Part six: Spiritual dreams

Deep down, in the old subway station, Splinter sat silent in deep meditation. He felt complete with the world when he tried to sense what his son's were up to. He found Leonardo's spirit at rest, sleeping deeply. Donatello's was not at rest, he was still awake and alerted by something close to him. Mike's inner light was burning brightly as always, but this time, he sensed another presence close to him as well. But Mike was happy it seemed. He gently tuned his inner search to Raphael.

Raphael wasn't at home, and at this hour Splinter could see for his inner self that Raphael was high up above the lights of the city. His fiery inner self was at ease and content. Splinter's spirit could sense Candace calm inner just next to him. They were all well.  

His mind travelled at last to Venus. She was in her room, but here, he didn't feel calmness or content. No, this was like a huge storm. Splinter felt his spirit being clawed and stung. He pulled back quickly and opened his eyes. What was going on? This was so strange. Venus, with her very own magic and protections, were able to defend herself if she was in need. He carefully got up, hearing his old bones crack a bit as he flexed them. He thanked the gods the summer was here, and the sewers would be a little warmer. Then he could go up to the park and play chess again. But now his inner turmoil, caused by Venus sudden outburst on the spiritual plane, had his mind more occupied. The old Sensei set out towards her room and knocked on the door. He didn't hear anything.

It was strange, because he knew Venus was in there. He knocked again, before he reached for the handle. It was closed. No matter how he tried, he was not strong enough. The strangest thing was, it wasn't locked, just closed. Something inside held it closed so strongly, he couldn't force it opened. This meant he needed to be aided.  

Leo's eyes narrowed as he looked at the door. His right shoulder was sore from two attempts to break down the door. Splinter looked very worried, and Leo felt his heart froze as he tried to think of what had happened. He pounded on the door with his fists, "VENUS! OPEN UP!" he roared. But nothing happened, until he tried a third time. The door flew open and bright blue and white light streamed out. They could see the room being totally smashed, and Venus, stiff as a rod, hovering above the ground with balls of lightning whirling around her. Her eyes were closed, and she seemed to be in great pain. As she hung there, Splinter and Leo closed in, all the time ready to go into battle if they had to. Splinters whiskers shivered from all the powerful energy that created a vortex around Venus.

"Venus!" shouted Leo and reached for her. But that action made a small ball of blue light swish down and burn his skin. He pulled it back, muttering under his breath. "Sensei? Have you ever seen anything like this?!" he shouted over the storm. The rat looked up at him, shaking his head.

"There is nothing we can do here and now, we need to get into her mind and soul. Someone is fighting with her!"

Leo nodded and offered his sensei to take his hand. As they closed their eyes, something inside of them let go and Leo found himself suddenly being caught in a world of storm and rage. Splinter held his hand still; the grip was strong and solid. They flew thru the storms, as if guided by the heavy lightning in its centre. Suddenly the winds gave away, and they fell downwards and landed on something hard and flat. It was a floor, shining brightly as if lit from underneath. As they got up, the lightning could once more be seen. Leo reached for his katanas, but they weren't there. In his spiritual form, he already carried a sword in his hand. Splinter carefully took away his hand, and guided him towards the lightning. They saw Venus standing there, strong and beautiful as always. She shouted her spells and words, and big balls of white lightning flew from her hands towards a big dark humanoid shape. It could have resembled a human, but kept changing. Only the twolegged shape remained constant, but faces of bear, wolf, lizard, snake and vulture kept changing. It sent out bolts of blue and black lightning, striking at what seemed to be shields around Venus. As they hurried towards the battle, Leo saw that the darker shape, had a blackclad human infront. It seemed to be guiding the beast. They hadn't seen it because of the strange dark spirit. Venus, she seemed to stand alone but then Splinter alerted Leo's spiritshape to see what she had on the rim if her shell. Leo gasped, feeling the strange power radiating from it. It was an eagle. It was an eagle looking like the Bald Headed Eagle in shape and size. But now, it was all white, with huge black eyes that looked at the dark spirit's attempts to kill Venus. It was agitated and shrieked at the black shape.

