Turtles of a Feather

Chapter 11- A Hawk to Heal

"A-Achoo!"

"Mikey, are you okay?"

Wiping his nose, Michelangelo dodged his brother's attack. Holding up his wooden nunchucks, the little turtle prepared to defend, "Yeah Leo, I'm fine."

Taking his word for it, Leonardo slashed his training sword through the air, but it was easily evaded.

"C'mon Leo! Is that all you've got!" the freckled sibling taunted, bouncing around in a ridiculous manner.

Huffing in annoyance, the eldest charged forward with a battle cry and jabbed forward, nailing the youngest in the center of his plastron. Falling down harshly, the young turtle coughed, and let out another sneeze.

"Mikey, are you sick?" The blue-clad child kneeled next to Mikey, rubbing the orange-masked turtle's carapace. The little winged reptile proceeded to cough and wheeze, tears streaming down his face from the non-stop coughing fit.

"I'm gonna go get father," standing up and sprinting to the rat man's side in the matter of a few seconds, the boy tugged on the velvet kimono.

"Sensei, I think Mikey's sick."

"Let me see," Splinter followed the eldest turtle to the still coughing Michelangelo. His eyes went mildly wide at the sight of his son's struggle to breathe. In one swift motion, the ninja master was already on the ground, firmly patting a specific point on the tiny child's carapace. After a few seconds of the patting, the rat dad began to realize that his son's breathing was becoming smoother and less ragged.

"Are you okay my son?" Splinter asked gently, lifting the eleven year old into his arms. Michelangelo was the only one of the four brothers that was still small enough to be carried. None of the three brothers were jealous of this, however, they knew the youngest still needed it, seeing how vulnerable he really was.

With a slow nod, little Mikey inhaled deeply several times. Scrunching his nose and with a sharp sniff, the small reptile let out a massive sneeze. Splinter placed his palm on the boy's forehead and raised his eyebrow questioningly.

'He's warm...very warm!'

This baffled the rat. He knew his sons were not completely cold-blooded like most reptiles, but he never knew they were capable of getting a fever. Splinter hoped that being partially cold-blooded would at least prevent that from happening, but unfortunately, that did not seem to be the case.

With a sigh, he pulled his hand away, "You should stop training and get some rest my son. If you wish, I can take you up to your nest," Splinter flashed his gentle, fatherly smile.

With a moan, the boy began to lean into his father's chest, exhaustion starting to take hold of him as the fever increased by the minute.

"The training and the illness combined are tasking on his body, I don't think he will be training anymore today Leonardo."

With a nod, Leo backed away, watching the rat man hug the small turtle to his chest and carry him to the tree. The little winged child was held as if he were a mere infant even though he was actually eleven years of age.

Frowning, Leo flapped his wings and took to the air. Ever since the boy learned to fly about a month ago, travel had become so much easier. Instead of having to climb up the trunk of the tree, which would have taken him minutes, he could reach the top in seconds. And the feeling of freedom that flying offered was too much for the child to describe other than with the word "amazing". One day, him and his family would leave this place and discover what was beyond the hills and trees.