Leo went back to the den with Mikey, and like classic Mikey, he ran to the t.v. and quickly turned it on.
"Dude, I found this new cartoon! It's about these kids who go out and solve mysteries on these awesome adventures and-" He looked over to Leo and realized he was distracted. "What's up?" Leo had gotten to the sofa and stopped. He didn't sit down, he just stopped and stood in front of it, standing over and looking at an object. Mikey got up to take a look for himself. "Dude!"
"Who's katana is this? It's not one of mine..." He gently picked it up and saw that it had the symbol of the Hamato Clan on the blade along with ancient script written down the side. The hilt had the head of a cat and the handle had a light blue ribbon tightly wrapped around it that was frayed and torn at some spots. It looked worn down and seemed to have been used long ago but also recently.
"What does that chicken scratch say?Mikey asked.
"It's not chicken scratch.. it's an ancient Japanese language. One that has been revised since it was last used." Leo stepped away from Mikey and moved the blade expertly around to get a feel for it. "At least that's what I think; I can't make any sense of it... This blade is pretty light, but it seems to be able to do plenty of damage." Just then, Raph came back with Master Splinter. Raph spotted Leo before Leo could see him and his well known rage started to boil.
"Hey! That ain't not yours!" Raph began to charge at him, but he was stopped by Splinter harshly grabbing a hold of his shoulder.
"Raphael! What did we just talk about?" Splinter looked down at him with an almost disappointing glare.
"Hai Sensei..." Raph muttered and closed his eyes and took a deep breath then looked again to his older brother. "Put that down, would ya? It's not yours." He said in a calmer tone.
"Bring it here, Leonardo." Splinter said as he held out his hand. As Leo got closer, Splinter's eyes grew wide as he got a better look at the blade.
"Zahir..." He muttered softly as he took it and looked at it closely. "Where did you get this?" He asked sternly.
"At Jade's apartment.." Raph cautiously said.
"Why.. How could she have had this? That's impossible..." He gripped the handle and closed his eyes as he lowered his head.
"Master Splinter... what is it?" Leo asked as he took another step towards him. Without hardly moving, Splinter started to speak in a dull voice.
"This katana has been passed down the centuries..." He paused and took a deep breath as he remembered he past.
"What does it sa-"
"'The strength of a daughter is her mother'..." Splinter, without even looking at the writing, answered Mikey's question before he could finish asking it. He then opened his eyes and looked away from his sons. "In the Hamato Clan, there was always a kunoichi. She would bare this katana and then would train and pass it on to her daughter or to a girl who she treated as one... The last to have it was Zahir."
"Who's that?" Mikey asked, only to get hit and shushed by Raph.
"Zahir was a dear friend of mine. I new her long before I even new Tang Shen. She was like a sister to me. I did love her, but not the same way I loved Tang Shen. She understood this and respected it, she even helped Tang Shen take care of Miwa. But then Oroku Saki, the Shredder, attacked the dojo. Once the fire had died, Zahir did as well. She was said to have been either killed by the fire, or killed by ambush of Foot ninja. Since she never had any children and never trained another, the blade was said to have been buried with her. Along with a legacy of kunoichi behind her..." Leo, Raph and Mikey all went to his sides.
"She seemed to be an honorable and noble warrior.. Her and her legacy have our utmost respect." Leo said as he bowed to Splinter and the katana. His brothers did the same.
"Thank you.." Splinter said as he held the katana close. Donnie then opened the door of his lab. Jade followed behind, holding Chinarose in a new towel.
"Well, we fixed her up! It actually wasn't that... what's going on?"Donnie realized what he saw and quickly went over to his brothers. Splinter ignored him and went straight for Jade. He got inches away from her, making Chinarose hiss at him.
"Uh, you're a little close.." Jade said as her fur stood up and she tensed.
"Why did you have this?" He asked her, there was a hint of anger in his eyes, but she could see it.
"Uh, I'm not sure. I have never seen it before tonight." She quickly said. She backed up and Splinter followed.
"Where did you find it?" He sternly asked, The turtles quickly went over and stood behind him.
"Sensei?..." Leo sounded nervous, but again, Splinter ignored them.
"Where!?"
"In my parent's room! I don't know why it was there!" Jade exclaimed. The boys then grabbed his arms and held him back and Jade backed up into a wall.
"Sensei!" Leo shouted. Splinter came to realize what he was doing. He backed away and looked at all of them.
"I.. I'm sorry, Jade..." He said and began to quickly walked away, taking the sword with him. There was silence for a few moments then Jade went over to Raph.
"I better get going... Could you take car of Chinarose for me while I'm away?" She asked as she handed him her cat.
"Uh, yeah, sure. I'll make sure I keep her away from Mikey... Do you have to go? You could stay here." The other three turtles stayed quiet as they watched to two.
"After that?" She pointed to the direction that Splinter went off to. "I'd rather not."
"That's... that's fair..." Raph said in a disappointed and sad tone. "Will you come back?"
"Yeah, of course. You just have to find me first." She said and smiled. Raph chuckled and nodded. "See you guys." She then left the turtles and the others all looked at Raph. Mikey smirked along with Donnie, but Leo just looked at him.
"Knock it off." Raph shoved past his two younger brother and went to his room, but he was stopped by Leo. "What? Can't a turtle walk away without getting stopped around here?"
"Raph, I have a bad feeling about her." Leo said strictly.
"A bad feeling? Give me a break." Raph pushed past and went inside his room. He shut the door, But Leo stopped it with his foot.
"I'm serious, Raph. Something's not right with her."
"Yeah, and something's not right with you going goo-goo eyes for Karai either, but you don't see me doing anything to stop ya."
"Shut up and listen! She so happens to be at the zoo when the Kraang are, she convinces you to take her to out lair, she own an ancient sword that was supposed to be buried and you don't find anything about that suspicious?"
"No, I don't. And she didn't convince me! I offered. And the zoo thing was chance. And the sword..." Raph looked away from Leo, realizing he had no explanation for it. "The sword could be a fake, a model or whatever.." Leo scoffed and shook his head.
"No. That katana is real. And shouldn't be with her." Raph clutched the door, trying to keep his cool and not slam the door in his face.
"Yeah, well, you shouldn't be in my room! Go away!" Leo stepped back and Raph lost it and slammed the door shut. He sighed and took a deep breath. "Sorry about that, China..." He said as he looked down at the cat he sill held. "Leo can be real...real annoying sometimes."
