"Alright. And just how do I do this?" asked Donatello as he held up the shovel. The smell of horsemanure made his beak wrinkle and he glanced down the aisle. Susan pulled on her gloves.

"Shovel it into the wheelbarrow. Like this."

Susan had assigned Donatello and Leonardo to start cleaning the horsestalls, while the others had been told to let out the horses. Susan's stable had 18 horses, mostly Saddlebreds, but also a few warmbloods and stockhorses that she's adopted from ruthless owners.

"Get it?"

He slowly nodded, but looked very annoyed as he saw the row of stalls. "This is all?"

"No...You have the small barn as well..."

Don made a fairly good impression of someone about to faint. Susan shook her head.

But the stables were fairly quickly cleaned up when the others were done. Venus was excited about the horses, and she'd discovered a bright golden palomino mare that she liked a lot. TwoFeather listed patiently as her clear voice chirped about the soft horsemuzzle and the sweet eyes of the horse. Raph was muttering over some of the horsepoo that he'd stepped in when the big black and white stallion Jordan had side-stepped before he had time to react. But Leonardo made sure they were all done quickly, because he needed to gather them for a final decision. How they were to get to White Eagle, now that they were out of town. And why she had wanted them to get out of New York.

***

The storm from the night had made the outdoors much to wet and muddy. So instead Leonardo choose to gather them in the old barn, with its big doors wide open to let the sunshine in. The barn was soon to be filled with fresh hay and food for the horses. But now, it was filled with other people. Leonardo sat on a big crate, legs crossed and looked at the others. Raphael, Michaelangelo and Donatello stood in front of him with their weaponry ready. Beside them, Venus and TwoFeather looked at Leonardo with attentive eyes. At the side, sitting on some bales of straw and hay, Susan, Candace and Kelly waited.

"We have been asked to save a spirit. A spirit of life and creation. She is being held in a... prison, and she's taken great risks when contacting us. " Said Leo and took a deep breath, "And we has agreed to help her. Now, we travelled out of the city to help her. For reasons unknown to us, we had to go out here."

"So... we have to contact her again. And I sense that it's a matter of haste as well."

Leo got off the crate and onto the floor. He placed the swords on the ground and reached out his hand.

"Circle up, we need eachother right now."

Candace and the others didn't really understand what they did. To them, it looked like they all just fell into some kind of trance. Shutting the world out of their existence and becoming unable to contact.

***

Leonardo broke out of the trance with a gasp. It had been another storm on the spiritual plane. White Eagle had almost vanished from his grip. He and Venus had been the only ones who'd been able to stay the longest. White Eagle Woman had been close to blowing away, so Leonardo had been forced to grasp her in a steady hug. Over the storm, she'd finally found the strength to tell him. They had to free her four elementary spirits, her helpers and messengers. It was Fire, Earth, Water and Air. And they had to each one take on the task of setting them free. Of one failed, they would all be doomed. Only then, White Eagle Woman would be able to, thru Venus, to work her magic both on the physical and the Spiritual plane. Venus would act as the fifth element, the focus of the powers that creates life.

"Whoha... That was worse then last night!" said Mike and looked at the others. Don was trying to clear his head, and Raph looked a bit annoyed for once. Venus took a firm grip on TwoFeather's hand.

Then Leo sat down again, motioning the other three to join them. Candace sat down next to Raphael, snuggling up tighter to him. Mike couldn't help but make a small grin when Kelly sat down next to him. This was looking good, he thought. Don sat beside Venus and TwoFeather. Susan stopped by a crate and sat down on that one instead.

"Susan? I wonder, is there any Indian burial grounds or similar things in the area?"

"Not that I know of right now. No, not burialgrounds. But we have some strange rockcarvings up in the Northwest of here. It's mainly farms in the area, but the owners have moved. Apparently the ground is intoxicated by a railway accident a few years back, and the land is useless for anything but timber."

"Good. Eagle mentioned something about signs in the earth. And as we all know, rock is solid earth..."

Leonardo closed his eyes as he tried to remember more. "We need to get up there."

"How? The van can't go thru forests!" said Don and shook his head.

"I know. Susan?"

Susan looked at him, raising an eyebrow.

