Dragon's Ninpo Trust [Rottmnt Side story]

The Doomed Curse

"Shredder seeks to extract Hamato Yoshi's essence like he tried with me."

"To do that, he would need to harness the very source of yokai power...Empyrean. You can only find that in the most sacred place in all of the Hidden City... the Crying Titan."

Rin had heard what Big Mama said. She remembered those two words that raced in her mind: Empyrean, a glowing substance, and The Crying Titan. She knew it was the place they needed to go. Big Mama had sent her roaches to keep an eye on them but they didn't want to leave her like this. Rin told the roaches they'll see her again soon. Rin can sense it was almost the time to head to the Crying Titan.

The others, Ikioi, April O'Neil and Yinu Baron followed Rin outside the Nexus Hotel. The hotel had been trashed completely as they walked by. "I wonder what she means Empyrean and Crying Titan?" April asked Rin.

Rin still thought about Big Mama's words. "She said that we need to head over to the Crying Titan and find where The Foot clan is."

The cold air breezed over her hair as she felt the strangeness tingle her spine. As if the world had stood still, the world seemed dark. She thought about that demon who had killed Karai. That demon could not only change, he can transform, turn and manipulate the world of his own dark demise. Even though that the Hamato lied to them, they sure are good as-

"Guys!" Mikey gasped, all a sudden. "I think something happened."

Rin turned to see Mikey standing over something. When she saw the stoned foot sticking out of the old draped curtain, she began to pull it out of the way. To the gang, what they saw was a statue of a yokai. The warrior had his head bowed, with his hands cupped forward with ash turned stone. Rin took a step closer, her heart racing.

"Oh...What happened here?" the Grottan sea turtle asked, staring at the statue.

"It looked like he had been turned to stone," Tomoka stated, the glitching heart in her chest pumping. Rin still wondered how it happened. It must be the Druun, she thought. But then, Manako spotted something from her view that caught her attention. "I don't think that was not the only curse that turned him to stone," she said, nervously.

The group turned their attention to Manako who started to check out. It was the landscape of the Hidden City, except it was very less lively than ever. So many purple vines had wrapped around the buildings that collapsed or decayed into dust. The giant purple crystals struck the bottom of the ground and shone dark from the ground. The sky was purple and all the mist was foggy and quite dense. Shira stared at the dark landscape. She remembered the last time Big Mama captured all the people, the crystals and vines had appeared in the city. Now it has infected the Hidden City too. Not only the sisters had first seen it, but the boys as well. Their eyes were wide with horror and fear at the sight of this curse.

"What on earth happened here?" Leo gasped, his eyes wide with fear.

"It's like the end of the world apocalypse," Donnie said. Even Raph and Mikey felt the same way.

"How did this happen?" Yinu asked Rin, the goat yokai had a worried look on her face.

"I think it must be Shredder's curse."

The others began to hear this. "Shredder's curse?" April asked. "How did you hear it?"

Rin took out her scroll that was in her bag. The roaches, Isora, Wuju, Fika, and Biter rested on her shoulders. She began to unravel the manuscript to reveal the dragon. The group leaned in close for a better look. "What do you think that is?" Reika asked, staring at the blue dragon in the scroll.

"Is this some kind of lizard thing?" Raph admitted.

Ikioi shook her head no. "It's a dragon. It's one of the Kumandran legends not so long ago." The others didn't understand what they all meant. They haven't seen any dragons in this Yokai world before. But then, Shira picked up the manuscript and looked at the beautiful dragon. For the first time in her life, she was filled with hope and trust when a voice in her head spoke.

"I trust you...."

Shira looked up and saw something in the town. Whatever is calling her, her instincts tell her to go see and what it is. She sprouted out her wings and flew off. "Hey. Shira, where are you going?" Leo asked, taking the notice. "Hey sis!" Manako cried. "Wait!"

The others started to chase after Shira and to the city below.

*****

After a few minutes, Shira flew over to the main statue in the square. The statue was a dragon holding a crystal ball in its hand. Its eyes were closed blissfully. Encircling around it were water like waves surrounding the dragon. Shira stared at the dragon as she flew around it, just as her friends arrived. "Shira," Donnie panted, gasping for air, "you had us running to come here. Why did you run off?"

"Guys, I think that dragon is just like the manuscript." Shira explained. She flew back down as the others stared at the dragon statue.

"This hasn't been here before," Raph said.

"That's because it was real," Ikioi said. Everyone turned to Ikioi with amazed wonder in their eyes.

"You mean. Dragons are real?!" Mikey shrieked, his baby blue eyes wide with brightness.

"Of course," Ikioi said before her joy was drained out. "But all the dragons had been turned to stone by the Druun. Instead of life, they turn everything into ash and stone."

"Dragons are consumed by darkness?" Manako gasped.

"It is true," the snake yokai said. "But these dragons are trustful and they trusted us inside."

Rin looked over to see that the path had been closed by Druun clouds. One touch of the Druun and they are done for. "We can't get over to the Titan with all these Druun clouds blocking our path."

"How are we gonna get there?" Donnie yelled.

"Calm down, Don," Tomoka assured him. "You'll get stressed."

"It's difficult but we need to find a way to get through," Rin said.

All of a sudden, the Dragon's statues slip open and reveal pink lights from its eyes. The gem shined bright as it showed them the way. Tiny lights, wisps started to appear making a path for them. Rin and the others stare as the wisp whisper and echo.

"What are they doing?" April asked, staring at the glowing lights.

"I think they want us to follow them," Rin spoke. "They are showing us a way to get to the Crying Titan."

"Oh boy," Shira cheered. "It's a blessing of the Dragon's trust. Sea Monarchs seemed to know what we were doing."

"Come on, team," Raph announced. "Let's go save Pops and Draxum!"

Rin felt a new courage inside her. She and the others started to follow the wisps as the hissing of the cloudy Druun echoed in the dark night.