Tang Shen, Born: April 26th 1960. Death: July 8th 1992.
I like many had little idea how my life would go. For the first 13 years I was merely the eldest daughter of a well off farmer.
My younger sister Amaya never thought much about these things and always had her head in the clouds. I was a little more practical.
When I was 13 and my sister was 10 we were told by our father that we were moving to Japan, and we had 1 year to learn the language before we left. Amaya did not have much Trouble learning Japanese, while I on the other hand had some difficulty. By the time we left Amaya was nearly a master of the language while I was still struggling. When we did arrive things seemed different yet similar to back home, but the fact remained that I felt estranged & distant, like I did not belong. Things did change for the better, but only after I met him. Hamato Yoshi.
Simply put, I was in love. It was just as it was often described in fairy tails. I could not bare to be away from him, I could not stop thinking of him, I could not live without him. My sister was just as Lucky for she had Saki, Yoshi's best friend. It was Yoshi who helped me to master the Japanese language. All was well and we had many great adventures together. The most prominent would have to be how we found Splinter.
You see it all happened while we were enjoying A simple day of relaxation. It had been about four years since I arrived in Japan & all could not be better. Me & Yoshi had just spent most of our Morning and some of the afternoon on the Lake. Just as we were headed through town back to Yoshi's house we passed a few boys encouraging a cat to chase something. Curious we followed. When we caught up to them we found they had a small Rat-pup cornered in an alley with the cat getting ready to pounce on it. The 5 boys encouraged it to attack. Outraged Yoshi yelled at them and told them that what they were doing was disgraceful, they then insulted Yoshi, but their leader knew they couldn't beat him and ran, leaving the cat stalking the poor rodent.
After scaring away the feline we Took the Rat home and gave it a Bath, when it was clean we found that it was wounded and had not eaten in quite some time. He was a most interesting coloring. He was mostly a silver grey that seemed to slowly shift into brown and then gold in small patches all over his fur. The eyes were a dark red that almost looked black.
After taking him into our care we named him Splinter. This was after all the splinters Yoshi got from building his cage. We of course had made him our surrogate son. Since we did not live together at the time Splinter spent time between homes. When we were together he was nearly always with us. After being in our care for about 2 years something remarkable began to happen. While Yoshi was practicing his Kata's, Splinter in his cage began to mimic Yoshi's movement. We found it most remarkable, and when dear Yoshi & Saki went to their lessons on ninjutsu Splinter went along to observe, though he always seemed to specifically follow only Yoshi & Saki's movements, following only their example.
In 1980 Saki married my sister with I as maid of honor, and Yoshi as best man. I had never seen Amaya so happy.
For a long time all was good, but then it started. For a long time Yoshi had been teaching me a bit of Ninjutsu, it was during one of these lessons In 1981 that Yoshi asked me to marry him, and I said yes.
While I had been noticing the attention for a while, it wasn't until after Yoshi and I were married that I found myself frequently visited by Nagi, Saki's older brother. While Yoshi maintained a good friendship with Nagi, I always found him a bit, unsettling.
In his visits he was clearly attempting to court me. Despite his unwelcome efforts I did not tell Yoshi as I felt it was harmless. One day while I was preparing dinner Nagi came over and appeared to be trying a little harder than usual. I at the time thought nothing of it, however he soon began to get more and more agitated. After awhile he started yelling, asking why he was not good enough for me. When I did not Give a satisfactory answer he began to beat me. I of course tried to defend myself, but in the end I was no match even with the training Yoshi had given me. After awhile he began to force himself on me. That was when Yoshi came in.
I had never seen Yoshi more angry, and he showed it.
Despite his having trained longer and having more experience he had no chance against Yoshi's fury. It was during the fight that a kick to the head from Yoshi sent Nagi down. In this he inflicted the mortal wound. As Nagi hit the floor he began to bleed, but that did not stop the fight as far as Yoshi was concerned.
Soon he had Nagi by the collar as he continued to bloody Nagi's face.
As it ended just as quickly as it began Yoshi then proceeded to scream at Nagi, but there was no response. Nagi was not breathing, his body cold and lifeless. Yoshi then fell to the floor and began to cry for what he had done. Only I and Splinter there to witness. While I understood his guilt, my mind was on his safety. I advised him we had to flee. He agreed. We packed our bags quickly along with Splinter and ran. Eventually we made it to the airport were we departed for America.
We would settle in New York. There we found a reasonable apartment that would take pets. We soon found ourselves in a Routine, but neither of us would ever be the same again.
In Yoshi especially it showed. Mostly the same old smiling, smart ass(funny), wise Yoshi. But sometimes I caught him staring at nothing. He also had trouble sleeping. I tried to help him best I could not.
Yoshi found work as a construction worker while I was the simple House wife looking after our home and rodent son. There was some talk of us having a child, but that would never come to be.
For 8 years we had settled into this mostly happy little routine. Despite everything we seemed to persevere, and life seemed good.
Then he arrived.
At first I thought it a simple intruder, except what simple intruder would Weald a Ninjaken, a ninja weapon.
He was quick, deliberately hiding his face from me.
Soon I knew why.
As he passed in front of the kitchen window from which he entered I saw his face. It was Saki!
I couldn't believe it. While it was easy enough to figure out why he was here, it was still more than a bit surprising. That he would be so willing to end our lives, even over his brother's death.
So too was the neutral expression upon his face.
In his right hand he held the Ninjaken, while on his left he wore a set of Tekko-kagi!
I pleaded with him for a bit but he never responded.
As he got closer I grabbed one of the kitchen chairs. As he thrust forward with his sword I brought up the chair. The blade had been caught in the backing of the chair.
Before he could break the weapon free I thrust the piece of furniture forward. This sent the sword handle into his chest and knocked him to the ground. I used the opportunity to move to the living room where my personal weapon was hidden.
I used a Gunsen, a battle fan.
He was on me again quick. He had not bothered to retrieve his ninjaken and instead it was the claws that were being used to end my life.
I blocked with grace. Once, twice. Again, and again, and again. This went on for a bit. It was grueling, nothing like a spar. My lungs burned and I was nearly blinded by my own sweat. Unfortunately my luck soon ran out.
He knocked the fan from my grasp. In a last ditch effort to save my own life I lifted another nearby chair and hit him. It shattered.
This did little to impede him.
I was cornered. He swiftly struck me in the chest with his palm. This caused me to cry in pain as I was sent to the ground on my knees.
I asked what he was gonna do after I was dead, and he answered that he would wait for Yoshi. I then asked about Splinter. He said that while he would kill Yoshi, that Splinter would live as his Rodent nephew was an innocent. I took small comfort in knowing My son would live.
He then proceeded to retrieve his sword and stab me in the heart with it. As I lay dying on the floor I heard Splinters Cry's, and I swear I could almost hear My son cream out "Mama". This brought an odd smile on my face, and as I looked up to one who I once called family I saw something most peculiar.
Upon Saki's once cold face was an expression of rage, and perhaps just the smallest amount of remorse.