steepwithdead | Folkmore

Let's see... [A similar story, maybe, to keep the vibe going.] When my youngest sister Clarabelle was still small - well, smaller - she decided one day that she needed to learn how to climb a tree. She first asked me to teach her, but big brother Colton decided he was the best at climbing, so he would take on the lessons.

[Caduceus follows suit, trying the bun with the broth as well.]

In fairness to him, he is the better climber. What he isn't better at is flora and fauna identification. So- ah, first, does your world have a creature known as a "treant"?

[He lifts his bun from the bowl, biting into a soaked portion of it. Yes, the broth does indeed work with the bun. His shoulders slump at the flavor, enjoying it muchly.]

We do not have Treants, but, I have a feeling of just where this is story going.

[Caduceus smiles. It may be predictable, but the fun is in the telling.]

They're just like what you're probably imagining: at a glance, a tree. But they're very old creatures who can speak, and often have a lot to say. The Savalirwood is home to many strange beasts and equally strange stories.

Colton was eager to show his prowess, so he climbed with hardly a glance. Clarabelle was whispering to him the whole time, don't step on its nose! Don't poke its eyes! You'll wake it up. He was in the middle of telling her that trees don't have eyes when it came to life and demanded he get his foot out of its mouth. And then out of his own mouth, so to speak.

[Leonardo already has an idea of where this is going, but does find himself laughing at the punchline all the same.] Omigosh, that must have been fun to clear up with the poor guy they climbed.

Oh, I can bet Colton never heard the end of that one. I at least wouldn't have given Raph peace if he did that.

He certainly didn't. Especially since the treant tried to carry them out of the woods, insisting it wasn't safe for them. It took about two hours of wandering into one mess after another trying to convince it that we lived there. "I know every inch of these woods!" it kept saying, yet somehow couldn't remember that the Blooming Grove or Bone Orchard existed. It'd evidently lost its mind.

A geriatric tree- oh no. [He can't help but laugh again. Working on tearing into the dipped portion of the bun. He's sure Mikey would have strong opinions about the whole bun and noodle situation, but, at this point he doesn't care. Leo is just having a good time.]

I'm glad your siblings found their way back, but, damn. Hopefully Colton figured out to look before he leapt, or climbed in that case.

He figured out that he should keep his mouth shut about things he's not an expert on. At least for about six years.

[All bets were off at that point, around when he and Calliope left the grove. He was determined to go off and be the big hero, save Mom and Aunt Corrin.]

The plus side is, 'Belle still learned to climb, and she got to hold it over his head for ages.

[He whistles, impressed by that much.] Six years? He ever beat that record, or did he manage to avoid the same kind of fumble?

Oh, I bet. She probably still brings it up between the two of them when she cans. Mikey enjoys- [He stalls for a second, correcting himself.] enjoyed rubbing it in my face that ghosts exist.

I couldn't say. That happened around thirteen years ago. Six years is the difference between when it happened and when he went missing. [He pauses, then adds, to avoid killing the mood,] Temporarily.

[That part's important.]

You didn't believe in ghosts?

Give it time, he'll have to eat crow again for something. [He's still trying to keep the mood light as well.]

When I was a kid, I thought ghosts were made up. I gave Mikey the hardest time about it. My baby brother loved watching scary videos about ghosts. Any chance I'd get, I'd scare him over it.

Suppose he already did a little, when I saved him from staying petrified forever. I get to hold that over his head for life.

[The tragedy of loss can be blissfully overshadowed by the joy of reunion. That's a real mood.]

I couldn't imagine ever doubting that. Then again, we grew up in very different places.

You'll get to lovingly rub that in his face whenever possible. I know I would. [He offers back, aware there is a gap between that and now, but... Caduceus will get to go home eventually.]

In my defense, I grew up in a place where magic isn't considered real to humans and we lived on the fringes of their society. That and, y'know, I didn't know our whole family had some weird ghostly connection to our ancestors to fulfill some great destiny our dad shirked. [He says this casually while popping another soggy ripped bit of bread into his mouth.]

His time will come again.

[Assuming Caduceus himself gets home alive, eventually. Even after he returns to his own world, his journey is far from complete.]

Destiny's a messy, daunting thing. What was it, if it's alright to ask? Or what is it, should I say.

