3rd Caning // ["Accidental" Voice -- See OOC Note] // A Father's Worry....

[ninjacane]

[Splinter is turning the pages of his journal slowly, looking and listening for any sight or sound of Raphael. Eventually, he hesitates, and flips back to the first page to start at the beginning. Perhaps he's missed something

Comments

[ingrate]

...Raph's missing?

[ninjacane]

He is. It is not like him to be gone for so long without coming home.

[ingrate]

...Dammit.

That asshole had better not be gone for good. Better not be mallynapped either, but at least then he'd be back.

Goddammit...

[ninjacane]

[Ah, you're definitely a friend of Raphael's with a mouth like that. But he'll ignore it for now.]

He shall return. We must simply wait for him.

[ingrate]

Man, I sure as hell hope so.

[A pause.]

...So you're his sensei?

[ninjacane]

He will.

I am both his sensei and his father.

[ingrate]

That's... kinda strange, not gonna lie, but there's plenty of strange things here so I'll go with it.

[Not that he was both father and sensei, but that he was... a giant rat while Raph was a turtle.]

[ninjacane]

Perhaps it is strange to others, but for my sons and I, it is considered 'normal'.

[Splinter knows what you're talking about.]

[ingrate]

Yeah. I know all worlds are different and shit.

...Maybe he's just upset over the last experiment.

[ninjacane]

Then he would have let us know that he needed time to himself. Raphael has never been absent for so long.

[ingrate]

Dammit...

I wanna go out and get searching, but I don't know how much good that'll do.

[ninjacane]

... If he could be found, he would have found his own way home by now.

[Splinter says this a bit gently, but firmly. Yes, he's worried, but he's also a father.]

[ingrate]

Well.

He has to come back.

He has to come back because he's not allowed to leave.

[ninjacane]

[Splinter is taken a bit aback by the sudden change. He, however, does not comment on the change itself, but the words with it.]

He will return.

[ingrate]

I wish hearing that could make me more certain of it.

[ninjacane]

[Hmm, perhaps it was just a moment of intense emotion. Still, Splinter listens more carefully now.]

He is my son. I know the strength and resilience. that he is capable of. There is no doubt in my mind, or my heart, that he will find his way back to us. Or that if he is to be found, that we will find him before such measures are necessary.