Kage pushed the manhole cover up, feeling the soft moonbeams fall down on her. She turned her face to the moon, smiling. She pulled herself up, onto the grass, and slid the manhole cover back in place, getting to her feet. The grass felt good under her bare feet, and Kage started running. She was happy, carefree, and Kage loved it. The brunette looked around herself, realizing New York City was usually just a concrete jungle. It seemed to be a park, Central Park maybe? She knew everything about the sewers, she knew that place like the back of her hand, but the world above? Kage knew some things, but she was still working on it.
The grass turned into concrete, and Kage slowed down, simply walking along the path. Trees loomed over her, casting shadows on her every step, and making her whole environment look eerie. Her dark eyes glanced around, and she sighed tiredly. She wanted to stop running, she wanted to be able to relax for once, to not need to watch out for Them.
Kage saw a bench and sat down, her pale fingers curling around the metal bench arm. She closed her eyes, turning her face to the moon again. For once, she didn't feel the need to run. With Mr. Splinter by her side, she felt...safe. She didn't think They could find her, not when she had been so careful for all these years. And it wasn't that she had been so careful, it was that she felt like she was home.
Home.
He had asked her to move in. He actually wanted her in his home, after all the years she had lived by herself, in the sewers. He still didn't know who she really was, he didn't know anything about her, but he knew he could trust her. Which was pretty weird, considering she had spied on him and his family for years...
Kage shook her head, and then looked toward the skyline. It was still dark, there wasn't a trace of the coming dawn in sight. She sighed, and looked at her feet. It had been seven years since she had been "normal"...since she had walked with people, not sewer rats...the non-mutant type, of course.
Seven years since she had spoken without fear.
Truthfully, she wondered if she still could speak. Or if it had been so long she had simply lost her voice completely. But she didn't need to speak, and she never would. And Mr. Splinter accepted that fact, didn't push her or delve into her past, trying to discover the truth. He was such a wonderful rat...He was probably her best friend.
A tree limb snapped, and Kage was on her feet in a split second. Her eyes were wide, scared, and she bolted. It didn't matter that the creature in question was a raccoon, by the time the naturally masked animal came out, Kage had disappeared into the sewers.