The bitter cold of early winter clawed through the ground, seeping into the crisp November air.

Leonardo stumbled through the barren forest, his hand grasping his bleeding right shoulder. His heart pounded in his ears, adrenaline pumping through his veins as he glanced behind him, searching the fading midnight horizon for the jagged silhouettes of the Krang.

He found none, but the paranoia crept along his spine nonetheless.

Eventually, he stumbled into a clearing; a small, not-yet frozen stream meandered through the glade, with a series of footprints in the thin layer of snow followed its path into the woods. Leonardo felt his anxiety spike, the thought of a Krang Zombie hiding among the shadows of the trees immediately making his aching body tense.

"Fuck..," he drawled heavily, the words weighing down on his shoulders.

He drew his sword, as best as he could with injured arms, and spun around in the darkness. He pointed the blade into the abyss, gritting his teeth when the subtle crunching of snow filled the uneasy silence.

Something was out there, and Leonardo wasn't so keen on finding out what; he just wanted to find his way back to New York, back to his brothers—

A startled yelp cut through his throat when something swung down at him from the darkness. He lifted his sword to parry the attack but stumbled at the sudden movement, his grasp releasing around the handle of his blade. He fell to the ground shortly after his sword, a short gasp escaping his lips upon coming face to face with the muzzle of a rifle.

And behind the rifle was a human.

He paused. You weren't Krang.

The mechanical sound of the trigger snapped Leonardo out of it, and panic rose within him. He raised his hands in surrender, attempting to lean away from the rifle's line of action.

"Wa–Wait! I'm not Krang, don't shoot!"