Author's note: An adventure story with some romance within. Redone and improved language. Raph X Oc. Please read and review!
Ren lounged listlessly on the couch in her room, staring at her large collection of weapons, displayed in a gigantic wooden cabinet with glass windows. Staffs, Katanas, Nun-chucks, Knives, Short swords, Daggers, a metal pole... And the like. Ren had always possessed a deep interest for weapons since young. Her father, her real blood father, a blacksmith, had taught her about the various different weapons, and she had spent her childhood days watching him carve, weave and craft intricate and beautiful weapons from metal. But Ren had also always been more partial to short-length weapons. And it not only had to be short, it had to be a pair, and that was how her weapon choice became the twin sais that she held so precious to herself. Yet after receiving her sais, Ren had continued exploring about for new weapons, and when she found ones she was interested in, she would proceed to hunt down its owner and engage in a battle, with the prized weapons as wager- rather like a weapon bounty hunter.
And she had never lost, not even once.
So her collection had grown, and under every weapon displayed in the different compartments of the cabinet, she had painstakingly engraved the weapon's name, as well as the date it had been acquired. But even going through her prized collection would not help now. She felt restless; she wanted to move, to run across roofs of the buildings, to feel the wind sting her face and her blood pulse enthusiastically through her veins. Getting up from the couch, Ren walked out of her room and into the large hall.
"Saki-sama (1), may I go out tonight?" Kneeling down, Ren addressed the man training with his loyal ninja troop. The dark-haired man turned to survey her, not missing a beat as he continued avoiding the attacks from his training opponents. His usual metal armour and fearsome gauntlet, that had earned him the fearsome nickname the "Shredder", was laid aside for the time being.
"Why"- he deflected a punch from one of the ninjas- "Is that"- now he planted a kick on one of them and sent him flying back- "So?" At his last word, he promptly punched the remaining ninja square on the chest, sending him crashing into the others.
"I… I feel restless. It would be nice to go for a walk. After all, it is dark, and no one can see me. I also need some more exercise." Ren tried to hide her eagerness as she placed her hands side by side her body, where her sais usually hung, though her emerald eyes still sparkled intently.
"Very well. Be back before dawn." Her adopted father and master, replied shortly before ordering his ninja troop to get up again to continue training. Ren bit back the urge to punch the air in triumph and disappeared back into her room swiftly. Changing into a ripped black hoodie and dark khaki cargo pants, she ran her fingers through her coarse orange hair, cut so short that it resembled a boy's , barely even reaching her ears.
Looking at her reflection in the mirror, Ren hesitantly touched the scales that covered the right part of her face, flinching slightly at its rough and scaly texture. She glared hatefully at her left arm as well, which was also adorned with scales; they were the reason she had to resort to going out only when no other humans were about. But now was not the time to dwell on that. Ren grabbed her precious twin sais from the couch and pushed aside the wooden window grills. Taking a deep breath, she grinned, and jumped out of the window to the nearest building.
Being a half snake mutant was useful at times, she supposed. She had greater endurance and stamina, and, she felt lesser pain landing from great heights, unless, of course if her master/ father were to throw her down from the Foot Clan's building, she would, with no doubt, die from the impact.
As Ren raced through the night sky as she jumped from roof to roof, she soon forgot about her worries and responsibilities. She was no longer Ren the freak, or half-mutant. She was no longer Oroku Ren, Oroku Saki's or Shredder's adopted daughter and apprentice. She was no longer the teenage girl who so desperately sought a place to belong. She was just Ren, the girl who loved to go racing across New York City's roofs with the wind blowing against her face.
...
"They're late, but I guess it's nice being alone too," Raph grunted as he advanced on his night patrol. He had been getting restless of late, and had been impatient to stretch his limbs at night as he and his brothers jumped from roof to roof, the cold wind rushing against his face...
