The Leader Gave Me Hope: The First Book of the Freeformers Series

• Rebelling •

Unedited

Sweat beaded on Faline's forehead, her short hair out of her face with a black headband as she faced Master Splinter again.

"Concentrate," he told her, scanning her form for minute errors once she'd lowered into a stance, "Focus on your breathing; force your body into a complete state of calm as you transform."

Fae nodded, allowing her eyes to shut, summoning the energy she needed for the next step. The telltale burst of dulled pain shot up her spinal cord, making her muscles tense in anticipation of what was to come. She exhaled slowly, feeling her limbs begin to change, her skin prickling as her alabaster skin tone was replaced by golden fur. Her head began to spin, her breaths shaky and beginning to become shallow.

"Faline," the sensei's voice commanded, "breathe."

Fae reopened her eyes, her nose itching with the far-off scents of leftover pizza and the odor of the sewer. Her primal instincts went into overload, noticing the confining walls and sending her into a state of paranoia. She wobbled on her large paws, growling in frustration as she struggled to regain balance. She realized her hyperventilation and began to breathe more evenly.

"Good," Splinter commented, "Crouch into an attack stance."

She obeyed, her head swimming with the effort it took to control her animalistic nature and do as she was told.

"Now, pounce."

His words blared in her ears, making her snarl. She willed herself to hone in on the practice dummy in front of her, leaping toward it...

And then hissing in pain as she landed on the floor, her focus all but disintegrated and her body already in the midst of retro-transformation. She panted, wiping the perspiration from her brow and standing before the master.

"Yamē," he announced, "That is enough for today. You are coming along quite nicely, my student."

She huffed, bowing humbly to her teacher, removing her headband and ruffling her hair so the locks settled in a casual and carefree style as she strode out of the dojo.
A tape playing some anime rerun still droned on the television in the living room. The pool of water a few yards away lapped at its concrete barriers. Mikey was currently perfecting his skateboarding skills, using the training fixture as his own personal skate park. Raphael was most likely cooped up in his room, refusing to be in the presence of the girl 'invading his home' unless absolutely necessary. Donnie was definitely still in the laboratory, skulking over another contraption.

Faline found the leader of the brothers leaned against one of the pillars flanking the lair's entrance, his ocean blues darting between Mikey's varial heel flips, Raph's closed door, and the snippets of Donnie he caught as the genius labored. Leo's katanas peeked over the edge of his carapace, his belt newly stocked with shurikens concealed in the imperceivable pockets, the crevices of his knee and elbow pads inevitably containing other weapons.

"So, when are we leaving for Shredder's lair?" She asked nonchalantly, relaxing beside him and crossing her arms.

His eyes moved to her for an instant,before he jutted his chin in the direction of the others. "We are leaving in a few minutes. You are staying here."

His direct order startled her. "Excuse me? I'm coming with you."

"Fae," he began immediately, making it obvious he'd prepared for this conversation beforehand, "you've barely spent a week training with Master Splinter."

"I know I don't know how to perfectly punch a dude in the face," Fae rolled her eyes, "but I still have my morphing. I can--"

"You can only stay in that form for a few minutes," he corrected, pushing himself away from the pillar and waving his youngest brother down, "and your fighting skills aren't nearly efficient enough for me to even consider you going."

Fae planted her hands on her hips, staring Leo down with a cocked brow. "Excuse me, I can help. This patrol is about finding out why this is happening to me, after all." She gestured to the amulet around her neck.

"This isn't about you," a voice from across the room called, "it's about finding out what else the Shredder is planning."

Leo hesitated. "...Actually, Raph she's kinda r--"

"We weren't talking to you, Raph," she replied icily, facing Leo again and continuing, "and I want to help. The least I can do after all you've done for me is--"

"You don't have to repay us, dudette!"

Fae gasped, spinning around and flinging a fist forward, feeling her teeth sharpen to points in preparation to morph. Mikey erupted into laughter, dodging her punch with ease.

"Sore o teishi suru!" She exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air, "Watashi o tasukemashou! Watashi wa tohō mo nai koto o chikau."

"Anata wa taizai shite imasu," Leo asserted, not realizing he had switched tongues as well.

Fae groaned in frustration, flopping down onto the couch and folding her arms across her chest, sulking in her simmering anger. Mikey, totally oblivious to the argument practically skipped over to the laboratory. "Donnie! You got those thing-a-ma-jigs ready yet?"

"They're not thing-a-ma-jigs," Donnie corrected, "They're keys to Shredder's lair. You said we were splitting up, right Leo?"

Fae watched out of her periphery as Donatello handed Leo and Raph the identical keys, pretending to become enthralled with SRMFFTF.

"Here's the plan," the blue clad turtle announced, "Raph and Mikey enter in first, distract Shredder and his henchmen for as long as possible. Donnie and I will sneak in and find Karai. Maybe then we'll get finally get some useful information."Fae looked up, watching Leo place his key into the back pocket of his belt. "Let's move."

He watched his team jump the turnstiles, about to follow them.

"Leo, wait!" Fae sprung to her feet, hurrying over and catching his hand.

He looked over his shoulder at her, confused at her sudden change of emotion. Fae sighed, tugging on his hand and getting him to face her. She looked down at their interlocked fingers, before she rushed forward and tackled him into a hug. Leo blinked, looking down at her, a faint blush beginning to dust his face.

"Be careful, okay?" She murmured, smiling innocently up at him.

"I'll be fine," He stammered, "Just a...another mission..."
She smiled, her sky blue eyes holding a secretive glow. "I know. Just don't be too heroic. You can't protect your brothers from everything."

She gave his cheek a chaste kiss before turning and sauntering back to the couch. Leo stood motionless for a moment, beet red and rendered speechless. Eventually, he advanced toward the subway tunnel, disappearing and leaving the lair in complete silence.

Fae looked up once he'd gone, smirking and pulling out Leo's key from behind her back.

"You can't protect me from everything," she amended quietly.