This chapter will mostly focus on my OC's and some of their skills and past experiences. It will also serve as a buildup for upcoming chapters, expect to see more of these.

I don't own TMNT

Chapter 5

First Day In The Lair

Leonardo walked out of his room and stretched a bit, when he noticed the smell of something cooking. After jumping down to the groundfloor, his three brothers exited their own rooms, also smelling food in the making. But if they were all in the same place, who's cooking? Mona came out of the bathroom and saw the turtles walking towards the kitchen and followed. On their way they saw that neither Sephie nor Tyroth were sleeping in their 'beds'.

When they entered the kitchen, they saw something that stopped them dead in their tracks. Standing by the stove was Tyroth, wearing a yellow apron that was to small for him while stirring gently in a pot. He looked ridiculous and the five mutants were about to burst out laughing when he raised a finger to them.

"The first one to make fun of me wearing an apron, will make a deep impression in a frying pan."

Both Leo and Donnie quickly placed a hand over Mikey's mouth, who had already covered it with his own hands. Tyroth turned his attention back to the pot, and smiled mischievously. After a few minutes, Splinter walked in and saw the same thing, only raising an eyebrow before sitting down at the table.

Already on the table was fried potatoes on a large plate, soy-sauce, mustard and some bread. Tyroth placed the pot on the table so the others could help themselves to the stew he had made, it contained various vegetables, some turkey and ham, all leftovers from yesterday.

The gang was pleasantly surprised over how tasty the stew was.

"Didn't know you cooked." Donnie said before he took a mouthful.

"I took an evening course a few years back. Didn't have anything better to do at the time."

"Well, it's very good." Donnie continued. "Could you pass me the mustard, please?"

"Don't say that!" Sephie yelled, shocking their new friends. "Sorry about that. It's just that I've had a traumatizing experience with that phrase."

"How can you become traumatized by 'can you pass me the mustard, please?'?" Raph asked.

"It helps if you got a father and uncle that enjoys practical jokes and pranks. When I was eight, dad told me that if you said that phrase in the woods, the sasquatch would kidnap you, and I believed him. A week later we went for a long walk in the nearby forest, after a few hours we sat down to eat lunch. He said that very phrase he'd told me not to say, and a sasquatch ran up, grabbed my dad and dragged him deeper into the woods."

"No way! A sasquatch? Eh.. what's a 'sasquatch', Donnie?"

"Big Foot, Mikey."

"Well, it was actually my uncle in a suit, but it scared the hell out of me." Sephie continued.

"That was a most cruel joke to play on a child." Splinter commented.

"True, but I got back at them after I found out the truth. Still that phrase brings back some unpleasant memories."

"What did you do to them?" Mikey asked with anticipation.

"I'd rather not say. Let's just say that nobody that knew what I did to my dad and uncle, dared to pull a prank on me after that." she answered with an almost evil smile that made Mikey gulp and rethink any eventual pranks he wanted to pull.

Once breakfast was over and the dishes taken care of, Splinter, the turtles and Mona headed for the dojo for their daily exercises, their guests followed. Splinter paired Leo with Mikey, Donnie with Raph and Mona with himself for a session of sparring with weapons. Before the training started, Sephie asked a question.

"Excuse me, Splinter. Can I spar with Mona?" The four brothers were a little worried considering how Mona had reacted yesterday, but to their surprise she seemed to be a lot more open towards Sephie.

The old rat looked to Mona who nodded in agreement to her master.

"You may. It will be an enlightening experience to see you fight, young one." He then turned his gaze to Tyroth.

"Do you wish to spar as well?"

"No thanks. I'll just watch."

"Begin!" Splinter told his students. Leo kept Mikey on his toes with a series of stabs and swings while Mikey tried to disarm his brother, to no avail. Donnie was barley keeping Raph at a distance with his staff, as Raph's aggressive style was opposite to Donnie's style.

Mona used her unfolded fans to slash and attempt to disarm Sephie, occasionally folding them to block and stab, while Sephie herself used the daggers in a similar manner. Both kicked and swiped with their tails at each other every now and then, but while Mona's style was very gracious, Sephie's was more aggressive and unpredictable due to her feints, and yet it was clear that Mona was better of the two in close combat.

"Donatello, be more aggressive. Michelangelo, keep your focus. Raphael, beware the gaps in your defense." Splinter corrected his students as he and Tyroth watched from the side.

"Tell me," he started, "why do you not want to spar? From what Leonardo told me, you seem to enjoy fighting."

