It was early winter morning in the city of New York. The smell of snow was in the air. The spirit of the winter season was beginning to awaken. Even in the turtle's lair, they were getting ready for that winter snow.

"A-A-AAAAAACHO!" Well…almost everyone. Splinter was in his room, trying to meditate, but the blasted cold was making feel sick. He hated winter. Taking a tissue from a near bye box, he rubbed his nose and blew on it. He sighed; rising up from his meditating position he placed a blanket around him and walked out of his room, he looked like a mess. His hair was greyer then usual and his eyes seemed dark from his cold. As soon as Michelangelo passed him, he sneezed loudly; this made his son scream like a girl. Mikey froze and looked at his sensei, and Splinter raised his brow.

"Whoa sensei…you look like someone hit you really hard." Splinter sniffled and blew his nose on another tissue. Mikey smiled a little, but it seemed Splinter wasn't feeling well, so he left him to be. Splinter went to the living room area and sat on a rocker his son's found near April's antique shop. Splinter smiled a little, it was comfortable on both his back and-

BOOM! Splinter eyes widened as he fell off his rocker, he turned to see Donatello trying out a new invention he was working on. He sighed and rubbed his head, he was already feeling his brain throbbing. He rose and shook his head, he was so tired, and there was no where to go to find peace. As he walked by Raphael's room and Leonardo's room, he stopped and looked inside, their room was filthy! He groaned and shook his head. He really didn't need this, he turned to his other son's that were here, "Donatello, where are your brothers?" He blew his nose.

"I think they said something about, going on patrol and then going to April's." Don said with a screwdriver in his hand.

"W-Would you please find them and…and…A-A-AAAAAACHO!" Splinter sniffled and coughed, his voice was starting to sound hoarse, "And tell them t-to come home as soon as they are done with their…sniff…p-patrol." He moaned and walked to his room. His tail was lagging, his body was hunched, his back ached, and his head and knees ached. As soon as he was in his bed, he was gone and out for the count.

(THREE HOURS LATER)

It was quiet…too quiet. Splinter woke up, his head wasn't aching as much, but his entire body was sore. He rose; taking his walking stick he walked out of his room and saw that none of his sons were here. He sighed, just as he was about to head back to bed he froze, he noticed what time it was and thought. Three hours passed? Something's not right. They should have returned by now. He turned and grunted. They must have gone to April's…after I told Michelangelo and Donatello to get their brothers and come back. Shaking his head, he took his brown trench coat, a scarf, and a hat. He was prepared to go to the surface. Once outside, he suddenly felt the winter wind blowing hard. He blinked and grabbed his hat before it flew off. Soon enough he made his way to April's; then the snow fell. As Splinter walked on the sidewalk, he began to feel…lightheaded. Maybe it wasn't wise of him to leave the lair. He shook his head and blinked, his eyes getting blurry.

His head fell forward and he fell to his knees, his breathing was getting shallow. Someone notice him fall and before Splinter gave the human time to help him, he rose and dusted himself off as if nothing happened. The human shrugged and left. Splinter watched him. Walking to April's again, he shivered, his tail was between his legs and his legs were shaking together. His knees began to stiffen; he stopped to catch his breath. His head was throbbing harder, causing him to moan. He went into a near bye alley to rest; hiding behind large dumpsters, he coughed loudly and moaned his cheeks warm from the cold. He couldn't rest here, he would fall asleep. He rose; suddenly he gasped and coughed hard, roughly, his body hunched. He fell to the floor and moaned; his sickness was taking over him. His body laid on the snow covered ground, his eyes tightened, his breathing getting shallower. As Splinter's body laid there for about 15 minutes, he suddenly heard footsteps. He was too weak to growl or move, so he was a sitting duck.

"Oh my…he has a high fever, Sabarii help me lift him." It was a woman, and by the sound of her voice it seemed she wanted to help him. He felt two sets of hands on him, a strong set of hands and a gentle set of hands. His body was then lifted from the cold ground and taken inside a building. Soon his body was laid to rest on soft furniture, his body was starting to get warm again, but his head, body and back were screaming in ache and pain. His mouth opened, gasping loudly for air. Splinter gritted his teeth and clenched his fist from the pain. Suddenly he felt something on his head; it was a wet cold rag. He opened his eyes at a snails pace, his eyes then shot open when he saw the one helping him. It was…a female mutant, a rat to be exact. Her brown fur was beautiful and had no split ends, her eyes were light orange and she seemed to wear a blue/purple kimono. She caught his glance and smiled warmly, "Why hello there." She said softly. Her voice, oh her voice was like that of an angel! Splinter's cheeks turned red, he was blushing, and over a girl! Why did he feel like this? Behind her was a middle-aged Saber tooth tiger, he wore only white kimono pants with paw prints on them, he grunted, "Damn…I was hoping he was dead." He said in, hopefully, a sarcastic tone. She turned around and frowned, "That's not funny Sabarii," she turned back to Splinter and smiles, gently brushing his head as she said, "I am Saiyori and this, unfortunately, is my brother Sabarii." Sabarii smiled, his sharp teeth shown as he purred and swayed his tail.

"What's your name?" Saiyori asked, still brushing his head as she smiled softly. Splinter blushed even harder, for a moment he thought his heart skipped a beat, "Kawaii…Gah! I mean Splinter." Saiyori blinked and giggled, Sabarii looked at them and rolled his eyes, "Oh please, get a room." Saiyori whipped her tail at his brother's feet and smiled. Sabarii jumped and looked at her, "You are lucky you are my sister…" Saiyori smiled and murred softly, "So…Splinter is it?" He nodded, "Well you rest here and try to regain your strength. Okay?"

END OF CHAPTER 1