Stealthy Stories

[Askre]

This is my longest title yet I think sorry there won't be any status indications on this one. You'll just have to look out when I post update news on my LJ or here on the forum

This story has been planned for a while actually, I started typing it up around the time I was writing A Tale of Rogue Leonardo. But focuses on the Movie turtles once more.

This story happens not that long after Double Encounter and can be viewed as a sequel to it. It's in first person perspective (and gee here I once vowed that WNGAB and Sinking into insanity would be my only ones) all from Movie-Donatello's POV.

He narrates as he and his brothers head to South Cabbat's forest to meet Southern Cabbats.

Disclaimer and Legal stuff:
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles®, including Raphael®, Michelangelo®, Leonardo®, Donatello®, April O'Neil®, and Splinter® are registered trademarks of Viacom International Inc. Based on characters and comic books created by Peter A. Laird and Kevin B. Eastman.

I do not own them in other words.

This story is written purely as a homage to the Teenage Mutant Turtles and not meant for any commercial profit or infringement on copyright. This story will immediately be removed if Viacom International wishes so.

All other characters, not already belonging to Viacom International, are © Hermann Gunnar Sigurðsson (Askre).

AU turtles in all their varety are based off the TMNT.

All species including, Cabbats, Halcons, Lupinars and Rytonas in all their varieties, are © Hermann Gunnar Sigurðsson (Askre).

Bint originally created by Namishiro used with permission.

The story, is copyright © 2010 by Hermann Gunnar Sigurðsson (Askre).


Warning: This story will contain violence. Implied and perhaps mildly described adult situations.
If you don't like to see characters suffer this is not a story for you. If you are of a sensitive mind, then you have been warned. Story is rated R

This story is canon to the Assassin series.

To fully understand this story, being familiar with the Assassin series is advisable.

Sum: Despite his bad history with the Cabbats. Movie Donatello desires to learn more about them, especially when hearing that there exist smaller versions.

Chapter 1

I can’t say that I’m the biggest fan of the Cabbats. I’ve been captured two times by them and in both cases beaten into pulp. From what I have seen, they seem mostly vicious, near-xenophobic brutes. So far I’ve only ran into two exceptions to this rule, the Cabbat healer Mizuri and his young daughter Kolaza.

After our last adventure involving the Cabbats, Mizuri was allowed to stay at April’s farmhouse. He felt that his home world, called Kalaria, wouldn’t be a welcome place for him or his daughter anymore. After all, he did in the end side with his brother’s enemies and helped me and my brothers.

But still, albeit my distain for those apparently distant relatives of turtles, I am curious about them. I do admit that my encounter was with an isolated group, fiercely loyal to their tribe leader Alo. Perhaps, much like humans, some Cabbats are good and others bad. Mizuri’s behavior certainly points that not all of them are vicious brutes.

Then Leonardo told something once that increased my curiosity even more. It was when we were still at the Rytona hospital and he was telling Master Splinter about the whole mess. He told our father how our lives had been spared due to our species. Apparently the Cabbats figured we were relatives to what they called Southerners. This was something I just had to investigate. Thus once we headed to the farmhouse few weeks later to check on Mizuri, I planned to ask him few questions.

All my brothers were in the van and so was little Braka, now officially Raph’s son by rymska traditions. Braka and he have been rather good friends almost from the day they met. My red masked brother had been thrilled that Jala allowed him to be the boy’s father. This time she and her daughter Dia were not with us. She had gone to the eastern province of Rytonas to meet some people regarding a new job.

She lives in the lair now with her two children. It is no problem since the rymska can use a traveler to head back to Rytonas for work. Leo said they could always move over if she really wanted but Jala assured him that this was alright. But I think he is planning to move to Rytonas eventually, I know I wouldn’t mind it. We could then live in the open, no need to hide.

I yawn and steal a glance out of the window. We are finally approaching the farm and I will be glad to get out and stretch my legs. Braka is also getting restless, babbling away in his mix-up of English and Rytonas. His grasp of the language is getting better, though he still substitutes words he doesn’t know with words from his mother tongue.

“Well we are here,” April finally announces and goes to park the van in front of the house.

Braka is quick to unbuckle and pretty much dives out. Raph is soon out after him and Mikey too. Leo and I take it a bit slower to step out, taking time to stretch sore limbs. There is no sign of Mizuri or Kolaza though.

“Maybe they are out for a walk,” I suggest when Leo does make a note of the absence of the Cabbats.

But then the front door opens and Mizuri steps out. He has this much more stoic expression and walks much calmer than others of his kind we had encountered. The Cabbat smiles a little bit when seeing us.

“Greetings,” he addresses us.

“Hello Mizuri, we decided to come and check how things are going with you and your daughter,” Leonardo told him. Braka came almost galloping, having used the opportunity to a run around on a bit.

“That is kind of you,” the Cabbat says. “It does get a little lonely here. Kolaza is inside, in the bath basin.”

It takes me moment to realize that Mizuri means the bathtub. I had noted before that although the Cabbat spoke English, they definitely spoke it differently than us. Mizuri invites us inside and we follow him into the building. Braka darts off, probably following scent to where Kolaza is. Soon we can hear the girl greet and splash of water.

At first we just sit in the living room, listen to Mizuri tell us what he’s been up to. But the Cabbat has mostly just lived a quiet life here. He goes on the occasional walks with or without his daughter, swims in the lake nearby or just doing something around the house. But he misses Kalaria though he doesn’t say it. I can hear it on him; he is obviously far more social than he gives himself credit for.

Leonardo began telling Mizuri how the trial of his three brothers had gone. I recall that trial well, I had been called in as a witness and so where my brothers. Mizuri had declined, said he had already betrayed his brothers enough and would not appear in an alien court.

