Splinter's Tale

Disclaimer: I deny any ownership of any adolescent transformed shadow warrior chelonians.

Chapter Two – Tang Shen

One day early in the morning one of the high Masters entered with him was a petite lady that was beautiful to behold she was dressed in an ornate kimono with a stunning design and bright colours, she carried a fan and her hair was done up in a bun at the back of her head.

" Yoshi, I must be away for a while on business but my daughter has come to visit and I feel torn between my duty to work and leaving her here in a strange place without an escort. Since my work must come first I have come to ask you if you would see to my daughter while I am away."

Yoshi bowed low to the Master " It would be an honour. I will guard her carefully until your return and see to it that she enjoys her stay here."

" Good I am pleased that you can accommodate both of us. Shen I must leave you in Hamato Yoshi's capable hands. You are free to roam the school at will Shen for no one will harm you here."

" Thank you father" Shen bowed to him and he left.

" I was preparing to go out for my morning walk around the gardens would you care to join me Shen?"

" I would enjoy that Yoshi," she agreed.

" If you don't mind I would like to take Hahen with me. He enjoys the outdoors and I do not wish to deny him it however if you are afraid of rats I will leave him here."

" I have no fear of rats Yoshi so by all means allow your pet to come."

Yoshi smiled at her.

I was also relieved for I did not wish to spend my entire day locked up out of my Master's politeness towards Shen, especially as Shen might have to be around for a great deal until her father returned. I gratefully ran up Yoshi's arm to his shoulder then offering an arm to Shen we went out of the school and into the gardens.

Yoshi and Shen strolled casually through the garden stopping to talk about the plants and other sights, as well as talking about other things.

I watched from my vantage point my nose trembling as I picked up all the incredible scents in the air.

The idyllic moment was not to last however for Nagi spotted us and came toward us he bowed low to Shen " Such beauty puts the flowers to shame" Nagi practically purred.

" You are too kind" Shen brushed off the compliment but blushed slightly proving Nagi's flattery had still touched her " Forgive me you are?"

Yoshi smiled " This is Oroku Nagi he is another teacher of our school. This is Tang Shen daughter of Master Tang." My master replied making the formal introductions.

I saw something spark in Nagi's eyes as he spoke " Gaining favour again are you Yoshi?"

" I was asked to do a favour and not have one done for me," my Master stated simply.

" I wonder Yoshi just who is doing who a favour here" Nagi hinted arching his eyebrows and giving a smirk. " Still I would be delighted Shen if you would do me the honours of joining me for the tea ceremony by the koi pond" Nagi offered his invitation freely but only to Shen and not to us.

Shen glanced expectantly at my Master as if awaiting his verdict.

" I do have a class to teach soon but your father did permit you to move freely around the school and no one here will harm you. So if you wish to go with Nagi then you might find it far more enjoyable then watching lessons" Yoshi claimed.

Shen then accepted Nagi's offer and strolled off with him while we returned to the school. I had just enough time to clean myself before starting my lessons.

With Shen around it was to be expected that my Master had a little less time for me so I was just as thankful for when her father returned from his business trip and my Master's duties were over.

Shen still came around the school though for she enjoyed having the freedom to roam about the school grounds without fear. She would look in on lessons or spend time in the garden. When she visited with Yoshi and I she would laugh at my antics.

" Look at him I believe your rat Hahen must be the smartest in all of Japan Yoshi. Why look at the way he sits up on hindlegs and watches your every move. Or the way he turns his head to look at you when you speak. There is much wisdom in his dark eyes."

At first Shen seemed to split her time between my Master and Nagi but as time went on she began to devout more and more time to Yoshi while Nagi got to see less of her.

Nagi I think would have liked to have forced Shen but he knew that Shen father would not be amused if his daughter was coerced in any way on the school ground.

One day shortly before the noon lessons were about to start Shen came in and came over to my cage to feed me some bits of sweet honey cake. I was enjoying the treat and after the last morsel had been eaten I sat up to clean my whiskers that was when I squeaked for I saw Nagi drawing close to Shen from behind.

My squeak gave adequate warning and she turned gasping slightly startled at Nagi's sudden appearance. " Oh Nagi you surprised me I didn't hear you come in."

" A ninja should never be heard Shen. It would be quite improper. Shen are you happy with Yoshi? Even though he does not aspire to greatness preferring the simple plain life. What kind of life would that be for you Shen? I could give you all that you wanted if you were to choose me instead." Nagi whispered to her.

" I do not love you Nagi. I love Yoshi. Yoshi may be a simple man but he is a good man. He is peaceful and gentle and he is a simple man who would be quite content to stay at home. Men such as you Nagi who aspire for greatness would never be satisfied with a simple life and hardly be at home. You are a good man in your own right Nagi and I care for you but I love Yoshi." Shen admitted.

" If you gave it time you might learn to love me" Nagi coaxed.

" Not as long as I love Yoshi."

