…I have a confession to make… I love Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles…! I don't know why, but one day I just decided to watch it, and I fell in love O_O…. So, without further ado, here's a TMNT fanfic~
PLUS!!! The title says that, because when I was in school, I would always pick up a book (knowledge), people say knowledge is power, and I would always hit someone with the spine of the book 8D! That's why, ok?
The Book
********
Mikey was watching TV, just being bored. He fell asleep about once or three times, along with Raph, who was just as bored as his little brother…
In the meantime, Leo was talking to Don as he was working on something.
"Need any help?" asked the older sibling.
"Um, no, not really…" Donny replied.
So, as you can all see, they were bored out of their wits.
And what were they to do?
Well, they had two options:
1) Help Donny with his geeky stuff.
2) Go outside the lair and see what's going on.
Well, as you can see, nobody can understand Don and his techno-speak, so, they went outside.
They were all atop of a building, deciding what they could out there, anyway.
"Well, we could go see April…" Leo suggested.
"Yeah, see if Case's there." Raph replied.
After that agreement, they were off.
********
Leo knocked on April's Store's door.
She walked up with a smile, opened the door, and said; "Hey, guys! Come on in."
And… they, eh, went inside… Do you know how hard it is to narrate?
Anyways, they were inside, and they were talking okay?! The end!
… What? What plot?
Ugh, darn it, continuing…
"So, April," Donny started to speak, "What's up?"
"Oh, not much, really… but, I found this book way back in my house's attic!" April replied as she got out what seemed like a book a long from time ago.
"What's that?" Leo questioned the girl.
"It's a very old Japanese Folklore that was forgotten, some people say that the 'being' was actually alive, but, isn't that a little impossible?"
"Well, can you read it to us?"
"Well, sure, but, you don't need to believe it…"
April cleared her throat and began to read…
"WAIT A SEC," Mikey interrupted, "What's the title?"
April sighed, "It's called Okami*, ok?"
"Yes, ma'am,"
April decided not to clear her throat this time, and began to read;
"Once, in the ancients of Japan, there lived a magical being whose face was rarely seen by the eyes of a human. This being was both wolf, and both man. He lived atop of the biggest mountain of the world. People say-"
"WAIT," Mikey interrupted once more, "Like a werewolf?"
"No, Mikey… Well, I'm not sure, in all the pictures, there's only a thing in a cloak…"
"Oh,"
"Anyways, on with the story…
"People say the being's name was named Okami, the being of truth, healing, and kindness. Most people said that this being was a lie, or a monster that was only told about so children could obey. Well, all of these people were wrong…
"The being was just a sad, hurt little thing that just wanted to be accepted by other living things. This was probably why he came down from his home to a town at least once or twice every month or year. He healed the sick, gave money to the poor, fed the hungry many good foods, and did everything the town just really needed.
"But, one day, the being never came down from his home, and the people of the world started to worry about him.
"So, one brave young man decided to walk up the mountain, which was a cruel, long journey. And all his efforts ended up in victory, he had reached the peak. He looked for the beings cave, but he couldn't find it, many days past, and the young man started to put doubt in his search, until he reached a small opening in the middle of a mountain, in which only a small animal or child could fit through.
"The man tried and tried to get inside, but, he was therefore, too large. He had no idea what to do, so he asked many other people from the rest of the world to help him, and they all said no.
"Until one fateful day occurred, and a little girl asked if she could come with the man, she wanted to thank the being for healing her of a deadly sickness. The man said, 'No, you are too young, what will become of you if you perish?' The little girl said in reply, 'Kind sir, don't think of the negatives, and may good fortune be with us.'
April stopped reading for a minute, "Uh, the rest of the text is too faded to read… Sorry, you guys…"
"It's okay," the brothers said with a smile, well, not all of them, Mikey was asleep.
"But," Leo started to speak, "I think I've heard that tale once, I can't remember where or when, I can only remember the ending."
"Well," April replied with a smile, "How does it end?"
"Um, let me think… Oh, right. The little girl did go with the young man, and they couldn't find Okami in his cave, they didn't know if he vanished or just died."
A slight shiver crossed April, "That's… a bit… weird… Then the story doesn't really have a meaning."
"I think that's the point…? I'm not sure…"
"Anyways," Raph started to say, "Let's wake up Sleeping Beauty and go back home."
"Yeah, how long have we been gone?" Donny asked.
"Um, just about an hour or two, I'm not sure…" April answered.
"Ah, we have t--" Leo started to say, but he was interrupted by Mikey.
"Well, we can stay a little while longer, can't we, big bro?" Mikey asked.
"Well, uh, I guess…"
His younger brother hugged him, "THANK YOOOOOOOOU!!!"
"Y-yeah, sure…"
"Wait a sec, Mike…" Raph started to speak, "Weren't you asleep?"
"I was," his younger brother replied, "But I'm awake now, dude."
"I don't get you…"
The rest just sweat dropped at the conversation.
