Kaien shivered as she slid into the cold, slimy storm drain. With a short exclamation and a loud splash, she found herself in water that was just below her waist. Wrapping her arms around her thin frame, she slogged through the slimy water, trying not to think about what was in it. Finally, she hauled herself out of the water and onto the small walkway that ran next to the drainage.
The events of the day finally hit her, and she sank down next to the sewer wall, heedless of her surroundings, put her head in her hands, and began to sob. As terrible as her life had been with the Purple Dragons, it had been her home for as long as she could remember. Some of the members had even been kind to her… to a point.
After a time, her hysterics ceased and she regained her composure. Still sniffling, she wiped away the last of her tears and finally began to notice where she was, and the fact that she was freezing cold. Her clothes hung damply from her frame, doing little to ward off the chill of the night that was now prevalent.
Shivering sporadically, she forced her cramped legs to straighten and stood, wincing as she did so. For a few minutes, she stood motionless, uncertain of where to go or what to do. A faint sound reached her ear. Was that… a voice? She peered down the tunnel from whence the voice originated.
Indecision dragged at her feet as she first turned to flee from the voice, but after only a few steps, she stopped and turned around, again regarding the noise. The voice sounded like a young boy… much younger than any of the Purple Dragons. Maybe he could help her!
Encouraged by this thought, she started in the direction of the voice, a small smile on her face for the first time in years. Innocent hope played in her eyes that had for so long been absent. It was long since she had anything to look forward to or hope for.
Her nearly silent footsteps echoed softly down the tunnel, blending and being lost in the sound of dripping water. As she neared the source of the voice, it became clearer that it was a boy perhaps practicing for a fight from the sounds of exertion. She stopped finally when the tunnel came to a T. To her left was a short tunnel that opened into a large room.
Peering inside, Kaien was able to make out a swiftly moving figure that leapt around the shadows of the room. Wonderingly, she watched for several minutes as the boy traveled almost invisibly around the room.
He finally came to a halt and stepped into the slightly better lit center of the room. At first, Kaien thought he was wearing all green, but then she realized that he actually was green… he looked like a giant turtle! On his face was a blue strip of cloth with eye slits cut in it that was tied in the back, leaving hanging ends that trailed behind his head for approximately 18 inches. A pair of katanas crisscrossed over his back. She stared in shock for a moment, but felt no fear.
Words formed in her throat and she began to step forward, around the wall of the tunnel, when footsteps and more voices sounded from a tunnel that was at the opposite end of the room. Fearfully, she stepped back and froze, breathing shallowly. Barely peeking around the corner, she watched as three more turtles with purple, red, and orange masks came around the corner. Just as she began to relax, a giant rat in a Japanese type robe followed the other three turtles out of the tunnel.
Now, if there was anything Kaien was afraid of, it was rats. And, while she was fine with giant turtles… a giant rat was an entirely different thing! She backed away slowly, whirled around, and sprinted back the way she had come in the tunnel.
Leo sighed in annoyance as his brothers came out of the tunnel. So much for peace and quiet while training. Despite the racket his brothers were making, he spun around, hearing something in the opposite direction. His eyes scanned the adjacent tunnel and he would have sworn he saw someone looking at him, but when he blinked, they were gone. Wordlessly, he crept to the opening of the tunnel and into the main sewer in time to hear fading footsteps and see a young girl sprinting down the tunnel away from him.
This puzzled him, but he opted not to say anything about it, lest Master Splinter revoke his privileges of training alone, away from the others.
"Hey, Leo," came Raph's sarcastic voice, "What's so interesting over there?"
Leo shook off his sense of foreboding and turned around with a smirk. "Nothing that you would be interested in. Just an empty sewer tunnel. I just wanted some fresh air. When's the last time you three bathed?"
Mikey sniffed himself. "What? It's called eau de pizza. Speaking of pizza…. I'm hungry!"
Raph rolled his eyes, smacking Mikey upside the head. "Do you ever think of anything other than food?"
Don and Leo both chuckled, watching their brothers' antics as Mikey rubbed the back of his head and looked offended.
"My sons," Splinter said with slight exasperation, "Come. We must all practice together now. Leonardo, you shall demonstrate the skill you were practicing before we came for your brothers."
Leo bowed. "Yes Sensei." And complied, shaking off the memory of the girl he had seen running. That was a thing to be thought about later, when he did not have to concentrate on perfecting his ninjitsu.
Kaien slowed to a walk, lungs burning, having run several miles and taken several side tunnels. She was hopelessly lost and very confused. Who… What were those things? Giant turtles and rats? It sounded like something out of science fiction.
AN: Sorry this has taken so long to get up. Haha. I finally have a definite idea of where I want the story to go. I'm hoping to write at least five or six more chapters (Hopefully all at least this long) then a sequel, and perhaps some one shots. Let me know what you'd like to see! J I will also probably write a prequel that explains more of Kaien's past and how she ended up with the Purple Dragons.
Anyways, please R/R. Always appreciated. Love all my readers. J I'll try not to lose inspiration for this like I did with LND… I swear, I will finish that eventually. Haha.
- Loveless