The Tests: Test 1

The Tests: Test 1

### Characters Present

Harnor, Dune, Luana, Black Bird, Eclipse, Sunny, Thunder, Feather, Wisp, Snowdapple, Fringe, Bird, Ivy, Fini

### Important Events

Dune saves Sunny, Dune tells Feather he loves her, Dune dies

**Test 1** is an episode in *The Tests*.

## **The Tests: Test 1 (The Caves)**

Harnor’s blood-red wings spread. He glanced around the jungle and glared at the other cats. “Well, here we are,” he began. “No one has died yet. I’m actually impressed — though I see we came close to a couple of deaths.” He glanced at the dripping wounds on some cats’ pelts. “But anyway, now the fun begins. The first Test is about to start.” The giant red tom stuck his tail onto the ground, and suddenly a massive tunnel opened up, a gaping hole in the middle of an otherwise perfect jungle. “Each day, the caves will open a little further, and each day, the cave will hold a key — a key that can only be found if you work together. The keys are links to each of your pasts; some will have a key linked to them, and some won’t. But remember — each cave holds the key to a cats’ past, and there are some things that a cat wouldn’t like to relive.”

The cats were drawn into the cave without sense or purpose. It was dark, dark all around, and stalagmites grew up in all different directions like buildings. The cave wasn’t massive, but all the cats had enough room to be as comfortable as they could be with how close they were to the other cats. At the back of the cave was a small, glowing key in the shape of a wren. In front of it prowled a large cat with fangs that hung out of its mouth and dripped with poison.

One cat seemed to hold back with fear as they realized this was a scene from their past. . .

Dune backed away slowly. *No, no, no, no, no,* he thought. *I can’t do this. Why did I have to be the first?* “Let me out,” he screeched. “I don’t want to see this again.” He was breathing heavily now. He could see Wren before his eyes — her wound dripping with purple poison, the other cats refusing to give her the herbs that could have saved her. Now Harnor was making him relive this moment and fight the creature that had killed his sister. He glanced around for the exit, but he couldn’t see anything — the cats were completely locked in. “I admit it,” he hissed. “This is my past. Now can we just kill that creature and get it over with? I’m not spending any longer here than I have to. Also, don’t let it bite you, because if it does, you’re going to die. No questions asked.” He paused for breath before continuing. “Anyone have any ideas for killing a creature whose poison can kill you with one drop?”

Luana narrowed her eyes and growled. “We definitely have to work together. . .” She tried to think clearly. “Oh! We need to have the fastest cats confuse it while the others attack,” she offered. “So, and be honest, who’s fast?”

Black Bird shoved Eclipse forward.

Eclipse glared at him. “I’m Eclipse, and I’m pretty fast,” she admitted. “And Black Bird is strong.” She flicked her tail at him.

“Get on its back,” Sunny suggested. “That way, it can’t poison you or use its claws on you.” She stopped, wincing from her wounds. The blood had stopped, but the wounds would take time to heal. “We have to work together. Dune, I suggest you kill that creature. You’ll get your vengeance. Who’s the fastest runner here? If we want that key, we have to be fast.”

“Well, I might as well try,” mewed Dune. “But Sunny, if I’m going to risk my pelt, I want you to be part of the attack. Is that a deal? I’m not risking my life because you suggested it if you don’t join in as well,” he hissed at the she-cat. “Quickly get together a group — we need to attack now before it notices we’re here.” He swallowed his fear. *I’m doing this to revive Wren,* he thought before rushing at the creature. Claws outstretched, he aimed for its back, hoping that he would land there, safely away from the jaws of the giant cat. He hoped that the other cats would attack soon; otherwise, he would die. He lashed out his claws at the monster, hoping to leave deep gashes on its pelt. He landed on its back and left a few not-very-deep gashes in its pelt with his tiny, feeble claws. The monster snapped its jaws around at him.

Thunder ran through the crowd. He nearly froze in terror at the sight of the beast. “What kind of creature is this?” he muttered to himself. He knew that the only way they could survive — the only way he could survive — was to help, so he jumped at the beast, claws unsheathed. He raked his claws across its side and felt its thick, tough hide.

Luana sprinted underneath the monster and slashed at its stomach. Whipping around, she dodged poison and slashed its forepaw.

