Turtles spam the log comm!

[techoutmystaff]

Who: Donatello (techoutmystaff)and Leonardo (dual_soulninja) Hamato
Where: Leo's room, Latimir 110+111; more specifically, Donny's head
When: Late at night; forward-dated to early AM hours of Thursday, April 28th (which still counts as Wednesday so there).
Rating: PG-13 for possible blood?
Summary: When Donatello spends the night in Leo's room, he gets a bit more comfort than

Comments

[dual_soulninja]

Leo had been in the Astral Plane for nearly four days. It still creeped him the shell out. The turtle was used to the fluctuating energies and the onslaught of 'spirits' as he traveled through it. But that was back on Earth. The Plane he had committed himself to now, was nearly desolate. The 'fog' that drifted around him was colorless, hanging limply in the stale 'air'. Nothing moved, but he could feel the presence of millions that no longer had a physical tie to the world. There was so much anger and despair, it was taking his full abilities to keep the cold clammy feeling away.

It helped that every so often he could see the familiar colors of his brothers and the almost familiar colors of Knuckles and Minato-san. It was his sanity in the desolation of Fortuna's Astral Plane.

Seated in careful thought, Leonardo began to draw his focus- remembering every detail about the voices, letting the cries of the lost around him seep into his mind. This was how he was training, fighting off the very creatures that drove him her. This time...there was a different voice. A familiar one that made his focus falter before he opened his eyes and found himself face down in actual dirt.

A moment of concentration and he discovered this was another plane. Not the physical plane, but not the one he had just been in either. Blinking several times, he could not see a thing- everything was black but his senses were picking up every detail. The sound of a death silence, someone shouting.

"Donny?" He pushed himself up, wincing at a phantom pain shooting through his spine. "What's going on? Where are you...where are we?"

[techoutmystaff]

Donatello's grief was cut short by his dead sibling suddenly sitting up and talking. His hand fell from his eyes. He stared. And stared. And continued staring. Then broke the silence with a shocked scream.

It only lasted a few seconds before he covered his mouth with both hands. A few seconds further, and those hands weren't covering his mouth, but around Leonardo's neck.

"Leo! Leo, you're alive!" Donatello choked out, and there was relief in his voice, but it was hidden by pain; Leo's heart was beating, he was breathing, he was alive. "I-I thought I was the only one lef--"

The turtle stopped dead, then let go of Leonardo to try to inspect his back. "L-Leo! Don't move! Shell, it's a wonder you survived!"

He wouldn't stop moving. This was a dream, and his thoughts were at the forefront, unable to be hidden. There was no reason to hide your true self while you were dreaming.

[dual_soulninja]

"Ow." Leo managed before erking a little at his brother's....very small hands around his throat? No- his throat was bigger...he glanced down at himself despite the fact Don said not to move. It wasn't just his neck that was bigger, but his whole body was. Along with a very torn black trench coat and a scabbard for a single blade? An actual katana...

"Wait- what did I survive?" He blinked his eyes again, but his vision still remained opaque. At least he could see shadows and turned his head to see the black blob that was Donatello. "Donatello, what's going on? You...sound like" Like he'd been crying.

Big brother instincts took over and he shifted to but a large hand on Donny's cheek, "Donny- what's going on, little brother." It was not a question, but a soft demand to get Donny to stop panicking and answer directly.

[techoutmystaff]

Donatello's movements stopped with that too big hand on his cheek. The only thing that moved was his plastron, as he breathed deeply in and out. His heart was beating fast. His dream self accepted that Leonardo didn't know, the confusion over why never surfaced.

"I...." Donatello couldn't say it. "We defeated Shredder."

He closed his eyes to the pain, starting to shake. "I-It's only the two of us. Raph.. Mikey... they didn't--"

He cut himself off and shook his head, not wanting to say more.

[dual_soulninja]

Leo waited for his younger brother to calm down before taking his hand off. It didn't take a genius to figure out just what don's half answer meant. It hit the eldest hard, barely holding back a pained gasp. Just two left. Just...what was going on. More illusions? No...he couldn't fully feel his body, this wasn't entirely real.

