Chapter Text
It was a cloudy afternoon when Baron Draxum arrived at the Hamato estate. The sky darkened from the gently rumbling clouds, the winds starting to pick up and gaining more momentum as the night slowly creeped into the horizon. Splinter dusts off his engawa veranda with an old broom, hoping to prevent the incoming swarm of leaves when he noticed the robed goat man approach.
“Draxum” Splinter grumbled out in greeting. His eyes squinting at the tall figure ahead of him, his eyesight had always been a bit of a problem. Being a rat had its ups and downs. For example, being pretty much blind and three-foot five in height were the downs.
“Yoshi” the impatient baron huffed out.
“To what do I owe the displeasure?” Splinter questions with frustration at the goat, disgruntled with the fact the other alpha ever had the audacity to speak to him. Despite the on-coming news he had been waiting for. He held the broom close to his side, his posture uncomfortable.
“I know you know why I am here; you’re being put in the charge of four Hamato orphans” the Baron curtly says, getting straight to the point.
Splinter knew it would come eventually, he knew the Hamato clan spread far and wide; despite not being related. The Hamato clan to put simply were a clan of mystic warriors. While himself could tap into the clan power, he crumbled under the weight of his supposed destiny. Instead choosing to live a secretive and humble life in a secluded village set between two cities. He felt choosing to serve the emperor and more importantly, the people; was something the rest of the clan could do without him. After all, his power wasn’t all so great anyway. But in recent times, the clan’s numbers had been dwindling, faster and faster it seemed. Which is what left him here, being told that he will now be caring for four Hamato orphans at the ripe age of thirty-nine.
Splinter sighed out and nods solemnly. Draxum straightens himself a little as a stronger gust of winds pours through the pebbled courtyard.
“When will I receive them?”
“Within the next couple of months, I will be dropping them off personally… you will be receiving the first child in the next few days, we are awaiting their arrival. They are being delivered here from all different locations, hence they will be delivered separately” the sorcerer replies bluntly. Splinter nods, more to himself rather than to the Baron. He eyes wearily down at the creaky floorboards of his porch. A harsh rumble of thunder groans overhead of the Hamato estate and the first drops of rain patter against the old slates of the tiled roof.
“I will be here”
Over the next couple days, Splinter waited anxiously for the arrival of the first child. He was fortunate that he had plenty of empty rooms in his estate, as it used to house wounded Hamato’s during the early stages of the rivalry with the Foot clan. However, overtime the estate was left forgotten to everyone but his mother, who had left it in his care since the night of her disappearance. He will admit that he had been a little slack in caring for the place like he should, he had spent the last two days frantically cleaning all the spare rooms for the future children he’ll be housing. And raising, he thought almost excitedly. Which was unexpected, considering he had been dreading the initial thought of children. But the past two days of hurriedly preparing for their arrival made Splinter realise how crippling lonely he had become. But now the thought of being a father motivated him, almost like a second chance to provide something to his clan. If he himself wouldn’t serve the clan, the least he could do is raise these children in the way of the Hamato. Whether they choose to fight or not will be their choice.
I wonder what they will be?
Splinter for the first time realised that they may not be anything like him. A simple mammal. A nervous sweat began to occur as Splinter once again begins to panic since first hearing the news. For all he knew, they could be nothing like him, species wise at least. Would these small beds be big enough? What if they larger than he initially thought-
Would they be alphas like him? Betas? Omegas? All the possibilities ran through the rat-man’s head like a barrelling steam engine. Each thought becoming more stressful than the last.
What do I need?
Splinter supposed he would have to wait and see. He surely hoped they wouldn’t be tigers or something of that category. Not that he had anything against tigers specifically, but just that cats made him nervous, for reasons he feels he doesn’t need to identify. He is a rat. We’ll leave it at that.
It was then in his anxious thoughts that he heard the footsteps of a hooved individual.
Draxum is here.
Splinter quickly stumbles out of the room to the front entrance of his Minka home, sporting all the traditional architecture of Japan. He hurriedly pulls open the sliding door to reveal the dark-robed Baron standing with an admittedly bigger than expected bundle in his arms. The first child! Splinter’s mind provides. He couldn’t see the child, not because of his poor eyesight, but simply because the child was wrapped in a thick, crimson blanket. He stood in bewilderment as the Baron began to speak.
“Good afternoon rat”
Rude.
“As you have already noticed, I am here with the first child.” The Baron then leans down to one knee to better show Splinter the now wiggling child in his arms. Splinter inched closer to peer down at the now chirping bundle. Chirping? A bird? The Baron, surprisingly gently eases the blanket away from the orphan’s face.
“He is an alligator snapper turtle, he will be turning three on the 18th of this month… he is an alpha” the sorcerer states quietly, gazing down at the young turtle in his arms. Meanwhile Splinter stood flabbergasted.
Turtles! I hadn’t even though of that!
Admittedly, Splinter was giddy at the thought of raising a turtle child, he knew only a few turtles in his time, whilst they were much, much older than him; they were all lovely individuals.
“Does he have a name?” Splinter asks out whilst the Baron gently passed the snapper into the rat’s waiting arms.
“Raphael, is what his mother had named him before she passed” the Baron bluntly states.
Splinter stared down at the hefty baby snapper in his arms and smiled. The child chirping and cooing up at him with bright green eyes, filled with wonder. His little three fingered hands reaching up for Splinter’s whiskers. His arms had small red markings near his shoulders, the sign of the small alpha’s future powers.
“Hello Raphael” Splinter whispered down to the child, who chirped in return whilst his little hands managed to get a grip on the older alpha’s yukata. Splinter could feel the rigid and sharp spikes of the child’s shell and adjusted his grip to have a firmer hold on the turtle. So that’s why the Baron wrapped him in a blanket, a thick one at that.
The Baron coughs uncomfortably and stands abruptly, startling Splinter out of his daze.
“I suppose I shall take my leave; I will be returning in the next week with the second child… which I’ve been informed is a box turtle no more than a couple days old.”
“Another turtle?!”