While the other cats distracted the creature, Sunny ran for the key. She climbed up the slope to reach the key. It was steep and she was in danger of falling off, but she kept going.

Feather lunged at the monster. She zipped next to it and slid under it, raking her claws into its flesh. She twisted to avoid a drop of poison and got out from underneath. She tried to slash at the cat’s cheek, and then dodged back and in front of it. She started to run around it until she could make a clear leap at it.

Snow watched in the darkness. No cat had noticed her for now. She knew she’d be discovered if she interfered, but this was the only way. She watched the massive creature, her blue eyes darting from the cats to the poisonous creature, wondering what they would do. She unsheathed her claws in case anything happened, which was highly probable. She wondered how the cats would attack it. This way was dangerous, and most cats wouldn’t trust her because of this, but . . . if she made friends, would she lose? She felt it — something was to happen. She didn’t know what was happening; her paws pulled her forward and she kept past the monster, darting for the key. Her destiny might be at stake — what was she doing? But something pulled her to the key. She heard something, muffled but urging her forward as she dashed for the key.

Luana’s eyes darted around until she saw a she-cat running for the key. She yowled in horror, “Wait! Stop! What are you doing?!” She tried to run for her, but the monster blocked her path. Screeching in anger, she hurled herself at the monster’s haunches, slashing wildly. “Someone stop h—!” Her shout was cut off as she was knocked into a wall. Shaking her head, she ran and latched onto the monster’s tail.

Wisp was encircled by a tornado — everything spinning. *What the heck is happening?* she thought.

Harnor’s voice appeared in Wisp’s thoughts. *”Young warrior, I’ve answered your pleas. You will be brought to the Tests, where you have the chance to escape your former life and be great again.”*

Wisp shivered as she was whisked from her home. *What plea?* she screamed in her head. *I don’t want this. I don’t want this. . .* She landed with a thump on a cave ground, everything aching. She looked up and saw multiple cats fighting a poisonous beast, and a she-cat . . . racing past her right toward the monster! Out of instinct, she jumped up and raced after the cat just as the beast turned toward the cat. Just then she saw what that cat was looking at — a key. She seized her chance and leapt onto the snout of the animal, clawing frantically. The monster bat its paw at her, but she clung on. “Go!” she screamed at the she-cat, desperately trying to buy her time.

Eclipse zipped to the cat.

She was followed by Black Bird.

Eclipse narrowly avoided a drop of poison.

Black Bird jumped behind the cat, attempting to confuse it. His unusually long claws slashed at the creature’s pelt, constantly jumping and switching sides. He tired quickly, but watching Eclipse zip around like a fly made him determined. For her. He had lost Ash; he wasn’t going to lose Eclipse.

Eclipse hissed and growled, avoiding poison and constantly swiping at the monster’s forepaws. Her long legs jumped in a sideways-8 position. It wasn’t too effective, but it was better than letting Black Bird fight it without anyone. Of course, there were the others, but she didn’t trust anyone except Black Bird.

The creature fell to the ground. A small black cat had slashed open its stomach and forepaw and there were scratches all over its hide.

The last thing the creature knew was a gray-and-white cat biting open its throat.

Dune, Sunny, and Snowdapple all reached the key at the same time.

Snowdapple had a poisonous wound in the side of her flank, and when she reached out to touch the key, the poison disappeared and she was left with a nasty cut — but it probably wouldn’t kill her.

Sunny and Snowdapple both tried to pull out the key, but somehow they couldn’t.

Dune carefully reached towards the small wren-shaped key, and it came away easily in his paws. It appeared on a string around his neck.

Harnor’s voice could be heard around the cats. “Congratulations on all surviving the first day — though, if that wound doesn’t get any better, I think we might need another spare. The second cave is more simple, but to be honest, it’s a bit of a game of luck. You have to learn to put aside your differences and wait out the thaw. This isn’t the cave that lets you stay away from the others. Let the second cave begin. . .”

All the cats were drawn into the next cave, where they found an icy terrain with giant spikes that could scratch a cat’s pelt. The key was hidden in one of the spikes, and it was in the shape of a pure white crescent.

One cat seemed to think that this reminded them of something in their past.

All the cats had to do here was survive a night, and they might have to get a bit cozy.

