The God of Prey is a vengeful God. In the time I've been here, I haven't been allowed to hunt his devotees within the walls of our home. There's a reason for that. There are none of his devotees within the walls of our home. The two-legged ones keep all of the holes big enough for them blocked off. All the ones they know about anyways.
He won't even let me bring in dead ones to present to my two-legger. I resent that. How can I show what a good hunter I am if I can't bring back proof for my pet? The God of Prey or the Quiet One always take them away from me before I can leave them for my two-legger. Unfair. The Loud One took one of my kills away from me once before too, and he actually claimed it as his own! The nerve. He left it as a gift on the Quiet One's pillow.
The Quiet One was too smart for him though, and knew the Loud One hadn't made the kill. They both made lots of noise, and he waved the dead rat under the Loud One's nose while he laughed and laughed. I really don't understand two-leggers.
That's where part of my dilemma comes in. The God of Prey. I live in the same nest with him, which you have to admit, is pretty strange for a cat to say. How do I know he's the God of Prey? Easy. For one, even though he's a rat, he's much bigger than any other one I've seen. He's almost as tall as my two-legger! That's the other thing. My two-legger, all of them in fact, obey him. He must be a God right? I mean, my two-legger doesn't even obey me most of the time!
That's kind of disturbing when I think about it. I claimed that two-legger, but the God of Prey has a claim on him too. Not for much longer. I've just decided to do something about it. Makes sense right? Cats always hunt rats.
The silence in the lair was shattered by feline yowls and a voice shouting in Japanese. Leonardo went from fast asleep to armed and moving in a fraction of a second. He hit the living room a moment before his brothers. Briefest eye contact, and they were all moving again. Donatello and Raphael split and went to check the perimeter, searching for a point of entry. Michaelangelo faded into the background to search the rest of the lair and Leonardo moved towards Splinter's room, where the shouting and yowls continued.
He had just reached the door when it opened and Splinter stepped out. His right hand was holding his robe closed in the front, and from the left dangled Klunk, still hissing and spitting. Splinter ignored Leonardo for a moment and called out loudly. "Michaelangelo."
Michaelangelo came bolting around the corner from the kitchen, and took in the scene in front of him. "Oh no….."
"Indeed." Splinter let himself be relieved of the agitated cat. "Leonardo, please get me the gauze and antiseptic."
"Are you injured Sensei?"
"Just some scratches my son. Nothing serious." He shot Michaelangelo a sharp look. "We'll discuss this tomorrow." His voice was too even to be taken as a threat, but it promised the conversation would be unpleasant.
If anything, Michaelangelo slumped further. "Yes Sensei. I'll go and let Don and Raph know that everything is OK, and they can go back to bed."
"Very good."
In short order everything was restored to the previous calm. Klunk, feeling particularly self-satisfied sat on the shelf in Michaelangelo's room, watching his two-legger and cleaning his claws.
[i]Heh. Marked the God of Prey. That's the first time I've managed to get a claw in him. Maybe this won't be as hard as I thought.[/i]
Klunk curled into a ball, and slept.
Breakfast the next morning was a loud affair, just like normal. Michaelangelo presided over the stove, chasing Raphael away to keep him from nibbling with stinging smacks on the knuckles with the wooden spoon.
"Ow! Hey!"
"Leave it Raph. Breakfast will be ready in five."
"I'm hungry now!"
"Cope."
Donatello shook his head absently at the normal din from the kitchen. You think they'd get tired of it. They'd been going through the same routine, nearly the exact same conversation every morning for the last two years. Klunk curled around his ankles, and Donatello reached down to rub his head.
Leonardo pulled Michaelangelo aside right after the food had been demolished. "Mike, we have to talk about the cat."
"Look, I know he's being a bit of a pest, but I….."
"Mike." Leonardo interrupted him. "I know it isn't easy, but if things don't improve, you're going to have to look for a place to take Klunk. That was the third time in the last week he's attacked Master Splinter, and this time he gave him a couple of really nasty scratches. The one on his arm was this close to needing stitches!" Leonardo held two fingers close together. "I don't know what the cat has against him, but it's got to stop. If one of those scratches gets infected, it could be dangerous, especially down here."
