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No money being made.\nWord Count: 100K+ multi-chapter 2k3\nSummary: Donatello sets out to do April a small favor and winds up in another dimension.\nRating will vary by chapter, from G to NC-17\n\n~~The amazing preview image created by @dragona15", "description_bbcode_parsed": "Disclaimer: The TMNT are not mine. No money being made.
Word Count: 100K+ multi-chapter 2k3
Summary: Donatello sets out to do April a small favor and winds up in another dimension.
Rating will vary by chapter, from G to NC-17

~~The amazing preview image created by \r\n\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
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\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdragona15\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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", "writing": "\tDon and Nicco had only been hiking for a few minutes when Don discovered that he was a little uncomfortable.\n\n\tIn fact, his rear end was sore and with each step there was a distinct stinging sensation. He tried to hide the fact, but it didn’t take Nicco long to spot the awkward way that Don was moving. Or it may have been that Nicco was watching for the signs.\n\n\t“On a scale of one to ten, how bad is it?” Nicco asked suddenly.\n\n\tDon shot a glance at him but Nicco’s eyes were on the compass. “How bad is what?”\n\n\tNicco tucked the compass away and looked over at the younger turtle. “Your ass.”\n\n\tSince Don could see that trying to lie to Nicco about it was pointless, he said, “Probably a three. It’s not painful, it’s just . . . irritating.”\n\n\t“You’ll be less aware of it as the day progresses,” Nicco said. “It’s an unfortunate side effect of anal penetration. Do you understand now why I didn’t want to go too far? This part of our journey is going to be longer than the last because the next water is farther away.”\n\n\tDon was glad Nicco didn’t add an ‘I told you so’ but realized that wasn’t how Nicco worked, not with something like this. When he said he wanted to teach Don he’d really meant it.\n\n\t“It was worth it,” Don said softly, his eyes on Nicco’s.\n\n\t“You’re forever surprising me little ninja,” Nicco said, the warmth in his expression sending a wave of heat into Don’s belly.\n\n\t“Keeps you on your toes,” Don quipped. He was sure he’d never get used to the rush he felt when Nicco looked at him that way and equally as sure that he hoped he never would.\n\n\tA howling in the distance quieted them, reminding the pair that darkness brought with it a set of predatory challenges. Nicco picked his way across the barren, rock strewn ground, following a path he’d only been on once before. Occasionally he would look at his compass in order to double check his memory and then continue on.\n\n\tBefore long Don’s ninja trained senses detected something nearby and then he caught movement in his peripheral vision. Turning his head, Don saw a large furry animal pacing them from atop a high rise in the land to their left.\n\n\t“There’s an animal stalking us,” Don said, his voice low.\n\n\t“I know,” Nicco told him. “He’s trying to catch our scent and decide if we’re attempting to move in on his territory. He’s a night predator and once he realizes we’re leaving the area he will go back to his burrow. Don’t worry unless you see his pack join him. If that happens trying to outrun them won’t be an option; we’ll have to settle for getting in a little exercise.”\n\n\t“You have an interesting way of defining ‘exercise’,” Don muttered, his eyes glued to the creature.\n\n\tFrom far off Don heard something howl again, the sound eerie in the silence. Nicco chuckled and said, “I think the missus wants to know where her mate has disappeared to.”\n\n\tDon saw the animal stop moving, though his head was still pointed in their direction. As Nicco and Don continued onwards, ignoring the creature, it turned and ran off.\n\n\tWith a sigh of relief, Don said, “I guess we know who wears the pants in that relationship.”\n\n\t“He didn’t want to wind up sleeping in the dog house,” Nicco said with a laugh.\n\n\tDon groaned at his joke, drawing another laugh from Nicco. They continued on in companionable silence, watching the sun rise a little while later. The colors were intense and magnificent in the open landscape and the pair paused for just a bit in order to enjoy them.\n\n\tWith his eyes focused on the horizon, Don didn’t notice Nicco staring at him. After a moment he glanced over and blushed at the look on Nicco’s face.\n\n\t“You aren’t going to say something incredibly cheesy right now, are you?” Don asked.\n\n\t“I thought about it,” Nicco said. “I prefer action to words anyway, smart ass.”\n\n\tTaking Don into his arms, Nicco pressed a kiss to his mouth that had Don’s head reeling within seconds. Without Nicco’s tight hold on him, Don’s legs might have given way, his muscles suddenly rubbery.\n\n\tWhen Nicco released him it took a second for Don’s equilibrium to return.\n\n\tClearing his throat, Don said, “Action is good. I like action.”\n\n\t“Let’s go before I decide to give you some more action,” Nicco said, his hand drifting down to cup Don’s butt before he took the lead again.\n\n\tHis rear tingling deliciously from Nicco’s touch, Don felt as if he was walking on air rather than rough stones as he followed the larger turtle.