Wisp stood up from where she had laid on her side after being thrown off the monster. She winced; her flank was bruising. Other than a couple scratches and the bruise, though, she seemed relatively unharmed. She took a step toward the group a bit awkwardly. “Um, I’m Whispering Pines, but I guess you could call me Wisp. I randomly got dropped here during an attack on a poisonous monster, and I would like to know what the heck is going on.”

“Every day, a new cave forms. Each cave is supposed to represent a cat’s past, and in each cave, there’s a key. The key we’re looking for is in those spikes and is a pure white crescent,” Sunny said. She took some cobweb and looked for the cats that had the most serious wounds.

Luana attempted to puff her fur out to get warm, but her small frame didn’t help. The cold had already pierced her coat, because she didn’t have a winter one. Swishing her tail, she sighed in annoyance. “First of all, that she-cat needs something to prevent her wound from getting infected, but *of course* there’s nothing here.” She thought quickly. “Keep your flank against the ice to stop anything from getting in. It also might stop the bleeding. Second! We’re all going to freeze if we don’t keep warm. So any suggestions?” she said, wanting to hear new ideas, since her only one was to huddle together. She had a feeling some cats would oppose that.

Sunny explored the cave, shivering. The spikes were terrifying, and she wondered whose past this was. Looking around, she saw a small patch of cobweb. “How about we take shifts?” she suggested. “The cats who need it most will rest and the other cats will go and find the key.”

“Well, I can go look for the key,” Luana said before whipping around. “But you!” she said, looking at the she-cat who had darted in front of the monster, “will stay right here!” she commanded, her need to help others in full control. “Now let's find it!” she said, trotting off before slipping and landing on her belly.

Snowdapple blinked. She wasn’t dead! She looked at her flank, gave the scratch a lick, and looked around the ice cave. It looked sharp and slippery. She peered around and took a step forward. She slipped and jerked up, trying to keep her balance on the icy ground. “T-that was tough,” she commented. “But this might be a little harder. . .” She took another step forward and swayed slightly, but stood strong. “And, uh . . . sorry for darting into there . . . I . . . I’m Snowdapple, but you can call me Snow.” She looked around once more. “I wonder who this is for. . .” She nodded and gently leaned against an ice pillar, wincing at the bitter cold. She pulled back, shivering, but pressed her cut to it again, and soon it stopped bleeding. She sighed in relief and sat down on the frozen ground. “W-what would keep us warm?” She blinked and an idea began to form. “What if . . . we huddled up together to keep warm?” She looked around at the other cats. “I know not all of us will be open to being so close to others, but it’s something . . . and . . . um . . . I always felt warm when someone g-groomed me. . .” She winced at the cut that was now stinging. She probably could press it back on the ice. . . She continued. “If we huddled up together, we would keep warm, and maybe we could groom each other as well. I don’t know how we get the key, but . . . maybe since the last one was Dune’s, whoever has this cave has to get the key out?” She nodded towards Sunny. “And taking shifts would work as well. . .” Her cut had started bleeding again, but she ignored it, looking at the cats.

Feather glanced around the cave. There was ice everywhere. She fluffed out her fur, but that didn’t help much. She flicked the feathers over her back to keep it warmer. The strings were packed with warm hawk feathers and her spine wasn’t freezing anymore. She padded over to the middle and put one string over Snow.

Snow purred at the sudden warmth from the feathers, nodded to Feather gratefully, and then turned to Wisp. “But I can help! We all have wounds!” she protested, standing up and sending a few drops of blood to the ground. “I can help. We all have to.” She glanced around at the other cats, sighed, and sat back down.

“But all we can do with our wounds is lick them clean. There are no herbs here except cobweb — but the blood has all stopped running on us.” Feather got a string of feathers, and detached it from her ear by tilting her head down and pulling on the string. She laid the feathers on Snow’s back and padded over to a spine to start searching. She carefully scratched at one spine, only to reveal a pack of snow in the ice.

“Does anyone have any idea on how to get the key out of the ice?” Luana asked, confused. “And so far, our only idea to keep warm is to huddle together, and I know that some of us will oppose that.” Her eyes flicked between cats. “So unless you have other ideas on how to not freeze to death, our best bet is to huddle,” she huffed, sitting down next to Snow.

