Color Me Orange (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Fan Fiction)

Chapter Four: Turtles

   I breathed in deeply, trying to release tension like Splinter had said. I stared at the target Splinter had set up for me, looking towards the middle. My limps are getting tired from holding this position where the bow is pulled back at maximum. I let the arrow go, and it hits the thin line that divides yellow and orange. I didn’t hit the red mark.

    I looked to Splinter, wondering how he must be thinking. We had been doing this for an hour, and the majority of the arrows fired hit the yellow and orange, the outskirts of the red mark. It was as if I wanted to impress him.

    “You are doing good for your first time.” he said, and I wanted to believe him. “I don’t think I’m fit for it.” I said, sitting down on a small bench, feeling defeated.

    He came over, placing his hand on my shoulder. “The arrow is like the knife. Concentrate on where you want to arrow to land.” he said, and I never heard such wisdom.

    “But a knife does not need a bow.” I protested. “You are right, but the arrow and knife need one important thing.” he replied. "And what is that?" I asked.

     "Determination."

    I looked up at him. “Give it another try.” he instructed.

    I sighed, getting up from the bench, grabbing the arrow a little too tightly, and leaned over to get an arrow.

    I placed the arrow in its place along the string of the bow, and pulled back quickly as far as it would allow.

    Concentrate.

    I breathed in deeply, trying to relax. As I let go of the arrow,

    “Master Splinter-” a voice said, and I lost concentration, the arrow flying higher than it should have, and hit the cement wall, snapping almost immediately.

    I looked to see who had spoken, and I almost jumped out of my skin. Like Splinter, he wasn’t exactly human.

    A turtle. This must have been one of the turtles Shredder was talking about. He had a blue bandana around his darker blue eyes.

    “Ah, Leonardo, I was wondering when you guys would come home.” Splinter said, walking up to him.

    I didn’t think Leonardo heard him. “Who’s that?” he asked, looking to Splinter to me.

    “Ellie,” Splinter said, looking to me, “this is my son, Leonardo.” he introduced, looking to the turtle.

    Son?

    “Splinter, may I speak to you alone?” Leonardo asked, and there was a short pause.

    “Yes, of course. Ellie, if you would please excuse us.” Splinter said, and I knew he was telling me to leave.

    “Sure.” I replied, dropping the arrow gently onto the carpet ground, and walked out of the room.

    I didn’t have to walk three steps before I felt as though I was going to faint. Three other turtles came out of an opening. One with a purple bandana talking to one with a red bandana. Another turtle was reading a comic while walking with an orange bandana.

    I froze for a moment, not sure on what to do. The turtle with the orange bandana saw me first, looking up from his comic book.

    “Um, Raph?” he asked, poking the one with the red bandana. “Yeah?” he asked. “Do other people know where the lair is?” he asked.

    “No, why?” the one who went by Raph asked. “Then who is she?” the turtle with the orange bandana asked, and six pairs of eyes stared up at me.

    I didn’t know what to do. Instead of explaining myself like I should have, I ran away from them.

    Behind me, I heard them talking, and a weight hit me to the ground. It was the turtle with the red bandana. Shredder hadn’t said how strong they could be.

    “Raphael!” I heard Splinter raise his voice.

    He looked up to see Splinter with Leonardo next to him, and I took the chance to kick him off of me, getting up myself, and regaining balance.

    “Master Splinter-” he began, but the rat cut him off. “I would have thought you would be kind to our guest.” Splinter interrupted.

    “But Master Splinter, did you forget what happened last time you brought a human to the lair?” Raph asked, and a shadow crossed over Splinter’s and another turtle’s face.

    “Last time?” I asked outloud, looking to Splinter for an explanation. He didn’t reply.

    “That is not important right now.” Splinter replied to Raph. The turtle wanted to say something, but quickly thought better of it.

    “Why is she here?” Raph asked instead, his tone sharp but under control.

    “I found her in the sewers. I would have brought her back to the surface, but…” Splinter half explained, not ending his sentence.

    “But what, Master Splinter?” Raph asked, and Leonardo and Splinter exchanged glances. What had they talked about in the dojo?

    “I’ll tell you later, Raph.” Leonardo replied. It seemed that both Raph and I wanted to confront him, but no one said anything for a few moments as Splinter went back into the dojo, saying he had to do some more meditating.

    “Hey, um, girl?” one of the turtles asked with an orange bandana. I looked to him. “My name’s Ellie.” I informed him, and he nodded.

    “Well, Ellie, I’m Michelangelo, but I go by Mikey.” he introduced, waving his nun chunks in the air.

    “How about you?” I asked, looking to the turtle with a purple bandana. He had a stick in his hand, and I wondered if that was a weapon. “Me?” he asked, pointing to himself.

    I nodded. “Oh, I’m Donatello. They call me Donny.” he introduced. “What does Raph stand for?” I asked, looking to Raph.

    He had his hands crossed over each other across his chest, and he didn’t look eye to eye with me. “Raphael.” he replied coolly.

    I looked over to Donny. “What’s his problem?” I asked, not trying to sound rude as I said it.

    “He’s just Raph.” Donny replied, shrugging his shoulders. I almost forgot Leonardo was in the room, and I turned to him.

    “Do you have a nickname?” I asked. “Yeah, Leo.” Leonardo answered, and there was a deep silence for what seemed to be forever.

    “I saw you with that arrow.” Leo commented, walking over to sit down on the other couch.

    I looked at him, “Yeah, but I’m not exactly a master at it.”

    “Would you like to practice?” he asked.