A Dark Romance: The Shifting Times

The Second Story Window

Dark Donnie towered over his lab table, trying to ignore the yelling of his brothers outside. He would be upgrading the hovershell but his four shell brained brothers were a pain to deal with. Instead, Dark Don was occupying his time working on smaller upgrades that he could install later. He was the smart one after all. Dark Don paused at the distant sound of the peacekeepers' sirens.

"Stupid peacekeepers," he grumbled to himself, not appreciating the added anoying noise. Dark Don jumped a bit when something broke through the tinted windows. The thing fumbled with crooked wings as it tried to control its fall, ending up crashing in the corner. Dark Don crept over curiously, distracted from his work and from his brothers. It stumbled to its feet and hissed as it pressed itself further into the corner when he got close.Dark Don crouched down as he inspected the injured creature. It looked like some sort of bird, though it had four legs. Its deep indigo plumage was stained with red blood in several places. The small four legged thing was about the size of his hand. The peacekeepers' sirens were getting closer and the creature whined lightly and pressed its small body into the ground. He was surprised when it limped quickly over to him and cowered under his hunched form.

Dark Donnie felt a surprising sense of sympathy for the thing as he gently picked it up and walked back to his lad table. The bird whimpered at the movement but didn't make a move to fly away. Dark Don doubted that it would make it far if it even tried. He set it down on a small clear spot before rummaging around for a scanner. He thought their little sister had given him one at one point. Though none of the dark turtles would admit it out loud, they considered Lavinia their sister just as much as the original turtles did. The smaller female turtle had squirmed into their cold hearts the moment she had tracked them down simply to give them some food and other supplies. Dark Don grinned triumphantly as he finally located the scanner. He brought it over to the bird thing and figured out the extent of its wounds, as well as what it was. The bird whined lightly and curled in on itself when he held the scanner up to it.

"Easy there," Dark Don assured the creature quietly, "it's just a scanner." The machine beeped when the scan was complete and he wondered how this little bird was still able to move and conscious. She had a broken wing, several deep cuts, more bruises than should be possible, and some embedded glass shards from when she crashed through the window. He was surprised by the fact that the scanner couldn't tell him what species she was; it just read as N/A. "What happened to you?" he muttered to himself as he grabbed the box of medical supplies that Lavinia had also given him recently. The bird whimpered as Dark Don pulled out a needle syringe and a bottle of liquid painkiller. She was remarkably still when he gave her the shot. He started to dress her wounds as best he could immediately after. It was hard since she was so small and was so vulnerable and alive. Dark Don was good at making machinery and destroying stuff, but this was very different. The bird was extraordinarily well behaved and patient with his ministrations; that is, until he touched her broken wing. She cried weakly as her eyes rolled back and she collapsed. Dark Don fumbled for the scanner, hoping that she hadn't just died on his lab table. Sure enough, her vitals were strong and sure; she had just passed out from the pain. He sighed in relief and quickly splinted her wing and wrapped it up.

He looked around his lab for a suitable place to set her. He didn't want his idiotic brothers to find her, and he really didn't want Darius to find her. The best place would be the box with the medical supplies. The only ones who even bothered with it were he and Lavina when she brought stuff for them. Dark Don cleared out one of the larger sections and gently placed the unconscious indigo bird in the section. He set the lid partially back on the box and slid it back on the shelf. Just then, their fearless leader barged into his lad.

"I told you to knock you moron," Dark Don snapped at his blue brother as he jumped to his feet.

"Did you want some food or not?" Dark Leo growled from the doorway. Dark Don gritted his teeth and sighed, but he followed his brother out. He would check up on the bird after he had eaten.

---<|+|>---

Kairella blinked groggily as she came to. The pain medication that the purple turtle guy had injected her with was helping her immensely. She raised her head and looked around her small form at the box. The turtle obviously used this to store his medical stuff. Kairella was grateful for the help, but she couldn't stay here. She had been caught and it was only a matter of time before her host realized what she really was, and the fact that she was a fugitive. Her world was thrown into light and she whimpered as she buried her head under her uninjured wing.

"You're awake," her host commented as he carefully pulled out the box and set it on the table.

She chirped a quiet reply, taking her head out from under her wing. She couldn't answer in English in this form, and she wasn't about to shift. Not only was she a wanted criminal--even if she was still confused as to what she had done--she was also injured. Kairella knew from experience that shifting while injured would only make it worse.

"You're probably hungry, aren't you?" His voice was rough but held a certain kindness to it.

Kairella bobbed her small violet head. Some food would be nice and help her heal faster. He offered a small sliver of meat. After a quick whiff of the food, she deemed it acceptable and gently grabbed it from the turtle's clawed hands. She turned her head away from the third slice. It wasn't because she was full; she didn't want to be any more of a burden than she already was.

"Full already?" The purple turtle asked before popping the previously offered slice into his mouth. Kairella took the opportunity to study her host. While it was obvious that he was some kind of turtle, she hadn't seen anything like him before. And that was impressive since she was a seasoned traveler. Her species came from space itself and were masters of traveling in the in between. Some liked to call it the void or the netherworld, but Kairella didn't see what the big deal was over the name. The in between was like a car or a train to her; it was a quick and easy way to travel for those who knew how to use it. Kairella shook her head, focusing back on her host. He had turned away from her and was focusing on fixing up a Netion 500 continual plasma cannon. Kairella stood up shakily and stretched her neck over the lip of the box, trying to get a better look at what he was doing. She chirped disapprovingly as he was rewiring the weapon.

"What is it?" he asked her, stopping to look up at her. She jumped out of the box but didn't make it to the table. Her host had dropped his tools and snapped his hands out to catch her before she hit the surface. "What are you doing?" he hissed at her with a quick glance at the door. "You need to be resting, not jumping about."

She chirped at him again and looked down at the cannon.

"You want to see what I'm doing?" he asked her. She was surprised that he seemed baffled at the possibility that someone would be interested in what he was doing.

Kairella trilled a response, looking into his yellow eyes hopefully.

He sighed before setting her down on his shoulder. "Fine, you can watch from up there."

She huffed but settled down on his broad shoulder after a second. She would just have to be content with the spot. He didn't seem to want her to be near the weapon or his tools. She might just have to figure out how to sneak out of her box when he wasn't around and help him increase the capability of the cannon. It was the least Kairella could do after he fixed her up.