It was a cold winter night on the island city of New York, and tons of its most famous streets and buildings were all carefully decorated in loads of colorful light-up decorations, showing off to the world that the holiday seasons were already amongst them as pristine white snowflakes lightly fall from the dark sky above.

As of now, every one of the city's citizens were currently snuggled up in their thick and comfy blankets, having to have finished their day away with whatever special event they were celebrating in the month known as "December", with the adults cranking up their heaters and cuddling up with their loved ones while the children whom celebrate the holiday called "Christmas" laid wide awake in their equally comfy beds, eagerly awaiting for the legendary being named "Santa Claus" to come on by and drop off their listed presents underneath their colorfully decorated Christmas trees.

Well...almost everyone.

Besides the many workers that were taking their daily night shifts and the common night clubs/restaurants being opened up for anyone whom wanted to "stay up" longer, there stood a lone individual inside one of New York City's blocked alleyways, seemingly keeping an eye out on their surroundings while they scavenge around in a random dumpster, as if knowing deep down that danger can lurk by at any moment if not careful enough.

This lone individual was a mutant-rat known as "Splinter", named solely by his late master during his time of when he was just an ordinary house pet. He was currently topside in the dark snow-covered streets of N.Y.C., going from alleyway to alleyway to gather some things that were needed for his four 7-year-old mutant-turtle sons and himself---this trip being known as a "normal occurrence that would happen on an occasional basis".

But instead of finding scraps of half-eaten food or spoiled drinks spilled on top of maggot-covered garbage like he usually would find in an ordinary dumpster, he seemed to have managed to find a few that were filled almost to the brim with an array set of multiple holiday-themed goods, some of which even still being in their equally themed containers fresh and ready to be eaten.

'It appears that luck is on our side tonight,' Splinter says in his thoughts, smiling to himself at the sight before him as he examines each and every food item before putting it away into an old brown-colored picnic basket.

15-20 minutes later...

After successfully gathering enough food from the few bountiful dumpsters that sat in the alleyway that he was currently standing in, Splinter then finally began making his way back towards the nearby manhole that he had previously climbed out of, seemingly content with what he had managed to collect.

But before he could even lift up the manhole cover to jump down into the sewers that led to his home, a loud cough was then heard from behind him, making Splinter quickly jump into the shadows to take cover as he looked over towards the entrance of where the said sound had came from, holding his breath to keep silent.

Once he heard the soft crunching of shoes making contact with the snow coming closer and closer to where he was, Splinter then cautiously made his way up towards a dumpster that was nearby and watched the entrance from behind it, making sure to keep his guard up as he does so.

After a few seconds of waiting and listening, the being then came into his line of sight, the mutant-rats' black-colored eyes widening in slight shock.

There, standing at the entrance of the alleyway, stood a young child of no older than eight or nine-years-old, carrying behind their back a large green-colored backpack filled with whatever the child held inside of it, and wearing what appeared to be a very baggy, dark green-colored coat that had its fluffy, fur-trimmed hood shadowing the entirety of their facial features, and its ends reaching down to the middle of where their calf was. Underneath the unzipped coat was what he could guess a white-colored sweater, some dark blue-colored jeans that were tucked into some black-colored boots, black-colored half-fingerless gloves, and a long, crimson red-colored scarf that was neatly wrapped around the lower half of their shadowed face (where their mouth and nose would be) and its ends reaching down to where their knees were.

'A child?' Splinter asked in his thoughts, his expression never changing as he watched the mentioned child from where he hid, wondering as to what a child was doing out here on a cold night such as this. 'But where is their Guardian? Have that gotten separated from them?'

But as he was in the midst of his thoughts, the child then turned their head towards the direction of where Splinter was hiding, making him go on high alert and move even closer towards the shadows beside him as he continues to watch the young child from behind the dumpster, seeing that they haven't actually seen him and were just turning their head to look around at their surroundings.

'What exactly are they doing?' Splinter asks in his thoughts. 'And what could they possibly be looking for out here?'

After a few seconds of observing the young child, he then watched as they slowly began to walk into the blocked alleyway, limping and stumbling a bit here and there with each step they took. Once they arrived to the nearest dumpster, they then set their backpack down beside them on the cemented-ground and went to open up it's lid, carefully doing so in order to not create a loud disturbance for the people that could be asleep in the buildings that surround them on each side.

