A/N: I don't own TMNT.
It was a sunny, beautiful day.
There were no clouds in the bright blue sky. Birds flew about, creating distinct patterns as they soared in their flocks.
She was standing in a green field with thick, tall grass and lovely blooming flowers and tall cherry blossom trees. Sweeping high mountains dotted with ice in the distance completed the scene.
It was beautiful. The sun basked her face, made her glow, in a subtle, soft kind of warmth. A light wind accompanied it, blowing her hair in the air. It felt wonderful, calming. She didn't want to leave this tranquility.
She was happy.
"Would you like to stay here, Karai?"
Suddenly, the trees and mountains shrank into nothingness. The colorful flowers withered away, dead and useless. The bright sun dimmed as it hid behind emerging clouds. Everything turned dark, and Karai found herself on nothing but a bland, gray piece of land, stripped of everything that had made it once pleasant.
Karai turned around, glaring at her so-called 'father.' "No. I'd never stay with you."
Oroku Saki, surprisingly enough, wasn't wearing his signature armour or threatening Kuro Kabuto or fatally sharp, gleaming gauntlets. Instead, he was dressed in a dark suit, almost as if he was about to attend a funeral. "Why not?" he asked innocently.
But Karai knew better. Saki was always up to something, always planning and plotting.
Karai stood still, clenched her hands into fists, and deepened her glare. "What do you mean, 'why not?' Why the heck would I want to stay with you after you lied to me and killed my father?"
Raindrops fell from the darkening clouds, lightly landing on her. Lightning ripped, seared through the sky, followed by roaring thunder.
Saki took several steps closer to her, till he could reach and gently stroked her hair. "I only wanted the best for you, my daughter."
Karai fiercely shook his hand off, walking backwards, away from him. "No. It wasn't the best. It was the worst!"
Sadness filled Saki's eyes for a second, but was quickly replaced with venomous anger. "You dare to say no to your father?" he growled.
Karai didn't even flinch. "Yes."
Saki was engulfed in a dark, smoky wind, encompassing him like a tornado. When it left, he was standing taller than before, like a giant; dressed in his armour, Kuro Kubato, and shining gauntlets.
Karai expected him to come forward, to punish her, beat her.
But he didn't.
Instead, the Shredder simply laughed. "One day, my daughter, you will see the true intentions behind my words, my actions. One day, you will be thankful for what I've done. One day, you'll see it was all for the best. And that one day, my daughter, you will follow my footsteps. You will be the first female Shredder!"
Karai only said one word: "No."
"Then you will suffer the consequences," the Shredder responded, "starting... now."
Knock! Knock!
Out of instinct, Karai bolted up, awake, her blanket and sheets tangled around herself. One look around the room and she was reminded that she was in the turtles' lair, in her new room. Safe.
"Ka-raiiiii, are you awake? 'Cause I made this de-lish breakfast! Just for you!" Mikey called. "Wake up, wake up!"
"I'm awake, Mikey!" Karai replied from behind the door. "Just let me get ready. I'll be there soon."
"Okay! Make sure to hurry before the food gets cold!"
Karai hurried to prepare herself before heading down to the kitchen. A lovely aroma of pancakes filled the air. Seated at the dining table were Leo, Raph, and Donnie, while Mikey served the food.
"Got a good night's sleep?" Leo asked as she sat down in the chair next to him.
"Yeah, thanks," Karai forced a smile. Now wasn't the best time to tell him her dream.
Mikey passed out the pancakes, bathed in a melting, gooey mess of butter and syrup; and golden, fluffy scrambled eggs. "You guys will love this egg-cellent breakfast!" Mikey laughed at his own joke.
Donnie sighed; he could come up with much better puns. Raph rolled his eyes. Leo offered his youngest brother a small smile to make him feel better, but he wasn't feeling dejected, anyway, because Karai had chuckled a little. Even a little laugh at one of Mikey's jokes meant something to the orange clad turtle.
Karai took a bite of pancake and couldn't help but smile as she chewed the soft, sweet treat. "Mmmmm! The pancakes at the Foot HQ were never this good!"
Mikey beamed at the compliment, while Leo smiled. "Yeah, Mikey's the cook around here. And he's pretty good at it."
"Do you cook, Leo?" Karai asked with another mouthful of pancake.
At that, Raph burst out laughing. "Cook? Can Leo cook? More like can Leo burn, 'cause he sure can!"
Leo's face reddened. Karai just smiled and shook her head. Man, do I love my brothers!
After breakfast was training, which had gone by smoothly. They had done some katas and sparring. Karai had successfully overtaken Mikey and Donnie, but was almost evenly matched with Leo and Raph. They were strong, after all.
After training, Raph, Donnie, and Mikey left the dojo. But Leo had asked her to stay with him, to practice blocking out the Shredder.
"What I would do was think about my brothers, because I didn't want to hurt them," Leo said. "But I guess it was them who helped me out more. They'd yell at me, and then I'd find the power to regain my control."
Karai nodded. "Yeah, I guess that would work... but the Shredder, he's so strong! I can try, but he seems to always get to me. It's only before I can do some real damage when I stop him." Then she narrated her dream, figuring this was the right time.
Leo listened to her intently, thinking. "Hmm... he's trying to get to you, Karai. I think he's gaining more power. You better be careful." The blue clad turtle then came up with an idea. "Hey, how about you try sparring in your mutant form?"
"Okay," Karai agreed. Maybe it would help her out sometime. She closed her eyes, and willed herself to transform into the long, scaly serpent. Leo watched in amazement.
Karai hissed, and lunged at Leo with incredible speed. Leo jumped out of the way, just in time, only to be greeted with a sudden whish of Karai's tail. Leo barely ducked. While he was regaining his balance, Karai effortlessly wrapped herself around him, squeezing him.
"Kill him. Kill him, my daughter!"
Karai hissed at the voice, and leaned closer to Leo's face. "Woah, Karai, I think that's enough!" he said, but Karai only hugged him tighter.
"I... can't... breathe!" Leo rasped.
The voice in her head was getting louder now. "Kill him! Avenge my death! Show no mercy!"
"AHHHHHHH!" she cried out, letting Leo go, falling to the floor. She unknowingly morphed back into her human form, clutching her head.
"KILL HIM WHILE YOU HAVE THE CHANCE!" the Shredder yelled at her.
"No! Stop! I won't!" Karai yelled back.
"What are you talking about, Karai? Karai?" Leo kneeled down and looked over her, concerned. "Do you hear him?"
The voice softened, and Karai slowly dropped her hands to her sids and sat up. "Yeah, I did. But he's gone now."
Leo could sense that something was amiss. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Karai dismissed nonchalantly, walking towards the door.
But the leader caught up to her. He wouldn't let her leave so easily. "What did he say?"
Karai sighed. "He wanted me to kill you."
Leo's eyes widened. This what the Shredder wanted him to do, too: kill his brothers.
"We'll figure this out, okay? We'll stop him. Don't worry," he tried to console her.
"Yeah, yeah." She walked away, not looking back.
She couldn't help but wonder, how will I ever stop him?
Because she was losing faith too quickly. She'd already almost killed Mikey, almost harmed Donnie, and now Leo.
As if answering her question, the Shredder replied in her mind, "I told you, my daughter: I shall get what I want, sooner or later."
A/N: Ehh. I'm not very proud of this chapter. It seems like a filler, but it isn't...
I'll try to make the next one have more action.