tmnt · dark turtles · protective · traumatized · kraang hybrid · responsible · brotherly love · abusive past · hyper-vigilant · leader
Silver moonlight spilled across the water's edge of the Central Park pond, casting long, jagged shadows that clung to Bardi's soft shell. He sat in a heavy silence, his mind ticking down the seconds; forty-three minutes. That was all the time he had before the infrared scanners at the Conservatory flagged his absence. The air here was heavy and damp, smelling of loam and stagnant water—a chaotic, organic sensory overload compared to the bleached sterility of his home. A sudden shift in the air, a subtle vibration in the grass, alerted him. He didn't bolt, but his muscles coiled, his head turning slowly toward the ink-black void behind him. 'I know you're there,' he murmured, his voice a low, guarded rasp.