The Tests: Test 4

The Tests: Test 4

### Characters Present

Harnor, Ami, Azalea, Echo, Heidi, Iciclefur, Natrix, Palm, Fini, Frost, Frostsong, Luana, Fringe, Black Bird, Eclipse, Mieginck, Pebble, Tawny, Lantern, Robin, Thunder, Clover, Quintessa, Blizzard, Dune, Feather, Sky, Wren, Tess, Thor, Bonita, Ollie, Moss, Flame, Palm, Storm, Panther, Ambi, Wildflower, Chao, Sunny, Mist, Marina, Gallichka, Lightsky, Tick-Tock, Misha, Jaoien, Moon

### Important Events

Iciclefur dies, Eclipse kills Black Bird

**Test 4** is an episode in *The Tests*.

## **The Tests: Test 4 (The Riddle Rooms)**

Harnor stooped, tucking his feathery, thick wings tightly into his blood-red side. The black jewel around his neck strangely stayed perfectly hanging, not at all blown by the wind. This time, he landed with a crash on the ground, his wings spreading as a way to break.

Some cats who had not yet seen him looked on in shock, others in awe, and some glared at him with hatred filling their eyes in a way few cats would have ever witnessed.

“I see you’ve well-accustomed yourselves with my gifts to you. I thought you’d like powers of your own to remind you of poor little traitorous Wren,” Harnor said.

Ami glared at him. “You’re not real! This is a hallucination, it isn’t a power!” the cat spat.

Harnor knew why they said that. This cat had seen something . . . unfavorable. “My dear little subject, it’s all real.” He lifted their head with talonlike claws before retracting them into his paws, letting their head drop down a bit. “Now onto the matter at hand — the next Test.” His regal voice echoed through the cats.

Some cats hissed, some yowled happily in response.

Newbies. Harnor huffed, amused. That wouldn’t be their opinion soon. He did something he hadn’t done for ages. He shrunk to his normal cat form — a golden spiky-furred tom with one yellow eye, one amber eye, and a massive scar across his throat. “Follow me!” he mewed, his regal tone gone, replaced by a scratchy, higher-pitched mew before sprinting off.

One by one, the cats followed him, eyes narrowed suspiciously.

When they reached the destination, Harnor crept under a small gap in the building. This was why he had needed to return to normal. After the gap opened up into a large room, he turned back into a god and shook out his wings in disgust. He hated his old form.

The room was sterile and white with only a few specks of gray dust on the walls. Before the cats was a pond of water, its surface smooth and reflective but not quite natural.

“This is your challenge.” Harnor’s regal tone was back.

It made some cats jump.

“Each room will hold a challenge; each challenge will be linked to a power. You must solve it before the time runs out, and if you don’t, then one cat will be caught for the first challenge, two for the next, and so on. To save them, you must finish all the challenges. Each challenge needs three cats with the same power to complete. Here’s your first clue.” Harnor became his old form again and ran, seeking the exit as he went, and words appeared on the wall.

*Their hearts cold,*

*this water too.*

*Make a bridge*

*is what you need to do.*

Azalea looked around, snarling slightly. She hated being controlled, hated being brought around like a duckling following its mother. She wasn’t a kit, after all. She had lived on her own for two moons before Swan’s family group accepted her, and a moon after she left them. This water challenge obviously wasn’t for her. She hated relying on other cats too. It was a sign of weakness — or at least that was what Swan said. And Swan was strong, so she obviously knew right from wrong and vulnerability from power. Right? Swan had left her behind and treated her like a kit, even though she was barely two moons younger than her. But now she was strong. She would return home and impress the older she-cat. She would be strong. She tapped her foot on the ground impatiently. Oh, how she hated relying on others. She had begun to rely on Swan and her family group when Swan had eventually kicked her out. For being a weak kit. She hadn’t been weak in the moon following her leave from that group. She had lived alone, and she had been strong. Now she was reduced to that helplessness she felt when Swan had rejected her.

Echo glanced around frantically. Whipping her head around, she spotted another she-cat. Padding over, she asked, “What are your powers? Mine are shadows and invisibility, but they’re still very weak.”

As Heidi was teleported, she almost screamed.

Jaoien smiled and bounced a bit. She was happy for no reason, really.

Iciclefur had started to feel really unwell. He knew he would never last after he was injected with something at the lab, but still. He had hoped it would be longer than this.

Natrix looked around, having no idea what to do.

Palm sat, depressed, because no one ever talked to him.

Heidi smiled. “Hi. I’m Heidi. What’s your name?” she asked.

Fini was so confused. Did someone else share the same powers as her?

Frost thought about it. *Coldness and water. That has to be ice,* she thought. Well, I’m no use. *I have electricity and healing. That’s not helpful. If anything, it’s hot, not cold.*

Frostsong was thinking, her brain hurting. “Their hearts cold, this water, make a bridge . . . guys! I think it’s ice! My heart isn’t exactly cold, but ice is! And we can make a bridge out of water by freezing it! I have ice powers! Does anyone else?” she cried excitedly.

Fini’s ear twitched. Someone else did have ice powers. Quickly, she rushed to the cat’s side and mewed, “I do.”

“I can't help; I don't have ice. My name is just confusing,” Frost said, sad that she couldn't help.

“It’s ice!” Luana purred. “Right? It has to be!”

Fringe glanced around. “Hey. Three cats with ice powers, make a bridge! He literally told us what to do in the clue.” Her anxiousness sent the shadows stirring. “We don’t know who will get trapped if you don’t do it, so please hurry up.”

Black Bird didn’t care. It was easy.

Eclipse trembled a bit from the encounter, as she was close to fighting Harnor, but she thought better of it and stayed next to Miegnick. Plus, she couldn’t help; she had water powers — unless she could combine them with ice, as her cat-sized waves were frozen by those with ice powers.