Once managing to lift the lid up high enough so that they can see properly, the child then goes to stand on the tips of their toes, being able to look down more properly into the dumpsters' shadowy darkness. As they looked into it, they then spot something and go to reach a half-fingerless glove-covered hand into the slightly frozen garbage, using what little light they can salvage from the lamp post at the entrance to move anything out of the way in order to get what they were after. After a few seconds of rummaging through it, the child then found the item they were looking for and carefully began pulling it out of the garbage, soon revealing it to be a large container filled to the brim with a fresh assortment of decorated Christmas-themed cookies.

'Ah, so they were scavenging for food also,' the mutant-rat says in his thoughts, his expression turning into a saddened one at the scene before him as he continued to watch the child from afar in silent pity.

After the mentioned child had successfully closed the dumpsters' lid without making a single sound, they then turned to sit down in front of the dumpster that they've just scavenged through, not saying a single word or giving off any sign of emotion towards their finding as they sat the container beside their right before going to their left to open up their bookbag, rummaging through it. Eventually, they then pulled out what looked like a dainty wet-looking cloth from inside of it, using it to wipe off the nasty gunk that was covering the container and the tips of their uncovered fingers before throwing the wipe away into one of the smaller garbage cans that weren't covered by a metal lid, grabbing another one to repeat the same steps afterwards. After that was done, they then proceeded to rip off the plastic covering on the container, before opening up the container's lid to pull out a carefully decorated cookie in the shape of a Christmas tree. They examined it for a bit, turning it to look at both sides before bringing it up to their shadowed-face to sniff at the sugary treat. Then, after confirmation, they then hesitantly took a small bite of it, once again not showing any signs of an emotional reaction as they ate in silence.

Splinter sighed mentally.

'I should probably go and let the child alone to themselves,' he says in his thoughts, being reminded of the real reason as to why he was out here as he quietly began walking back to where the manhole was, retrieving his family's picnic basket that he had left inside of an empty and soaked cardboard box located in the corner of the blocked alleyway.

But before he could once again make his leave, a loud and boisterous laugh was heard from outside of the blocked alleyway, making him pause in steps as his ears turned towards the left.

The sounds of glass breaking could be heard, along with a stray cat yowling as more laughter resonated from down the street, their five sets of shoes making their way towards where he and the young child were currently residing in.

'Bad humans.'

As the mutant-rat quickly went back into hiding, he then glances back at the child, whom had paused on their eating to show that he wasn't the only one whom had heard the intruders. He then watches as they quickly put their bitten cookie back into the container before putting the whole thing into their backpack, getting ready to run off and hide from the mentioned intruders.

Unfortunately for the child, one of the intruders that had decided to run ahead of the others, twirling around with his hands in the air while singing "Jingle Bells" off-key. He had stopped mid-spin once he spotted the child about to run off, leading for the intruder to plaster a large grin onto his flushed face as he waved a hand to call the others over.

"Hey J.C., look'ee what I found~."

The child freezes in place once his voice reached to their hidden ears, now being too late for them to run and hide to safety as the other intruders came walking up to where their comrade was, curiosity picking at their brains.

"What'd chu find, Twigz?" one of the other intruders asked, looking around with squinted eyes to see what he was talking about as the first intruder pointed a crooked finger at the stilled child, the smirk still plastered on his grimy features.

"Fresh meat~."

Once hearing what his comrade had said, the second intruder then began to grin in a devious manner, now seeing what was presented before him. "Well, well, well, look at what we have here~. A brand new toy ta' play with~."

The child flinches slightly at his words, causing for the second intruder to grin even wider as he and his comrades slowly made their way over.

"Awe~, what's the matter, small fry~? Too scared that you're gonna cry~?"

He and his comrades laughed at his small joke, finding it fun to frighten an innocent child.

But what they didn't notice, was that the child had turned around to fully face them, and had grabbed something from out of their coat's pocket. Although no one could see it, the sound of something being clicked did reached only to the hidden mutant-rats' sensitive ears, making him look over in curiosity as he catches a glance of an object that twinkled slightly in the darkness.

'Is that...a knife?' Splinter asks in his thoughts, his eyes widening in shock as he watches the child slowly move into a defensive stance, holding the mentioned knife out in front of them with their dominant hand. 'This is very bad. I'll need to intervene now before the child does something that they'll forever regret.'

