Ninja Stars

I heard a grunt and something slash over my head. I squealed and rolled away backwards, landing with my knee on the floor and the other like I was proposing, with my arms like wings.

This was freaking natural.

"Uh..." I slowly dropped my arms and heard a chuckle.

"Whatever kid," said Raph, and I heard him sheath his weapon. My mouth popped open.

He tried to kill me...

HE TRIED TO KILL ME!

"You're more fun than Mikey, and smarter." I heard him snort at his own joke about his little brother, while I stood up, my hands on my bladed fans warily. "But we'll start tomorrow. Call me Raphie again, and I'll make sure I aim lower."

"YOU TRIED TO KILL ME!"

I heard another snort. "Yeah I did. Don't walk around in a towel next time."

I heard him pad over to the door. I sniffed and expertly, whipped a ninja star out. Flicking it quickly so it hit beside the door, I smirked when I heard a surprised gasp.

"Very funny."

I didn't realize there were two.

When i heard the dojo door slam shut, I giggled at his temper. I bit my lip lightly, and pulled out my phone, nodding my head to the song in my head.

Shuffling the songs, i landed on it and grinned, setting it on blast. I pulled the mats together in a square of four, as the song started. Standing on my toes, I spread my arms slowly.

'I was left to my own devi-i-ices
Many days fall away with nothing to show
And the walls kept crumbling down
In the city that we love...'

I turned slowly, an ethereal expression on my face. I kicked my leg high as it got faster, and let it fall to a point. As it hit 'crumbling' I let my head go back, slapping a hand to my chest, and as my foot touched the floor again, I snapped up and let my hand out to the side quickly as I stepped.

'And if you close your eyes
Does it almost feel,
Like you've been here before-e!'

I put in an illusion and a frog jump, with a determined expression on my face. I did a back walk over and, leaning as close as I could to the floor in a spinning pirouette, I let my arms out. I flipped when I spun out of the pirouette slowly and I sharply snapped up, both hands above my head, together and palms up to the ceiling with my head back.

'We were caught and lost in all,
Our vices.
In your pose as the dust
settles around us...'

Standing on my toes, I slowly lifted my arms above my head, making the fingers curve and face towards the floor. Then, I lifted my leg up behind me and pulled it towards my head, touching the tip of my pony tail.

As the music got faster, I let go of my leg and turned to where my back was facing and and flipped forwards, and put in another illusion.

'But if you close your eyes!'

I snapped into another pose, shading my eyes with one hand and the other twirling in the air, as if conjuring up wind like the avatars.

I started spinning rapidly as it hit the chorus and jumped delicately onto one foot. Somehow, I'd gone into runs around the room and laughter bubbled up from within me. It was always ninjitsu training. Never dance.

I kept running around the room, now throwing in poses and and jumps until I rolled up from the floor from my splits and stood in my last pose. It was always ninjitsu. Never dance.

I had my right foot pushed back behind me, my toes pressing onto the dojo floor. My other knee was pushed to the side, so I was leaning to one side. My arms were out-stretched both sides, but the fingers were curved. My head was back, sweat covering my forehead in small beads, and I was panting, but a smile was on my face at the memories rolling into my mind like one of the old footballs I'd had when I was younger in summer.

--

Flashback::

McKenzie smiled lightly, her hands tying up my hair in a tight bun. I giggled at her expression and pinched her cheek, earning a small slap on the hand.

"Come on, Mack," I said, turning on the dance floor swiftly, to face my blond haired friend who had a scowl on her face, sitting cross-legged away from me. "We deserve some freedom!"

"Stop sounding like iron man," she muttered, slapping me across the face playfully, but the smile stayed stuck like industrial glue for both of us. "I'm not the responsible one most days, but I'd rather be beating Hayden to a plum by now."

I giggled and poked her cheek, earning another slap of the hand. "I'm not really responsible, but I'd give anything to beat Hayden. But no, you decide to drag me to your dance class!" she sniffed, her ice blue eyes glaring at me through her strands of hair. She blew a lock of hair away delicately.

"Don't worry, got one of my awesome pranks ready for him at home. Kloe will be here in a sec for the class, and a few other girls from some St Peter's school are coming." As if on cue, the door flew open and three girls, smaller than us, burst into the room.

They were dressed in classic dancer clothes, complete black, skin tight tank tops and tights. Their hair in tight buns and ballet flats which were a bright white. I found myself sucking in my stomach when I skimmed over their flat stomachs from all the dancing they did.

One of them sneered at me, and I shrunk away a bit, sitting closer to Mack. That's when her eyes widened, and she mouthed, 'Oh hell no.'

The scary thing about Mack was that she can and will kill you.

"Can we help you, bitch?" she sneered, standing up to the girl. The girl's eyes widened and I burst out laughing when her expression became comical.

"J-just shut your mouth."

"If I don't?" Mack towered above her, hands on her hips. She cocked her head to the side, and mentally defrosting her icy blue eyes, she looked as sweet as a lamb.

The girl didn't answer, she only stood back and sneered at me again. I burst out laughing at her and I noticed everyone turned to me, even Mack, who had the same expression as the others. Her ten year old face looked so innocent.

"Nyx, stop. You sound like a dying whale." I only grinned and nodded to my fingers. Two of my small, stubby fingers were pointed to the floor. She grinned and turned that started giggling at the girl who'd started it all. "No-o-o-ow, I get it."

"What?"

I stepped forwards, eye-to-eye to the blonde. "Sorry, it's just...are you growing another head?"

"No..." she said, concerned.

