Chapter Two ~ New York City
The flight had been okay, but things didn't go as she had planned. Sarah sat on the bed and looked around the tiny room. She was miserable. Things turned bad from day one. First she had to wait eight weeks before the tentants in her apartment moved out, and the second, there was no trace of her cousin anywhere. The information that her father had left her was badly outdated. She had been in manhattan for almost three weeks and it had gotten her nowhere.
She sighed as she changed into a lightweight black tracksuit and joggers. She peered into the cracked mirror. She had thrown a shoe at it in a fit of rage.
"No point in getting lazy!" She crabbed her backpack and headed out of the door. It was late afternoon. Central Park was a fifteen minute jog from her room.
Her eyes darted to and fro as she went, her mind not at ease. She had a bad feeling, but preceeded anyway. She wasn't too concerned for her safety. God help anyone who tries anything! She smiled, then it vanished. She had to focus on her breathing.
She didn't stop as she rounded a corner and approached the brick fence, instead, she went into a dead sprint. She put both of her palms flat on the fence, then launched her body over the waist high fence in one effortless jump. The otherside wasn't level like she thought. It took her by surprise. She landed heavily on her feet, then went onto a low roll, to keep her balance. She ended up standing on her two feet.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Shit! Did you guys see that?" The three youths stopped searching the bag they had just stolen, and looked up to see the young woman that had just gotten their leader's attention. She was about 5'5, thin with an atheletic build and had her black hair pulled into a long plat that reached her bottom. The youth smiled.
"Let's get her!" One of them hestitated.
"Tom, the Master won't be pleased" He knew that THEY were waiting for them. He received a slap to the back of the head.
"Relax Kyle, what he doesn't know won't hurt" One of the others crabbed the purse from the bag and shoved it into his pocket. The four got to their feet and followed Sarah from behind the bushes. Kyle hesitated, he had a bad feeling about this, bag snatching was different, he didn't like senseless attacks on women... besides, two members were waiting for them, if they didn't show, they would come looking for them. He gritted his teeth and followed them anyway.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sarah stopped. She could sense someone watching her. She looked around quickly. She shrugged her shoulders when she didn't see anyone. She turned and took a few more steps. She stopped again, something else had crabbed her attention. On a hill, in the distance two figures in black were looking at her - no watching her she thought. She snapped out of it as two youths approached her. Sarah tried to pass them, but they wouldn't let her. She eyes quickly darted to and fro, taking in the surroundings. There were branches just above them. She smiled.
"Can I do anything for you?" she asked.
"As a matter of fact yer can" Tom answered and the other pulled out a knife.
"Give us your wallet!" Stated the youth with the blade.
"Are you sure you really wunna do that?" Sarah said, unfazed by the knife. The two youths looked at each other quickly, puzzled.
The Tom crabbed her wrist.
"Give us your god-damn wallet!" he yelled gripping her tighter. Sarah clenched her teeth. It had started to hurt.
"Somehow, I don't think so!" She quickly pulled her arm back and twisted her wrist. Tom let go, there was no way he could mantain his hold. She lashed out and kicked the other one's hand, the knife flew into the air and into the bushes. She went into a fighting stance. She spun on her heel and with a strong side kick hit Tom's face. He flew back, blood gushing from his nose. The other one stood there for a moment stunned, then he snickered. Someone was behind her. He put both arms around her and squeezed hard. It winded her, but made her more determined than ever.
"I wouldn't laugh if I were you!" She hissed. She then used her attacker to her advantage. She lifted both feet up and kicked the youth straight in the chest with both of her feet. He flew back and into the bushes. She then focused on the guy behind her. She swallowed. He was pretty strong. She put her arms straight, and then ever so slightly, she put her arms out. It gave her the space she needed. She dropped to one knee and bent forward. The youth rolled over her. Sarah raised her hand and punched him in the stomach. She looked up to see a fist coming toward her. She moved to the side, then scambled to her feet. She looked up and crabbed the branch above her. She raised her feet and kicked him in the chest. He doubled over. She let go and landed on her feet. She dropped and with a low kick she took his feet from under him. She saw the last one approaching her. He hesitated as he went into a fighting stance.