Mieginck sought out Eclipse. Where could she be? It wasn’t his power, but he had been separated during the movement between Wait and Test.

Rattlesnake thought of himself. He had fire powers; he would just make the water hot.

Pebble shook her head. She wasn’t needed here.

Tawny watched the ice cats with interest. She felt warm inside. When she had come to the Tests, she had been rude and had no friends. But now . . . now they were all a team. Now they were one.

Natrix looked around. “Do you know anyone who has air and telekinesis powers?” she asked a random cat.

“I do!” Heidi smiled.

Lantern looked on at all of the cats rushing to the water’s edge. *They won’t need my help,* he thought. *But. . .* He rushed over to the water anyway. “Do we just freeze the ice?”

Robin watched in awe at the cats gathering and working it out. She already knew what it was — ice — as Harnor practically said it, but she couldn’t help. She didn’t even know what her powers might be. . .

“It's not a power!” Ami cried to all the cats, tears now streaming down their cheeks. Each time they saw a cat do something, the chance it was a power got more likely, and the chance that their father would die got higher and higher and higher.

Thunder heard the other cats say ice. *This is the only way we can all survive.* He put one paw on the surface of the water and watched as it froze. “Come on! I can’t do this alone!”

Clover watched the other cats make a bridge with ice. She bent down and started licking her pads. She sighed at the shouting cats and wondered what her power was. Maybe it was ice too. . . Giving another sigh, she closed her eyes. She put her paws together, then pulled them apart. She opened her eyes as she felt heat . . . fire! A small flame danced beautifully in front of her, its beautiful colors standing out against the icy room. So not to melt the ice, she made a motion with her right paw and the fire went out.

Quintessa watched the others as they figured ice. *Doesn’t Frostsong have ice?* She looked around, wondering where her friend was.

Frostsong ran over to Quintessa. “It’s ice!” she cried excitedly. She concentrated, focusing her energy into her powers. Slowly, a plank about a foot wide and a foot long appeared over the water. “I need help! Luana, Frost, Thunder. Help!”

Luana slammed her paws on the pool. “Hah! There! It’s freezing!”

Blizzard glanced at the water. *I think it’s ice!* A few cats had come to the water and froze it. *Yup!*

“Well, I can’t do anything about this, can I?” Dune said. What a stupid Test this was. He couldn’t even take part in it!

Feather huffed. *Well, ice is cold and freezes from water.* She put her tail on Dune’s flan reassuringly. “It's going to be alright. Sky will look after us. And we still have Wren and Blizzard.” She looked fondly at the two four-moon-old kits.

Sky floated above the water. She looked at their kits.

Blizzard and Wren didn’t seem aware of the spirit.

“Look. There she is!” Feather whispered.

Wren saw Feather staring at something above the center of the pond. She padded over. “What is it?” she asked, looking at her father.

“Great. That’s three ice cats. Hurry up with that bridge,” Azalea hissed, “or I’ll make you.” It was an empty threat, but a threat nonetheless.

Tess watched silently from the corner of the room, growling slightly. *I might be the only cat that doesn’t even* know *what my powers are. They might be ice; they might not be. But these Tests are starting to get more power-related, and I can’t go any farther without control . . . I might need some help. No matter how annoying and . . . chatty he may be,* she thought, giving a pointed glance at Ollie. She did what she did best. Sulk.

Thor swiped his paw, claws unsheathed, at the nearest cat. He then ran into the crowd, pushing cats until he came across a black tom. He hissed at the cats around him.

Bonita was pushed into another cat by a tom. “Hey!” she snapped, glaring at him. “I know you’re new, amigo, but you can’t threaten everyone here.” Her voice was low as she lowered into a defensive position.

Tess glared at the tom, swiping a paw at the blood running down her shoulder. *He’s not worth it.* Instead of going after him like she usually did, she sat in the same spot, her eyes trained on the ginger tom just a few feet away from her.

Ollie bounded on his toes excitedly. “I have ice! I have ice!” he piped up, forming a bit of the bridge with his powers as well. But they weren’t that strong, so he only generated a couple of inches’ worth. He pranced around excitedly, joining all the other cats and using more of his powers to help build the bridge.

Quintessa looked over and saw a she-cat sulking. Near her was a tom looking bright and happy, out of place in a place like the Tests. She wondered if she should talk to them. . . *The sulker looks like what I used to when I first arrived . . . but I’ve hardly ever talked to the toms besides Palm and Dune. Hmm. . .* She decided to take her chances with the tom. She padded secretively over to him, not wanting to attract attention or distract him. She stopped a few feet away, then sat down. *Act natural.* She felt useless as she watched the other cats use their powers. She looked around, making sure everyone was there. *Frostsong, Luana, the kits, Feather, Wildflower. . .* She checked them off in her head.

Moss looked around. *So many new cats!* She padded up to a bouncy tom. “Hi! What’s your name? I’m Moss!”

The water froze around the cats' paws and a bridge of glassy ice grew across the water.

Fini dashed on the ice bridge she made, desperate to reach the other side. *Will the other cats follow me, or will they rely on someone else?*

“Should we prepare, or should we go through the door?” Natrix asked. “Wait — is there such a thing as preparing for this?”

Heidi smiled. “Nothing to prepare. I’ve been here for ten minutes. But yeah. We should go through the next door.”

One by one, the cats crossed the water and padded into the next room. In this room, there was a pile of wood in front of a door, and only one word was written on the wall.

*Wren.*

Loki watched from the shadows. No one, not even his own mother, Fringe, had noticed that he was there. And that was the way he liked it.

