The fact that someone was attempting to trace her by her song made Juliet nervous, so much so that she left her underground nest and went above to spend the night at Murakami's. The kind blind man would be happy if she lived there permanently, she knew, but she did not want to put him in constant danger by her presence there.

The breakfast he served her was far too large. Some of it she would store away, but what could not be stored, she would distribute, first to many of her pregnant great (many times over) granddaughters, and the rest she left by the Alice statue in Central Park for the Shadow children. She left them packages of food several times a week, in fact, and always slipped away unnoticed, but her luck ran out this time when she turned and found a hazel-eyed girl watching her from a distance. Swiftly, Juliet jumped back, and held up both empty hands, hoping the girl understood she meant no harm. She was glad she remembered to wear the gloves that made her hands look human this morning. Was this why she had put them on?

How did she sneak up on me like that , the mutant rat thought, startled. I swear, I heard absolutely nothing! No human can move so silently, except for Ninjas, and …

"The Manhattan Queen?" Juliet inquired carefully. She sketched the girl a slight bow, not a mocking one, but one of the deepest respect. If this girl was half as good a thief as her legend suggested, she earned it, and Juliet respected a good thief, and particularly one with an overwhelmingly good heart.

"I-I was just leaving some presents for the shadow children, and a toy for the little girl. I'm honored to meet the leader of the Shadow Children. To what do I owe this honor, Your Majesty," she said very softly.

The girl was leaning on a tree almost casually. It was hard to tell her age, somewhere between late teens and very early 20s. She watched Juliet with an expression that was curious, but watchful.

"You know an awful lot about something most people never heard of." She said "Shadow doesn't have a leader. We do work for the Queen, that's all."

She kept her hood pulled up and her tail tucked tight around her lower body. "Some speak of you and your friends a good deal, child," Juliet said quietly. "And most of your friends would disagree with you. "Would the, um, inspiration, sound better to you?"

"I'm just Cat," she said. "Just like the others. Shadows. Nobody. So no…I'm not anyone's queen." Her tone was tight, but not hostile. She obviously didn't love the idea that Juliet seemed to know about them, but wasn't reacting like she was an enemy either. She chuckled at the word Inspiration. "Now you're making me sound like an Instagram post," she said amused.

"Cat, eh? Well, I am pleased to meet you, Cat. I am ... Arielle," she introduced herself, deciding at the last second to use her dead sister's name and not her own.

"Thanks for the stuff though. That's nice. Appreciate it." Cat offered a half smile "Arielle. It's kind of you."

Juliet smiled back, but now it was her turn to be curious. "Not at all. Children must eat, and my cup runneth over, as some might say. It is only right that I share my good fortunes."

"Still appreciate it. Not everyone thinks that way." The girl shrugged. Her mind was turning all this over. How did this woman know about them? About their meeting place?

"Yes, I know." Juliet/Arielle all but physically drooped with the weight of the sadness of it. "Please, do not fear me, girl. I mean you and your friends no harm. I only wish to help the goodhearted of this city. And you have helped my family so much at times. It is only right that I return the generosity."

That made Cat's mouth turn up a little more "Oh I'm not afraid." She assured Juliet "Believe me if I was afraid, you'd never have seen me." There was a tiny bit of arrogance in that statement, but maybe not entirely unearned. "Your family? Well, glad we could help." She tried to think of who they had helped lately, never mind multiple times. They did help when they could. But she wasn't homeless, not leaving that amount of food and stuff. And mostly that's who Shadow could help- other street kids. The homeless. Stray cats and dogs with bits of food. Pigeons and rats with the same.

"Well, you have helped Murakami-San occasionally. He is practically my adopted FAther," the rat girl said. "And you have helped my family who live underground as well. We do not forget such things, and we always repay in kind."

The girl's face completely changed at the mention of Murakami. She fully smiled then, and it warmed her, made her almost beautiful in the affection there.

"Murakami's a good guy." Cat said "He takes care of everyone. We take care of him back. Everyone knows that. Even the gangs know that. The dragons, the 45ers, the Foot…it's known. Anyone who breaks it gets what they deserve. You don't spit in the face of that man, he's a saint."

She had no idea what the underground family part meant. Maybe someone else connected to Murakami?

"He is most certainly an angel in disguise," she readily agreed.

"We'll tell your dad not to worry. We'll always look out for him. Ok? That's a promise." The girl smiled again, and this one was less guarded. "I guess if you're Murakami's girl we can trust you with our secrets. I'll make sure Rabbit gets the toy."

"The little one... She is a rabbit?"

Are these Shadow children protecting another mutant, Juliet thought.

Cat laughed "Her name is Rabbit, if that's what you mean." She said, "I mean I think she's cute as a bunny."