And thus, when Mikey got his head stuck (literally) in another one of Don's contraptions, again, Leo had allowed Raph to go on patrol first, knowing how well his brother had been more impatient than usual to take a breath of fresh air for many days; Master Splinter had been sterner about going to the "upper world" recently. So here he was, alone, finally venturing out on his long awaited walk. Raph took out his sais and twirled them around his fingers absentmindedly, taking a seat at a corner of some dusty roof. He didn't usually take breaks on patrols, but tonight, he wanted his freedom to last just a bit longer.
"Nice sais," a voice called out. Raph tensed his body and stood up to face the owner of the voice. Whoever he, or she was, the person was an owner of twin sais too, displayed across his/ her leather belt, though they were slightly longer and sharper than his own. Also, their handles had been bound by orange cloth, a call to his (or her? Raph was getting confused) short orange hair. The person's face was slightly shadowed by the black hood he/she wore, but seeing how short the length of his/her hair was, he decided the figure was a guy.
"I'm thinking you don't approach a five-foot tall ninja turtle just to compliment his sais," Raph replied sardonically. "And without screaming too," he added.
"You're right," The person grinned. "To tell you the truth, I want your sais. Let's say we make a bet, the winner of the fight gets to go home with the opponent's sais," He gave a grin, showing of slightly pointed teeth.
"Fight? What fight?" Though Raph could't say he didn't entirely know the answer already.
"THIS!" The teenage boy launched forward and promptly slammed his heavy black boots into Raph's stomach, knocking the breath out of him momentarily. Raph stepped back and advanced for a punch, but the teenage boy caught it and slammed the side of his sai into Raph's face. Taking the momentum of falling sideways, Raph lunged out a side kick and succeeded in knocking the teenage boy off balance. As they both got up, what followed was a series of exchanging blows as the two fought on. Finally, Raph's own sais clashed against the figure's, where a test of strength promptly ensued. Raph pressed on, confident of his win. He was an expert in sais, after all, and his strength was no joke either. But when the teenager seemed to be pushed back, he grinned, another confident rash grin that vaguely reminded Raph of himself.
Suddenly, the teenage boy increased the force of which his sais clashed with Raph, pushing the turtle back for a split second. But even a split second was enough for him, as the teenage boy pivoted gracefully on his left foot and kicked his right foot into Raph's stomach, sending the turtle crashing into the ground, his sais flying away and falling with a dull clatter. Raph yelled in pain as his vision started to blur from the impact of hitting his head. The teenager was definitely no amateur in physical combat, though Raph knew it was a little late to only realize it now. Leaving Raph groaning and struggling to get up from his position, the teenage boy proceeded to pick up the runaway sais.
"Looks like my win," he whispered, or rather, hissed, strangely snake-like, as he slung Raph's sais across his belt. But a wave of anger engulfed Raph as the figure started walking away.
With his sais.
"HYYYYYAAAAAAA!" Raph shouted as he summoned up his remaining strength and jumped, landing on to the hooded teenager, bringing him crashing to the ground as he himself had done to Raph a short while ago. But the figure turned halfway as Raph had let out his "war-cry", and Raph landed on him, hands on his collar, as his hood fell back, revealing a full profile of his face.
"Y-you're a girl," he stammered. That was when he realized that their faces were close enough for him to register the shock in her green eyes, as well as the scales on the right side of her face. And that was also the time when Raph learnt two things. 1. That the teenager was a girl and 2. She was no normal human.
"P-PERVERT!" The girl spat as she grabbed Raph's right arm and bit down on it. Hard.
"GAHHH! LET GO YOU-" But before Raph could finish his sentence, the girl swiftly jumped back. Then, a wave of numbness hit him, and his head started to ache. Falling to the ground, he vaguely registered the girl looking back at him- a look of hesitance crossing her face momentarily, before running, disappearing from his view. Then the world started going black, and he was dimly aware of his brothers calling out his name in concern.
But Raph was too deep in his state of half-sleep to answer, and he was still hazily thinking back on his encounter with the female orange haired sai-user, and how he had lost, actually lost, his precious sais to her.
(1)- A respectful term for people much higher in rank than oneself.
