His skin was drenched in sweat as he gasped for air. The night was cold, enveloping his lonely form in his cot. He had learned to not scream anymore in his sleep. It wasn't fitting for a soldier of his caliber to have nightmares that would cause him to scream. Not him, not anymore. Raphael has worked too hard to keep his place in the Unit. Claiming the second in command position had come with many risks and tribulations, all of which he had conquered, some of them which had been closed calls...

Raph looked at his watch, it was almost zero-four-hundred hours, time in which the bell would ring to signal the start of their day. They were traveling to a new base this morning... Rumors had been going around about the second in command that resided there. They said he was also a turtle as Raph. They said he was very skilled, for he was as silent as he was deadly. Every time he heard people whisper about him, Raph's stomach would knot up in anticipation; he was eager to see this turtle and test first hand what he was all about.

"Ya up yet, shell-brain?"

Raph grinned as he turned to look at the cot next to him. There laid his best friend, Casey Jones, who was NOT a morning person at all. "Rise and shine, beautiful." Raph turned and sat as he stretched the muscles in his tensed shoulders.

Casey sat up lazily as his mouth opened wide to let out the biggest and loudest yawn in history. "Rise and shine my ass... Where tha fuck is the sun!?"

Raph stood up and saw the other members of the special unit had started to rise. They were elite fighters after all, their biological clocks already set to be up and ready before the morning bell rang. The large, muscular turtle proceeded to get dressed in his uniform. "Don't be the last one out, Case. Don't wanna get on Commander Trax's bad side again."

"Dude has a good side? Would've never guessed!" They both chuckled lightly.

 

Minutes later, Raph was walking out the tent's entrance towards his Commander's office tent. As expected, the lights were already on. Commander Traximus was not one known for slacking. Raph stood outside the entrance, about to announce his presence, when a deep rumbling voice spoke from within. "Enter, Raphael."

"Commander..." Raph saluted the behemoth reptile standing in front of him. Traximus was a triceratops-humanoid, and a large one indeed. His triple horns adding to his height as he stood erect over a laid out map on a small table.

"Have the men eat their breakfast hurriedly. I wish to arrive an hour ahead of schedule." Traximus was a being of honor, something which Raph admired profoundly. He was always on time, and always polite, even when he distributed scoldings amongst his men. Sometimes it was up to Raph as second in command to take on the responsibility of chewing out the guys when needed. He was always happy to be of assistance, off course.

Raph saluted again and head back to delegate the news to the men. They started to chow down big bites of potatoes and bread to fill up for the trek to come.

Casey sat next to Raph, his gaze scrutinizing. "What? Do I got something in my teeth?" Raph asked, a little annoyed. He knew that look in his friend's eyes.

"Ya had another one?"

"Another what?" Raph filled his mouth with steamed potato slices.

"Ya know what... One of them nightmares ya still have." Casey bit off a large piece of bread, he chewed twice before talking again with his mouth full. "About the village. Ya gotta talk about 'em, bro. It ain't healthy ta try an' deal with 'em on yer own."

Raph's eyes flicked sideways to glare at his friend before going back to his plate.

Casey turned his body towards him. Merciless as he was when trying to pry things from his friend's heart.

Raph rolled his eyes and pushed his tray away from him, then turned his body as well. "Look, Case. I appreciate the concern, but I already told ya I don't like talkin' about this. What's done is done, life moves on. End of story."

Casey chewed on his food slowly, his eyes searching his friend's trying to find a loophole to dive in... Only he didn't find it. Raph's defenses where always set high and tight. With a humph, he turned back to his tray and continued to empty it. Raph shook his head as he stood up, cleaned his things and headed to get ready for departure. Casey's gaze followed his form, a sad look in his dark eyes. He knew deep down his friend was still suffering, was still tormented by the painful events that took his people in that faithful day when those creatures destroyed everything he once loved.