Splinter lay on the couch, sipping a hot cup of tea in satisfaction. His favorite channel was featuring a marathon of his favorite program, and the lair was quiet.
"Master Splinter!"
"Master Splinter!"
The old rat winced slightly. Well, he'd enjoyed it while it had lasted… "Leonardo? Donatello? Where are your brothers?"
"They're disposing of a band of Foot ninja who attacked us just now," Leo reported. "And we found… this." They steered Mask into the TV room.
Splinter sighed inwardly as he turned off his show, but snapped to attention when he noticed the third body. "Why have you brought him here!" His eyes left the Foot symbol now off-center on Mask's forehead and swept the rest of his body. "What…?"
Donatello nodded. "I know…he's a turtle of some sort. Different from us, but still a turtle. And as for serving the Foot, he seems not to know a lot about his master. He didn't know (or pretended not to, anyway) that Saki is also called the Shredder. We wanted to get your input on it, Sensei. He really hasn't said much since we defeated his gang; he seems a bit confused more than anything."
Splinter studied the newcomer, then waved his sons aside. They took a couple of steps back while their rat master came to stand directly in front of the brown turtle. "You may fix your mask, kame." He waited as Mask realigned the holes in front of his eyes. "Now. Tell me how you came to be in the service of the Foot. Look directly into my eyes as you do so."
Mask was surprised as he noticed the giant rat standing before him. They had those here, too? But the look in the rat's eye told him to get talking, and fast. "All I know is I was born here in the sewers, and had to leave because there wasn't enough food to eat. I've lived under one of the docks in the harbor for most of my life, and learned to hunt fish with a bow I made myself.
"One night, a group of Foot ninja came sneaking around. I didn't know then who they were. They found me while I was just finishing up my hunt for the night, and seemed surprised - though oddly, it wasn't because I was a giant turtle. Almost as if they expected someone else…"
Leo and Don exchanged glances.
"I woke up in a dark room - one of the ninja had knocked me out. There I met Saki, who told me I could help in his fight against evil monsters in the sewers. He obviously meant you guys."
"Of course," muttered Leonardo.
"Silence!" chided Splinter. Then to Mask, "Continue."
Mask never let his eyes waver from the rat's deep brown ones, wanting to look as far from "shifty" as possible. "He continued my training with this bow, and a bit with my wakizashi. He recently told me the danger had increased; I was sent out, without further training, to rid him of his enemies. Honestly I didn't know what you guys were. I didn't realize you guys weren't heartless brutes. I…"
Splinter held a paw up for silence. "That's enough. Leonardo, Donatello… keep an eye on him. I will meditate on the matter." The old rat calmly crossed the lair and entered his own room.
Mask stood still in the silence that followed. Leo and Don remained at either side of him, arms crossed and staring into space. The brown turtle sighed - he felt like he was on trial. Though he didn't blame them for being cautious.
Sounds began filtering from the sewer tunnel outside. Minutes later, Raphael and Michelangelo jogged in. They paused upon seeing Mask in their TV room, but not for long.
"We picked up the weapons he dropped in the tunnel," proclaimed Mikey, the bow under one arm and the bared wakizashi in his other hand. He carried the weapons in and set them on the couch.
"So what's the verdict?" Raph demanded.
Don shrugged. "None yet. Sensei's meditating."
Mask had slowly sunk to the floor, and sat there now with his face in his hands.
Raphael stalked to his side and nudged Mask's left shin with his foot. "What's up with you?"
The brown turtle looked up with a distressed expression on his face. "Had I been captured by Saki… You guys don't torture your captives. I… rrrh!" Unable to express his disgust at the realization of what he'd been serving, Mask grabbed the tails of his skull mask and aggressively tore it off. It landed several yards away.
The four brothers' eyes traveled between each other and the scrap of black and red fabric on the floor. They were trying to decide whether to dismiss it as meaningless drama, or soften their instinctive defense against the newcomer.
Heedless of their stares, Mask noticed the black bindings on his limbs as if for the first time. He began to tear at them, feeling filthy with them wrapped around his arms and legs.
"My sons…" began Splinter, sliding the door aside and emerging from his room. He caught sight of Mask, who was busily ripping the black wrappings from his left leg. The old rat smiled. "I have pondered on what I heard from our guest. While I do not know exactly how he came to be mutated, I do know that the truth was shining in his eyes. Look at him now. If he were truly serving the Foot and trying to infiltrate us, he would be checking our reactions from the corner of his eye. Yet look."
Mask was focused only on ridding himself of his Foot garb. Flinging aside the last wrapping, he suddenly felt that he was being watched. Looking up, he was surprised to see the rat had returned. He bowed from his sitting position. "What have you decided?"
Raph stared at him, but with a softer gaze this time. Poor turtle… he totally blocked him out just now, getting' that Foot crap off.
Leo offered Mask his hand. "Welcome aboard. I am Leonardo, and these are my brothers - Donatello, Raphael, and Michelangelo. Though we usually go by Leo, Don, Raph, and Mike. It's shorter, y'see."
Mask allowed himself to be pulled up. "Donawhatta? Yeah, see what y'mean. I'm called Mask. No cool long name, I'm afraid," He noticed his weapons lying on the couch and picked them up. He sheathed his wakizashi after drying it on one of his discarded wrappings, and unstrung his bow, replacing it on his back.
As Mask put away his weapons, Don had been inspecting a curious piece of equipment that seemed to be clipped to the back of his belt. "Hey, Mask… what's that?"
The brown turtle's hand went back to where Don's gaze was fixed and his eyes widened. "Oh, crap…"
"What is it!" Leo's hand went instinctively to the handle of his katana.
Mask unclipped the device and held it up. "It's a communication thingy. Mostly it's like a long-range walkie-talkie… but it's also used to track us. I can't stay here. Not with this, anyway.
Raph drew his sai almost without thinking. "Well, shut up and let's get out of here!"