So we go from drama to humor. How does that happen? I get random ideas, and this is clearly one such random idea. So, sit back and relax as Frederic has an encounter with a very strange cat.

Frederic shook his head a little as he walked away from the rest of the group. Falsetto had once again been assigned to the task of purchasing items, and she was less than amused by that fact. Falsetto had decided to retaliate in turn by once again starting an argument about whose turn it was to buy items for the group. So, in an attempt to prevent the headache everyone knew would follow, Frederic decided to slip away. The argument seemed to have taken a nasty turn much earlier than normal, as Frederic could have sworn he heard Salsa and Falsetto exchanging less than desirable language with one another as he continued walking away.

Just as Frederic was about to go around a corner leading to the next street, he felt a tug at his leg. Looking down, the pianist spotted what could only be described as an odd looking cat. At least, Frederic assumed she was a cat. She was quite small, and her fur had an odd pink tint to it. The tip of her left ear had a strange purple marking on it, matching the purple patch covering her left eye and the markings on her paws. The only normal qualities about the cat were her brilliant green eyes, the red collar around her neck, and her cream colored chest.

"It seems you have a friend, Frederic." Polka stated as she approached Frederic. This appeared to be true, as the cat had decided to start chewing Frederic's pants just as the young girl made her presence known.

"So it would seem. I was unaware there even was a cat like this around Baroque." Frederic chuckled.

"I wonder who she belongs to." Polka said. Finding his curiosity was peaking at the mystery of the strange looking cat, Frederic bent down and took a look at the silver tag attached to the cat's collar. Frederic raised an eyebrow upon observing that only one thing was written on the tag. Polka seemed to have observed this as well, as she was giving Frederic a perplexed look. "Phantom?" she asked.

"I suppose that might be her name." Frederic replied as he stood up. Then, as if the cat were acknowledging this fact, she spun around in a circle and leaped up with an oddly squeaky meow of joy. Frederic and Polka laughed at this, wordlessly agreeing that Phantom was a very odd cat indeed. Frederic opened his mouth to ask Polka if the item argument had ended, intending to brush the whole Phantom affair off as simply an odd occurrence, when suddenly Phantom decided to make Frederic into a human cat tree. There wasn't much the pianist could do to prevent his feline 'attacker' from climbing up his body, and all Polka could do was look on with a look of pure confusion on her face.

Phantom worked her way up Frederic quickly, and after a few moments she positioned herself on Frederic's shoulder. Frederic remained as still as anyone with a cat on their shoulder could hope to be and cast Polka a glance that seemed to be begging for help. Polka nodded and slowly made her way around Frederic. Frederic could see from the corner of his eye that Polka was lifting her arms to catch the small cat, but clearly Phantom had something else in mind. Faster than Frederic, or anyone for that matter, could say Grand Valse Brillante, Phantom leaped up and grabbed Frederic's hat right off of his head just as Polka made a grab for her. Polka let out a little gasp as Phantom gracefully landed on the ground and, just as quickly as she had grabbed Frederic's had, darted away from the duo. Frederic stood there in a stunned stupor for a few moments before Polka reminded him that his precious hat had been stolen by the odd looking cat. Finding his dignity renewed, Frederic ran after Phantom with Polka trailing behind him.

"This is turning to be quite the odd day indeed." Frederic muttered irritably. Phantom had taken the liberty to start running all throughout Baroque with Frederic's hat clamped tightly between her tiny teeth. The sight of Frederic and Polka chasing after Phantom, Frederic thought, must have looked quite odd. Shaking this thought from his head, Frederic lunged forward and tried to make a grab for Phantom. However, as if she had seen it coming, Phantom swerved to the side and darted off in another direction. The sudden change in the cat's position resulted in Frederic falling face first into the snow where Phantom had been standing moments before. It was at this point, Frederic noted, that the argument between his companions had ended. All eyes were on him and Polka now.

"Frederic, what are you doing?" Beat asked.

"Where's your hat?" Salsa added. Frederic stood up with as much dignity as he could muster from what had just occurred and brushed snow off of his clothing for a moment before looking at the two eight-year-olds.

"I know this is going to sound strange, but it appears as though I must chase a very odd looking cat who has decided that my hat would make an excellent addition to… frankly, I have no idea why she stole my hat." Frederic explained. Upon receiving odd looks from his companions, he turned to Polka for confirmation. The young girl nodded and took a step forward, preparing herself to explain what had happened.

"You see, Frederic and I were tired of listening to everyone argue about whose turn it was to get items. We were about to go take a walk around Baroque when we spotted Phantom… that's the odd cat's name. Then, out of the blue she… whoa!" Polka gasped as she felt something leap up onto her head. Slowly looking up, Frederic saw that Phantom, and his beloved hat, were now perched on Polka's head.

"Okay, this is just getting silly." Allegretto said. Frederic nodded in agreement and slowly approached Polka. He was just about to make a grab for Phantom again when the little cat decided it would be a fine time to change positions again. She gracefully leaped off of Polka's head and ran behind the item shop. Frederic groaned at this. "All right, I take that back. This is getting ridiculous." Allegretto stated.

Having had enough of the silliness that was resulting, Frederic walked around to the back of the shop with the others following him. The pianist spotted Phantom, strangely enough, playing in the snow. She was meowing with such enthusiasm that one would have thought she was declaring her love of snow to the world. Frederic took a step forward, and Phantom instantly stopped playing and went to the hat in a defensive manner. "Okay, Phantom, enough is enough. Could you please give me my hat back?" Frederic asked as he bent down to Phantom's height. Neither Frederic nor Phantom moved for several moments. It was as though everyone in the world had vanished as Frederic's dark eyes met Phantom's green eyes. Frederic observed the cat with curiosity, wondering why she had stolen his hat, while Phantom seemed to be looking at the pianist with a look of pure mischief in her bright eyes. Finally, with a look that Frederic and the others could only describe as a pouting expression, Phantom gently placed Frederic's hat on the ground and sat down. "Thank you." Frederic murmured approvingly as he took his hat and put it back upon its rightful place. He stood up and turned to the rest of the group and nodded a little. "Shall we be on our way now?" he asked.

"You sure have a way with cats, Frederic." Viola observed.

"Yeah, I've never seen anything like that happen before." Salsa said with a grin.

"Well, now that that's taken care we can be on our wAY!" Frederic practically yelped as something knocked him over. As he lay face down on the ground, Frederic heard Polka, Beat, Salsa, and Viola laughing. Wondering what could have caused the new predicament, Frederic lifted his head from the snow and looked back. Phantom was clinging to the back of Frederic's coat and rubbing her face against it and, if Frederic wasn't mistaken, purring happily.

"It seems you've got a friend, Frederic." Falsetto chuckled.

"Yes, I don't think she'll be leaving you alone any time soon. I think you impressed her." Jazz stated. Frederic groaned in annoyance, while Phantom let out a meow that seemed to declare that Frederic was 'awesome'. "Sorry, but looks like you're stuck with her." Jazz said, trying his best to hold back a laugh of his own. Frederic groaned again. It was going to be a long journey.