Hello - Don fanfic

[Garou]

((Alright, I've seen others simply posting their fanfics into the forum instead of linking to a page, so I thought I'd do the same. It's a lot easier, afterall.

So, I know the beginning is a little slow, but it'll get better :lol: The idea behind this fanfic, is a story mostly based on the song "Hello" by Evanescense. Please leave a comment, if you like it...))

The sound was echoing through the room, metal clashing towards metal. Don looked up from his desk for a short second, just in time to see Raph’s sai make yet another clash with Leo’s katana blade. Not that it was unusual – or at least not anymore unusual than any other day. It probably couldn’t be considered normal, that two brothers were fighting, but in the small lair, it was a reality. Or even more specific, everyday life. It was nothing but sparring practice, yet Don could feel a bit of tension in the air, as the two turtles were fighting to prove the strongest. With a short sigh, Donatello went back to the radio and let the screwdriver turn between his fingers, as he tried to save it from a life without sound. It usually wouldn’t be that hard, maybe except for the fact that he wasn’t just trying to fix it. He was trying to improve it. This radio would be a small part of his new security system. Well, when he was finished, at least…

The turtle stood up. He would need to go get some materials at the junk yard, if he wanted the system to work perfectly. He took a few steps towards the door, but it wasn’t long before a hoarse voice made him stop.

“I believe it is a bit late for a stroll, Donatello.”

Don turned around with a weak smile. His sensei was sitting on the old, red mat with his eyes closed. Of course the rat would know what he had in mind. After all, they had shared their entire past with each other, and Splinter wasn’t only their teacher – he was their father.

“I just need to get something from the junk yard,” Don explained, “I won’t be gone for long.”

Finally, the rat opened his eyes, the black circle’s being illuminated with the light from the two candles next to him. Splinter didn’t need to look at his son. He knew exactly every feature in Donatello’s face, as the turtle was awaiting his words. Being the calmest of the four, Donatello was probably the one to be the least cautious about. The rat simply nodded to himself, as he closed his eyes again to continue on his meditating.

“Remember to bring a coat, Donatello.”

Don grinned a bit. Being 17 years old, he was still told to put on clothes before he went out to play, even though Splinter knew it wasn’t quite something a turtle forgot in the middle of February. Don quickly grabbed the old coat before he stepped out of the lair. After they had moved into the old building, going to the junk yard had proved to be easier than before and it wouldn’t be long until he reached the junk yard.

[pwnage]

I can dig it. Good, short stuff.

[Fang Wolf]

Short, but Very Good :P

[Garou]

Thanks for the comments, but the story is far from over :P I'll post the next chapter soon.

[Garou]

((Here's another chappie. Hope you enjoy...))

Donatello smiled to himself, as his eyes fell on the junk yard. So many parts from various machines and other good stuff were just waiting for him to be picked up. The turtle adjusted the large bag that hang over his shoulder, as he found the first target for his search. A pile not too far away was standing tall before him, almost begging him to be searched through. Don put the bag on the ground, before his hands ran over the cold metal pieces.

With a smile, Don dragged out a catalyst for a car and examined it. He could definitely use that. It was soon thrown down in the bag, and soon more pieces of metal and small devices followed suit behind it, as the turtle found more and more to bring home. The only thing missing was the one thing he had come out to get for the radio. Don adjusted the collar on the coat, before he moved deeper into the junk yard. It was getting colder, and it wouldn’t be long until he would be forced to go home.

Kneeling down by another pile, the young turtle started digging through it, but again without luck. There had to be some spare parts for the radio somewhere… Don had to move deeper in, almost reaching the back end of the yard. It was almost like going through an unknown jungle, the huge piles of metal scrap towering up above him like trees. The dark sky didn’t make his surroundings any more visible. It was Manhattan, after all. Not many stars would shine and guide him through the mace.

It wasn’t until a short glimpse caught his eye, and the turtle spun around. Nothing.

“I could have sworn…” Don mumbled to himself, as he turned back in the direction he was going. And there it was again. It was like a small lightning drawing his attention closer. Don froze. It wasn’t far away. And again, the small sparkle from a shiny box revealed itself, as on demand. Out of pure curiosity, the ninja moved closer to see exactly what it was. Among all the metal pipes and pieces, the box shone like a flashlight. The metal cover was decorated with old carvings, going from the sides of the box and up on the lid, forming a crystal in the middle.