\n\n\tHours later the oppressive heat had emptied Don’s mind of all memory of any pain in his posterior, just as Nicco had predicted. Don was glad for Nicco’s foresight in advising him to saturate himself with water as well; they had both managed to sustain themselves thus far with only small sips of the precious liquid in the canteen.\n\n\tShade was hard to come by, but as noon passed the pair came upon a group of tall shrubs, their leaves narrow and spindly. Following Nicco over to them, Don watched as the other turtle pressed a hand to the ground where the shrubs threw their mottled shadow.\n\n\t“It’s not cool, but it isn’t hot either,” Nicco announced as he removed his backpack with an audible sigh. “We’ll rest here for a couple of hours. Help me with this blanket.”\n\n\tHaving taken their blanket from the backpack, Nicco proceeded to stretch it across the limbs of the largest shrub. Don grabbed the other side and followed suit, tying the ends around branches so that any wind that might kick up wouldn’t take their blanket with it.\n\n\tNot that there was even the slightest breeze at the moment. Don happily crawled under the welcoming shade, his eyes smarting from the intensity of the sunlight he’d just escaped. Nicco sank down next to him, drawing the backpack under the canopy and out of the hot sun.\n\n\tAfter they both took a drink of the canteen’s lukewarm water the pair shifted around trying to get comfortable. The shade that the blanket provided didn’t cover a large area and in order to keep all parts of their bodies out of the sun they wound up on their sides facing each other. Using the backpack as a pillow, Nicco and Don scooted close together, their legs intertwined so that neither would roll over in their sleep.\n\n\tThe problem was that staring into Nicco’s eyes drove all thoughts of resting from Don’s mind. Even though it was too warm to be touching each other, Don found that the feel of Nicco’s skin against his was hopelessly intoxicating.\n\n\t“You aren’t even trying to sleep,” Nicco said, his voice taking on the gravelly tone that occurred when he was physically stimulated.\n\n\t“Neither are you,” Don countered, pushing down the churr that attempted to escape.\n\n\t“Working up a sweat in this heat would be a good way to kill ourselves,” Nicco reminded him.\n\n\t“Then stop looking at me like that,” Don said even as a quiver ran down his spine.\n\n\t“If you’d stop vibrating and churring I wouldn’t be looking at you this way,” Nicco said, his voice guttural. “You’re teasing me on purpose.”\n\n\t“I did not churr,” Don protested heatedly, “and I’m not teas . . . .”\n\n\tHe saw Nicco’s grin and swallowed the rest of his words. “Very funny,” Don said.\n\n\tWith a chuckle, Nicco quickly cupped Don’s chin and leaned down for a kiss. Before it could become anything more than a quick brush of their lips, Nicco pulled his hand away and settled his head on the makeshift pillow.\n\n\t“Tell me about your brothers,” Nicco said. “You’ve told me of some of the things you’ve done together, but you haven’t really told me about [i]them[/i].”\n\n\t“You want to hear about my brothers?” Don asked, startled by the surprise request.\n\n\t“Can you think of a better way to get your mind off of sex?” Nicco responded. “Besides, if I were to meet them I’d like to have the advantage of understanding them a little in case they happen to be protective of you.”\n\n\t“I . . . I hadn’t thought of that,” Don admitted. “I’ve tried not to . . . think too far ahead.”\n\n\t“I haven’t wanted to either,” Nicco said. “It’s easier to enjoy the here and now. Unfortunately I’m not made that way, little ninja. Although a part of me wants to rush into things, another part needs to plan. So tell me about them.”\n\n\tTaking a deep breath, Don began to talk. At first he simply told Nicco the most basic of facts; his brother’s likes and dislikes, their roles on the team, the weapons they used. But Nicco insisted he needed more and before long Don found that he was delving deeper into his brother’s personalities.\n\n\tThough he hadn’t meant to, his words painted a picture of the family dynamic that Don had never examined before. It helped him to understand them a little more and to understand his place with them as well. Don realized how much he cared for his brothers and how much he missed them.\n\n\tIt wasn’t long before he grew tired and began to yawn between words. Glancing at Nicco, he saw the other turtle’s eyes had closed. Don smiled and shut his eyes as well, quickly falling into a deep sleep.\n\n\tDon woke when Nicco began to stir, his legs untangling from Don’s as the larger turtle moved to sit up. Stretching, Don saw that the sun’s shift had begun to alter the shade they were under and he had to scoot back to avoid the light.\n\n\tAfter another quick drink of water and then packing the blanket away, the pair started off again. Trudging steadily along they didn’t speak, both to conserve energy and to keep their mouths from drying out.\n\n\tIn the next three hours the terrain became hilly and a dusting of green vegetation began to show up. When they reached the base of one of the higher mounds of earth, Nicco said, “Climb up here with me, I want to show you something.”\n\n\tThe ascent was fairly easy and when they reached the top, Nicco pointed to a spot in the distance which sat in a northwesterly direction from where they stood. Though it was difficult to tell exactly how far away it was, it wasn’t hard to see what it was. A short, squat structure formed from native rock sat on a flat area between two hills.