(Kitten POV ... it was too important so I made it a real chapter instead of a side story)

I'm not really sure how long I have been gone from my house, but I really miss Mommy!

When those ugly people took me away from her I heard shouting... I hope she's okay.

It was scary being dragged around, but then we met the woman who saved us. She let us go and then later found us and took us somewhere safe. I like her. She's really warm and fuzzy. She's different, like me. None of the other boys or girls had teeth, claws, white fur or a tail like mine. I know, I'm weird, right?

Mommy used to tell me: “Sara you're special. You know all those monsters sometimes get switched with a stronger one, right? You're just like that, my special little baby.” Of course I got embarrassed 'cause she called me a baby! I was ten!

Sometimes being different is bad.

Like in the tunnels I could hear whispers and sometimes see things others couldn't. It got really spooky.

When we were being dragged around by the uglies they didn't really care much, but when the furry guy with metal bits showed up things got really quiet and still, like those whispering people were watching us. But he disappeared and the uglies kept going, so it stopped.

When we were free and hungry we met them again, the woman who saved us and the metal bits guy. I was really glad at first, but then I noticed the silence was back. It wasn't like the last time. It wasn't just watching, they were staring. Following us. The whispers they were talking to each other, about us. I couldn't really make it out, the things they said, but you kinda know... you know? The whispers always have a feel to them I can kinda understand.

Now I have heard the whispers before every now and again. The last time was just before the uglies came and took us away. I don't know why but I don't get the feeling they mean any harm. They just watch. Or at least that's what I thought.

The whispers were really loud when we left the sandy place with all the delicious food. Then they started humming. This really surprised me. I ain't never heard anything like it. I was scared, even though I'm supposed to be a Mouth for the Spirits of the Maze. The whispers aren't supposed to do things like this you know?

I only knew it was something dangerous. Minke was holding my hand at the time and I saw her stiffen too. She saw it. She heard the strange whisper too. She looked at me weirdly then went ahead and saw the Bad Thing coming. The Trickster. I knew immediately this was coming to answer the call of the whispers, not by itself.

It tried to look like Mommy, like how I imagined Daddy to look, but I could tell it was wrong.

The shape was wrong. Then the metal bits guy came up. He looked to be tricked... then somehow he wasn't. The whispers were really fast then.

The Bad Thing was killed. Good. I hate it. It tried to pretend to be Mommy to hurt me.

The whispers went silent again. But the silence it was so creepy, I kept shivering.

I have a lot of fun. I barely even notice the whispers now. They just watch.

Every day I go out with the fuzzy woman and get tasty food. It's great! She even sleeps with me, she's so warm! I love it. She hugs me to sleep.

I got a shock a few days later when I heard the whispers get really loud. The sound... it was different from the hum. It was a thousand little chirps all at once. But it sounded bad. The sound wanted to hurt. To hurt us. To make us move. To make us do something.

I understood this. I knew a kid like that, a smelly boy... he was gross... he used to throw rocks at ant nests. To make them scurry and fight. He liked to force them fight each other.

I heard later... Jinta was killed by the chirping monsters sent by the whispers. I hadn't thought the whispers were really bad until then. I mean all they did was whisper and watch, right? Well now I understood: they were just like the smelly little boy. They would kill us for fun. Because they were bored.

It really scared me. I wouldn't be able to sleep if the warm fuzzy lady wasn't here. Hugging me to sleep.

Still we have a big hard door. That's good right? Monsters can't get through that.

The metal guy and some of the others are going away for a few days.

I really hope the silence goes with them. Like it did last time.

But I was silly. The silence remains. Then the whispers start. I see them, the light flickers of the voices in the tunnels. They're talking about us. I'm really scared.

I... even wet the bed.

Anyway, we go out and collect food. Like we always do. Only this time I can hear the whispers. They're not just talking any more. They're screaming.

I hide.

I duck under the bushes and the fuzzy lady follows.

She realizes I'm afraid and looks around for the danger. She took out a shiny knife. She points out the thing on my arm she gave me is a weapon. I remember she showed me how to use it, but I kinda forgot.

Anyway. I tell her about the whispers. She seems kind of scared. She believes me, but I don't think she understands exactly.

Then the screams reach us.

Only, I see Minke smiling as she stands there in the entrance of the room. Except there coiled around her, like a pile of moving slime a thing engulfs all that makes her HER.

I tell the fuzzy lady the bad thing, the Essence Eater has Minke.

But the fuzzy lady looks at me strangely.

She stands up and walks over to the Minke-puppet and is trying to talk.

The screaming of the whispers is deafening.

I try to cut off the noise with my hands, but I can't!

As I struggle to cope with the noise I see the Essence Eater take the fuzzy lady.

I'm really scared. Because the fuzzy lady with a vacant smile turns around and looks at me through the bushes. I hear the whispers and know what they want. They want me to die.

I hear the scream of the order and shift slightly. The knife the fuzzy lady uses hits the ground beside me. I'm cut but I can't cry now. I grab it and roll over, clutching the metal between my arm and chest. Trying to look dead.

The puppet comes over and pulls the knife out, but the whispers are fooled. They don't understand tricks. They don't understand I am pretending. They see the blood and that I am still and think I was killed.

The screams are so loud I want to scream with them, but they quiet down because the puppets are leaving. Side by side, step by step. Marching with identical empty smiles.

Then the screams grow in number.

I lick the cut on my arm and eat a bit of the food the fuzzy lady found with me. I wonder... how long can I live like this? I'm so scared. The whispers are talking quickly. I think they can see everything, so I stay where I am. I can't let them know I'm alive.

I can hear the screams faintly. They seem to sleeping? Are they waiting for something? The metal guy!

Then I hear sounds, the numberless chirps of the whispers and a strange rumbling roar.

Then the whispers are frantic, surprised and the chirps are cut in half.

The rumble keeps growing, thuds of something heavy and fast on the stone.

It might be a new monster, a servant of the whispers.

I can hear the screams, they are growing in volume but there is no urge to hurt others... yet.

The screams are different from before. The screams had wanted to kill and take souls. Now they seem to be trying to understand something. They're... curious. The screams now aren't good at expressing it. The Essence Eaters can't do all the screams want. So the whispers are being cautious.

I fall asleep, so tired.

I wake up, hearing someone making a noise.

Tap, tap, tap.

The metal guy.

I'm scared. The whispers they're staring at us both. They know I'm here now.

The screams are growing in number.

The metal guy looks scary.

Then he finds me!

Only... he isn't so scary. He's worried about me.

I've been scared of him for so long because of the whispers. Because they watch him I couldn't bring myself to talk to him.

Now... I see he isn't so scary. It's only the whispers that are bad. So I try to warn him... and I think he understood more than the fuzzy lady.

He takes my hand and leads me back down the tunnel, asking more questions.

I tell him everything.

What we learned:

Holy Cow! Plot! Major Plot!

The ultimate villains are apparently the 'Whispers'...

Poor Sara.

Sara isn't from a separate species: she really is a Rare Variant Cat-person!

Since people can't evolve the only way they appear in the Labyrinth is from birth (or ridiculously reckless power usage like Rick).

Why the hell are the Whispers so interested in Rick?!

The noises Sara hears, the hum, the chirps, the screams... frequencies of control signals?