“Amazing,” Don nearly whispered, as he let his three fingered hand touch the metal. It was cold, almost freezing. His hand jerked back, though his mind told it to proceed. He had to know what it was. Finally, his hand responded and touched the box again. And soon the other hand followed, and in unison they lifted the box up. A piece of metal fell and landed on another piece with a loud clang, but Don didn’t care. His mind was focused on the metal in his hands. Studying it, he couldn’t currently find any letters or anything else that could tell him from what time it was from. It could be really old or maybe somewhat new, though being in a bad shape. Well, no better way to find out than to open it. And so he did. But where he had hoped to find a clue, he only found a dusty mirror. The surface seemed almost white from the dust inside.

“Hm?” Was that letters inside? Don breathed in and blew out to make the dust fly off, but instead of just flying off, it took a direction right into Don’s face, making him cough from the dust going into his mouth and nose. Shaking his head, he look down to look what the letters were saying, only to realize that it was nothing but dirt. Another dead end. Closing the lid, Don decided on bringing it home with him. What time was it anyway? Looking at the clock hidden under his wristband, the turtle gasped. He had been out in the junk yard for hours. His family would probably be worried sick by now. Jolting upwards, Don almost lost his balance before he ran back to find the old bag and head for the nearest sewer entrance. He had to get home fast.

[comet_an_me]

cool, keep it up :D

[Foot Soldier]

nice work :o

[Garou]

I'm glad you like it :lol: So, here's chapter three...

The sound of Don’s feet made Leo open his eyes. He had been sitting on the couch for the past one and a half hour waiting for his brother. If it hadn’t been for Splinter, he and his two other brothers would have been out looking for the purple masked ninja. The rat had persistently told them to stay put, since Don probably had a reason for not coming home until now. Where had that thought brought them before? When they had lived in April’s apartment a long time ago, he had been out for a morning run, only to be encountered by Shredder’s Elite ninjas and was beaten. Hadn’t his brothers been worried about him too? And hadn’t Splinter held them back?

Of course, Leo could not possibly know, what would have happened, if their sensei hadn’t stopped the three. While Raph, Don and Mikey would have been out looking for him, Splinter and April could have been attacked while alone in the small apartment. With a heavy sigh, Leonardo stood up. His sensei knew what he was doing, and he wouldn’t question his words – there was a reason for his actions. Leo turned around and crossed his arms, ready to greet Don.

As soon as the turtle opened the door, Don was met by a pair of angry eyes and Don almost stepped backwards at the glare.

“Where have you been?” Leo asked, never losing the look on his face. A small hint of worry was clearly planted behind the stern eyes, and Don understood exactly why – it was too late to be home.

“Sorry, I-“Don started, “I, kind of lost track on time while being at the junk yard…” Don scratched the back of his head uneasily, looking up at his brother. Leo’s face softened a bit and his arms slid down along his sides. Being leader couldn’t be easy.

“Yeah, I figured. But we better get to bed, before we wake up master Splinter,” Leo chuckled and turned around to walk towards his bedroom. “You know,” Leo suddenly turned around, “We tried calling you, but I think your shell cell is out of batteries.” And then he disappeared around a corner, off to get to bed. Don, on the other hand, walked towards his desk by the computer and put the bag on the floor. He was actually a bit tired, but… He quickly fished up the small metal box, opening the lid again. It somehow fascinated him. Sitting down, he grabbed a tissue from the desk and started polishing the inside. And soon, the tissue was black from the dust and the inside of the box was just as shiny, as if it had been new. As he looked down, he could see a reflection of his own face in it. Even though the room was dark, he could still see his features clearly, as if a small light was illuminating the box – or maybe he was just tired. As he was about to close the lid, his eyes fell on some small carvings in the lid.

“Property of…” Donnie read out loud, but stopped as he tried to read the name of the previous owner. It was impossible. The letters were so poorly written, that he couldn’t even guess what letters had been there before. ‘Maybe a young girl’s name,’ Don thought to himself, ‘Maybe the box belonged to a child, who kept her secrets inside it.’