*“You shouldn’t isolate yourself.”* Trixy’s voice drifted through Loki’s head.

Loki growled softly.

*“She’s right and you know it.”* Dangle’s voice joined Trixy’s.

Loki ignored them.

*“Please, Loki. It doesn’t have to be this way,”* Trixy pleaded.

Dangle growled in agreement.

Loki slid further into the shadows, closing his eyes.

*Loki transported his mind to the SilverWood, the in-between for living and spirit cats to talk. While his body remained, silently observing the fire-power cat’s work, his mind flew to the star-strewn woods.*

*Trixy and Dangle stood before Loki wearing identical expressions of hope and fear.*

*“What do you want?” Loki snarled. “Why don’t you just leave me alone?”*

*“We can’t,” Dangle stated confidently. “Not until you’re back on the right path.”*

*“I never asked for spirit-guides,” Loki quipped. “Leave me be.”*

*“We have our orders,” Trixy insisted.*

*“Orders from who?” Curiosity temporarily outweighed Loki’s frustration.*

*“We can’t tell you that,” Dangle interrupted before Trixy could respond.*

*“Why not?” Loki asked.*

*“We can’t tell you that either,” Dangle said.*

*Loki growled again. “Well, I don’t want your help. Nor do I need it. Stay out of my life or I’ll send you back to your spirit-realm myself!” With that, he pulled his mind back into his body, pushing the protesting voices of his dead littermates to the back of his mind. Ignoring them. And as he told himself, he would never listen to them again.*

Fringe watched the fire-power cats burn the wood.

*“You’re doing good.”*

Fringe wasn’t surprised at the sound of Perch’s voice. She could almost feel her mate sitting next to her.

*“Better than we could have hoped with odds like this,”* Perch said.

“We?” was Fringe’s only response.

*“Our kits and I, of course,"* Perch said

“Of course,” Fringe said.

Perch and Fringe sat in silence for a few moments.

*“Loki is here,”* Perch said.

Fringe flinched. “I know,” she murmured. “He’s part of the Tests.”

*“Trixy and Dangle have been trying to reason with him, but . . . he ignores them. If you would talk to him—”* Perch said.

“He hates me more than he hates them,” Fringe interrupted. “I’m sorry, Perch, but there’s no happy ending for that kit.”

*“Oh, Fringe,”* Perch sighed.

Fringe could sense him fading back into the SilverWood.

*“No one is beyond redemption,”* Perch said.

“Does anyone else have shadows and invisibility powers?” Echo asked around despairingly.

Robin emerged from the darkness and meowed, “I do.” Again, the Test to her was easy and very clear, but she didn’t know who Wren was.

Dune growled. Why was it Wren? Why did he have to be reminded of his sister? He caught sight of Luana and ran over to her. “Well done on the first room!” he muttered. “I just can’t help but think about Wren.”

Luana’s eyes widened and she held back a choke. *Calm down. . .*

“It’s okay. It’s just a word. It’s just a word,” Dune whispered to Luana, yet he still tried to choke back his own tears.

Luana smiled weakly at the tom and sighed loudly. “Can we please hurry this up? Though a fire in this small a room. . .”

Robin walked over to Dune, who she had never talked to — yet she felt like she already had. “Are you okay? I’m Robin, by the way.” Luana’s presence didn’t occur to her until she turned around. “Hi, Luana. Easy Test, right. . .?” A long silence followed.

“What’s your name?” Natrix asked.

“Heidi! And yours?” Heidi smiled.

“Natrix,” Natrix said. “What does Wren mean? Is that someone’s name?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” Heidi said.

Rattlesnake overheard them and creepily padded up to them. “It’s Dune’s sister. She turned into a fire-demon last Test — so this is fire.” Then he left. He just . . . left.

Luana froze slightly. “Um, yes. She is. She, um . . . died in one of the Tests before. . .”

Natrix looked at Heidi, then Luana. “Oh . . . God.”

“Yes! We did it!” Thunder exclaimed. *Now where’s Tawny?*

Tawny watched the rest of the cats. She smiled. The first room was finished. Hopefully soon her powers would be needed. She saw Thunder and got up to try to talk to him.

Flame helped Frost across the bridge, seeing the word *Wren*. He was very confused.

Frost winced, remembering something painful. “I know what we need,” she said to Flame. “We need someone with fire powers. Do you have them?” she asked.

“No. Man, our names are so contradicting,” Flame said.

“Hopefully some other cats do have fire and they can help us,” Frost said, sitting down because her side was hurting a little from the massive cuts.

Ami saw a cat whose side was bleeding quite heavily. She ran over and sniffed the wound to check for infection. “The wound seems clean for now — but you might want to lean on your other side so it doesn’t touch the ground and risk harmful bacteria moving into the wound.”

“Thanks. That’s what I’ve been doing during the last Wait, so it should be okay for now,” Frost said to the strange cat who seemed to know what they were saying.

Pebble saw Frost and immediately regretted leaving her alone for this Test. Sure, Frost had her brother, but she had three of them, and none of them were good at helping. She scampered towards them, worry in her eyes. “Frost, are you okay? I’m sorry I left you — I really am. But I’m here now. Do you need anything?”

“Pebble!” Frost said, happy to find her friend. “That’s okay. You’re here now and that's what matters. I just need a little rest and I should be fine,” she reassured her. She smiled.

Ollie turned around and noticed a she-cat standing awkwardly to the side. He paused in his freezing, not being able to resist the urge of meeting someone new. He bounced up to her, a big grin plastered on his face. “Hi! I’m Ollie! What’s your name? What’s your power? I think I may have seen you around before, but I don’t know.”

Tess noticed Ollie talking to some she-cat and hissed to herself. *I’ll never be able to talk to him about helping me if he’s preoccupied.* Still, she did nothing. She knew she just had to wait it out.

