back to Yoshi
The pain was unbearable. It gnawed at me, deep in my bones, in my skin, in the very essence of my being. My hands—no, not hands anymore—clawed at the filth-covered stone floor, my breath coming in ragged gasps. My body was foreign to me, my limbs elongated, my face stretched forward, whiskers brushing against the damp air.
...
The darkness of the sewers wrapped around me like a burial shroud. My breath was ragged, each exhale a struggle against the crushing weight of exhaustion. The pain in my body had dulled into a constant throb, a cruel reminder that I was still alive.
Alive.
For what?
Shen was gone. My beloved, my heart, my reason for fighting—gone. I had held her in my arms as the life drained from her, powerless to stop it. The warmth of her fading body still clung to my soul, and I wished—oh, how I wished—I could return to that moment, just to hold her a little longer.
I pressed my back against the cold stone wall, gripping my sides as I tried to steady my trembling breaths. My hands—no, my claws—felt foreign to me. Everything about my body was wrong. I had become something unnatural, something monstrous.
I couldn't stay here, no matter how much I wanted to rest I had to keep moving.
I turned my hideous, dirty form to the 5 new tiny creatures beside me all of whom were passed out likely due to the pain of their transformations to the beings they were now. The creatures were humanoid in shape but were not quite human as they had three fingers and three toes while also having turtle features like shells.
I hoisted myself up using the wall as my leverage before finding some big dirty old rag to pick them up and carry them, Shen had told me to take care of them so I wouldn't, no couldn't leave them here to fend for themselves.
"I am here," I murmured, my voice hoarse and foreign. "I will keep you safe."
...
Hamato Yoshi had always been a warrior. He had trained his body and mind to withstand pain, to endure hardship, to fight when others would surrender. But this—this was a different kind of battle.
There were no enemies he could strike down, no opponent to defeat. His greatest enemy now was the despair threatening to consume him.
Shen was gone. And now, in the depths of the sewers, he was alone.
No, not alone. He had them.
The five little ones clung to him, their small hands grasping at his fur in their slumber. They didn't understand the weight of their loss. Not yet.
But Yoshi did. And it crushed him.
He clenched his jaw, blood matted his fur, his muscles trembled from exertion, and exhaustion loomed over him like a specter.
But he could not stop.
If he stopped, they would find him.
If he stopped, the turtles would be vulnerable.
And he had already lost too much.
With a deep, shaking breath, he forced himself to move. He had to be strong for them.
Even when he felt like breaking.
Even when he had already broken.
...
We wandered through the sewers for what felt like hours, because it had been, My muscles screamed with each step, my breathing shallow and pained, but I could not stop.
The tunnels twisted and stretched endlessly in every direction, darkness swallowing the dim, flickering light of my path. Water dripped from above, the echoes of the city above distant and muffled.
The turtles still hadn't woken up but they were still breathing so while I was concerned I could only amount it to them being young and weak so they would remain unconscious for longer
I had to find shelter. A place where we could hide, where I could keep them safe. I had no plan, no idea of where to go, but I had to move.
I gathered their sleeping bodies close, whispering reassurances I wasn't sure I believed. I led them through the tunnels, every step a struggle against the weight pressing down on my chest. My legs threatened to give out beneath me, but I pushed forward.
The world above was no longer safe for us. The Utrom would be hunting me, and if they found me, they would find my new family.
I would not allow that.
More hours passed—I was not sure how many. Time had lost all meaning. The tunnels twisted and turned, an endless labyrinth of filth and decay. My strength wavered, my vision blurred, but I pressed on.
Then, finally, I found it.
The perfect place
A broken-down subway station.
Old, abandoned, forgotten. The walls were lined with shattered tiles, and the tracks had long since been overtaken by debris and grime. The air was heavy with dust and mildew, but the space was large, isolated, and most of all
Safe.
I took a cautious step forward, my senses on high alert.
"It will do," I whispered, more to myself than to them.
Relief threatened to overwhelm me, but I could not allow it to take hold. Not yet.
I moved carefully, scanning the area for any sign of danger. The station had been abandoned for years perhaps decades. Crumbling benches lined the platform, and rusted turnstiles stood frozen in time. Old posters clung desperately to the walls, their colors long faded.
A home.
It would become a home.
I would try my hardest for it to be one.
I lowered myself to the ground, my body finally giving in to exhaustion. The turtles close, their tiny forms pressing into my sides. I placed a hand on each of them, grounding myself in their warmth.
For the first time since I had fled, since I had lost everything, I allowed my eyes to close.
I did not sleep.
But for a brief moment, I allowed myself to rest.
...
At first, there was only silence.
The five small turtles pressed close to Yoshi's sides, their bodies warm and alive. They had been restless at first, shifting and shuffling against his fur. Their soft breathing in sleep comforting.
Yoshi did not move. He did not sleep.
He only lay there, staring at the darkness, his mind a storm of grief and rage and disbelief.
Everything had happened so fast. One moment, he had been a man—just a man, going to work, saying goodbye to his wife, living his life. And then… nothing. That life was gone.
Shen was gone.
His fingers curled into the cold floor.
He had not even had the chance to bury her.
The weight of it was suffocating. He had been running for so long, pushing forward, focusing only on survival. There had been no time to grieve, no time to stop and feel. But now, in the quiet, with his children safe beside him, there was nothing left to hold it back.
A sharp, broken sob tore from his throat.
His body trembled, his breath hitching, his vision blurring with tears he had refused to shed. He clamped a hand over his mouth, but it did not stop the sound. The dam had burst. His shoulders heaved as the anguish overtook him, the pain he had buried now ripping its way to the surface.
He had failed.
He had failed to protect her.
He had failed to stay human.
He had failed.
A choked gasp left him, raw and ragged. His claws dug into his arms as if trying to ground himself as if trying to contain the emotions threatening to tear him apart. But there was no containing it.
Not anymore.
He wept.
Not quietly. Not with restraint.
He wept with everything inside of him, with all the pain and rage and sorrow that had been festering, unspoken, in his heart. His body curled inward, his forehead pressing to the cold stone floor, his tears soaking into the dust.
The turtles stirred at the sound. One of them—Antonello—shifted in his sleep, letting out a tiny murmur before instinctively reaching for Yoshi's arm. His little fingers curled around the fur, his grip weak but certain.
Yoshi did not move.
He only wept.
For his wife.
For himself.
For what had been stolen from them.
And for what was left
A lone rat and his cubs
Authors Note:
Well ok I said bi-weekly on a Sunday so technically I'm not late really I was just literal
I swear there will be an update on a Friday again I'm just really lazy and forgetful
I won't change the day to Sunday cause I know I'll just miss it and I'll be dead before you find me posting on Tuesdays or Mondays
ok now how did you find the chapter I tried emotions for this one so lemme know if they landed and all
leave suggestions and reviews if you want
also, let me know if I made any mistakes I didn't really edit this chapter much so there might be errors
anyway...
Bye.