Prologue: A Warrior's Journey

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, he had reached civilization. A small village looked abandoned due to everyone staying indoors because of the heavy rain. The town itself looked much like Japan with its wooden houses with curved roofs and cherry blossom trees, which were not yet in full bloom. He raised one hand to adjust the straw hat on his head, the only protection he had from the rain, and headed down the dirt trail that led to the entrance of the village.

The ground was soaked, so the man was trudging through mud rather than dirt, and much of it was now stuck to the bottom of his sandals. But his main concern was definitely not the condition of his footwear. In fact, his top priority was somewhere within this town, if what his partner said was true. It was hard to be sure when the bounty hunter had been drunk at the time. He just had to go with the info he was given since it would take too much time for his friend to get sober and that would allow his target time to get away.

Just thinking about it made him even more paranoid than he already was, and he instinctively had one of his hands hovered over his daisho, which hung around his left hip. The action comforted him somewhat, the thought of knowing that his swords were still with him made him calm down a bit. But he still could not shake the feeling that he was being watched as he walked further into the village. He stopped when he reached the town square and looked around at his surroundings.

"So, you finally came."

He quickly turned to his left in search of the owner of the sudden voice, and he instantly spotted someone sitting alone on the porch of an inn. The stranger wore a red kimono with a black sash across her waist, but most of their figure was consumed by shadows. He stepped forward to get a better look at the person, who he assumed was a woman from their voice.

"Forgive me, but…I do not believe we have met."

Now that he had a clearer view of the woman, he could see that that she was an anthropomorphic cat with her hair tied up in a bun. Her fur was terribly ruffled and her eyes had dark bags under them, as if she had not slept for days.

"No, we have not. But I am sure you know my husband."

She jutted her thumb behind her.

"He is expecting you. You should hurry inside before you get sick from the rain."

He frowned, unsure whether he should take the woman's advice. She was a stranger still and how was she so sure that he knew her husband? Unless…

"Which room?"

"The third to the left. He is not armed, I assure you. I doubt he would have the strength to hold up a sword even if he wanted to."

The cat shook her head. He could see the fear in her eyes, but she was trying her best to hide it. If whoever lies within the inn was exactly who he was looking for, she had every right to be scared. He gave the woman a quick bow to thank her and stepped inside the small hotel, not stopping until he reached the door of the room she had mentioned. His hand was now wrapped around the hilt of one of his swords and he took a deep breath before opening the door. The sight that laid beyond the door was something he was not expecting.

In the center of the room, a futon sat with its occupant almost completely covered by black sheets. A pale, wrinkled hand reached out from under the covers and motioned for its guest to come to him.

"Please… come closer."

The grip on his sword tightening, he stepped closer to the bed and now he was able to see the person's face who lied within it. Although, it took him some time before he recognized the man.

"Buichi."

Indeed, the man, or rather rhino, who laid in that futon was none other than Toda Buichi. He was once a trusted general, but now he is marked as a traitor. And the rhino knew that his guest had not forgotten what he did to their former lord. He smiled, despite him knowing that a simple action like that was painful to do in his current state.

"Greetings, old friend. You sure took your time."

His visitor said nothing, so Buichi continued.

"I am sure you… you took care of Lord Mifune…"

"How dare you speak his name, traitor?"

"…Heh. I suppose I threw away that privilege long ago."

The rhino moved to sit up in the bed, but the movement resulted in a coughing fit that made him lie right back down.

"And I "cough" suppose it pleases you to "cough" see me "cough" like this."

But seeing Buichi's sickly form, his guest could not help but feel pity. After what the former general did, he thought that Buichi would be living a life of luxury. And yet, here he was barely able to keep his head.

"What happened to you?"

Buichi chuckled at the question.

"What do you think?"

"I think you made a terrible mistake in trusting that tyrant. Now it seems you are paying for your betrayal."

"…For what it is worth, I am… I am sorry."

"Do you truly believe that an apology will pardon what you did?"

Shaking his head, Buichi turned and reached over the edge of the futon. He saw in his peripheral vision that his visitor had one of his swords ready to be drawn from its sheath.

"No need to worry."

Buichi pulled something from beside the bed and held it up for his guest to see. The item was covered in a brown cloth.

"This is a gift. From Lord…from him."

The former general bowed his head as he offered his visitor the covered object. Hesitantly, he grabbed the item from Buichi's hands and slowly peeled away the cloth. When he saw the object inside, his eyes narrowed. He glared at the rhino.

"Where…when did you get this?"

"After the battle, when I…when I was left to die."

Buichi waited to hear a response, but when none came, he continued.

"You were right, my friend. I made a terrible mistake and I know there is nothing I can do to regain my honor. But I wish to do one last service for our lord."

The rhino extended his hand and placed it on top of the blade his visitor now had in his hands. A katana that had belonged to their former lord. It looked as good as new.

"If anything were to happen to him, he made me promise to give this to you."

"To me? But, I am not worthy of…"

"Take it. He wanted you to have it. Would it be honorable to deny our lord his final wish?"

He looked down at the weapon again and thought about what he should do. On one hand, the katana did not deserve to be with Buichi, but on the other hand, it did not deserve to be with him either. He felt he had failed his lord and did not deserve the honor of wielding his sword. Yet, if what the rhino had said about it being Lord Mifune's last wish, then he would not dare to deny his lord that. So, with a heavy heart, he unsheathed the katana from its scabbard and held the sword in front of him with both hands, staring at his reflection on the blade's surface. It was a strange feeling to be holding the katana since it did not belong to him, but in due time, he would get used to it. After all, what was a weapon without a master?

"It suits you."

He was pulled from his thoughts by Buichi's voice, who was laying down again with his hands clasped together.

"Now my task is done. Do what you will."

"What do you mean?"

"Is that not why you are here? To avenge our fallen lord?"

"…No."

Buichi frowned but said nothing else as his guest fastened the katana so it rested over his right hip.

"I do not believe my lord would want me to kill you. Besides…it seems you have suffered enough. I only came for information."

"Information? What exactly do you wish to know?"

He sighed and finally took off his hat to let his tall, rabbit ears stand freely in the air.

"I need to know…where to find Lord Hikiji."

Here it is, guys! I have been wanting to write this for a while, especially since I just finished Rise of the TMNT (BTW, I highly recommend you watch this show if you haven't already. It is really good!). And I also watched TMNT: Out of the Shadows, which wasn't that bad, but it wasn't as good as the first one in my opinion. I love that they brought in characters like Bebop and Rocksteady and Krang and I really feel like it could have been a really good movie if so much of the plot wasn't thrown at us in the first half of the movie and they gave more backstory on certain characters that not everyone knows. We all know Shredder, but what about Baxter Stockman? Or Krang? I could go on about this, but going back to the story, this takes place a year after Out of the Shadows. And some of you may have already guessed who I introduced in the prologue, but if you haven't, just know he is one of my favorite characters from TMNT. And another thing, I was not sure about what animal Buichi is since all I really hear about him is how he turned into a goblin, but I wanted to know what he was before that transformation. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy the story!