\n\n\t“Is that where the artifact is located?” Don asked excitedly.\n\n\t“That’s it,” Nicco confirmed. Taking a deep breath, he faced Don. “I can find it from here without my compass, so if you want to take it in the morning and head directly for the artifact I’ll understand. I’m not going to drag you along on a treasure hunt just because I selfishly want you with me. I promised to get you home as soon as I could and this is me keeping that promise.”\n\n\tHe held the compass out towards Don, his eyes glued to Don’s face. It wasn’t difficult to read the pain in his eyes nor was it tough to guess what Nicco was feeling. The thought of taking the compass and walking away from Nicco had Don suddenly panicking.\n\n\t“No.” Don pushed the compass back at Nicco. “Whatever you have to do I’m coming with you. All I needed for my peace of mind was to see for myself where the artifact is located. Besides, without me you’ll never find the Kimberlite; you won’t know what to look for.”\n\n\tThe amber of Nicco’s eyes clouded and he blinked rapidly to clear them. Swallowing thickly, he said, “I guess it wouldn’t hurt to have somebody along who can keep me from wandering in circles.”\n\n\tDon impulsively wrapped his arms around Nicco’s neck, pressing against him and rising up on his toes to kiss the other turtle. Nicco’s response was instantaneous as he grabbed Don’s hips and pulled him closer.\n\n\tFinally breaking away from each other with a gasp, the pair took a moment to settle their racing hearts. “Where . . . where are we camping tonight?” Don asked.\n\n\t“There’s a spot near the ravine where we found the diamonds,” Nicco said. “The rain up on the mountains should have washed down and filled in some of the area with water. We’ll find some more of those edible roots in the same vicinity.”\n\n\t“How long?” Don reluctantly released Nicco and stepped back.\n\n\t“A couple hours more,” Nicco said, starting down the hill. “We should get there just as the sun starts to sink.”\n\n\tAs they walked towards their destination for the night, Don noticed that Nicco’s step seemed jauntier than usual. The young turtle thought he knew why; the same feeling made Don’s heart beat a little faster and his spirits almost sing with happiness.\n\n\tDon’s decision had delayed the inevitable for just a while longer, giving them both more time together. It was special to Nicco because Don had made the choice on his own, a choice that had been reached due to Don’s affection for the older turtle. An affection that Don was now sure that Nicco shared.\n\n\tThe air grew crisper as they climbed into the gently rolling hills and started to lose the sun’s heat. At one point Nicco stopped to gather their dinner, digging up a good sized supply of the tasty beetroots they’d shared once before.\n\n\tIt wasn’t long before Don smelled water and he breathed a sigh of relief. The sense of well-being was short lived as Nicco silently pointed out the animal tracks to him.\n\n\tThey turned away from the water and walked another mile. Don could no longer see the sun itself, but its radiance was still bright enough to show them where they were going as they walked next to a shallow ravine. The light was also intense enough to make several small objects at the bottom of the ravine shine.\n\n\t“Nicco?” Don asked, his eyes focused on the glimmering stones he’d spotted.\n\n\tThe other turtle turned to look and then grinned. Skipping over the edge of the ravine, Nicco slid on the sandy soil until he reached the bottom and then picked up a handful of the stones.\n\n\tClimbing back up, he opened his palm to display his collection to Don. “Diamonds,” Nicco told him.\n\n\tDon took one of the rough stones from Nicco’s hand and held it up between two fingers, letting the diminishing light play along its exterior. It didn’t look like much, but as he turned it, he could see the prisms that indicated the potential brilliance of a polished diamond.\n\n\t“It’s hard to believe that these can be worth so much,” Don said as he placed the stone back into Nicco’s hand. “Hard to believe that people kill and die for them.”\n\n\tNicco placed the stones into a small leather bag and then tucked it into a pocket of his backpack. “As long as there are rich women who want to adorn themselves with these and rich husbands who will pay for the privilege, it’s always going to be that way. For me these represent a freedom that Mase and I can’t come by any other way.”\n\n\t“Then let’s see if we can’t locate the mother lode for you,” Don said. “We probably have another forty minutes of light and that was a lot of stones lying right there together. It leads me to think that the Kimberlite isn’t far from here.”\n\n\t“Do you think the source is that close?” Nicco asked excitedly. “Mase and I looked around a little but we didn’t find anything.”\n\n\t“It probably hadn’t rained just before you got here,” Don pointed out. “The stones you found were scattered around and you wouldn’t have had any directional clues.”\n\n\t“We did search in a couple of different directions before we realized we didn’t have time to look further,” Nicco admitted. “Mase even said something before we set out to make this trip about trying to determine where the water had flowed from.”\n\n\t“Look here,” Don said, squatting at the edge of the ravine and pointing towards some plants jutting up on the sides of the wash. “That vegetation is still bent down from the force of the water as it ran through here.”