Sons of the Seven Seas (TMNT)

𝟐 || 𝓟𝓸𝓻𝓽 𝓦𝓮𝓫𝓫𝓮

     "Tell me, Leo," Quinn pours the child a cup of tea, "Did you know those pirates?"

     Leo stares at his tea. The cup warms his hands. "Only one."

     "Which one?"

     "The Captain."

     "How do you know him?"

     Leo presses his lips together. He takes a sip. "He's my uncle."

     Quinn contemplates his next words carefully. "Did you know he was a pirate?"

     Leo shakes his head.

     "You know, we've been trying to catch him for a long time."

     The turtle frowns. "A long time? How long?"

     "A few months now but who knows what he was up to before we heard about him."

     Leo continues to drink the warm liquid.

     "He's after an army," Quinn continues. "A mutant one."

     "Then why did he attack us? There's plenty of us here."

     "He wants to create one. Turn humans into mutants."

     Leo was well-versed in the stories his uncle had told him and his siblings about the cave. For him, the stories could explain where he came from. Not that it really mattered anyway. Leo loved his family. He was just interested in the simple fact of knowing for certain. He hadn't known that his uncle wanted to make more creatures such as himself. But for what reason? Why would he need a mutant army? What's wrong with the human one he used to attack their village?

     "Maybe he's sick," Leo suggests.

     "I've never heard of any illness that turns a man into a merciless pirate."

     Leo taps his thumbs against his cup. "He'd talk about it sometimes."

     "The cave?"

     "Yeah. But I didn't think..." Leo sighs. "It's just a childish story. It's not real."

     A knock at the door.

    "Come in."

     A soldier entered.

     "No signs of survivors."

     "What about my family? Did you find another ship?" Leo blurts out.

     The soldier was about to make a snide remark about a mutant addressing an English soldier out of turn, but the look on his Captain's face told him to reconsider his response.

     "No. We did not."

     "That is great news, young Leonardo." Quinn grins. "Your family must have escaped."

     The turtle remains silent. It was better news than the alternative. But no survivors? That weighed heavily on the child's heart.

     Captain Turner nods to his soldier and the man exits. The two were left alone once again. The silence didn't last long.

     Quinn rolled out a map between them. Leo leaned over. He had read plenty of maps before.

     "We'll have to be returning to our station," Quinn says. He points to an island. "Port Webbe."

     "I'm not allowed there."

     "You will be if you stick with me. The journey is three days. I hope you don't get seasick."