"Whisppaw…" a soft whisper broke through the foggy darkness that surrounded Whisppaw's mind. She let out a soft groan and rolled over, was it already time for training? But for some reason her nest was softer than usual, it reminded her of the soft bedding back in the nursery. It made it impeccably difficult to get up… Her eyes jerked open as realization dawned on her, she wasn't back in LightClan. Sitting up she looked around, her pale blue eyes wild and frantic, she needed to find Sandpaw. Together they could find a way back to LightClan… She blinked a couple of times and frowned, everything was still blurry. Rubbing her eyes with her paw, she tried again. Still blurry.

"Great you're up!" the black blob that was Ink purred, he shifted a bit and as he came closer, she was able to make out some details. He wasn't fully black, his chest and muzzle seemed to be a shade a dark shade of gray and his paws were pure white. His eyes, which were two blurry spots of green, blinked. "Is your vision still bad?"

"Mmm…" Whisppaw looked away and sighed, what if this was permanent? She would only be a hindrance to the Clan if it was. Not only that, but Ink's thoughts flitted into her mind like wandering butterflies. He had no barriers whatsoever, and it seemed he had no reason to have any either. His thoughts were cheery and friendly, although they had some worry in them. Such as whether his new friend's eyes would get better, or when the twolegs would give them their morning meal. "Don't worry too much, I'm sure it'll get better sooner or later," the small she-cat with stripes the color of flames meowed before standing up. Yes she needed to be more concerned about the minor detail of being able to read minds. If her Clan found out that the ability had returned, she'd be an outcast again… She didn't want that.

"Hey I know, how about I show you around the den! It's kind of small compared to the wild, but it's super warm during the cold season and there's always plenty of nice places to sleep."

"Thanks for the offer but I don't think I'll be staying for very long," Whisppaw murmured.

"Oh come now, there's no way I'll let you leave with your eyes like they are!" Ink protested and his blurry figure seemed to grow, most likely having fluffed out his fur.

The brightly striped apprentice studied the kittypet thoughtfully, no matter how many of his thoughts filled her mind, none of them held any deceit. It was strange, as a kit all she could remember were thoughts filled with hate and lies. It had deeply rattled her. Yet here, standing before her, was a genuinely innocent and friendly cat. "Alright…" Whisppaw sighed, she couldn't bear to hurt this naive cat's feelings. "Go ahead and show me around."

Most likely beaming a radiant smile of happiness, the blob that was Ink nodded excitedly. "Alright, we'll start with the upper floor. It's my favorite part in the house, since there's so many windows and places to hide."

As he chattered on, Whisppaw zoned him out. She was more concerned about everything all around her. Brightly colored stones that, upon being touched had a unique texture to them, and the tannish grass underneath her paws felt so much different than what she was used to. Oh how she wished her vision was clearer, then maybe she could make out more of this strange twoleg world. "Of course, I'd love to see your favorite spot," she meowed when the friendly kittypet tom had stopped talking.

"How'd you know I was going to ask that!?"

"A um… well er… It was just a hunch… I guess…" she shifted her gaze from Ink's intense stare towards the pale colored walls. She was never very good at lying…

"Oh I see," his tone was nonchalant but she could feel the doubt inside him. Nice going Whisppaw. She scolded herself silently, I need to be more careful or he'll find out. "Say Whisppaw, can you tell me about the Clans? And why did you end up so far away from them anyways?"

"It'll take some time to explain everything," she meowed softly, her pale blue eyes studying him to ensure he voiced the question aloud.

"Don't worry we have plenty of time," Ink purred while hoping up some steps. "And I know the perfect spot to hold long conversations."

She nodded and tentatively followed him up the steps, marveling at the fact that each one was evenly spaced. They were much different from the jagged and unsteady stone steps that could be found throughout LightClan's territory. Upon reach the top of the flight of stairs, we turned a corner and entered a rather bright cave. Resting beside a clear opening in the cave wall was a bright blue stone which Ink hopped up onto. I leapt up beside him and sat down on the oddly squishy stone. "I never really talk about Clan life to strangers so um… how about you ask the questions and I'll answer to the best I can."

"Alright," Ink nodded and at once billions of questions pounded relentlessly at Whisppaw's mind. To say the least, she was definitely starting to get a head ache. "Here's one… do you live with twolegs?"