\n\n\t“That means the water came from this direction,” Nicco said, pointing to his left. “Let’s see what we can find.”\n\n\tIn another five minutes they reached a small rock slide and carefully climbed over it. As they came up over the other side there was a small clearing with heavy brambles bordering one edge of it.\n\n\t“This is where Mase and I camped,” Nicco said, pointing to the spot where their campfire had been built. “We’ll spend another fifteen minutes looking around and come back here. Over on the other side of the ravine is a good sized catch basin in the center of a mound of rocks and that’s where we’ll find our water.”\n\n\t“Come on,” Don said, barely listening as he focused his sights on a set of small hills that were in a direct line with the ravine.\n\n\tWhen they reached the hills they saw deep trenches in each of them where over time water had dug into the rock. At the base of the first one Don examined a handful of the silt left behind when the water had carried it down from above. Since it didn’t resemble the silt Nicco had collected with the diamonds, Don shook his head and jogged over to the next hill.\n\n\tNicco asked no questions, instead following Don and keeping his eyes open for predators who might have ventured out early. He was also watching the progress of the sun as it made its descent, knowing that they’d soon have to give up their search for the night.\n\n\tAt the bottom of the next hill, Don dug his fingers into the silt inside the trench that fed into the ravine. He immediately saw the glitter that matched the stuff that had accompanied the diamonds. Better still, his burrowing fingers turned up a small diamond.\n\n\t“You found it,” Nicco said excitedly.\n\n\tDon tipped his head back, his eyes following the trench upwards. “We’ve still got some light, maybe we can find where this starts.”\n\n\tWithout waiting Don started to climb, feeling the same sense of discovery that he did when an experiment came to a successful conclusion. Finding diamonds was secondary; finding answers was the thing that always drove him.\n\n\tBehind him he heard Nicco chuckle. “You couldn’t be doing a more splendid imitation of Mase if you’d studied him.”\n\n\t“I have to know,” Don said in his defense, following the trench as it twisted around the hill.\n\n\t“You’ll get no complaints from me,” Nicco told him.\n\n\tIn another minute Don spotted it. Halfway up the hill a deep fissure had collapsed in upon itself, the opening succumbing to the power of water cascading from above. There was a small bush growing amongst the rocks to one side of it and the center gaped like an open maw, dark and mysterious.\n\n\tTaking a pencil flashlight from his belt, Don shone it around the edges before carefully approaching the gap. The ground was stable enough and Don let the light play along the inside, but it wasn’t bright enough to penetrate more than a couple of feet.\n\n\tNicco had crept up alongside him to peer into the fissure. “I can’t see anything. Maybe we can make the opening bigger.”\n\n\t“Wait,” Don said, handing the flashlight to Nicco and then pulling his bo staff free. “Let my bo go first, we don’t know what’s in there.”\n\n\tMaking certain that he was balanced and on firm ground, Don lowered the end of his staff into the hole. At first he felt nothing and shifted the angle until the staff tapped against rock. Keeping the end of the bo against the rock, Don slid it downwards until he suddenly felt something tugging on it.\n\n\tAs he carefully lifted the bo out of the hole, Don could feel an added weight on the end. When the bo cleared the opening, he and Nicco both saw the large snake that had wrapped itself around the staff.\n\n\tIn a flash Nicco yanked his hachiwari from his belt and severed the snake’s head from its body. Lips curved up in disgust, Don held the staff away from him and shook the body loose, watching as it bounced off the rocks and disappeared.\n\n\tLaughing, Nicco replaced his weapon and said, “It’s a good thing I listened to you,” just before reaching into the opening.\n\n\tDon saw him a split second too late. “Wait! There might be . . . .”\n\n\tHis warning was cut off as Nicco cried out and snatched his hand back. Another snake had sunk its fangs into the side of Nicco’s hand and continued to hold on as Nicco slammed its body into the ground.\n\n\tDon leaped forward as soon as he saw the serpent, reaching and grabbing onto Nicco’s hachiwari. With one smooth \tmovement he pulled the weapon and hacked the snake in half.\n\n\tThe head was still attached to Nicco’s hand and Don yelled, “Don’t move.”\n\n\tGrabbing Nicco’s arm, Don slid the tip of the hachiwari into the snake’s mouth and twisted it, prying the fangs loose from Nicco’s flesh.\n\n\tBatting the head away from them, Don immediately saw that the flesh around the puncture wound was swollen. Nicco was holding his wrist, staring wide eyed at his hand.\n\n\t“Sit,” Don ordered, his voice harsh enough to cut through Nicco’s shock.\n\n\t“Venomous,” Nicco said, sitting heavily on the dirt. “It was venomous.”\n\n\tDon pushed at his shoulders. “Lie down and be as still as you can.”\n\n\tNicco allowed himself to be lowered onto his back. “Donny . . . .” he began.\n\n\t“Shut up and don’t move,” Don said from between gritted teeth. “I am not letting some damn snake take you away from me.”\n\nTBC…………….\n", "writing_bbcode_parsed": "\tDon and Nicco had only been hiking for a few minutes when Don discovered that he was a little uncomfortable.

