Disclaimer: I do not own the TMNT. Some of the characters used in this fic are based off them, meaning that they aren't exactly the same. The characters that I do own so far are Saringai, Raifu, Zaila, Keira and Zareb. Shere Khan is based off the 'Jungle Book', believe it or not. This will be a fairly long story so please be patient with me.

"speech"

'quotes'

'thoughts'

Can't Wash It Away.

Prologue.

"They killed her".

"Who? Zaila?"

Saringai nodded and sighed. The pain of loss filled his heart. Raifu felt a deep sorrow for his brother but he needed to press on as urgent matters were at hand.

"And Venus?" Raifu asked with a concerned look. "What of her?"

"She's alright. I managed to get to her in time before Shere Khan…" The lump in the back of his throat stopped Saringai from completing his sentence. 'Zaila…' Tears swelled up in his eyes with the thought of her mauled body. Raifu put a hand on his brother's shoulder.

"I… I… I shoulda helped her… she…" "Shh… It's ok bro. I know. Just… just where is Venus now?"

"I… I put her with Keira and the boys", Saringai answered as a single tear slid down his cheek. Raifu moved to give his brother a comforting hug.

"It's gonna be ok dude. It's gonna be ok. As long as 'The Venus' is alive and well, then it's gonna be ok".

"I hope so bro, I hope so", Saringai whispered.

Chapter 1: And So the Story Begins…

Keira looked down at her five cubs. One month had passed from the day of their birth. A few weeks ago, their eyes hadn't even opened, but now all five were up and about exploring the den. The female cheetah gently smiled as the eldest cub, Michelangelo, stumbled over his own feet. His younger brothers sniggered. Michelangelo gave a sad puppy dog face in return before sticking out his tongue. 'Has to be the clown that one', Keira thought to her self. Raphael, the second eldest, continued to glare at Michelangelo, somewhat offended.

Ever since the beginning Keira had trouble with her cub Raphael. He was always fidgeting and trying to find something to do. He usually ended up play fighting with one of his brothers. He was wild, he had that fire, that spark in his eyes which reminded Keira of his father. It was the reason why Keira named Raphael after him.

The name given to the third eldest was Donatello. Michelangelo and Donatello were difficult to tell apart, as they were identical twins. Donatello was the peaceful one. He would always try to get out of fights as quickly as possible… especially when he is fighting against a bored Raphael. Quiet he was to. A bit like the youngest male, Leonardo. Leonardo was a thinker. He would always find the time to be alone, to think about things which are way beyond his years. Not hard to please that one was. The thing that really separated Leonardo from the rest of her cubs was his baby blue eyes, which was unusual as cheetah's eyes were normally an amber colour.

The youngest of the lot was Venus, the only female cheetah cub. Determination flowed through her heart. She was the tomboy. She would play with the boys as much as she could. She never liked to be left out of things, just because she was a girl. She made sure that the boys knew that too.

Michelangelo whimpered. He was hungry again. 'He's always hungry', Keira frowned. She sighed. She needed to hunt or else her cubs would starve. Keira hated to leave her cubs, but she had no other alternative.

"Michelangelo…", she said. Michelangelo looked upwards at his mother, eyes full of excitement. His fluffy silvery fur made him look adorable. The other cubs crawled towards her. Keira smiled at the five gorgeous fluff balls that sat before her. "Michelangelo, I'm going out to get something to eat, ok sweetie. Now, you know not to go outside no matter what, don't you?" Michelangelo nodded. Raphael began to play with Keira's twitching tail, trying to pounce on it. "Ok then. Now Mikie you're the eldest so you're gonna be in charge till I get back ok. I love you all. I'll see you later then".

"Bye bye", Michelangelo chirped. Keira smirked. 'He's so cute'. Raphael started to follow Keira out of the den, so she had to pick him up by the scruff of the neck using her teeth. She placed him back with the others. Raphael pouted. Keira exited her den.

It was a rather fine day within the country of Lesotho. Snow capped peaks could be seen in the distance. Mystifying waterfalls could be heard. A cool breeze rippled through her short fur. She had seen a herd of rhebok grazing on a nearby plain earlier that day. She wondered if they were still there. She didn't travel very far before she bumped into none other than a tiger, a mutant one at that.

Keira gasped. She tried to slip away unnoticed but it was too late for the mutant tiger had already spotted her. The mutant walked towards her on his two hind legs.

"GET HER!" the tiger roared in English. Keira naturally didn't understand what he said, but she knew that something bad was going to happen. She was right in her assumption as two more mutant tigers suddenly appeared, growling menacingly. They licked their lips as they looked at their next possible meal. Without saying a word, all three tigers went after Keira. Keira darted through the trees, trying to get them off her tail. Thorn trees scratched her back as she so desperately tried to loose the mutants.

She bolted over the land she knew so well. She rounded a corner. She wasn't far from her den. She ran as fast as she could so that she would be safe with her cubs.

She shouldn't have gone that way. She should have kept running. If she didn't stop, then the mystery fourth mutant, a lion, wouldn't have got her. The first tiger caught up with Keira… and ended her life.

The cubs had heard the commotion outside their den. Curiosity overwhelmed the cubs and they eventually gave in to it. The cubs stumbled outside only to find their mother's bloody carcass, three weird looking tigers and a weird looking lion. Fear struck through their bodies. They stood frozen in disbelief. One of the tigers spotted them and motioned for the others to grab them. They walked over and picked up the cubs by the scruff of the neck with their hands.

"Are these the cubs that Shere Khan was asking for?" one of the tigers asked. The first tiger looked the cubs over.

"Don't think so", he finally said. "They're not mutants. They're normal cheetahs. I'm pretty sure that Shere Khan was looking for four mutant male cubs of some sort, and one mutant female. I don't think these are it".

"Then what are we going to do now?" the mutant lion asked. The cubs struggled in the mutants' grip. None of them understood a word that was being said.

"We could train them. Train them as guard dogs, or guard cheetahs in this case. Humans used to do that", another tiger suggested. The first tiger thought about this.

"Yeah… I guess that could work. They'd be pretty good as male cheetahs naturally work in a team".

"But what about this female cheetah here?" The mutant lion held her up. Venus wiggled furiously.

"She'd only be good for a little while. Female cheetahs are shy and solitary animals when they grow up. She's useless. Kill her".

"That's a bit harsh, don't you think?"

All four mutants turn towards the source of the mystery voice only to find that it belonged to Zareb, the only leopard cross lion mutant in all of Lesotho. He also stood on his hind legs but looked much less threatening compared with the other four. He was two years of age, a teenager in the animal kingdom. The first tiger sighed.

"Then what do you suggest we should do with her?"

"Well… I could keep her. Then when she's old enough I'll release her back into the wild. How about that?"

The four other mutants looked at each other. "Alright then. It's a deal", the first tiger says. The mutant lion passed Venus over to Zareb. "I'll see ya later Zareb". With that, the four mutants walked off, taking the male cubs with them. Venus shuddered with fright in Zareb's paws. She had no idea of what just happened.

"You were lucky that time… Venus", Zareb said in animal talk to her. Surprised that he knew her name, Venus looked up at him. "It'll be ok, don't worry", he said to her before heading back towards his home.