Disclaimer: No I don't own the TMNT, or anything connected to it. So really… don't sue me, I don't have any money anywho

Whooo! It's about time I got this thing up! Took me long enough… -glares at pile of junk she still has to do-

Now let's see how horrible I can mess it up

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…

You know the one thing that has stuck with me for so long? The one thing that has bothered me to no end, that I had wasted many wonderful times trying to figure out the meaning? It was something that when the journey ended, it seemed so fruitless... so pathetic compared to the whole picture, that I was ashamed. Do you know what that one thing is? No, you don't... you have no idea. You, the reader, are just reading, trying to figure out where I am going with this, or why I am holding up the story. Well I shall not beat around the bush any longer. The one thing that has haunted me for the good times in my life was something a once dear friend said to me. She said, 'Every Man in this world, in this Life, Does everything, good or bad, for himself. No matter what the circumstance, it always ends with what they get in return.' Now when I heard this, I didn't have the answer or a comment about it at all. In fact I was speechless, and if you know me, or ask my brothers, then you would know that's near impossible. And for the remainder of my days, every time someone did something for me, I always questioned, 'Are they doing that for themselves only?' But what really got to me was when I did something, I would question my ability to know, if it was for good, or indeed for myself. So when I was asked to write this story, this annoying little bug popped into my head, once again, and asked, "Why?" And on that day, I got the answer. And it struck me like a tree falling down upon my head. 'How could I have been so naive!' But, it also gave me the inspiration to start this, and I hope to glorify this tale that changed so many lives... And so now, without further interruptions, I start, not from the beginning like so many do, but with a tale that has been going on, for many years...

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The cold night air. The ones that always gave me the old aged, almost Christmas feeling. The one of anticipation, and wonder, but mostly, mystery. The moon shines down upon the open field the one before the rise of the proud ocean of ever greens. A sharp silhouette runs across the field, with amazing grace and speed. When suddenly it stopped at a small brush and stood perfectly still. The figure wore a deep green cloak, which hid her appearance behind the thick cloth. Two bright green eyes glared out of the black abyss that was her face, and down to the snow covered ground beneath her feet. She stood perfectly still, except the occasionally twitch of a black tail protruding from beneath the cloak.

"Conan, I did not expect you to come." The cloaked figure spoke, with not anger in her voice, or disappointment, but was eerily calm.

Suddenly the trees next to the field suddenly rustled. Slowly a new figure made his way out into the field. On my first guess, I would have called him a deformed dog. But upon looking again, he was far from it. His face did end in a mid-length snout, forming his face into a would-be wolf, while two upright ears framed the back of his head. But he had light red-ish brown fur that covered his body except his hands and feet, which were white scaled and reptile like. His dark brown hair went down his back, and the tail was much longer then any 'normal' dog tail. He wore a cloak much like the first, but his hood was down, and unlike her, when he walked his three toed feet crunched against the snow.

"I am sorry Knight, but Heil has gotten ill in this cold, and was not strong enough to make it." The young wolf-ish being said softly when he was close to the cloaked figure. But he made sure to keep his distance. You could almost feel the apprehension emitting off of him. His eyes kept darting to the ground, as if he was afraid one look from this stranger would kill him on the spot.

"Ah, and they sent you to get the message then?"

The young boy suddenly stopped, fear engulfed his stomach as if he ate the snow on the ground. The look on his face clearly saying the thing that kept running through his head as if he had screamed it out himself. He had been caught.

"I-... well- the..." He mentally kicked himself at the stutter in his voice. It had all sounded too easy to take the next messengers place, and just be in the presence of this Knight. But he hadn't expected this thing to be so intimidating.

"Hmmpf." The cloaked figure lifted her scaled hand and pushed back her hood, letting the moons rays dance upon her silver hair. The young pup gasped at the Hunter's face. It was entirely covered in black scales that brought out her deep green eyes, which Conan noticed with a start, had no pupils. A much smaller snout formed her face, and two much larger ears were placed atop her head. Conan found himself not being able to look away from the lifeless eyes. He now dearly wished he was back home in his nice warm bed, aside the crackling fire. This want, multiplied when one of her hands found its way to the scruff of his neck, and pulled him a foot off the ground.

"This is not a game, Pup," She hissed quietly in his ear, "When you start thinking this is one, everything you love will die, and you'll be left alone in this 'Game' of yours. Now whatever thought that crossed your mind that seeing my face was some type of thing you can brag about, think again. You hear me?" She snapped, causing the young boy to jump, "Well!" Conan shook his head vigorously wanting nothing more then to turn tail and run home, but the Hunter's grasp was stronger then his.

"Now go and give Shorn this, he must warn them. Got that?" Again Conan nodded. He then found himself being thrown to the ground, and without another thought, he had jumped up and ran back into the forest.

Knight stood there a moment longer staring up at the moon, before shaking her head and muttering, "Pups..." The wind picked up, and she was gone.

XX

Again the woods rustled and creaked, but this time it was not Conan that came, but a much larger more wolf-ish being. Its head alone must have been the size of a small child. Its back fur was a tainted grass green that held a slight shimmer, which always reminded me of green blood. It slowly and eerily made its way to the brush were Knight once stood. It sniffed at the two pairs of foots steps that were left. One of them appeared out of no where and was shaped like nothing this Wulv had ever seen. But the next had a distinguishing trail that led back into the forest, this time he recognized the markings, Karicen.