Palm saw a she-cat hissing at . . . no one. He padded over slowly, a bit nervous to talk to someone who acted like that. “Hi. I’m Palm! I’ve got electricity powers!” He jumped up and down, sparks dancing at his paws.

Tess rolled her eyes. “I don’t care,” she growled. “Let me guess . . . you came to these Tests to follow your dreams or find love or whatever?” She paused, but not long enough for him to answer. “Or maybe you’re smart and you’re here to win. If so, you wouldn’t be trying to make friends with the likes of me. So what is it going to be?”

Quintessa followed the tom’s movements as he ran up to her. *Well, that was easy.* Right before he came up, she glanced at the she-cat hissing at Palm. She sighed. *Wasting energy on being aggressive never brought anyone anywhere. Well, except villains.* She shook her head, then turned back to the tom, who had introduced himself as Ollie. “My name is Quintessa,” she mewed. “My power is air and telekinesis. Watch.” She looked around for something to lift. Her gaze met a small rock and she focused on it, lifting it a little above Ollie’s head. She put the rock down, then lifted herself up, though not as high as Ollie’s head, since she was much heavier than the rock. She put herself down, slightly panting. She caught Ollie’s gaze, then asked, “Why are you here?”

Ollie tilted his head as though in thought. “I’m here to keep cats like her—” he angled his ears to Tess “—from killing anyone,” he joked. “Really, though, I think I’m just here to keep everyone’s conscience clear. Know what I mean?”

Quintessa sighed. *I don’t think he got it. Or maybe I didn’t get it.* “I’m here because when I become a goddess, I want to go home,” she said wistfully. Then her gaze saddened. “But if I went home, I would be alone again.” Her ears flattened slightly as she thought of her new friends. *They’ll all go their own separate ways, leaving me to go my own way too. Where will they go? Will I ever see them again? Probably not. It’ll be just like before — me and the mountains, the mountains and me. Just like I wanted. Or what I used to want. But what do I want now?* As she zoned off, without realizing it, she glowed softly and floated a few inches off the ground.

Iciclefur watched from afar, his tail swishing. He was feeling queasy and knew he wouldn’t last through this Test, but he couldn’t go near Ami. She was too smart; she would see the signs. So he sat and waited, waiting for his turn to help the cats.

*Wren.* The deceased or the kit? If it was the deceased, then the room was hinting at fire powers. And with the wood — it seemed to surely be fire. . . Storm growled in frustration. Hopefully her or Marina’s turn was next.

Echo bounded over to a she-cat. Usually she wasn’t one for energetically running to a bunch of cats to ask them questions, but it was different now. She was desperate. “Which powers do you have?” she queried.

Panther and Ambi dashed for the same piece of wood.

“Woah! Watch where you’re going!” Panther called to Ambi.

“Oops!” Ambi said sheepishly. It was a really large piece of wood. He tried to light it on fire, but it was too hard. “Let’s work together!” he declared.

Panther and Ambi worked together to set the wood ablaze.

Wildflower knew what was happening. Wood? And Wren? They padded quickly towards the door and helped Panther and Ambi set the wood on fire.

Azalea had no idea who Wren was, but she knew exactly what to do with wood. She lit the smaller pieces first, letting them smolder and slowly consume the larger logs and branches. “Get over here and help me!” she snarled to the other cats.

Rattlesnake panicked. It was his power, but he couldn’t do anything! He padded up to the wood pile and started shaking. He placed his paw on the wood and tried to light it on fire. It didn’t work, so he tried again. A small fire appeared on the wood. He let out a sigh of relief and scampered to the back of the group once again.

The wood tumbled to the ground, opening up a path to another door.

One by one, the cats walked through, carefully avoiding the burning wood. In this room, there was a puddle of water and a door handle with three buckets attached to it. The writing on the walls said,

*It holds weight,*

*yet seems calm.*

Palm looked Tess up and down. “Look, it doesn’t matter why I’m here.” He batted his earring with one paw absently. “But you obviously want to know what power you have, so that’s what I’m here to help you with.” He made sparks appear at his paws again, trying to impress her. “And I’m not looking for love or to win. I’m trying to make sure no one dies in the process, so I’m probably someone you want to get on the good side of if you want some help to survive.” Swishing his tail, he smirked at her, trying to look serious and then bursting into a laughing fit. He had never been able to do serious. “First, you have to concentrate really hard on a really strong emotion, and then you'll notice something happen — but it’ll probably snap your concentration and vanish.”

Tess smirked at him. *At least one of these cats isn’t a mouse-brain.* Then he burst out laughing for no reason. *Or maybe not.* “Alright, Sparky,” she meowed. She wasn’t interested in embarrassing herself in front of a cat she barely knew. She didn’t like getting advice from strange cats, but at least someone was helping her. *A strong emotion. . .* She delved into one of her earliest memories, back when she was a weak and useless kit.

*“Tess.”*

*Tess looked up from her ball of moss, her eyes glittering with happiness.*

*Her father was towering above her, his eyes strangely serious.*

*“Yes, Papa?” Tess mewed, popping up and bouncing on her toes.*

*Her father looked away as if he couldn’t stand the sight of her. “I’m going hunting. I may not be back for a while.”*

*Tess tilted her head, confused. “What do you mean, Papa?”*

*“Tess, I just want you to know that you’re strong and brave. Don’t let anyone tell you different. There’s not one cat that is better than you,” he growled fiercely.*

*“I’m scared, Papa,” Tess murmured, dropping the ball of moss. “Where are you going?” she wailed.*

*He jutted his muzzle out to hers somewhat fiercely. “I’ll be back soon.” Then he turned tail and left her behind. And he never came back.*

Tess was jolted back to the present with a start when she felt a tugging sensation grip her consciousness. She focused her thoughts on the sensation and the rage she felt when she realized her father was never coming back. She stopped caring about her powers and held on to that rage. Because in the long run, rage was the only thing that kept her strong. She didn’t stop when shadows began to flicker around her. She didn’t want to stop.

