#Spirit Au Leo

[ccasey0]

what's this? refs for mikey and leo in the spirit au? no way!

tada! drew these in church lol.

mikey lore first!

Mikey had always been splinter's golden boy. he was the best student and always got everything right on the first try. He had the best connections with the spirits, he always meditated perfectly, and he would constantly go up into the mountains to hang up charms. His brothers didn’t think of him as a teachers pet though. Quite the opposite. They loved him. They weren’t jealous. Well, maybe a little bit. But not to the point where they didn’t like him. Although, when Mikey decided to spend the night up in the mountain one day, all his brothers opposed the thought. They all had heard the legends of the tax collectors. They dark beings who roamed the woods, collecting souls of those who don’t belong or have ill intentions. Even though Mikey was practically the purest heart out there, his brothers didn’t think the risk was worth it. Mikey didn’t care, of course, and he went anyway. Which made the boys freak out when he didn’t return for the next three days. Turns out Mikey had somehow fallen asleep in a cave-like part of the brush, and the spirits transported him to the base of the spirit tree. When he woke up, the night spirit was there. He was sitting atop the small altar with a charm in his hand. Mikey instantly got on his knees and tried to find a suitable offering, but was stopped by the night spirit. They talked for a while and Mikey was amazed at how many things his village had gotten wrong, including The spirits name: Casey. Eventually, Casey brought Mikey home. When they reached the village, Casey stopped at the tree line while Mikey kept walking. When Mike looked back, the spirit was gone. In his place, stood a wooden staff with beautiful wood burned engravings all up it. And at the very top, hung a small decorative charm. It had and eclipse embroidered on it. Mikey gad never seen anything like it. He walked towards the staff, which was somehow standing upright by itself, and took it. When his hand made contact with the wood, the moon symbol appeared on the back of his hand. A gift. From the Spirit of the Night.

woo!! That was fun :D Leo’s turn!!

Leo had always been the funny one. The irresponsible one. They one who never listened and always joked around. He always talked and talked and talked. But today was different. Leo didn’t know how to react when Mikey came back from the woods with a staff and a smile on his face. Of course he rushed up to hug his little brother. Of course he asked millions of questions regarding to his safety and well-being. But when Mikey told his brothers that he met the night spirit and that the spirit gave him the staff, Leo was left speechless. Which was very abnormal for him. When he finally opened his mouth to say something though, Splinter had already entered the room. When their master saw the staff in Mikey’s hands, his eyes went wide. He ordered the other boys to exit the room and they obeyed. It was early in the morning, so the cool air made all of them shiver as they exited the hut. they could hear splinter speaking with mikey inside the building, and instantly leaned against the door to try and get a better listen at what they were saying. leo couldn't really tell what all the fuss was about. it was just a fancy stick. mikey probably just found it in the woods and made up an elaborate story about it. but one thing was for sure, ever since mikey got back, the air felt different. he couldn't explain it, but leo was sure the atmosphere was different. the air was cooler and the plants seemed greener. it was just.......strange. as he looked around at his surroundings, he could have sworn he saw four glowing yellow eyes watching him from the trees. but he blinked and they were gone. maybe there was more going on then he thought.

oke, that took a bit longer to think up than expected. sorry for not getting this finished sooner, It's holy week and things have been busy for my school and my family. anyways, i hope you enjoyed! i know this one was probably a bit all over the place, but i hope it made a little sense lol

@allyheart707 hope you like it :)

[v-albion]

We did it

Finally after months of work and scheduling, we present our giant collab!

Ok get ready for lots of tags and credits: @tangledinink @onionninjasstuff @less-depresso-more-espresso @dianagj-art @y0unginhumans @intotheelliwoods @red-rover-au @heckitall @bluesgras

From first image, we have

Villain pb&j duo Mikey by @onionninjasstuff

EMD Leo by @evenmoreofadisaster

Gemini Leo and Donnie by @tangledinink

Red Rover Raph by @red-rover-au

True Colors Donnie by @v-albion

Mutant Manhunt Raph by @baskeigh-ball

Spirits Reborn Mikey by @cokoweee

[paintedkinzy-88]

Blood/Gore warning! Just in case—

My first major post to a new fandom and I brutally kill a main character. Shouldn’t have expected much else from myself, honestly. ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

Anyway, context if my subtle background hints weren’t enough (or ya just want a little bit more info):

Post movie, Leo couldn’t be saved, and everyone went home mostly expecting him to be dead. There was very little hope for his survival, really, and they all had injuries to care for themselves. While they did plan on trying to check later on, (at least to get a body), with Donnie building a portal and Mikey trying to unlock his powers, in the end, they didn’t have to.

