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krazycat6167 · 9 months

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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.

~~~