The Legacy

Disclaimer: I deny any ownership of any adult or adolescent transformed shadow warrior chelonians. I sort of own Rama or she owns me I'm not sure which.

Chapter Four – Karena

Leonardo:

I knew that our home was closer then the nearest hospital and judging from her injuries she needed medical attention quickly.

I knew that any hospital would be able to provide better care then we could provide for her but I also knew that with hospitals came bills. I had no idea if she could afford the expense. So it was with some trepidation that I brought her down to our home because it was more important that she got the help necessary. Plus her wounds while numerous didn't look like it would require extensive care.

I now sat in the infirmary watching her, as I felt somehow responsible for her and her well being.

She had needed a great deal of stitching up and her eyes were swollen shut and discoloured under the compresses we had placed on them to ease the swelling.

She stirred, mumbling incoherently and I could see eyelid movement even under the compresses. It was clear signs that she was starting to wake, which was good.

I stayed still watching as she came slowly awake as she became more aware I could sense her panic levels rising as well as lingering traces of pain.

" Where am I, why can't I see?" she asked in a tremulous voice.

" You are safe and with friends. I found you beaten up in an alley and brought you to our home." I kept my voice low soft, soothing as I then explained about her injuries and why she was deprived of her sight at the moment, something that actually worked in our favour, as she wouldn't be able to see us and freak out over our nature. " We can remove the compresses after the swelling has gone down." I assured her

" Who are you?" she asked nervously shrinking a bit in the blankets that covered her.

" My name is Leonardo, but you may call me Leo as that is what most my family calls me. I brought you here as you had seemed to have lost quite a bit of blood." I replied offering her more information, " We sort of have a doctor in the family, though Don hasn't exactly got his degree nor does he have the equipment necessary to tend to real in depth work."

She scowled a bit at the news.

" What is your name?" I asked curiously seeking some information on her.

" Karena Rae Davis." She said slowly.

Karena Rae a very pretty lilting name. I liked the sound of it. I smiled knowing she couldn't see it but hopefully she would sense it or feel it as I did my best to reassure her with my other senses.

" Do you recall what happened to you Karena? Or would you rather not talk about it."

Karena nodded slightly and winced a bit " I remember what happened and I guess I don't mind talking about it." She shrugged licking her lips. " I moved here recently due to a job offer. I'm a teacher. I had the job a few months or so only things just didn't work out." Karena gulped her fingers fiddling with the edge of the blankets " Anyway unforeseen problems came up and the school I was in started to combine classes and cut back on a lot of things due to funding, they were trying to save what they could." She shook her head " Being new I was cut."

I had heard about the recent cutbacks in the New York school systems and in other schools in other places " Bad luck unfortunately" I said sympathetically.

" Yeah I seem to be having more then my share of bad luck" she snapped bitterly, " I mean I couldn't even find another job though I tried. I couldn't even make payments on my apartment I was living in. I figured only thing I could do was return home."

I could tell she was upset and angry about these difficulties but I also sensed a feeling of acceptance as if she knew that her anger would get her nowhere.

" So then what happened?" I asked curiously.

" I had my car packed ready to head home. Stopped at the bank to withdraw what little money I had in the account for the trip. Only someone must have been watching me." She sniffed a bit " I was grabbed and hauled into the alley, the bastards just took everything I owned and left me there." She fumed. " I've lost everything!" she moaned wearily her shoulders slumping.

I pondered her words " I'm sorry that things haven't gone well for you Karena my family can't replace what was taken from you but we will provide you a place of safety until you are better after that well, lets just take it as it comes." I didn't want to promise too much and get her hopes up. " Now are you in a lot of pain? Do you need any thing?" I asked knowing different people had different tolerance levels to pain and while what I sensed from her was sufficient to let me know that she was hurting. I had no idea how much pain she was willing to tolerate or put up with.

She wanted to use the facility, which I helped her to and then back to the bed before seeing if she needed any thing else.

" No I can handle the pain. It hurts yes, but in a funny way I like the pain it means I'm alive." She murmured.