Within a few days, things started happening gradually around the lair (moving objects, closing doors, flickering lights, etc), until eventually they were getting texts from Leo’s number. No one really wanted to believe it, whether out of fear of what his presence implied or straight up not thinking ghosts were real, but eventually, as Leo texted things only he’d know (and the general acknowledgment of Hamato spirits being a thing), they came to be… open to the idea.

Draxum confirmed that ghosts were fairly common amongst yokai, separate from spirits, and with that Donnie dived head first into researching it, determined to see the ghost and get solid proof that it was, in fact, his twin.

In that research, he came across information on a ghost’s appearance. He didn’t pay much attention to it, or the dread that settled in his stomach. He didn’t care. He didn’t.

But Leo does. Leo really, really does. And that’s two reallys.

[angelpuns]

@chaos-potat YOU WERE ONTO SOMETHING DRAWING KID LEO AND TEEN LEO IN THE SAME ROOM-

[chaoswithcausation]

How Donnie found out he’s trans

[am4ura]

So I had this AU idea that is idk complicated but I need to share it somehow.

So basically what if the unit leaders / sekai owners were spirits linked to their Sekai, that in this case is more like a domain.

Leonii's instead of a school would be a space like zone. Mmj's instead of a stage would be a sky, kinda similar to the background in "hear me hopeful show" set. Empty Sekai would stay kind of the same. I haven't had any ideas for street or wonderland Sekai.

The Sekai owners (or Sekai spirits) have all characteristics relevant to their Sekai.

Ichika is mostly made of stars and nebulae. With her hair and parts of her body moving and flowing around. She also has hollow eyes that light up with little stars when she's happy.

Minori Is a mix of an Angel and a light being. She's mostly made of light, but has a projection of her body making her look kinda like a biblically accurate angel? She has lots of feathers around her body and a bandage covering her eyes (that are completely made of blinding lights)

Kohane is made of coloured smokes, like the ones of spray pain bottles. She can change colour and size based on her appearance. She can also turn herself into graffiti. She does that a lot to blend in and hide.

Tsukasa shares a lot of characteristics with an hippogryph, with mane and wings of light/fire. He also has hooves instead of feet. Like. A mix of a phoenix and a Pegasus.

Mafuyu (not kanade BC mafuyu is the Sekai owner) is very similar to a banshee. Ghostly and transparent appearance, covered in veils to hide herself and her suffering. She would also kinda look like a ragdoll, with parts of her body and face stitched together.

There are lots of legends about these sekais and Sekai spirits. It's said that if you're too passionate about something or too determined to reach a goal, you will get absorbed by one of these domains and eaten by the spirit. These Sekai spirits are also said to be lost kids with a big passion for something, but never managed to make it a thing.

So imagine the other members of the unit being so determined with their music, that one day they all wake up in this unknown unreal place and find basically a god just chilling there.

The Sekai spirits are all very lonely at the end and they just wanted someone to spend time with.

Ichika would at first be shy and try to not approach the rest of leoneed in fear of scaring them or be a burden, but in the end they would all try to make her smile and feel less lonely (Saki does the first steps), since it reminded them of their lost childhood friend.

Minori would immediately rush to get to know mmj. She gets captivated by all of them in a short time and would admire their beauty and their grace. At first mmj is kinda overwhelmed by this bright (eheh) presence, but they quickly start to love her. Haruka in particular, finding the way this spirit talks similar to the way one of her fans would write her letters.

Kohane would at first hide, scared of people she doesn't know, but would then slowly introduce herself only to an. An gets immediately a big liking of her, seeing in kohane the perfect partner she kept seeing in her dreams. When kohane gains more courage she shows herself to akitoya too. I also imagine this fun scene where an and kohane are talking, then akito reaches to an, kohane disappears and akito thinks an is crazy for talking alone.

Tsukasa would try to show off as the "mighty blazing Sekai spirit" but would cringefail anyways. Wxs seems unfazed by that, actually being interested in how tsukasa matches almost perfectly the description of the main character of a famous theatre show about a fantasy world.

Mafuyu hides, but not like kohane or Ichika. She wants to be alone. She accepted her fate of being forgotten and having to suffer alone. She tries to push the other members of niigo away, but they are resilient in trying to put an end to her pain (mostly kanade) because they know the same feeling. In the end mafuyu accepts their warmth.

