Disclaimer: I do not own the Warriors series;
1: voice
He knows he is dreaming, because he has a voice.
"Aren't you sad?"
He turns around but cannot find the intruder. He can't see or smell anyone, but he can feel the invisible speaker. He asks why he should be sad.
"You're the only one who can hear your voice. No one else can."
He tells her why his condition doesn't matter to him. It used to bother him that he couldn't speak to his Clanmates. It was even worse to dream of having a voice, only to have no audience to hear. But there's nothing he can do about it; he was born this way, and he's okay with that. It doesn't bother him anymore.
"I can admire that, I think. It must be hard to live without a voice."
It's not so bad, he explains. He's gotten used to it—and his Clanmates have learned how to deal with him, as well.
"I see. That's good."
She doesn't say more, but she's gotten him talking; he doesn't want to stop. He asks for her name.
"My name? It was—it's Lilypaw. What about you?"
His name is Ashpaw; he's been an apprentice for three moons now. He thinks it'll take him a bit longer to earn his warrior name because he can't speak, but he's one of the best apprentices of NightClan and his mentor Fawnstep has been dropping hints; the warrior ceremony should be any day now.
He then asks her about her. He's gone to Gatherings but he's never heard of a Lilypaw.
"Oh," she says halfheartedly, "I'm a new apprentice. I haven't been chosen to go to a Gathering yet."
Which he finds odd, since most Clans take newly-named apprentices on their first Gathering as soon as possible. But he doesn't mention it. Instead he asks whether he'll find her here again. It gets lonely in his dreams; if it's not too much trouble could she meet him here next time?
"Maybe. If I can. I'll try, though."
He thanks her.
Ashpaw wakes up strangely content. As he patrols the borders of NightClan territory with his mentor, he can't help but look forward for nightfall, so he can speak again to someone who can hear.
A/N: Haven't written for a while. An experiment of sorts, with the chapter length, writing style, and genre. I'm usually typing out overly wordy chapters, I haven't written like this before, and I definitely don't write romance regularly—but hey, can't hurt to try! Thanks for reading.