But before the mutant-rat could have a chance to do so, one of the other intruders had noticed what the child was holding, and had began backing up from them in slight fear. The others, after their laughing streak, noticed the strange action and began to question their slightly rotund comrade.

"Hey, what'd chu stop laughin' for, Raze?" the first intruder asks with a raised brow.

"Da' kid's gotta kn-knife, Twigz," the third intruder answers nervously.

This made the second intruder roll his eyes at the excuse, believing that his comrade was just too drunk to notice that the child was just bluffing their bravery as he walks forward. "Oh quit being a pussy, Raze. It's just a fuckin' kid tryin' ta' act brave. They don't know nothin' 'bout using a knife. Plus, it's five ta' one, so we'll be beatin' dis punk up inta' smithereens before they'd even have the chance ta' use it."

After realizing that what he was saying was true, his comrades then went back to looking over with wide smirks as the second intruder continued to taunt the child.

"Awww~, is our new toy tryin' ta' be brave~? That's soooo~ cuuuute~. What'cha gonna do, huh, tough guy? Ya' gonna stab me ta' death?"

Then the entire crew began to laugh out loud once more at another one of the second intruder's cruel jokes, once again not noticing that the child had began to emit a "threatening aura" towards their direction as the mentioned child continued to stand in their defensive stance, this time not flinching in the slightest at the second intruder's empty threats.

Once the second intruder had stopped laughing and had realized that the child wasn't reacting to his threat, his smirk then instantly turned into a hard frown, now sensing the child's threatening aura as his comrades continued to laugh.

"The kid's a feisty one, ain't it, J.C.?" the fourth intruder says.

"Yeah, wouldn't it make a great addition to the Purple Dragons?" the fifth intruder asks, agreeing to what the fourth intruder had said as he continued. "The boss did say that we needed some new recruits, after all."

This made the second intruder scoff at the idea, finding it ridiculous that his equally drunk comrades would suggest an offer like that to someone whom they were just about to beat up as he begrudgingly nodded his head. "The kid's got guts if they're able ta' stand up against me, so...I guess we could let 'em in."

While the second intruder's comrades began to cheer loudly at the agreement, Splinter's body then flinches in hostility, having to have remembered reading about something regarding to the "Purple Dragons" in a discarded newspaper a while back as he continued to watch the scene before him, getting himself ready to pounce on the intruders when the time comes.

Once their boisterous cheering had died down to a reasonable volume, the second intruder then walked forward once more until he stood directly in front of the knife-wielding child, continuing to use that "baby voice" as if what he and his goons did earlier never occurred as he crouched down to match the child's height.

"Now, now, how's 'bout I take that dangerous weapon away from ya', yeah? That way, no one could get hurt by it. And, if you're good enough, maybe I'll even consider in lettin' ya' join in our lil' gang. How 'bout it, kid?"

But the child only continued to stay in their position, making the second intruder frown even more at the silence as he holds a hand out towards them. "Come on kid, all ya' gotta do is drop the knife in my hand and I'll let ya' join the Purple Dragons. You'll even have a roof over you're head and have a lot of dough in your pocket that'll get 'chu anything you want. Food, clothes, toys, etc. All ya' gotta do is follow the rules and do what the boss says when he calls for ya'."

But the child still didn't make a move into getting rid of the weapon that they held tightly in their dominant hand, leading for the second intruder to become frustrated by the lack of interaction as he then grabbed the child by the scruff of their scarf and pulled them closer to himself. "What're ya', stupid? I said drop the---"

But before the second intruder could even finish his sentence, the child then swung a fist at his face with the hand that wasn't holding the knife, making him let go of the child as he staggered back a few steps before falling onto his butt.

"FUCK!"

"J.C.!" the fourth intruder shouted out, rushing over with the others to where their fallen comrade was sitting as the second intruder held onto their nose in pain.

"Shit! That lil' bastard just decked me in the schnoz! Fuck, that hurts!"

While his comrades helped him into standing up from falling into the snow, the second intruder then removed his hands from his nose, noticing the large amount of blood that was now covering his hands in a crimson-red color as he looked over at the child that was getting back into their defensive stance, giving them a heated scowl while doing so.