" You are focusing on the right things then and that will aid your recovery" I agreed, " Now is there anything else I can do for you Karena?" I offered.

" A drink of water or juice."

" Of course" I said as I turned to the infirmary sink to get her some cold water.

" Strange" I heard her whisper softly behind me.

" Pardon, What is strange?" I couldn't help but ask.

" Your manners Leo you seem so polite for someone in this day and age where manners are all but forgotten." Karena replied.

" My father taught us to respect others and we were raised in a very old fashioned way with respect, honour and politeness as the core of our upbringing," I confessed.

Karena smiled a little, " It is nice to hear some parents still do that."

I know what she meant common courtesies truly seemed to be more a thing of the past now " My father is very strict but he is kind and fair. He had quite a bit raising my three brothers and I by himself" I sighed inwardly silently debating. " There is some thing you should know about us. I'll tell you now so you won't be surprised later. However what I have to tell you might take some time, so if you get tired and want to rest just let me know" I explained kindly.

She nodded " All right."

" Don't let me overtire you now. I know some of the things I might have to say you may have problems comprehending fully but I am not trying to pull your leg in any way shape or form." I assured her, " Also if you do wish me to stop I will pick things up later on. In no way do I want you feeling that you have been mislead by any of us, in any way."

" I appreciate that" Karena replied hesitantly.

She seemed slightly suspicious, not that I could blame her but there was also a feeling of curiosity, the need to know outweighed her insecurities at the present time.

With that I preceded to tell her our story how I, and my brothers became mutants and how our father had also mutated. She didn't bother to interrupt just listened as I kept my senses locked on her to insure I was not overtaxing her.

" Wait" She insisted suddenly " Did I just hear you say you are a turtle?" She scowled a bit her forehead wrinkling.

" Yes, my brothers and I are all turtles. My niece is also a turtle." I answered.

" A niece wait a minute, where did this niece come from you said there was only the five of you and now there is another?" She demanded.

" That is another long story" I confessed wryly, " I'll make it short. My brother Mike fell in love with a human and the two of them ended up having a child together" I explained condensing things further then any Reader's Digest book could " her mother being only fourteen when she gave birth realized that she made quite a few mistakes and returned home to set them right. She left Ramiela with Mike." I grinned slightly " with Ramiela being far more turtle in appearance it was probably for the best. Rama hasn't seen her mom since she was about six months old." I wondered silently where the time had gone it really hadn't felt like four years. " While we do our best to give Mike a chance for time to himself, he is the one who is mostly responsible for Rama's care."

I moved to get her some pain killers and more water as she had by now drank the first glass I had given her " Once you have recovered and have left here I hope that you will keep our existence a secret."

Karena was silent as if thinking and I allowed her that chance.

" I guess it is the least I can do for you Leo. I probably wouldn't be alive if you hadn't found me." She finally replied.

" Our lives depend on secrecy Karena so your silence will be greatly appreciated and the best payment you can give us in return" I handed her the glass and the pills " Now take these and rest a while" I encouraged.

The infirmary door opened and Rama came in she glanced at the lady in the bed then turned to me.

" Uncle Leonardo you late." Rama informed me pertly.

I glanced at the infirmary clock " Well so I am" I agreed " I was busy with our guest Ramiela and lost track of time. Did your daddy send you to find me?"

Rama nodded " Uh-huh. Daddy say you fire, You not look fire?" she gave me a puzzled look.

" Daddy was being silly Rama" I assured her as Karena chuckled a little. " So let us go to our lesson."

Rama beamed " We do shurien?"

" Oh you like the shuriken do you?" I asked glancing at Karena. I had told her Splinter had taught us martial arts to protect us but had not told her what form, I doubted that she would know what a shuriken was though.

Rama nodded eagerly " Yes, Sensay."

" Tell you what you behave yourself and pay attention and if you do that then we will do some shuriken practice. All right?"

" Yeah!" Rama cheered and raced off ahead of me out of the infirmary at top speed. I rolled my eyes Rama knew better, she was only to run on the playground but trying to keep that active energy confined to the playground was difficult.

