In the snow-covered forest, not a creature stirred in the middle of the night. It was the night for one species only. A brilliant yellow full moon shined above the mountains, illuminating the starry skies. On a steep cliff a tall humanoid wolf with amber colored fur stood.

Her howl lifts up across the night, low, sweeping then rising swiftly and held aloft, held, held, carried outward on its own breeze, on its own passion and need. And then it ends...to be quickly followed by a final note, a short sharp bark beyond the human range. This is the first snow of the season, and it falls on the night of a full moon.

It is a special night, pure and holy, wild, of rare beauty with a rarer witness. Her name is Ne'sha and tonight she gives thanks to all that there is, for all that there is.

For the world.

Across a chasm, near yet far...Her call is answered. Another humanoid wolf with snow white fur, much larger and taller. The male. Her male.

The two mates howled wholesomely to each other as they celebrated the first fallen snow. Soon more howls joined them filling the night sky by more humanoid wolves as well as wolves. However, nothing lasts forever.

Blam! A gun shot echoed in the forest.

Multiple wolves scattered as they ran taking shelter in the deep woods vanishing. The alpha quickly ran to his fallen mate.

"Nei'sha!" The male shouted. He quickly scooped her up in his arms hoping for a sign of life. But she was gone. "Nei'sha! Nei'sha...no, no." The male cried as he held her close and brought his head back and let a bellow of a roar. "NNNOOOO!"

His distraught howl echoed throughout the mountain valley reaching a campground miles away. Multiple tents were set up, its occupants were inside sleeping. All except for one. Restless. Her ears perked up. Alopex's head quickly shot up as she wildly looked around.

"That...that howl. That's no ordinary wolf. That almost sounded like...myself. Familiar. But how..." Alopex murmured. "Why does it sound so sad?" Alopex heard a zipper noise and the flap of the tent opened followed by a yawn. She turned her head to see that it was Mikey. He blinked as he grumbled in his sleep and rubbed his eyes before seeing Alopex sitting on the logs that Leo had cut down for everyone to sit at the campfire.

"Ali, you, okay?" Mikey asked. Alopex turned her head, refusing to look at him.

"Yes." She answered. "No."

"Ali, what's wrong?" Mikey asked. "I know it's almost a full moon. You can be a real party animal." He chuckled, trying to cheer her up. Alopex shot Mikey a silent glare.

"Oh, sure make jokes!" She snapped. "That's all you ever do these days!" Mikey blinked in surprise and rubbed his head, thinking. Okay, that wasn't the reaction he was hoping for.

"If there's something bothering you, you know that I'm here for you. What is it? What do you need? What do you want me to do?"

"Leave me alone, Mikey. Just leave me alone." Alopex made a low growl.

"Whoa, it's totally cool. No need to bite my head off." Mikey joked, putting his hands up in defense. Alopex huffed and stormed past him, heading back inside the tent.

"Believe me, if I wanted to bite your head, it'd be gone." She growled.

Mikey blinked owlishly completely stunned. He quietly walked back inside the tent, trying not to wake up his brothers, the other girls, Yuuki, Venus and Mona, and Casey and April.

As the next morning came, everyone packed up and April drove the van, continuing down the road, heading deeper and deeper into the mountains. The snow slowly began to fall as they continued, and the wind started to pick up, blowing heavier.

"Doesn't look like we're going to get too far tonight, guys. Not on a gravel road in the snow, even with the four-wheel drive." April said.

"Aw, it's just a dusting, April. It'll blow over." Casey replied.

"Even so, I'll just keep going until gets too bad then we can pull over and make camp." April said.

"I don't know why sensei wanted us to take this trip." Mikey complained. "Cold blooded turtles and snow don't mix!"

"Master Splinter said that we needed to train to get in touch with our spiritual side." Donnie explained.

"Since you guys are severely lacking in it." Venus snickered.

"Says the gifted shinobi." Donnie retorted and received a glare from Venus.

"I'm pretty sure he wanted to get rid of us so he could spend some time with Elizabeth." Yuuki said.