\tIn fact, his rear end was sore and with each step there was a distinct stinging sensation.  He tried to hide the fact, but it didn’t take Nicco long to spot the awkward way that Don was moving.  Or it may have been that Nicco was watching for the signs.

\t“On a scale of one to ten, how bad is it?” Nicco asked suddenly.

\tDon shot a glance at him but Nicco’s eyes were on the compass.  “How bad is what?”

\tNicco tucked the compass away and looked over at the younger turtle.  “Your ass.”

\tSince Don could see that trying to lie to Nicco about it was pointless, he said, “Probably a three.  It’s not painful, it’s just . . . irritating.”

\t“You’ll be less aware of it as the day progresses,” Nicco said.  “It’s an unfortunate side effect of anal penetration.  Do you understand now why I didn’t want to go too far?  This part of our journey is going to be longer than the last because the next water is farther away.”

\tDon was glad Nicco didn’t add an ‘I told you so’ but realized that wasn’t how Nicco worked, not with something like this.  When he said he wanted to teach Don he’d really meant it.

\t“It was worth it,” Don said softly, his eyes on Nicco’s.

\t“You’re forever surprising me little ninja,” Nicco said, the warmth in his expression sending a wave of heat into Don’s belly.

\t“Keeps you on your toes,” Don quipped.  He was sure he’d never get used to the rush he felt when Nicco looked at him that way and equally as sure that he hoped he never would.

\tA howling in the distance quieted them, reminding the pair that darkness brought with it a set of predatory challenges.  Nicco picked his way across the barren, rock strewn ground, following a path he’d only been on once before.  Occasionally he would look at his compass in order to double check his memory and then continue on.

\tBefore long Don’s ninja trained senses detected something nearby and then he caught movement in his peripheral vision.  Turning his head, Don saw a large furry animal pacing them from atop a high rise in the land to their left.

\t“There’s an animal stalking us,” Don said, his voice low.

\t“I know,” Nicco told him.  “He’s trying to catch our scent and decide if we’re attempting to move in on his territory.  He’s a night predator and once he realizes we’re leaving the area he will go back to his burrow.  Don’t worry unless you see his pack join him.  If that happens trying to outrun them won’t be an option; we’ll have to settle for getting in a little exercise.”

\t“You have an interesting way of defining ‘exercise’,” Don muttered, his eyes glued to the creature.

\tFrom far off Don heard something howl again, the sound eerie in the silence.  Nicco chuckled and said, “I think the missus wants to know where her mate has disappeared to.”

\tDon saw the animal stop moving, though his head was still pointed in their direction.  As Nicco and Don continued onwards, ignoring the creature, it turned and ran off.

\tWith a sigh of relief, Don said, “I guess we know who wears the pants in that relationship.”

\t“He didn’t want to wind up sleeping in the dog house,” Nicco said with a laugh.

\tDon groaned at his joke, drawing another laugh from Nicco.  They continued on in companionable silence, watching the sun rise a little while later.  The colors were intense and magnificent in the open landscape and the pair paused for just a bit in order to enjoy them.

\tWith his eyes focused on the horizon, Don didn’t notice Nicco staring at him.  After a moment he glanced over and blushed at the look on Nicco’s face.

\t“You aren’t going to say something incredibly cheesy right now, are you?” Don asked.

\t“I thought about it,” Nicco said.  “I prefer action to words anyway, smart ass.”

\tTaking Don into his arms, Nicco pressed a kiss to his mouth that had Don’s head reeling within seconds.  Without Nicco’s tight hold on him, Don’s legs might have given way, his muscles suddenly rubbery.

\tWhen Nicco released him it took a second for Don’s equilibrium to return.

\tClearing his throat, Don said, “Action is good.  I like action.”

\t“Let’s go before I decide to give you some more action,” Nicco said, his hand drifting down to cup Don’s butt before he took the lead again.

\tHis rear tingling deliciously from Nicco’s touch, Don felt as if he was walking on air rather than rough stones as he followed the larger turtle.