"I do like it, but I wouldn't be much of a sparring partner."

"What do you mean? You defeated my sons when you fought, and that is no small feat."

"The only reason that I beat them, were my instincts, when they kick in, my reflexes get a lot sharper as I'm filled with battle-lust. I can't control myself much other than to avoid killing my opponent unless I calm down, and if I do my fightingskills diminish. I haven't found a balance yet, so I avoid sparring because I'm either not good enough or I'm too dangerous."

"Hmm. Raphael has a similar problem, but it is because of his short temper and overall aggressive behavior. Have you tried meditation? It may help you to achieve the balance you seek."

"No I haven't. I'm not quite sure how you do it, but if you have some time to help me later, I'll give it a try."

Splinter nodded and focused his attention on his students and Sephie. Once the sparring was over they were given some time practice on their own at what they wanted. Mona decided to train some archery and fetched her Japanese bow and some arrows before heading over to the training area. Sephie saw the bow and got an idea.

"Hey, Mona. You're an archer as well, how about a friendly little competition?" The challenge got the attention of the other mutants as well.

"Sure, why not?" Mona answered.

After some minor preparations the two lizards stood facing one target each. Tyroth, Splinter and the turtles watched from the side. Mona drew her bow, holding her breath and concentrating, a few seconds later she released the arrow, hitting the bullseye spot on, earning praise from her family.

"Beat that if you can." she said to Sephie.

"Oh, I will, don't you worry." Sephie replied. She drew her bow and released the arrow very fast, not taking the time to aim carefully as Mona had. The arrow still hit the bullseye and before any one had the time to say anything, Sephie had already shot another arrow and drew her bow to shoot a third, the timeframe was less than five seconds. The two arrows hit on either side of the first one, all in the bullseye.

A unison 'wow' was all the turtles could say, while Mona and Splinter just looked with large eyes at the results.

"Well, I asked for it." Mona said smiling after regaining her composure.

"Most impressive. Despite not concentrating for long, you still hit the target with excellent precision." Splinter commented.

"Thank you. I'm a natural at shooting, started practicing when I was six. That skill earned me the nickname 'Little Miss Quickdraw' at summer camp when I was twelve."

"I can see why." Leo said.

"You haven't seen everything yet." Sephie said as she recovered her arrows. "Can I borrow your bow, Mona?"

"Huh? Why?"

"You'll see."

Curious, and a bit reluctant, Mona handed her bow to Sephie.

The gang were surprised when Sephie made a handstand so her back faced the targets, she tilted her body and head so she could see them. Using her left foot, she picked up Mona's bow with the toes, and drew an arrow with her right foot. Then she took her own bow in her right hand, using her tail to draw another arrow, now standing only on her left hand. Holding her breath, she adjusted the bows slightly before releasing the arrows. They flew through the air and hit the two targets, no bullseyes but quite close.

"Showoff." Tyroth said, while the others tried to fathom Sephie's skill.

"I know." Sephie giggled as she turned herself right side up. "There are advantages to have a tail. But I've never used that trick in combat, it's too difficult to pull of, so it's mostly for showing off."

"Still, it shows that you are an expert archer, capable of much." the old rat said.

"Is there anything else we should know about you?" Leo asked.

"Well, you've already seen that I can walk on walls, so I don't think so."

"Speaking of which." Donnie said "How do you do it?"

"I'm not sure actually. The same way as any gecko, I guess, it just feels natural now that I'm used to it, so I don't think much about it."

"How about you, big guy?" Raph said as he turned to Tyroth. "Got any surprises in store?"

"Does this count?" he asked as he took a shallow breath. When he exhaled, flames spewed forth a few meters. Tyroth was careful not to ignite anything or anyone.

"Uh... yeah it does." Raph answered nervously.

"Dudes, a word of advice. Stay clear when he sneezes." Mikey said.

"Guys, how about we go out on patrol early tonight? The change of air will do us good." Leo suggested to his brothers and Mona, who agreed.

"Want to tag along?" he asked Tyroth and Sephie.

"If you think you can keep up, that is." Raph smirked.

"Sure, I need to stretch a bit anyway." Tyroth said while Sephie nodded in agreement.

"Then let's grab our gear and meet at the exit." Leo continued. After a few minutes the seven mutants left the lair and headed through the sewers towards a manhole.

"Good luck, my children." Splinter said as they left, happy to see that his family had made new friends.

Check in for future chapters, same site, some time, as the turtles meet some old foes.

Thanks for reading.