Uhhh idk I think that's it. Sorry for the long yap, ideas kept flowing like a river. I might try to doodle something one day.

[corevoid]

Some silly little sewer lads✨

[dontmiindme]

so my buddy @grapelemonade started coming up with a Spirited Away au and i needed to draw something for it. this was pretty fun!

[teasodium]

Leosagi Spirited Away Au???

i feel like im losing it a little and this is by no means polished bUt

i cannot stop thinking of an alternate version of that episode where Big Mama is introduced where all but Leo trust her and it turns into a Spirited Away Situation™ also inspired by a Zukka Spirited Away au i read many moons ago...

(i suppose it could very much work with 2003 Leosagi too but the Yubaba to Big Mama pipeline is too strong)

whatever plot i got below the thingie if you want my ramblings

so we have from rise:

Leo = Chihiro

Big Mama = Yubaba

Don, Mikey + Raph = parents

from usagi yojimbo (all aged appropriately cause this is mY silly little sandbox):

Usagi = Haku

Kitsune = Lin

Gennosuke = Kamaji

most is up in the air but like the concept of Usagi being tricked into working for Big Mama cause she has his swords aka his soul instead of the name stealing? and by the end Leo slight-of-hands it away to free him??

like im not even sure how the brothers would be like... incapacitated? maybe Big Mama provides big feast for them in thanks for catching the oozesquitoes and Leo kinda wanders off, still saying how suspicious it all is only to return to see the rest of the boyos... knocked out?? maybe??? anyway causes him to bolt and bump into a bnuy Usagi who tries to get him to leave.

on the fence whether to keep that Big Mama has like... bathhouse management gig on the side or to completely redesign that it is the battle nexus?

also... if Usagi can turn into a dragon? maybe thats too far... but also dragons are cool so idk. i wouldn't have him as a spirit though.

i'll probably flesh this out more and draw a comic or something but know that this is occupying my two remaining braincells

[unawareblob]

So the panel was fun,

Didn't got to watch it for I don't have money and idk where to watch- BUT I did get updated by twt!~ did a lil sketch of Leo cuz he looks adorably here in one of the cut out scenes in the panel-

Also art dump other Leo sketches, the last one is from the awesome fic "the tales of Spirits" by @unorthodoxx-page <333 excited for the angst tomorrow!

[turtleblogatlast]

Man, I wanna know about the?? Dimension travel ending??? Just. S o badly, that sounds like a fun trip in the best of ways.

Hehehe, it’s the “bittersweet” path for the AU. Where Leo gains the most control over his powers…eventually. Enough to avoid the Bad Ending.

In Dimension travel ending, Leo has no real ties left on earth so he fucks off with only a few things to his name to basically become an immortal vagabond. (I’m still working out the details, but I want SHELLDON to be with him here)

This ending is meant to be open ended, as the implications are he just visits various different universes (hoping that, maybe, just maybe, one can lift his curse) trying not to become attached to any of them.

[hazellvsq]

trc au - drive

Leo leaned his forehead against the door. Remembered the vision of Frank. Frank as a ghost, bathed in ethereal flames. Burning forever. 

If you kiss your true love, he will die.

Leo picked up the phone, dialed without trying to think too hard. Frank answered. “Valdez?”

“Frank. Can you pick me up?”

“Yes! Yeah.” He sounded worried. “Are you okay?”

No, Leo wanted to say, but he wasn’t hurt or anything and he didn’t want to worry Frank. He settled on something simple, keeping his head against the wood of the door. “I just...I can’t be home right now. If you’re not doing anything-” He let the words hang.

“I’ll come by, I’m not busy.” Leo heard muffled movement from Frank’s end. “Did you see Hazel this afternoon?”

Silence. Only the crackling of the line. Then Leo said, “Can we talk about something else?”

A month and a half ago he would have said nothing, because Frank very clearly had feelings for Hazel and very clearly thought Leo was a shithead. Four weeks ago he would have said nothing because Frank was mad at Hazel and trying to hide it, and Leo wanted to be nowhere near the inevitable eruption. Three weeks ago Leo wasn’t sure if he and Frank were even really friends. Two weeks ago even, they were, but Hazel was still Frank’s older friend, the one who was there first, the one who would win the friend group when she and Leo’s whatever had imploded.

Now Leo didn’t know if Frank and Hazel were still friends at all. And after this afternoon, he didn’t know if Hazel would ever speak to him again.

The quiet static hissed for another long moment. Frank said, “I’ll be there in five.”

