Destiny tilts her nose to the sky as her and Raphael walk side by side through the trees. She inhales, a blissful smile curling across her scarred face.
"Oh yeah, this is my element," she sighs.
Raphael hops over a fallen log, glancing sideways at her. "This place is really working for you, huh?"
She shrugs. "Hey, wolves fit better in a forest than in a sewer. I'm just getting back to my roots."
He laughs lightly, but his smile loses its glimmer and becomes more melancholy. "I'm just...glad that you're feeling better. Everything with Leo was..." He trails off. She looks at her feet briefly. "...difficult. I was worried about you."
"Aw, you softie," she murmurs.
He snorts. "I'm not a softie."
"Whatever you want to believe," she says in a sing-song tone.
They drift back into silence. Raphael exhales heavily, kicking a loose stone as he walks over it. It bounces across the grass and rolls into a small puddle. Destiny does a little spin, holding her arms out like wings.
"Des, why did you end it with Leo?" he asks. She stiffens up, her lips pressing tighter. "I've been wanting to ask you ever since Leo told us what happened, and—"
"Raph, please don't make me feel any guiltier than I already do," she whispers, her ears drooping.
"I won't," he says. He crosses his arms over his plastron as she shuts her eyes. "But...just tell me, is it because of Diaval?" Destiny's gaze is on him in an instant, his own glare edging on infuriated. "It's not my business who you want to be with, but Diaval over Leo? That's a mistake."
"Diaval is my friend," she snaps. "Nothing more, nothing less. Leo and I..." She kicks the nearest stick and sends it flying. "I wasn't right for him. I'm...not right for him."
He arches an eye-ridge. "Tell that to Leo."
She doesn't say another word, her face flushed. Before Raphael can try to talk again, screams pierce the air and they stop in their tracks. They turn to see Donatello and Michelangelo dashing towards them at full speed.
"RUN!" Donatello shouts.
"Come on, you're not even trying to hide!" Raphael says.
"BIGFOOT!" they holler as they race past the two mutants.
"Yeah, right," he scoffs as he turns around. "If you think you're gonna get out of cleaning that coop by—"
"Um...Raph?" Destiny's eyes widen and she grabs his shoulder, forcefully turning him around.
His mouth falls open when he sees what's in front of them. A giant ape-like creature, covered in fur and snarling, stands before them. Suddenly, the "Bigfoot" scream makes far more sense.
Raphael grins, his eyes flashing with excitement. He unsheathes his sais and spins them. "Looks like we're gonna get some real training."
Donatello and Michelangelo ready their weapons. The three turtles shout and rush the apeman, save for Destiny. Call it her wolf instincts, but she doesn't think that this so-called Bigfoot is trying to hurt them.
YOU ARE READING
Forest Mutation (Book Two)
Fanfiction"In Saskatchewan, when I couldn't fall asleep, I'd watch the moon and think about how across the country and over the border, you were probably out on a rooftop beneath the same moon. You were the first person I enjoyed the moon with. Every other ti...