"Can we... May we borrow some horses?"

Mike glanced at the others, rubbing his throat. He's ridden into the strings of a Japanese washline once. He still has some scars from that accident.

"Umm...They're not gonna get hurt or so?" she said and picked up a straw. With a thoughtful look she began chewing on it. Leo's eyes narrowed.

"No. We need them. They are very spiritual animals. And their strength and courage will be needed. I hardly think they'll be in danger."

Susan got off the box and walked up to him. She crouched down, looking him straight in the eyes.

"One dead horse, and you're banned from this farm. And I mean it."

Leo nodded. Susan didn't like this idea of using her horses. And she particularly didn't like the hard, empty look in his eyes. What could have caused someone to be so cold and hard? This strange turtleman arose more questions then answers. Susan's eyes narrowed as well. But she wasn't in for a stare, so she got back to the crate.

"So... match up with a good horse, and we'll take it from there..."

"No need to. I already know." said Leo. He was the first one out of the barn. The others followed as well, discussing the event. Susan ran up beside Leonardo as they moved towards the paddocks.

"Why has this spirit you talked about, asked you guys to do this?"

"I don't know." Said Leonardo. "All I know is that she's in need of help, otherwise a very dark spirit will get loose and control most of the elements of the world. Maybe even destroy it to achieve what it desires."

Susan spit out the straw and looked up at him. He had an edge in the voice she didn't particularly fancied.

"I am not gonna ask. It seems you don't want to share it."

Now it was Leo's turn to be puzzled. Ask? Ask about what?

***

They stopped by the gates to a paddock, looking at the horses that grazed. Susan picked up a handful of halters that hung on a post next to the gate.

"All right, Leo. Which horses is it?"

Leo didn't stop outside the fence.

"No. Don't follow. They don't know you."

"They do." was all he said. He carefully took three halters from her and followed her towards the herd. Susan glanced suspiciously at him, but shrugged her shoulders.

The horses stopped grazing when they saw Susan. The herdleader, a black slim mare, slowly walked up to Susan, nosing and poking at her hands to see if she had anything to eat. Then her big head turned to Leonardo, blowing right in his face sending a warm breath of grass at him. Leo raised a hand and stroke across the mare's blaze.

"Hello...You are a beautiful horse. Will you come with us?" he said. The horse puffed a couple of more breaths. Leo smiled and blew carefully at the horse nose. She huffed and inhaled deeply, testing him to see if he was friend or foe. Leo watched the halter, figured out how it worked and placed it on the mare. He patted her elegant neck.

As she watched his gentle hand with the horse, Susan spoke up; "That's Grand Victoria. Vicky. She's a showmare. Sterile, unfortunately, otherwise she'd been one good brood mare."

"She's good." said Leo and looked at the others horses. They slowly came up to them, spreading out around Susan to beg for a snack. Leo walked among them, carefully touching them one by one. He picked up a halter and placed it on a golden palomino. The same mare that Venus had found such affection for.

"Aha... That's Zippo Lady. Zip for short." said Susan as she watched Leo and the horse. She stood still, scratching Vicky's ear absentmindedly. The mare leaned her head down, relaxing so deeply that the horse's lower lip slowly started to droop. Susan followed the tall turtleman with her sight as he stopped. A big bay gelding rubbed his head at Leonardo's shoulder, carefully tugging at his badana. Leo grinned and slipped on a halter on that one as well. Then he stopped. In this paddock, he wouldn't find anymore horses. None of the ones left in here would match their riders.

"Alright. These three."

Susan watched the horses. The two saddlebred mares were two of her best. They had not been on the Park horse circuit, but had been extensively used in jumping and cross-country events. Huckleberry Bar, the bay gelding, was a horse she often took out to check the fences and just for the fun of riding. He was a stallion until his fifth year. The horse was a good barrelracer. In her office she had several certificates from State Championships she'd won with him over the years.

Venus shone like a bright sun when she was handed the mare.

"Take her to the barn. I'll be with you shortly to show you how to groom her."

