eyes. Then, as if nothing had happened, the dripping continued.

Drip.

𝘋𝘳𝘪𝘱.

𝘿𝙧𝙞𝙥.

--

It took Leonardo six seconds to realize his eyes were open. The looming darkness constricted his senses, leaving him confused in a way he had not known before. Every sound seemed to be amplified, a noise he could not identify at the moment continuously pattering in his ears.

Disoriented, the mutant felt around him, desperate to find something to ground himself. All that met his fingertips was cool stone. He drew his hands back to his plastron, cold still lingering on his reptilian skin. The teen's head pounded, dull aches accompanied by a sharp pain in his neck.

Leo brought his knees to his plastron and hugged himself, longing for any kind of comfort. He winced, brushing against some new bruises that had not been there before he blacked out. ‘𝘞𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥? 𝘐 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵?’

He drew a tentative finger to his temple, trying to recall what had happened in the haze of his memories. ‘𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘮 𝘐?’ He thought to himself, growing more distressed by the moment.

Something constricted around him and Leonardo's hands flew to his plastron. His breathing quickened and pain burst in his chest. He inhaled sharply (earning another stab of pain), leaning over. The teen struggled to regulate his labored breathing, each gasp of air feeling like getting stabbed. '𝘗𝘪𝘻𝘻𝘢 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦, 𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘣𝘢𝘥.'

'𝘐'𝘮 𝘥𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨,' His panicked brain said. ‘𝘉𝘳𝘶𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘴.’ Shot back his more logical side. A pang of fear accompanied the pain. ‘𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦?’ The teen shut his eyes tightly, mind drawing a black on what to do. His breathing sped up again. Sharp stabbing sensations followed.

Leo's hands clawed at his skull in animalistic desperation. It was too much 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝙩𝙤𝙤 𝙢𝙪𝙘𝙝-

𝘋𝘳𝘪𝘱.

𝘋𝘳𝘪𝘱.

𝘋𝘳𝘪𝘱.

The ringing of his ears…

𝘋𝘳𝘪𝘱.

𝘋𝘳𝘪𝘱.

𝘋𝘳𝘪𝘱.

The pounding of his skull…

𝘋𝘳𝘪𝘱.

𝘋𝘳𝘪𝘱.

𝘋𝘳𝘪𝘱.

The pain in his chest…

𝘋𝘳𝘪𝘱.

𝘋𝘳𝘪𝘱.

𝘋𝘳𝘪𝘱.

The freezing stone-

Leo could faintly feel the pinpricks of nails on his arms. He grasped onto that, desperate for any sense of control. Nails dug into scales; the pressure was stimulating. He focused all his attention on those tiny spots of pain, digging harder as he did so.

Slowly but surely, he brought himself back to that darkened room. Leonardo switched his attention to his breathing, detaching his hands from his forearms. He chose to ignore the small wells of blood under his nails.

The teen exhaled and leaned back, resting his head on the wall. '𝘙𝘪𝘴𝘦, 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭. 𝘙𝘪𝘴𝘦, 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭.' He repeated to himself, finally getting his breathing under control after those excruciating two minutes. His head continued to pound, ears continued to ring. The water continued to drip.

Perhaps it was better to fall back asleep.

The slider closed his eyes.

(if they were ever open in the first place.)

𝘋𝘳𝘪𝘱.

𝘋𝘳𝘪𝘱.

𝘋𝘳𝘪𝘱.

–-

It was disorienting, being in this utter blackness. Leo had already felt around two walls; he hoped there would be only two more. The slider ran his hands down the walls, searching for any sort of exit. So far he had found no cracks, no ledges, not even a damned hollow part in the wall. He was frustrated, his headache and ribs doing no part to help the situation. Leo's fingertips met the corner of the wall and he growled, yanking away his hands.

The teen hugged himself and leaned against the wall. He gingerly set his head against the stone, not wanting to make his headache any worse. His chest tightened as he struggled not to break down again. ‘𝘍𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘐'𝘮 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴. The shameful thought crept into his pounding brain.

𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙝𝙞𝙢 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙙.

Leo blinked. That sounded like Raph's voice. He glanced around into the darkness, wondering where it came from. Of course, nothing was there.

(Nothing he could see.)

Leo drew up, collecting himself. Raph's disembodied voice was right. He would get out and 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 his father would be proud of him. The teen let out a shaky breath and moved to the next wall.

–-

Leo had finished the third wall. The poundings in his head had died down; to his relief. He had been moving slowly to not overwork himself and agitate his ribs with heavy breathing. He felt a sharp pain in his abdomen and he froze, realization hitting him like a ton of bricks. This was the beginning of a new problem. Hunger.

Fresh fear washed over the teen. ‘𝘏𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳.’ That was something to worry about. He removed his hands from the wall and placed them over his stomach. It growled in response to his touch. ‘𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘐 𝘢𝘵𝘦? 𝘋𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘬?’ For the first time, he noticed his parched throat. Leo put another hand to his throat and swallowed, feeling his throat move. The actions burned his throat, making him cough; and in turn, causing his ribs to hurt again. He leaned over with a pained look on his face.