Leo waited on the curb, knees hunched towards his chest, trying to think of nothing at all. The air was humid, breezeless, almost oppressively tense. Mosquitos hummed and whined. Frank made it in four, a knight in shining Volvo. He pushed open the door and tossed the keys at Leo.

“Yeah?” he asked, surprised.

“You need it,” Frank said seriously. 

Both Frank and Leo struggled with carsickness, but Leo could typically withstand Frank’s cautious driving. Frank would also give Leo shotgun recently, despite Leo having way shorter legs than Reyna. This had made Reyna like Leo even less, if possible. Oh well. 

Leo took it easy on the way out of Jo and Emmie’s neighborhood, kept the speed of the road past the residential areas, but the second the empty streets straightened out he hit the gas and held it. Instead of grimacing, which Leo was watching for, Frank rolled down his window and held on. Under the streetlights over head, appearing in flashes and bursts, Frank’s white T-shirt practically glowed. Looking ahead at the road, eyes narrowed against the wind, he held none of his normal awkwardness. He had all the solidity of a tree trunk, a thousand year old boulder.

Frank reached forwards toward the radio, turning it on and skipping past the dad rock station Leo had laughed at him for liking. Settled on something more interesting, with a heavy bassline that matched the rumble of the center strip beneath Leo’s feet. 

“How was Canada?” Leo asked. Neither he nor Reyna had been invited. He was annoyed about it deep down, so he was sure Reyna was madder. Neither of them had voiced it, to his knowledge. He kept the annoyance tamped down, tough - he’d already used all his words on the topic on Hazel earlier. Now he was just curious about Frank’s family home.

Frank frowned in the corner of Leo’s eye. “I thought you didn’t want to talk about Hazel.”

“I don’t,” Leo said. “I’ve just never been to Canada. Or met your family. How was it?”

Frank told him about the coniferous forests around his house, the national park he lived in the backyard of, and grizzly bears and little red foxes that roamed nearby. Then he talked about downtown Vancouver, the places he’d hang out as a kid. Seafood by the harbor and a trip to Seattle, once. He talked about his grandma conscripting him into kitchen duty, described how homesick the food made him.

Leo listened. Before Jo and Emmie, he’d been a foster kid for six years. Before that, he lived in a crappy part of one of the hottest cities in the country, but he missed his mom’s apartment there with an intensity that made his heart feel like it was withering away to ashes. 

Whatever was replacing it was steelier, harder. 

The tiny glow of the stereo lit Frank’s knees, the thick muscle in his calves, the sparse hair on his legs. The furrow of his brow, the finally-relaxed set to his shoulders. Leo stopped looking, checked back at the road. Then looked back at Frank.

“It sounds nice.” They had reached the mountains. Leo slowed down a little to drive uphill. “I mean it. I’m glad you went.”

He was, now. He had been mad that Frank left, but he wanted him to be happy.

“What did you get up to?” Frank asked.

“Oh, you know. Worked on the truck. Kissed Nico. I saw Reyna across the street and waved at her.”

“Liar.”

Leo was lying. About Reyna, who he hadn’t seen once.

“Me and Hazel are done, I think.” He hadn’t meant to say that. Not now?

Frank didn’t look at him, kept his voice neutral as he stared out the window. “I was never sure if you two actually got together or not.”

Do you still like her? Leo wanted to ask. He couldn’t. Everything was too loaded.

“I don’t know what we were doing. But we’re not anything now.”

He couldn’t say who had dumped who. The fight had gotten too heated for specifics. 

Suddenly, Leo couldn’t stand it. He pulled the car over, and the lights of the city spread out before them. He slammed it into park.

“Well,” Frank said. “You got out of the house.”

Leo huffed a half-laugh. Drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. “Yeah. Thanks.”

Both of them stared out at the city. Leo reclined his seat a little, then realized that that action, in this context, felt more than a little illicit. Because Frank, still sitting up, was now above him, and staring down at him.

Leo stared back, now very self-conscious about being half-leaned back. He felt like he’d just ripped off his shirt. He wanted Frank to recline his own seat and rescue Leo from this feeling. He wanted to crawl out of his skin.

Frank swallowed. Leo still didn’t move, just looked back up at him.

Then Frank grimaced and shook his head, turning his head away. His ears were red. Now he was awkward. “Sorry. I’m sorry, I don’t...”

“It’s cool,” Leo said. He had absolutely no clue if it was cool. He thought it might not have been, actually. He rolled sideways to face Frank so that he wasn’t feeling quite so vulnerable. 