Nagi backed up " I see, I understand now. Very well so be it then but one day Shen you will love only me" Nagi declared tightly before whirling around to leave. I sensed the large amount of anger he did not quite block off as he stormed out of the room.

I sensed that this would mean great trouble later on. A deep dark foreboding filled me and caused me to tremble violently and I felt suddenly chilled to the bone and I ruffled my fur baring my teeth.

Some time had passed and I had forgotten my fears about Nagi figuring it had been just another one of his many threats.

I forgot how patient a ninja could be, how tricky a ninja can be. Of course with all the value of hindsight I now had it was easy to see how it happened and set the wheels in motion for this very night.

But at that time I was an ordinary rat and did not have the intelligence of a man nor did I understand as much as I knew now. With age does come wisdom.

Master Tang came to the school a few months later once again asking Yoshi to guard and care for his daughter while he was away " Protect her honour well and you will be rewarded greatly."

" No reward is necessary Master Tang I do this willingly" Yoshi demurred.

" I think you will like this reward anyways Yoshi." Master Tang replied with a smile.

It was only a few nights later that my Master Yoshi entered the school. I was startled because no one had ever bothered entering the school at night before but even worst was the sharp tangy scent that assaulted my delicate nostrils a mixture of fear, anger, pain and blood. The smell had reached me before Yoshi even entered the room carrying a limp battered bloodied Shen in his arms.

I knew my Master loved Shen and would not harm her; he had spoken often to me of how he felt for her knowing that his feelings for Shen were safe with me. I watched as Yoshi began to tend to her wounds.

Shen stirred a bit and then came to screaming. Yoshi pulled her close comforting her as she cried and clung to him in desperation her slender frame shaking uncontrollably.

" Yoshi, oh Yoshi thank goodness you came. When the knock came at the door I thought it was you and I went to answer it. Nagi was there and he forced his way in. I told him to leave but he would not listen. Instead he demanded that I love him and him alone. When I refused he started to beat me" she sobbed.

" I know Shen I came in on him and he had the nerve to mock me telling me that if he could not have you neither would I.

Oh Shen I have lost all honour this night.

When I saw you hurt I thought you were dead. No doubt Nagi was going to leave you dead and I would be blamed because I was to protect you from harm. I have not done that even though I managed to arrive in time to spare your life.

Still I saw you hurt and limp while he hit you with his fist and my world vanished in a haze of anger the like of which I have never known. When my anger subsided Nagi was dead. I had killed him with my bare hands and now my life is forfeit. From here on end I have no honour and no life."

" No Yoshi you spared me. You have great honour far more then Nagi had" Shen refuted his statement.

Yoshi walked to the wall and took a katana shaking his head with denial " I was to protect you and I did not. I have killed a fellow member in our Clan in cold blood. His blood is on my hands. His death was not necessary Shen it should not have been. My Clan will kill me unless I do the honourable thing and commit Seppuku."

" No Yoshi, you must not take your life. Do not even speak so." Shen wailed rising to her feet to go to my Master.

" Would you rather I die with no honour Shen? Yoshi snapped back sharply.

" Yoshi please do not do this. I love you and I need you. You did not lose honour in protecting me and if you kill yourself now. Your blood will be on my hands as surely as if I had held the katana myself. You will gain no honour that way," she pleaded resting her hand on the blade of the sword.

Yoshi sighed and released the katana " Hai you are right I lose honour still in trying to regain it."

" Yoshi understand if you die I will die too for I cannot live with out you for I love you with all my heart. I want to be your wife and have your children. Children can restore honour to the family name."

" I can not have you now Shen, I'm not worthy of your family now I can give nothing to you…"

" It doesn't matter I want you Yoshi and we can start anew somewhere far from here where the Foot will not find us. Where we can be free and live our dreams. I have heard that America is just such a place.

Please Yoshi can't we start fresh. Will you not do this for me Yoshi because I need you and love you and can't bear to live without you? I would follow you any where."

Yoshi gazed into Shen's beaten and tear stained face and slowly nodded his head in acceptance " Hai Shen, my love I have lost almost everything of value. I will not lose the few things that remain to me but we must hurry if we are to get away and we can take only a few necessary items."

" Thank you Yoshi" Shen sobbed at his words.

A woman of great beauty, wealth and power had caused the rivalry to get all out of hand. That night was to be a night of great grief and torment for my Master.

Yoshi had felt that he lost a great deal of his mystic powers and had become a coward and it irked him.

It was because of Shen my Master had killed his brother in the Clan because of her too that he spared his own life and destiny. He was quite willing to follow her instead in their wild bid to stay alive, together and free.

I was glad Shen had spared my Master's life that night and years later I honoured her memory by instilling a great deal of respect to all females into my pupils and never to harm a female unless she was trying to hurt them. Then they would be allowed to only use what force was necessary.

Shen's love and beauty had become the downfall of two of the Foot Clan's finest shadow warriors and I was to learn that, that night would cause us even more problems later on.

I recalled too Nagi's threats to see my Master fall from grace. It seemed Nagi had been right in that instance after all.

TBC