"Bitch!" she heard, as she felt an explosion of pain on her back. She dropped to the floor and looked up. The youth had hit her with a log. She spun her legs around, kicking the youth in the process. She got up, took a step foward and with a cry she unleashed a powerful backhand to the side of his face. Then the last thing he saw was the sole of her foot. Sarah lowered her leg as the youth crumpled to his feet. She turned her sights to the last one standing. Her back was on fire and her vision had started to blur from the pain. Kyle gulped and backed up. She was good, and to take a hit like that... he shook his head, he couldn't think about her... not now.
"Who are you?" he asked. Sarah raised her hands in defence, then hestitated. She could sense something about him. He wasn't about to attack. She stumbled, and took a step to steady her.
"I am ninja... I am... gone" She took something from her pocket and threw it at him. Smoke engulfed the area. Within a minute it had cleared and she had vanished.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sarah watched from the branches of a nearby tree. She put her hand to her back. She could feel something damp. She looked at her fingers. Blood. Her blood. Her vision blurred and her mood darken. She lost her grip as the vision took hold of her.
They were being chased. She was scared. Someone pushed her foward, encouraging her to run... there were men in black...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The two ninjas approched the youths. Kyle was kneeling next to Tom. He was sitting and craddling his nose. He looked up and saw them approach. He gulped hard. The Master would now find out, and he didn't like failure.
"What happened?"
"The bitch broke my nose!" Tom said and looked at the other two who had started to stir. The two ninjas looked at one another.
"She could be a threat. The Master won't be pleased" one turned to Kyle "she's kunoichi, isn't she?"
"K..Kunoichi?" he stammered.
"Ninja?"
''Yes" Kyle answered. The two ninja looked at each other. This was bad.
From out of nowhere, they heard a thump come from the nearby trees. All four men looked up. The ninja gave Kyle a signal and he nodded. He raised his hands in defence as he slowly walked up to the trees. When he got there, he paused for a moment. He remembered that they were watching. He kept his hands up and walked farther in, out of the line of sight. He looked behind him. Noone had followed him. He lowered his hands and run over to the figure on the floor. It was her. He was about to call the others when he hesitated. With his foot, he gently rolled her over. One side of her face was bloodied. He knelt down and went to put his hand on her shoulder when he hesitated. God, she's beautiful! He thought. He had never seen anyone like her before. He reached foward and gently shook her. There was no way that he was going to call the others now.
"Hey" he whisphered and looked behind him "wake up, it's dangerous here.." he looked at her closed eyes, when suddenly they shot open. She reacted immediatley and tried to sit up. Kyle covered her mouth with his hand.
"Ssh, I won't hurt you, you're injured and you havta go... now" she nodded "look I'm going to help you up, don't freak." Kyle took his hand from her mouth and offered her a helping hand. Sarah hesitated. She looked to where she had just been. She realised that she had fallen out of the tree. She gasped as she slowly got to her feet, her head spun and the pain from her back had started to consume her. Her legs gave in and he caught her.
"This is bad" he looked around. Toward the back he noticed something half hidden by a small bush. Quickly he raced over and with a mighty heave, the manhole cover was off.
"C'mon this is your only chance!" He picked her up and brought her to the hole. "Go!" Sarah started to climb down the leadder. She looked up to see him replacing it.
"Thanks" she said and smiled weakly. Kyle replaced the cover and got up, as he turned, one of the ninjas faced him.
He looked at Kyle's hands. They were covered in blood.
"Well?" He demanded.
"She was here" he pointed to the spot where Sarah had been only moments ago, blood on the grass and leaves. "It's fresh, I checked. I thought that she may have gone down the manhole, but I doubt it, I had trouble taking the cover off, let alone her... she's gone, but she has to be near, from all that blood, she's hurt bad" the ninja smiled.
"Let's get the others, she'll turn up"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sarah held her breath when she heard the other guy asking the questions. She had seriously misjudged him. He wasn't like the others at all. She shook her head. He had to be. She winced in pain as she stepped off the last step. She cursed herself for being so stupid as she slowly started to walk. She started to think aloud to take her mind of the pain.