[He doesn't know if said destiny was fulfilled, or ongoing- or failed, considering the state of Leonardo's world.]

Give him an extra hassle from me. [He has to joke about it at least a little. Both of them are middle siblings from very different families, but there are enough similarities to be comforting.

The question earns a big exhale from the turtle.] How do I even explain half of this? [He is eating some noodles real fast to give himself buffer time to think.]

If you're Hamato, you were supposed to stop an ancient evil demonic armor from being put together by an opposing clan, The Foot Clan. Even if it cost you your very life, that was your duty. My father ran from that, and in the generational lull, the armor was being put together.

Long story short, the armor did in fact come together. We had to fight it.

[Caduceus listens with a thoughtful expression, considering each detail. It's a new aspect of their family that he'd been unaware of until now. No wonder they'd put so much effort into protecting the world for so many years. They'd had that duty placed upon them long before, even if they'd dodged it as a family for a while first.]

It sounds like destiny found you, in the end. But you won.

[They wouldn't have lived to fight aliens for decades after, otherwise.]

We did, and broke the cycle our family was stuck in. [He's going to eat a bit more noodles, don't mind him. It gives him a chance to think back on that. He was just a kid then. Younger than Casey is now.] We found out that the demon armor was our a distant great great greaaat grandfather who made a deal with a demon to protect his family. He became corrupted because of the armor. His daughter made another clan, fought him, then- well, sacrificed herself to keep him contained to minimize what he could do. Foot Clan were a part of our family at one point too, but chose the demonic armor.

I wasn't even fifteen when we had to handle all of that, so, I could be mixing up a few things in my mind.

That is a while back.

[Not ancient or anything, but Caduceus has lived through enough decades to know that memories fade over time, finer details fall to the wayside. The moments and emotions are what stick, mostly.]

I'm glad that you were able to break that cycle. It must have been a great relief for your father, after running for so long.

The teens could probably give you a better idea of what happened than I can at this point. [He jokes absently back.]

I think it was, he seemed... a lot lighter. [He twirls his fork in the noodles absently.] It didn't fix his other problems, but, it made things much better.

I won't pry unnecessarily. It sounds like a painful memory.

[He doesn't require the nitpicky details. Broad strokes need less exploration than the emotions attached.]

There's no such a thing as a cure-all. Those who claim otherwise are swindling. Better is good. Better can always happen, it's a gradient.

If we had a cure-all, it wouldn't have been pops. [He works on his bun, opting to soak it again.] I was happy for that gradient. Before the war, we got to at least have some real time with him.

Was funny to see him make up with Draxum and Big Mama.

As much as you can with a guy who experimented on you and a woman who held you hostage for a few years. [Sorry Caduceus, Leonardo's family situation is bizarre. He will take a sip of his tea though.]

[Caduceus quirks a brow at that. One of those is familiar to him, the other...]

I know Draxum. He and I were friends, I think. While he was here. [Did he know about the experimentation of their father? He knew a little of how the turtles themselves were made, but that feels new.] Who is Big Mama? Why did she hold him hostage?

Somehow, I'm not surprised. Draxum, for his bluster, is a decent enough guy. He took me ribbing him for tossing me off a roof as a kid pretty well for a long time. [Aliens invading the planet and destroying it, that tends to change your priorities a little.]

That is- a whole other story. Oy. [He tries to make it as compact as possible.] Short summary, pops and Big Mama were in a relationship, she turned out to be a giant spider who just wanted to kidnap him for her underground fighting ring.

I did hear a little of that story. [He recalls that Draxum was working on making amends, or at least reaching some better level of understanding with the younger Leo. He's curious of how things would have gone with the older Leonardo here.

As for Big Mama... good grief. See, this is why relationships are so messy. Better to observe and not be involved!] That seems like a lot of effort just to abduct someone.

Draxum's perspective on it must have been interesting to hear. [He does genuinely mean that. He knows what he was feeling at that time]

You're telling me, like... why? A straight-up kidnapping would have been less of a damn mess. [He shakes his head.] I didn't ask a lot of questions, I had to be the first to learn they dated while she was trying to kill us.

It was, though we both know he was often cagey with his emotions.

[Not that Caduceus is one to share what those feelings were, but Leonardo is being vague and not prying, so it's all good. He'll leave it at that.]

Must have been strange to find out about your father's love life, after growing up so isolated.

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