A Turtle's Heart

Rough Morning

Things could never just be that easy could they.

Leo held out his sword and right before he could open a portal, a purple vine shot up from the ground, taking his ōdachi and throwing it to who-knows-where.

"No!" Leo gasped, grabbing for it but failing as it was knocked out of reach.

Raph stepped back, away from the vine, pulling Y/N with him. Y/N grabbed Raph's arm and stepped back.

"Donnie! Ge-" Raph began but was knocked forward by another vine from behind. His arm slipped out of Y/N's hands and Y/N spun to see another vine behind them. It picked them up as more vine broke out of the ground and began attacking the turtles. Raph stumbled to his feet and grabbed his tonfās, slamming his fists together and attacking the vine that had grabbed Y/N while his brother fought off others.

Y/N managed to pull their arms free and reach out to Raphael. Raph jumped up, grabbing Y/N's hands and kicking the vine hard enough that it let go of them. Raph fell backwards, pulling Y/N close and holding them securely to his plastron as he landed on his shell. It hurt, but at least Y/N was safe.

"Donnie! Fly out and use out goggles to find Leo's sword! It is our best bet out of here!" Raph demanded, standing up and setting Y/N down.

Y/N dodged a vine attack as Raph ran over to where Donnie had taken off, punching a vine and keeping it from grabbing his brother as he flew away. Y/N dodged another vine and looked around. When they spotted a large dumpster, Y/N ran over, hiding behind it.

The turtles continued fighting the vines when they heard a sinister laugh.

"Found you," Draxum came out from a hole in the ground previously made by his vines. Y/N shuffled further behind the dumpster, trying their best not to be seen.

The turtles turned to look at the sheep yokai as he stepped forward.

"Found it!" Donnie shouted, flying over the building and tossing Leo's ōdachi down to him. Leo laughed as he caught it and opened a large portal under them all. Unfortunately, he didn't know Y/N was hiding and so did not extend the portal far enough to transport them. Donnie turned off his battle shell and dove into the portal. As he fell, he spotted Y/N, hiding behind the dumpster, out of the corner of his eye. The portal closed then closed, leaving Y/N and Draxum alone.

"No!" Draxum shouted. He then, not knowing Y/N was still there, used his vines to destroy the wall adjacent to Y/N's hiding spot.

Draxum jumped back into the hole, leaving Y/N alone in the alley.

The vines retreated into the ground and Y/N took a deep breath, trying to stop their hyperventilating.

Y/N sat behind that dumpster for a while. They placed their hand over their heart, their speeding pulse slowly calming down as they counted their breaths.

"Leo, where is Y/N." Raph looked around. Leo had portaled them to the lair, but Y/N hadn't come through with them. Raph began to panic.

"I'm not sure, I portaled us all to the same place, maybe they didn't come through?" Leo shrugged, stepping back. He did not want to take another yelling match with his older brother.

"Guys, Y/N didn't come through, I saw them as I was coming through, they were hiding, maybe Draxum didn't find them," Donnie confirmed for Leo. Raph stood up, anxiously picking at his spikes on his elbows.

"Leo, portal us back up there! We have to make sure Y/N is safe!" Raph ordered his brother.

"But if Draxum is still up there and we go back, we could all get caught," Leo tried to reason with him.

"Well then we portal up there a little bit away from where we were! If he is there, we stay hidden and stay out of sight, if he isn't, we look for Y/N!" Raph stepped forward. Leo nodded and without another word, pulled his sword out again and opened a portal. Donnie and Mikey glanced at each other, surprised their brothers hadn't gotten to another screaming match. They all jumped through and ended up at the end of the distroyed alleyway. Unfortunately, Y/N was long gone by then.

-5 minutes ago-

Y/N placed their hand on their chest, counting their breaths in an effort to calm down. It semi-worked. The teenager stood up, carefully walking out from behind the dumpster and out into the destroyed alleyway. They walked through the scattered bits of concrete and out into the street.

Y/N had completely forgotten about the distress signal in their pocket.

The sun was rising and Y/N was covered in bruises and scratches and still in their, now dirt covered, pajamas.

"Man, what am I going to do now." Y/N thought out loud, the scars on their sides from their past wounds aching from the exhaustion their body was falling into as the adrenaline began to wear off. Y/N walked out and down the street, trying to see if they recognized anything to figure out where they were.

Y/N walked for a while, watching the occasional car drive by without a care who they were, a homeless man or two curled up in an alley, basic New York City things.

A wave of hunger hit Y/N as they passed a coffee shop, the smell of fresh donuts and coffee making their stomach growl loudly. But Y/N shook their head and bit their tongue, they couldn't risk anyone inside recognizing them and turning them in.

Unfortunately, their hunger got the best of them.

Y/N pushed the door open, the bell not drawing much attention as no one really cared to see who would enter or exit aside from the staff, whom were all busy taking and making orders.

Y/N walked over to an empty table and sat down. They didn't have a way to pay for food, what could they do?

"Hey there, you alright? You seem pretty busted up," said a voice. Y/N looked up to see a tall boy, maybe 16-17, with tan skin and short, wavey brown hair. Though he looked to be about 16-17 his voice was deep, sounded like a 34 year old at least. That put Y/N off.

"Oh, yeah, just uh, rough night, ya know," Y/N chuckled. With their dirty, scratched up face, Y/N figured the man didn't recognize them. They were thankful for that.

The man sat across from Y/N, his relaxed demeanor not being any cause for alarm, so Y/N decided to see if they could coax some breakfast out of the boy.

"So, how was your night?" Y/N asked, trying to get a conversation going. The boy shrugged before answering.

"Pretty normal, I mean, I was up pretty late studying for a dumb test we have today," he laughed. His face then turned serious, concerned even, as he sat up straight.

"You seem like you're night was a lot worse than that though. What happened, if you don't mind me asking," he seemed genuinely concerned. Y/N had to come up with something on the fly.

"Just. Uh. Got into a fight at home and decided to run away for the night. I forgot my money though so I might have to go home soon, hope my aunt isn't there," Y/N said, trying to use the moment to gain pity so maybe they could get some food until the turtles could find them.

"Oh, well, I'll buy you breakfast then, you seem like you've been through a lot tonight, come on," the boy stood up and held his hand out. Y/N smiled and took it, standing up and following him to the line so they could get some food.