I shudder at the thought of Alo, the most violent and brutal Cabbat or even person in general I have met. But he was unafraid; didn’t seem ashamed at all what he had done, stared all of us right in the eyes. The bastard even grinned when I told the judge about my beatings at his hands. I don’t think Alo even considered that what he did was wrong or unethical.

Maccar was similarly unafraid though he didn’t snort, or grin or chuckle when hearing the crimes his brother committed. He looked graver, as if he realized much better than his brother what they were facing. Maccar’s crime was mostly masterminding the attack on the farmhouse, endangering the lives of Rytona citizens and others.

Accrel on the other hand was nervous and jittery. He constantly looked around and seemed really uncomfortable. He didn’t look at any of us when we were talking, kept his focus on the table. His crimes were much minor, mostly by association.

Alo received 40 years imprisonment, Maccar 20 years but Accrel got a much milder sentence. They were going to keep him in for a year, but then he would be transferred into the custody of Mizuri or even just send him back to Kalaria.

“I don’t think this will do my younger brothers much good. Cabbats are by nature stubborn, Alo will still be thirsting revenge,” Mizuri said once Leonardo had finished. All of us blinked in surprise, younger brothers?

“Wait… you are older than Alo?” Raphael asked after melting this for a bit.

“By three winters yes,” he confirmed. “Maccar and Alo are four winters apart. Accrel is six winters after Maccar.”

“But Alo has always been the dominant brother?” Leonardo inquired though that was probably very obvious, thus no surprise when the Cabbat nodded.

“I took after our mother who was a healer. I studied the healing arts with her much to my father’s chagrin. He like so many proud Cabbat warriors wanted his first born son to be a warrior too. He did force me to learn at least to fight with the staff, he would not have any of his sons unable to fight,” Mizuri told us.

“But fighting never has been much in my nature, Alo on the other hand was always fighting and took very much after our father. Maccar was on a similar ground, even though he ended up studying to become shaman. But father approved it because he also learned how to fight. Accrel, well, he just followed, he always does.”

“Uh I was wondering about your brother, Accrel, those rare moments we saw him well…” I spoke up, remembering once how unfocused that particular Cabbat had looked.

“There is some sort of mind illness in him. I do not know what it is, but Accrel needs much more attendance than the regular Cabbat,” Mizuri shrugged. I somehow suspected that psychology wasn’t their strongest point. If someone did have a mental illness the healers were at loss what to do.

My mind then brings back up the questions I had been pondering about. Raphael had gone to check on Braka who was probably still with Kolaza. Leonardo was silent and thinking and so was April. Mikey went to the kitchen to get something to drink.

“We were told that your kind mistook us for Southern Cabbats, you wouldn’t mind telling us what a Southern Cabbat is and how that is necessarily different,” I asked. Mizuri looks at me and frowns a bit.

“Southerners are smaller than us Northerners, I am bigger than the biggest Southerners and I am a small Northerner. Their shells are softer and they are not as fierce and bold as their cousins in the north,” he began.

“They live as the name suggests in the southern part of Cabbat forest in the warmer climates. But they are I hear steadily loosing territory over to Northern tribes who have begun migrating South. But I don’t know that much about that,” Mizuri then suddenly dropped his head a bit. “Kolaza’s mother was a southern female.”

“I found her in the forest once; she was injured and weak from hunger and thirst. I think she was fleeing. I took her to my healing hut and healed her, she couldn’t talk. Infection in her throat had robbed her the ability to speak when she was young. It wasn’t unusual for a Northern male to take a southern female as a mate, so nobody in the tribe, not even Alo objected it when I clai… took her as a mate,” the Cabbat rather quickly corrected himself there at the end.

I realized better how different things were for these beings; they did have a whole different mindset how the world works. So maybe it wasn’t surprising that Alo hadn’t been ashamed of his actions, maybe what he did wasn’t considered crime among them.

“So the Southerners are, would you say, friendlier?” Leo asked and looked mildly interested in what we were discussing.

“They are less hostile yes, they are more open to humans and other races in Kalaria,” Mizuri nodded. “They are though as I said nervous, especially around Northerners…”

We were a bit surprised to see the shameful look coming on the Cabbat. But we didn’t get a chance to inquire. Kolaza came running with Braka hot on her tail, the kids now in a game of tag. Raphael appeared in the doorway of the living room.

“She said she was done so I emptied the tub,” he told Mizuri who thanked him.

“Don?”

I looked up, Leo was staring at me. I had fallen silent into thought and somehow suspect that my brother saw right through me. The idea of these Southern Cabbats was really intriguing me and I was starting to play with the idea to go to Kalaria and meet with a Southern Tribe.

“Um,” I scratched my head. “Just thinking it would be interesting to meet Southern Cabbats.”

The silence in the room was heavy. Leo and April stared at me rather shocked, Mizuri frowned and so did Raph. Mikey returned to the living room and could only wonder what was going on.

“I… have to admit I wasn’t expecting to hear something like that from you. Not after your past experience with Cabbats,” Leonardo said.

“Well… that was with an isolated group; we can’t really judge a whole species by the action of selected few can we? I mean not all humans are bad, April, Casey and Keno prove that. So it shouldn’t be far fetched that some Cabbats are good too, just look at Mizuri,” I told him.

“So you are just going to waltz over to the Cabbat Forest and start looking for Southern Cabbats?” Raph asked and I could see that he didn’t like that idea at all. But then again I hadn’t gotten that far, still only at the part of how fun it might be to meet them.

“You know… why not? I mean we pretty much pass as Cabbats anyway, we shouldn’t expect too much trouble. Also we would be going to the southern parts and as Mizuri said, those Cabbats are friendly,” I look at them and am not surprised that I get many unsure looks.

“Cabbat Forest is a dangerous place, but Cabbats do not kill other Cabbats,” Mizuri came unexpectedly to my aid.