“Wow. That’s so cool!” Palm cried. “And my name is Palm, by the way, but I don’t mind you calling me Sparky. I think it’s really funny!”

Tess rolled her eyes, letting the shadows flicker out. She wanted to keep using them, but she wouldn’t let herself lose control. Not here. Not in front of all these other cats. “What’s with the earring?” she asked Palm.

Palm was a bit taken aback by the question, but he trusted this cat. He trusted everyone here, really. So he told her about it. “Each scratch on it marks the cats I’ve lost throughout my life. I can sometimes see their spirits around me, apart from one. He never comes. The first was Dragon, then Diamond — he’s the one I don’t see anymore — Harminbal, Cobra, Mirage, Lmanamly, Wolf, Jarbil, Stormfrost, Quixgee, Kuvibac-Fox, and Goldenshade.” He paused for breath. Why did his life story have to be so long? “There’s one who isn’t marked — Kinkaroy. She told me not to mourn her, so I try not to. The cat who nearly died with her was Mieginck. He’s here now, but I think he feels awkward approaching me. He was the one who kind of lead to Harminbal’s death, and I think he’s seen how many marks are on my earring.” He glanced over at Harminbal, the sparks appearing at his paws again.

“Oof,” Tess muttered. “I guess some cats here are more damaged than I thought.” *Still, I don’t think any of them have done the things that I’ve done.* She shook her head to herself, not letting herself dwell on the past. She had never had a conversation with a cat for this long without trying to kill them. It was kind of refreshing. She stared at her paws. She didn’t really know how to keep conversations going. *Wait . . . what am I doing? I’m not here to make friends. I only talked to him to get my powers under control, and now that I have, I don’t need him anymore.* “I’ve gotta go,” she mumbled, roughly pushing past Palm and heading to a dark corner of the room. It seemed like the only place she could ever head for was the dark.

Chao didn’t like having one eye, especially when the other hurt so much. But it was worth it. He was closer than ever to fulfilling his one and only goal in life. He looked around for Palm, knowing that now wasn’t the right time. He saw his friend and padded over.

Sunny stared at the water. Could she do it? Or would she just let everyone down like she usually did? She closed her eyes and sang a sad song she knew.

Azalea sat down and huffed.

Iciclefur became the awkward guy and sat down next to Azalea, huffing. He smiled at his impression of her.

Robin saw Iciclefur and sat next to him. “Hey. I still only know two cats here, so promise you won’t leave me, right? Sorry — that was way too forward. . .”

Fini was waiting patiently for the water cats to help the others. Then a thought popped in her head. *What if I don’t survive this Test?*

Natrix looked at the words, then back at Heidi. The words, then Heidi. “Let’s help each other out.”

Clover hated making friends. It was what tore her life away. Now she knew that “friends” were just a cruel way of getting cats happy — joyful, even — then ruining their lives. All the cats here had at least one friend. Or most of them did. *I want to know the cats’ names, not befriend them. . .* No matter how she tried to convince herself, she couldn’t hold back the tingling feeling of turning to some cat. She hid away in a corner and curled up, waiting for her tears to come. *Ashes. . .* The name rang in her head. She let her tears come and looked up to the sound of a random cat approaching her.

Bonita padded up to a she-cat in the corner. “Hey!” she grunted. “What are you doing? Shouldn’t you be helping? ¿Qué pasa con estas tontas Pruebas, de todos modos?” she mumbled.

Luana glanced around the room and saw a familiar long-legged cat in the corner. Turned out she was yelling at another cat. “Bonita, hush. You’ll scare her!” she chirped.

Bonita shot a death glare at Luana. “Hey, leave us alone!” she huffed.

Luana looked from Bonita to the she-cat curled in the corner, Clover. Didn’t she hear that? “Hey, you’ve got a friend now!” she purred loudly.

Bonita’s face flushed and she stuttered slightly. “We aren’t *f-friends*! I’m just . . . making sure she isn’t . . . uh, plotting anything!”

Clover looked up. What were these cats doing? “She’s *not* scaring me. I don’t get *scared*. And I’m *not* plotting anything! D-don’t you understand? Cats are damaged here! You may have been around way longer than me, but you don’t see? To understand the circumstances some cats have been in. . .” She turned and looked at the cat who had spoken to her. Then at the other cat. She turned and started to stalk off, but something made her turn back. “Wait, what’s your name?” she asked the other cat.

Bonita stared back at the she-cat. Why did she care? “. . . Bonita. It’s Bonita.”

Mist was struggling to stay awake. *Nothing* was happening.

Blizzard padded to the water’s edge, created a bubble, and tried to move it quickly to a bucket, but it popped, splashing on the cats. A little embarrassed, he made another one, moving it slower. He was able to transfer three bubbles before sitting down to rest beside his mother and sister.

Wren and Feather sat together, purring, while they watched Blizzard.

Blizzard padded up to them.

Ollie’s eyes widened as Quintessa started levitating off the ground, tears brimming in her eyes. “Are you okay?” he asked, getting worried.

*Quintessa could no longer hear the outside. She could see Ollie getting worried, saying things. Her mind was numb. Her glow brightened and she lifted a little higher.* I can’t control it. Stop. Stop!

