Soulbound (TMNT '16) ❪✓❫

Stripes are Bait

Kri wasn't exactly sure what Raphael was up to. She did watch the turtle leave through the thorn bushes and didn't at all take a step forward to follow him.

The white tiger looks over her shoulder at Griz, Hawk, and Shado still snoozing close to each other. She lightly growled and looks at the itchy brush. Kri leaps into the bushes, feeling her body push through until the path is under her paws.

Her emerald eyes look right. Nothing is there, just a few pebbles and thin twigs. To the left is the last glimpse of Raphael strolling down the muddy path. Kri lowered her body to the ground sneaking up on every corner and rock. It was a few minutes until the tiger finally found Raphael walking up a trail Kri has never seen before.

She noticed this area is darker than the normal trails she and the other animals take. Quiet, odd, unknown. Kri's tip of her tail flicks in curiosity as she cautiously tiptoes into the new path which was shades well with oak trees.

She is now feet away from Raph. For some reason, he isn't turning around when Kri snapped a stick in half when her weight was placed on it. "R-Raph?" She says still walking behind him up the steep trail.

He doesn't answer. Maybe he didn't hear her. Kri didn't say his name again because she wanted to know what this mutant was up to.

As the two beings went up higher, it got colder and clearer. The number of trees hovering over the path lessened. Only the edge of a rocky drop is on the right. Kri still trailed behind Raph's footsteps until he reached the very top of the path.

It led to her recalling this smell. Not the smoke. The water. The water that belongs to her favorite place of these woods. She could hear rumbling water far below her, the thunderous wind blew hard on her white and black coat, and she stared at Raph's shell.

He was on the edge of a cliff. Standing extremely close to the edge. His hands are clenched into fists, standing still as a statue, and turning to Kri slowly with his head down.

Raphael's eyes are closed according to Kri's observations. She waited for him to make a sound, but he didn't. The second oldest turtle just raises his head high and opens up ruby colored eyes.

"You gotta be pulling on my tail..."   Kri was able to make her telepathic abilities whisper in her head. She is all alone on this cliff with Raph, no protection of someone to ask questions to.

"Glad to finally meet you," His voice said. Only it wasn't Raph's husky voice. These vocals are owned by the snake. "Kristen."

Kri felt her head suddenly throw a tantrum. She roared out for the whole smokey forest to hear.

****

A small beetle buzzes around the ears of Hawk, Griz, and Shado. It flew around until it landed on the wolf's nose.

The alpha's nose twitches it off and wakes up to Leo and Donnie looking through the last bags of food they had. She stretched out her front paws and back hind legs with a fuzzy rear in the air. Hawk yawned widely, enjoying the crack in her spine.

"How was your nap?" Leo asked Hawk from across the camp.

She closed her mouth and shakes off the leaves and dirt before answering. "It was good. I would like the air to be more breathable."

Leo throws a back of apples "Yeah, it'll take awhile for this place to clear up."

Shado was the next animal to wake up, she heard Mikey rustle the blankets inside the tent. He showed off a perfect white line starting from the edge of his mouth and leading to the back of the head. The cheetah laughs inside her head as Mikey asked the first question that alarmed the others.

"Where is Raph? Anyone see him?" He climbed out of the tent.

Leo and Donnie exchange looks and both see Raph isn't in the camp.

"Maybe he went to the bathroom." Donnie thought as he scanned the perimeter of the camp.

"Guys," Griz groaned from her slumber. "Where is Kri?"

Shado picked up a scent by the bushes, she brought her nose to the ground and got the first clue. Oversized shoe prints and the biggest tiger paws right on top of them. The cheetah chirps out loud to the campers and animals. "I think they left the camp together." She said.

Hawk sat down, using her hind leg to get rid of a pesky flea. "Did they let anyone know?"

"If they did, someone would have said something by now." Griz came next to Shado at near the bushes. She sniffed the air, sensing it wasn't friendly. The bear looks to Leo, Mikey, and Donnie. "The three of us will go. You guys stay here."

"He's our brother. Let us come with you." Mikey said.

Shado didn't want to bench Mikey and his brothers, but she did what she had. "Not this time, Mikey. We'll be--"

A massive roar commanded all the animal ears to scope out into the distance. It was calling for help, begging for it all to stop. Was she hurt, attacked, made a victorious kill?

The loud animal yell faded throughout the valley.

Griz knows that roar anywhere. She heard the high and low notes in the tiger's roar. The emerald-eyed tiger is in trouble. "Kri."

"Okay, now we are going with you." Leo said as Mikey and Donnie come to their brother's side.

Hawk shook her head. "Not happening. Please just stay here. We can handle this."

Shado disappears from the camp, Griz and Hawk picked up speed to follow the scent on the trail. Leo and his other two brothers will not be able to keep up due to the miraculous speed the animals were equipped with.

Another roar motivated the wolf, bear, and cheetah to go faster. Barreling through twists and turns of this dark path, running up the hill, a gust of wind, and then...

The moment the other three made it to the top, Raphael narrowed his eyes when connects his own to each animal.

"Your turn..." The female voice inside Raph said. Opening up the muscular turtle's arms, lights tickled his palms. The lights charged up quickly before Nizhoni pushed Raph's hands forward.

These balls of light were two rays of red, blinding the four-legged creatures.