Or maybe he just needed some sleep. Rubbing his eyes, Don put down the box and stood up, yawning. He would try to look at it tomorrow and maybe he would be able to see more. He slowly walked towards his own room, passing by Mikey’s room on the way. The sound of his brother’s soft snoring made him smile. It was a comforting sound, almost like it was proving the fact that someone was actually still in the lair. Reaching out to open the door, Don could feel another yawn trying to push past his mouth and he gladly let it out. He walked in and closed the door, just like he usually did and took off his bo staff. It had its own special place on the wall, just like all his tools had their own places in the toolbox, all categorised to lie where they would be easiest to reach. The bo was hung on the wall and Donnie sat down on his bed. Now he needed to get some hours of sleep, before sensei would wake them for their morning practice. Don laid down and was about to turn off the lamp by his side, when he suddenly thought of something. Hadn’t Leo said that the shell cell had probably been out of power? Well, it lied somewhere in the old, brown bag, so he would have to check on it the next day. And with that, Donnie closed his eyes to sleep…

[comet_an_me]

Whoa, sounds good keep it up. Please? :D

[MadPirateBunny]

cool story! But I wanna know what happened while Donny was out. { I'm curious like that :D}

[Garou]

Sorry, haven't posted the latest chapter, though it has been finished for a while... And sorry, MadPirateBunny, there won't be a scene to tell what happened in the lair, while Don was out... which is only due to the fact, that the fic is pretty Don centered and... Well, I just haven't thought a chapter like that, really :P But I hope you'll like the next chappie anyway...

:D
Turning around in the small bed, Don yawned and stretched before sitting up. He rubbed some sleep out of his eyes and looked at the clock next to his bed. 3:33. Well, what were the odds for that? It was way too early to get up to do something, but for some reason, Don wasn’t really sleepy or drowsy. Of course he could try and calculate the chance for him waking up while being in a state of REM-sleep, but it was simply too idiotic to start finding reasons for lack of sleepiness. But he was thirsty. Getting up from his bed, he felt the cold stone touch his feet, but the feeling eased as he kept walking.

The door let out a creek, as he opened it slowly, peeking out to see if anyone was actually awake at this hour. But the lair was black as the night. Don walked towards the kitchen without turning on the light. He knew where to step and where everything was – he was a ninja, after all… The sound of his feet almost echoed through the lair, as they hit the floor softly and rhythmic on their way to the kitchen. And along the way, Don’s eyes quickly got used to the dark, but as soon as he got into the kitchen an opened the fridge, the light blinded him and made it momentarily impossible to see in the dark. He grabbed a carton on milk inside and closed the door to the fridge, leaving himself in pitch black darkness. A sleek smile spread on his face, as he closed his eyes. Whether they were open or closed was unimportant at the moment. He was still able to take the few steps towards the shelf over the table, grabbing a glass and pour a glass of milk. His fingertips inspected the edge around the glass as he poured, making sure he didn’t spill anything.

The milk was gone quickly, and Don placed the carton back in its rightful place in the fridge. The empty glass was placed in the sink and Don headed out of the kitchen to get back to bed, but as soon as he reached the living room area, he stopped. Leo had said his shell cell was out, so why not recharge it now? He was up anyway. He padded over to his work table where he had placed the old bag the night before and took out the communicator. It felt dirty as he lifted it, and he brushed what felt like sand off in the dark. He couldn’t see clearly what it was, though. Maybe the box he had found had been dirty, and some of it had fallen onto the communicator. Either way, he found the recharge box and placed the cell on the table to leave it be. It would take at least two hours before-

Beep beep.

“Huh?” Don blinked and looked down at it, opening it to look at the display.