"Donny you...that..." Damnit, why couldn't he see!? He placed his hand on the ground to stand up, and his finger knocked against something. The scent of blood kicked up when he moved the warm, solid something his finger hit. "Don..." He knew the feel of that skin, the shape of some of those scars. His heart tightened and he fell back to his knees, hands gripping at the brown leather jacket his late brother wore.

"This..." He was trying to keep his voice strong, he couldn't break down in front of Donny. He wouldn't fail his brother like that, "It's Raph." Where was Mikey? Did- he want to know?

[techoutmystaff]

Donatello's heart ached all over again. All the joy that he had at Leo's miraculous revival was gone. His lower lip trembled--not that Leo could see it. He stared at Raph's body for a moment--it was on its back, not its stomach, and he didn't notice the shift in the dream's reality--too much blood, already growing cooler, his one eye still--

"Was," Donatello replied quietly, his hand shaking as he reached over to close Raph's remaining eye. "Y-You wouldn't remember. He... fell after you did. Trying to avenge you. A-And he wanted to be next to you when...."

He trailed off again, finding himself reaching out to grip Leonardo's free sleeve. "I couldn't protect him either. Or Mikey."

[dual_soulninja]

Impartial, self-controlled...he'd hammered these ideals into his own head since he was a child. The essential qualities needed to be good at what he was destined to be, but right now...he couldn't bear to dig those emotions up. The strong tug on his sleeve, the words that echoed in his head. Raph, that hot blooded idiot, had tried to avenge his death. Had fallen in the act of his position. Second in command.

He didn't feel his hand shift to grip Don's elbow. Now Don had to suffer the guilt of being unable to stop his older brothers- and in turn protect his younger one. Leo didn't let go of either of them...but they were still just three.

"Don...*breath* where's Mikey?" He had to see, to feel what had happened to his baby brother. "It isn't your fault." These words were not hollow, like he had been sounding. "Don't you dare think that."

[techoutmystaff]

"It wasn't my fault," Donatello echoed, although hollowly. "But I'm responsible. It was my plan."

He hesitated, then swallowed audibly. Donatello didn't want to see what Mikey looked like dead ever again, but.. Leo wanted to be near him. He let out a bit of a sigh, then let go of Leo's sleeve, gently breaks his arm free of Leo's grip, and then shifted his hand to take his brother's.

"I'll take you to him," Donatello replied quietly, standing slowly so that Leo can follow; he can do it with Leo by his side, with his big brother.

Leonardo's wound was forgotten. This was a dream. What wasn't important at the moment wasn't thought about.

[dual_soulninja]

Leo finally let go of Raphael, placing his hand on Donny's shoulder. He knew those words, they were near echoes to once he himself had used before. He let the other turtle lead him, still faltering a bit with the sudden blindness he was experiencing. "Thanks."

He frowned at the shy hold before increasing his own grip in reassurance. "Donny, if you did all you could- then, this wasn't in vain."

[techoutmystaff]

"I know," Donatello agreed, a tiredness coating his voice--he squeezed Leo's hand back and didn't let go. "We should've fought closer together. We were separated. We fought too far apart. So... we fell."

It was the truth. The other three turtles could have covered for each other's injuries. Maybe not completely successfully, but at least...

"M-Mikey was alone," Donatello spoke up, voice sounding hollow. "Karai bots."

[dual_soulninja]

Karai. It was all he needed to hear, it seemed that woman would always be the reason his brothers were in danger. Always the reason that he had to face their deaths; either in his mind or his brothers as he reasoned now. "We fought too far apart- we fell."

Leo squeezed his useless eyes shut, hiding behind the dark glasses resting on his beak. Mikey alone was not something he could understand, if anything Mikey would have been along side Donatello. Even if he and Raph were at each others throats, Don and Mikey were always together.

"...I'm sorry." For not getting rid of that women when he had the chance. He stopped when the scent of blood assaulted his nose again and he automatically glanced down. He could feel the sticky mud at his toes, and he didn't need to guess what liquid was creating that mud.

[techoutmystaff]

"Don't," Donatello mumbled, squeezing Leonardo's hand again before guiding him over to a drier patch of ground and kneeling down. "Don't apologize. I was the one who vanished for thirty years."