Leo grabbed the shimmering katana in his right hand with both hands and ran for it. Venus saw him and made sure the balls of lightning didn't hit him. Leo ran for the human shadow. His sudden appearance obviously surprised the spectre and it howled in anger as the katana, seemingly made of pure light, cut thru it. It tumbled backwards, and Leonardo attacked again, slicing the shadow in two. The two halves shimmered with blue light and merged again, only to be split again by the sword. Leo did it a third time, and it shrieked in anger, fleeing the shimmering turtle spirit.

Splinter closed in on Venus, looking at the big eagle on top of her shell. It chittred a couple of times, before it climbed down on Venus outreached arm. Splinter saw that it indeed was a powerful spirit, and it slowly bowed for the ratspirit.

"Venus Who is this?"

"This is White Eagle, Sensei." she said, her spirit voice being strong and pure in the tones. The eagle shrieked and spread its wings. It released its grip on Venus and flew over their head a couple of times before it left them. Splinter felt as if the glowing ground suddenly disappeared, and he stood next to a confused Leo. They saw Venus drop to the floor in a pile. She shivered all over, and she looked feverish. All the mental stress had made her body loose vital energies.

"Sensei? "she muttered "White Eagle needs help. Our help. That's why she came. They are close " Then she fell down, out cold from exhaustion.  

As the morning sun rose, Raphael returned to the lair. He saw that Mike and Don was already there, and Sensei Splinter looked very serious. Leo looked like the grim reaper, arms crossed and his eyes rockhard.

"Alright... someone ate a bad pizza or what?" he said and stopped by Don. Don looked up and shook his head.

"Raphael, this is no time for jokes. We need to act fast, or this world as we know it will nolonger be."

Raphael raised an eyebrow, looking sceptic. "Really? "

Leo sighed and snorted. Raph looked at him. All five ready to...no, wait. Venus? Where was Venus?!

"Where's Venus?" he asked, and looked around.

"She sleeps, son. She was defending a precious spirit last night. A spirit who needs our help."

"Venus? Fight a spirit?" he felt quite confused by the idea. She always did well, but this? "All on her own?"

"No, I was there. And Sensei. " said Leo and placed his fists on his hips. He looked very determined. "It seems this White Eagle is a mother spirit. She's apparently a creator, and a protector of life. She seems to have a link to a guy Venus is in contact with. We need to speak to this guy, and ask him what he knows. I am taking Don with me to see him. You and Mike have to stay and watch Venus in case something else might happen. Mike to care for her body, and you to go outwards if Sensei deems it necessary."

"Class dismissed?" wondered Raph and grinned. But Leo and Don soon had their disguises and were off to the gallery to find Charles TwoFeather. Mike made some icetea and lighter snacks and settled next to Venus bed, refusing to leave her. Raphael got bored after an hour and spent his time entertaining himself with some kickboxing excersises and pumping iron. Splinter had settled on the floor next to Mike and they kept a constant watch.  

Charles almost dropped his two heavy groceries bags when he saw Leonardo and Donatello standing in his livingroom.

"Charles TwoFeather? I believe you know our sister. " stated Leo. Charles placed the bags in the doorway and walked in. This was not Venus. They looked alike, but these were way more masculine and looked scary. They both wore human long coats, and he could see two big wide hats lying on the couch behind them. The one who had spoken to him, looked at him with grim determination, while the other one leaned on a long staff.

"Yes If you mean the turtlegirl who was here. What is it? Is she ill?"

"Maybe. What do you know of White Eagle?" said Donatello and shifted weight on his feet. He didn't like to be in unknown places Atleast not where there had been a fight with spiritual things involved.

"I just picked it up." stuttered Charles and pointed at a cubboard. He opened the doors to it and switched a lightbutton. Don gasped in surprise and Leo just stared. It was an eagle. About life size, maybe smaller. White feathers, sculpted to perfection, adorned the sculpture. It's overall appearance was that of a live eagle, frozen in time, as it turned its head to the side and looked at them.

"This is White Eagle. Is there something wrong with it? Was does this has to do with Venus?"

"We have the same questions. And I believe you can help us." Leo said and looked closer at it. It was perfection in every detail. From the beak, to it's tailfeathers. The eyes were so deep and so black, he thought he'd drown in them. He pulled back, feeling a slight tingling sensation in his hands as if he held the spirit-sword in his hands. TwoFeather returned to his two grocery bags. As he was finished with them, he sat down by the kitchen table, with Leo and Don across the table, and told them the story of White eagle.