"There were only four, I should've been able to take them, god-damn it! What the hell is wrong with me..." The pain took her by surprise and she stumbled. She stood there for a moment and took a few deep breaths. She had to move, if they found her... she didn't want to think about it. With what energy she had left, she started to jog. After five minutes she stopped. Her head had started to pound more now than ever, and the right side of her face hurt like hell. She paused and put one of the palms on the wall to steady her. She looked around and noticed a large pipe half way up the wall. It was half covered by shadows. She moved slowly and went to sit on it. She started to cry. Now she was scared. She was in trouble, but worst of all, she was hurt. She needed to sleep, if only for a few moments. She turned to her side and yelped as her back touched the wall.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They had trained hard and for many hours and now it was time for them to head home. Their Master was there waiting for them.
"Hey dudes that was awesome! New trick Leo?" one of the shadowed figures asked.
"Yeah, you could say that Mike..." Leo's mind was else where. He raised a hand and the other three stopped.
"What is it Leo?" One of the others asked in a near whispher, straining his ears "I don't hear anything"
"Shut it Raph, try again" Raph tried again. This time he did hear something, though just barely. He crabbed his sais. They listened again. They were not alone. Mike stepped foward.
"Hey dudes check it out!" he pointed to the bloody hand print on the wall. "That wasn't there before." Leo made a few hand signals and the three nodded. They split up, combing the sewer. Raph stood there and looked at the sleeping figure. He put his sais back into his belt, but kept alert. This was the first time that he had ever seen a female human up close and he had almost missed her altogether. It was weird that she had picked this spot to stop. The darkest spot in the whole sewer. He hestitated before he reached out and nudged her slightly. Nothing. He tried again. He gently turned her over. He gasped and took a step back. The right side of her face was covered in blood. Before he could do anything, he heard voices and he headed for cover.
"The bitch has to be here somewhere, the trail lead us here" one of the voices said.
"Oh yeah and how do you know that she didn't go topside?"
"As Kyle said, she's hurt pretty bad"
Sarah vaguely heard the voices. The darkness was very tempting and peaceful, but then she felt herself being turned over and her eyes shot open like a rocket. She had seen the figure, that like a turtle. She had blinked again, but said nothing, and she closed her eyes. Until she knew what the person's intentions were, she didn't move. Were her friends here in New York? In the dark the figure hadn't noticed that she had woken. She had heard the figure gasp. She reached up and touched her cheek. It was still bleeding. She must've hit the ground hard. She slowly, but silently sat up, keeping to the shadows. She saw the youths walk past. It was only a matter of time. The pain shot up to her head and she groaned, she quickly whipped a hard to her mouth, though it was too late.
"What was that?" One of them asked.
"She's here, be ready for anything, she's good, she broke Tom's nose"
"Yeah she's hurt!" he replied and laughed.
"A lamb for the slaughter!"
A shiver went down Raph's back. He didn't like the way they were talking about this girl. He wanted to help, but at the same time he couldn't risk being seen. There was too much light in this sewer. He looked to the others, they too, didn't move.
Sarah stood there for a moment, her blood boiling. A lamb to the slaughter! I'll show them! As they walked passed, she stuck her arm out catching the youth off guard, hitting his throat. He dropped to his knees gasping for air. She raised her hand and struck him in the side of his neck, where he dropped to the ground and stayed there. She stepped out of the shadows and went into a fighting stance, her knees bent, her body low.
"C'mon ninja boy, I dared ya!" She motioned for him to come foward. The ninja paused, then pulled a bo from the harness on his back. He held it in both hands, then started to twirl it.
