Refuse to be Broken

Prologue/Trailer

...OKAY, SO THE PIC IS KINDA WEIRD, BUT THE SONG IS AWESOME, AND IT KINDA REPRESENTS ASAMI'S MANTRA TO SURVIVE WHAT'S COMING...ISH.

MWAHAHAHA!!! SO SORRY, ASAMI...

I WILL ADMIT, I'VE KINDA WANTED TO DO THIS FOR A BIT. IT'S JUST ONE OF THOSE THINGS THAT YOU'RE LIKE 'HOW WELL COULD I WRITE THIS OUT?', YOU KNOW? SO...HERE THIS IS.

I GIVE CREDIT TO MIKELL FOR THE IDEA OF KARAI SELLING THE HAMATOS TO VARIOUS INSANE BUYERS. PLEASE CHECK THEM OUT. I AM SERIOUSLY HUMBLED BY THEIR PROWESS ON THIS SITE. HER SERIES 'MIKEY IN LOVE' (DON'T KNOW IF THERE IS AN OFFICIAL TITLE, BUT THAT'S THE TITLE OF THE FIRST BOOK IN THAT SERIES) IS UTTERLY ASTOUNDING AND REALISTIC. YOU GO, MIKELL! BTW, MIKELL IS ON FANFICTION.NET, NOT WATTPAD, KAY?

ANYWHO, THIS STORY IS SET DURING THE PERIOD IN THE 2003 TURTLES WHERE KARAI IS UTTERLY HELL-BENT ON DESTROYING THE TURTLES. LET'S JUST ASSUME LEO'S DIRE WARNING DIDN'T QUITE STICK AS WELL AS HE'D HOPED FOR THE SAKE OF THIS STORY, KAY? OH, AND ANY WORDS THAT LOOK LIKE GIBBERISH OR JAPANESE THAT AREN'T TRANSLATED ARE NAUGHTY WORDS THAT ASAMI USES HER NATIVE TONGUE FOR, ALRIGHT? SO, NO TRANSLATIONS?

GOD BLESS AND GOOD DAY!

~THE LUPINE SOJOURNER

The first thing I felt was groggy. Groggy and filled with hot, prickly sand. I swallowed, but it seemed my mouth was filled with cotton, and not a drop slid down my throat. I took a breath. My throat usually felt dried out in the morning. I breath through my mouth in my sleep, after all. The tingly sensation all over intensified as I tried to sit up. I swallowed again and groaned as I lay back down, my head suddenly swimming. Then, I stopped.

That's not my mattress beneath me. And...there's a breeze in my bedroom?

My eyes snapped open. I found myself staring at a clear blue sky. I was out in a yard.

Are we at the farmhouse? I mused inwardly. No...this is different. I stand and stretch, slightly perturbed when the movements come off jerky. What the shell? Regardless, I had to get out of here. So, naturally, I took off for the woods.

Or, I wanted to. I didn't get more than five paces before there was a jerking, impossibly tight pressure in a band around my neck. I strained against it, despite the lack of air, but it snapped me back. I landed heavily on my back in the yard. I finger my now inflamed and smarting neck, and-

Oh, no. Oh...no. No, no, no! There is a collar on my neck?! Nantekotta i?! All of a sudden, there's a deep, throaty chuckle from behind me.

"Well, well, Isao. Our guest is awake." The voice was cool, smooth, almost too smooth. Japanese, clearly. I whirl, pulling on the collar. The man before me is so obviously Japanese, he may as well be in a ninja film. Long, straight black hair...square jaw, high cheekbones, piercing brown eyes. Not that it matters, as long as I get out of here. I start slightly when I see a large, wolf-like dog beside him. That might set my escape back a bit...

"Get this off." I growl, pulling at the collar again. "Now." His laughter halts. He looks at me, startled.

"Your previous owner warned me that you were intelligent, but...well...not this intelligent."

"Dare ni tsuite hanashi teru no? (Who are you talking about?)" I hiss, voice raspy from the jerk backwards, in a prideful need to prove my intelligence. The man starts, but regains composure quickly.