"He's going to spoil her rotten." Mona replied.

"Plus, there's something I've always wanted to see. Maybe tonight we'll get that chance." Donnie replied.

"What is it?" Venus asked him.

"I'm not telling." Donnie smiled. Mikey looked out the window, watching the trees pass by.

"Not a streetlight in sight." He pointed out.

"Well, we're far out in the woods. There's no electricity for miles, only nature." Donnie said. Mikey's eyes widened.

"N-No electricity?! But what about TV!?" He shouted.

"Mikey, will you sit down and be quiet." Alopex hissed. Mikey turned to her, seeing Alopex sitting beside him looking out the other window, silently.

"So, what's the story, Ali? Why so, you know?" Mikey asked, again. Alopex glanced over at him.

"No, I don't know. Why so what, Michelangelo?" Alopex asked.

"Snappy?" Mikey answered. Alopex's eyes widened.

"Snappy!? Is that what you call it my unhappiness? Let me tell you one thing, Michelangelo. You don't have a clue as to what I am feeling. To what I'm ever feeling. To go what I go through. You never do. You're so wrapped up in your adventures, in your brothers, in yourself." Alopex said.

"You don't mean that." Mikey replied.

"I most certainly do." Alopex said before she noticed Yuuki, looking at her in the seat in front of her. "Yuuki, are you eavesdropping?" Yuuki quickly looked away, looking out the window.

"Uh, look I think there's a deer over there!" Yuuki shouted. "You see it, right, Leo?"

"Huh?" He looked at her confused for a moment. "Um, no, I didn't." Yuuki turned back to him to see Leo lost in his own thoughts. Leo has been acting weird for almost a month now. He's been so quiet, angry, more tense, and withdrawn from everyone and her. She hated seeing him like this. Yuuki reached over and placed her hand on top of Leo's, who squeezed it gently before letting go.

"Casey, watch it with the map. I could have hit that "deer." April said annoyed.

"I didn't see any deer, April." Casey replied, confused. April sighed.

"Say, April, so what's our destination for tonight?" Raph asked. April pulled over the side of the road.

"I'm not sure. I'll take a look at the map. Hmm, well, I think we're right about here." April said as her and Casey were looking over the map. Donnie's eyes widened when he saw another car coming up behind the van.

"Guys, someone's coming!" Donnie shouted. The turtles, along with Venus, Mona, and Alopex pulled up their hoods, covering their faces. The truck rolled up, stopping on the side of the van, rolling down the widow. There was an old man wearing, brown coat and hat and a younger man in the driver's seat beside him.

"Is everything alright, miss?" The man asked her.

"Everything's alright, sir. We've pulled over to take a look at the map." April smiled.

"That's good to hear. Traffic's mighty think up here. So's the services. Always a good idea to check and make sure the next fella's doing alright." The man said.

"We certainly appreciate, sir." April replied.

"You all have a safe trip. Let's go son." The man nodded. Mikey pulled his hood down when he saw the truck drove away.

"Mikey, what are you doing? They're not out of sight yet!" Donnie hissed.

"Sure they are. Nothing to worry about." Mikey replied. A little boy popped up from the back seat of the truck and their eyes widen shock when they saw Mikey as the truck drove away.

"Speaking of worrying, where are we going to spend the night?" Venus asked.

"Well, this looks like a good spot...to camp." April answered and stepped out of the van. The others stepped out as well, grabbing their bags and tents from the back of the van. They walked along a marked trail, leading to another campsite.

"Camp? Again? Couldn't we find a nice hotel instead?" Raph asked.

"Yeah! I need TV! And a pool and a view." Mikey agreed as well.

"A view? You guys want a view? How's this?" April smiled. Everyone gasped in awe as they saw beautiful streams of colors lit up the sky, flowing and shifting as they moved.

"The Aurora Borealis, The northern lights! So cool!" Donnie shouted. "This is it! This is what I was telling you about earlier! Isn't amazing!"

"Definitely, Donnie!" Venus grinned as well.

