Soulbound (TMNT '16) ❪✓❫

Kri's Past

Raphael knows Kri is here for a reason as well as the wolf, cheetah, and bear. He never knew why the white tiger was here in the first place and it was still a long walk back to camp, so he asked. "How did you end up here?" His eyes see the white tiger looking up to him.

"What?" Kri said quickly.

"Your past," Raph said. "Why did you become the way you are?"

"A tiger or a misbehaved girl?"

Raphael shrugged.

Kri sighed when she looks back to the front of the line. She can hear the sirens blare as the flashback settled.

****

Kri's Flashback

I was a very mischevious person. When age fifteen rolled around, my mind went odd track for an education in school.

My mother always said you become what you hang out with or what you watch because it sort of grows on you. How is that so?

Well... My courageous personality always got me in trouble. Kids from school were able to get me to steal, vandalize, and harass.

When I began to hang out with this group of kids, they encouraged me to do these bad things so I can be an official member of the group. We smoked, fought for fun, cackled at the weak. And I always brought it home for my father and mother to deal with.

Swearing in almost every sentence, not cleaning my room, skipping classes and just not following rules. Dad always told me to be a leader, not a follower or else you'll be in deep crap.

To start off... I had brown hair at shoulder length, light skin, lived in a warm state called Arizona. It snowed sometimes during the winter. I enjoyed swimming, friends, writing and being alone sometimes.

There was fantastic Friday night and I regret what I did. I learned that I couldn't trust those group of people ever again, they ditched me in that store. We were messing around in the Kmart, making fun of people for how they looked, deriding shoes and clothes and soon ran into the electronic aisle.

"Kristen, take the phone." One of the group members nudges my shoulder. I thought they were joking around.

Another teen came to my left to say, "Take the phone or you're outta the group." He snarled quietly as I lightly flinched and looked at the brand new version of this Apple phone.

This didn't feel right at all, but I would do anything to stay with these guys. So I slowly bring my hand out in front of me to reach out to this device still inside its secured box.

A girl snickered, a boy smiled, and the leader of my "friends" said, "Now walk out the store."

"But, don't I have to pay for this?" I asked him. His eyes are evil, not well-behaved, he didn't care if I got into trouble. The guy wanted to see if I was bad enough to be in his little gang.

"Walk out the door, Kristen." He growled under his breath.

I sighed, now holding the phone in both hands, surrounded by my small audience. Since I was already wearing a jacket, my idea was to hide this expensive object under my clothing and walk out without any suspicion in my eyes.

Deep breath. In and out through the mouth and nose until I finally started to focus my eyes on the exit.

The phone is in my jacket at this time, the group stays behind, watching as I kept an eye out for any employees.

"You got a lot of courage, Kristen." Laughed the leader of troubled kids.

I didn't look back, just stared at my path to the sliding doors. I'm almost there, slightly smirking as I passed by two Kmart workers and didn't suspect anything from me. The doors are feet ahead of me, nearly there, my ticket to being in the group is so close to the puncher.

I thought I was gonna make it... But...

"She stole a phone! That girl is shoplifting!" The leader yelled pointing a finger at me, making a scene for employees. Shoppers and workers snap their heads to me, that's when I ran out the automatic doors with the Apple phone.

"Get the police on the phone!" A female worker cried as I sprinted through the parking lot.

Within seconds, sirens sounded blocks away from Kmart. I know I'm gonna get in huge trouble tonight. Hearing the magical sound if the police was a real eye-opener when I stole a phone that day. I realized what I did wrong hurt people.

I was caught minutes after I ran from the store. The cops fired who knows how many volts into my back so I'll stop running. My mouth didn't know how to shut up so I swore, fought, did what I could to escape. It only made the situation worse.

Cops took me in, parents didn't bail me because they thought I could use a timeout. Stayed the night in the police stations behind bars.

And hours later when I fell asleep on those disgusting jail beds, I woke up like this.

A white tiger.

****

"Woke up by the waterfall one morning," Kri said. "I didn't know what to do or think."

Raphael was amazed at Kri's past. He never knew she should do so much to hurt people and destroy herself by joining a group of nasties. "That's ... I'm actually having a hard time believing that." Raph cleared his throat after saying his sentence.

"It's true, Raph." The tiger said looking up at him. She wished she could go back in time to change her decision and make things right. Kri wanted to redo everything bad she has done in her life. She wanted to apologize to her parents, hug and kiss them to show she will be back to her normal self and focus on school to get her education.

All she wants now is to be out of this wildcat body and back home. Not just with her family in a house, but with someone she has grown a great bond with. Raphael is that someone. She doesn't care if he is a tall mutant turtle from New York and lives in the sewers, she had deep feelings for him.

These feelings have been growing for quite a while and wanted to grant her own wish by letting him know how she feels.

"Raph," she started as he turned his head down to her. "Thank you for everything you've done since you arrived here."

"W-What I've done?" He raised an eyebrow ridge.

The white tiger nodded. "For being my friend. A proper friend because I never had any real good friends when I was human. Griz, Shado, and Hawk are my friends, but you're someone that walks on two legs." She laughed inside her head.

Raphael chuckled and roughed up the back of Kri's striped neck saying it was his best role. The best role of being a friend to someone that needed it the most.

Cats come to someone when they feel like it, not when they're told.

If Raph told Kri to come to him, she was there in a split.