" I will have to talk to you more later Karena I have a lesson to teach. My brother Don ought to be here shortly if you need any thing please ask." With that I excused myself and headed for the dojo.

As I neared the dojo I could hear Rama telling Mike in an excited voice that she was going to be doing more shuriken today.

I corrected her " I said if you behave and pay attention. So why don't you come over here on the mats and start your stretching exercises."

Rama obeyed willingly stopping to bow before doing her warm up.

After a few minutes of stretching I got her attention. " Lets do some review" I said knowing she tended to hate review. Rama wanted to learn new things and found review to be boring. However I needed to insure the moves stayed fresh in her mind and know that she was still performing them properly.

I would call out a move and wait for Rama to perform it, usually with varying degrees of interest. Slowly disintegrating into sloppiness.

" Focus Ramiela. Concentrate on what you are doing. Not what you would rather be doing. You must learn to be in the now, not the future or the past." I scolded her.

" Yes Sensay" she mumbled.

" Left arm upper block" I ordered.

Rama sighed moving her arm slowly into position.

This was getting me nowhere. It was clear to me that she was bored. I knew she wanted more shuriken practice but I wanted something out of her first.

" All right Rama enough reviews for now. Do you remember your katas?"

" Yes Sensay" Rama spoke eagerly.

She only had two very simple katas made up of blocks a few punches and a couple of kicks.

" Okay let us see them."

I knew Rama was young and mistakes might be all too common but she had a good memory for she rarely messed up on either of her two katas.

Today she performed them with her normal degree of efficiency proving to me that she was capable of performing the moves that had eluded her during her review. When she finished both she bowed and took a relaxed stance watching me expectantly.

" Good job Rama" I permitted " Now I am going to teach you a new kick and then you may go."

" Unca…I…Sensay the shurien?" She stammered anxiously.

" Will see there is still time for that. First things first" I informed her firmly " And I want you to do this first."

I knew our time was just about up but I figured Rama was old enough by now to allow for a bit longer sessions, so I was planning to extend her practice by five minutes here or there.

She had a great deal to learn and I could not keep her lessons short and simple for much longer. Though I considered it a pity that Rama would not have a sparring partner.

We could spar against her but we would have to deliberately throw a match for her to win and gain much needed confidence. Plus we had to ensure not to overwhelm her, giving her enough to learn from to become a better fighter.

There were advantages to being an only child, but for fighting purposes the only child could end up highly disadvantage simply by not having a proper sparring partner.

Rama scowled petulantly at me she didn't want to learn anything new. She stomped her foot " I want shurien now!" she yelled.

" And you are not going to get it if you act like this" I warned her glaring back at her, I softened my tone a little " I'm going to teach you a whole new kick. You like kicks don't you?" I coaxed.

She pouted a bit crossing her arms over her plastron.

I gave her a hard stony look of my own " It is your choice Ramiela but if you keep this up it will be a long time before you get to use the shuriken again. So what is it going to be?" I demanded to know.

" Shurien NOW!" Rama roared at me.

I narrowed my eyes stalking towards her, " Ramiela you are not the teacher, so you do not give orders" I barked at her.

She looked up at me a startled expression on her face at the tone in my voice, she backed up a few steps and glanced nervously towards Mike.

The look on his face said he wasn't too amused either and Rama turned back to face me as if she knew she was alone on this one.

She gulped a bit " Okay I sorry Sensay. I kicks I be good" she vowed trembling slightly.

I gave a grim smile in acknowledgement of her words " You best try hard for me" I growled.

She nodded furiously.

Now with her full attention I taught her the various steps that made up the roundhouse or tornado kick then got her to try it for me.

I had known times when Rama could get very stubborn and act up to avoid a lesson but it seemed that a bit of intimidation on my part and her father's clear disapproval had been more then enough of a reprimand.

" Very well done Ramiela" I gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze " I want you to practice that for next lesson okay?"

" Okay Sensay" She agreed obediently.

" Now why don't you get your practice shuriken and we can do a few minutes of them."

