A/N: An acrostic is a poem, or in this case, a series of drabbles, in which the first letter of each line makes up a word. Drabbles Forever will consist of a series of acrostic drabble sets as follows:
Drabbles of Leo: Leonardo; Drabbles Collide: Raphael; Drabbles from the Underground: Donatello; The Unconvincing Turtle Drabbles: Michelangelo; Search for Drabbles: Splinter; and finally Drabbles and Dragons: Hamato.
DuckiePray, Melody Winters, Polaris'05 and Diva Danielle are my inspiration, my hearts, and my random bursts of cake and rootbeer. Love you gals!
Welcome to the fifth installment of the Drabbles Forever series: The Search for Drabbles: Splinter
His Seimei is a remembrance. He is a good Parent. He reminds his sons of Lotus blossoms, Incense and Ink. He Nurtures with Tea. He's far from Elderly. His effect cannot be measured in Roentgens, but he has affected his sons. He is Hamato Splinter. This is his story.
A/Ns: Seimei means "name", but it means more than that. It can also mean "life" or "life's purpose". Splinter is more than a name. For Master Yoshi, it was a reminder, and for Splinter, it became a purpose.
"Vengeance is like a splinter. It gets under your skin, and can poison your life."
-The Ancient One, in Tale of Master Yoshi
"Well, little one, I will name you Splinter, to remind me of what I have done, and what I have failed to do. Together, we will remind each other of Tang Shen, of her beauty, her kindness, and love."
-Hamato Yoshi, in Tale of Master Yoshi
The Search for Drabbles: Splinter
Chapter 1 ~Seimei: Leonardo~
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I think there are some things that leave a lasting impression. One of them is loss. When someone is wounded by a loss, it leaves a scar. Sometimes, when the wound is inflicted by dishonor, betrayal, the hurt leaves behind something that stays in the wound, that causes infection that festers in the spirit and poisons the mind until all the wounded person knows is hatred.
Splinter. It was a name given to him by his own Master, Yoshi, as a memory, a reminder of what he had lost, and what he had loved. A reminder of the wounds a friend inflicted, and the life Yoshi took in return.
When Yoshi died, my Master lost everything, just like his master before him. Splinter had every reason to hate, and to raise us for one purpose, and one purpose only: to seek vengeance for his master's death. He didn't have to love us. He could've raised us, like Saki did Karai, to follow his orders unquestioningly, teaching us only enough honor to keep us loyal to him, to carry out his plan to hunt and fight and kill his enemies, but there is another thing that leaves a lasting impression on a spirit, and that is love.
Somewhere along the way, Splinter remembered. He remembered what happened to Yoshi, but he also remembered Tang Shen. He remembered her pity when she stopped Mashimi from killing him, in the home of the Ancient One, and he remembered the gentleness in her hands, the kindness she showed, when he was a mere animal with no real understanding. He remembered, when he found us, as helpless infants, and took pity on us.
Something of Tang Shen's love stayed with him. Her gentle, quiet spirit left a lasting impression on him, a different kind of splinter, that stayed with him through his own mutation, through raising four mutated turtles, through the hours he took teaching us, not only the arts of ninjitsu, but to read and write, and softened him into trying to teach us the finer things, like haiku, art, and table manners. Somewhere along the line, Splinter became more than our sensei. He became, as the Ancient one had to Yoshi, Mashimi, and Tang Shen, our father.
I believe his master, Yoshi, chose my father's name well. And I believe Tang Shen looks down upon our little clan, from wherever her spirit rests, and smiles.
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