Battery fully recharged. It couldn’t be already. The turtle turned on the small lamp and blinked at the sudden light, before he brought his eyes to look at the small device on the table. He took it up and pressed a few buttons. Luckily the software worked like any ordinary cell phone, leaving information on all lost calls – but there were none. So the shell cell hadn’t registered Leo’s call, and it hadn’t been out, since it could start beeping now. It would have been dead, until Don had turned it on in the morning. He sat down and reached out for a screwdriver, eager to open the machine and see what was wrong, forgetting to turn it off first. The small screw got loose, and Don tilted the cell to make the battery cover fall off. As he grabbed the cover in his other hand, he could feel small corns of sand pour into his hand. It glistened in the dark, as he turned it between his fingers. How could there be sand in his communicator? He hadn’t been even close to sand. But there had to be a logical reason for this. Sand just doesn’t appear out of thin air and fly into ones phone. He took out the battery and all loose parts to try to get as much sand out of it as possible.

Don scratched his chin. Had the sand corns something to do with the cell not working properly? It was reasonable enough, if it hadn’t been for the fact that the machine had been out when Leo called, but was turned on now that Don had his hands on it. Perplexed, Don shook his head and studied it silently, looked at the communicator from all angles. This was a mystery too hard to solve, even for him. Deciding on leaving it be, he turned it again and attempted to try and blow out some remaining sand. As soon as he did, he felt one of the small sand corns hit him in the eye.

“Perfect,” Don muttered irritated, rubbing his eye. As the eye only felt sore for now, it had to mean that he had gotten the corn out. And the shell cell looked pretty clean now. All parts were put back and the cover was placed back on the cell. He had to try and keep an eye on it the next day to see if any problems came back. Well, didn’t that mean that he should go back to bed? Whatever time it was… Looking at the small box, he shrugged to himself. He wasn’t tired, and the box’s owner was still unknown to him, which irritated him slightly. He opened it and starred at the spot saying “property of”, letting his finger touch it. The name had been carved into the lid, a minor detail that he hadn’t paid attention to before. An idea hit the turtle, and he quickly lifted the box from its spot and held it in one hand, while collecting some sand from the table with his free hand. He tilted the box and put some of the sand on the missing letters. He shock the box lightly, making some of the sand fall off, but some of the corns stayed by the name, falling into the crafted lines. It was slowly forming the name, and Don put on some more of the sand to try and fill out the lines. After a minute, he could see the name.

“Shaira…” A pretty uncommon name. But he was sure, no letters were missing and there were no room for any letters in between. So it had belonged to a girl, who was probably an adult by now. Maybe the box had been thrown out, when she grew up and didn’t need it anymore. So there was nothing special about it. He put the box back on the table and turned off the small lamp, walking back to his room. His curiosity had been fed and he didn’t have anything to do with the box anymore. It was too small to be used for anything and too old to be given to anyone. Therefore, he would put it back in the junk yard the next day, when he would be up looking for spare parts anyway.

[comet_an_me]

Hmmm....a cliffhanger? Or is it finished? It's really hard to tell. But a nice story (so far?) :D

[Garou]

Oh, it's not finished. It will take some time before I even come close to an end :lol:

[Garou]

So, if people are still reading this, here's another chapter...

>*<

Don blinked and sat up straight. Had he fallen asleep by his desk again? He looked around, catching a glimpse of his sensei walking into the kitchen behind him. Were the others up as well? Judging by the lack of light in the room, he doubted that even Leo was up yet. His sensei never turned on the light, if Don had fallen asleep by the desk. And, that happened quite often, actually. Standing up, he tried to stretch his sore back and neck after the awkward position he had been in in his sleep. He really needed to get rid of that habit. He looked back into the kitchen again. His sensei’s tail wavered from side to side, as the old rat rummaged around the kitchen. He was probably making tea by now, which meant that Leo would be up in maybe an hour or less. And his two other brothers? Well, they probably wouldn’t be up right away. Don walked into the kitchen, giving Splinter a smile.

“Good morning, sensei,” Don sat down by one of the chairs in the kitchen and rested his arms on the table. As expected, Splinter sat down a teacup in front of his student and poured some tea in it, before he took a cup himself and sat across the table. It was nice having his sensei alone once in a while, and this gave him a golden opportunity to just study the master of Nin Jutsu in silence. The only sound breaking the silence was the clock on the wall ticking and when they chatted softly over the tea.