Dune fluffed up his pelt. Now was one of the only times he was glad it was thicker than normal fur. “Well, Harnor said we only need to survive the night, so maybe the key will reveal itself if we survive,” he began. “But the only way I can see us surviving the night — and sleep — is if we huddle together, and I’m not doing that. Maybe if we run around, we could keep warm, but not have to get too close to comfort.” He didn’t want to sleep near any cat, even though some of them had been vaguely pleasant to him.

Luana snorted and then purred. “Good luck running around on ice! But I do understand what you’re saying. Moving on a slightly smaller scale could work.” She nodded, quickly shifting her paws repeatedly.

Snow nodded to Luana and gently began to lick her cut while quietly listening, adding her comments from time to time. “Running would work also, and moving around. . .” she agreed with Dune quietly. She finished washing her flank and laid down comfortably as she continued. “But also, there’s the discussion of food. I haven’t eaten since before the Tests began . . . but I’m okay for now, and if we had to, we could probably eat the snow, but it would make us colder . . . but if we sleep, the night will go by faster.” She said nothing more and rested her head on her paws, her ears pricked, wanting to sleep but waiting to see how the cats would reply.

Luana padded in circles, mumbling to herself to stay awake. She pricked her ears at Snow’s comment. “The only thing about sleeping is that . . . if it’s cold enough and a cat is tired enough, they might freeze to death,” she said, concerned. “Sleeping in shifts could work. Maybe if the cat that was awake woke everyone up periodically so no one would, you know. . .” she muttered.

Dune hated to admit it, but Snow was right. He hadn’t eaten for ages — the only food he had eaten was when he traded the rabbit he had caught with Feather. Thinking about it, where was Feather? Then he saw her standing over by one of the ice-spikes, trying to find the key. “Feather,” he called out. “All the cats need to huddle together or we’re going to die. You go find them all and bring them here. I’ll start to clear some snow from the ground.” He swished his tail along the ground, trying to flick up some of the snow.

All Luana heard was “clear some snow” before she ran and slid against the ground, throwing snow up and laughing crazily. “Oh! I haven’t done that since I was a kit! Haha!” she purred while bouncing on her paws.

Sunny was asleep. Her paws twitched and she was snoring. She woke up and yawned. “So what’s the plan? We should all sleep? Good idea,” she mewed with a yawn.

Eclipse and Black Bird huddled together, neither of them used to the cold.

Every once in a while, Eclipse would shift her paws at times, because her pads were freezing. She shivered. “Are you sure this is all ice? And would we get frozen to death here? Gosh, my legs are sore . . . and all this ice is just frozen water . . . what happens when it melts? Will it melt? Hopefully not. . .” she whispered to herself, pressing herself into her brother’s fur.

Fringe shivered, fluffing her fur to try and keep warm. She had found a corner of the cave that seemed warmer than the rest and now huddled there, away from the other cats. *I hope whoever’s room this is finds the key soon,* she thought. She could feel the hours slipping by. *It has to be morning soon. . .* She struggled to fall asleep, but finally drifted off. When she woke, she was partly encased in ice. Her eyes shot open and she started to screech, trying to get out.

Feather bounded toward the screeching she-cat. She tried clawing it off, but it was too strong. “Scratching it won’t work. Maybe we could use a spine to break it a bit?”

Sunny looked at Fringe’s body in horror. “Okay, Fringe. I’m going to get you out.” She began clawing at the ice.

Snow jerked up and stood, her eyes wide as she looked at Fringe. “Ah! What?! Is the ice being made that quickly?” She blinked, realizing that it was definitely too dangerous to sleep now. She padded over to Fringe and Feather, and trying to stay calm, meowed, “We could always lick her free. Our tongues are warm and would melt the ice. Or we could all huddle around her, but now. . .” She looked around and shivered. “This cave is dangerous. . .” She looked back towards the group and called out, “Has anyone ever had to survive in these conditions? The knowledge would help us, and especially Fringe!” Her pain was forgotten as she stared out towards the group determinedly.

“But our tongues would stick to the ice,” Feather said.

Thunder stepped forward. “Fuzz told me about the time he got his tail frozen in a lake; long story. He said claws have no effect, but the combined heat of a couple other cats unfroze him — but don't let the melting ice touch your fur, or you'll get stuck too.”

