The Sun Bleeds Red (upon this nation grand)

16 years ago, Oruku Saki made the choice to let Miwa burn with her father. 15, and the Shredder finds his once-brother harboring four monstrous sons- which Splinter, caught between saving his daughter and four creatures he claimed only days ago, regretfully leaves to the Shredder's mercy.

It is the present, and with the capture of April O'Neil, everything begins to change. One rebels just to watch the earth tremble, one makes a decision that tears them in half, one is trapped in a web of lies, and one just wants to watch the world burn.

(AN: A couple things. First, if you like Oruku Saki, this is not the fic for you. In this fic, he is just about satan incarnate. As well, the turtles at the beginning of the story are all kind of awful people. They'll get better- this story is about growth, but they gotta grow outta something, and let me tell you Shredder has messed them right the hell up. Second, update schedule: there isn't one. Life and school and other things-that-are-not-cartoons exist, as much as we wish they didn't, and though I will try to update at least once a week I can promise nothing. If you've read this far: thanks for listening! Hope you enjoy the story!)

A tanto is like a mini katana- it's the thing Leo uses a few times in the show when he's lost his katanas.

Hīru- 'heel'

Winter bites at April's bare face, pricking fair skin with its icy chill. She clutches her coat closer to her body as a breeze, sharp and cold, pierces the alley, disturbing the paper scraps and other human detritus that lines it. Tall brick fortresses loom on either side of her, boxing her into the narrow alleyway. A manhole is visible at its end. She can't wait to get to Miwa- she even misses the sewer stench that had once repulsed her, because now it now smells like home, a symbol of her best friend and her father.

Something rustles a hair too long after the breeze had dissipated. An uneasy feeling wells in her stomach. Something isn't right.

She freezes. Still as a statue, she watches- waits- listens-

She moves like lightning, her tanto barely in her hand before it's tipped with red. The man behind her jerks back, a hand to his bleeding throat- a shallow wound, but one the ninja dressed in black never saw coming.

Noise rips the silence like cloth torn in two; heart pounding in her ears, April is barely fast enough to dodge the katana that is suddenly far too close to her gut. Shurikens whistle by her face- a shock of pain hits her as one grazes the skin of her jaw. There's a least two behind her then. She turns to face them- doesn't realize the man she sliced has recovered until his sai is sticking out of her shoulder.

Pain roars from the wounded joint, clouding her mind and dulling her senses. A choked-off noise of pain drags itself through her clenched teeth despite her best efforts. She's on the ground, arms wrenched behind her back and tanto kicked into the dark of the alley's corners before she could ever hope to recover.

Two figures in black are visible around the one pinning her down. One nods to the other and steps out of sight in the direction of the street. Half a minute of grinding teeth and angry (desperate) shouts to let me go!s later, and suddenly all she sees is brown as a sackcloth is pulled roughly onto her head. Her hands are yanked roughly as gloved hands tie her own together. A desperate hope for Miwa flares in her chest- please be near, please choose now to be coming above-ground, please help me- but the ninjas are dragging her away, away from hope, away from her best friend, away from safety and her throat closes up at the thought. Briefly, she's almost grateful for the bag hiding her shining eyes.

Lifted- thrown- she hits a solid, cold surface. The floor shakes like- like a vehicle when something heavy rocks it. A van? That would make sense, if they're taking her somewhere. They always use vans to kidnap people in movies. She breathes deeply and smells iron and sweat mixed with blood. It's mostly her own smell, trapped in the sackcloth and left to linger. She strains to listen, and metal clinking and cloth shuffling barely reach her muffled ears. Little light reaches her, and she can see no movement, but she can tell there's a light source above and to her left. Her shoulder throbs, and her raw jaw is loudly complaining about being shoved against the rough sackcloth.

She doesn't know what's going on, but she knows this: she will not lead the Shredder to Splinter. It's the only conclusion she can come to- she was captured by ninjas with the symbol of the Foot Clan, minions to Master Splinter's betrayer and hunter, the Shredder. Somehow, they must have discovered her connection to him. As she lies there, cold, in pain, and being taken into the unknown by the minions of a man more monster than human, she makes up her mind- she would rather die than tell them where Splinter is. She can only hope it does not come to that.

Suddenly, the van stops. April lurches and rolls at the sudden braking. She hears the sound of the van doors opening and prepares herself for what is to come.

A startled woah! escapes her lips anyway as she's flung over a well-muscled shoulder. What should she do? Blind and with both hands behind her back, she knows she can't possibly escape, not when guarded by actual ninjas. She may have a little training, but is by no means a real kunoichi (yet). But what else can she do? Can she honestly live with herself knowing she did nothing to fight?

She compromises by wiggling and complaining loudly. It's a token struggle, really, but at least she can show that they won't break her that easily.

Her oomph of surprise cuts her off as she is dropped unceremoniously onto the cold, hard floor.

Before she can say anything else, a deep voice filled with- suppressed rage, boredom- no, that's disdain- disdain and- smugness? Triumph? Somewhere in between- echoes around what she can only assume is a large room.

"Leonardo, hīru." A pause. "This is your next mission. Our... allies would like to make a trade- April O'Neil for a technology far more advanced than anything they've provided thus far. I have personally seen it in use, and it would be of great use to the Foot Clan. You are to take this girl and meet them at the docks at eight o'clock tonight."

A new voice- younger, and cold as a machine. "Hai, Master Shredder."

She hears nothing, but suddenly she feels the slightest twitch of the bag, as if someone had brushed it-

Now or never, April thinks as she rockets forward and headbutts her mysterious captor as hard as she can.

She feels something like armor as she ricochets off, captor entirely unharmed save for a small, surprised ooph. Her head hurts- but nonetheless she wriggles free of the bag just in time to see something fast and green milliseconds from giving her a black eye. Her head snaps back from the force of the impact as she cries out in pain. Doubling over, she curls in on herself as best as she can, furiously biting her lip to keep from crying out.

She peeks through her bangs to glare at her attacker. She makes eye contact with-

A turtle?

A mutant turtle, wearing a eye mask like the one Miwa wears, though this one's black. It- he?- Leonardo, she thinks- is staring at her with a look in his eye like she doesn't even exist. Her eyes dart behind him when she senses movement, sees who could only be Shredder, intimidating and sharp. And behind him, three more like Leonardo, both in species and dress, standing in a perfect row, eyes trained on her.

"...Ninja turtles?"