DEATH

April, 1981

SPLINTER:

Something was wrong. I could feel it as I awoke from a dead sleep. There was no sound, but I knew that someone was here. I rose slowly and smelled the air. Yes, there was someone here; and he was no one I knew.

I stood and left my bedroom. A shadow whisped across the room, toward me. Acting instinctively, I spun to the side and hit the back of the intruder's neck with well-aimed precision. He dropped to the floor and I quickly turned him onto his back with my foot.

He was young, with dark hair and eyes, and the face of a Chinese. I glared at him, fully prepared to kill him if he struck out at me. "Who are you?" I demanded. "What do you want?"

The intruder stared up at me, the tip of my walking stick at his throat. "I'm only here to deliver a message," he answered.

"What message?"

"The Shredder has Sakura and your daughter." I froze, my blood running cold at the sound of his words. "If you want them to live, I can take you to them. Otherwise, he will kill them."

***

She lay lifeless on the floor, her hair fanned out around her. I could feel my heart breaking as I studied her. I was too late. Still, I walked to her and knelt at her side carefully. "Sakura," I whispered, running a hand lightly over her hair.

She took a breath, surprising me. "Yoshi..."

I bowed my head, tears burning my eyes. What had I done? "I am so sorry, Sakura," I whispered. "I should not have hidden from you."

She choked on another breath, and coughed blood. In the darkness, I could not see it. But the sound was unmistakeable. "I have to tell you," she struggled. "Your..."

She never finished. I closed my eyes as she exhaled one final time and fell silent. Tears streamed from my eyes as I rested a hand against the side of her face. "Sakura..."

SHREDDER:
 I sensed the moment he walked into the building. The student I had sent to retrieve him was not with him, but it was just as well. The little girl whimpered as I glanced at her. "Quiet," I ordered.

She wiped away tears with the heel of her palm, shaking her head as if in disbelief. "You are a bad man, Yuki," she choked. "You won't get away with this."

I laughed. "You watch too much television, child," I snapped. "Come here."

"No."

I felt anger boil inside of me and I walked to her. She screamed as I grabbed her hair and yanked her to her feet. Within seconds, he was in the room. I held her in front of me, claws against the soft pallet of her throat. She fell silent. Yoshi froze.

"Konnichiwa, Yoshi," I greeted.

"Let her go," he ordered. "It is me you want."

"Ironic, is it not? How the tables turn..."

"Let her go, Saki," he growled. "I am warning you..."

"Do you know who this is, freak?" I asked. Perhaps he did not even know.

"I know that she is a child who has done nothing wrong," replied the still, tense figure. Even through his hideous mutation, he was still human enough to possess the same weaknesses. I knew this, and I intended to use it to my full advantage.

"Oh, but she has done something wrong," I snarled. "A mortal sin that's plagued humanity from the beginning of time. It determines which children are killed when a country goes to war, and which children will be persecuted for the color of their skin or the nature of their religion. She was born into the wrong family, Yoshi. Your family."

"It is me that you want; let her go."

"Kioko," I taunted, holding the girl still. "Such a pretty name. Such a pretty child."

"Let her go, Saki," the rat threatened. "You will gain nothing by killing her."

"Perhaps not. But you will surely lose something, won't you? Your precious daughter. A child. Does it break your heart, Yoshi?"

Perhaps he anticipated the move, but he could do nothing. He was too far away to stop me. He was at least not so foolish as to race at me without thinking. His child screamed for a fraction of a second as the claws sliced across her throat, then she fell silent. I dropped her to the floor and watched as the rat braced for battle.

"Sacrifices, Yoshi," I clarified. "You understand, right?"

He lowered his head like a dog preparing to attack. "Now I am going to kill you, Saki."

"Are you?" I challenged, backing away slowly. "She is not dead. Yet. Do you have the heart to leave her in pursuit of me? Do you have any heart anymore? Or are you purely an animal?"

"God damn you, Saki."

I smiled. "I am already damned. But not to your hand."