"Try harder!" He grunted and swung at her leg. She step to the side, dropped to her knees and at the same time she elbowed his thigh. Then with a flick of the wrist, she pushed his calf to one side before crabbing his ankle and lifting it. He flew onto the air and landed in the middle of the muddy sewer. She raised her leg to kick him, but he swung around and kicked her. Sarah cried out in pain as her back hit the wall on the opposite side of the sewer. She sunk to her knees, trying to fill her lungs with much needed oxygen. The ninja stepped before her and raised the bo and swung it. She rolled to her side. Her foot shot out and she kicked him in the groin. He hit the ground, doubling over in pain. She crabbed the bo as it rolled to her feet. She slowly got up and used it as a walking cane. She walked up to the ninja and kicked him in his side.
"Tell your Master I'm not through with you lot yet!" She hissed and walked away. Once she had gone around the bend, to a t-section she stopped. She had a rough idea of where she was. Her right leg had now started to throb and she stopped to take a breath. She could sense four sets of eyes watching her. She turned around, though she knew that they were hiding. They were different than the others. They were... turtles.... maybe... she was so confused. She was in pain, but alert at the same time. She had been trained to always be alert, no matter what.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When Sarah had turned around, Raph held his breath. She had somehow known that they were there, though she hadn't acted on it. When she had gone pass them and was out of earshot, they slowly came out of the shadows and gathered in the middle of the sewer.
"Man did you guys see that?" Mikey asked "She was awesome!"
"Yeah not bad, considering..." Leo's voiced trailed. He knew now that she was hurt.
"She knew that we were there..."
"Come again Don..." Leo said as Raph interrupted him.
"She knew, I sensed it too... she's hurt real bad, I don't know what those guys did to her but..."
"We need to keep an eye on her... she's ninja... like us" Don said. They all looked to Leo, to hear his thoughts on the matter.
"Okay, one of us needs to follow her, to make sure that she's okay..." Leo looked around, the others had backed off. They didn't want to be seen." Any volunteers?" He waited for a moment. "Okay then I'll go" Raph stepped foward and his brothers looked at him.
"I'll go.." before the others could say or do anything, he turned and ran down the sewer after her. He couldn't get her image out of his head. He had never seen anyone fight like that before, the gleam in her eyes as she took those two guys on... he shook his head and ran down the sewer. Now was not the time.
~ Chapter Three ~ Up Soon!
The flight had been okay, but things didn't go as she had planned. Sarah sat on the bed and looked around the tiny room. She was miserable. Things turned bad from day one. First she had to wait eight weeks before the tentants in her apartment moved out, and the second, there was no trace of her cousin anywhere. The information that her father had left her was badly outdated. She had been in manhattan for almost three weeks and it had gotten her nowhere.
She sighed as she changed into a lightweight black tracksuit and joggers. She peered into the cracked mirror. She had thrown a shoe at it in a fit of rage.
"No point in getting lazy!" She crabbed her backpack and headed out of the door. It was late afternoon. Central Park was a fifteen minute jog from her room.
Her eyes darted to and fro as she went, her mind not at ease. She had a bad feeling, but preceeded anyway. She wasn't too concerned for her safety. God help anyone who tries anything! She smiled, then it vanished. She had to focus on her breathing.
She didn't stop as she rounded a corner and approached the brick fence, instead, she went into a dead sprint. She put both of her palms flat on the fence, then launched her body over the waist high fence in one effortless jump. The otherside wasn't level like she thought. It took her by surprise. She landed heavily on her feet, then went onto a low roll, to keep her balance. She ended up standing on her two feet.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Shit! Did you guys see that?" The three youths stopped searching the bag they had just stolen, and looked up to see the young woman that had just gotten their leader's attention. She was about 5'5, thin with an atheletic build and had her black hair pulled into a long plat that reached her bottom. The youth smiled.
"Let's get her!" One of them hestitated.
"Tom, the Master won't be pleased" He knew that THEY were waiting for them. He received a slap to the back of the head.