I looked at Mack, and her eyes were widened comically, and she was trying to hard not to laugh, as well as me. "Ew-w-w!" we said together. "Spo-o-ot!"

Her eyes widened and she reached up to her face. Mack's hands had made their way behind her back and she reached up, as quick as her ninjitsu skills let her, and pushed a piece of rolled up day old pepperoni onto her face. "Right there!"

The girl reached up and felt the pepperoni on her face and her eyes widened. "Oh god, It's like a baboon's arse!" I yelled, just as Kloe slipped through. Her eyes widened comically as the girl rushed out, squealing. Her friends stood, dumb-founded.

I couldn't hold it in. I looked up towards Mack and we burst out laughing, hitting the floor heavily with out bodies. The two girls only went to the back of the room, whispering silently, when a pair of bare feet, with bright red nail polish shining from the sky light that bore into the room.

"H-Hey look, Nyx, she's wearing my favourite colour today!" laughed Mack, rolling onto her stomach with her face down. Her shoulders shook with her laughter, muffled by the glossy floor of the dance studio.

"Nice one, Kloe!"

"Girls get up," she said, trying to sound angry but amusement shone in her eyes. The girl from before walked in, a scowl on her pretty features. "Start your stretches."

We were still giggling quietly when we walked to the back of the room, the other three girls positioned at the other end of the room.

"God, you're not even as dumb as that." commented Mack, spearing an icy glare at the girl, who currently held her middle finger in a salute towards my hot headed friend.

"Hey..."

"That's a compliment in my language." Mack rolled her eyes and we were instructed to sit on all fours like dogs and kick our legs back. We did what we were told and I grinned, feeling the light sweat covering my body already from the workout.

"So," I said, feeling my toe's skim my hair. Thanks to the ninjitsu training, It was easier than it would've normally been. Though i didn't get to go there as much I would've liked. "You gonna stay?"

"Hell yes," she snickered. "She ain't scaring me away!"

"Wicked." I said, my eyes lighting up. "I've already got six pranks to pull on here."

--

I fell back onto the floor of the dojo from the fast memory, the laughter of two long forgotten ten year old girls echoing in my head. Those summer dance lessons had disappeared from the furious training that had been drilled into me. I vaguely remembered bumping into that girl with her boyfriend a few years later from the incident, and earning that permanent scowl again which seemed always on her face.

I put my head in my hands, my breathing becoming more shallow as the old dance lessons beat in my head, the quick music filling every inch of me.

It vibrated me, burnt me. It clawed at me, reminding me of the freedom I'd felt, running around the room. Spinning each and every way. Finding new ways to different dances.

It was my escape when my ninjitsu just didn't work.

"Just take me to Never land," I whispered, to no-one in particular. "I really didn't need that."

Another memory started to bat at my head, swiping at the happy one, where I'd been found out, but I refused to let it seep in, the angry words starting to echo off of me like a hollow scream.

"Why would you want to go to Never land?" asked a curious voice. I gasped and gamboled, twisting around in the direction of the voice. "That was way more magical than anything Never land could give you."

I scoffed, and faced the darkness, a half smile on my face. "It was nothing Mikey. D-did you wanna train or-"

"Nah." I heard a 'pfft' sound escape him. "I've been here the whole time."

"What?"

"Yup." he said, excitement lacing his voice. "Can you do it again?"

I felt my eyes widen and colour rush to my cheeks. No-one except Mack and those other girls had seen me dance. It was always my one escape from boys, girls, tests and ninjitsu. Sometimes my body ached so much, I needed to bend my body in dance so that they didn't hurt, only stretched.

"Sorry Mikey. Uh, no-one's r-"

"Seen you dance? Wow! I feel special. Even though I kinda did it without meaning too. Hey, wanna see something cool?" the excited boy laughed. I raised an eyebrow, feeling my eyelids go heavy from the exhaustion. But, i nodded to please the boy, a smile on my face.

"Yay! Come on!" somehow, I wasn't listening and let a squeak of surprise burst out of me when someone grabbed my hand with their's and starts to drag me up the stairs.

"God damn, you're strong." I said, as we burst through the doors. The room was lit up apart from where I could guess where Mikey was standing.

"Now, young Kunoichi, I am go-"

"Mikey, you sound like Splinter. That's just plain weird." I commented, a laugh bubbling up out of my throat. Mikey laughed and then shushed me.

"I'm gonna show you something that might make Raph angry, so beware, but I just wanna see." We made our way into the kitchen and I positioned myself on the island in the middle of the kitchen.

"Close your eyes." I raise an eyebrow as one side of the kitchen is draped in darkness, looming and reaching out from all corners. I stared at it until Mikey hissed the sentence at me again, making me close my eyes.

Something drops in my lap lightly, and Mikey told me to lift the small thing up. When I was told to open my eyes, they darted to the small moving object in my palm.

A small jade green turtle stared up at me, curious eyes darting around my face. An 'awe' sound escaped me and I felt the sudden urge to pet his shell. "Did you know that i love turtles, or something? I had one when I was a kid!"

"R-really?" Mikey's surprised voice startled me, but I only smiled at the darkness.

"Yeah. Turtles are awesome." I giggled and put the turtle on the counter, next to a tiny plate filled with leaves, like a dog bowl. His name 'Spike' was printed in cursive on the bowl.

"Well, I'm gonna go up now. I'll uh, see you later?"

"Oh, see ya later little dudette." He said as I neared where the latch was. I raised an eyebrow from where his voice was coming from. "Not referring to your height."

"I bet you're a freaking midget."

"Hey..." with that I climbed the ladder and pushed through the hole, grinning and listening to Mikey's protests.