"*growls* Ya' lil' bastard!" he shouted out, suddenly pulling out a dented pipe from somewhere tucked into the back of his pants as Splinter's eyes widen at the sight. "Come on guys, let's show dis punk what happens ta' people when they mess with one of us! Purple Dragon-style!"

"YEAH!"

That's when the others started bringing out their own weapons one by one, with the first intruder pulling out a large wrench, the third intruder pulling out a rusted crowbar, the fourth intruder pulling out a pair of (most likely stolen) nun-chucks, and the fifth intruder unwrapping a long chain that he had wrapped around his waist like a belt as they all began to advance on the child.

While getting ready for the oncoming attack, the said child then lifted their hand that held the knife up closer to their face, awaiting for one of the intruders to swing their weapons at them in full rage so that the fight could a commence.

And so they waited...

and waited...

and waited...

but the swing never came.

Seemingly confused by this, the child cautiously lowered down their dominant arm to see what was going on; only for their hidden eyes to widen in shock afterwards once they saw what was there before them.

"Don't you DARE harm this child!"

Right there, standing on its two hind legs, stood an enlarged "humanoid" rat dressed in a dark colored robe, holding out a long wooden stick at the intruders while being in a stance that seemed unfamiliar to the child as it glared at them in a threatening manner.

"WHAT DA' FUCK?!"

"HOLY SHIT! IT'S A GIANT RAT!!"

"H-HOW THE FUCK IS THAT POSSIBLE?!"

"I DON'T FUCKING KNOW MAN BUT I'M GETTING THE FUCK OUTTA HERE BEFORE IT ACTUALLY DOES SOMETHING TO US!!"

"WAY AHEAD OF YA'!"

That's when the four intruders dropped their weapons and immediately scurried off into the snowy streets of New York City, leaving for there to be only one intruder left as the second intruder watched his comrades leave with a flabbergasted look.

"H-HEY! GET BACK HERE YOU COWARDS!!" the second intruder then shouted, raising a fist and glaring angrily into the direction of where his fleeting comrades had went to as his blood continued to fall out from his nose, trickling down slowly until it began seeping into the collar of his white shirt. "IT'S JUST A FUCKIN' RAT! WE CAN STILL BEAT IT UP IF WE ALL JUST GANG UP ON IT!! HEY!!!"

But his words were ignored by his comrades, making him grit teeth with a growl. "Fuckin' pussies! Wait 'til the boss hears about this when I get back ta' base!"

After touching his nose a bit to feel how broken it was, he then turned back around to look back at the child with the same heated glare, whom was still standing behind the enlarge rat with their knife held in their dominant hand. The second intruder then lifted his dented pipe to aim it at the two in the same threatening manner, giving them one last threat for good measure.

"We'll get chu next time, ya' lil' shit! And ya' lil' rat friend too! Just chu wait and see!"

And with that, the second intruder then rushes off into the same direction, making Splinter sigh in relief as he dropped his stance while turning around to look at the child that stood behind him.

"Are you alright, young one?" he asks softly.

The child---after a few seconds of observing the enlarged rat---nodded their hood-covered head at him in response, closing the knife that they held in their half-fingerless gloved-hands into a compartment that was inside the handle as they tucked it away into their dominant arm's sleeve, making sure that it was secured inside their glove near their wrist area as they do so.

"Y-Yes. Th-Thank you...s-sir," they spoked quietly in a soft, yet raspy voice, dropping their arms back down after they were finished to look back up at the enlarged rat before them as Splinter nodded his head back at them.

"You are very welcome, young one," Splinter says to the child, giving them a small smile before asking them another question. "My apologies for asking of this, young one, but do you have anyone that I can help you get to? A relative or a guardian of sorts?"

The child only shook their hood-covered head slowly at the given question, lowering their hood-covered head to break eye contact with the enlarged rat. "N-Neither...s-sir. I'm all...b-by myself."

This sadden Splinter. "Do you...remember what had happened to you before you got here?"

Again, the child shook their head, now crossing their arms over themselves to keep warm from the cold breeze that just flew by. "N-No...s-sir. I d-do...n-not remember...wh-what had...h-happened to...m-me. Nor d-do I...r-remember...a-anything from...wh-when I...w-was y-younger."

"How long have you been living on the streets, young one?"

The child then became silent, seemingly trying to recollect of what they could remember before answering.

"A-About a...y-year n-now...I th-think..."

Then the child began to cough violently, leaving for Splinter to help them by gently patting their back as his thoughts began to wonder on what he should do.

