I was on a boat, surrounded by Foot Ninja. The waves were choppy, but the wind was warm and the sun was bright, with hardly a cloud in the sky. I surveyed the horizon, hoping for any sign of land. Birds, I had heard somebody say once, would mark land, since they needed somewhere to rest their wings. I saw no such sign.

We had been on the water for a couple of weeks now, and I was becoming sick of eating dried fruit and meat. Occasionally, we would catch some fresh fish, but this was a very rare occasion, and since we hadn't brought any spices, it didn't do much to enhance the bland meals we endured. The tasteless food, paired with the constant rocking of the boat, made my stomach less than comfortable in the half month or so we had been at sea. Karai, however, didn't seem to mind, and if she did, she didn't show it. Of course, she was like that. She never showed weakness.

She and I had separate quarters on the ship, while the Foot Ninja who escorted us found their own places to sleep on the rest of the ship, with three of them awake at all times. According to Karai, it was to avoid pirates attacking us in our sleep. That sounded strange to me, since from the day we had last seen our home of Tamashi Island, we had encountered no other ships.

"/You can never be too careful,/" Karai had warned. I had nodded, an empty gesture. Sometimes I felt that my sister over analyzed things. I felt that, on occasion, it was best to just let your heart guide you. Instincts were just as good as book smarts, in the right times. She would disagree, if I ever proposed the idea, though.

The boat wasn't terribly small. It was large enough for the crew of us to live comfortably, and on some days it felt nice to lay on the solid polished wood of the deck and bask in the warmth of the sun. Sunbathing could only take me so far in the way of passing time, though, and the white vessel soon began to feel smaller and smaller. By the time we had reached the end of the month, I was getting antsy. Any day, now, we were supposed to see land. America, at long last, would be under our feet.

That was when the storm hit.

Lightning, thunder, rain and waves pelted us. We struggled to stay in the boat, let alone remain on course. We lost a few Foot Ninja overboard, and couldn't afford to retrieve them in the awful weather. It lasted for hours, with the lot of us huddled below deck as well as we could. Eventually, however, the water began to seep into the below deck. When it had reached our waists, we realized that staying down there would be as much a death trap, if not more, than the deck, ando so made our way up.

Here was where my memory got foggy. In the darkness and the mist of water and lightning, there were two figures. One was bright, almost as bright as the lightning that seared the water around us. The other was small and dark, nearly imperceptible without the aid of the lightning flashes. As they arrived, a loud thunderclap shook the deck, stunning me and tossing me to my stomach. Through blurry vision, I saw Karai clutching a handrail and shouting at the top of her lungs. I heard nothing, as water and wind rushed past my head. She seemed to be speaking with the two figures. I rolled towards the side of the ship, and grabbed onto the side as tightly as I could. The dark figure turned to me then. I couldn't see their face, but I felt their gaze. They tilted their head, as I felt the last of my strength leave me, and I was tossed into the waiting, hungry ocean. From there, it was nothing, until I woke up in the snow covered bay of New York.

All of these memories flashed in front of me, as I stared at my sister from behind the bars that blocked the entrance to the army surplus store. She watched me, and a look of what seemed like relief washed over her as she saw the recognition return to my eyes. She tossed Casey aside, and he was quickly snatched up by waiting Foot Ninja. She lifted the bars and approached me.

"/Sister,/" I said, in perfect Japanese, walking towards her. "/Karai, I…/" I held my head, the sudden rush of memories causing it to pound. I was filled with conflicting memories and emotions. For the most part, they washed away as Karai placed her arms around my neck, pulling me into a tight hug that I returned.

"/I thought you were certainly lost,/" she said. I looked past her shoulder, to the dirty snow that had begun to be replenished with the heavy white flakes from the sky. Slowly, but surely, my body lost its strength. I dropped to my knees, burying my face into my sister's shoulder, and I cried. Deep, racking sobs that nearly caught her off balance. She rubbed the back of my head gently, and whispered to me in a calming voice. I didn't hear her words, though. My mind shut down, in an attempt to distract me from the dichotomy of thoughts I was experiencing. There were too many things to be considered, and with a painful heave, I let myself fall back into the comfort of a familiar face, and I cried for a long time, weeping into the gentle and forgiving arms of my only sister.

End of Book 2

Next time...

Three brothers. Three turtles. For 14 years, Leonardo, Michelangelo and Donatello have trained in the ancient art of Ninjutsu under the watchful eye of their father and mentor, Master Splinter. Deep in the sewers of New York, they remain hidden from the eyes and threats of the world above. Soon, however, a danger from below threatens to tear their family apart. Can the three brothers learn what it means to be true ninja in time to save themselves?

Coming up next:
Phase 1: Origin
Book 3: TMNT: Origins