“Don, are you positive you want to do this?” Leo asked me, he was by now the most experienced of us in dimension travelling. So I suspect our leader was ready to let me try this. I take a moment to think before looking at my brother in blue.

“Yeah, I think it would be an interesting experience,” I answer him.

“Well you’re not going alone,” Raph protested.

“Of course he isn’t, we will go with him,” Leo assured him, I was not surprised to hear that.

“Um we are?” Mikey blinked.

“I… can come too. Even though I’ve never been to the south. I can still guide you in the right direction,” Mizuri offered rather unexpectedly. We all look at him.

“I thought you felt you would be unwelcome’” Leonardo said.

“I think he wants to test that theory,” I chime in and smile a bit. “He wants to see if his fear is unfounded or not.”

“That obvious?” Mizuri smiled weakly back.

“April, you think you could take care of the kids while we are gone?” Leonardo then turned to April who nodded.

“Sure, sure, no problem, but when do you guys think you will return?” she asks, at that Leo looks at Mizuri.

“We will have to go on foot, so the trip could take several sunsets. But Cabbat forest is full of food, we could easily live off the land,” he tells us.

It was then we realized that this kind of trip wouldn’t just be an ordinary road trip. This would be an expedition, in similar manner and the Europeans went in the age of explorations through the jungles of Africa, Central and South America. We could be months at this.

“Well, I guess we won’t be just hopping over right away like I thought. We must prepare for a long trip,” Leo frowned.

The preparation began almost immediately; it made no sense for April to hang in the farmhouse with the kids alone. Thus she drove back to New York to get Splinter; she was going to call Casey but then remembered he had gone on a road trip with a cousin of his. Leo went over to Rytonas to tell Jala to come to the farmhouse when she was done.

When Leonardo returned, he told us that he was under strict instructions to come back alive. Considering the time it took our brother to come back from Rytonas, we suspected that he and Jala had been doing something more than just saying goodbye.

Mostly what we got was gear to sleep in. Mizuri was going to help us hunt and gather other food we could eat in Kalaria. Thus we didn’t need to burden us with too much of provisions. We did get water bottles though.

After two days of preparations we were ready to go. Leonardo had acquired coordinates for Kalaria from the Rytona department of Interdimensional travel. The Rytonas were keeping an extra eye on the world now, especially since they had three Cabbats in their State Penitentiary in Kila.

I have to admit that I was a little nervous once we stepped through the portal. Last time in Kalaria, I had been a prisoner but now I was a traveler. We arrived in a forest and Mizuri immediately recognized the surroundings. He told us that we weren’t that far away from his old village.

The forest was mostly beech in this part, but Mizuri told us it would change as we processed further south. It seemed that Cabbat forest was really a combination of many forests that had simply merged together thousands of years ago.

Once we had our baring straight, the heading was taken southeastwards. Mizuri told us that if we went directly south, we would end up in the Kingdom of the Lupinars. I recalled that species name; Jala had been confused for one.

Our first day in Kalaria was very uneventful. We did manage to hunt down a deer like creature and cooked the meat over a camp fire. The rest of the meat we didn’t eat, we packed in the skin of the animal. Mizuri showed us plants Cabbats used that would keep the meat from spoiling.

The second day Mikey started to complain about boredom after we had travelled for a bit. So far we hadn’t met anyone yet, but I suspect that Mizuri was steering us away from villages at the moment. After all, we were still on Northern Cabbat territory.

We had to rest though at times, Mizuri suffered from back pains on the occasion. He didn’t want to tell us why, just said it was an old injury acting up.

But not meeting a Cabbat in their territory was just too high expectation. It wasn’t long until we had our first encounter with a native. We noticed that suddenly Mizuri tensed up and gripped his staff tighter.

“A Cabbat,” he whispered and started to look around. We all got ready to draw our weapons just in case it was an unfriendly.

Suddenly into view came a huge turtleoid. He was bigger than the biggest Cabbats who we had met at the farmhouse. This one had to be well over seven feet tall. He carried a rather ugly looking spear. The behemoth stopped right in front of us and smirked.

End chapter 1.


One day I am going to learn not to stop on a blasted cliffhanger I proooomise
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Confusing the heck out of the world since 1983.

[engelina]

and so the movie-turtles go to kalaria, and mizuri goes with them. * looks at the size of the cabbat they meet.* i really hope they will not have to fight that one..

and you had to end there, isn't it, askre?

and looking forward to reading more!
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[Fire Mimi]

Oh, a good 'ol Askre cliffhanger. Hoping for an update soon. This new information on the Cabbats is very fascinating.
_________________
Stay gold, stay true, and always be you.
Whether or not, it makes you feel blue.

Art: http://firemimi.deviantart.com

[Askre]

[Askre]

Chapter 2

“Hail!” the large Cabbat greeted us.

“Hail hunter,” Mizuri greeted back, we responded in similar manner. Better be polite, somehow I think we would have trouble bringing this one down if it came to a fight.

“Heading south?” the hunter inquired and glanced at me and my brothers.

“Yes, I am taking them back to their homelands in South Cabbat Forest,” Mizuri responded.

“Nomads? Or just lost?” the large Northerner asked, the latter part might have been taken as a mock, but he didn’t chuckle nor was the tone like that. He never dropped the smirk though.

“Yes we are nomads, but we were unsure about the direction in these parts. So we got the aid of this healer to head us into the right direction. He decided to join us in our travel,” Leonardo spoke up. The large Cabbat looked at him and now grinned; exposing something I can’t believe I hadn’t noticed before. Cabbats have four large canines.

“And what business do you Southern Nomads have up here in the North?” the Cabbat looked at Leonardo.

“Nomads travel wherever they can go. Our travels brought us here, if you have problems with it, you can take it with us,” Leonardo stated calmly but got ready to get his weapons. So did Raph, but much to our surprise the behemoth laughed.