…Can I stop narrating now?! PLEASE?! … Garr, fine…
Just at that moment, April noticed a small sheet of paper fly out from the book.
"What's this?" she asked nobody in the matter.
"What's 'this', exactly?" Donny asked the girl.
She analyzed the paper carefully, "I'm not so sure. It has some Japanese writing on it, but I never learned the language…"
Leo took the paper, and tried to read it, "I can read modern Japanese, but this is probably from the 9th century, or something…"
Don then grabbed the paper from Leo, "I can probably read it…"
And then he tried, failed, and decided to interpret it where there was some peace and quiet.
Meanwhile, the rest of the brothers and April started a conversation about the old tale.
"Well," April spoke, "I think the story had a moral, Leo just couldn't remember it…"
Leo nodded, "I agree, I don't even remember where I heard it from…"
"Uh, Leo," Raph turned to his brother, "You do know you have gotten hit in the head pretty hard once, right?"
"I did? When was that?"
Mikey and Raph said in perfect sync, "Exactly."
Leo remained silent for a while…
"Um, anyways," Mikey started to say, "I'm hungry…"
At that moment, Donny rushed in, "I figured it out!"
"Great!" April exclaimed, "So, what does it say?"
Everyone else gathered around him, "It says 'Do never dare to chant these words, Oh love, oh life, oh hate, oh death, bring your spirit forth and bring our lives anew, for life has no means, except our deaths…'"
A cold rush of wind made the atmosphere dreadful…
"That's…"Mikey shivered, "Just… too freaky…"
Leo shrugged.
"Well," Raph said, "In my opinion, its cool."
April kind of just stood there, thinking it over.
"I think we shouldn't try this out…" Donny frowned, looking at Mikey.
"… What?" the youngest turtle stared back at Donny.
"Don't do anything stupid, Mikey."
"Ok, ok, jeez, I'm not that dumb…"
And so, the day resumed, turned to night, and the turtles were in their lair.
Mikey, once again, was bored. He couldn't fall asleep when he really wanted to, so, he decided to sneak into Donny's room.
As he went inside the door of his brother's room, he saw that Donny was at his desk, working on something.
Donny noticed him walk inside his room, "Uh, Mikey, do you realize what time it is?"
"The question actually is," Mikey stated, "Do you realize what time it is?"
Donny shrugged, and continued with his work.
Mikey growled, and then he saw Okami on his brother's desk, "Dude, what 'cha doing?"
"I'm trying to make out the faded text…" Donny replied.
"Why?"
"Because I think this piece of paper," he held out the paper that flew out of the book, "Relates to this story…"
"And how?"
"I've done some research on it, and it seems like this 'Okami' is called a 'Yin Yang', I'm not so sure what that even means, but maybe this faded text might help…"
"…I'm confused."
"Great, now, can you leave?"
Mikey rubbed his head, "Yeah, I'll take my leave…"
"Wait, Mikey,"
"Yeah, Don?"
"What time is it?"
"Uh… It's 2:30 am, why?"
"Just wondering…"
********
Donny suddenly woke up, he checked the time, 7:00 am.
Did he fall asleep while he was working? He didn't really know…
He scanned his messy desk, tidied things up, and he noticed something missing from the work he'd done.
Where was the translated paper?
He jumped up, and stormed out of his room, and yelled "MIIIIKEEEEEYYYY!!!"
Well, since everyone else was awake, there wasn't any harm done to sleeping people.
Leo shouted back up, "He isn't here, he went outside!"
"WHAT?!" Donny exclaimed.
"What's the big deal?" Raph questioned.
"THE TRANSLATED CHANT IS GONE!!!"
"WHAT?!" Leo asked/exclaimed.
"Hey, Leo, Don," Raph raised a… eyebrow... (?), "You seriously believe in this stuff…?"
Then Donny realized that, "… I'm… going… back to my room…" and he did as so.
"… I sort of believe it…" Leo said, a bit nervous at his response.
"Well, then, why don't you go lookin' for it?" Raph asked his leader.
Leo thought for a moment, "Well, I haven't seen Mikey all morning… Ok, I'll go…"
"Have fun."
"I will…?"
********
Meanwhile, Mikey was trying to figure out this weird-looking rune on the paper that was sketched by his brother…
Dude… What's this thing suppose to even MEAN? He thought.
He knew he had to figure this thing out fast, or he'd get in a lot of trouble, and I mean a lot.
Problem was; Mikey didn't really have the brains to find out what the picture was. Leo or Raph could probably figure it out in under a second.
Speaking of Leo… He had found Mikey, finally.
"What's that in your hand?" Leo asked behind his brother's back.
"WHOA!!!" Mikey screamed, then gasped, "… Oh, it's only you, Leo! What's up?"
"Well, I was wondering WHERE THAT PAPER IN YOUR HAND WENT."
"This thing," Mikey looked down at the strange rune, "It's just some weird drawing…"
"Can I see it?"
"Sure," Mikey handed the paper over to his brother, "But it's really hard to figure out…"
Leo grabbed the paper, scanned it, sighed, and replied, "Mikey…" he turned the piece of paper around, "It's a paw print. How could you now see that?"