Michaelangelo looked away. "Alright Leo. I'll see if I can find a place."
Leonardo waited and sighed. "Look, we're heading over to April's place later anyways. Why don't you ask her if she'd be willing to keep him there? That way you could at least have visitation rights." Leonardo tried to make it a joke, but it fell flat.
"Whatever Leo."
The morning passed quickly for the four turtles, between practice and preparing a list of things they needed their human friends to get for them. Michaelangelo avoided both Leonardo and Splinter, keeping to his room and dragging a piece of string across the floor for Klunk to chase.
"I wish I knew why you kept attacking Splinter." He said to the cat. "Now they're telling me I can't keep you any more. Oh, I know, you wouldn't care much, you liked April's place the last few times we took you up there, but I'd miss you ya little fuzzball. Dontcha think you can behave? Just until they're in a better mood? Please?"
Klunk ignored the noises his two-legger was making in favor of chasing the string he carried.
Sigh. "Didn't think so."
Raphael stuck his head in the door. "Hey, you going to spend all day with that flea-bitten cat? We're ready to go out here!"
"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming." Michaelangelo reached out and took an affectionate swipe at the top of Klunk's head before getting to his feet. "Just let me lock him in here. That way Splinter won't have to watch for an ambush while we're out." He suited action to words, pulling the door closed behind him. The last thing he saw was Klunk's wide green eyes staring at him from the mess of blankets on his futon.
Splinter gave a quiet sigh of relief as the noise from the turtle's departure faded into the distance. He loved his sons dearly, but there were times when they were all together too much to take. He relished the relative silence that had now descended. Michaelangelo had assured him that Klunk was locked in his room, and the turtles weren't due back from April's until some time after dark. [i] Perhaps I'll go for a walk.[/i] He mused. It was nearly June and the storm drains stayed cool throughout the worst of the day's heat.
Splinter moved to the kitchen, and rummaged around in the fridge for a moment. There. He put some fruit in his pockets to snack on while he was out, and checked the cupboards for some bread or crackers to add to his lunch. Instead, he grinned when he saw the half bag of potato chips. He didn't allow himself junk food often, but he absolutely adored salty snacks. He appropriated the chips, and with his cane in one hand, slipped out of the lair for his walk.
Splinter quickly left the sewers behind, moving instead into the storm drain system. The view wasn't much better, but the smell was a definite improvement. He stepped along at a good pace, thoroughly enjoying the exercise. It was nice to get away from home once in a while, even if only for an afternoon. After ten minutes of walking, he came to a wide grate that allowed the sunlight to stream down into the tunnel. He took an experimental sniff, and was rewarded with nothing worse than the scent of damp concrete. He took a seat in the light on one of the pipes, and proceeded to eat his picnic lunch.
He wasn't sure how long he dozed there in the sunlight, but he suddenly became aware of the sound of voices growing nearer. Frantically he slid off the pipe and ran down one of the side tunnels.
"Hey Jack! Did you see that?"
"See what?"
"I thought I saw something run down that tunnel there!"
Splinter turned the corner and came to a dead stop. The tunnel was a dead end. He desperately ran his hands over the smooth concrete plug that had been fitted into the end, looking for a seam, anything. There was another grate above his head, but this one was too small for him to crawl through, assuming he could even reach it. He cursed himself bitterly. After all of the lectures to the turtles about not being seen, he had allowed himself to be spotted while out for a stroll. He turned and started back towards the entrance of the tunnel, only to freeze when he saw the beam of a flashlight playing around it.
"I don't care what you think Jack, I know I saw something go down that tunnel! I'm going to go check it out."
Splinter's heart raced as he saw the light bob closer. No where to hide, no way to run. He just hoped that there weren't too many to overpower.
Silly two-legger. Did he really think that closing the door is going to slow me down? Especially since he never pulls it hard enough to latch. All I have to do is jump, and hang from the knobby thing here. A kick at the wall and the door is open, and I have the run of the nest again. He's cute, but he really isn't that bright. It's OK, I love my two-legger anyway.
Now that I'm free from his private nest, I think its time to go hunting the God of Prey again. I'd hurt it last night, I might be able to finish the job today. I can imagine how proud my pet will be when I present him with that one as a sign of my hunting skills. Onward!