Frank swallowed again, then sniffled. “I don’t know if we’re still gonna be friends.” He wasn’t talking about Leo. “I’m scared she hates me right now.”

“She doesn’t, man.” Leo might have been lying, and he was fairly sure that Hazel hated him right now. But Hazel and Frank were different. “She thinks you’re hot shit. A fight won’t change that.”

Frank’s voice was small. Defeated. “This thing is...it’s so much bigger than us, and she wants to take it on by herself. I don’t know what to do. I don’t know how to fix it.”

Leo couldn’t answer that. He’d gone out with Hazel to avoid his prophetically-ordained male true love. He probably shouldn’t give others advice. He’d been wrong about Hazel, wrong about Frank.

Frank had seemed so bumbling and insecure at first. Leo thought it was nearly unforgivable for someone to have access to all that money and strength and potential and still not know what to do with themselves. He had been mean to Frank in a way that made him squirm now. Then again, Frank had been nasty right back. So Leo had allied himself firmly with Hazel.

Before Hazel had made a deal with a creepy primordial entity that would sometimes seize her mind and soul.

“I don’t know either,” Leo said to Frank. He exhaled. “All this stuff she was seeing was scaring me.” Hazel had scared him. And the way she buttoned up every single thing - her silence didn’t scare Leo, no matter how ominous it became. It just worried him, but Hazel had made it very, very clear that he should keep that to himself.

Frank hunched forward. “I just want her to be okay,” he muttered. “I can’t stand it when she’s hurting.”

Leo watched his profile. If he reached- 

No.

There was no way to go through here without wounding somebody. Hazel was hurting. Leo was hurting. Frank was hurting.

If he did what he wanted to do, here, now, would Frank survive it?

No.

Leo checked the backseat in the mirror, wondering for a second if some spectral Hazel would be there, if she could materialize like Nico did. He did not want the presence of her here. He wanted to be able to be her friend, or her boyfriend, in something that wasn’t going to blow up. Something that wouldn’t be ruined.

Or, as he watched Frank, something that wouldn’t be a betrayal. Destroy three friendships for the price of one.

He wondered if Hazel and Frank had actually hooked up last year. If he’d been crushing on not just Hazel’s best friend but her ex boyfriend, or at least ex something. Nico didn’t even know, because he’d made a face when Leo had asked and said he made a point of not finding out. 

Frank scrubbed a hand over his face. “God. This is miserable.”

“And you’re usually such a ray of sunshine,” Leo said, ducking away when Frank swiped a hand at him.

“I wish we could just...” Leo flapped both hands at the windshield. “Get a redo. Through this car.” The city kept glowing beneath them. Leo would forgive any billionaire all their crimes if one invented a flying car that he could have. 

“Did I get one with you?” Frank asked. 

Leo snorted. “You know I actually wasn’t mad at you, right? I was messing with you.”

“You got me.” Frank smiled for the first time all night. “Easy target, though.”

“Very.” Leo smiled too, almost helplessly. For once, he wasn’t fidgeting, wasn’t wandering off.

Frank looked at Leo’s mouth.

Never, thought Leo. Never. He couldn’t know if Frank was his true love or if he’d wake up tomorrow feeling nothing towards him. So he couldn’t kiss him.

A ghost on fire, a boy built like a man, his face obscured by the flame.

Who are you? Fai.

Burning, burning.

Frank reached forward. Touched Leo on the cheek.

Leo stopped breathing. Imagined that his face was combusting with heat.

His other hand. His other cheek. Frank was looking right at him. Leo could nearly hear his own blood sloshing through his heart, quickening, hurting his chest.

He wanted to push Frank away. He wanted to pull Frank on top of him. He reached up and wrapped his hand around Frank’s wrist, not tugging or shoving, just leaving it there. 

Frank leaned towards him, and Leo finally flinched. “You can’t.”

“I won’t.” Frank was still looking at him. “Trust me, I won’t.”

Leo hesitated, then nodded. Frank leaned in until they were chest to chest, cheek to cheek - Frank was as red as Leo imagined he was himself, which was a little vindicating. Leo reached up, touched his neck, then moved his arms up behind it, around Frank’s shoulders. Breathed out slowly. Their chests were touching, moving together. He could feel Frank close his eyes, feel his lashes brush against Leo’s temple. Leo’s next breath in was a little shakier.

A car passed by, headlights briefly flicking into the Volvo. Both of them tensed. Frank hung on a moment longer to Leo, then pulled back, taking his hands off, returning to his seat. Leo sat up and followed him over, reaching out and covering Frank’s mouth with his hand. Kissproof.

