Ocean Feelings

Chapter 13

 Pain, it's been painful for days. She was constantly on the move. Resting meant getting caught. She promised her brothers she'd keep in touch, but she had long since lost contact with her cousins. How many months had it been now? Two or three, for sure. Maybe more. Any time she sat down, a bullet whizzed by her, an arrow almost piercing her. Would this be how she died? No. She wouldn't die at the hands of someone else. She knew the major arteries- her thoughts were cut short by an arrow slicing past her stomach. She groaned with pain but kicked off of the sandy shore and dove into the water. She was in the Atlantic, off the coast of South Carolina. She was sure of that much. If she were more sound of mind, she would have recalled her cousin's last texts. But she wasn't, and she didn't. So she swam, she swam hard. She barely acknowledged the huge Orange thing she swam by, barely registered the fact that noise came from within it. As she slowly bled into the ocean, she blinked as she saw a red thing drive? Float? Toward her. Her cousin's texts floated to the forefront of her mind as she slowly slipped into unconsciousness.

Hey! We're off the coast of South Carolina Cc! We are getting worried... are you ok? You haven't texted in a bit, but if you're in the area, come find us!- Tweak and Dashi

Coco jolted awake, shoving the blankets off her. Her eyes darted around wildly as she took in her surroundings. She rubbed at her stomach, noting the lack of scar, and she swallowed thickly. It was not real, but the nightmare had managed to shake her down to her core. She sighed and rubbed her eyes, glancing at her alarm clock. Five AM. The nightmare did not happen. Yes, she darted by the Octopod, but she wasn't being chased. Her swimming by the Octopod was a pure coincidence as she was trying to avoid Dashi and Tweak. She kicked her legs over the edge and grabbed her headphones to play music. She shoved her feet into her slippers and shuffled her playlist. Loud and heavy started playing, and she grinned briefly at the irony. She crept to the kitchen even though she knew most of the crew wouldn't be awake yet. She noticed Barnacles and tilted her head. He gave a tired smile, and she sat at the table to look out the window. She smiled as she heard the coffee pot turn on and the fridge open. A few minutes later, a fresh mug was placed in front of her.

"Made just how you like it." Barnacles smiled softly.

Coco allowed a shaky smile, and Barnacles sat across from her. She restarted the song and took off her headphones so he could listen. "Bad dream?" Her voice sounded shaky, but she ignored it.

"Yeah. You goin to bed or waking up?" He tilted his head at her taking a sip of his coffee.

"Waking up." She sipped slowly at her coffee, savoring the warmth that spread through her body. "Mmm. Vanilla almond milk."

"I know how you take your coffee. What can I say?" Barnacles said with a smile.

Barnacles grasped her hand, and she shuddered at the cold of his hand, "Why are your hands always so cold?"

"Why are yours always so warm?" He refuted readily enough. She smiled and stared out the window. The sun hadn't risen yet, leaving the ocean in an eerie darkness.

"I never told you much of how my family came to be, have I?" He was startled at the change in conversation subject but shook his head. "I'm an only child."

"Wait, but you say...." He paused, utterly confused.

"None of my siblings are biological. My mom was a single mother. She had me at 19 years old. We lived with my grandparents my whole life. All my quote-unquote siblings are people I just am extremely close with to the point I call them siblings." She took a breath before continuing, "My family always had small ties to magic, we are religious, and it advanced it slightly, but with each generation, the magic grows. I had a harder time controlling my magic because of this. James is the oldest. He is from the other world. When his father heard the power I could have, he thought I would be a boy, so he sent James to claim he was my brother. Mom saw through him, but the kid was eight. So she kept him around. James, Erik, Samuel, Matthew, and Damien have magic. At seven is when Diana started coming around more. She became like a sister to us even though she got on James' nerves. Then when I was eight, we met Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo and their father, splinter. I call him uncle splinter. He has a daughter I met when I was twelve. However, before that, when I was ten, we met Smurfette and her father. Everyone just calls him Papa. When I was thirteen, we found out Smurfette had siblings, a younger set of twins. When I was fifteen, we met Darry, Sodapop, and Ponyboy. Then lo and behold the same year, we find out Papa had a wife, and find out they had triplets. We became this big jumbled-up family."