turtle tot stories | tmnt 2012

Fearless Leader

Splinter sat on his knees in the main room of the lair, watching his sons play and frolic on the floor a few feet away. It had been at least a week since they'd said their first word, and ever since then, their vocabulary had been slowly expanding.

They could say simple words, like "yes" and "no", and were slowly learning to say their names and the names of each other. They were also growing, too, especially Donatello. The second-youngest turtle was at least an entire inch taller than his brothers, tall and awkward.

Right now, the brown-eyed turtle was doing what he did best: observing things. He was feeling everything-the floor, the walls, himself-and observing it, speaking to himself.

"Soft," he said, feeling his skin. "No soft," he said again, feeling the floor.

He stood up and walked over to where Raphael sat on the floor not too far away, playing with the rag he'd been playing with ever since he was barely a month old.

"Soft," Donnie said, touching the rag with one finger.

Raphael glared up at his younger brother, fury in his green eyes.

"No touch!" he snapped.

He stood up and pushed his little brother over. Donnie fell into his back and began to cry, tears streaming from his brown eyes and down his cheeks.

Leonardo, who had been playing with Michelangelo farther off, looked up with a startled expression. He narrowed his little eyebrows when he saw Donatello crying. As Splinter watched with growing interest, his oldest son stood up and marched over to the scene, standing in front of his crying little brother. He shot a fierce glare at Raphael.

"NO!" he yelled sternly. "No hit!"

He pointed toward a spot far away from them, a corner at the far right of the room.

"There!" he ordered.

"NO!" Raphael retorted.

Leonardo pointed again, his expression turning harder.

"There!" he repeated, his voice firm.

Raphael growled, then turned and stalked away toward the corner. Leonardo watched him go, then turned and bent down to deal with Donatello.

"Okay?" he asked.

Donatello nodded with a sniff. He sat up slowly, wiping tears from his eyes. Michelangelo rushed over, and Splinter followed at a normal pace. He picked up Donatello gently.

"You will be all right, my son," he assured him. "Raphael did not hurt you too badly."

He looked over at the corner, where the second-oldest of his sons sulked, his back turned to them. Splinter would make him apologize, he knew that for a fact.

He looked down at Leonardo.

"I am proud of you, my son," he said. "You are a very good brother."

"Br-brother," Leo repeated. "Brother?"

He pointed at Donatello. Splinter seemed to understand. He set Donatello down again, and the moment he did, Leonardo rushed over and wrapped his arms around him.

They are truly growing up, Splinter thought proudly. Especially Leonardo. I am sure one day, he will become a truly fearless leader.