Then, just like that, Quintessa fell to the ground. *I can’t. Not anymore. Why must this always happen?* Her thoughts raced around as her tears spilled over soundlessly. She looked up, right at Ollie. “I. . .” She wanted to run, but where? She was trapped. Her ears stuck to the back of her head. “My head hurts,” she mewed quietly. She pressed her body to the ground, eager to calm herself down. *Breathe. Breathe.* She dared look up at Ollie. “I’m sorry. I — I was . . . scared . . . I don’t want to be alone. Not again.” Her tears stopped. *Is that how it will end? Just me? Alone?*

Wildflower watched Quintessa fall to the ground. “No, no, no, no, no,” they shouted, running to her side. “You’re not alone. Please, no, Quintessa, be strong. Look. I’m here, Ollie’s here. Ollie’s here. Come on, Quintessa. Be strong.”

“Quintessa! You can do this! Relax. Be one with your powers. We’re all here to support you!” Frostsong yelled reassuringly to Quintessa.

Dune saw Quintessa panicking and sprinted up to her, beginning to panic himself. What had happened? He pressed his body against hers and mewed in her ear, “It’s okay. It’s okay. I’m here. It’s all fine. You’re not alone. If this ever happens again, come find me or Luana or one of the kits.” He still referred to the full-grown cats as kits. They had grown extremely fast, though. He glared at Ollie over the back of Quintessa’s shoulder.

Ollie quickly rushed to Quintessa. He touched his nose to her ear. “Look at me. You’re not alone. You have friends. Whatever you’re going through, we can help you.” He ignored the glare that a strange tom gave him. *This is what I’m here to do. This is my purpose.*

Dune glared at Ollie even more.

When the black tom ignored Thor, he let out a sigh of loneliness. *It’s a shame. He looks like a great fighting companion.* Then he snorted at his idiotic ideas. *I’m not here to make friends! I’m here to kill. I can manage defeating at least three cats here on my own!* He saw a brown tabby that had fallen. He unsheathed his claws and stalked over. Once he was within distance, he snarled and leapt at the tabby’s head, hoping to injure her and be able to bat her aside so he could reach other weak cats.

Feather saw a tom attack Quintessa and a she-cat she didn’t know and signaled with her tail for her kits to stay there.

The kits shook their heads.

Feather leapt at the tom and raked her claws down his leg.

Thor turned around to face her, so it only tore off a clump of fur. He clawed her ear.

Feather fought back.

Blizzard stroked a blow at his haunch, which made him start fighting with the kits.

Feather bit his tail.

Thor turned back to her. “I admire you. I’m Thor. You fight so well! We could be friends.” The tom’s pleading and lonely green eyes met hers.

Feather snorted. “That doesn’t change the fact you attacked my friends.” She swiped her paw at his face. But Thor’s pleading and lonely gaze struck her, so she left the fight, signaling to Blizzard and Wren to do the same.

Dune saw Thor attack the kits and pounced on him, teeth bared, aiming to land on the tom’s back and tear the rotten, no-good tom’s flesh with his claws. “Stay away from my kits,” he hissed right in the tom’s ear.

Ollie padded up to Dune. “Dude, let’s talk this out,” he meowed chipperly and with a smile.

Dune didn’t really want to talk this way to this cheery cat, but he knew it was the only way to sort this. “Oh, well, I just don’t want anyone getting too coy with my friend here,” he purred, slightly maliciously. “We wouldn’t want anyone getting hurt, now would we?” He unsheathed his claws and scraped them along the floor, slightly curling his lip back at the tom. He smiled and turned around, still leaving his claws unsheathed, clicking as he padded away from Ollie. Turning around once more, he went, “And stay away from Luana and Quintessa. Stay away from my kits.”

Ollie smiled to himself as Dune walked away. *What a nice fellow. He just doesn’t want to get any cat to get hurt.*

 Tess rolled her eyes from the corner where she had been listening. *He’s the most oblivious cat I’ve ever seen.*

Blizzard spit a last ball of poison at Thor and turned away reluctantly, following his sister.

Feather had to think about it. *He attacked them, but the only friends I actually have are Dune and Luana — but I haven’t talked to her since the first Wait. So technically only Dune counts!* She decided to talk to Thor after the battle. She checked the kits for scratches.

Blizzard had a bite on his hind leg, but it wasn’t deep, as well as a scratch on his forehead that covered his face in blood, a lot of scratches on his flank, and one deep scratch below his chest was bleeding heavily.

Wren was licking her wounds, which were a torn ear, a clump of fur missing on her shoulder, and a scratched nose.

Once Feather made sure that the scratch on Blizzard’s chest had gotten less serious, she started tending to her wounds.

Marina knew what to do. Smiling at her sister, she approached the water, tentatively touching it. “We need to break the door with the water!” she yelled. The small black she-cat touched the water, concentrating deeply on the smooth liquor feeling. Water was heavy, yet it was calm. It was soothing. *Water quenches fire. Water smothers earth. Water captures air . . . and water soothes water,* she thought. *I’m water, and water is inside my heart. I control it; it’s a part of me.* Slowly, a wave rose. It was unsturdy, though, as it slowly rose and moved towards the wall. She felt herself losing control. *No. You have to smash the wave against the wall.* *Do it.* Her blue-green eyes squeezed shut, and her body quaked with her concentration as the wave grew to the size of a large cat and smashed against the wall, filling the buckets. She fell to her side, panting heavily. “Help. . .” she panted. “Too . . . much . . . power . . . used . . . Quintessa? Storm?” she whispered, seeing the two she-cats looking at her with concern as she blacked out.

Quintessa felt overwhelmed. *Stay calm. Everyone is here. You’re not alone—* Her ears pricked. Her head turned to the sound, her eyes meeting with Marina’s body. She got up, then ran over. She sniffed her, then placed her ear near Marina’s chest. *She’s still breathing. Thank Harnor.* She looked over at Storm, then asked, “What the frick happened?”

