From The Shadows || TMNT 2012 FanFiction (BOOK 1)

Chapter 9. A Blessing

     The last half of Carrie's night was relatively peaceful. She slept calmly enough and had even woken up calmly. There weren't any more of those surreal nightmares, at least for that night.

     Carrie stumbled out of her room, yawning and rubbing her eyes. She made her way to the kitchen, where everyone else was eating breakfast. She was astonished by how much more comfortable she felt around the turtles. She was even more so surprised by the amount of comfort she felt around her new residence. Despite everything that had happened, she was content. Maybe it was just because she was still tired but at least she was peaceful.

     Everyone else was already in the kitchen and eating quietly. No one paid any particular attention to Carrie when she entered, except for April of course.

     Carrie fixed herself some toast, and that was the extent of her breakfast. She ate with everyone else, in silence. It was quite awkward. The fear quickly came back as she believed the silence was because of everything that happened last night. Carrie hoped it wouldn't be like this forever. She hated the silence. It was as though everyone was judging her.

     Leonardo had been sitting across from Carrie. He had finished his breakfast, except for his hot tea, and waited for Carrie to finish hers. He had been eager to discuss last night with Master Splinter. Leonardo was curious and needed to know what was happening.

     When Carrie had finished her breakfast and got up to clean away her plate, she locked eyes with Leo. He nodded away from the kitchen, gesturing for her to leave. Leo stood, with his hot tea, and left the kitchen. Carrie hurries after him, catching his gesture.

     "What are we doing?" Carrie asks.

     "Talking to Master Splinter." Leo takes a sip of his tea. "I figured we should sooner rather than later."

     The two entered the dojo. Master Splinter was meditating. They sat in front of him, waiting.

     "What is it, Leonardo?"

     The turtle looks over at Carrie and nods.

     "I had another nightmare," Carrie confesses.

     The rat opens his eyes. "The same one?"

     Carrie shakes her head. "Completely different."

     Splinter nods at her, signaling her to relate the experience to him. She sighs.

     "I was on a building. I saw Leo and another version of myself fighting. She was wearing this weird armor getup." The corners of her lips curl down, sorrowful. "And she killed him."

     Master Splinter strokes his beard. This puzzled him. Carrie had witnessed two different ways of the death of his eldest son.

     "I cannot say for sure what these experiences mean. Perhaps they are simply nightmares," Master Splinter says, offering a quick solution. This was something he surely would have to meditate on.

     "They aren't just nightmares," Carrie whispers.

     Leonardo and Splinter stare at her. They both couldn't explain what they were, except for simple bad dreams.

     "I know what a nightmare feels like. I was there. When I saw it happen, I freaked out. I screamed. And she looked at me. She turned directly at me and smiled. It happened. I know it did," Carrie says.

     "How could they be real?" Leo shakes his head. "Even if they were visions, I can't die twice."

     "I don't know how, but they were real."

     Master Splinter shakes his head. "For the time being, we must presume them to merely be terrible nightmares and nothing more."

     "What if continues to happen?" Carrie asks.

     "The only solution would be to wait, acknowledge their warnings and prevent those horrible things from ever happening," Master Splinter responds.

     Carrie cups her face in her hands. "This is horrible," she mumbles.

     "I would think of it more as a blessing." Splinter smiles.

     "How?"

     "No matter how horrific, they are still warnings. You heeding their warnings could save my family."

     "No pressure or anything," Carrie mutters.

     "The Shredder and his Foot Clan have had a very prominent role in these two dreams. Perhaps Saki knows something we do not." Splinter stands and strokes his beard. "My sons  will be able to find clues if that is the case."

     Leonardo nods. "We'll find anything we can tonight."

     "Until then, we must continue your training," Splinter says.

     Carrie sighs and stands. "Alright."

     Leonardo stood and bowed. He left, most likely to gather the others and drag them into training as well.

     Training for the turtles and April was much more tiresome than what Splinter had Carrie work on. For that, she was grateful, but Carrie knew Splinter was working in some actual difficult technique in her training. She understood many of the basics and could recall a majority of what she had learned when she was younger. Although, what she thought of as advanced moves were nowhere near what she witnessed the turtle brothers practicing and even what April was practicing. How embarrassing.

     She had never imagined that the years of martial arts and self-defense training would come in handy for this. Sure, there was the possibility of getting robbed on the streets of New York City, but training with a mutant rat? Carrie was just grateful she wasn't completely starting from scratch. The more she thought about it, the more it made sense, why her father made her take these classes. She couldn't deny it. Shredder is very much real and very dangerous. She knew that her father knew he was very much a possible threat and wanted Carrie to be able to have some form of defense, no matter how small, if he couldn't be there.

     The team broke for lunch, which consisted of pizza. Carrie gathered that pizza was one of their favorite foods and knew it was something she would be eating quite a lot.

     After lunch, the turtles went to spare. This meant April and Carrie both got an extended break. Master Splinter needed to monitor the turtle's sparing. He knew how his sons could get and often all of their frustrations and tensions escaped while fighting each other.

     The turtles left the kitchen and Carrie stayed with April.

     "How long does this usually take?" Carrie asks.

     April shrugs. "It depends."

     "On what?"

     "How edgy they're feeling. There's a lot of tension going on, so I imagine it'll take them a while. This is usually how they let off steam."

     "Does that tension have anything to do with me?"

     April nods. "Oh yeah."

     Carrie sighs. "Fun."

     "Well, what else did you expect?"

     "I don't know. Guess I hoped I wasn't causing that much trouble."

     "Don't worry about it. Besides, this is their job."