\tHours later the oppressive heat had emptied Don’s mind of all memory of any pain in his posterior, just as Nicco had predicted.  Don was glad for Nicco’s foresight in advising him to saturate himself with water as well; they had both managed to sustain themselves thus far with only small sips of the precious liquid in the canteen.

\tShade was hard to come by, but as noon passed the pair came upon a group of tall shrubs, their leaves narrow and spindly.  Following Nicco over to them, Don watched as the other turtle pressed a hand to the ground where the shrubs threw their mottled shadow.

\t“It’s not cool, but it isn’t hot either,” Nicco announced as he removed his backpack with an audible sigh.  “We’ll rest here for a couple of hours.  Help me with this blanket.”

\tHaving taken their blanket from the backpack, Nicco proceeded to stretch it across the limbs of the largest shrub.  Don grabbed the other side and followed suit, tying the ends around branches so that any wind that might kick up wouldn’t take their blanket with it.

\tNot that there was even the slightest breeze at the moment.  Don happily crawled under the welcoming shade, his eyes smarting from the intensity of the sunlight he’d just escaped.  Nicco sank down next to him, drawing the backpack under the canopy and out of the hot sun.

\tAfter they both took a drink of the canteen’s lukewarm water the pair shifted around trying to get comfortable.  The shade that the blanket provided didn’t cover a large area and in order to keep all parts of their bodies out of the sun they wound up on their sides facing each other.  Using the backpack as a pillow, Nicco and Don scooted close together, their legs intertwined so that neither would roll over in their sleep.

\tThe problem was that staring into Nicco’s eyes drove all thoughts of resting from Don’s mind.  Even though it was too warm to be touching each other, Don found that the feel of Nicco’s skin against his was hopelessly intoxicating.

\t“You aren’t even trying to sleep,” Nicco said, his voice taking on the gravelly tone that occurred when he was physically stimulated.

\t“Neither are you,” Don countered, pushing down the churr that attempted to escape.

\t“Working up a sweat in this heat would be a good way to kill ourselves,” Nicco reminded him.

\t“Then stop looking at me like that,” Don said even as a quiver ran down his spine.

\t“If you’d stop vibrating and churring I wouldn’t be looking at you this way,” Nicco said, his voice guttural.  “You’re teasing me on purpose.”

\t“I did not churr,” Don protested heatedly, “and I’m not teas . . . .”

\tHe saw Nicco’s grin and swallowed the rest of his words.  “Very funny,” Don said.

\tWith a chuckle, Nicco quickly cupped Don’s chin and leaned down for a kiss.  Before it could become anything more than a quick brush of their lips, Nicco pulled his hand away and settled his head on the makeshift pillow.

\t“Tell me about your brothers,” Nicco said.  “You’ve told me of some of the things you’ve done together, but you haven’t really told me about them.”

\t“You want to hear about my brothers?” Don asked, startled by the surprise request.

\t“Can you think of a better way to get your mind off of sex?” Nicco responded.  “Besides, if I were to meet them I’d like to have the advantage of understanding them a little in case they happen to be protective of you.”

\t“I . . . I hadn’t thought of that,” Don admitted.  “I’ve tried not to . . . think too far ahead.”

\t“I haven’t wanted to either,” Nicco said.  “It’s easier to enjoy the here and now.  Unfortunately I’m not made that way, little ninja.  Although a part of me wants to rush into things, another part needs to plan.  So tell me about them.”

\tTaking a deep breath, Don began to talk.  At first he simply told Nicco the most basic of facts; his brother’s likes and dislikes, their roles on the team, the weapons they used.  But Nicco insisted he needed more and before long Don found that he was delving deeper into his brother’s personalities.

\tThough he hadn’t meant to, his words painted a picture of the family dynamic that Don had never examined before.  It helped him to understand them a little more and to understand his place with them as well.  Don realized how much he cared for his brothers and how much he missed them.

\tIt wasn’t long before he grew tired and began to yawn between words.  Glancing at Nicco, he saw the other turtle’s eyes had closed.  Don smiled and shut his eyes as well, quickly falling into a deep sleep.

\tDon woke when Nicco began to stir, his legs untangling from Don’s as the larger turtle moved to sit up.  Stretching, Don saw that the sun’s shift had begun to alter the shade they were under and he had to scoot back to avoid the light.

\tAfter another quick drink of water and then packing the blanket away, the pair started off again.  Trudging steadily along they didn’t speak, both to conserve energy and to keep their mouths from drying out.

\tIn the next three hours the terrain became hilly and a dusting of green vegetation began to show up.  When they reached the base of one of the higher mounds of earth, Nicco said, “Climb up here with me, I want to show you something.”

\tThe ascent was fairly easy and when they reached the top, Nicco pointed to a spot in the distance which sat in a northwesterly direction from where they stood.  Though it was difficult to tell exactly how far away it was, it wasn’t hard to see what it was.  A short, squat structure formed from native rock sat on a flat area between two hills.