Storm panicked, staring at Quintessa. Tears welled up in her eyes and the black she-cat choked on words. *Stars no. Don’t take Marina from me like you took . . . him. . .* “Too . . . much. T-too much use of power, I think. And s-she’s. . .” she broke off, tears falling as she collapsed next to her little sister. “Please help her,” she finally mewed.

Quintessa padded closer to Storm, touching her nose to Storm’s ear. “I don’t know for sure, but I thought I heard her breathing,” she said. She looked down at Marina, then looked up at the sky, giving a prayer to keep her safe. *From now on, I mustn’t worry about myself. I freak out, making others need to get out of their way to help me and my stupid problems. From now on, I’ll be the one to help others — not the other way around.*

“Thank you,” Storm whispered. In a more confident tone, the black she-cat called, “I need a healer! A cat with healing and electricity! I need a cat with healing and electricity powers to help my sister!” she yelled.

“Powers aren’t strong enough yet for any of us. How about a cat who simply knows herbs and well-being?” Reed suggested.

Tawny heard the cat’s cry and ran over to the she-cat. “Who? Where? I can help, but how? Where is she? *Who* is she? I don’t think my powers are strong enough, though. . .” she mewed as she heard the tom. Then she looked at the she-cat’s sister. “No, I can’t. But I’ll try. . .” No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t do it. “I’m sorry…” She padded away, feeling sad.

Mieginck saw the puddles and knew immediately what to do — but he didn’t know if he could do it. “Eclipse! Eclipse, where are you? I need help. I don’t know whether I can do this on my own.” He hung his head shamefully, silently trying to hold back his worries and aggressive side.

Eclipse fought through the crowd to Mei’s side and half-pressed into him. She shook a bit as she saw the puddles, but knew what to do. She tried to pick the water up and put it into the bucket, but she was shaking and she directed the splash away from Mei. She tried again, this time picking up the water carefully, calming herself down and pouring it into the bucket. “There. If I can do it, you can do it twice as good,” she said, and stopped shaking.

Mei smiled at Eclipse, but then squeezed his eyes shut as he made the water rise and splash into the bucket. “I did it!” he cried, and nuzzled Eclipse.

Pebble saw the water. She didn’t mind it; she liked using her power, but she didn’t want to leave Frost. But she put up with it, gave her friend’s muzzle a lick, and calmly padded up to the puddle and levitated the water. It shook, as she still got nervous waves from Eclipse, and she slowly dropped it into the bucket.

Flame thanked Pebble for helping Frost out, and decided to check out the new door. There was a puddle. “I have no idea what this means,” he muttered to himself. He stood there for a little while, thinking. *Hmm. Maybe it means water or something?* he asked himself, and then he realized that he had water powers — so he could be useful here. He sat down in front of the puddle, and said slightly louder that he could help because he had water powers. *What are these huge wood things blocking us, anyway?* he thought. He saw other cats moving the water from the puddle into the bucket, so he decided to be helpful and started to try and move the water. He made some ripples first, and then he managed to get some water out of the puddle and into the bucket. He was thinking, while lifting more water into the bucket. *Where’s Jaoien?* he wondered. He hadn't seen her recently and he didn't think anyone else had either. Then his thoughts were interrupted by water splashing on his head. He realized that when he was focusing on something else, he couldn’t really keep the water in his control. He was slightly embarrassed that he had splashed himself because he was thinking of that other cat in the bush, and hoped no one else had noticed. He quickly went back to work without thinking of anything else this time.

Suddenly, the door crashed open and water sprayed all over the floor.

Padding slowly out of the water-soaked room, the cats found themselves in a metallic room with a strange paw-print mark on the wall. The door had a very fancy-looking lock that was linked to the wall. Again, there was one word.

*Conductor.*

Tess and Ollie walked side-by-side without realizing it.

When they finally arrived in the other room, Tess rolled her eyes and went to sit in another corner. I*t obviously doesn’t concern my power, so I don’t care.*

 Moss tried to get a tom’s attention, so she gave him a playful cuff around the ears. “Hi! I’m Moss! What’s your name? Do you want to be friends? Can you help me find my power?”

Wildflower spotted the tom that Quintessa had been talking to in the room before. “Hello, I’m Wildflower. And you’re Ollie, right?”

Ollie looked to his side where not one, but *two* cats wanted to talk to him! He gave a little bounce. “Hi! I’m Ollie. I have ice powers.” He turned to Moss. “Did you say you needed help with your powers?” Then he turned to the other cat. “What’s your name? And what are your powers?” He kind of liked to talk to cats a little too much.

Moss nodded. “Yeah, I’m new.”

Wildflower felt a little happier talking to this bouncy tom. “I’m Wildflower. I have fire powers and nature-related powers!” They turned to Moss. They were talking to *two* cats. *Woah.*

“Cool!” Ollie exclaimed. “How well can you control them?”

“Cool!” Ollie exclaimed. “How well can you control them?”

“Pretty well, so far! I’ve been getting the hang of making vines and tendrils grow out of the ground where I want them to be. And my fires are bigger than ever!” Wildflower said.

Storm sighed. “Well,” she yowled to her fellow Tests members, “it means electricity powers!” *When will it be my turn?* the she-cat thought in frustration before turning to Marina. “Quintessa,” she hissed. “Can you find me two cats — one with water powers and one with ice powers?”

Thor and Moss both heard a she-cat hiss the name Quintessa and then something about powers. *I wonder what power I have,* they both thought.

Feather and the kits heard Storm hiss.

Blizzard went over. “I have water powers.”