“Well I’ll be, a Southerner with teeth,” he chuckled. “Well there is good game to be found here. Don’t let me stop you.”

With that he disappeared. I was a little confused by this, but also quite surprised. The Cabbat had portrayed no hostility towards us, he was maybe not polite but I had met ruder. I looked at Mizuri who was preparing to continue like nothing had happened.

“What was that all about?” I wonder, eyeing in the direction the Cabbat had gone into.

“Just a curious hunter from a nearby tribe,” Mizuri said shrugging, this was clearly not unusual.

“But man he was huge,” Mikey peeped from the back. “Not all Cabbats are this big are they?”

“Bigger,” Mizuri told us, now we all stopped and stared shocked at him.

“Uh… I could have sworn that none of the Cabbats we have met before were over six feet and five inches,” I say. In fact Alo so far had been the biggest Cabbat I had met before this one.

“Cabbats go through two growth spurts; usually they grow first into the size they will remain in for a while near the age of 15 to 18 winters. But once reaching 38 or 39 winters they go through a second growth spurt. Some don’t grow very tall at all, but others get really big,” Mizuri explained to me.

“How old are you?” I wondered.

“I will soon have lived for 41 winters,” Mizuri told me.

“Wait… so Alo hasn’t gone through his second growth spurt yet?” Leonardo asked and his jaw dropped when getting a positive answer.

“I have gone through mine, unfortunately I didn’t grow very tall as you can see,” the Cabbat said.

We continued again in relative peace before our next encounter with Cabbats. This time a female who seemed to be digging up roots. She had a strap around her made of animal skin and fastened to it was a basket carrying a child. Young infant Cabbat who just watched silently with big eyes, resting his or hers head on the mother’s flat carapace.

“Who are you?” she asked sharply and rose up. The female carried a bag and spiky club, it was clear you better not mess with this lady. She was taller than Mizuri.

“I am Mizuri of no tribe. I’m taking these Southerners back south to their homelands,” Mizuri simply responded.

The female looked at us, slight distain in her eyes. Either she didn’t like Southerners, strangers or both. The female looked at our Cabbat guide after regarding us for a moment. The child was now partly blocked from view by the mother.

“These are strange looking Southerners,” she grunted. I tilted my head a bit, she was definitely more observant than the male we met.

Raph was on the edge to respond back. But we had been strictly instructed by Mizuri that unless the leader of a group gave permission, none of us should shoot in. We agreed that Mizuri and Leo would act as co-leaders of short. That was why Leo pretty much walked right beside the Cabbat. That was an indication that they were equals. The rest of us kept a bit more to the back.

“We may look strange, but we cannot help how we were born. We will carry on and not bother you anymore,” Leonardo added in. I wondered if the female was on the edge because we were strangers and she had an infant with her.

“If you want to rest, my village is nearby,” the female offered dropping a bit her scowl. This confused us turtles but Mizuri didn’t look phased at all.

I had been in a Northerner village before. But then again I can’t say I caught the best glimpses nor was in much state to observe it. Visiting a Northern settlement might even give a better distinction between the two Cabbat groups. I was thus secretly relieved that Mizuri and Leonardo accepted the offer.

The female led us away and we were soon in a village, looking bigger than the one I had been prisoner in. We were met with many curious faces, wondering no doubt about these strangers that had arrived in their community. The female took us to a large probably seven foot Cabbat introduced as Tribe Leader Hakz.

Mizuri and Leonardo said the same story; we were southerners heading back home with the Cabbat’s help. While they were doing that I took a moment to look around. Seeing now with more observant eyes the life of the Northerners.

Many were working, which is probably natural in tribal based communities. Several were handling food in one way or another, gutting fish, skinning deer, sorting out roots and berries. Some were working on carving out staffs and some were taking care of sharper looking weapons.

It was pretty equal based, there weren’t necessarily more males working on one job than females. It didn’t seem to matter what gender you were, just that you did your job. I did take a note that all the Cabbats did look fierce and with no-nonsense appearance. They were confident looking, did not speak in whispers at all and were very physical.

One Cabbat male was talking with another and constantly was in some sort of physical contact, taking his shoulder, holding onto his arm, placing the hand on the carapace. The other male didn’t seem to mind at all and did the same in fact often. Same went with females.

“I am Leonardo of the Hamato Tribe,” I then heard that Leonardo had begun introducing himself. Mizuri had told us to have a name for our tribe when introducing ourselves. Even nomads introduced themselves in tribes if they had them.

“These are my brothers, Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo,” he continued. I looked at Hakz, he was nodding as Leo introduced us.

“Marica will show you where you can rest,” Hakz then said. “Some hunters are going hunting soon, if any of your tribe members wish to join they are free to do so.”

Marica was the female Cabbat we had met in the forest. She took us to a small hut near two bigger ones. This was a hut reserved for traveling Cabbats who passed through. It was big enough for five to sleep in. We relieved us of what we carried in the hut and my brothers decided to sit down and rest. Mizuri as well lay down, his back having taken all the walking it could have for now.

I couldn’t sit still; I wanted to check the rest of the village out. So far these Cabbats had been much friendlier than those we had met before. Not that I wished to push my luck, but I still wanted to at least observe.

So I stepped out and stood near the hut where I actually did have a nice view over the village. I noticed a group of children peeking around the corner of a hut. Some were definitely Kolaza’s age, but some seemed younger and others older. It was very hard to make out which ones were girls and boys. They were very identical; I found that odd because there was a clear difference between adult males and females.

The male Cabbat is big, hulking and broad. He has a large dome shaped carapace and they definitely have the big canines. The female Cabbat on the other hand is a bit smaller, more streamlined so to speak, with a flat carapace and what would be considered feminine features. But from what I have seen of the Northerners, both sexes can be just as aggressive if it comes to it.