"It's not known how old she is. It's not even in the artefacts and cultural records of my father's people. I haven't seen it before, even if I've heard it being mentioned. Eagles, you see, are very powerful for the Indians. Birds overall, are considered messengers of the gods, by many people. Mine included."

He stopped to take an apple from a bowl with fresh fruit. He motioned for them to take as well. Don grabbed a pear and chewed on it, but Leo declined. He kept looking right at Charles, and was intent on finding out more about it all. "Anyway, my sister, halfsister actually, Amanda found it many years back high up in the Colorado mountains. She felt unsafe having it around herself and her family, so she sent it here. But this statue is said to be very powerful. I don't know anything about that, but my sister got attacked when she came back from town. Apparently someone knew about this and wanted it for a private collection. Amanda got very badly assaulted, and she called me from the hospital earlier this morning. She's all right, but got scared when I told them about the men that attacked me earlier this week. Venus helped me then. Relax," said Charles when he saw Leo stiffen a bit, and Don as well, "I didn't tell anyone. She's much too special for me. She's quite unique actually."

"You have no idea." mumbled Leo, "Go on."

"Alright. She told me that a man named Cornelius Blackwood employs them. He's apparently some descendant of my father's people. A trained Shaman as well. And as far as I have heard, not a good one. He apparently takes the shortcuts, messing with powers he can't really handle. He's said to be an evil man." ended Charlie.

"So, now he wants White Eagle because she's valuable, or?" asked Don and placed pearleftovers on the palm of his hand before he made a sweeping move and it landed in the sink with a smash.

"Yes. But what has this to do with Venus? You still haven't answered that question!"

"She fought something on the spiritual level last night. White Eagle aided her. But if I hadn't helped, they'd most likely had died. "

"Wait a minute! You mean, it do work? She is a spirit?"

"Yes, Venus told us the spirit is depending on the eagle sculpture to store her powers and spirit. She is in need of our help. How, I don't know yet."

Charles got up and walked over to the glassadorned cupboard. He carefully took out the eagle, holding it close to his chest. Each time he held it, it gave off a relaxing feeling. Leo got up and stood face to face with him. "But how do we help?" asked Charles TwoFeather again.

Leo sighed deeply and looked down at the bird. He placed his hands over the human and looked into the man's eyes. It didn't take many seconds to leave the reality plane, and travel to a higher state of consciousness. TwoFeather got scared, but Leo calmed him. They were nolonger in New York; and not even in the real world. Instead they were in this white world. As if they stood in the middle of a heavy fog and looked around. The fog revealed a human walking towards them. A woman dressed in a timeless buckskin Indian dress and with white hair flowing over her shoulder and around her sweet heartshaped face. She smiled at them, making them both feel warm and special.

"Welcome, Leonardo. Welcome, Charles TwoFeather." she said, the spiritual voice being soft and warm.

"How can we help you?" asked Leo and waited for her reply. She turned to him, lifting a slender hand to touch his chest. Leo felt pictures streaming into his mind, into his very heart and soul. As she removed it, he knew. And it meant they had to leave New York for a time. She placed her hand on his head and pushed him backwards.

"Leave, for now." she said and Leo felt himself returning to his body. TwoFeather was still in some sort of trance. Leo held on to the eagle, as the Indian half-breed woke up slowly and as if he was newly awakened.

"This was amazing." he mumbled and gasped for air. Leo took the eagle, as Charles had to sit down.

"She wants us to "

"Yes, go to the mountains and fight this Cornelius guy. To stop him before he is strong enough to break the barriers of Dark and Light. " Leo filled in and held the Eagle to his chest. But he looked down as he thought he'd felt feathers. But when he looked, his hands just held the ivroylike birdstatue.

It's taking me over. All of me. I nolonger is, I was. Once. Something human. Now, there is only dark. A darkness who wants more. To conquer. To command the world around me. It already does. Oh, God. Someone! Please stop this. Please kill me, so that this thing dies Someone stop the dark one!

