neonleon | SERPENTINE HORIZON

...

You're still holding him off for now. That takes a heck of a lot.

[Leonardo stares at him, then down at his hand.

His voice is so quiet:] I'm not though. You'll-

[Sighs.]

You'll see when you get down there.

Edited 2022-12-10 02:55 (UTC)

[ Hunter takes a step towards him, stubborn. ]

Even if he's failing right now, he's still being strong. I know how hard it is to resist Belos.

[The amalgamation of Leonardo's self doubts and insecurities just cannot comprehend.]

...It's good you have faith in him.

Of course I do. He saved me, remember? From Belos.

That's why he's in this situation.

I know. And I thought I could handle it, but-

[Another sigh. Existing like this is exhausting.]

I couldn't. So now you're both here like this.

[ Hunter reaches out to touch a part of OML's shoulder that isn't covered in goop. ]

It's okay to need help sometimes. It doesn't make you weak.

[It's nice he's trying.]

I know. But it doesn't make it easier when everyone's looking to me for answers.

Future you? Or you you?

Both? Casey was expecting me to be just like the future-me he knew, and now so is everyone else.

Casey is the... human from the future?

Yeah, Casey Jr. He's - he's all right. He's been through a lot, like you.

The future's that bad, huh.

From what he said, yeah. Whole world destroyed and taken over by the Kraang, and everyone barely holding on.

[ Hunter shivers at that. He can sure imagine THAT kind of setup... ]

The Boiling Isles might be like that too. Depending.

... I know I'm literally my own self doubts manifested, but. I hope for your sake, it isn't like that.

My world got invaded by an incredibly powerful alien who was reshaping the world before we escaped.

I ... hope it's not as bad, but it sure feels about that bad.

I'm still going to hope it wasn't as bad as what Case made the Kraang future sound like.

Y-yeah I. Think it's better than that but.

Anyway, we have a chance to fix it.

Yeah.

[He stares at the sky a little. Tired. His ability to keep this form together now that the purpose is over is getting more difficult to maintain.]

A ninja's greatest weapon. Hope.

... Yeah. Yeah. I can keep that.

[ He looks over at OML with a small wince. Tries to flare the ninpo a little? He glows gray-gold. ]

And trust too.

[He sees that ninpo flare up even with the soft layer of blue with Hunter's.

Tries to flare up his own but it's quiet, subdued. Flickering more than anything.]

Yeah. Trust.

[ Still there. Still hanging in there. ]

... Can I hug you without getting infected?

...I don't know.

I mean, I'd love to say yeah, but - that guy and you... I-i dunno.

[He's incapable of trusting his own judgement here. He doesn't want Hunter hurt.]

[ Hunter doesn't want to BE hurt. He doesn't want to risk Belos getting into his system again.

But ... this seems important enough to risk. He takes in a deep breath, summoning all of his trust - every bit of the ninpo he thinks he can access, including that layer of blue protection - and leans in to wrap his arms around the old turtle. ]

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