Suddenly one of the kids sprang up and ran towards me. He gave a loud child-like roar and seemed to be trying to appear fierce. He stopped mere inches away from me, staring right at my face and then banged his small fist on the plastron. Now I say he mostly because right now I’m assuming this is a boy. Finally the kid gave a snort, looked at me with much confident and ran back to his applauding pals.

Ooookay, I was not sure what that was about. I looked into the hut and mentioned this to Mizuri.

“Oh that’s just a show; he’s just showing he’s not afraid of you. This is a test of courage, approach a stranger and show that you will stand your ground. All Cabbat children do this, makes most parents proud,” he explained to me.

Ah so this was some sort of a ritual for the kids, proving their worth for their parents and friends. In some ways it made sense, a strong brave kid would probably grow up into a strong and brave Cabbat. This had been more interesting than shocking. I have to admit, my distain for the Cabbats was slowly subsiding. Again I was shown that I had just met the wrong ones the first two times.

“Hey Raph, step out a second,” I decided though to have a little fun with this. I could see the kids whispering and figured that another trial was in the making.

“What is it?” my red masked brother appeared in the doorway, but I grab his arm and pull him out.

“When a kid comes running, growl back,” I whisper to him, I don’t think I would be able to make a convincing growl. I would probably come out as faking it.

And another kid comes running growling and so ready to show his friends that he is brave. Raph frowned at this display and when the kid came close, my brother growled right back. The reaction was priceless, but I managed not to laugh. The kid almost spun when Raphael growled and hurried back to his disappointed friends. Yes he or even possibly she had failed the courage test, I could see few shaking heads but none were aimed at us.

“If ya want to be brave, ya got to be able to handle a little growling back,” Raph called to the kids. That was met as a challenge; the first kid came now running, clearly going to show my brother that he or she was brave. Raphael growled and lo and behold the kid stood his ground, growling right back at my brother.

We were met with few more challenges before the kids had enough. They disappeared off, most likely to play elsewhere and let the strangers be. Raph returned back into the hut and I decided to take a short stroll around.

Nobody paid me much mind and I tried not to look like too much of a tourist, staring at everything that was new to me. But it was a bit difficult; there was so much to see just in this village. I spotted where the female, Marica, we had met in the forest was. The Cabbat was in front of a hut and seemed to be sorting out the roots she has gathered.

The infant had been let out of the basket and crawled around near its mother. Marica did keep a careful eye on her baby as she worked; the child was not allowed to stray too far away. I contemplated to approach. But I somehow doubted that Cabbats just walked over to strangers and sparked casual conversations.

“Hey you!” suddenly she looks up at me.

“Ah, yes?” I wonder if I had done something. Maybe I was too close for her liking.

“Can you give me one of the baskets over there,” she points towards few woven baskets I’m standing near.

“Ah sure,” I pick one up and walk with it over to her. The Cabbat immediately begins putting some of the roots in it.

“You have a healthy looking child, you and the father must be proud,” I figured that was passable to say.

“The father… yes he would be proud,” Marica hesitated when the father was mentioned. She glances at the child who had sat down and was gnawing a root.

“Oh is he…” I stop and wonder if I should pry about this.

“He does not know that he has a son. He left shortly after we mated,” the female tells me and resumes her work.

“Oh,” I figured I understood. “What is the boy’s name?”

“I named him Brok,” Marica responds but seems rather busy now with her work. Young Brok crawls closer to the basket and attempts to peek into it. In his mouth is still the chewed on root.

I decide to leave mother and son be. Turning around I blink when suddenly witnessing what looks like a bloody fight. Two huge male Cabbats are rolling on the ground, dealing heavy punches at each other. But nobody seems to be in any hurry to stop this. They stand up and just continue to run into each other, hitting and head-butting and at one time even kicking. Finally the bigger one deals a really hard upper-cut on his opponent. The smaller Cabbat flies and crashes hard on the ground almost right in front of me.

For a moment I’m not sure if I should lend a hand. This does seem to be a private matter between these two, but neither is scowling or look remotely angry. The smaller one starts to rise up, undaunted at the powerful punch he had received.

“I felt that one,” the Cabbat chuckles and rubs his jaw. The victor laughs.

“Hey watch out, you have a Southerner behind you,” the bigger one calls. That causes his friend to turn around to look at me.

“Uh… don’t mind me, just carry on,” I start to back away. Apparently this was their version of sparring or something, better not be in the way.

Not sure that my retreat improved whatever opinion these Cabbats might have on me or my brothers. But at the moment I didn’t care, the two behemoths snort when I leave and go back to fighting.

I return to the hut where my brothers and Mizuri rest. I figured that next time Mizuri should accompany me on the next stroll. I rather not end up doing something that might cause offense.

“Hey Donny,” Mikey greets me when I enter the hut. Leo is meditating and Raph looks to be sleeping. Mizuri is sitting and nods too me.

“Hey,” I sit down next to my stuff, I pull out a notebook and start jotting down what I have been seeing so far. Then I mentioned to Mizuri some of what I had witnessed.

“Just friends having a little friendly brawl,” he explains to me the two big Cabbats. But he frowns heavily when hearing about Marica. But our guide doesn’t offer anything to it, just sinks into deep thought.

“Seems that so far nobody has minded you Mizuri,” I put away my book and look at the Cabbat.

“We have only met one tribe,” he reminds me. That is of course true and based on the technology level here, news probably don’t move very fast.

“I’m starved, what’s for dinner?” Mikey chimes in; in his hands is a comic book he had smuggled with him in his backpack.

Mizuri reached for the pack we had stored the rations. My orange clad brother made a slight face, but knew better than to protest. We had agreed to live on the land and that’s all he was getting.

“How long is it again until we reach the southern borders?” I wonder, not recalling the time and distance Mizuri gave us. In fact I’m not sure he gave it.

“We are still a bit away, but once we reach the South River, we have arrived. The Southern lands are on the other side of it… or should be,” Mizuri explained to me.

