Kitten

Chapter One: Stray

Selina stretched upon reaching the rooftops of Gotham, taking a deep breath as the cold wind rushed by her. She had a few places in mind to hit tonight but she couldn't decide whether she wanted to start with the rare diamonds or end on the rare diamonds. It might be a little risky since the place with the emeralds involved a lot of crawling around and she didn't want to scuff any of the jewels. She continued to ponder her predicament but her thoughts were interrupted by the soft sound of someone crying. It was barely noticeable with the howling winds and would be unheard by human ears but she was blessed with cat ones. Being a Neko had its perks. She looked around curiously and found that it was coming from below. She raised an eyebrow in intrigue and decided to check it out. The voice didn't sound very old which only urged her to find out where it was coming from exactly. Sure she was nowhere near a hero but she wouldn't let some crying child roam the streets of Gotham alone at night. She climbed down a fire escape and dropped down to the alley, scanning the small space for the cause of the cries. Her eyes fell on a pile of boxes that were wet from the rain that hammered down on the city the night before. She noticed something move underneath them, something black and slender. "Hello?" she called out into the night. The crying stopped, replaced by panicked breaths. Selina took a few steps forward and remained slow in her movements as not to cause a fright. "I'm not going to hurt you. Just come out for me," she added. 

Before she could reach the boxes, she stopped. Whoever was crying was obviously distraught and jumping on them wouldn't really help the situation. She'd wait for them to make the first move. There was some shuffling and she saw that slender silhouette curl up to hide in the shadows. She frowned to herself but her hopes were lifted when a head peeked out from beneath the cardboard. Bright blue eyes pierced through the darkness, glazed over with tiny fear-stricken pupils. She knelt to look less menacing since she got the feeling they were much smaller than she was. They had to be to fit under those boxes. "There you are. What's your name?" she asked softly.

"Not supposed to talk to strangers." The voice was shaky and croaky which only made her heart ache for them. They must've been crying for hours to sound like that. She hoped they were able to escape the storm last night otherwise they might be sick too.

"Rightly so. I'll introduce myself first, shall I?" There was no reply but she didn't really expect one. She held out her hand to show she wasn't going to hurt him and said, "My name is Selina Kyle. Who might you be?" The figure moved out from under the boxes and allowed her to get a good look at who she was talking with. A fellow Neko it seemed judging by the sleek cat ears and tail. A little Neko boy. Honestly, he didn't look very old. He was so small too. The clothes were an odd one. Bright flashy colours on a leotard weren't exactly the go-to streetwear and she couldn't see any parent dressing him up like that. There was mud all over him and stuck in his hair that was wonderfully curly yet clearly unkempt. He was quite adorable which made his appearance on the street all too sinister for her liking. "Richard but Dick for short." 

"Nice to meet you, Dick." He carefully reached out for her hand and shook it. She marvelled at those blue eyes. They were wide and such a brilliant colour. She'd never seen eyes like that but then again she hadn't seen many other Nekos. Most tended to keep out of Gotham. Too many rich people were all too happy to pay some less than trustworthy people for Nekos they could flaunt for their friends. She shivered at the thought. A small boy like this would be worth a good amount. Luckily she got to him before anyone else had. "Can you tell me what you're doing out here?" 

"I lost my parents," he whimpered. 

"I can help you find them." He shook his head solemnly as a new round of tears fell from his eyes.