Chapter 4: Kappa

Night had soon fallen. The forest was quiet aside from the crackling fire from where Usagi and Kintaro had set up camp.

However, it didn't take long for the Holy Child to start complaining again.

"You're useless and small and probably a terrible cook too." He began picking up rocks and throwing them at Usagi, who easily leaned out of the way while still stirring the fire. "It's already night and the camp should have been set up hours ago!"

"We only just stopped." Usagi replied. "You must be patient, Kintaro." A small smile tugged at his lips. "Unless, you would like to help?" He suggested, offering the stick to the pug child.

Kintaro seemed stunned and silent for a moment before he stood up. "Do you dare suggest that I dirty my hands with peasant work?!" He said incredulously. He then picked up another rock and threw it at Usagi, who easily batted away the rock. "Fool!"

Usagi frowned at the child's stubbornness before standing up and heading away from the camp to gather some more firewood. He then headed towards the pond they had stopped by to get some more water.

"He is still a child," He told himself, dipping a cup into the water, "I must remain patient."

He was just about to go back when he heard the sound of rippling water. He looked up to see the silhouette of a head emerge from the water, before three more emerged with it.

Usagi dropped the firewood and reached for his katana. "What is this?"

From the pond emerged four figures, the shadows masking their appearances, but thanks to his keen eyes, Usagi was able to tell what they were.

Kappa. Turtle demons.

The four kappa drew their weapons as they emerged from the water. Without warning, they all rushed forward, their footsteps not making a sound.

Usagi was forced to act quickly, ducking out of the way of two of the kappa, one holding two nunchaku and the other holding a staff. He then lifted his blade to parry the strikes of the other two, one carrying two sai daggers and the other carrying a pair of katanas.

The rabbit ronin had to admit, they were quick and organized. They moved in the shadows with the grace of ease of kappa ninja.

"We must hide!" Kintaro cried, ducking behind a bush in a very cowardly manner. "There are kappa!"

"Unlike no kappa I have ever seen." Usagi stated.

Now that they were much closer, he could easily make out their appearances better. Each of them were of different height and seemingly different age, each wearing a different colored mask around their faces. Truly unlike any tengu he had ever encountered.

The kappa ninja soon attempted to rush him again, the purple one throwing several kunai and throwing stars at Usagi, who quickly blocked them with his sword.

The red one then advanced, swinging his sais furiously at him, to which Usagi also managed to block. The red one soon broke away as the purple one came in, swinging his staff at the rabbit ronin's head. However, Usagi managed to knock the staff upwards with his blade before grabbing the purple one's arm and kicking him in the plastron, knocking the purple one into a tree.

The orange one then attacked, throwing a kusarigama chain that wrapped around Usagi's sword arm. Usagi gritted his teeth as he pulled back against the kappa's admittedly impressive strength. He then remembered he had the purple one's staff still in his hand, and an idea quickly popped into his head.

Instead of pulling back any further, Usagi let the kappa win the little tug-of-war as he used the momentum of the pull to catch the orange one off guard, smacking him across the face with the staff and stunning him. He then jabbed the orange one in the chest with the staff, making him stagger back.

His ears twitched as the red one came up from behind him, forcing him to whip around and block the red one's sai with the staff. He then dropped the staff and elbowed the red one in the gut before grabbing him and flipping him over his shoulder into the orange one, knocking them both into the pond.

Now all that was left was the blue one.

The blue kappa, who seemed to be the leader of the group, clashed his twin katanas with Usagi's own. The rabbit ronin grunted as he tried to push back, but the blue one's strength seemed to match his own.

The two then pushed off of each other, both taking steps back before they began to circle each other, the blue one's blade gleaming in the moonlight.

"You and your companions are not unskilled, demon!" Usagi told him. "The willow branch is thirsty,"

The two then lunged at each other, their blades clashing again. "And I will quench its thirst with your blood!" Usagi then shifted his blade and attempted to thrust his blade into the blue kappa's forehead, but the kame ninja used his other sword to bat away his thrust.

Usagi suddenly felt himself forced back as the blue kappa, in a swift move, aimed a well placed kick to his gut. The ronin retaliated by ducking under one of the kappa's swings, grabbing his arm, and flipping him over his shoulder like he had done with the red one. However, the blue one twisted his body mid-air so that he landed on his feet with ease. Out of the four kappa, he seemed to be the most skilled.

The two found their battle going into the pond, each matching each other blow for blow, strike for strike, with neither being able to gain an edge.

"I will save you, stupid rabbit!" Kintaro declared, running forward with his battle axe ready for a fight… until he tripped over a rock and into the pond, causing him to throw his axe past the two combatants.

The blue kappa quickly gained an advantage as he dodged another strike from Usagi, kneed him in the chest and then head-butted him, knocking the ronin down.

He was just about to raise his sword for the final blow when in a stroke of pure luck, Kintaro's axe bounced off a tree and the handle hit the kappa right in the back of the head.

The kame ninja wobbled about in a daze before collapsing to the ground.

Kintaro quickly got up and grabbed his axe when the blue kappa slowly got up.

"Ow!" The blue kappa groaned, surprising Kintaro with his actual voice. "What the...? My head. What happened?"

When he saw the kappa's eyes, Kintaro did not see them as soulless white, but rather now with azure blue pupils. And by the tone of his voice, he sounded very confused, almost like he had woken up from a bad dream.

And now for some reason, Kintaro felt this strange urge to help this unusual kappa and his kin.

Usagi, now having gotten up, stood in front of the Golden Child with his katana out in the guard position.

"Stop!" Kintaro told him, grabbing his arm before turning to the would-be assassins. "Kappa! I sense you are under an evil enchantment."