Part seven; Urgency

"What you are about to see, can never be told to anyone else, understood?" asked Leo as they stood by an entrance out in Bronx. It was dark and dirty here, and the old cellar was in the bottom of an old building. But it was an entrance they used now and then. Donatello heaved the heavy irondoor aside. Charles marvelled at their strength. It would have taken atleast two or three welltrained men to wrench that thing aside, he thought. But Don did it easily, motioning for them to go, before he closed it behind himself.

"Where are we going?" asked TwoFeather as they ventured down the tunnel. Don picked up a small pocketlight and shone their way down. He and Leo didn't need it, but TwoFeather did.

"You haven't answered my question said Leonardo as they stopped by the first T-junction towards the lair.

"I won't tell anyone. I don't want to hurt you guys, and not Venus either." he promised and held the thick canvas bag with the white eagle in a steady grip.

"You better not " mumbled Leo and started to climb down a ladder. TwoFeather followed, but got a strange feeling that he should watch what he said in the presence of the katanawearing turtleman.  

TwoFeather looked around with awe as he climbed down the ladder and into the lair. Mike and Raphael came to meet them.

"Venus is awake. " said Mike. Raph inspected the dark-skinned TwoFeather with a close eye. They all hurried into Venus spartan room and gathered around her. She was sitting up now, with a couple of pillows behind her shell. Splinter sat on a thin pillow next to her, watching over her all the time in case something happened. TwoFeather made her smile when she saw him. Leo almost winced when he saw the sudden smiles. Not to mention how Venus eyes got softer then usual when she saw him.

The others made some stunned noises when TwoFeather brought out the eagle. They sat down on their knees, watching it with great interest. Even restless Raphael watched closely as Splinter got up and walked over to the statue. His dark hands carefully touched the eagle's wings, smiling faintly.

"This spirit is in agony. And in dire need of help." He proclaimed and his furry face got worried. He broke the contact, looking very sad, "if she is not aided, she will disappear."

"But how can we help then?" asked Mike and peeked over Don and Leo's shoulders.

"We have to leave New York, and go out of the city." said Leo and looked over his shoulder at Mike.

"Where to?" he said.

Leo's eyes narrowed as he got up and stopped by the birdstatue. Venus sat up as well; feeling less drained of her energies for each minute that passed by. TwoFeather carefully placed the bird on the floor. Leo, Splinter, Venus and TwoFeather sat down on their knees around it, joining hands. TwoFeather felt odd, holding on to Venus to his right, and old Splinter's dry thin hand in his other. But then he saw the others closing their eyes, even the other three turtles as well. He did as they did. The sensation of falling made him gasp for air.  

But the sensation ended when Charles TwoFeather impacted with solid ground. Something that made him look upwards. Solid ground in the spiritworld? This was really strange. But the sound of voices broke his confusion.

"Welcome, my proud liaisons." said a warm woman's voice. He got up and joined the others. As he approached the voice he saw the other turtles there as well. Strong, proud and vibrating with some strange light. He could almost feel the strength of their spirits and he stopped by their side. But what he felt most surprised to see, was that the old mutant rat stood infront of the most fascinating indian woman he'd ever seen. Splinter was dressed in a perfectly fitted dark red kimono, with a radiant lustre around him.

"Welcome, all of you. I am so grateful that you have listened to my call of help." The white-haired indianwoman said and looked at them one by one. TwoFeather could feel that he was very special here as well.

"We will aid you, because it is needed. It is our world as well, that is threatened." said Leo and stepped forth. White Eagle Woman moved across the mistcovered floor with graceful steps, stopping closer then armslength from him. With a slender hand, she touched his chest right above his heart.

"Your spirit is strong and your intentions good and true. Your leadership in this will be a very important thing."

As she stood there, she looked at the others.

"I will direct you all to a place that will be good. In that land, the Mother Earth is strong, and her children will aide you well."

Raphael looked surprised when she stopped by him, looking at him from head to toe. "You, Raphael, wears the sign of fire and passion. Your part will be great as well, clearing the path for your brothers and sister." Her soft eyes smiled at him, "And your soulmate will lead you all to the place that I have appointed. My challenge to the Dark Spirit have been issued, and my aide to you and your family will be cared for there."

