Sparks

Chibi Turtle Fiction. Raph has taken to visiting an elderly woman who lies at Death's Door in a small Abbey. There, in the fractured tales she manages to give him, Raph learns that even though all that glitters is not gold, light is never truly gone, even when the door shuts.

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Quote:

Light gives of itself freely, filling all available space. It does not seek anything in return; it asks not whether you are friend or foe. It gives of itself and is not thereby diminished. ~Michael Strassfeld

The feeling of cold pavement against his bare feet. He managed a shudder as he ducked into a nearby alley, a pair of eyes gleaming before

the smallest scrtch noise-like claws against stone before the trembling turtle heard the tiny rat scutter away into the gloom, near the faded,

dusty red brick, near the cracked, graffiti encrusted walls near the garbage cans.

The turtle clasped his hand over his nose, making a face.

Eyyyyuuuucccck.

Nasty.

And this was coming from a turtle who lived in the sewers!

He shuddered again, before setting off once more. He'd been here enough times to know where he was going-and where the best shortcuts

were, as well as the places best to avoid.

Splinter was going to KILL him if he discovered Raphael disappeared every night-well, every Tuesday night, at the very least-but it was a

journey Raphael felt well worth it.

The rat had good reason to be protective, but, the Daichi born (second oldest) turtle couldn't help but feel slightly irratated that it was so

difficult to get in and out of the Lair at night.

Master Splinter HAD been giving him suspicious glances as of late....mainly due to his yawning during morning excercises. But so far, he had

not confronted Raphael.

Yet.

He could only hope things stayed that way. Raph managed a small sigh before passing one of the neighborhood's remaining trees-which

was leafless, oily looking, and on the whole, rather depressing, seeing as there were crushed chip bags, glittering glass shards of dark

green bottles, and the occasional empty cigar case near its roots.

Almost there. Good. This place was kinda givin' him the creeps.

He still remembered though-a time when the place was much more petrifying.

And that had been the first time Raphael had literally flew into the Monastery of The Sacred Heart, many weeks ago.

* * * *~* * * *

New York had been taken by storm.

Quite literally, seeing as Hurricane Alice had struck the sky full force. Raph couldn't remember a time he'd gotten so soaked.

It had rained for days on end-well, quite literally poured from the heavens for awhile. Mikey could be seen rushing about the leaks in their

home with a small teapot.

And one night, when the river had overflowed, it had simply gotten from bad to worse.

Master Splinter had been somewhat apphrensive over the pst few days...

....but this had finally effected the rain sewers far too much. But Raph had become accustomed to the constant dripping, and was sleeping

quite comfortably in it.

That is, before Splinter's hands began to roughly shake him and his brothers awake.

Raph had whimpered, and sank deeper into the warmth of the pillows, mind groggy.

"Mmmmmmrrrmmmth...."

"Wake, my sons. Wake up, wake up, wake UP!"

So intense was Splinter's voice Leo feebly stirred, blinked blearily, and lowered himself from his quilt onto the floor, shivering.

"Sei....?"

Splinter seized the damp ponchos hanging from a nearby hook, and began to force the purple one over Don's shoulders. The young Scientist

staggered.

"Mrmth-Dad, what is......?!"

"My sons. We must leave. Right now."

Well, that got Mikey's attention.

What also got his attention was the fact that Splinter was now yanking his cold orange and yellow cloak over his head. The turtle spluttered,

droplets flying everywhere from his damp hood.

"Leave? But why...?"

Splinter's hand grasped Leo's, who grasped Raph's as Splinter grasped Mikey's, who grasped Don's.

"The town's emergency drain system simply couldn't handle this volume of water! The people above are being evacuated-we can't stay here

any longer! This place may flood as well!"

Raph gulped as they reached the sloshing canals outside, shivering as cold waves brushed at his waist.

Splinter pulled down his own dark hood, a deep frown on his face as he gestured towards a nearby ladder-half of it already submerged.

This was bad.

If Splinter was ACTUALLY telling them to leave for topside, then things were very bad indeed.

Hands digging at the rusty, slightly cracked metal, Raph inched his way forwards, heart pounding violently as he did so.

----

He spluttered, a sea barrage in the air-the winds tearing at his poncho, and making the folds spin wildly in the air.

He could see nothing, save for the silver dashes of-

The rat grasped his hand, fighting to have his hood stay secured over his face.

"My sons-keep a hold on each other. Let us be-"

Too bad Raph didn't have a chance to finish listening, seeing as his fingers were ripped from his father's arm.

Splinter let out a strangled cry of warning, and made a vicious snatch in midair-!

----

Raph had only fell back a few meters, but already he missed the comforting grip of Splinter's fingers against his wrist. He peered at his

surroundings, wincing when the rain and gales forced his eyelids shut.

"SENSEI?"

No answer.

"DONNY?"

Nothing, save for the pouring rain.

"MIKEY!"

An empty can brushed past, straight into one of the deep puddles the rain sewage junction was slowly oozing onto the street.

"LEO?"

The wind gusted, sending the timid turtle back a few paces, but nothing.

* * *

He was alone.

In a few seconds he was alone, wet, and in the dark.

And if Raph's heart had been pounding viciously before, then now, it was worse then ever.

He desperately glanced at his surroundings-

And hope flared.

It would be easy enough climbing from the garbage disposal to those two low buildings.

And, once he got a better view-!

Raph's hands were on the drainpipes in a matter of seconds.

----

This was a lot harder then Splinter made it look like! Raph huffed, hands slowly began to slide from the damp metal. His grip tightened, and

he pushed himself forwards.

Ah, well. He could lean against that window-and give himself a break. Otherwise, he felt certain he'd simply slide back to the bottom.

He prepared to rest his shell against the opening, taking deep breaths as he halted his movements.

But he'd been wrong. Someone had left the window OPEN, gray curtains fluttering in the wild chorus of the wind.

And Raphael, a cry lost, so great was his astonishment as his shell rested against nothing but empty space, fell backwards, face and limbs

brushing against the faded cloth....

.....straight into the room of the building itself.

----

"Oof!"

Raphael fell, hood brushing backwards as his body hit a wool carpet, too stunned to move.

The back of his neck prickled, as dread began to pool in his stomach.

And he slowly looked up.

An old woman-hair bone white, face wizened-looking rather like a tiny bird-nestled in between several old quilts-was peering up from a black

book with a red ribbon sticking out of it-directly at him.