Book 2: HomeFront

Not Yourself

"Wake up, Monkey boy!" Not exactly the words or creaky geezer voice anybody would like to hear early in the morning. Steadily, the loud noise woke the large turtle, but not quick enough for the old man. Already in his arms, he swung a bucket up towards the creature, letting it unleash its contents. The sudden cold made the terrapin jump up from his slumber. With both arms holding up his torso, he recalled what had just happened. His shell and back of his head were cold. Beads of liquid rolled down the side of his face and arms as he huffed and puffed. His head dipped down to see the attacker. Upside down, the Ancient One was in the room, smiling with a bucket of water in his hands.

"For real? Water!?" He shouted. For a second, he wondered if this was how Raphael felt when he would yell after waking up. Man, he missed the family. Every so often they would call them, but lately he had not been in the mood to do so. Instead of waking up easy and waking the rest of the family, he was stuck on the other side of the world soaking wet with the most ignorant being he's ever met.

"It's refreshing, I know." He sang, quite oblivious to Leo's tone towards him. The terrapin turned around from his mat. The latter of the water was on it rather than him. He wiped the remaining beads off of his arms and rubbed his eyes. "Miwa's gone to help one of her older students, so I am your teacher for the day." Leonardo placed his hands on his knees and looked off to the side.

"Yippee." He muttered. Soon, another splash of water hit him. This time, it stuck to his face a chest. The turtle took it by complete surprise, mouth agape. "Gah! What was that for!?" He asked as he rubbed his face to deter it from going into his eyes.

"Sarcasm. My thing." The old man replied evenly, with a sassy undertone. He then put the bucket down, which relieved Leonardo. Either he was done throwing water or there was none left; a win-win. The Ancient One turned and left the room to go do, who knows what. Hopefully, to leave. As much as a day with the Ancient One deemed tempting, it was hard for the American turtle to get up and out of the dampened mat. Man, he sure hoped this wouldn't mess it up. Who knows how nice of a mat it was? He didn't know there could be good sleeping mats. Surely, it wasn't his but he was borrowing it. If you borrow something, you're responsible for it while you use it. Now, that old kook had water all in it. Sure hope it dries before he comes back and uses it again tonight.

He stood up and stretched his limbs, then prompted to walk out of the room. With the movement of his legs, the top of his shorts were wet thanks to the water that dripped down his body. At that moment, he was really glad he didn't fall asleep in his skirt again. Yeah, it was compromised with towels, but that would mean it would be heavy and the watery flaps would slap his leg with every step. It had not been a glamorous morning, but it could be better. On the way to the bathroom, he passed by Venus' room. When he went to peek inside, she was missing. Leaning in with his hands clenched against the doorframe, he looked left and right. No 6 ft lady turtle in this room.

"Where's Venus?" He asked, voice echoing off the vacant walls. Out of nowhere, the Ancient One appeared. He kept his head low, only showing the top of his hat with his hands hidden underneath his robe.

"Are you concerned?" The words on his tongue lingered. Leonardo, already irritated of his presence, looked down at him with a raised brow.

"Curious." He tried his best not to spit it out at the older man.

"Mei let me in. She left a while ago." He explained. He now looked up to see the unhappy turtle stare down at him. Seeing it, he squinted his eyes (more than usual) with a sneer.

"A while ago? So what were you doing in the house?"

"Eating your dinner. It was delicious too." The look on Leonardo's face grew even more annoyed. Just to mess with him, the old man licked his lips while rubbing his stomach. In the back of his head, he could have sworn he heard a low growl. He opened one eye, staring back at one peeved Leonardo. "Have a problem with that?"