Then she gave Juliet a more careful look. "Wait….you mean like the Central Park Kappa? No, she's just a little girl. Not mythic. Well, I guess we're all a little mythic. You know about the queen after all."

"Oh, I see." Juliet laughed her light clear laugh. "You believe in the Central Park Kapa, do you?" she asked. "Have you seen it or them before?"

"Don't believe in them. Don't have to. I saw them. Well two of them. I've heard there are four or five in total. But I saw two. I was working on foot territory. The Foot work in levels. I can handle their low street soldiers, but as soon as the guys in black pajamas show up I get out before they see me. A squad of them showed up where I was working, so I hid. I was laying low till it was safe for me to run, but two of the Kappa showed up and got into a fight with them. Five Foot Soldiers, at least a couple of levels up. Real Ninjas. And the Kappa mopped the floor with them. Snickers…..one of mine…she saw three of them save an old lady from a mugger who had her at gunpoint. They're real." She smiled softly, a little sadly. "Someone I knew a really long time ago used to tell me stories from Japan. All kinds of things. He told me about Kappa, but they didn't act like that in the stories. Maybe they're aliens or something. But they look like Kappa."

"Four or five of them, eh? And, a Kappa looks like ... what exactly?" Juliet was afire with curiosity now.

Cat smiled again, now with some amusement. "Turtle People. They look like turtle people. The stories I heard said they had an indentation on their heads full of water, but I didn't see anything like that on these Kappa. They're about my height, but much wider than me. Still really really fast though. Like strong stocky. They have weapons. The ones I saw had Nunchucks and Sais." There was a note of pride there too, that she knew the names of the weapons.

"Are you certain they do not work for the Foot?" Juliet asked. Then, "No, if they are helping damsels in distress, it is unlikely they are Foot Clan. Martial artist Turtles ... Well, anything is possible, I suppose."

"Nah, they might work for a different family or gang but I doubt it. Most of them aren't known for being too generous to the general public. Not unless you're paying for protection." Cat said. "Independent Warriors is what I think. Or maybe they're spirits that guard the area, a lot of stories talk about things like that." The girl shrugged.

"Independent warriors." The rat girl smiled a little, careful to keep her whiskers and true facial features hidden. I suppose that is what I am .

"Well, I know for a fact there is an alligator, perhaps he is a crocodile, who lives in the sewers. He is troubled but with a good heart. So why not turtles, too."

Cat stared at her and grinned "You're not kidding. God I love New York!"

"I won't keep you. I know you're busy just, um, surviving. I was about to put these up anywhere I could find." She handed the girl a flier sporting a picture of a beautiful young calico kitten, with a red collar and tags, and the tip of her left ear missing. "My cat's gone missing. If you see her and can catch her, which is not likely, please drop her off at Murakami's. She answers to the name Elizabeth or Lizzie," the worried rat girl added.

Cat looked at the flier and held out her hand "Give the rest to me. I'll get them to my people and we'll get them up all over the city by nightfall. There's more of us, we can work faster. Think of it as a thank you for the presents."

"Oh, I do not wish to put you out. But that's ... very kind of you, Miss Cat." She gave the girl the pile of flyers she created on Murakami's computer.

Cat laughed "We're not put out! We're already everywhere. We're not a gang, but tonight we'll be your gang this one time." She winked at Juliet playfully.

She went to the mushroom and gathered up the food and the toy. She produced a backpack from under her jacket and slid everything in. She saluted Juliet "If you need me, leave me a note here with a meeting time and I'll come within 24 hours." She said and then she slipped back into the wood, the late-day shadows creating their own cloak around her.

"Thank you." Juliet bowed to the girl and turned to go, catching her robe as it started to slip down. She just caught it before her face was exposed, but the mutant was blissfully unaware that her long tail had slipped briefly into view. as she walked away. she caught just a glint of eyes and teeth in the shadow as the girl turned her head and flashed a final smile before she was gone.

Juliet melted into the shadows. She needed to get back to Murakami's. She had sewing to finish and many dresses to process for shipping. And, it was her day to sing for her supper, so to speak, and she needed to rest and channel her best energies before doing that. It was a joy, as long as she could keep hidden while she did it. The speakers and microphone Murakami had installed were awesome, but it also took a lot out of her.

For her part, Cat turned over that last glimpse in her head. The girl had a tail. Did she have a tail or was that a trick of the light? Maybe the mysteries of the city had just dropped off food on her doorstep. She shook her head amused a little. Well whatever she had, the girl was still one of Murakami's family, and obviously a friend. For a second, she thought of Yoshi- he was never really far from her thoughts- and his stories. Cat wondered what he'd think of all of this.

Well, no matter. They had fliers to hang.