\t“Is that where the artifact is located?” Don asked excitedly.

\t“That’s it,” Nicco confirmed.  Taking a deep breath, he faced Don.  “I can find it from here without my compass, so if you want to take it in the morning and head directly for the artifact I’ll understand.  I’m not going to drag you along on a treasure hunt just because I selfishly want you with me.  I promised to get you home as soon as I could and this is me keeping that promise.”

\tHe held the compass out towards Don, his eyes glued to Don’s face.  It wasn’t difficult to read the pain in his eyes nor was it tough to guess what Nicco was feeling.  The thought of taking the compass and walking away from Nicco had Don suddenly panicking.

\t“No.”  Don pushed the compass back at Nicco.  “Whatever you have to do I’m coming with you.  All I needed for my peace of mind was to see for myself where the artifact is located.  Besides, without me you’ll never find the Kimberlite; you won’t know what to look for.”

\tThe amber of Nicco’s eyes clouded and he blinked rapidly to clear them.  Swallowing thickly, he said, “I guess it wouldn’t hurt to have somebody along who can keep me from wandering in circles.”

\tDon impulsively wrapped his arms around Nicco’s neck, pressing against him and rising up on his toes to kiss the other turtle.  Nicco’s response was instantaneous as he grabbed Don’s hips and pulled him closer.

\tFinally breaking away from each other with a gasp, the pair took a moment to settle their racing hearts.  “Where . . . where are we camping tonight?” Don asked.

\t“There’s a spot near the ravine where we found the diamonds,” Nicco said.  “The rain up on the mountains should have washed down and filled in some of the area with water.  We’ll find some more of those edible roots in the same vicinity.”

\t“How long?”  Don reluctantly released Nicco and stepped back.

\t“A couple hours more,” Nicco said, starting down the hill.  “We should get there just as the sun starts to sink.”

\tAs they walked towards their destination for the night, Don noticed that Nicco’s step seemed jauntier than usual.  The young turtle thought he knew why; the same feeling made Don’s heart beat a little faster and his spirits almost sing with happiness.

\tDon’s decision had delayed the inevitable for just a while longer, giving them both more time together.  It was special to Nicco because Don had made the choice on his own, a choice that had been reached due to Don’s affection for the older turtle.  An affection that Don was now sure that Nicco shared.

\tThe air grew crisper as they climbed into the gently rolling hills and started to lose the sun’s heat.  At one point Nicco stopped to gather their dinner, digging up a good sized supply of the tasty beetroots they’d shared once before.

\tIt wasn’t long before Don smelled water and he breathed a sigh of relief.  The sense of well-being was short lived as Nicco silently pointed out the animal tracks to him.

\tThey turned away from the water and walked another mile.  Don could no longer see the sun itself, but its radiance was still bright enough to show them where they were going as they walked next to a shallow ravine.  The light was also intense enough to make several small objects at the bottom of the ravine shine.

\t“Nicco?” Don asked, his eyes focused on the glimmering stones he’d spotted.

\tThe other turtle turned to look and then grinned.  Skipping over the edge of the ravine, Nicco slid on the sandy soil until he reached the bottom and then picked up a handful of the stones.

\tClimbing back up, he opened his palm to display his collection to Don.  “Diamonds,” Nicco told him.

\tDon took one of the rough stones from Nicco’s hand and held it up between two fingers, letting the diminishing light play along its exterior.  It didn’t look like much, but as he turned it, he could see the prisms that indicated the potential brilliance of a polished diamond.

\t“It’s hard to believe that these can be worth so much,” Don said as he placed the stone back into Nicco’s hand.  “Hard to believe that people kill and die for them.”

\tNicco placed the stones into a small leather bag and then tucked it into a pocket of his backpack.  “As long as there are rich women who want to adorn themselves with these and rich husbands who will pay for the privilege, it’s always going to be that way.  For me these represent a freedom that Mase and I can’t come by any other way.”

\t“Then let’s see if we can’t locate the mother lode for you,” Don said.  “We probably have another forty minutes of light and that was a lot of stones lying right there together.  It leads me to think that the Kimberlite isn’t far from here.”

\t“Do you think the source is that close?” Nicco asked excitedly.  “Mase and I looked around a little but we didn’t find anything.”

\t“It probably hadn’t rained just before you got here,” Don pointed out.  “The stones you found were scattered around and you wouldn’t have had any directional clues.”

\t“We did search in a couple of different directions before we realized we didn’t have time to look further,” Nicco admitted.  “Mase even said something before we set out to make this trip about trying to determine where the water had flowed from.”

\t“Look here,” Don said, squatting at the edge of the ravine and pointing towards some plants jutting up on the sides of the wash.  “That vegetation is still bent down from the force of the water as it ran through here.”