She walked up to each of them, carefully touching their chests. But it was only Leonardo and Raphael that had been spoken to. Her dark eyes lingered a while longer at TwoFeather, and then at Venus. Her smile was knowing and secretive as she walked back into the mist, leaving them all confused and stunned. When she left, they all fell back to reality and the physical plane of the world.

"Whoo! Weirdness!" stated Mike and held his hands to his head, because the world was spinning wildly. Don sat with closed eyes and looked like he was ill. But he opened his eyes, looking around. When he looked towards the circle, he could see Venus carefully getting back to her futon, and Splinter getting up. Leo sat still on his knees, looking at the birdstatue. He carefully touched it, smiling faintly at it. TwoFeather picked it up and rewrapped it in the thick blanket he'd brought. He replaced it in the canvas bag. Splinter stood in front of them, looking very serious.

"We have been given a mission. But I fear, that this will take not only power of the mind, but powers of the body as well." he said, "And I can not participate with the strength of body. But my spirit will be with you all on this."

The others waited in silence, as Splinter thought hard. But Mike came up with a howl. "Awww!! Now I get it! Man, how stupid can one get!!" They all looked at him, and he hurried up so all could see him.

"Look Candace helped me get a safe place for a friend of mine. What do you mean "who Kelly?" I mean that Kelly I saved, K? Anyhow, she gave me the address and phonenumber to this farm. A ranch of some kind. I bet that is where we are going!"

"It's out in the countryside?" asked Leo and looked thoughtful as well as a bit suspicious.

"Yes! Way out, close to the wildest parts of Catskill Mountains. Some one out there has a farm. You thin ?"

"We will meditate upon the matter. Now, I want you all to go somewhere peaceful. Sit down, think it over, and make up your minds. " said Splinter and waited for them to leave. One by one, they trailed out of the room, deep in thought about the events happening. This time, they didn't oppose to being sent out like this. Raph stopped in the doorway and looked back. He saw Venus sitting with closed eyes, and her right hand in Charles. He seemed to be serious, but a very faint smile tweaked the corners of his lips a bit. Raph grinned, knowing where he could go to find some calm, and someone to talk to in this matter. Upwards.

Raphael sat silent in the shades of the roofgarden. The sun was setting, but the air was still warm and made outdoors almost as warm as the indoors. He watched the housekeeper Juliana walk around, watering the many plants and potted trees. He was so well hidden that she didn't notice him when she walked by just two meters from him. Raphael grinned wide and thought that he still had it in him. Juliana opened the door to the main livingroom and closed it again. Raph leaned back against the wall and waited. If he concentrated, he could hear the door open and the sound of Candace voice.

The sound of her voice made his whole body shiver, but then again, everything about her did. He moved out of the shadows and into the patio and towards the doors. He stopped by them, listening thru an opening in the door. "Yes, Juliana. Of course you can go. Tell Pedro that I would love to see his kid some day. "

"Gracias, Miss Hamilton. I will tell Pedro that. Have a nice evening."

Candace smiled her sweetest smile, "Yes, Juliana. I will."

"And tell Senor not to leave his belt here again. I almost tripped on it in the bathroom."

Candace stared at her, going all pale. Juliana blinked at her and patted her arm. "Yes, I know, Miss Hamilton. He makes you happy, Miss. Just make sure he keep doing that."

Candace looked at her as she left the apartment, stunned and speechless.

"She knows, huh?" said a familiar voice. Candace spun around holding his belt in her hands. Raph didn't close the door behind him. "So this is where I left it. Hmm Good thing I have some spare ones."

"Yes, she knows. But she doesn't know how you look! That's one good thing. With the kind of gossip she loves, this would be out in notime."

"Can she be trusted then? If she ever find out?" asked Raph and crossed his arms in a defiant stance. It was easy to see when he became hostile or suspicious.

"What? Yes! Of course. She'd been with me since I got my first apartment when I was 19! I can trust her with whatever I tell her."

