Emotionless Mutation (Book Three)

Chapter 40: Lessons in Patrolling

Destiny stares down at the streets below her, tail swaying like a pendulum as her eager gaze traverses the sidewalks and alleyways and up onto the horizon. Her wings tense against her back and she closes her eyes, sucking in a long, cleansing breath. She focuses on the feeling of her wings, their weight and the place where they meet her back, and she imagines every bone and how to move it with the feathers.

"Tonight's the night, Leo," she says as her eyes open again and land on her watchful companion. "Weeks of work, of getting used to these things...I'm going to fly today."

"I believe in you," Leonardo says with a smile. Her tail wags faster. "So, what's your plan of action? Running start?"

"I've done that a lot, but I think it messes up the transition. I go from using my body to using my wings and," she says, pouting her lips out as she taps her foot, "I don't know, I want to try something else. You gonna catch me if I fall?"

"Well, if you insist..."

She reaches over and slugs his arm, making him laugh and hold his hands up in mock surrender. With a quivering smirk, she turns back around and sucks in the cool night air. She shakes her limbs out, stretches her wings, feels the wind kiss and caress each feather, and lets the practice, the work, and instinct take over.

With a powerful flap, she shoots into the air, gusting stray leaves and gravel dust past Leonardo and making him shield his eyes. He coughs, waving away the dust and rubbing his eyes before finally looking up as a whoop of glee sounds above him. Destiny's silhouette soars above him, turning and banking in the air as her laughter rings like a church bell in the dead of night.

"Holy shell," Leonardo whispers, his heart pounding. "She did it!"

She goes zooming past, dust and bits of gravel chasing after her in a race that they can't hope to win. There are tears flowing freely down her face, tugged out of her by the whipping wind, and her arms are spread as wide as her wings.

"I DID IT! SCREW YOU, GRAVITY!" she screams. She lets out a howl that rattles the stars and makes Leonardo's smile outshine the moon.

----------

In honour of Destiny's first flight, Splinter decides to let her do her own patrol, or at least one separate from the turtles. With the thrill of her success thrumming in her veins, she practically bounces along the tunnel behind the turtles, backpack thumping against her side and uchigatana attached firmly to her hip.

Once on the surface, Leonardo gives his usual spiel about being alert and gives a bonus spiel to Destiny about being extra safe. She's too excited to care, so her eye-rolling and teasing towards the leader are absent, replaced by nods and absentminded "yes sirs". When he finally backs off, Destiny flies to the rooftops with a howling laugh, earning a muttered "show off" from Raphael.

She's never felt freer. Her wings have gone from being useless lumps of feathers to working, beautiful extensions of her body. Can she fly perfectly? No. Can she go for hours without end and move gracefully without any trouble? Also no, but she can fly and that is enough for now.

"Desti-bear! Wait up!"

Her landing is rough, the heels of her sneakers digging into the gravel and she stumbles forward in the pinwheeling gait of an amateur unicycle rider. When she finally steadies herself and turns around, she's greeted by Michelangelo's breathless, smiling face.

"Mikey?" she asks.

"First off, I know it's your first patrol and that's, like, über special and stuff," he says, holding up one finger. He puts up another. "Second, I know that you want to be all cool and have your solo mission." Another finger. "Third...even with all that stuff, it's dangerous out there. Fourth—" He stops and stares at his hand for a second, then shakes his head and smiles at her. "I don't have enough fingers, but can I please come with you?"