"Heck no," she responded quickly while curling her lip back in disgust just at the thought. "We don't rely on twolegs to keep ourselves fed."

"Than what do the elderly cats or the ones too young to hunt do? You just don't leave them to starve do you?"

"We aren't barbarians," she snorted and rolled her eyes at Ink's envision of the Clan. In his mind he imagined a bunch of skinny, scruffy cats fighting over a scrap of mouse. "The fit and strong go out hunting for those incapable themselves. We always ensure that the elderly and the queens are kept fed. We also make sure that the sick are cared for until they're capable of hunting for themselves again."

A wild river of relief ran through Ink and she felt the tension in him slowly wash away. "That's good, I just hate the thought of the strong never caring for the weak. It makes me sick… So are all Clans like yours?"

"Well… most are… There are a few however that stray from the StarClan's path. These cats belong to thief Clans. They take young kits from Clans and force them to follow their ways. They are truly a group of despicable fox-hearts," the flame striped she-cat curled her lips in disgust and she lashed her tail angrily. "My Clan took it upon ourselves to stop them and to care for all kits stolen by them."

"Your Clan sounds amazing! Do you try to find the rescued kits' former Clan or do you usually keep them yourselves?"

"It depends. We often try to search for their Clan, especially if the kit can remember the name of their former Clan before being stolen. However, if we can't find the Clan than we'll either keep them or take them to…" she trailed off as she focused on Ink, who was now giving her a strange look. Crap! Had she read his mind again?

"Whisppaw, are you special? There's no way you could have guessed what I was going to say again," he frowned suspiciously at her and she shifted her paws nervously, what should she say? She couldn't just go and admit to being able to read his mind... She didn't want to be rejected. Never again. But Ink was so much different than any Clan cat. His thoughts were so naïve and innocent, so maybe he'd accept her? What should she do? Should she take a risk and tell him? Studying him she let out a sigh, if he did accept her it would help ease the burden. "Don't be too surprised when I tell you this… alright?"

Ink nodded, his eyes gleaming with a newfound seriousness. Okay, here goes! "Ink, as you guessed I am special… I… I can read minds."

His jaw dropped and for a second his thoughts froze as a chilling shock settled in. He blinked a couple of times. So, even though he had his suspicions, he hadn't been fully prepared to learn the truth… "So okay… you can read minds… can um… all Clans cats do that?" the fact that he was trying to make a normal conversation despite his astonishment almost amused Whisppaw.

"Ink why are you so surprised, didn't you already guess I could read minds?" her whiskers twitched before she answered his question. "Sadly I'm the only one. Everyone else is just like you, normal."

"Well I did have my suspicions but I didn't expect you to admit it so suddenly," Ink shrugged while growing embarrassed. The fact that he didn't hate her upon her sudden revelation, and was actually self-conscious about his shocked reaction, relieved her. "So did your Clan accept you for who you are? Do they even know about your abilities?" when she didn't respond, Ink quickly added. "Sorry if I asked something impersonal, you don't have to tell my if you don't want to!"

"No it's okay…" she trailed off as the newly awakened memories resurfaced. Their rejection had hurt her, scarred her for the rest of her life. "They couldn't handle the fact that I was different. Plus they were afraid that I'd read their secrets. After all everyone has a secret to keep and the fact that I could just easily peek into their mind and unbury that secret unnerved them. "

"Oh…" Ink tilted his head thinking this over. "Well I don't mind if you know my secrets! And I don't think you're the kind of cat who'd go and tell secrets you've been entrusted with."

The sincerity of his comment left Whisppaw almost as surprised as Ink was upon learning of her powers. She had never expected anyone to accept her, yet here stood one who still cared for her even after learning the truth. He might be the only one who'll ever truly accept me…

"Hey Whisppaw what if you try to train your powers? I mean you probably she get to know them better. Like how far do they reach or can you turn them on and off? What if, through training, you can make them stronger? Will you eventually be able to, not only hear another's thoughts but send your own thoughts to them?"

"And you want to help me with this?" it was still hard to believe that Ink actually wanted to help her. She had never met anyone capable of lying in their own thoughts. Smiling she added. "Alright, I'll accept your help."