"Relax Kyle, what he doesn't know won't hurt" One of the others crabbed the purse from the bag and shoved it into his pocket. The four got to their feet and followed Sarah from behind the bushes. Kyle hesitated, he had a bad feeling about this, bag snatching was different, he didn't like senseless attacks on women... besides, two members were waiting for them, if they didn't show, they would come looking for them. He gritted his teeth and followed them anyway.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sarah stopped. She could sense someone watching her. She looked around quickly. She shrugged her shoulders when she didn't see anyone. She turned and took a few more steps. She stopped again, something else had crabbed her attention. On a hill, in the distance two figures in black were looking at her - no watching her she thought. She snapped out of it as two youths approached her. Sarah tried to pass them, but they wouldn't let her. She eyes quickly darted to and fro, taking in the surroundings. There were branches just above them. She smiled.
"Can I do anything for you?" she asked.
"As a matter of fact yer can" Tom answered and the other pulled out a knife.
"Give us your wallet!" Stated the youth with the blade.
"Are you sure you really wunna do that?" Sarah said, unfazed by the knife. The two youths looked at each other quickly, puzzled.
The Tom crabbed her wrist.
"Give us your god-damn wallet!" he yelled gripping her tighter. Sarah clenched her teeth. It had started to hurt.
"Somehow, I don't think so!" She quickly pulled her arm back and twisted her wrist. Tom let go, there was no way he could mantain his hold. She lashed out and kicked the other one's hand, the knife flew into the air and into the bushes. She went into a fighting stance. She spun on her heel and with a strong side kick hit Tom's face. He flew back, blood gushing from his nose. The other one stood there for a moment stunned, then he snickered. Someone was behind her. He put both arms around her and squeezed hard. It winded her, but made her more determined than ever.
"I wouldn't laugh if I were you!" She hissed. She then used her attacker to her advantage. She lifted both feet up and kicked the youth straight in the chest with both of her feet. He flew back and into the bushes. She then focused on the guy behind her. She swallowed. He was pretty strong. She put her arms straight, and then ever so slightly, she put her arms out. It gave her the space she needed. She dropped to one knee and bent forward. The youth rolled over her. Sarah raised her hand and punched him in the stomach. She looked up to see a fist coming toward her. She moved to the side, then scambled to her feet. She looked up and crabbed the branch above her. She raised her feet and kicked him in the chest. He doubled over. She let go and landed on her feet. She dropped and with a low kick she took his feet from under him. She saw the last one approaching her. He hesitated as he went into a fighting stance.
"Bitch!" she heard, as she felt an explosion of pain on her back. She dropped to the floor and looked up. The youth had hit her with a log. She spun her legs around, kicking the youth in the process. She got up, took a step foward and with a cry she unleashed a powerful backhand to the side of his face. Then the last thing he saw was the sole of her foot. Sarah lowered her leg as the youth crumpled to his feet. She turned her sights to the last one standing. Her back was on fire and her vision had started to blur from the pain. Kyle gulped and backed up. She was good, and to take a hit like that... he shook his head, he couldn't think about her... not now.
"Who are you?" he asked. Sarah raised her hands in defence, then hestitated. She could sense something about him. He wasn't about to attack. She stumbled, and took a step to steady her.
"I am ninja... I am... gone" She took something from her pocket and threw it at him. Smoke engulfed the area. Within a minute it had cleared and she had vanished.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sarah watched from the branches of a nearby tree. She put her hand to her back. She could feel something damp. She looked at her fingers. Blood. Her blood. Her vision blurred and her mood darken. She lost her grip as the vision took hold of her.
They were being chased. She was scared. Someone pushed her foward, encouraging her to run... there were men in black...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The two ninjas approched the youths. Kyle was kneeling next to Tom. He was sitting and craddling his nose. He looked up and saw them approach. He gulped hard. The Master would now find out, and he didn't like failure.
"What happened?"
"The bitch broke my nose!" Tom said and looked at the other two who had started to stir. The two ninjas looked at one another.
"She could be a threat. The Master won't be pleased" one turned to Kyle "she's kunoichi, isn't she?"
"K..Kunoichi?" he stammered.
"Ninja?"
''Yes" Kyle answered. The two ninja looked at each other. This was bad.