Since being told that they were all alone and had no one to go to, he could help by leading them over to a nearby police station, where they could ask the police if they could look up and see if they have any relatives that they can go to.

There's also the option of leading them to a nearby orphanage, that way they could get properly fed and have a warm place to sleep. While living there (if they chose to, that is), they can even make friends with the other orphans and be able to go to school with them. Maybe by chance, they'll even get adopted, and they can finally have a loving family to call as their own.

Another choice would be to send the child to nearest children's hospital, as they are the only buildings opened 24/7 that would take in a child patient that is alone and potentially sick from being outside in the cold for so long, hence the violent coughing that the child was doing now.

So many scenarios that could lead to something that could lead into potential disaster if he doesn't choose wisely.

But as he was in these thoughts, a soft tug was then felt on the side of his left sleeve, making Splinter break out from his thoughts as he looked down at the child that now stood before him, their coughing fit receding for the meantime.

"W-Will we...e-ever m-meet...again?" they asked him softly, their hood-covered eyes looking over towards the area of where their backpack was before turning their head to look back up at the eyes of the enlarged rat, this time not breaking eye contact with him.

Once the child did that, however, Splinter then felt something spark from within his very soul, making his eyes slightly widen in shock at the sudden feeling as he then saw the world around him suddenly stop, the snowflakes that were starting to fall from the sky freezing into place.

Splinter knew deep down of what this had meant.

This child's life was now and forever intertwined with his, and this was his time to make the final decision.

As he was thinking over through the thoughts that he had earlier, a sudden idea then popped up from the very core of his mind, leading for him to question about it for a few seconds before focusing his mind onto just that one thought, wondering if what this could mean.

Once he had managed to grasped onto the idea, he then felt the spark once more, only this time stronger than ever as pictures of the idea suddenly flashed before his very eyes, showing him a varied few of what it could lead to if he chooses this decision.

After seeing what he needed to see, he then came to the conclusion that this idea would be his final decision.

This decision being: that he'll take the child under his wing, and raise them like as if they were one of his own alongside his adoptive-sons with the help of his guidance. Later on in time, as they get older, he will then also teach them in the Arts of Ninjitsu, that way they will be able to protect themselves and others from harm when the time comes to make their own decisions.

Once he had settled with his decision, the world then began to move again, letting the snowflakes fall down from their once stilled positions as Splinter looks back down at the child before him, giving them a soft smile.

"Indeed we will, young one. But, it will not be as sparse as you think it would," he begins to say, making the said child tilt their hood-covered head at him to show their confusion as the mutant-rat kneeled down before them, laying a gentle hand onto the child's left shoulder. "How would you like to come and live with me?"

The way how the child had flinched slightly showed that they were expressing the look of shocked, seemingly surprised by the sudden offer as they bowed their hood-covered head once more.

"I-I am...very m-much...grateful, s-sir. B-But...why?"

This made Splinter chuckle softly at the question.

"I'm afraid I do not know the answer myself, young one. But, I have a feeling that our lives were meant to be intertwined on the day that we first meet. And I believe, that our answers will be given to us at a later time."

Then he got up from kneeling and let go of the child's shoulder, walking over to where the child's backpack was as he gently picked it up, checking to make sure that it didn't get soaked from the snow. "Now, lets get ourselves out of this cold."

The child then nodded their hood-covered head, seemingly understanding on what he had meant by that as they went over to gently take their backpack from out of his grasp, putting the knife that the had in their coat pocket into the backpack before slipping it on onto both of their shoulders as they used their dominant hand to pull up their scarf a little bit more so that it covered their hidden face better from the cold breeze is that decided to pick up.

"W-What's your n-name...sir?" they asked quietly in their soft and raspy voice, their arms once again crossed over each other as they watch the freshly fallen snowflakes fall from the dark night sky, with a few landing gently onto their clothes.

"My name is "Splinter", young one," Splinter answers, smiling softly once more as he went over to grab his basket of food that he had hid once again in the cardboard box with his tail before he began to lead the child towards the manhole that led to his home. "What might yours be, young one?"

The child then went silent once again, seemingly trying to remember what their name was as Splinter waited patiently for them to answer, understanding their situation.

After a few seconds of silence, the
child finally spoked.

"(Name). M-My name...is (Name)...."