Eclipse shied away from where the other cats were trying to loosen Fringe. Many cats trying to melt ice . . . her mind wouldn’t let her go there. Sure, she was smart. And the amount of ice was little, so even if it did melt, it would barely create a puddle. But the heat could melt other ice and create more puddles. And those puddles could make a river, and that river could take anyone here. She didn’t mind one of them dying, but no one was going to drown like Ash.

Black Bird, on the other paw, was running towards them, clawing at the ice with his unusually large claws.

Bird sat in the corner, in his own world. “Pardon?”

Finally, Fringe thrashed enough to break free with the help of the others who had gathered around her. She stood, panting. “Okay. No sleeping, then,” she muttered. “Um . . . thanks for your help.”

The night passed. One of the ice spikes was beginning to melt, and the cats could see the key inside. Wisp knew that only she could pick it up.

Sunny lapped at the water from the melting ice, glad to drink some water — no matter how cold it was.

Luana purred in delight. “Ah! The key! Quick! Whoever’s memory this is, pick it up!”

Eclipse and Black Bird started grooming each other, waiting for this all to be over. They stayed away from the water of the slightly-melted ice, knowing that it would wet them and eventually freeze on them.

Black Bird shivered and yelled at everyone, “Whoever’s memory this is, get over it! I’m *tired*, and not willing to *freeze* in my *sleep*!” He added emphasis, especially at the very end.

Eclipse shushed her younger brother.

“You just shush it! You *know* to keep your mouth shut around me!” Black Bird said.

Luana yawned. “He’s got a point, though. Please hurry if it’s your key.”

Snow purred, happy that Fringe was free, and spotted the key. It was in a danity shape of a crescent, and she looked at it curiously. “Whose key is this? I don’t think it’s mine. . .” She looked around. She knew it wasn’t Dune’s or hers — or at least, she thought it wasn’t hers. She looked around to the other cats and meowed, “Um, whose key is this?” She then noticed her flank — it still stung, but wasn’t bleeding anymore. It seemed to look a little weird. She ignored it and padded towards the key. She carefully avoided the ice still around it and touched it gently to make sure it wasn’t hers. Nothing happened, and she looked at the group and meowed, “Should we all try touching it?”

“Whose past is this?” Sunny yelled. “Who has a relative named Crescent?”

“Not me!” Bird said.

Ivy sat off in the corner, eyeing the other cats.

Feather looked around the cave. She was growing inpatient. “Whoever’s cave this is, hurry up! The key’s right here and waiting to be picked up!” She played with her string of feathers.

Fringe sighed. “Okay, you know what, I’m done with this.” She leaped forwards, digging her claws into the ice around the key.

Sunny studied the key. It was a pure white crescent and it was cold to the touch.

“We’re running out of time!” Bird said.

Snow sat back down. Shivering, she studied the key for a moment and began to groom herself, a little bored.

Fini was confused about what was going on. Surely this wasn't what Fir was talking about, was it? There was a strange key right in front of her.

Wisp took a deep breath and picked up the cord in her mouth, the key dangling at the end. Suddenly, the key appeared around her neck.

Then all the ice melted at once. It became a raging stream that washed the cats into the next cave. The cave was filled with rushing water that swung the cats around in different directions.

The cats could all see where the key was, but they would need to go underwater to get it. It was in the shape of a small cat that was ashy-gray in color.

Fringe paddled calmly in the water. She had always liked swimming. “Is every cat okay?” she asked loudly. “Whose cave is this?”

Ivy stood in the middle of the group, her eyes sparkling with horror. She just stood there because she didn’t know how to swim.

Sunny found some marigold and carried as much as she could in her jaws. “Who needs these? Who here is wounded?” she yelled.

Snow gasped and raced out of the water. She shivered and shook herself, now glaring at the icy stream. Why did it have to be water? She began to briskly groom her fur. She gently sniffed her cut, which looked a little strange and was sore. She ignored it and stood up. She looked at the water and spotted the key that looked like a small gray cat. She nodded and looked back around. Everyone seemed to be there, as far as she could tell.

Luana swam strongly and yowled to the surrounding cats, “Alright! This is easy enough! Just — someone grab the key before we drown.”