“Should be?” Mikey blinked.

“As I mentioned to you before, the Northern Cabbats are pressing on South, reducing the land the Southerners live on,” the Cabbat explains to him. “It could well extend past the river by now.

It was too bad that we didn’t have a map. But Mizuri said that only the Lupinars, the humans of a kingdom called Randver Island and the Halcons had maps. The Cabbats didn’t need them, they didn’t get lost easily in their forest.

I lie down to catch a short nap, only to be awoken shortly later by loud voices outside. Leonardo opens his eyes and Raph rises up. We four turtles are all a bit startled and confused by the commotion, but Mizuri doesn’t even blink. Finally though curiosity wins over and we all peek out.

The sun is setting and it seems it is time for bed. But the children aren’t quite ready to go and do just that. Some obey their parents and disappear into huts, but others have to be carried. They growl and shout, demanding to be put down and claim loudly that they aren’t tired. I’m rather surprised by the stoic state of the parents. Most of them just chuckle and smile at their kids demands.

One kid was being carried by none other than the tribe leader Hakz. The child had stopped screaming and now had the small arms folded in what could only be described as a dignified pout. There were no tears or whimpers, just an angry silence. We all turn to look at Mizuri. He tilts his head then raises his eye ridges.

“Cabbats first battles are always with the parents about the sleep time,” he tells us simply.

“Wait you mean this is normal?” Raph asks surprised.

“You should have heard some of the things my brothers and I growled at our parents,” Mizuri smiles a bit. Indicating that yes this was quite normal.

Then as suddenly as it had started everything was silent again. I glance out and see many of the adult Cabbats head out of their huts. Many smiling and shaking their heads, yes the children had lost another battle, but would try again the next evening.

The adults began gathering around near the middle of the village, a large fire had been started. I shudder and drop back into the hut. Last time I had been in presence of a large campfire and Cabbats, I had been beaten up. Even though I doubted it would happen here, I still had no desire to go socialize. Raph lay back down and Leo returned to his seat.

Mikey stayed though in the doorway and started to give us a live commentary on what was happening. Most of the male Cabbats had sat down around the fire, barrels had been brought out and large wooden mugs. Many of the females were around but some seemed to have gathered around their own fire nearby.

Mizuri now explained to us that this was what happened every night in Cabbat villages. The adults gather around the fire, tell stories and some might even brawl a little for fun. This was a social gathering of the entire tribe. They had been working all day, now it was time to relax and have fun with their fellow tribe-Cabbats.

As enchanting as it actually sounded, I still did not feel up to going to socialize with them. Northern Cabbats idea of fun was very violent. Mikey disappeared out, telling us that he wanted to have a closer look.

“Be careful,” Leo calls after him.

I dared myself to look back out and saw where Mikey was approaching the fire. Most of the Cabbats paid him no notice, some did turn to look at him but there didn’t seem to be anything said. Eyeing around the area I found it curious that I couldn’t see Marica among the adults. Maybe she didn’t want to leave her infant son.

Our brother doesn’t seem to be in any kind of trouble, so I retreat back to my bag. I have to admit that seeing all those big Cabbats by the fire is also bringing up some uncomfortable memories. But even so, this still gave some insight on how the culture around here worked. Mikey returned back inside on the run smiling wide.

“Hey guys, you really should come out here, these guys are real fun,” our brother announces.

“Not all adults attend every night, so it is no surprise if some of us don’t come,” Mizuri tells us. Raph relents to go out and Leonardo decides to go as well, I suspect he wants to keep an eye on our two brothers.

I decided to continue to work on my notes while my brothers headed out. Mizuri lay down to go to sleep. Soon the soft snoring came from his corner indicating that. The sounds of laughter reached into the hut, they were dim since it was closed but there was no mistake the village was having fun.

End Chapter 2.


I admit that we are still in the calm part of the story, but things will pick up once they actually reach South Cabbat Forest.
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Confusing the heck out of the world since 1983.

[engelina]

turns out things did not go as bad as they could, and they even find a place to spend the night.

and some familiar names too. Brok as a cute kid, among things. Normal daily live in a village, like the kids being kids and trying to look brave. * chuckles* Raph managed to be a bit of a challenge.

and then there is the Cabbat kids the bed time ritual... makes me glad i don't have to chase and battle my kids when its bed time.

and we end with the evening activity, and three of the turtles ending up joining the Cabbats around the fire.

anyways and looking forward to the next chapter!
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[katt30]

Baby Brok! I just wanna snatch him up, and hug him lots. But I don't want a bunch of angry cabbats after me. Just have to be happy with my older RPG version of him. xD

The image of Raph having a growling contest with cabbat kids cracks me up. It's good to see that not all Northerners are always agressive, and can be welcoming to new comers.

Got to love the kids having a 'battle' with their parents about not wanting to sleep too. A battle they can't win, but they try.

I liked this view of an everybody thing in a cabbat villages, gives me ideas for if we ever RP in the village again.
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Banner not made by me, but used with permission, no stealing.

Click my mini cities :
http://tmnt-city.myminicity.com/
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[Askre]

[Fishy716]

I've been really considering getting an account on StealthyStories and I really want to review every so often. Been reading your fanfictions for couple years now, just never had an account.
SO, now I can review and what not :) Awesome chapter for this one. 0.o Can't imagine what can happen after all the peace and relaxation though.

[Askre]

[Askre]

Chapter 3.

Sleep must have visited me as well, the next thing I knew was Leo rousing me and asking if I didn’t want to lie down. He, Raph and Mike were all inside and outside was only silence. Nodding I put my stuff away and lay down in my spot. My head was barely on the makeshift pillow I made from my backpack before I was fast asleep.

