Chapter Text
Zane wasn’t sure what he was expecting after reaching his true potential but waking up in a snowy wasteland was not on the list. He glanced around and saw nothing but snow and ice. It wasn’t as unwelcoming as one would assume – maybe that was just because the ice was his element. He began to explore the area.
Was this another vision? It felt so much more real than the visions he usually had. Normally a vision had an air of mystery around it, but here it felt familiar despite Zane not knowing where he was.
As he explored more, he caught a glimpse of himself. He had no physical form. His reflection in the frozen lake was not that of a human – or rather nindroid. Looking back at him was a white form, not quite solid but solid enough to touch the ice around him. His form wasn’t even fully white there was a slight pink tint around the edges. Zane had to admit he had grown fond of the color despite the prank Lloyd had pulled. Zane was more upset about the fact that it would take ages to get his gi white again.
Zane was pretty sure this wasn’t a vision anymore. It was just too different from his usual visions.
As Zane explored, he felt a pull. A pull towards something. Zane followed it. It remined him of the pull the falcon had on him since his old friend had found him again.
When he found what was pulling him in it stood out in the white wasteland.
A green figure similar to himself. It was far smaller than Zane and looked to be crouched down in the snow. As Zane stepped closer, he noticed the purple band across where the figured head would be. The closer he got the more apparent it became to Zane. This was likely a child, a scared child at that. Zane wasn’t sure how to interact with children. He doubted Lloyd was a good example for most children.
What would Kai do? He asked himself. Kai, despite his fiery temper, had a way with kids. Nya had once claimed Kai was made to be a big brother. Zane and his other brothers grew to agree with her.
“Hello.”, Zane said as her sat down in the snow. He left a respectable distance between the child and himself.
“AH!”, the child yelled as he jumped a little.
The two stared at each other for a second. Zane wasn’t sure if the kid was still scared of fascinated.
“What are you?”, they asked.
First Master – they are young, Zane thought.
“I am Zane. I’m not sure what this form is, it’s not how I usually look. I thought you might know.”
“I don’t know. Do you know where we are?”
Zane shook his head. “All I know is I fell asleep in my bed and then I woke up here.”
“Me too…”
The silence returned.
“Ah-“, the kid started. “I’m Donnie. Dad said it’s polite to introduce yourself.”
“Nice to meet you, Donnie.”, said Zane, “Say how old are you?” Zane couldn’t help but ask, he can’t be much older than Lloyd.
“Eleven, I’m turning Twelve in next month.”, he said as proudly as any child his age would, “How old are you?”
Only two – almost 3 – years older than Lloyd.
“I’m twenty.”, Zane said. He wasn’t sure if that was true anymore, given his newly discovered origins, but it was the age he felt most comfortable with, it was the age he was mentally and for him that counts more than how many years ago he was built.
As Zane observed the boy in front of him, he felt an odd familiarity towards him. It was like they had met before but Zane was sure they had never crossed paths before. Zane could only assume that Donnie felt the same about him, the boy looked at him a little longer until he started to ramble about what this place could possibly be. It reminded Zane of Jay. Both were taking about thinks he didn’t quite understand. Zane was happy to indulge the child until the world around them eventually faded back to black.
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Donnie never remembered his dream when he woke up until now. He remembered everything so vividly as if it had been real. As if Zane had been real. Something in him hoped Zane was real. Zane was nice. Something felt weird about his dream, being the ever curios child he was, Donnie had to talk about it. Maybe, just maybe his dad knows something.
“I had a weird dream.”, said Donnie during breakfast.
“Me too! I was a worm and-“, Mikey started to ramble.
Splinter looked at Donnie, prompting him to continue.
Donnie retold the events of his dream to a scary detail; he even recalled the pink tint Zane had to his figure.
As Splinter listened to his son talk, he remembered the legends his father had told him long ago. Stories about another world, one which they were connected to. As a child he loved those stories btu as he grew older, he assumed they were just silly bed time stories. Maybe there was some truth to those legends. His father never was one to tell make believe stories after all. Not for the first time did Splinter curse the burning of his old home. The scrolls, the books, the knowledge about these legends gone only to be remembered by him and if it was true something that was affection his precious son – soon enough all four of them.
“That’s a stupid dream.”, Raph chimed in.
“I think it sounds nice!”, added Mikey.
“A little cold though.”, said Leo.
“I never remember my dreams, why this one?”, Donnie looked at his father, ignoring his brothers’ comments.
“There may be more to your dream than just a fantasy.”, Splinter said.
This caught all four boys’ attention.
“Eat your breakfast and then we’ll head to the dojo. I have to tell you a story. All four of you.”
With breakfast finished the boys headed towards the dojo their father right behind them. They sat down like they always did and Splinter took his head facing them. They were always eager for a story from their father, be it from his time as a human or a story he made up. Then Splinter began.
“For as long as the Hamato Clan has existed we had a connection to another world.”
“Another world? Is that even possible?”, asked Donnie.
“Sounds fake.”, said Raph.
“Like in Space Heroes.”, muttered Leo while Mikey just looked amazed.
Splinter continued.
“Every few generations four siblings would be born to the head of the clan, usually quadruplets, and they would one day form a bond with four warriors from another world. I believed this legend was just a story but I believe that this Zane might be one of the warriors.”
“Zane didn’t seem like a warrior. He was really nice!”
“Even the kindest people can be warriors, my son.”
“Does that mean we’ll get one too?!”, yelled Mikey.
“A cool warrior! Sign me up!”, added Raph.
“We could learn a lot from them.”, said Leo.
Splinter could only hope that the other three warriors would eb as kind to his sons as this Zane had been to Donatello. Maybe they could be friends – something his sons don’t have to luxury of having. He did remind them to keep their mutant nature to themselves, one can never be too sure, the warriors were still strangers.
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Zane woke up later than usual. Normally he was the first one awake, closely followed by Kai but today he woke up alone in their room. He made his way to the kitchen to see Kai at the stove and the other two already at the table.
“Morning sleeping beauty.”, joked Cole.
“Morning.”, Zane said, “You didn’t wake me up.”
“You never sleep in, so we let you get a few more minutes in.”, said Jay as Zane sat next to him.
“First Master knows you could use a more sleep after yesterday.”, added Kai as he set a plate of waffles in front of Zane and Cole pushed a mug with tea towards Zane.
“Where is Nya?”, Zane eventually asked.
“She went to get a few things!”, Kai said far too quickly. He – and probably Nya – were hiding something Zane hadn’t figured out what yet.
“I had a weird dream.”, Zane stated after he finished his waffles.
“Another vision?”, asked Cole.
“No, this was different. Very different.”, Zane told them about his dream. He noticed the concerned looks on his brothers when he mentioned Donnie’s age.
“So, what was it then?”, asked Jay, “And why now?”
“I do not know.”, said Zane.
“Maybe it got something to do with your true potential.”, suggested Kai.
His brothers looked at him surprised.
“What? Can’t a guy have a good idea once in a while? It’s the only thing that changed about Zane yesterday!”
“Kai’s right. Let’s just keep an eye on this. We need to figure that out but the Fangbaldes are still our priority.”, said Cole.