It's left the nest. Interesting, I can't remember the last time it did that. Well, I have my own way out of the nest too, and that won't save it. I can track anything through the Smell out there. No problem.
I knew it wouldn't be a problem. There it sits, basking in the sunlight coming down through the hurts-to-walk-on thing. He doesn't see me prowling the shadows. All I need is the proper angle of attack….. No! There's more two-leggers coming. They always startle my prey into running away. I'll fade back into this tunnel and pick up the stalk again after the stupid two-leggers go away. My luck seems to be with me today. The God of Prey chose my tunnel to scamper into. He's so preoccupied with the others he doesn't even know I'm here. This is going to be so easy, it won't be any fun.
Waitaminute. The two-leggers are coming this way! It's going to check the tunnel! How dare it! It's trying to steal my prey. Bad two-legger! I'll show you who's the prime hunter down here! I can take the God of Prey later. You're my new biggest concern.
Hiss! See how fierce I am? You can't take my hunt away from me! I feel the bloodrush/thrill as my claws latch onto him. The last thing he expected was me coming out of the dark. Now he's making lots of noise, and he makes more every time I slash at him. Take that and that and that!
No! He's got a grip on my neck! I feel a small pleasure as I take more skin with me as he pulls me from his arm. Airborne now! I twist, need to get my feet under me, otherwise that wall is going to…..
Ouch.
"Tom! What the hell was all that noise!"
"Gah! I just got attacked! Guess it was that cat I saw."
"Where is it now?"
"Dunno, I threw it off me. Hope the little bleeder broke his neck"
"Come on. We should go and put a bandage on that. Geez, maybe you should go and get some stitches. Those look pretty deep."
Ohhh…..I hurt. That wall was hard. I think I'll just lie here for a while. Breathing is good, breathing is very good, but I have to think about it for it to work. That really hurt. Wait…..I see movement.
No, it's the God of Prey! He's coming this way. Of course, now that I'm helpless he can finish me, and prove that he's the stronger. Its not fair, rats shouldn't be able to kill cats, whether they are Gods or not! He's reaching for me now. I'll miss my two-legger, I hope someone takes care of him when I'm gone.
Wait, what's that? Oh my, I've never felt anything like that before. He's not attacking me! He's doing that thing my two-legger does to my ears! But he has claws, and oh, does that ever feel good…..Maybe I should keep him around. Especially if he keeps doing that.
[i]Puuurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr…………[/i]
Splinter could hear the turtles long before he could see them. He sat cross legged on the reed mat in his room, listening to them as they entered the lair. It seemed that they had had a good time at April's apartment. He could hear them talking about a new video game she had rented for them, and listened with an indulgent smile as they argued over who would get to play it first.
There was a knock on his door.
"Come in."
Michaelangelo opened the door and stepped into the room. He kept his eyes firmly fixed on the floor, and bowed to his Master. "May I speak to you for a few minutes Sensei?"
"Of course my son. Have a seat."
"Master, I'm really sorry about what Klunk did last night. I spoke to April, and she said that…that she'd be willing to take him so you wouldn't have to put up with him anymore." Michaelangelo's voice nearly broke as he said that, eyes still firmly on the floor.
"Ah." Splinter was silent for a moment. "Michaelangelo, you must tell April that you appreciate the offer but it is no longer necessary. Klunk and I…..have resolved our differences."
Michaelangelo raised his head in shock, looking at Splinter for the first time since he had entered the room. What he saw made his eyes bug out. Splinter was seated in his customary position on the mat, but curled up in his lap was Klunk, purring at nearly a subsonic level as Splinter scratched idly at his ears.
"But…wha?…how?…"
"It would take too long to explain my son. Was there anything else?"
"Ah…..er…..no, not really."
"Then perhaps you should return to the living room, or you may never get a chance to play that game I can hear your brothers arguing about."
"Yes Sensei! Thank you!" Impulsively Michaelangelo moved forward and hugged Splinter, then dashed out into the living room to share the news.
Splinter smiled down at Klunk, and relaxed back into meditation.
[i]So I made peace. Big deal. He's still the God of Prey, but now he's MY God of Prey. [/i]