“I’m going to start having to do this,” he said. “If you’re gonna go around doing stuff like that.” 

He could feel Frank’s smile underneath his palm. He wanted to pull it off and keep it with him, in his pocket so he could pull it out whenever he needed it. They had to go back to real life in a moment, a real life where they couldn’t blow up their friend group or kill each other, and having that smile with him would make everything easier. Make anything more possible.

He pulled his hand away. “Let’s go home.”

[ilovebeingaturtle]

NEW CHAPTER NEW CHAPTER NEW CHAPTER

[krazycat6167]

So @cokowiii made a rise tmnt au called Spirits Reborn and I fell in love with it. Others had been making some really cool art of their ocs/sona in the world and I got thinking. It’s been in my head for some days and slowly evolved into a small Donnie-centric snippet that I will be putting under the cut (along with art of the sona remade for the au). Enjoy :D

~~~

Alright, Donnie’s lost. He’ll admit it. Nothing about this part of the forest is at all familiar. He is positive that he’s never seen that tree before. It’d be hard to forget, the trunk is short and thick with many knobs while the roots look like a tangled mess before they sink into the ground. (Actually, now that Donnie’s really looking at it, he’s not sure about the tree’s species. He had thought it was a type of oak, but now he’s not so sure. Could it be that he has discovered a new tree? Oh, he needs to document all of its characteristics so he can compare them against the trees in his encyclopedia! Oh, it would be so cool if- no wait, task at hand.) 

He’s lost. It’s fine though. The others knew he went to the forest today. Once they notice that he hasn’t returned yet, they’ll know where to search for him. 

He just had to wait in the meantime. 

…And maybe document this tree while he was at it. 

However, even his extensive data collection can only take so much time. Eventually he finds himself sitting on some of the tree's roots and staring at the dirt between his feet. 

It’s evening now. The sun will set and it will be night and he will still be lost. Logically he knows his absence would be only worrying enough for a search by the morning at the earliest. So until then, he’s on his own. In the spirit filled forest. All night. 

He wasn’t panicking. He wasn’t scared. No, no! He was-!

“Would you like some help?”

Donnie let out a (very manly thank you very much) shriek as he scrambles a few steps away from the sudden voice, turns to face it, trips over his own feet in his haste and lands on his butt. 

There, standing amongst the roots, was a spirit (or yokai? Donnie wasn’t too sure where the line was with that) he hadn’t seen before. Their head was made of blue fire with a pair of solid white eyes that stared down at him. They wore a poncho that went past their knees. It had a gradient that went from magenta to orange to a pale yellow on the bottom. They held a wooden staff, topped with a crook, that had an old, kinda mossy lantern attached to the end. The fire inside burned blue as well. In the air around them burned two more blue flames the same size as the one in the lantern. 

“Sorry.” Their eyes scrunch up in apparent apology. “I thought you heard me walk up.” 

Donnie stares dumbly at the spirit (he was going to go with spirit for now) as his heart beats like a marching band percussionist showing off. He placed a hand over his chest and took a deep breath. “I didn’t.” He said in reply to the spirit. “And what did you mean by help?”

“You’re lost.” They walked out from the tree's roots. “I help those who are lost. I can lead you to what you want or what you need.”

The ‘or’ in that statement caught Donnie’s attention. “Wouldn’t those two be the same thing in this situation? I want to get out of this forest and back home. I need to get home or I will die.”

The fire spirit shakes their head. “No, what is wanted and what is needed are not the same. Often, what is needed is more uncomfortable but helps with what is wanted in the long run.”

“Explain that to me.” Oh, that came out more demanding than he had intended. 

The spirit didn’t look offended, thankfully. “Think of it like you’re staying up later than usual to work on a project. You want to work on it because you need the thing. However, you need to sleep. You don’t want to sleep because you’re in the groove of things and stopping in the middle of a groove is hard and annoying. It helps in the long run though, since getting sleep rests your body and mind, resulting in a product that may have taken longer, but is now of higher quality. It just depends on what you feel you need to prioritize at the moment; quality or speed.”

Donnie taps a finger to his chin. “I think I get it? I know what I want, I want to get back, however, what is this thing that I supposedly need?”

The spirit shrugs, “I’m not sure, I just know the paths to take you there.”

“Hm, frustrating. Can you point out the direction my want is in.”

The spirit lifts the hands not holding their staff and points to Donnie’s left, and slightly behind. 

So that’s the way out, but Donnie is curious now. “Okay, okay, and where is my “need”?”

They point to the right, deeper into the forest and away from home. 

Donnie’s tempted. 

Logically, Donnie knows he can’t. He has too many projects, responsibilities, and people relying on him and his work. He can’t drop it all now. He’s busy.

He hesitates. He’s madly curious. His want is to go home, and his “need” leads away from it, but according to the spirit’s analogy, whatever the “need” is, it’s supposed to better the quality of the want. What could possibly be deep in the forest that can increase the quality of home? A deep, yearning part of him wants to find out. To follow the spirit deeper into the foliage to find this thing that’s apparently missing from his home. He knows that if he wasn’t so important to multiple projects, even just one or two projects less, he would give into his curiosity and (surprisingly deep) yearning. 

“As tempted as I am, I need- I have to go back.” 

The spirit nods. “Come along then.” They start walking in the direction of the want they had pointed out earlier. The floating fires seem to playfully dance around each other as they follow. 