Sunny let out a deep breath. She looked out for the key — but nothing. The current was strong, trying to push her underwater and blind her. The key was well-hidden, as it was camouflaged with the cave floor. As much as she wanted to go underwater, her fears were pulling her back. She tried to think of something — something that would help her. Only one thought blazed in her mind: Let go. She was confused. Why would that help her? But seeing no other option, she stopped, letting anything haul her back. She let go of the current, her fears, her anger, and herself.

Dune saw a golden she-cat disappear under the water, and he sighed. *How stupid,* he thought. But then he felt the wren charm heavy around his neck. Wren would have wanted him to save the cat, even though he didn’t know her. “Hmph,” he sighed, and dived into the water. He had never had a problem with swimming. He and Wren used to play in the river nearby when they were kits. He swam underneath the she-cat, making sure he was well under her stomach before he pushed off the floor and up to the surface. He spluttered under her weight. “No one is dying yet,” he hissed under his breath at her. He spotted a tortoiseshell she-cat — her name was Snow, he thought — standing on a small piece of rock, the only land that jutted out from the cave wall. “Hey, you,” he mewed. “Snow, can you budge off that rock? This cat nearly died. She really needs to be out of the water.”

The water looked terrifying, but Snow jumped into it and began to swim weakly. She kept up, though, and looked around. She had spotted Sunny moments ago, but the she-cat had disappeared. “Hey! Where’s Sunny?” she gasped, struggling a little to tread the water. “We need to get the key now!”

Luana jumped to the rock where Dune had put Sunny. “Is she breathing and conscious? Do you know if she hit anything?” she meowed, trying to help.

Sunny sputtered out river water and fluffed her fur. She blinked the water out of her eyes and shook her pelt.

Dune saw the golden she-cat splutter up some water and take a breath. “Thank you,” he groaned. “I didn’t want to waste my time trying to save a cat that was going to die anyway. You’re welcome, by the way.”

“Thank you.” Sunny mewed weakly. “I need to rest.”

Luana purred and rested her tail on the she-cat. “Of course. It’s helping. All cats do it!” she laughed, her eyes sparkling as she looked at Dune. “Even that mouse-brain.”

Eclipse screamed, the sight of water enough to give her a heart attack. She saw the key, which reminded her of Ash, and nodded at Black Bird before being dragged under.

Black Bird swam under and grabbed her. “Eclipse! I’ll get the key. You try to stay above water!” he yelled. He dove under, but resurfaced to find the key.

“Are you okay, Sunny?” Snow called to the she-cat who was now on the small, rocky shore. She noticed Eclipse and Black Bird were going for the key. She swam towards the rocky shoreline and squeezed in next to Sunny, exhausted from swimming and wishing that she could swim better.

Dune moved his paws against the flow of the water, staying easily above it. He saw a thick-furred black tom diving towards the key and reappearing without it in his jaws. He swam over to the tom and half-hissed, half-growled at him, “Oh, just man up and grab the key. Here, I’ll help you. The moment you’re anywhere near it, just grab it in your jaws and I’ll pull you up to the surface.” Before the tom was able to respond or argue against him, he flung his paws down on him, fighting the temptation to unsheathe his claws, aiming to push him deep under the water. Hopefully the black she-cat would have enough sense to grab the key instead of panicking.

As soon as Dune hit Black Bird, Eclipse growled at him. “He can barely swim, you fluff-brained fox-heart! He doesn't need your help anyway. If he needed it, he would ask me,” she yowled at him from where she was. She shivered once again. “It's . . . it’s mine and Black Birds’s. He’s getting the key now. Ever since Ash died, to water I stayed well away, and never learned to swim. Stupid, I know. If you don’t want to lose someone to water, make sure they can swim. . .” She went under and resurfaced. “If Black Bird doesn't resurface. . .”

Then Black Bird did. One last time, he dove down and grabbed the key in his claws.

Luana yowled as the tom resurfaced, “Are you alright?”

Black Bird ignored her, and instead went to make sure Eclipse was okay. He showed her the key, the same ashy-gray as their brother, and they just sat together on the rockyish shore of the cave.

Fringe sighed with relief when she saw the tom come up with the key in his jaws. “We can move to the next den, then,” she murmured. “Oh, I hope it’s not mine. . .”

