Moonlight Mutation (A TMNT Fanfic)

Chapter 1: Destiny

Art does not belong to me! If someone knows the artist, please let me know so that I can credit them properly!

A few early morning stragglers wander by on the sidewalk, some holding phones to their ears and others anxiously flitting their gaze to the watches on their wrists. A man in a long, tan coat nearly sprints past an alleyway, a briefcase clutched tightly in his hand and his forehead creased with worry. He doesn't notice the pair of stark green eyes peering out at him from the gloom.

Noting the empty street, a young figure emerges from her hiding spot just long enough to take a deep inhale through her nose. Her eyes seem to glow as she lifts them to the sky, taking in the soft blue of the oncoming day.

Her fluffy black tail flicks as her pointed wolf ears swivel around, every muscle absolutely rigid. A siren wails in the distance. A few birds chirp. A voice rings out from a few blocks away, saying something that sounds like, "Ella, did you get the paper?!"

She ignores all the noises, finally relaxing her shoulders as she slips back into the alley. Nothing—or no one—found her. She's safe for another day.

She spins around and races towards the dead end of the alleyway. At the very end, she bunches her legs and leaps upwards, claws emerging from her fingernails just as she latches her grip onto a loose brick. She shifts her weight, her tail flicks sideways, her eyes dart from to and fro, and she throws one arm up to the next hold and hauls her body upwards as her feet find their own resting spots. With a few more quick hops, she reaches the building edge. Thrusting her arm up and over the ledge, she grits her teeth and swings her lower half onto the rooftop, landing on the gravel with a soft thump.

She gets to her feet, brushing off the tattered shirt hanging off her pubescent body and picking loose pebbles from the heels of her hands. She looks around again, tensing her muscles in preparation. She inhales again, her sensitive nose filling with the melting pot of scents all around her.

Constant vigilance is the only way she remains hidden. Keep an eye out, remain alert, never let your guard down.

Confirming the lack of spectators, she turns and takes off across the rooftops, arms swinging rhythmically by her sides as she pushes herself to go faster. As she runs, she feels herself grow more and more filled with pounding adrenaline as a different need floods through her.

She reaches a gap between two buildings, her pace never slowing. At the very edge, she shoves off and curls her body forward, flipping head over heels before straightening out and landing shakily on the other side. A wicked smile lifts her cheeks as she continuing along her path.

A water tower looms before her and she wastes no time in leaping up and grasping the ridge running all around its base, claws still extended so as to give her maximum grip. She flicks her tail and propels herself off the tower in another direction. She keeps running, chest heaving, muscles stretching and pulling with every move. Home is near. She can smell it.

It's nights like this that make her feel like she could be a ninja, like in those movies she sees playing in the windows she passes by.

She touches down on a final rooftop, skidding to a stop and staining her tattered black runners with dust. The space is empty save for a sizeable pile of wood and old pallets stacked up in one corner. The wolf girl sets her eyes on that pile, stalking towards it as she breathes in the scent of the air. A cool wind rustles her loose brown curls.

No foreign smells reach her, settling the rapid beating of her heart minimally. She reaches towards the pile and pries a rather wide plank of wood away, revealing an open space just large enough for a teenage girl to crawl through.