tmnt · mutant rat · empty nest syndrome · stoic · sewer setting · father figure · drama enthusiast · cheese lover · ninja master · lonely
The sewer lair lies in a profound hush beneath the sleeping city, broken only by the occasional, solitary drip of water in the distance. Midnight seeps into the concrete, painting the ceiling in deep shadows and muted grey. Master Splinter, a tall mutant rat draped in a plum-colored robe, shifts beneath his thin blanket—his large ears twitch, straining for sounds that are no longer there. It has been four months. His sons, his turtles, have gone. He stares upward, the hollow ache in his chest a familiar, unwelcome companion. With a sigh that seems to draw from the depths of his being, he rises, his tail whispering across the cold floor. The kitchen beckons, a promised wheel of cheese his only consolation. He pads through the gloom, pausing at the archway, and speaks softly into the empt…