Donnie jogs to catch up. The spirit shifts in their path slightly so they are walking side by side. 

After walking for a few minutes in silence, Donnie’s curiosity rises again. “May I ask you a few questions?”

“Certainly, go on ahead.”

“How is it that you know where to lead people but not what you’re leading them to?”

“Simple. I am the spirit of journeys, pathways, the lost. I am the guiding light. I wander the spaces in between the beginning and the destination. I travel the roads and footpaths. I come to those who call or to those who need the help.”

So he was right in his spirit assumption (and now has a few things to look up. Has this spirit guide been told of before? Did they appear in any local folklore or stories?). 

“What’s with the..” Donnie’s gestures to the two flames, one chasing the other as they quickly wind through the air in front of them. “…Fire. Things.”

The spirit laughs. “They’re sprites. They’ve decided I was cool and have tied themselves to me.” She gestures to the two sprites. “They’re called Sparks, Ember,” they then gesture to the fire in the lamp, “and Blaze.”

Donnie stares. “Why is this one contained?”

The spirit chuckles. “They like to feel important. They take turns. Sparks is next. Sometimes I do have to use it for time out, but it rarely comes to that.”

“Huh.”

Another stretch of silence. Donnie watches Sparks and Ember as he turns over the information he’s gotten so far. 

“Has there been anyone who’s want and need where one and the same?”

The spirit hums. “There’s been a lot where they were at the same place, but only only a handful have had it be the same. It’s quite rare.”

Donnie guesses that, at most, there have been five such individuals, seeing as that was how many fingers the spirit had per hand. 

“When you said you were the spirit of the lost, do you just mean physically lost or does that count in the metaphorical sense as well?”

“Sometimes.”

“Sometimes? Why sometimes?”

“It’s hard for someone to be truly so lost metaphorically that I’m needed to help guide them. They usually have some sort of direction or someone in their life who wants to help. Besides, some people who are lost in that way won’t accept any help. Ultimately it’s a choice on their part whether or not they want to be led.”

“So I could leave right now and you wouldn’t stop me?”

“I would warn you of the dangers, point you where you wish to go, but no, I wouldn’t stop you. I can’t help those who don’t wish to be helped.”

The sun has set by now. Their path being illuminated by the light of the spirit and the sprites. Donnie notes that the trees around them have been getting thinner, so definitely getting closer to the forest’s edge. 

Donnie tries not to look too deeply into the foliage. The deep darkness of the space outside the spirit’s light doing nothing to help his classic overthinking tendencies. Anything could be just out of sight. 

Donnie needs a distraction. He clears his throat. “So, uh, would the lost include, like, lost souls? The dead who can’t move on and all that jazz.”

The spirit's eyes crinkle in amusement. “No, I am no reaper. I do not guide the dead.”

“Coooool, cool, cool. So there’s no chance that I’m actually dead and this is a journey towards accepting that and moving on.”

“You are very much alive.”

“Alright, um, if someone had chosen their want or their need and changed their mind, would you guide them to their new choice?”

“Yes. Are you doubting your choice?”

“Oh no!” Donnie is quick to reassure. “No no no noooo no. Not doubting at all, nope. There’s definitely not an inexplicable yearning in my chest to turn around and go deeper into the forest. None at all! Just- was just curious is all.”

The spirit hums in acknowledgment. 

Donnie looks to the side and taps his pointer fingers together. He’s fine, he’s goooood, he’s great even. Definitely told the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. 

Yep. 

…sheesh, how deep into the forest did he wander?

The spirit breaks the silence. “What's your name?”

Ah, they hadn’t done introductions. “I have many names. Othelo Von Ryan, Donatello, Don, Donnie, The Smartest Man Alive, just to list a few.” Donnie says. “And what of yourself?”

“I have been called many things. Wisp, Guide, Wanderer, The Pathwalker, Omen. Call me whatever you like.”

“Were you a good omen or a bad omen?”

“Depends on the people.”

“Right.” Donnie looks ahead. Sparks and Ember chase each other along the ground now instead of in the air. Good news for the forest, nothing is burned in their wake. 

“…Michibiku Hikari.” Donnie says. 

“Hm?” The spirit looks at him. 

He coughs into a fist. “The, uh, name to call you. Michibiku Hikari. It means guiding light. Maybe just Hikari for a nickname.”

The spirit seems to brighten. “Thank you for the name, Donatello. I will treasure it.”

The complete and utter sincerity of the gratitude made Donnie’s face feel hot and his chest near to bursting. He always felt like this when someone truly appreciated his gifts and said so to his face. It’s been a while since he’s felt this though. The high of being honestly appreciated, and just for a name that was a bit on the nose! 

They come to a stop at the tree line. Up ahead a clearing filled with the tents of the temporary base as he and his associates conduct initial surveys of the land. 

“We have arrived where you wanted to go.”

“Amazing.” Donnie whispers. He speaks up and bows to the spirit, “Thank you, Michibiku Hikari, for guiding me home.”

Hikari bows back, “It was my pleasure, Donatello. If you ever want to find what you need, simply call for me. I cannot promise an immediate response, but I will come.”

Thanks given and formalities done, Donnie straightens out, gives one last single nod, and walks to camp. The last Hikari he hears is her softly telling Blaze that it was now Sparks’ turn inside the lantern. 

The night is cold outside of Hikari’s light. Donnie folds his arms tight and speed walks to camp. He looks back once he’s at the edge of the group of tents, but no blue light comes from the forest. 

In his tent, to one side, is a small project he’d been working on. He can feel his hands itching to work on it. 

He goes to bed. In the morning, he pulls out his plant encyclopedia to uncover the species of tree he had found. 