"Watashi wa, anata ga shitte iru to omoubekidesu. Kanojo wa anata ga saigo ni shoyū shite imashita. (I should think you know. She owned you last.)" I narrow my eyes, but inwardly, I am beginning to panic.

Karai...Don was out for a dump run. Said he needed parts for a new model of the Shell-Cell, and...he didn't come back. We...we tracked his signal, but an abandoned alleyway as all that greeted us. What was I thinking, practically turning myself over to Karai like that, looking for him? I'd do it over again, but still...

"Watashi wa dare ga shoyū shite imasu. (I am owned by no one.)" I growl, refusing to let this madman see the fear his words wrought. I am strong. I am a kunoichi. "I am warning you." I snap, returning to English. "When my family finds me, and they will...it won't be pretty." Again, the man laughs. I can't help but feel like it's smothering me, dampening something in me. I shiver subtly. The dog growls. The man scratches under it's neck, and it settles again.

"And just how are they to find you?" He smiles like he knows far more than I do, and I hate to admit that he does. After I was...taken, I didn't hear much about Karai's plans, but it was obvious the Foot wanted me out of their hair quickly.

"They always do." I can't tell who I want to convince of that more; myself or the man before me.

"Is that so?" There's laughter, mocking, in his voice. I narrow my eyes.

"Yes."

"I do believe it would be a very impressive feat. Karai took several...precautions in this arrangement. I was expecting a kame, you know."

"So sorry to disappoint." I snap. The man glares at me, pressing something balanced on his thighs I can't see. Electricity surges painfully through me, and I collapse, wriggling and writhing as the shock intensifies for a few seconds. Then, it is over, and I collapse, coughing and panting, my muscles contracting and relaxing with a mind of their own as the electricity wears off. So the collar isn't just for fashion and restraint. I grumble inwardly. It packs a punch.

"I would advice against that in future. Next sign of disobedience or disrespect, and you go to the barn for...treatment." His voice is icy, low, and dangerous, and it's all I can do not to flinch back at the clear violent threat behind the promise of 'treatment'. "As I was saying...you are...based in New York City. Thus, it is highly unlikely that your so-called 'family' will ever see you again." He continues, as if nothing had interrupted him, as if the answer should be obvious.

"What aren't you telling me?" I demand, slowly rising to my knees. The man laughs.

"My dear observant Okami...just where do you think we are, that you would be so easily found?" He asks rhetorically, menacing laughter and silky poisoned sweetness to his words. "We are at my mansion in Wintergreen, Virginia." I pale, but refuse to let my expression change.

"You're lying." I hiss automatically, but there is no deceit in his scent. The man shakes his head.

"I assure you, I am not. I hardly leave, with the dogs to care for, but you—though you are not the kame I was expecting—are well worth the trip, and the money." I take a breath to ease the light-headedness I currently feel. I am the daughter of a ninja clan leader. I am Hamato Asami. I am a well-trained kunoichi. I can overcome this. I can and I will see my family again, despite what Mr. Creepy says. Either the others will find me, or I will get back home somehow. Those are the only two options. "Now, as you can see...I have a lot of land for you to explore...as soon as you are...trained." I narrow my eyes. He meant to break me, make me bow and scrape before him like the wolf beside him. No matter what, he would not accomplish that goal. I had a mission; escape and somehow make it back home. Once I was away, I would somehow get in contact with the others, but first things first, I suppose.

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"What is that?" I demand sourly, as the man places a dog bowl filled with foul smelling gunk a few feet away from me, backing out of my range before I could have made a move. He laughs.

"Your food." I recoil slightly.

"You expect me to eat that?!" I bark before I could contain myself. A shock bursts through my body again, and I slump to the ground. The man leans forward.

"You will do as I say, without further complaint. " He snarled. "Now, enjoy your dinner." I rasped for breath, but sat back up defiantly.

"No." I did have a bit of pride and sense left in me, after all...that is soon wiped from my thoughts as electricity such as I hadn't felt before lurges into my system, and all is lost to darkness.