\t“That means the water came from this direction,” Nicco said, pointing to his left.  “Let’s see what we can find.”

\tIn another five minutes they reached a small rock slide and carefully climbed over it.  As they came up over the other side there was a small clearing with heavy brambles bordering one edge of it.

\t“This is where Mase and I camped,” Nicco said, pointing to the spot where their campfire had been built.  “We’ll spend another fifteen minutes looking around and come back here.  Over on the other side of the ravine is a good sized catch basin in the center of a mound of rocks and that’s where we’ll find our water.”

\t“Come on,” Don said, barely listening as he focused his sights on a set of small hills that were in a direct line with the ravine.

\tWhen they reached the hills they saw deep trenches in each of them where over time water had dug into the rock.  At the base of the first one Don examined a handful of the silt left behind when the water had carried it down from above.  Since it didn’t resemble the silt Nicco had collected with the diamonds, Don shook his head and jogged over to the next hill.

\tNicco asked no questions, instead following Don and keeping his eyes open for predators who might have ventured out early.  He was also watching the progress of the sun as it made its descent, knowing that they’d soon have to give up their search for the night.

\tAt the bottom of the next hill, Don dug his fingers into the silt inside the trench that fed into the ravine.  He immediately saw the glitter that matched the stuff that had accompanied the diamonds.  Better still, his burrowing fingers turned up a small diamond.

\t“You found it,” Nicco said excitedly.

\tDon tipped his head back, his eyes following the trench upwards.  “We’ve still got some light, maybe we can find where this starts.”

\tWithout waiting Don started to climb, feeling the same sense of discovery that he did when an experiment came to a successful conclusion.  Finding diamonds was secondary; finding answers was the thing that always drove him.

\tBehind him he heard Nicco chuckle.  “You couldn’t be doing a more splendid imitation of Mase if you’d studied him.”

\t“I have to know,” Don said in his defense, following the trench as it twisted around the hill.

\t“You’ll get no complaints from me,” Nicco told him.

\tIn another minute Don spotted it.  Halfway up the hill a deep fissure had collapsed in upon itself, the opening succumbing to the power of water cascading from above.  There was a small bush growing amongst the rocks to one side of it and the center gaped like an open maw, dark and mysterious.

\tTaking a pencil flashlight from his belt, Don shone it around the edges before carefully approaching the gap.  The ground was stable enough and Don let the light play along the inside, but it wasn’t bright enough to penetrate more than a couple of feet.

\tNicco had crept up alongside him to peer into the fissure.  “I can’t see anything.  Maybe we can make the opening bigger.”

\t“Wait,” Don said, handing the flashlight to Nicco and then pulling his bo staff free.  “Let my bo go first, we don’t know what’s in there.”

\tMaking certain that he was balanced and on firm ground, Don lowered the end of his staff into the hole.  At first he felt nothing and shifted the angle until the staff tapped against rock.  Keeping the end of the bo against the rock, Don slid it downwards until he suddenly felt something tugging on it.

\tAs he carefully lifted the bo out of the hole, Don could feel an added weight on the end.  When the bo cleared the opening, he and Nicco both saw the large snake that had wrapped itself around the staff.

\tIn a flash Nicco yanked his hachiwari from his belt and severed the snake’s head from its body.  Lips curved up in disgust, Don held the staff away from him and shook the body loose, watching as it bounced off the rocks and disappeared.

\tLaughing, Nicco replaced his weapon and said, “It’s a good thing I listened to you,” just before reaching into the opening.

\tDon saw him a split second too late.  “Wait!  There might be . . . .”

\tHis warning was cut off as Nicco cried out and snatched his hand back.  Another snake had sunk its fangs into the side of Nicco’s hand and continued to hold on as Nicco slammed its body into the ground.

\tDon leaped forward as soon as he saw the serpent, reaching and grabbing onto Nicco’s hachiwari.  With one smooth \tmovement he pulled the weapon and hacked the snake in half.

\tThe head was still attached to Nicco’s hand and Don yelled, “Don’t move.”

\tGrabbing Nicco’s arm, Don slid the tip of the hachiwari into the snake’s mouth and twisted it, prying the fangs loose from Nicco’s flesh.

\tBatting the head away from them, Don immediately saw that the flesh around the puncture wound was swollen.  Nicco was holding his wrist, staring wide eyed at his hand.

\t“Sit,” Don ordered, his voice harsh enough to cut through Nicco’s shock.

\t“Venomous,” Nicco said, sitting heavily on the dirt.  “It was venomous.”

\tDon pushed at his shoulders.  “Lie down and be as still as you can.”

\tNicco allowed himself to be lowered onto his back.  “Donny . . . .” he began.

\t“Shut up and don’t move,” Don said from between gritted teeth.  “I am not letting some damn snake take you away from me.”

TBC…………….
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