~~~

[foefire-flame]

The thing I like most about Leo is how he is a scarily powerful magic user not even counting the power of his reaper shroud. He is capable of so many things and yet he is such a gentle, kind, and patient soul. He restrains himself iin anger and he continously chooses a more difficult path than giving into violence because he has such a strong moral code and follows his beliefs above all else. A lot of characters tend to underestimate him /bc/ of what they see at face value.

I actually see Leo as someone who is capable of becoming an antagonist if hes pushed way too far into one direction, more than any other of my morally good ocs, and it would be one out of grief than anything else. But anyway! Thats offtopic from what this was originally about!

Leo tends to get underestimated and has been his entire life bc of how he acts and what he believes in but hes like a volcano where theres so much Lava thats just dormant and its very much capable of being destructive but nobody can see this but when there are hints if it its a pretty scary reminder. Ugh. Thinking about when he kicked his legionnaire's ass so hard and as he was begging for mercy Leo told him "I hope, for your own sake, the next warband you come across grants you the mercy you punished me for." Ect ect do not confuse my kindness for naivety and my patience for inperturbability .

[shadycwasont]

This was mainly inspired by other people's aus/fanfics like 2 souls, hamato spirit (I think that's what it's called haven't seen it is a bit) but basically the premise is that a ghost of the turtles from one iteration goes to another iteration simple right?

Well, in this au, it's the spirits of another one of my personal iterations that's to be explored in the fanfic, au- thing that I've got going on.

basically the spirits of each of the previous iteration of turtles is connected to their respective Turtle the Leo from before is going to leo, raph to raph etc, etc, the Spirits can only be seen by their respective Soul bound (that the name were going with for now)

Other things it will include; the 2012 turtles getting magic because they deserved it. A slight rewrite of a few characters (ahem donnie casey and april ahem). Airbender references. Trans leo. Autistic raph. (They're all Autistic but this specifically for el rn)(I've never seen anyone else use that nickname for Raph, yet its one of my faves). Airbender fan content references, angst, fluff, crack, fluffy crack (that sounds so wrong 😂). Splinter simultaneously gets shit on (by the characters, not me i dont hate rat dad) and a somewhat support system at the same time. Emotional moments. possibly, just maybe, shitty art. And more. 🥳

Might post about it again, and I might orphan the idea for someone else 🤷‍♀️ who knows. I sure as hell dont.