Snow looked at the key. Relief and wonder filled her. She looked at Sunny and meowed, “Now we can go to the next cave. One hopefully without water.” She looked thoughtful for a moment and meowed, “And food. . .” Her stomach grumbled and she waited for the key to do its thing.

The water slowed down, and the cats were slowly dragged out of the cave and into the next one. It was like a cliffside path with a broken bridge that separated the cave from the exit. Below the bridge was a massive drop. Anything that fell down would be shattered on the rock-hard floor of the cave.

“This cave is simple. All you have to do is throw your keys over the edge. It’s not challenging in any way, but I guess we can’t have everything. For every key you throw down, the bridge fixes itself by a third. Let the cave begin!” said Harnor.

Snowdapple stumbled up and winced as a wave of pain flooded over her. She sat down and looked at her flank. It looked weird; it was a raw, pink color. *Did my cut get infected?* she wondered, sniffing it. *This is bad. . .* She said nothing, though, and looked at the bridge in interest. “So . . . we have to throw our keys?” She blinked. “But we worked so hard to get them. . .”

Feather glanced down. “Well . . . there’s no other option. If we don’t, we’ll be stuck here.”

Sunny applied some marigold on Snow’s wound. “These will stop the infection.”

Snow blinked and winced at the sting of the herb. “Thanks, Sunny. . .” she mewed, looking at the she-cat.

Sunny snorted. “What do you think I was going to do — let you die of infection?”

Ivy let out a hiss of frustration as she tried in vain to lick her black-and-silver pelt dry.

“All of that work, just to throw it away. These Tests are going to be a lot different than I thought,” Thunder muttered to himself.

Fringe gasped. “No. . .” All of the work they had done to get the keys . . . gone! “What kind of sick joke is this?” she shouted. “Making them work for the keys like that, reliving those memories, and then they have to throw it away?”

Bird slipped on the ice.

Luana padded to the edge of the bridge. “I can’t believe it!” she growled. “We almost died several times to just . . . throw them away?!”

Dune paced around. “Uhh,” he cried. “Why do we have to get rid of the keys?” He had lost Wren once before, and to be honest, the key kind of reminded him of his tabby-and-white sister. “Well, if we have to do it, we might as well get it over and done with. If you have a key, put it here. I don’t really know your name, and I don’t really care — you, black tom over there — come here. You as well, Wisp. Place the keys down here — we’ll push them off together.” He dropped his head and let the key fall to the floor. Then he ran over to Wisp, who was still standing still, a bit in shock, and yanked the string of her key so it fell from her neck. He grabbed her white crescent key in his jaws and placed it next to his. Scared that another cat would push his key over, he placed his paw lightly on top of it. He would need to ready himself to say goodbye to the little piece of Wren he had left. *Just one more key to get,* he thought. “Hey, you,” he shouted again at the black tom. “Hurry up and place your key next to mine.” *Well, I might as well get started with this,* he thought. Before Wisp could stop him, he pushed the key off of the ledge and it tumbled down, smashing to pieces on the ground.

Black Bird nodded, his fur still soaked. He took the ashy-gray key and smashed it onto the ground below the bridge.

It was time. Dune had to throw away the key he had worked so hard for. The drop was massive, and he would have a painful minute to watch the last thing that reminded him of his sister fall to the ground. Tentatively, he pushed the key towards the edge of the cliff, and then, taking a deep breath, he shoved it off the edge. Then, in his mind, he saw her. Wren. In the place of the key, she was falling, and her yellow-and-blue eyes looked up at him, pleading. He knew what he had to do. Then he spoke directly to Feather. “Feather, I love you. I don’t know whether as a sister, a friend, or even if we could have been mates one day. Just remember that I love you, and please don’t follow me.” He sprinted to the edge and flung himself over so no cat could catch him. He was ready to die for Wren. He caught up with the key and tears of joy flooded down his cheeks.

*In the last moments before Dune hit the ground, Wren appeared next to him, a spirit for the sky above.*

 As quickly as his fall had started, Dune hit the ground — at the same time as the key. And as the world faded to black around him, he smiled and whispered one last word. “Wren.”

The cats were now drawn out of the cave and across the rope bridge. Some cats took longer to resist Harnor’s pull, as they wanted to help Dune, but soon they were forced to leave.