Again it was Leo who awoke me; he was in fact in the process of rousing us all safe for Mizuri. It was barely sunrise but that was not surprising, my blue masked brother has an internal clock that never fails. Raph and Mike grumbled a bit, but they were just reminded that we were not on vacation. I personally wouldn’t have minded to sleep a bit longer, but we had a long trek ahead of us so an early start would be good.

We gathered our gear and left the hut. The Cabbats of the village were already awake as well, many starting their daily work. Some were preparing for hunting and had gathered in the center with spears and clubs.

Mizuri told us that we only needed to see the Tribe Leader before heading off. It was a courtesy to at least let him know, as he was sort of responsible for our safety while we were in his village. We found Hakz near his hut; the large Cabbat was washing his face with water in a large wooden basin elevated on a rack. Near him was the child he had been seen last night carrying off.

I recognized the Cabbat kid surprisingly enough; it was the first one who had mock charged me and later Raph as well. We greeted Hakz who looked up and greeted us in return, a smile on his face.

“So you are heading off to the South,” he said, bending down to scoop up the child. It turned out to be his daughter; I felt a little embarrassed having assumed it was a boy. The girl was promptly put into the water basin. She didn’t mind and almost immediately began rubbing water on herself, especially the face.

“We are, just came to say goodbye and thank you for your hospitality,” Leonardo told the tribe leader who now monitored his daughter’s cleaning process.

“Indeed. Before you go, you wouldn’t mind telling me what manner of creatures you are. Because you are not Cabbats,” Hakz said catching all of us off guard. He glanced at us with a big grin, exposing the large canines he had.

“How did you figure we weren’t Cabbats?” Leo frowned a bit and wondered if our cover was completely blown and we had been caught by unfriendly.

“Well for one you all lack one finger on each hand; safe for Mizuri who I do not doubt at all is a Cabbat. You also have one toe less. As well, you are males with flat carapaces,” Hakz counted up and he chuckled at the expression we portrayed.

Silently I berated myself for having missed that detail. Of course a normal Cabbat would see that we couldn’t be Cabbats. Alo and his men had been unsure about it, and only guessed we could be distant relatives. The male Cabbat has a huge dome shaped carapace, ours was much flatter, not as flat as the female Cabbats but still flatter than the males.

“Do not worry for your safety, and I can well understand your desire for secrecy. Though I am rather proud of having been a host for the warriors who beat some senses into Mizuri’s old tribe,” the tribe leader continued and now completely stunned us. He even knew who we were exactly?

“Your brother Alo was never a popular tribe leader Mizuri as you know. He only lived on your father’s reputation and success,” he turned his attention to our guide who nodded. It was time for some heavy explanation and while helping his daughter wash, Hakz proceeded to tell us. And there was much to tell, even some information Mizuri had no idea about.

First of all he explained to us the ‘politics’ of Cabbat Forest. There were essentially five big tribes in the North and one big tribe in the South, six tribes in total that had influences in big areas. So far we were in what was called the Alo Tribe area, and it was not Alo we knew but his father that tribe was named after. Seemed Mizuri’s father had named his second oldest son after himself.

Each area has several smaller tribes that may or may not be directly under the influence of the biggest tribe. The tribe Alo we knew had been leader of had not been one directly influenced by the biggest tribe. In fact he often considered himself a big influence with in the area, rivaling the big tribe.

He wasn’t exactly an incompetent leader, but not a very popular one either. Cabbats are generally loyal to the tribes they live in, even if they might grumble about the one in charge. Thus nobody had really a reason to leave the tribe. It wasn’t until we came and pretty much kicked Alo’s tail that finally several Cabbats had a good reason to leave.

The tribe scattered all over, and some members came to this one. They were accepted in, but hadn’t been around when we came yesterday. But in the evening by the camp fire, they had spotted my brothers and recognized them. The Cabbats didn’t confront them though, remembering too well that we were good fighters. Instead afterwards they went to Hakz and told him everything they knew about us.

Fortunately Hakz wasn’t angry that we had not exactly told him the full truth about us. As he himself said, the Cabbat understood it. Not all of Alo’s former tribe members were to happy with us, some probably desired a rematch. But those who were here had not been in the fight until much later when it was all but over.

Mizuri confirmed this having been there when the tribe members left. In fact most of it happened even before Alo regained consciousness. Our guide rather shamefully admitted that had he been in shape, he would have left too. But as it stood, he was badly injured in a hut and in no shape to go anywhere.

So has Hakz told, thanks to us the actual influential tribe now could regain its hold in the western part of the area. Alo had actually managed to split it up somewhat. The big tribe was rather pleased to regain control over the human tri-village area. I had to hold my emotions in check; I had been there when one of the villages had been exterminated.

The humans around these parts generally kept away from the Cabbats but paid them tribute in form of food and weapons. Some food they usually never got normally, like crops. Seemed they didn’t mind that system, as the turtleoids in turn protected them to extend. But these tributes had been mostly cut off from the big tribe thanks to Alo Junior.

“I know Alo destroyed one village, what happened to its inhabitants?” I finally couldn’t help but ask after Hakz seemed to have finished talking.

“Most of them were already gone to the other two villages, only few humans remained from what I heard. Alo slaughtered them all and raised the village to the ground. But I’ve heard the humans rebuilt it,” the tribe leader answered me.

I nodded and could only hope that the humans were now treated better. Though I wasn’t sure, Mizuri had told us that this region was the most hostile one to humans. Maybe because these one already lived there the Cabbats didn’t mind them within a confined area.

“Well thanks again, we will now take our leave,” Leonardo said and Hakz nodded and actually bade us good luck on our journey.

We left the village in relative peace. Many of the Cabbats had gone on a hunt; there were some children scurrying around and older turtleoids sitting here and there. But otherwise nobody paid us any mind. I did notice Marica in company of few females, all of them were cooing and smothering baby Brok. The infant didn’t seem to mind this attention at all, giggling happily.

