ROTTMNT Movie Half Heart💗💙 Hero Kumandra

Spine Clan

Far down the river, the boat floated onward. As Raya and the others left behind the dense jungle and river markets of Talon, the land was changing into tall slender mountains and silent forests of giant bamboo. When Raya started to see snow on the ground and feeling air that started to turn colder, she knew they were near Spine.

Spine was best known for its brutish warriors, giant wielding battle axes who could chop a tree in one blow. To get past them, Raya knew she would have to be at the top of her game.

As she cleaned her sword with a slice of lime, checking the blade's sharpness, she tried to clear her mind. It wasn't easy. Even since Noi and her Ongis had come aboard the boat, it had been in a state of pandemonium. The little rascals shoved congee and condiments into their mouths at every opportunity.

"Hey! Stop eating!" Boun yelled, chasing them off for the millionth time.

As they scampered away, the Ongis knocked hot sauce onto Tuk Tuk's food. He took a big bite then knocked Raya over trying to get to the side of the ship for water and coughing.

"Sorry, buddy, I got this," Raya said, deciding to take matters into her own hands.

"Did you just throw a shrimp at me?" Boun yelled at one of the Ongis. "That's not even edible! Don't look at me like that, you fuzzy garbage can!"

Raya walked over with a big smile. "Uh... Hey, guys? Do you wanna play hide-and-seek?" she asked.

Tuk Tuk, Noi and the Ongis stopped and nodded.

"All right. Ready? One. Two...."

Noi and the Ongis scurried away to hide. Even Tuk Tuk tried to hide, though he wasn't very good at it. "Thanks," Boun whispered.

"Two and a half. Three," Raya continued on. As she counted, she sat down next to Sisu and whispered. "Remind me to never have kids."

"Being people is hard," Sisu sighed, still ashamed about Talon.

"Yep," Raya agreed. "Six. Seven."

"You have small heads, no tails, you lie to get what you want, like the Talon chief back there."

"Yeah. Well, the world's broken," replied Raya. "You can't trust anyone."

"Or maybe the world's broken because you don't trust anyone," Sisu retorted.

"You sound just like my ba," Raya chuckled.

"Well, he sounds like a smart man."

"Yeah, he was. I really wanted to believe him. I really wanted to believe that we could be Kumandra again."

"And we can," Sisu protested, hopefully.

Raya leaned forward, still not wondering why she can make Sisu understand. "Literally thousands of people turned to stone would argue otherwise."

Sisu wouldn't let go. "That doesn't mean you shouldn't try."

"And I did. And you know what happened? I got kicked in the back by someone who gave me a gift. Look around. We're a world of orphans because people couldn't stop fighting over a gem. Wanna know why other dragons didn't come back? It's because people don't deserve them."

"But you can change that," Sisu replied.

"No, Sisu, I am done trying. Kumandra is a fairy tale. The only thing important to me now is bringing my ba back."

The ship came to a stop. "Um... I think we're in Spine," said Boun.

Raya glanced up. Through the parting clouds, she could see an imposing village sitting above them on the hillside. A tall fence of sharpened bamboo surrounded it, but she could make out the houses. Decorated with the horns and tusks of massive beasts, they reminded her of giant beetles. The dock was long gone. All that was left was a row of broken piles. Sisu began to think about this. She has to make Raya understand that she is wrong about Kumandra. This woman is arrogant, impulsive and stubborn and she wanted but her dad back and end the Druun. She has to prove to her that she was right. As Boun steered the boat toward the shore, Sisu grabbed a large pot of Boun's congee and leapt overboard. She hopped across the piles then stormed up the hillside headed for the village.