The same was said to Michaelangelo as he took care of the tall and majestic Vicky. Don mused over the fact that the mare sure matched Mike's ego. Don simply nodded as he led Huckle towards the stable. Raph and TwoFeather looked at eachother then shook their heads. No horses for them? Leo walked on, looking into each paddock. It wasn't until he stopped so abruptly that Susan walked past him with several steps, that he alerted them to the three horses on the field. Susan looked at Leo and shook her head.

"Not these. I promise, they'll only be trouble. Atleast Jordan."

Raph looked upwards. The big black and white stallion snorted him right in the face.

"Ouch! Hey! Get a hanky, horsey!"

"This is Alchemy's Jordan." said Susan and fastened a lead on the horse. "He's not a breedingstud because he can't sire any foals. The appaloosa you have there Leonardo, is a old guy named Chamberlain. He's been with his owner for almost all his life, until the lady died last spring. He's a former dressage horse. Not a suitable trailhorse!"

She looked at TwoFeather. He was holding the chestnut overo gelding named Tiger Tracks. An obnoxious gelding whom refused to understand he was 14 years, not 14 months. She decided in that moment, that only Donatello and Venus had the right horses. The rest was totally incompatible.

***

When the rest was trying not to fall off or scare the horses, Leonardo rode around with a grin on his face. He liked horses. And Chamberlain was a perfect match. Susan, Kelly and Candace followed their progress with amused smiles. Venus was taking the lesson serious. Most of the horses were trained westernstyle, so the ridinglesson pretty much was about learning to stay balanced and attentive to the horse. Leonardo's horse was trained in the English school only, but he seemed to be a natural for that kind of riding. After a couple of hours, they all could handle their mounts well. Leo and Chamberlain stood in the middle of the arena. Leo urged them to use their training as ninjas to become one with their horses.

***

Susan climbed up on the fence, eyeing each rider. She started with Raphael. Jordan danced a lot like stallions often did. But he obeyed Raphael pretty well considering the inexperienced rider he had on his back. They looked well matched. Her eyes fell on Donatello and Huck. The gelding walked on in a soft groundoriented jog. Don looked very concentrated and at the same time worried. But as the horse was both calm and relaxed, his rider's courage in the horsedepartment grew for each step Huck took. Her eyes followed Michaelangelo. He looked childishly happy as he urged the longlegged mare to a slow collected canter. She swished her tail and snorted as she took the ridingpaddock in short good steps. He was doing very well. Her last examination was of Venus and TwoFeather. To her surprise, Tiger wasn't exactly misbehaving. No, he was very calm. Something that made her wonder who these people really were. Venus and Zip was doing good. The petit mare was a good match to Venus lithe body. All the horses that Leonardo had picked were also very weight carrying horses. And with some 80 pounds of extra shell on their back, they sure needed to be. Susan was pleased.

"Can we go for a ride outside?" asked Mike as he took the black horse to halt. Susan nodded.

"Sure. You guys, and gal, seems to be good students, so I see no reason not to... Just be careful."

"Candace? Kelly? Wanna come?" asked Mike and reached out a hand to Kelly. She smiled wide and grabbed his outreached hand. Mike swung her up behind himself and turned the mare towards the well-trodden path that led up into the woods. The others followed as well. Candace climbed up behind Raph and took a good grasp of his shell-edges. Susan laughed as the horses set off in canter towards the forest. But there was one missing. Leonardo. She turned and watched Leo. He was motioning the appaloosa to a working trot. She stood at the gate for a while, before she decided to go inside.

"You're good, but you still lack some basic training." she pointed out. Leo took the gelding to a halt and watched her walk up to him. Susan stopped to the left of him and patted Chamberlains leopard spotted neck.

"Well, I didn't exactly grow up with this kind of animal around. It was more of a rat and turtle thing."

"It was? Hmm... Candace told me of this Sensei Splinter. And I still haven't had a decent explanation of what you guys are. Would you like to tell me?"

Leo sighed. "It's along story. 23 years long actually. It would take some time explaining. Time I actually don't have."

He urged the gelding on. But Susan stopped the horse by grabbing one of the reins. Chamberlain grinned and chewed on the bit when the sudden move made him turn sharply to the left. Leo grunted at her and reached down to free the horse reins. "Some other time. We have a mission to accomplish"

"Know what? You seem to be the most cold-hearted person I have ever met."