“Good morning, my son,” the rat smiled back, taking a sip of the hot liquid. Splinter’s dark eyes followed his son’s gaze slowly, as the turtle’s eyes wandered to look up at the clock, “I have a feeling, that you have some business to attend to today. Am I right, Donatello?”

“Huh?” Don looked back at his master. There had to be a scientifical reason for his master’s keen sense. For Splinter was right – there really was something Don wanted to do. Not that it really was such a big deal, it just felt like the right thing to do.

“Well,” Don admitted and took a quick sip of his tea, “I wanted to go to the junk yard…”

“You did not find what you were looking for last night?”

“It’s a long story. I found this metal box, and I wanted to put it back. You know, to bring it back where it belongs…” Don sat the cup down, his eyes starring down at the reddish liquid inside. Splinter scratched his chin thoughtfully. Why it was so important to bring a simple box back to the surface was a mystery to him, but it could see that his son needed to do it – at least for himself. The rat sometimes wished, that he could read the minds of his sons. It would indeed make fatherhood mush less complicated. No one would miss a box, if they had thrown it out once. So what could be the reason?

“Very well,” Splinter smiled, mostly to himself, “If it matters to you, I think you should do it.” If it had been Raphael or Michelangelo giving him that explanation, he would have been sure that they were up to something. But Donatello… Splinter was confident that his son told the truth. Why wouldn’t he be? He immediately noticed the smile lighting on the turtle’s beak. It wasn’t from the joy about being allowed to leave – it was because his sensei understood. And that was perhaps the most precious thing to Donatello at some points. Don’s eyes shot up at the clock. And Splinter knew what that meant too.

“Perhaps going out would be wise before the sun rises.”

Don almost jumped up, his smile growing.

“Thank you, sensei,” he bowed to his master and almost ran out of the kitchen, collecting his back and the old metal box on his way out of the lair.

Sitting alone in the kitchen, Splinter mused to himself.

“Kids…”

[comet_an_me]

Yay you updated!!!! I thought you had given up, but i had hope that you hadn't. Hmmmmm, you definatly like your cliff hangers dont ya!!!!

[Sonic777]

It's nice that we have a story that's based on don.

[Garou]

I haven't given up. School's just been busy and my focus had to be pointed at something else. The next chapter is actually half done... And yes, I love cliffies :P There's just something about them...

[comet_an_me]

Yep i know what you mean. Plus it always encourages ppl to come back to read more. Ppl like me. hee hee.

[Garou]

(Wee, an update :P And this one is a longer chapter than usual... And no, it's not finished after this - it's going to take a while...)

Why had it really mattered that much? Don walked through the sewer while holding the metal box in his hands. On his way, he had started to doubt himself. Why not throw it out with the rest of the trash? It was just trash, right? No, Don couldn’t bring himself to think that. Ever since he had discovered the name in the lid, he had looked at it in another way. Like it was precious. He opened the lid. Of course he couldn’t read it now. The sand had fallen to the bottom of the box. But he had wanted to bring it back at all times. Even after he had solved the mystery of the owner, his mind had been set on putting it back. The box was put back into the bag, as he had reached the manhole cover leading to the junk yard. He climbed up and tilted the cover a bit. The morning was still silent and black, except for the lights on the street illuminating the area. The junk yard would be completely dark, when he got inside. They didn’t turn on any light, unless someone was coming in there. And that was good for him. He was sure he could navigate himself through the mace of piles of junk, but people wouldn’t be able to see him, if they were even out at this hour. Getting out of the sewers, he hurried to the fence by the junk yard and jumped over. Now he just had to remember, where he had found it.

‘Does that even matter?’ he asked himself, but he could have slapped himself as soon as the thought hit him. Yes it did. No matter how silly it seemed at the time. He just thanked himself, that none of his brothers had followed him. They would have teased him about it for months. He knew himself, that it was ridiculous. It was an old, outworn box that no one cared about – except for him. With a huge sigh, he started walking in search of something that looked familiar. He could remember most things, dates, numbers, names – but the location on where he had found the box was completely forgotten.

“Good old turtle luck,” he muttered to himself as he searched. Perhaps there were some clues somewhere….