Into the forest we went and headed according to Mizuri to the river. It usually was supposed to be the border between North and South. It would take at least a day to reach it, depending on our speed.

That journey was very uneventful at best. We did get a decent distance behind us before our guide had to rest his back. Mikey had discovered a new game and somehow conned Raph into playing it. I think my red masked brother mostly took part to pass time. It consisted of spotting whatever animal was making a nearby sound. Or at least get the general direction it was in.

After the rest we continued our trek through the woods. I immediately spotted after a bit that the plants were gradually starting to change. I noted this to Mizuri and he confirmed it that we were reaching a different part of Cabbat Forest. This was where the climate would steadily get a bit warmer.

By nightfall we made camp. Leo and Raph gathered rocks to surround the fire but Mikey and I gathered the wood. Soon we were all five sitting around it. Mizuri handed out rations for us to eat. Tomorrow we would reach the river and cross into Southern Cabbat territory.

“Well the journey has been good so far, how are you doing Don?” Leo asked me after our meal. Knowing I was still the one turtle who was the most uncomfortable about the local inhabitants.

“Better than I thought I would be,” I said where I wrote in my notebook. “So far I’ve been a bit surprised by how well we have been received.”

“We Cabbats are generally not too hostile, unless attacked first. There are of course always hostile tribes, and many nomadic ones tend to go on raids. But otherwise we only wish to live in peace in our forest,” Mizuri told us.

“Yeah, they ain’t so bad,” Raph chimed in. “At least not those we were talking to last night.”

It was impressive to hear that from Raph, who generally does not forgive easily. Leo nodded in agreement, but there was no response from Mikey. He was sunk once more into his comic book.

“I have to warn you though, once we enter Southern Cabbat territory, it is more likely to meet brigands. They usually stay out of Northern Cabbat forest, due to the much bigger presence of the Northerners. But the Southerners have often had big problems with them due to their smaller size,” Mizuri explained to us. We nodded; none of us could have expected this to be a risk free expedition.

Our guide turned in, lying down near the fire. We all started to do so as well; there wasn’t much to do otherwise. Mikey was the last one to lie down, he was still reading when I had made myself comfortable and started to drift off into dreamland.

Again it was Leo who roused us the next day. After clearing out the camp we headed towards the river. After only an hour of walking the faint roaring of it could be heard. The forest also got a little bit denser here, in the end Leo had to resort pulling out his swords and hack away.

“Let’s hope that’s the only reason I’ll ever need to draw them. But you never know,” he said and continued to clear our way towards the river.

We soon got to it and this was an impressive river for one going through a thick forest. Not the biggest one I’ve seen, but still big and wide enough. Fortunately we had arrived at a relatively calm spot that didn’t look to have too strong current. But further down it we could see where it formed a waterfall, explaining the roaring sound.

There was no bridge and Leo wondered if we would have to trek a bit after the bank to find it. Mizuri surprised us; he immediately headed for the bank. But when seeing we didn’t follow, glanced at us.

“There is no bridge, we have to swim,” he explained.

“Good thing we are turtles then,” Raph muttered.

“I take it Cabbats have no need for bridges,” I commented as we reached the bank.

“No,” was Mizuri’s only answer as he started to wade into it.

The river was not icy cold, but still cooler than the air. Mikey complained a bit about it but only I heard it. He was the last one after me to step into the water. Leo and Raph were in front, just after our guide. It was a good thing our backpacks were watertight or we would be in trouble.

The water became deeper just before we reached the middle of it. Now it was time to swim. But we were once more stunned by the Cabbat. The moment he started swimming it was like a torpedo had been shot. He didn’t swim across the river, he practically flew through it. Even Mikey, who is the fastest swimmer of us couldn’t keep up with him.

Sure we are probably faster swimmer than an average human, but we got nothing on Mizuri and he was the one with a bad back. We were quite a bit behind and our guide was already seated on a rock waiting for us slowpokes. Mike reached first, then Leo and I came right behind him. Raph being the heaviest of us four came just after me.

“Ok how the… how did you do that?” I asked stunned. Mizuri only smiled and shrugged.

“How do you want me to explain it? I just swam,” he said. That was true, how could he explain it otherwise? This was just something natural to him obviously. No wonder Cabbats don’t need bridges, they just speed over water obstacles.

“Let’s dry our weapons before proceeding any further,” Leo advised us. Always the prepared ninja, he had suspected we might end up in water. And even my Bo needs tending too if it gets too wet. He opened his backpack and brought up the equipment we needed to dry our weapons.

“Warriors that take such great care of their weapons, that is rare to see around here,” an old voice addressed us.

That made us almost jump sky high. Even Mizuri was startled to hear it. We looked around and saw a big and obviously old Northern Cabbat sitting on a rock bit further up the bank. He was watching us with a slight smile on his wrinkled beak. We could only wonder how long he had been there.

End chapter 3
_________________
Confusing the heck out of the world since 1983.

[engelina]

*chuckles* Hakz is a good guy.. and very good on noticing details too! he also shows that not all Cabbats are like alo. (thankfully, too. ))

we also hear a bit about what is happening with Mizuri's old tribe, and where some of the tribe members went.

some quiet traveling again, and a river to be crossed. go Mizuri! swimming matches sounds like they could be very interesting with Cabbats in them!

and another Cabbat giving them a bit of a scare. and an old one at that. lets hope he is as friendly as the last Cabbat they met while traveling.

and looking forward to more!!
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[Askre]

[Fishy716]

Fun in the village with some relaxation! :) It's good to see that not all Cabbats are bad, although Mizuri has already proven this to me. Very perspective Hakz was to see that they weren't Cabbats of any sort. Wow, Mizuri can swim fast -.o
I am currently stumped as to whom this elderly Northern Cabbat could be Awesome chapter, can't wait to read on from here
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"Life at best is bittersweet."

[Askre]