Leo stopped his action and looked at her.

"Hey Lady, you don't know me, alright?"

"No, but I sure can see when things are wrong!"

"Such as?"

Susan took away her hands and shrugged her shoulders. "You tell me!"

She stalked off towards the gate, fuming. Why on earth did he pose such a perfect target to harass?

Leo took a deep breath and turned the gelding after her. He slowed the horse down and got off it.

"Alright, I behaved like a bum. I'm under a lot of pressure, and I..."

Susan stopped and looked at him.

"Yes you did. I asked an polite question."

Leonardo rubbed his forehead and sighed: "Alright...What do you want to know?"

"Nevermind. You apparently are too busy anyway."

"What!? But I just volunteered to answer your questions!" said Leo. Susan looked at him with an icy sting, then walked away. Chamberlain puffed at Leo. But he didn't respond to the horse, he just stared after her.

"Women..." he mumbled and got up. He steered the horse to follow the others. He didn't see Susan turning around, watching him disappearing into the forest. She took a grip on her upper arms and sighed. This morning she's talked with them all. She'd been able to see past the strange looks and had seen the personality that they each had. Only this one, Leonardo, had been completely cold. He'd taken a glass of milk before he had disappeared out to the garden behind the house. She'd seen him perform some kind of excersise alongside with his brothers and sister. But when the others was done, he's kept it up. As if he'd been determined not to let something slip? She thought. Something nagged him. She'd seen it with her own father. He'd been the same way. Refusing to admit a weakness or a personal flaw.

"Men... They're all the same!"

***

Leo urged the horse to a slow canter. He felt... odd. But at the same time relaxed. This area was so vibrant with life and energy. It was as if his inner batteries got recharged the longer they stayed here. But at the same time, he feared that this sudden energy vitalisation was just an effect from the coming trials. He could easily track the others. They'd stopped at a clearing that overlooked the ranch below. From this they could see the pastures, the farmhouses and the wide forests. In the distance, they could make out a small town as well. He tied Chamberlain's reins close to the ground so the gelding could graze easily.

The group has spread out, but still kept fairly close to eachother. Raph sat with his back leaned against a tree and Candace leaning against his chest. Don was studying a small bug that crept in the grass. It apparently puzzled him somewhat. Mike was once again trying to make Kelly laugh, and he succeeded. The looks she gave him made him stutter a bit. . But Leo's eyes landed on Venus. And TwoFeather. They sat on an old log, looking over the splendid view.

"Leo! What took ya?" said mike and grinned at him. As if had been the most natural thing in the world, he at the same time slipped his arm around Kelly. She looked down at his hand with a surprised face. But it seemed she had nothing against it.

"Nothing. I just had a few things to settle." He said and with a graceful sweep, he sat down. He rested his hands on his thighs and looked out at the magnificent scenery. But in his path of vision, he had Venus. And her hand over TwoFeather's. And then a quick glance at eachother. Leo's hands balled up to fists. He knew jealousy was nothing that would honour him in any way. No, it was a flaw in him more then anything. Fuming, he got up again and walked away. Mike looked after him with surprised eyes. Raph exchanged a glance with Candace. They both knew why he behaved like this. And if it weren't settled, it would be unbearable. And it would most likely jeopardise the entire mission as well.

"Venus?" said Raph and carefully motioned for Candace to get aside. The turtlewoman looked up at him.

"Yes?"

"I think... You and Leo need to talk. He's been a pain in the butt ever since you two broke up, Okey?" said Raph and crouched down next to her. Venus took a deep breath.

"I have made it perfectly clear to him, that I.."

Raph waited, watching her with intense eyes. "That you...?"

Venus looked annoyed and took a firm grip on TwoFeather's hand. The halfblood indian just sat silent, watching her. She didn't need to hear words from him. His sheer presence was enough to strengthen her.

"Alright... I will go and talk to him then."

"Good. Then get to it, Sis." Said Raphael and straightened up. He watched her leave, hesitating to enter the forest. Knowing Leo was most likely chopping down a tree with his sword to tame his inner fury.

Chapter eight

Chapter ten

Turtles fanfiction

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