Hide & Seek - Tumblr Posts

Whumptober: Hide & Seek

Leonardo jumped another roof, grinning even as he heard Raphael curse his name. Behind him, his brothers struggled to keep up with him on their run, sometimes lagging far enough behind that he had to slow down to keep them close. God, it was good knowing he was still going on strong for somebody with a bad knee.

Still, he probably should give them a rest. He slowed to a stop and turned to them, grinning, while they crouched down, panting.

“Well,” he began, almost thoughtfully to tease them, “Now that we’ve had our warmup, I think it’s time for the actual training to begin.” When he paused, he got multiple yells between gasps, saying that the run was hard enough. He only smiled. What else was he supposed to do as a big brother? Nodding when they quieted down, Leonardo went on, “Thankfully for you, the training isn’t anything hard. Today, we’re playing a game.”

They cheered for just a second, right before Donatello caught on. “Wait a- What game are we playing?” He sounded suspicious, and Leonardo feigned being hurt by that.

“Hide and Go Seek, of course. I’ll be the seeker for this round. You all get a 1 minute head start, starting… Now!”

On his call, they all took off in separate directions, surprisingly running. He felt pride swell up that he couldn’t hear a single footstep from them while they ran away, then sat back and waited, counting the seconds as they ticked by. While waiting, he drew one of his katanas and worked on sharpening it. If he was going to give them a head start, he might as well do something useful in the meanwhile.

After his mental timer went off, Leonardo shot up and sheathed the blade, excited. They better have hid well, because he was on his way.

Leonardo took off after them, completely silent as well. He strained to listen for even the shortest breath or a faint heartbeat that might give them away. The hunt was still thrilling, even as he got older. It always was, he supposed. It was something that got your heart racing when somebody came too close to your hiding spot, as long as it was all in good fun.

To his left, he heard a sharp intake of air, and frowned slightly. Wouldn’t they have hid further away? Unless they were panicking, then he could totally-

It took him a second to realize that that was not one of his brothers. The breaths that whoever it was took were too deep and nasally with a low growl under them. Leonardo turned to the source of the sound, braced for an attack.

As he turned, the source of the sound pounced, claws digging into his arms and ripping up skin and muscle. He grunted and tore away, then glared at his attacker. Of course it was Razhaar. Nobody else had the audacity that he had, somehow. Really, it was a wonder that the dumb dog had survived as one of Shredder’s henchmen with an attitude like that.

Leonardo drew his blades and darted around Razhaar, slashing at his joints specifically to try and take him down as fast as he could. What? He wasn’t going to just leave a game that he had planned.

Razhaar reeled for just a moment before he lunged back at Leonardo and danced around him to avoid getting hit. The pair ended up circling each other, wondering who would be the first to try and attack again. When a long moment passed where neither of them engaged again, it was Razhaar who jumped back into action. Leonardo raised his blades, ready to block the hit and then dart away, but his enemy had faked the move, suddenly twisting to the side and digging sharp teeth into the blue banded turtle’s shoulder.

Leonardo bit back a yelp, instead cutting into Razhaar’s side and darting back. He was still part of a game, and not too far from the starting area. His family would find him soon if he didn’t lead the attacker away.

He wrinkled his beak in annoyance before he turned and ran in a random direction. It didn’t really matter where, as long as it was just away.

As he looked around for a hiding place to collect himself, he found a rooftop that, apparently, with the New York rent prices, had rich enough homeowners to have a large garden situated on top, complete with large, thick bushes and tall grass. That would work well enough.

Silently apologizing to whoever took care of the garden, Leonardo squirmed underneath one of the bushes and curled up as small as he could go, effectively hiding himself under the leaves and branches. It would probably be best if he called one of his brothers now, while he still had the chance, he realized. It was probably decent to let them know now that the game was over.

He reached for his phone and called Raphael, tapping the case while he waited. The first call was declined almost immediately. Which was fair, considering he had no clue what was going on, but it still created a twinge of annoyance in Leonardo.

So he called again, getting declined a second time, and continued to call until the red-clad brother finally picked up.

“Leo,” Raphael groaned, “This is really a new low for you. Are you giv-”

Somewhere above Leonardo, Razhaar jumped down, sniffing a couple times to try and find him.

“What’s-?”

“Shh!” Leonardo hissed, scooching further back and turning on mute. The last thing he needed was for Raphael to hear what was going on.

Razhaar came closer, laughing victoriously. “I smell blood. I know you’re close, freak,” he growled, and Leonardo could hear something shift as the dog mutant looked for him.

He was getting too close to where Leonardo had camped out. He needed to do something, and fast. Looking left and right for another hiding point, his gaze eventually drifted to the edge of the building, then down to the grappling hook on his belt.

He had a plan.

Leonardo started running when Razhaar tore through the bush’s branches with a snarl, fumbling for the tool as he rapidly approached the edge. As he came to it, he turned to give his enemy a two finger salute, then jumped, twisting midair and firing the grappling hook with a prayer that it would hit its mark.

The hook caught the building and sent Leonardo swinging over the road. He grinned, biting his tongue to keep from cheering when he almost ran up the side of a building and rolled into the shadows of a low built sign. Once hidden, he rummaged around in the little medical bag for a roll of gauze so that he would finally stop leaving a blood trail everywhere he went.

After a moment, he remembered that Raphael was still, in fact, on mute. Cheeks burning in shame, he pulled his phone out after finishing with his wounds.

“Hey, sorry about that, got held up.”

“‘Got held up’?” Raphael repeated indignantly, “’Got held up’? How ‘held up’ do you have to be to leave me for ten minutes?!”

“I’m sorry! I just-”

The oldest cut off, breathing hitching. Somebody was there with him. He was still being hunted.

“Come out, turtle,” A familiar voice growled, the sound of blade sliding smoothly out of its hidden sheath following shortly after, “Perhaps your death shall be swift.”

Leonardo took a shaky breath, then lowered his voice to a deathly whisper, right before hanging up. “I’ll call you back.”