Leonardo, You Gave Me Wisdom (Book 4)

Kitty Cat

For the second time in a week, I sat up holding my head. For some reason, my hair felt softer than before, but I paid no heed. Leo's pain relievers didn't really work...

"You're up!" Mikito's excited squeal made me cringe, gritting my teeth together. "Sorry..." she muttered as noticed my discomfort. Everything did seem louder too.

"Are you okay?" Julie's voice asked.

I finally decided to open my eyes and saw colors were a little distorted. I blinked again then decided to assume that it was because I've bonked my head too many times. Hopefully I wasn't becoming blind.

"Not really," I huffed. "Bonking my head twice in the same time span doesn't help." My words felt odd, like I had different teeth and a new tongue. I knew it was just the feeling of waking up.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Leo pressed.

"I said I'm fine!" I snapped. That's when I felt something connected to the top of my head and my butt.

I started to yank my hands up to the top of my head but paused. My arms were covered in brown-gold tabby fur. My eyes widened and I felt atop my head and found ears. "Ears?!" I screeched. Something behind me flicked and I twisted around and saw a brown-gold with a white patch tabby tail* "What am I?!"

"A cat...." Naomi muttered. Her own tail flicked in annoyance. I felt my ears on the top of my head pull back and down in fear. My fur on my arms started to stand up.

"You do what Julie does!" Mikey snickered. "Leo, I dare you to pet her!"

I hissed at him, flicking my tail tip in annoyance. My ears were still down and I was glaring at the orange-masked turtle.

"How did this happen?" I whimpered after I calmed down. I looked at them all gathered around me and I looked down as silence befell me. My body was the same Brown-gold as my arms and tail. But there were white patches along it as well.

"Mutagen," Leo finally spoke up. I perked my ears and looked at him. "Mutagen transformed us into what we are and it changed you too when it fell off the medicine drawer when you closed the door."

So that's what hit me... I looked down at my hands, now half-paws and sighed. This isn't what I wanted. I was as odd In this group as a shark in a pod of fish. I was the only one that didn't fit...

"Julie has fur," Naomi's voice snapped me back to now. I looked up at her with lowered ears. "You're not the only one with fur."

"I'm the only one that mutated into a turtle," Mikito muttered.

"And me and Mikito were the only ones that mutated back to our original forms," Naomi went on. "You may have mutated into something different as Julie did, but you will remember all the same."

I looked up at her with wide eyes and blinked in understanding but said nothing. Naomi smiled then left the lab. Julie came up and hugged me, which was odd, and left as well. Mikito giggled and bounced on her heels and left with her hands on her belly. For some reason, it seemed.... bigger....

Only the boys were left with me. Donnie turned and went to another table. Leo sat down in a nearby chair. Mikey left after Mikito and put a hand around her shoulder before they left the room.

I sighed and started to get up. I almost fell from the difference in having a tail and not having a tail. Blinking, I steadied myself and swished my tail experimentally to see which angle worked best for walking.

Finally, I figured out it was just to keep the tail low. Kind of like how Naomi and Julie walked. I never noticed how they did it till now. Walking around in the lab, I tried to get used to it.

I felt Leo's gaze on me as I walked and I smiled inwardly. Maybe he wasn't as bad as I put him out to be before. I stopped walking. Turning my attention up, I looked at Leo. He was smiling softly. But when he noticed I turned my attention to him, he looked away.

Blinking and wondering what the world my legs were doing, I walked up to Leo and kneeled in front of him. He looked at me and I purred, which felt really odd by the way, and asked, "What are you thinking about?"

"Taking you out," he answered quickly. I blinked and perked my ears at hearing how honest he was by how quickly he said that. "You don't have to agree..." he muttered. "It was just an idea."

"Well... I am hungry," I admitted. After getting whacked a couple times and mostly sleeping for while, waking up means your belly was empty. "Do you know of someplace we can eat?"

"Yeah," Leo nodded, getting up. "Let me just get my Katanas and we can go, okay?"

"Weapons on a dinner night?" I asked as I got up. I flicked my tail which almost made me lose my balance. "Are you crazy?"

"We have a lot of enemies. Can't be too careful."

I smiled inwardly once again and left to the main room. Mikito and Mikey were curled up in one another. Mikito looked half asleep on Mikey's lap. They seemed at ease. In fact, most of the ones in the lair were at ease. Except Leo.

I paused. Naomi said something about remembering. Was I supposed to remember something as well? And did it involve Leo, the one turtle who seemed ill at ease?