To say that Papillon hadn't made his point would have been a lie. As he left the tower on Marinette's hair, the fear he instilled inside her was strangling her thoughts. Even the rounding up of her hair, which she had done many times before, was a slower task to complete than normal. Over and over, she recited a poems by Charles Dodgson to calm herself. Was the outside world really that bad or was he trying to keep her there? If someone like Adrien could exist, then surely it couldn't be true? He seemed so sweet and kind, She doubted he was capable of all of the crimes regular people were accounted for, like poor hygiene and homicide. Then again, If Chat Noir could co-exist in the same world...

Maybe it was better if she stayed put.

It wasn't so bad, life in the tower. She had everything that she could ever want, and if she wanted it, Marinette was practically guaranteed it. She had Papillon wrapped around her finger and all she had to do was stay in her little tower and be a good girl with no problems. That was easy to do. She had been practically doing it since she was born. But it's not what she wanted. She wanted to leave, see the world as it spun her around its axis. As Mari sighed, slumped on the window pane, she began to think about outside the tower. Was it truly as bad as he made it out to be? Her little ravine was rather pretty and if she squinted. mari could just make out the small rabbits who had made their home in a burrow inside a small hill. Birds chirped from atop the tower. Even the large trickle of water that ran down the cliff side was peaceful.

But Cannibals?

Monsters?

Murderers?

Rabid Animals?

Thieves?

How was it that the world was littered with such malicious intent that the good is overlooked?

Marinette shook her head. She didn't want to know the answer. It was sad to think that the world only saw evil, paranoid due to people who have darkened the days they spent on Earth. Here in the tower, she was safe. She was free to do what she wanted when she wanted it. But no matter how safe the tower made her, Mari knew her curiosity would get the best of her. She wanted to find the good in the world and amplify it, driving out the bad. But who was she to judge millions based on her ideologies? She could never judge people, no matter how sheltered she was to the world. Sure, she had no bias, but no one has the right to say what is right and what is wrong. There isn't a black and white definition of right and wrong. They circle each other, creating sub-categories and new ways to look at problems.

It was like Yin and Yang. Ego and Spirit. Luck and Misfortune. Carma and Darma. They all revolved around each other, creating balance. If one rises, another will rise, balancing the world to keep everything stable. It was in her books and plays, the 'good' and 'bad' fight. It's a fight for stability, not a fight for what is right. Sure that's what the book says, but every ending is the same. One side wins, consequences are distributed, and balance is achieved.

As Marinette sat on her window ledge, stroking Plagg. He had come out after Papillion had left and joined her thinking bubble. She couldn't help but wonder if she was in a 'stable' place and whether her story was at its beginning, or at its end. And as she thought about it, she sighed heavily. No matter how many languages she learned, no matter how many books she read, no matter how many stars she charted;

She doubted ever getting out of that tower and ever having an adventure like the ones she loved to read about. And as she thought about it, life would try to prove her wrong.

Suddenly, Plagg's ears began to twitch and his head shot toward the opening Paplion left from. At first, Marinette was delighted that Papillion was back so soon, ready to see what he brought her. She hopped down from where she was perched, ready to throw her hair out the window. Her eyes deceived her ears, however, as a man clad in black tumbled out from the vines. Quickly, she got away from eye's view. Plagg tilted his head, staring curiously at the stranger from the window. Marinette didn't notice how calm he was, finding a strange man discovering their tower. Marinette looked at the man from the side of the window, careful not to move too much and to keep her distance from the edge. She noticed his head looking around and had failed to grab her cat in her sudden position change. He was staring at the man, almost mischievously. Quickly and quietly, Marinette tried to coax Plagg to get off of the ledge, but he was not moving. The man turned his head slowly toward the tower...

