Hey, everybody! The server was down yesterday, as you all know. But I still typed this little guy out and and waited to post it. And that's today!

So, this is the prologue. But I'm also calling it Chapter 1, because I can.

Tell me what you think and what could be improved. It needs critiques, that's for sure.

A figure cloaked in brown with a satchel about his shoulder walks away from the palace of the Hamato Family. He had looked back, he willed himself not to, but he had. And now, tears flowing off his green skin, he wants to leave. He wants to get out of this place.

He quickens his pace down the main road, the ache in his head and head too much. If he gets away, then maybe he'll forget. 'No,' he reminds himself, 'I'll never forget. But.. without them around, I will be able to live with myself a little longer.'

Then he has to stop. He looks up, his hood falling to his shell. He is Raphael Hamato, but he does not believe he deserves that name anymore.

He left his bandana, his symbol of being a prince to the kingdom, in the palace. His beloved sais fit right into his hands, but he does not feel worthy to wield them. He had discarded his armor for rags, because that is what he is. He is not a Hamato.

So he, throwing formalities away, takes the name of just, Raph. And so, Raph, has a choice. He must pick a pathway.

There are four exits, one for each section of the kingdom. The blue exit is to the far right. He can't take that one, for it is Leonardo's, the one he has wronged. The red exit used to be his, but his brothers will no doubt care for his people. The purple exit, like the red one, goes to the very heart of the Hamato Kingdom. He cannot take that one, for he wants to leave the kingdom. Donatello's path will not be taken.

Finally, the last and only option, Michelangelo's. The orange path runs right along the mountains. Raph looks at it and sighs, 'forgive me, baby brother.' He walks over to the arch. But before he steps through, he yet again looks back.

The palace, with it's flat towers and shimmering gardens, was his home. He looks at the red portion, across from the orange one in front. He had lounged in the couches on it's top, he had eaten in its dining room, and he had slept in his bed. He had sat under the Red Wisteria and watched it grow with him. He doesn't want to see it, but the memory is too much for his shattered will to stop.

She was beautiful; His mother. He was too heavy for her to carry, but when she tucked him into bed, she would hold him close and sing a lullaby. She loved him, cared for him. He always called her 'mother', or 'mama', or 'Haha'(Mother), but her name was equally as beautiful: Tang Shen-Hamato.

Raph hears her voice on the wind. He got so angry when his mother died. No, when she was killed. They had avenged her by stopping their enemy, Oroku Saki, from taking the kingdom. They were heroes. But Raph had kept his anger. He used to be gentle, but that was never the case after his mother had passed.

Then she came..

The girl, the one that reminded him of his mother. He didn't understand it. He didn't know what his heart was telling him. He didn't look at her the same. She was like his mother only.. he couldn't see her as anything else but his wife. He needed someone to calm his flame, he thought she could do it.

But it wasn't right, and his corrupted heart had paid the price. As did everyone else. 'But now, they are happy, they are together.' Raph turns away and steps out of the palace grounds. 'I'm happy for them, but after everything.. I have no right to go back and tell them.'

He walks a long distance. When the ivy covering the rough stone walls on either side of the path change to trees, he keeps his eyes on it until the stone is far behind him. Then he disappears into the trees. He runs, or at least goes as fast as the brush will allow. The bushes and branches try to push him back. They tear at him to stop, to go back. But he won't. He can't.

Raph slows to a walk when he grows tired. He keeps going as the sun blazes over the tree tops and into the horizon. Then he finds a big tree and leans against it. He looks up at the mountains that span from the tip of the blue to the beach of the orange.

That is where he is planning on going. He'll get lost in the mountains. But the thing is.. he's already lost.

With my critiques that I get, I will copy and paste them to the doc on Google. But I won't change it until I get to revising. So don't go peeking back at the chapter hoping it is fixed, it won't be.

Also, I won't mention how a human (Tang) and a mutant rat (Splinter) had four turtles for sons. I wanted her in the story, so I'm not explaining it and making it confusing. Sure, it doesn't make anymore sense than Mikey reciting all of Pi, but it is the story and I'm not changing it.

R & R! Who's happy this is finally started?