A small smiled spread across his battered and scared features, and he suddenly lifted his head and howled into the moon light, causing the wind to suddenly pick up and whip around him. In the shadow of the forest, several more giant wolfish silhouettes appeared behind him.

XX

Conan wrapped his cloak around him, in hopes of calming his shivering body. But he knew it had nothing to do with the bitter cold, no he was much to used to that. He shook his head as he walked around a toppled over trunk.

Heil had always pranced around like some puppy that had just gotten a treat. Boasting that he had seen the 'Devil's Hunter' face to face, and that she was nothing more then a Walyn. A helpless little girl who hid beneath her title and hood. That all the stories of where she came from, and what she had merely done, were all nothing but a jest. He had always envied Heil for that. He even got the girl's because of his job.

Of course when Heil got sick, Conan knew he was too young to be chosen to receive the message from the Knight. But he just had to at least see what this fraud was all about. The runner up that was next to take Heil's place, was much older then Conan, and much more experienced. Yes that was all he knew about this Karicen.

It was easy to slip the sleeping weed into the Karicen's drink, and then hide him in the barn outside Conan's log cabin, thus making it look like he left to receive the message. All that was left for Conan was to sneak away into the night, and get the message instead... He wished now that he hadn't. How could Heil make going to see that Hunter seem like a walk in the park?

Suddenly Conan stopped his banter in his mind. And stood as still as stone, fear once again creeping into his stomach. He had never gotten the letter from the Knight!

Panicking he searched in his pockets vigorously time and time again. He was just about to run back when he felt something poke him in the neck. Reaching back he found the letter stuffed into the back of his cloak, where the Hunter had held him. Sighing in relief, he decided that from now on, he'd just leave this job to Heil...Who was crazy enough to do this on a monthly basis?

His ears suddenly perked and twisted about, startling even himself, as a noise he only heard about in stories reached his sensitive ears. The same stories that he and the other pups, would go and sit and listen for hours on end to the PLACE TEXT #2 HERE that had just came from fighting for their lives. The same noise that they would all try to mimic in the open fields in the summertime, when they were playing Knights. The same one that sent grown men into utter panic. The same that made running into the Hunter seemed like a walk in the park...

WULVZ!

Without thinking twice, Conan tore off away from the bone chilling howl. His pace, if possible, quickened as more and more howls could be heard soon after. All his senses were completely dead, all except the absolute need to run... run with all his might, run like his life depended on it, which in truth it did.

But in his attempt to get away from what he was for sure was certain death, his long skinny tail suddenly caught against something. And with the momentum, caused him to land flat on his face. Taking big gasps of air, he rolled over onto his back and found his tail wrapped around a thicker bush. Hurriedly, his hands flew to his tail, and fumbled with the stickers and knots, trying to untangle the painful sticker bush away. Pulling harshly, he winced as he pulled his tail clear out of the bush. From the new pain coursing down his tail, he guessed it had fractured somewhere. But he didn't have time to worry about that he needed to get ho--

Conan suddenly paused, his eyes wide with the terror as his newest problem hit him as hard as if he had jumped off a cliff and into the ocean below.

He was leading them right to his town... right to his Father, his friends; to Shorn...The town that had been hidden for years away from the Royal's grasp one of the few to be left safe. Conan was young, but he knew enough to know that his town was the main safe place, and fall back place where lost Karicen knew that they could come, and heal, and be utterly safe... Thus the realization of something that shook him to his core... He couldn't go home...

Two giant tears ran down his furry face, and disappeared into the fur just above his snout. He could feel his heart pounding hard against his rib cage, threatening to burst out and flop away like a fish out of water. He sniffed and bitterly wiped away the tears. Now he, oh, so dearly wished he had given the job to the new, more skilled fighter, for he only just begun his classes.

His head swam with random memories and thoughts of his life that he felt, was all over...

His Father... it was his fault that his Mother was dead, all because he had to save his little brother who died a month later. Why'd stupid Heil have to get sick? And that new pup... and Ellis, and even Shorn... It was their fault... all their fault... all their fault?

Conan then realized that it wasn't his heart he heard, but the pounding of so many giant paws, running towards him...

...No... It was none of their faults. If anything it was his own pride that made him go, that fueled him to break the most important law of his town... all his fault... Yet this is what the job was, this is why he wanted it so. To feel the rush, the thrill that you could get caught at anytime. To be brave enough to walk out into the woods and not look back...

This is why he wanted to be here, to feel important, to be the hero. To be like Shorn. That is why he knew what he had to do.

The young red pup stood to his feet, and taking a deep breath he clutched the letter tightly, and took off away from his home… his feet taking him away from the safe haven, and into the cold, dark forest….

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You know after I wrote this chapter, I think my cousin, said I was evil and cruel… and I just sat there and smiled XP

I don't know when I shall have the next chapter up, I'm hoping relatively soon though…

Now, if you have made it all the way down to the bottom here, then Thanks for reading! Or if you just scrolled all the way down and didn't read, well thanks anyways waves See ya!