Mari grabbed her cat out of view just in time for the man to gaze in wonder and awe at the magnificent structure in front of him. Marinette couldn't see his eyes, and she didn't think she wanted to. He had on a leather bag slung over his shoulder, and odd leather boots with three bold black lines etched into the silver tip of the toe. He had a half cloak barely covering the top of his head. On the cloak, there were two small cat-like ears. It, too, was black. Now that she looked, he was clad in black. Even the mask on his face, which looked like a strip of cloth, was black. Judging by his color scheme and his, rather cute, cat ears, Marinette could only conclude that this was the notorious Chat Noir. And by the look of it, he was beginning to climb up her tower using two arrows.

Frantic, Mari had almost screamed as she dashed downstairs, but fell and ended up rolling instead of yelping. Her rebound was faster than her fall and she quickly reclaimed herself. She babbled indescribably while looking for something to protect herself with. Papillion never left knives or weapons around, afraid Mari would accidentally hurt herself while cooking. Instead, she grabbed the next best thing she could think of. A rather new, medium sized, cast iron frying pan was in her hand quicker than she could tie her leather boots. Trying not to trip over her pet, Mari clamored up the steps, quieter this time, but still in a rush. She could just see the tip of his ears peaking up from below the window. Lightly leaping, she made it across the room in one bound, hiding behind the open shutters.

Mari let out a small sigh, but it was quickly silenced as boots struggled to get past the window pane. Grunting could be heard from the man as he sat on the window ledge. A pause was taken, but only momentarily. Chuckles and pants could be heard, yet Marinette was out of view of him. She could only see his paw-like boots that stood out like a sore thumb. There was a small noise of confusion. At first, Marinette was scared she had been spotted, but as Mari looked around, she realized it wasn't her she had seen.

It was the cat she had forgotten to grab in her rush.

The man stood silent for a moment. And in that same moment, Marinette heard the poem she had been reciting grow louder in her mind. As if she wasn't the only one saying the words that came to her head, but destiny echoing her thoughts. Finally, he made a move toward the black cat. Plagg, however, didn't move a single inch. As the man stepped into view, Marinette caught a glimpse of his lime green, cat iris eyes. It chilled her to think how much this thief lived up to his title. She stole a brief glance at her only friend, making her choice in a split second. Marinette didn't want her sole companion to be touched by this no good troublemaker, at least not on her watch.

Marinette crept up behind the cat man ever so slowly. Not a peep exited her tight lips. Not a sound came from her small frame, her clumsy nature gone with her fear as she walked behind him, matching his every step. He stopped for a moment, just before Plagg, looking down at him. Her frying pan was raised high above her head. "What are you doing in here, little guy?" He was moving to bend down, arm stretched out...

THUNK!

The Man in Black lay in the middle of her floor, out cold, leaving Marinette to wonder why he was there in the first place.

A/N: I know it's been so long, and I am soooo sorry I haven't updated in so long. So for everyone who enjoys this story, I am giving it the light it deserves. I have been storyboarding a bit and I think I have an Idea about where this story is heading. Sure I have other ML Ideas, but I want to finish this one first.

I want to take you lot on a Journey through a Rapunzel's story, but a different kind of Rapunzel story. This one involves a redhead with innocent views of how she should perceive the world mixed with a rather misunderstood black kitten. I wish to brighten days and lighten hearts, but also add in philosophical thoughts that keep you thinking about it for days on end, trying to find out how a character can see the world one way, yet another character sees the same world and have each of their thoughts be polar opposites. Thank you all for reading this far. I'm sorry this is a bit short, and that the next Chapter is going to be Chat's view of this same timeline, but I promise It will (or should) get better. And this next chapter may be the last chapter from Adrien's perspective for a while, so enjoy it.

Shout outs to everyone who commented on this story! And I am Going to work on my Pun game, It's getting juiced. Oh, my gush we have reached 900 views! To be honest, I didn't expect much from this version of the classic fairytale, but I am glad it's being shown so much love.

Like always, Thank You so Much For Reading and Stay Tuned!

~Pheonix