Chapter 7: Freedom is the Price

"My sons." Yoshi called when he finally found two of the turtles and ran toward them as he searched for the others. "Where are your brothers?" He asked kindly as his feet splashed against the water that still flooded everything.

"Gone." Mikey answered in tears as his oldest sibling stood at the entrance to the complex, seemingly transfixed by what was outside the doors.

"What do you mean gone?" Splinter demanded before turning to Leo as he answered.

"They have been taken – by the Darkness." He stated before turning to his father. "We must hurry; they will not last long on the other side."

"What do you mean?" Yoshi proclaimed in shock, none of them had ever said anything like this before. "What have you not told me?" He ordered causing the two to look at the ground, but said no more.

"We – cannot say." Mikey exclaimed as though he were in physical pain from trying to keep the secret.

"Please father, we must find them." Leo begged. "They only have until sunrise." He added looking up at the sky worriedly to find that they still had several hours, but they were losing that time faster than they were making it up.

"Sunrise?" Yoshi repeated in confusion. "What –"

"We cannot say." They both begged then causing him to realize that whatever was going on they truly could not speak about.

"Very well." He agreed for now. "Can you find them?" He added knowing that they could sense each other in a way that even they didn't seem to understand at times and they both nodded. "Then lead the way."

This caused them both to walk up to the threshold of the main gate where they paused momentarily to prepare themselves to cross into the outside; before finally taking another breath and bolted in the direction they could feel their brothers, leaving Yoshi to follow behind.

…

Through Splinter tried to focus on the task at hand, deciding that he would speak with them about this new development when their brothers were safe. He could not help but noticed that his remaining sons seemed to grow weaker the farther from their home they got.

This worried him, but he did not have the time to voice it as they finally led him to a cave.

"Is this it?" He asked as they shunned away from something within the walls.

"Yes." Leo answered.

"The Darkness is within." Mikey explained seriously and Yoshi nodded in understanding before entering first and his sons followed, though obviously reluctant.

For several minutes they navigated the cave, with Splinter relying greatly on the turtle's night vision and sense of smell to guide him, even as they continued to grow more and more tired.

But eventually they found a section of the dungeon that shone with the light of a single lantern and it was here that Yoshi could see the form of a man as he shouted at someone beyond his line of sight.

"They are there." Mikey announced quietly.

"That is the Darkness." Leo added pointing at the man.

"Who is he?" Splinter asked trying to get a better look, but they were still too far away.

"It is a demon." Leo explained fearfully. "A demon called forth by a great hatred, its only name is – Shredder.

"Stay here." Yoshi commanded and they nodded, leaving him to quietly pull his sword from its sheath and slowly make his way toward the creature. Only to jump slightly when the demon suddenly stuck out at something and the sound of metal crashing into stone erupted from the cave alone with a voice that he recognized as Raphael.

"Brother!" He called in concern but said no more.

"You WILL serve!" The man roared, causing the sound of his voice to echo off the walls and Yoshi paused in shock as he realized that it was the voice of his brother. "Or you will die." He added as Yoshi continued to remain rooted to his spot in horror of his newest discovery.

However the words he heard his two missing sons speak in response drew him out of his trance.

"Then we will die."

Yoshi bolted into the cave when Saki made to attack them again in a rage, only to be caught off guard by his brother's sudden appearance as they made to do battle.

Splinter immediately realized that whatever stood before him may have held Saki's shape but did not hold his soul. For that important part of him had been replaced by the weapons of darkness that he summoned forth to attack.

"Father – the light." Donatello called at that moment, forcing Yoshi's attention away from the tendrils of shadow trying to kill him and looked toward the lantern before he expertly turned his sword and swung with practiced strength causing the wind lash to immediately extinguish the flame.

"NO!" Saki screamed as he thrashed around, trying to use his power again, but only where there was light was there shadow.

Yoshi quickly followed the sounds of his trapped children and sliced through the chains on their cages, freeing them at last and quickly followed them as they led him back to their brothers.

They continued to hear the sounds of Shredder bellowing in anger and raging out at anything he could reach but they did not stop in their motion to escape the cave, continuing to run until finally arriving back outside.

However once there; Yoshi immediately realized that something was very wrong, Donatello and Raphael were now only on their feet due to their brothers carrying them and Donnie had even lost consciousness.

"We must hurry father." Leo begged causing Splinter to quickly bring Donnie into his arms so both he and Michelangelo could support their other brother and started to make their way home once again.

…

"Tang Shen!" Yoshi called when he could finally see her waiting at the gates, however before they could reach the walls his sons collapsed. "What is it?" He asked turning back in a panic to see that they were in obvious pain.

"Sunrise." Leo explained causing Yoshi to look up in horror and find that his son was correct. The sun could now clearly be seen over the horizon, however before he could make a move to carry them the rest of the way, several ninja arrived at his side, including Tang Shen, who gently gathered the turtles and rushed for the complex, making it beyond the walls just before their sun peaked over the horizon.

Once safe the Yōkai each took a deep breath as if they had been inhaling poison until that moment, leaving Splinter relieved as he gathered them to his side and held them as they struggled to recover.

After a minute they thought it best to move them to the Waters of Spirit and laid them all gently in the pond so the sacred pool could heal them, which was where Yoshi found himself looking up at the door that once again protected his family's most sacred treasure and he finally realized what had happened to his sons that night.

Somehow he had never noticed, but their very lives were chained to The Oracle. They could not go beyond its borders, for all the Yōkai who had come before them, their entire family line, were connected to this place, and though they had been given power and magic to protect it, their freedom was the price.

And he had just reinstated the lock.

I'm not sure if I made it all that clear, but "Shredder" is more or less the Demon Shedder from the lost session of the 2003 series, which has taken up residence in the body of Oroku Saki.

Chapter 8: Contradiction of Fate

(Coming next Monday)