Rama squealed and hurried over to the cupboard where our weapons were stored and opened the drawer at the bottom that held all the practice weapons.

I spent the next few minutes working on her finger placement and throwing techniques with the throwing stars.

" All right Ramiela put your weapons away. You have had a good lesson for today."

Not exactly true but I had seen her much worse, " Now if you want you can stay a bit longer and I will tell you something special about ninja and shuriken."

Rama made a circle with her mouth " A story?" she asked hopefully.

" Something like that Rama" I admitted, " though you don't have to stay."

" I want to hear story though Sensay." She pleaded.

" Then put your things away and come back here."

Rama whirled starting to run but then as if remembering her rules switched to skipping before returning her weapons to their rightful place. Then coming back to the mats and sinking cross-legged to the floor, resting her elbows on her knees and cupping her face in her open hands she watched me with keen interest.

I dropped to one knee kneel in front of her as I fished out some real shuriken from my belt pockets.

Rama inhaled a bit then gave a soft " Oooh!" as she caught sight of the real throwing stars.

" You know what a ninja is right Rama?"

She gave a vigorous nod of her head her eyes never leaving the shuriken. " You and daddy and Uncle Raphiel and Uncle Donaello and Maser Spiner all ninja." She replied.

" That is right and one day you will be a ninja too. A female ninja has a special name they are called kunoichis." I informed her as I placed the shuriken in neat piles on the mat between us.

Rama looked up " They all different Sensay?"

" Yes Shuriken can be different shapes." I replied " Very smart of you to notice that not all shuriken are the same shape." I was impressed by her power of observation. " Now ninja like to carry small weapons, like shuriken in groups of seven. I have three groups of seven here, which means I have twenty one shuriken all together."

Rama smiled glancing up at me then back down casting her look at the projectiles I could almost sense her anticipation to touch them. In spite of her rule that forbid her touching weapons without my consent.

" A long time ago ninja believed that seven was a lucky number. So they felt that if they carried groups of seven with them when they went on a mission they would be extremely lucky." I smiled a bit as I thought of that superstitious thinking. " When a ninja was given an important assignment they would prepare in any way they could and one of the ways they prepared themselves was by doing things they thought might bring them luck." I began to tuck the weapons away before Rama got too tempted.

" Why seven lucky Sensay?" she asked.

" It isn't lucky anymore then any other number that I can mention, but at one time ninja did believe it would bring them luck. To this day ninja often carry smaller weapons in groups of seven." I explained.

She gave a puzzled expression biting her lip a bit as if she didn't understand.

" Many people Ramiela believe that certain items or objects can bring them good or bad luck. There is a special word for that. It is called superstition."

"A re you super…" Rama furrowed her brow.

I shook my head " No Rama I am not superstitious. I carry shuriken in groups of seven because it is traditional" I explained, " not because I believe it will bring me any kind of luck."

" Wha' radi…?" Rama paused stumbling over the word with the terrible T's in it.

" Tradition?" I repeated, " Is something you do because your family did it. Like celebrating Christmas or Easter."

Her eyes sparkled suddenly as if she finally understood.

" That is enough for now" I stood up and bowed to her and she got up returning my bow and thanking me before slipping over to join Mike.

" Sure Sensei, you are late but you keep her behind for it" Mike joshed.

I smiled Mike's way " It is the only way I can keep you in the dojo" I teased him back.

TBC

Lioness Goddess: After reading this you have a better idea who the lady is. If you are keeping up with The Enemy you have a better idea of who she will be. I'm sure you can put two and two together. A gratitude for your insight.

AjsHellCat: Welcome to the Rama fold. Glad you are enjoying the rewrite so much. A gratitude for your insight.

Reinbeauchaser: I would never hit you. I don't blame you there were a lot of Rama stories for you to catch up on when you came onto So rewriting gives me a chance to, hopefully make the story better. While you learn more about Rama. Rama meanwhile is quite willing to work for you anytime you want her. In fact she almost has her suitcase packed. A gratitude for your insight.