The blue one groaned as he leaned on his sword. "Guys," He spoke, "the kid's right."

"We're not bad guys, little pug kid," The orange one spoke, sounding like he was the youngest of the lot, "ronin rabbit here is." He pointed at Usagi.

"Usagi is my loyal bodyguard." Kintaro told them. "Even if he is a useless peasant."

"Oh man, what a headache!" The red one groaned, holding his head as he lay on his back (or shell maybe…?) in the water. "Skull's aching."

"Yeah, this is like a double chocolate Mikey pizza hangover." The purple one muttered.

Kintaro turned towards Usagi. "I sense they are not evil."

"Then what are these strange yokai?" Usagi questioned.

"Strange? Look who's talking," The blue one spoke up, sounding a bit offended, "a giant samurai rabbit and small pug kid."

"All I remember is that blind wolf guy telling us to find this long-eared samurai." The orange one spoke up, using his hands to mimic what appeared to be ears.

Usagi froze up. "What 'blind wolf guy'?"

"He summoned us here somehow, to your dimension." The purple one stated. "One minute, we were home minding our business and then suddenly, poof! We were here."

The blue one put away his sword on his back. "He carried a long black spear," He added, "unlike anything I've ever seen."

"'Black spear'?" Usagi said in realization. "That old blind wolf is not blind, but possessed by evil." He then sheathed his katana into his saya. "His name is Jei, and it appears he had you under a spell. Where are you from, strangers?"

The blue one opened his mouth to speak when Kintaro interrupted him, "Who cares? Look how ugly they are." The red one scowled at the Golden Child's insult. "And my sensitive nose can't handle how bad they smell."

"Be silent, child!" Usagi snapped, making Kintaro yelp. "Excuse the boy, kappa warriors. I am Myiamoto Usagi." He then gestured to the Holy Child. "This is Kintaro. What are your names, kame ninja?"

"My name is Leonardo." The blue one introduced himself. "And these are my brothers, Donatello," The purple one, "Raphael," The red one, "and Michelangelo." The orange one.

"You'll notice all the good ones end with an 'o'" Michelangelo remarked, earning a smack to the back of the head by Raphael.

Usagi nodded. "Please, share our campfire."


The six of them sat around the burning fire, with Donnie attempting to warm his hands while Mikey held a slice of pizza over the fire. And as they all sat around together, Usagi noticed these kappa ninja were rather young, not even in their twenties yet.

"Thank you again for your hospitality, Usagi-san." Leo said politely. He then shifted a bit, his eyes going elsewhere for a moment. "So… what's your story?"

Usagi decided there was no harm in telling them. "I was once a proud samurai warrior and Lord Mifune's personal bodyguard in the battle against Lord Hikiji. Our forces might have been victorious had not a trusted general turned against our lord. It was my duty to protect his flank… I failed. I buried him with honors and I became a ronin, wandering the land." He subconsciously touched the scar on his forehead as the memories came back to him.

Each of the turtles seemed to react to his story in a different way; Leonardo seemed understanding and nodded his head as he thought back to when the Super Shredder killed Master Splinter and how horrible this loss must have been for Usagi. Raphael also seemed to understand, but his expression was mostly unreadable. Donatello appeared to be rather interested in this story, his expression inquisitive and ready to ask. Michelangelo… was not really paying attention at all, instead roasting his pizza over the fire and smiling like a small child.

"Now I am charged with taking this boy," He gestured to Kintaro, deciding to shift the topic, "to the temple palace of his order."

"Yeah, and apparently this kid's supposed to be the 'Holy child'?" Raph questioned. "How old is he, five?"

Kintaro huffed angrily. "I am very manly for your information, dumb reptile!"

Raph scowled. "Who are you calling dumb, shorty?"

"You dare insult me, kappa?" Kintaro exclaimed, getting in Raph's face. "I am the Golden Boy, and you will treat me with the respect I deserve!"

"Oh, I'll respect you when you shove that stupid axe up your self-aggrandizing-!"

"Alright, enough you two." Donnie said, pulling them apart. "Sheesh, our first interactions with the locals of this world and already you're getting into a fight."

"And where, may I ask, do you come from, my young friends?" Usagi asked.

Leo shifted a bit. "My brothers and I are… from far away. It-it's kind of hard to explain. In fact if we did, you'd probably say we were all crazy."

"You think we've traveled back in time again?" Raph asked.

Donnie hugged his knees to his chest. "I don't think so." He replied. "We must have somehow been transported to another dimension entirely, one inhabited by anthropomorphic animals instead of humans."

"Sounds perfect for us!" Mikey said, finally eating his slice of pizza.

"But how are we gonna get home?" Leo asked. "We don't really have any way back."

Usagi placed a hand on his chin. "Hmm, the monks of Kintaro's order may know a way. I have heard that they are powerful mystics. Perhaps they could aid you in going back to your realm."

"Ha!" Kintaro scoffed. "These turtles are doomed!"

"Whatever, pug-taro." Mikey retorted. He smirked as the pug child growled with anger. "Yeah, that's what I'm gonna call you now. It's a way better name than Kintaro."

Kintaro was so angry his face even began to turn a little red. "What would a simple reptile know? You don't even have ears or a nose!"

Mikey quickly covered his head and his snout with his arms before he frowned. "I do too!"

The two began swatting at each other rather childishly, so much so that it looked quite comedic.

"We would be honored to help you escort Kintaro to his temple." Leo said with a slight bow.

"Your aid is welcomed, Leonardo-san." Usagi nodded. "Now, let us get some rest. We have a long journey ahead of us tomorrow."