He couldn’t seem to stop thinking. ‘𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦?’ The slider stilled, pain momentarily forgotten. ‘𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮?’ Leo didn’t want to die. He liked his life. Sure, his family could be a bit irritating at times, but he still didn’t want to die. Leo shut his eyes tightly, trying to block out those thoughts. He needed something, 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 to focus on other than that right now.

𝘋𝘳𝘪𝘱.

𝘋𝘳𝘪𝘱.

𝘋𝘳𝘪𝘱.

Oh.

Seems like the noise that was driving him insane had a use after all.

Leo focused on that, allowing his mind to fill with the muffled sound of raindrops.

(Of course, that’s not what they were, but a boy can dream.)

Deeming his mental cleanse effective, Leonardo decided to think about another thing he had forgotten about in his time here. His attacker. Most likely the one who stuck him in this damned room. Pushing through the fog in his mind, Leo pictured a yōkai with teal armor, pink hair, and a weird mask that had no business being that creepy! A light went off in his mind. ‘𝘖𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦! 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘋𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘴𝘶𝘮 𝘨𝘶𝘺…𝘶𝘩𝘨, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘬.’ A spark of anger lighted in the teen. He was going to get out of this prison. Dicksum had no idea who he was dealing with.

Leo placed his hands back on the wall and continued his search through the darkness.

–-

Leonardo had been close to giving up when he found the bowl. He had been on his fourth wall, almost done if he judged by the length of the other three. His stomach pains had been worsening by the minute; his dry throat caused him to cough and in turn, jostled his bruised ribs. His condition was worsening, and Leo knew that; he was the team medic for a reason after all.

One could imagine his startled suspicion when he almost tripped over a cool metal bowl on the ground.

Leo bent down to feel the abject in front of him. He felt around the rim and moved his fingers along the curved edge. Finally processing what it was, the teen felt a tremor of excitement flow through him. ‘𝘐𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳?’ Leo carefully stuck his finger into the middle of the bowl, inhaling sharply when it was met with a cool liquid. ‘𝘋𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘓𝘦𝘰,’ He scolded, ‘𝘐𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳.’ Droplets hung off his finger when he took it out, holding it in front of his beak. He took a cautious sniff, trying to smell any hints of foul play. When there was none, Leo let the liquid drip onto his tongue, nearly chirping with absolute elatedness when the cool water hit his tongue.

It was water.

It was 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳-

A delirious laugh bubbled up from his chest. It caused more pain but he couldn’t bring himself to care.

He had 𝙬𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙧!

Leon instantly moved to pick up the bowl, desperation like he hadn’t known before taking hold of him. His hands wrapped around the sides and he yanked, letting out a startled grunt when it didn't budge. He froze, confused.

Deciding to try another tactic, he put his hands into the bowl, letting them fill up with water before he lifted them out. He frustratedly shook off his hands when the water drained through his fingers.

Hesitantly, the slider lowered his head to the bowl. He put his mouth to the rim and tried to sip. To his dismay, the water was not high enough to reach his beak. Leo moved away from the bowl, contemplating what to do next.

A disgusted feeling bloomed in his chest.

Slowly the teen crawled back to the bowl, feeling around for its rim. He lowered his head to what he thought was the middle of the bowl, then slipped out his tongue to lap at the water. When the water finally reached his parched throat, he let out a desperate whine, lapping up the precious liquid faster. ‘𝘓𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘥𝘰𝘨,’ a voice inside him whispered, '𝘢 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘭.' Shame curled in his stomach at his actions, though he could not stop. The teen continued to drink, desperation overriding any sense of pride.

Leo had to shove himself away to keep from drinking all the water, the liquid dribbling down his chin. He had no idea he was that thirsty. Not even a day(?) and he was reduced to some savage. How his brothers would be ashamed.

How his father would be disappointed.

–

Leo is cold.

There is no warmth in his prison.
Cold stone, cold metal, cold water.

(He couldn’t really complain about that last one.)

The turtle in him hated it. While he did have human DNA, cold-bloodedness was still prevalent in him and his brothers.

His stomach pains had died down. Or maybe he was used to them; he couldn’t tell anymore.

Leonardo sat in the corner by his bowl, hugging his legs to his plastron once more. He wondered when his brothers would come and save him. He knew they would; they always did come through for him. A twinge of worry pierced him. ‘𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦? 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘪𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦?’ Leo chose to push those thoughts away.

His eyelids drooped. He was tired.

He couldn’t sleep.

‘𝘋𝘢𝘮𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘯𝘪𝘢.’

Leo let out a pained chuckle at his situation. How unfortunate was he.

–-

The turtle mutant shivered again, as he had done so many times in the hours he had been awake.

The dripping of a leaky pipe was the only thing he was willing to focus on.

It kept him sane.

Or maybe the opposite; he really didn't know.

The teenager stared off into the darkness, exhausted and unable to rest.

Eyes wide open and seeing nothing but darkness.

There were no stars here.

----