It was obvious Raphael didn't quite believe it, but he let it be for the moment. He trailed after her thru the apartment, and into the big kitchen. It was roomy and big. The stove was located in the middle of the square room, and it was created as a farmkitchen, with stonewalls, copperutilities and wooden doors on the cupboards. It gave off a homely feeling, with the faint scent of various spices and flowers. Raph liked it a lot. He watched Candace as she prepared herself a snack, absently taking off her high heels. She didn't look when she threw them over her back, but Raph caught them easily before they reached the floor. She smiled, even if she didn't see it. It was a little game they played now and then. As the kitchen was done, she walked out to the TV room.

"Mike has been in contact with a guy he knows at the police about that safe house you had fixed. Kelly is going to call the FBI she has as contacts. I think it all should move quite fast."

Candace sat down in the corner of the sofa. Raph took the other corner. Candace pulled off the red dressjacket she wore and placed her feet in his lap.

"Sore feet?" he asked and looked down at her pantyhose-covered feet. Candace nodded. She leaned her head back, placing a cool glass of IceTea against her forehead.

"A little." she sighed and "What did you say about Mike and that Kelly?"

"The safehouse. We might have to leave earlier. Something has come up. And you know this Susan since earlier. We need to leave within a week." he said and playfully tugged at her toes. Candace looked at him and took a sip of the IceTea.

"Alright. I'll see what I can do. Tell Mike that Kelly should call me. I want to know who she is so she can tell the FBI fellow she has met me and I could use some information and "

"Candace?"

"Huh? What? Oh, was I rambling again?"

Raph nodded and smiled at her. Candace snorted a laughter as well and shook her head, weary from an exhausting day. He reached out and took the glass from her and placed it on the table next to the old grey leathersofa. He took a firm grip of her hands and pulled her closer. Candace smiled when she leaned her head on his shoulder, snuggling up to him tightly.

"It could be dangerous." he mumbled while carefully undoing her thick braid. Candace nodded and sighed. She was so tired she was about to fall asleep. Raph combed thru her the thick golden hair and smiled.

"Sleepy?"

"Yeah." she yawned and rubbed her eyes, "I've been in an five hours long meeting with the salesmanagers at the San Francisco store, with the Los Angeles and New Orleans managers attending the meeting as well. We are going to continue tomorrow afternoon."

Raph hugged her close, gently caressing her thick hair. "I was going to show you the bike I have in a garage not far from here, but I suppose that can wait.

"Bike? Hmm... Yeah it'll have to." she mumbled. With an easy move, he scooped her up in his arms.

"You need to sleep."

"Not alone," Candace said and smiled at him, carefully untying the red cloth around his head. With a simple flick of her hand, she let it fall to the floor next to them. Raph chuckled. "You are way too tired for that kind of excersise "

"Maybe, but I don't want to sleep alone. "

Raphael woke up with a howl. His heart race and he felt light-headed a feeling he haven't felt for years. Fear. Pure, dark, deep fear. He looked around, seeing nothing but Candace bedroom. She stirred in her sleep, snuggling up close to him. Now that he was awake, he remembered it. In the dream, back on the foggy place. He'd been running, scared and alone. Something he didn't like, but kept on running. Somewhere in his mind he had cursed the dream that made him flee like some B-Movie actress from an unseen monster. But then he had seen her. White Eagle. She'd been curled up like a small child, apparently in agony over something. She had reached out for him, pleading with a hoarse voice "Hurry! Please! I can not hold against him much longer!" And after that, something like an enormous shadow had grabbed Raphael in the dream, scaring him to wake up.

"Holy Gah! I hate nightmares I need something to drink." He got out of bed, muttering a curse as he stumbled on his belt and Sais. The noise made Candace's cat Amadeus meow loudly and flee the footend of the bed. Raph turned on the small lamp over the kitchensink and strolled sleepy over to the fridge. After treating himself with a huge glass of orangejuice, Raphael turned out the light and returned to the warm broad bed. He sat down, watching Candace sleeping peacefully beside him. All this time, he still heard, and saw, White Eagle's plea for him to gather his brothers and sister. It was time to leave, now.

"Candy? Wake up, babe " he said and gently shook her shoulder.

"Uhh? What is it?" she mumbled and yawned.

"It's time to leave "

Candace rubbed her eyes, and sat up, brushing a few strands of her hair away from her face, "Where to?"

"Out of New York." was the answer she got.