[When she was five, she was given her first pair of swords. Meanwhile, he hadn't even seen a weapon until he was 10.]
Looking back at her past, Karai knew she would still never forget the day she was first gifted her own set of swords. She remembered the face of her reflection in the blades and she especially remembered the way her father's rarely thrilled face smiled at her, with a sense of proudness of what she achieved. And as she held her swords to the air, she had a feeling she would achieve much more.
She remembered being proud too. And although at the time, she didn't understand the complete importance of the Shredder's gift, even at the tender age of five, she knew, it was a good day.
To most parents, just the faint idea of a sword as a gift to a child of any age; would send them spiraling into worried fury. But to her father, who had made sure she knew the ways of war her entire life, it was a right of passage. It meant finally, she was growing as a warrior and assassin for the clan and once the time came she fully grew, she would be responsible for unimaginable things.
The Shredder told her that one time, a few years later. Karai was almost sure she was 8, when he sat her down, during an afternoon of training, and said the words she had longed to hear since the day he gave her the swords; "I'm impressed by your level. Someday this will all be yours.." was the main gist of what she remembered. And there it came, another day she would not forget.
Things have changed since then. She remembered being trained harder and harder, lying completely more on weapons then the sheer force of her strength.
There were many times an opponent was assigned to her, as her personal practice dummy, Shredder sometimes called it. And other times, that same training grew to last over 7 hours a time.
Shredder became colder, harder as time went on. And he began to make sure she knew well of his possible wrath when she failed.
So he reminded her what she needed to do was simple : Never fail.
It was funny how two small words were pretty much impossible for her to meet. And the older she became, the more she began to doubt her place in the clan.
By the time Karai had figured out the truth and who her true father was, she was already long gone with a plan of revenge that would finally show Shredder she didn't fail.
She never failed.
Leonardo wasn't shown a weapon until he was 10 and even then, It took many more years to actually train with one.
At the time, his father was still trying to determine each brother's unique sense of fighting; their level of skill and how much they could handle at any given time. They were still kids after all, with much different priorities, that occasionally overlooked their sensai's lessons of meditation and sparring.
It wasn't until Leo and Raph found a pile of swords, sai's and katanas hiding away in the back of Master Splinters room that they knew such treasures existed.
Leo remembered being fascinated with the katana's blades and ways to hold them. However, he also remembered, when he and Raph were found out lurking in their sensai's bedroom, it did not go too well for either of them. Fortunately, it was only a few minute long lecture, ending with Splinter insisting that once they were a bit older, they would be trained with weaponry and learn techniques they could currently only dream of.
It took two more years for him to see the katana's again. And it was by complete accident, caused by his younger brother.
Mikey and him were sneaking into the dojo in the middle of the night, too eager to sleep. The day before Master Splinter had promised a change in training starting the next morning, and well, technically, 1 am was indeed the morning, so would it truly matter if they waited a few more hours, anyway?
That's when he saw the katana's lying against the wall, right next to a pair of sai's, nunchucks, and bo staff.
They were still beautiful.
Master Splinter once said he had a good enough clue that Mikey and Leo had snuck into the dojo, but that was years later, and at the time Leo was sure they had came unnoticed.
Even if their Sendai did marvel at their enthusiasm, as Mikey kept trying to hold back a giggle the next morning, well twirling around with nunchucks.
After another 2 years, Leo had thrived at the katana's and continued to grow better.
Now, at the growing age of 15, Leo more then knew his level of skill.
He also knew his father was proud nonetheless.
A/N : This is not my usual writing style, and honestly I'm not sure what I think of it. I guess I wanted to write something to show Splinter and Shredder's differences, and what better way to do that then through Leo and Karai? I don't, and probably never will, ship Leorai. Maybe that would be different if Karai's need for revenge could be put on hold for awhile, but until then, I prefer them as siblings.
Also this is my first, of many oneshots, for the TMNT fandom, so that's something. I have about 5 oneshots completed right now, most are a lot longer, and I'm currently in the process of checking them over for mistakes. Hopefully another will be posted by the end of this week.