"… Oops?"
Leo just remained silent and stared for a moment; "Anyways…" he finally spoke, and then grabbed Mikey, "We're leaving…"
"Ok~!" Mikey sing songed.
"That's annoying."
"Okay…"
********
When Leo and Mikey came back, Raph was training, and Donny was… in his room…
So, Leo decided to tell the news about his missing translations.
"Hey," Leo greeted Don as he opened the door to his room, "I don't really know -- um… Donny?"
Donny had his head hanging over his desk, sulking, and talking to himself.
"Um, Don? You ok?" Leo asked his brother.
"Huh?" Donny recovered from his trance, "Oh, hey, Leo…"
"Is there a problem?"
"No, not really…"
"Ok, there's defiantly something wrong." Leo walked over to his brother, "What is it?"
"Uh… Ok, fine…" Donny paused for a second, "I know Mikey didn't get the translations… It was some person… with a kanata… and some weird baseball cap."
"Got any clothing references?"
Donny shook his head, "I think it was a human… what would they be doing here without calling the police, or something?"
"I don't know… Wait-- how do you even know this stuff happened?"
"I installed hidden cameras."
"… Uh, cool, so, can I do anything to help?"
Don thought for a minute, "Well… I could retranslate it… But that may take a while… And, I also have a lot of other stuff in the book that might be related to the paper, but, I'm missing that weird paw print sketch…"
Leo held out the paw print drawing.
"… Ah… Thanks…" Donny took the sketch, and placed it in a drawer.
"You know, Don… I was wondering…"
Donny looked up at his brother, "Yeah?"
"Why are you even researching on this?"
"… Um… probably just plain boredom, or because I feel this weird rush of energy when I start thinking about it…"
"Creepy… And great! You actually feel excited for a time."
"I KNOW! IT'S--"
"Stop screaming, please…"
"Uh… sorry, Leo… And, now, since somebody stole the translations, I feel really bad, like I'm sick, or something."
"Well, what happens when the script gets chanted?"
"Well, according to what I know… There's supposed to be this huge light, and this weird pulse of energy, but in order to do that, you have to know these markings called 'Kuro Boshi...'"
"Uh, in Japanese, that means 'Dark Star', right?"
"Exactly, but, I don't know anybody in this century who'd know it…"
"Could it be passed down through generations?"
"Ha, I don't think anybody but some REALLY traditional people would know it."
"Huh, you have a point there…"
Elsewhere…
A figured person with a New York Yankees baseball cap had a piece of paper, with odd words, and their English translations.
"Perfect…" the person said, "Just as my ancestors wanted…"
The figure laughed, then drew some weird runes with a piece of chalk, and then chanted the words on the script.
And then suddenly, an ominous blue light made the town blinded, and a pulse of energy flooded into every single body of the city.
With the Turtles…
"OKAY…" Donny cried, "THIS IS FREAKY…"
"DUDE…" Mikey screamed from outside Donny's room, "WHAT'S GOING ON?!"
"It feels like… something's… pushing… me… to the floor….?" Leo questioned/exclaimed.
Well, it did stop in just seconds.
"I thought it'd be longer than that…" Donny wondered.
"UM, EXCUSE ME…" Raph yelled, covered in the residue of the shock, "WHAT WAS THAT?"
"Raph, you'll never believe it!!" Donny exclaimed happily.
"UH, INCLUDING THE FACT THAT YOU LOOK MORE HYPER THAN NORMAL, WHAT?"
"The legend actually exists! This spirit… uh, thing exists!" Donny cheered and jumped around.
"Don… May I ask…? What happens when this 'spirit' is here?" Leo asked; a bit worried.
"… Oh… well, the spirit doesn't really do much, he just… makes… people… happy? I'm not sure, the text didn't say it clearly enough…" Donny replied.
"UH, YOU GUYS…" Mikey started to say, but his brothers wouldn't listen.
"Maybe it was for despair instead…" Donny thought out loud.
"Or wisdom, that'd be cool, teaching us new tricks, finding out about the past…" Leo started listing things that would've been fun for him. Teacher's pet.
"I think you guys have it all wrong, this dude has to be about POWER, I mean, what's something on Earth that's not a human being who CAN'T fight for something?!" Raph shouted with joy.
"… Raph, you're crazier than I thought."
"Well, look whose talkin', teacher's pet!"
"YOU GUYS!!!!" Mikey finally screamed out.
"What's the problem now, Mikey?" Raph said with annoyance.
"THERE'S THIS FREAKY THINGY IN A BLACK CLOAK!!!"
"W… what did you just say…?" Donny and Leo exclaimed.
Raph just thought it was all a prank, but, he was all too wrong…
********
FOOTNOTES
*Okami means 'wolf' in Japanese.
(A/N): WOW… 10 whole pages?! I never thought I could be THAT obsessed…
And now, moving on to chapter 2! The Spirit…!