From out of nowhere, they heard a thump come from the nearby trees. All four men looked up. The ninja gave Kyle a signal and he nodded. He raised his hands in defence as he slowly walked up to the trees. When he got there, he paused for a moment. He remembered that they were watching. He kept his hands up and walked farther in, out of the line of sight. He looked behind him. Noone had followed him. He lowered his hands and run over to the figure on the floor. It was her. He was about to call the others when he hesitated. With his foot, he gently rolled her over. One side of her face was bloodied. He knelt down and went to put his hand on her shoulder when he hesitated. God, she's beautiful! He thought. He had never seen anyone like her before. He reached foward and gently shook her. There was no way that he was going to call the others now.
"Hey" he whisphered and looked behind him "wake up, it's dangerous here.." he looked at her closed eyes, when suddenly they shot open. She reacted immediatley and tried to sit up. Kyle covered her mouth with his hand.
"Ssh, I won't hurt you, you're injured and you havta go... now" she nodded "look I'm going to help you up, don't freak." Kyle took his hand from her mouth and offered her a helping hand. Sarah hesitated. She looked to where she had just been. She realised that she had fallen out of the tree. She gasped as she slowly got to her feet, her head spun and the pain from her back had started to consume her. Her legs gave in and he caught her.
"This is bad" he looked around. Toward the back he noticed something half hidden by a small bush. Quickly he raced over and with a mighty heave, the manhole cover was off.
"C'mon this is your only chance!" He picked her up and brought her to the hole. "Go!" Sarah started to climb down the leadder. She looked up to see him replacing it.
"Thanks" she said and smiled weakly. Kyle replaced the cover and got up, as he turned, one of the ninjas faced him.
He looked at Kyle's hands. They were covered in blood.
"Well?" He demanded.
"She was here" he pointed to the spot where Sarah had been only moments ago, blood on the grass and leaves. "It's fresh, I checked. I thought that she may have gone down the manhole, but I doubt it, I had trouble taking the cover off, let alone her... she's gone, but she has to be near, from all that blood, she's hurt bad" the ninja smiled.
"Let's get the others, she'll turn up"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sarah held her breath when she heard the other guy asking the questions. She had seriously misjudged him. He wasn't like the others at all. She shook her head. He had to be. She winced in pain as she stepped off the last step. She cursed herself for being so stupid as she slowly started to walk. She started to think aloud to take her mind of the pain.
"There were only four, I should've been able to take them, god-damn it! What the hell is wrong with me..." The pain took her by surprise and she stumbled. She stood there for a moment and took a few deep breaths. She had to move, if they found her... she didn't want to think about it. With what energy she had left, she started to jog. After five minutes she stopped. Her head had started to pound more now than ever, and the right side of her face hurt like hell. She paused and put one of the palms on the wall to steady her. She looked around and noticed a large pipe half way up the wall. It was half covered by shadows. She moved slowly and went to sit on it. She started to cry. Now she was scared. She was in trouble, but worst of all, she was hurt. She needed to sleep, if only for a few moments. She turned to her side and yelped as her back touched the wall.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They had trained hard and for many hours and now it was time for them to head home. Their Master was there waiting for them.
"Hey dudes that was awesome! New trick Leo?" one of the shadowed figures asked.
"Yeah, you could say that Mike..." Leo's mind was else where. He raised a hand and the other three stopped.
"What is it Leo?" One of the others asked in a near whispher, straining his ears "I don't hear anything"
"Shut it Raph, try again" Raph tried again. This time he did hear something, though just barely. He crabbed his sais. They listened again. They were not alone. Mike stepped foward.
"Hey dudes check it out!" he pointed to the bloody hand print on the wall. "That wasn't there before." Leo made a few hand signals and the three nodded. They split up, combing the sewer. Raph stood there and looked at the sleeping figure. He put his sais back into his belt, but kept alert. This was the first time that he had ever seen a female human up close and he had almost missed her altogether. It was weird that she had picked this spot to stop. The darkest spot in the whole sewer. He hestitated before he reached out and nudged her slightly. Nothing. He tried again. He gently turned her over. He gasped and took a step back. The right side of her face was covered in blood. Before he could do anything, he heard voices and he headed for cover.
"The bitch has to be here somewhere, the trail lead us here" one of the voices said.