"Yeah, right. I think I'll go for a walk." Alopex replied. Mikey saw Alopex walking away while the others continued to watch the Borealis. He quickly chased after her.

"Alopex, wait up!" Mikey called out to Alopex and grabbed her shoulder, stopping her. "Talk to me. What's going on?" Alopex sighed, looking down to the ground, not looking at him.

"What's going is...is I'm feeling like I'm just being carried along on your currents on whatever it is you and your brothers feel like doing." Alopex answered. Mikey blinked in confusion.

"But I thought you enjoyed-"

"Thought? That's just it, Mikey. You think you know what I like but when was the last time you asked me what I wanted to do? Or even what I'm feeling?" Alopex said.

"I did last night! Right before you snapped at me!" Mikey shouted. "What has gotten into you?" Before Alopex could answer him, Alopex heard a low howl in the distance, deep in the forest. She quickly snapped her head back towards the sound.

"What was that?"

"What's what?" Mikey asked.

"That...that howling, off in the distance. Similar, yet different." Alopex murmured, softly.

"Ali, you're not making any sense. I don't hear anything." Mikey said.

"I wouldn't expect you to." Alopex ran off.

"Wait! Where are you going? Don't just run off like that!" Mikey shouted for her to come back.

"Mikey, what's going on?" Donnie asked as he, Venus and Yuuki and Leo ran over to Mikey when they heard him, shouting.

"Guys, she bolted. I don't know what it is she thinks she heard but...but I wish I knew what was going on inside her head." Mikey said.

"Well, let's find her before we lose her." Yuuki said. They quickly followed after Alopex, searching the ground for her tracks.

"Looks like she turned off here." Donnie said. Mikey followed them further and saw Alopex up ahead of him.

"There she is, up ahead!" Mikey shouted as he saw her. "Ali, what-" He stopped when he saw Alopex on all fours on the ground, staring into the woods in a deep daze, quietly. She didn't even respond when Mikey approached her. "What are you doing? Yoohoo, Ali, anybody home?" He waved his hand in front of her face. Alopex gently pushed it away.

"Mikey, be quiet, and look." She shushed him and gestured to where she was pointing at. "Over there in the darkness. Don't you see them. Watching us?" Mikey's eyes widen and he let out a small squeak when he saw several glowing yellow eyes staring back at him and Alopex in the darkness. Donnie and Venus, along with Yuuki and Leo caught up to them and stopped in their tracks as well when they many wolves stepping out of the woods.

"Wolves!" Donnie exclaimed.

"And they've got us totally surrounded!" Mikey shouted. "Oh, shell." A large wolf slowly began to approach them, inching closer to Alopex.

"Let's back away slowly but keep your eyes on them." Donnie whispered. Alopex shook her head.

"No."

"No, what do you mean "no"?" Donnie questioned in disbelief.

"Donnie's right. Ali, we've got to get outta here." Mikey said.

"No."

"Ali, we gotta go!" Mikey shouted.

"Mikey, shut up." Alopex snapped, not taking her eyes off the larger wolf in front her. "The alpha wolf's trying to tell me something. Something in his eyes. Someone's coming."

"Incoming!" Raph shouted. He charged out of the woods with his sais drawn. His eyes widen, seeing the wolves in front of him. "Whoa." April and Casey along with Mona came out and stopped in shock seeing all of the wolves as well.

"Oh my gosh. Look at all the wolves!" April exclaimed.

"Hold it! Don't come any closer. We have a delicate situation here." Donnie said, softly telling the rest of them to back off, slowly.

"Indeed." Everyone froze as they heard a deep voice answer, growling.

"Whoa." Venus murmured in shock.

"When the alpha tried to tell me someone was coming, I thought he meant you guys, not..." Alopex paused.

"Not me?" Everyone saw a huge humanoid wolf towered over them, standing on the rocks above. He narrowed his eyes glaring looking at everyone, one by one. "I am Mokoshan. This is my land and you; you are trespassers here. And we greet trespassers with DEATH!"