Yes, he remembered that pile. A refrigerator towered on top of the pile like a door to another world. He had passed that. And that pile looked familiar too. It took a while, before he was satisfied. He had found a spot, where he believed to have been sitting the night before. And about time. The sun was beginning to rise over Manhattan, giving the sky a red aura, which was cast down on the ground. The turtle kneeled down, taking the box out of the bag and looked at it – just this one, last time. The lid was opened and closed again.

Was he sure, this was the place? He stood up, still holding the box. Perhaps he should take another round through the junk yard, just to be sure. He turned around and took a step forward, looking up.

“Whoa!” he cried, falling backwards. Someone had been standing behind him. Someone was standing in front of him now! The girl gave a shriek and jumped backwards, starring at Don.

“I – I can explain, I…” Don stammered. He hadn’t expected to be seen, more less being confronted. He had brought up a hand before him to try and cover his facial looks, but slowly took it down. He had to know who his “attacker” was. With the other hand, he clutched the metal box tightly, though he wasn’t aware of it.

“You – you’re a…” the female voice whispered, and Don allowed himself to actually look at the girl. His eyes widened at the sight. It was impossible… it was amazing. The figure was indeed a girl, with long blond hair and blue eyes – but it was a turtle girl.

“A turtle,” Don finished her sentence, bringing his hand down to rest on the ground. It was unbelievable. He had never expected to find another mutant turtle in his life. Where did this female suddenly come from? Don sat up straight, looking her over. Her skin was white, though yellowish around the brown spots on her body. Her face was mostly white, except for a big brown spot on each cheek and above her eyes. He knew the species. Caretta caretta – a loggerhead sea turtle. It had to be. Don knew a lot of the different species amongst the sea turtles. The air was silent around them, as they both starred at each other in disbelief. Suddenly, the female turtle blinked and coughed a bit.

“May I ask,” she said lowly, lifting her hand to point at Don’s chest, “Could I have that back?” At first Don had no idea of what she was talking about, until he moved his fingers a bit. The metal box. Don looked down at the box, as he got up. He could feel that he had somehow gotten some dust or more of the sand in his eyes again after he had fallen backwards, but rubbing his eyes with a dirty hand would just make it worse. He handed the box to the loggerhead, who grabbed it with both hands. Don noticed that she only had three fingers as well.

“So, you’re Shaira?” Don asked, and the girl shot a glance at him.

“How did you know?”

“The box,” Don explained himself, “I could see it inside…” While talking, Don brushed his hands against each other, trying to get as much of the dirt off as possible. Shaira let a finger run over the lid of the box, before she brought the hand up to brush some hair away from her face.

“Oh, right…” she muttered, a slight blush showing on her face, “And you are…?”

“Sorry, my name is Donatello,” Don smiled, “But my friends call me Don.” Shaira nodded slowly, as if something was dawning in her mind.

“Friends?” She started looking around.

“They aren’t with me,” Don told her, making Shaira look back at him. She looked like one big question mark.

“Are they… humans?” she asked, “Or someone like you?”

“Well, “Don started, not quite sure where exactly to begin, “See, I have three brothers, who are turtles as well, and-“

[Garou]

(The continuation...)

“You have brothers?” Shaira interrupted, a small smile lighting up on her beak. Perhaps she didn’t have any siblings, or even a family? Don couldn’t help but chuckle a bit. Mikey would probably have the same look on his face, when Don would come home to tell them that he had found another mutant turtle…

“Yeah, and then there’s my sensei. He’s a rat though. And there are our friends, Casey and April…” Don paused a bit. Perhaps he was going on too quickly? If the outer world was still closed land to the girl, perhaps she needed some time to suck it all in. Shaira blinked a bit, suddenly looking out at the buildings.

“Perhaps we should seek cover,” she muttered, “People get frightened, when they see me.” Don nodded understandingly and looked at the way he had come earlier.

“I think I know the place,” Don replied and started walking back with Shaira close in his heels. After having been at the junk yard so many times with his brothers, they had learned the location of all the good hiding places around. And not too far away, was an old abandoned shaft that the workers had once used. Luckily, it fitted a young mutant turtle well, though there wasn’t much room inside. The door had fallen off some time in the past, but it worked fine as a shelter. Don and Shaira sat down on the lonely bench inside.