It was on Mikey's closer side with the missing arm. Donatello swallowed again, shaking softly. He didn't want to be looking at Mikey, he didn't even want to be thinking about what happened. But Leonardo had wanted to "see" him one last time. Donatello let go of Leo's hand, but then moved to pull on the back of that hand. He placed it down on Mikey's shoulder.

"M-Mikey called out for me when he...." Donatello trailed off again, choked back a sob, and leaned into Leonardo's side.

Leo was probably hurting, too, but he couldn't help it. Donatello had been the only one left, or he thought he had been, until Leo suddenly woke up. He needed to know he wouldn't be alone again, to have a constant physical reminder of that. Leonardo's warm body was enough for now.

Mikey's body was still warm, but rapidly cooling. It wouldn't be long before he was cold. Donatello squeezed his eyes shut.

"This isn't right. N-None of this is right... This place is a nightmare."

[dual_soulninja]

Thirty...years? Was, so then- this was the future or some sick, twisted version of it, but a future none the less. His hand twitched a bit as it was moved towards what was once the sunshine in their subterranean life. Now...he felt a cold shell, and blood along his finger tips. He gave a dry sound, holding back a sob and gasp of surprise. This...it couldn't be Mikey. Mikey never stood so still, ever- even when he was asleep.

Automatically he pulled his younger brother against him, like when they were younger and something in the sewers had scared Donny, or when Raph's teasing went just a hair too far.

Nightmare

Leo gave a small gasp, everything falling into place with that single word. Why Donatello seemed so...vulnarable, why nothing seemed to make sense- and most importantly why he could only feel the vaguest of sensation. This wasn't the real world, or his own mind. Somehow...somehow he was inside Donny's conscience.

"Donny...Don, look at me." He fumbled, trying to find his brothers hand.

[techoutmystaff]

Donatello was shaking like a leaf now, trying to hold it together. He didn't want to be in this place anymore. The turtle wanted to run away and never look back. But he couldn't abandon his brothers, and so, he stayed, letting Leo pull him in close.

It was like he was a kid again, held close to Leo. The touch was comforting, but it wouldn't repair the gaping Mikey and Raph shaped holes in his heart. Shell, it hurt. He pressed closer against his brother and closed his eyes tight.

Only to open them again when Leo found his hand and asked him to look at him; there wasn't blood on Leo's hand, even though there should've been, and he didn't realize it. "L-Leo?"

[dual_soulninja]

"Focus, Don. On the surroundings- the way things feel, and smell. How dull your senses are and how aware your mind is." Leo didn't let him go, but he said nothing. He couldn't lie to his brothers, even if it was to make them feel better. The hold on his brother didn't loosen, but he did focus on don's face.

"I need you to focus with me Don. On what happened here, and why." Leo of course, thought this to be a pure dream- a fabrication of events from his brothers fears. Not a recent memory that was haunting the brainy turtle even into the recesses of his sleep.

"See things how they're supposed to be."

[techoutmystaff]

"What do you mea--?" Donatello stopped, then gasped, and looked around again.

Things... weren't quite right. His senses were dull, just like Leo said they were. His mind was.. focused only on one or two things at once. And things were--

He looked down at the hand holding his, but there was no blood there. And that's when he finally understood.

"This is a nightmare...." Donatello murmured, and then his eyes widened some more, staring at his brother. "You're--you're my Leo. But--!"

The world shifted. Leonardo was himself, no longer blind. The bodies went back to their original positions. Mikey was still there, and Leo and Raph were where they had been. Karai's body was not too far away, either, nor were the destroyed remains of Karai Legions.

In the distance was the Turtle Tunneler, Shredder's destroyed Exo-suit, and... well, nothing more than splotches of blood that had been The Shredder.

"T-This is how they're supposed to be," Donatello choked out, his throat tight. "This was how it was. How I left that place, when... When I arrived in Discedo."

Donatello wasn't ending the nightmare--he was letting it continue. He wanted.. now that Leonardo was here, he wanted Leonardo to understand. It was selfish, horribly selfish of him.. but he wasn't sure how else to tell Leonardo what had shaken him to his core.

"All of you left me behind."