"Oh yeah and how do you know that she didn't go topside?"
"As Kyle said, she's hurt pretty bad"
Sarah vaguely heard the voices. The darkness was very tempting and peaceful, but then she felt herself being turned over and her eyes shot open like a rocket. She had seen the figure, that like a turtle. She had blinked again, but said nothing, and she closed her eyes. Until she knew what the person's intentions were, she didn't move. Were her friends here in New York? In the dark the figure hadn't noticed that she had woken. She had heard the figure gasp. She reached up and touched her cheek. It was still bleeding. She must've hit the ground hard. She slowly, but silently sat up, keeping to the shadows. She saw the youths walk past. It was only a matter of time. The pain shot up to her head and she groaned, she quickly whipped a hard to her mouth, though it was too late.
"What was that?" One of them asked.
"She's here, be ready for anything, she's good, she broke Tom's nose"
"Yeah she's hurt!" he replied and laughed.
"A lamb for the slaughter!"
A shiver went down Raph's back. He didn't like the way they were talking about this girl. He wanted to help, but at the same time he couldn't risk being seen. There was too much light in this sewer. He looked to the others, they too, didn't move.
Sarah stood there for a moment, her blood boiling. A lamb to the slaughter! I'll show them! As they walked passed, she stuck her arm out catching the youth off guard, hitting his throat. He dropped to his knees gasping for air. She raised her hand and struck him in the side of his neck, where he dropped to the ground and stayed there. She stepped out of the shadows and went into a fighting stance, her knees bent, her body low.
"C'mon ninja boy, I dared ya!" She motioned for him to come foward. The ninja paused, then pulled a bo from the harness on his back. He held it in both hands, then started to twirl it.
"Try harder!" He grunted and swung at her leg. She step to the side, dropped to her knees and at the same time she elbowed his thigh. Then with a flick of the wrist, she pushed his calf to one side before crabbing his ankle and lifting it. He flew onto the air and landed in the middle of the muddy sewer. She raised her leg to kick him, but he swung around and kicked her. Sarah cried out in pain as her back hit the wall on the opposite side of the sewer. She sunk to her knees, trying to fill her lungs with much needed oxygen. The ninja stepped before her and raised the bo and swung it. She rolled to her side. Her foot shot out and she kicked him in the groin. He hit the ground, doubling over in pain. She crabbed the bo as it rolled to her feet. She slowly got up and used it as a walking cane. She walked up to the ninja and kicked him in his side.
"Tell your Master I'm not through with you lot yet!" She hissed and walked away. Once she had gone around the bend, to a t-section she stopped. She had a rough idea of where she was. Her right leg had now started to throb and she stopped to take a breath. She could sense four sets of eyes watching her. She turned around, though she knew that they were hiding. They were different than the others. They were... turtles.... maybe... she was so confused. She was in pain, but alert at the same time. She had been trained to always be alert, no matter what.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When Sarah had turned around, Raph held his breath. She had somehow known that they were there, though she hadn't acted on it. When she had gone pass them and was out of earshot, they slowly came out of the shadows and gathered in the middle of the sewer.
"Man did you guys see that?" Mikey asked "She was awesome!"
"Yeah not bad, considering..." Leo's voiced trailed. He knew now that she was hurt.
"She knew that we were there..."
"Come again Don..." Leo said as Raph interrupted him.
"She knew, I sensed it too... she's hurt real bad, I don't know what those guys did to her but..."
"We need to keep an eye on her... she's ninja... like us" Don said. They all looked to Leo, to hear his thoughts on the matter.
"Okay, one of us needs to follow her, to make sure that she's okay..." Leo looked around, the others had backed off. They didn't want to be seen." Any volunteers?" He waited for a moment. "Okay then I'll go" Raph stepped foward and his brothers looked at him.
"I'll go.." before the others could say or do anything, he turned and ran down the sewer after her. He couldn't get her image out of his head. He had never seen anyone fight like that before, the gleam in her eyes as she took those two guys on... he shook his head and ran down the sewer. Now was not the time.
~ Chapter Three ~ Up Soon!