“Please continue,” Shaira smiled, “I want to know about them all. If your sensei is a rat, what animals are these Casey and April then?”

“Actually, they’re humans.”

Shaira became mute and looked at him.

“You can befriend humans?” she asked, her eyes looking straight into Don’s. The purple masked turtle moved a bit uneasily. Explaining their relationship and the beginnings would only lead to more and longer stories. He would have to include the Purple Dragons, Stockman, Shredder, maybe even Karai – that was definitely too long a story…

“It’s a bit complicated,” Don shrugged, “But trust me, it doesn’t happened too often.” Shaira chuckled lightly at the comment, brushing the blonde hair to the side.

“I can imagine,” the loggerhead smiled. She looked down at the ground, kicking a piece of paper from a chocolate bar with her naked foot. Don studied the candy paper, as it was caught by the wind and started flying over the ground in small, uneasy jumps.

“So, you said that you have brothers?” Shaira looked up.

“Yeah,” Don replied, “You’d love Mikey…”

“Why such a big difference in your names? Why are you named ‘Donatello’, when he’s only named ‘Mikey’?” Shaira blinked.

“Oh, Mikey’s only for short. His name is Michelangelo. And my two other siblings are named Leonardo and Raphael-“

“Like the Renaissance artist?”

Don was stunned for a moment. So she knew about history? Which meant that she had to be able to read, unless someone told her about it. Would there be others like her? Don coughed a bit, trying to see if he could nudge out the corn of sand still irritating his eye.

“You like art?” he asked, giving up on the sand. It was still in there somewhere, but it was impossible to get it out.

“Well yeah, looking at it,” Shaira laughed, “I can’t paint myself.”

“But you know about it, obviously. So you read?”

Shaira nodded, letting a finger grab a lock of hair and threw it backwards to get it away from her face.

“And so do you, it seems.”

Don laughed. If one asked his brothers, they would probably say, that it was an understatement. They didn’t pass one day, without he had read in a book or two, maybe only to get some information along the way in his experiments and machineries.

“If only you knew,” he muttered and looked out at the skyline. The sun had set over Manhattan already? Then it wouldn’t take long, before Splinter would want him to be home. Missing morning practise was a sin in their family.

“I better get going,” Don stood up adjusting the strap from the large bag on his shoulder, “I’m sure my family misses me.” Shaira stood up again, following Don by his side, as he started walking towards the exit. It didn’t take too long to reach the metal fence leading out to the side, where Don would find a manhole and creep down into the sewers to get home.

“You will come back, right?” Shaira clutched the box onto her yellow chest, while using the other hand to try and brush away the hair from her face, though the wind would only grab it once again throw it in front of her view.

“Don’t worry, I will,” Don assured her and grabbed on to the fence, ready to jump over. He suddenly froze, thinking of something.

“You ever thought of doing something about that hair?” he asked suddenly, letting go of the fence. Shaira blinked at first, before she raised an eye ridge at the turtle.

“I’m not cutting it off,” she stated and Don merely shock his head, opening his bag. He fiddled around for a short while, until he found what he was looking for. He dragged a purple piece of cloth out of the bag, handing it to the girl.

“Tying it up could work just as well,” he shrugged. Shaira placed the metal box on the ground and took the cloth. She looked at it and quickly tied it around the hair, but her face held a small smirk as she did.

“You always carry ribbons in your bag,” she chuckled and crossed her arms. Don blushed a bit.

“Actually,” he defended himself with a light grin, “It’s just a spare bandanna.” And it really was. There was no special reason for carrying it – he just happened to throw all kinds of useful items into the bag, before he headed topside. And hadn’t the bandanna just come in handy? Shaira just shock her head and picked up the box again.

“Perhaps you can tell me the deal with the bandannas next time,” she stroke the metal lid and looked up at Don. The turtle gave her a thumb’s up, grabbed on to the fence and climbed over. But as he looked back to say goodbye, Shaira was gone.

‘She probably went home,’ Don thought to himself. Where ever her home was… With that, Don turned around, sticking to the shadows, until he found the manhole cover and slid into the sewers, hurrying back home.