Turtles of a Feather

Chapter 7- Companion

  Raphael was awoken by the welcoming light of the sunrise, dousing the landscape with a variety of pinks, blues, and oranges. The cool chill of night was fading and he already felt the warmth of the sun kissing his skin.

  Opening his mouth wide and yawning, he began to grope at the air, trying to find the overhanging branch that held his crimson mask.

  Finally finding the correct branch and pulling off the mask, he tied the fabric over his eyes. Raph sat up and yawned one more time, opening his eyes to see the blowing green leaves surrounding him.

'Maybe today? Just maybe.'

  Climbing to the nest's edge and looking at the ground below, the forest green child gulped, already feeling his vision blurring. He spread his wings out fully and flapped them, but felt very little draft under his feathers. The wings were covered in gorgeous flight feathers, but a substantial amount of speckled down still remained.

'How much longer do I have to wait?!'

  With a frustrated sigh, the winged turtle leapt upwards to grasp the thick branch above, and from there, ascended the tree.

  The nine year old was getting more and more impatient as the weeks passed of flightlessness. Every morning he would test his wings in the light breeze, seeing if the mighty limbs were ready to take him to the skies and amongst the clouds.

Unfortunately, they still weren't fully fledged.

  Grasping one last tree limb, the little hothead pulled himself up to the branch where a neat nest was built.

"Donnie? Were you up all night again?"

Turning around, the violet masked turtle looked at Raph with a yawn and nodded tiredly, "I-I like staying up during the night."

Climbing into the nest Raph placed a hand on his younger brother's shoulder, "You shouldn't do that Donnie."

"But I can't help it."

With a nod Raph sat beside his brother, "So, what were you doing?"

With a small chuckle Donnie looked at his falcon winged sibling, "Why are you so curious? You're never interested in what I do."

"Is there a problem with me asking?!" the hothead growled, crossing his arms and glaring his taller brother down.

"No!" the boy held his hands up defensively.

"Good...so what were you doing?" calming down, the turtle shifted his wings and relaxed them against his carapace.

"Just talking to my friends," was the olive turtle's reply.

Cocking his eye ridge, Raphael waited for his brother to continue.

Rolling his eyes Donnie called out with a 'shree'. A few lingering calls replied and then quickly faded. The young turtle chattered back a few times before silencing, "It's morning. They're going to sleep."

With a chuckle, Raph looked out to the trees beyond, "How do you call to them like that?"

With a simper the purple-clad turtle gazed at his elder sibling, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"I just do it... I really don't know how."

Nodding, the red masked turtle smiled sadly, "Do you think we'll be able to fly soon Donnie?"

  Stretching out his beautiful wings, which were starting to become a variety of browns, golds, and whites, Donnie plucked a feather with a wince and examined it.