Quintessa nodded. She padded around the group, knowing Frostsong had ice, but not knowing anyone with water. She trotted up to Frostsong. “Can you help me? That cat over there—” she pointed with her tail to Storm “—needs someone with ice and someone with water. I know you have ice, but I don’t know anyone with water, so can you help me find someone?”

Frostsong padded over. “I heard someone say they needed a cat with ice powers. What can I do for you?” she said warmly.

“Hi, Frostsong. I might not need a cat with water powers, now that I think of it . . . anyway, can you summon a cold feeling to your paw?” Storm asked.

“I’ll try,” Frostsong said nervously, not wanting to mess up in front of a cat who could be her friend. She summoned her energy and channeled it into her paw. Her paw became cold, but she wasn’t bothered. “Will this do?”

Fringe sighed. So far, she was no help in the Test. She didn’t have electricity powers, so she couldn’t help this one either.

Loki grinned as he watched the cats. *Clever Harnor. Making them work together when we all know there’s only one winner.*

Moon watched silently from the shadows. “What does Harnor want now?” she muttered under her breath. She was mad. And lonely. All because of Harnor. “Harnor. . .” she grumbled.

Gallichka looked around at the cats. She wasn’t overwhelmed by them, sure, but where were her brothers? She padded around cats until she saw a black pelt. She hurried over. “Misha!” she exclaimed and realized her mistake. She mumbled, “Sorry, Lightsky.”

Lightsky purred. “No, it’s fine. You’re my sister. Plus, we’re not in TwilightClan anymore; we’re loners — well, not loners with all these cats here, but. . .”

Gallichka flicked her tail. “Now where’s Dimma?” she asked, padding through the crowd.

Tick-Tock saw cats using magic. “We’ll, it’s not magic!” she whispered. She saw a cat who seemed to be thinking the same thing. She padded over. “Hey. I’m Tick-Tock. I don’t believe in these . . . things. Magic isn’t real! All this can be scientifically explained!”

“Thank you! Finally, someone else who believes me! According to the others, I have ice powers — but it’s obviously just a combination of compounds that create a lower temperature forming ice with the moisture in the air!” Ami said.

Tick-Tock nodded in agreement. “A-and that electricity right now — that paw mark could be a button and there could be, you know, wires leading to that door.”

Lantern hung back from the group, observing. All of these cats . . . and how many would become immortal? And for what? The price of the others’ lives.

*Lantern was then submerged in darkness all around him everywhere. It was almost like . . . blindness. Then light flashed before him and he was in a cave. And there was Dune falling. Feather crying.*

And Lantern was swept back to the room bustling with cats. *What happened to Dune? Was that the past — the “history” that Dune and Feather have? But . . . why aren’t they together anymore?* He made a note to himself to be nicer to Feather in the future.

Azalea huffed.

Feather noticed the word *Conductor* written and turned to the kits. Wren’s wounds were healing a little fast, so she guessed that Wren’s other power was healing.

“I thought maybe it was electricity, because metal is a great conductor for electricity,” Wren suggested.

Feather nodded. “It’s worth a try.”

Wren padded up close to the wall. She created electric sparks at her paws and moved them to touch the wall. An idea flashed into her mind. “I think a cat with electricity powers has to put their paw on that mark and then use electricity powers!” she called, her voice ringing through the room, loud and clear. She put her paw on the mark and used her powers.

Blizzard sat down, knowing he had done his part.

“No, wait. I think this is my turn. . .” Tawny mumbled to the tom. It was electricity. “How do I help?” she asked a cat near her, then blinked as she realized who it was — Wren, Dune and Feather’s kit. “I need to help. . .”

Thor hissed at Dune, but he realized he had done a lot of damage, so he turned away, stalking through the door.

Feather stood up when Wren had her paw on the mark. She saw Thor. He was stalking like usual, but she saw who he was stalking. *Dune!*

Thor leapt at Dune’s flank, trying to bowl him over. “This is what you get for attacking me!” he screeched.

Feather gasped and ran into the battle, slashing at brown fur.

The tom attacked him, and Dune let himself be bowled over before rolling under the tom, lashing out at his belly fur. Then when he was on the other side of the tom, he jumped at his legs, trying to push him over. He attempted to grab the tom’s throat in his jaws, but not damage him. Not yet.

Thor screeched and twisted away in time for the cat’s blow to only scratch off a clump of fur. He tried to bring the cat down again by rearing up and hoping to land his paws to push the tom down, knowing he would keep his claws tight around him so he couldn’t get up again. He felt a pain in his tail and knew the gray tabby she-cat was biting it.

Dune twisted up and yelled, as the tom's claws were outstretched towards him, but they stopped.

Feather had grabbed the tom’s tail, giving Dune a chance to attack.

Dune tried to blow the tom over on his side and place his fangs around the fox-brain’s neck.

Luana tried to dash between the toms. “Hey, hey!” she shouted. “You two need to stop acting like feuding kits!” she snapped, her eyes wide as she glared at both toms. “Wren and Blizzard behave better than you two!”

Frost walked into the new room and saw *Conductor* on the door, and thought that it was electricity. Wait — she had electricity! That meant that she could help the other cats out — but she couldn't walk much farther, so she needed help to stay standing while she used her power. “Pebble! Where are you? If you can hear me, can you be a support while I use my power?” she called out for her friend.

Pebble heard and followed Frost, keeping her balanced.

“Thanks, Pebble,” Frost said as she stood, summoning some electricity on her paws. Her swirl turned a light shade of yellow as her power started to work.

Wait. *Metal. Electric.* Palm remembered Diamond telling him stories about metal and how it summoned lightning and electricity. He pushed his way through the crowds and crowds of cats and reached for the paw-mark. He was nearly too small. He had to stand right up on his back legs to reach the paw-print mark, and then he panicked. What if it electrocuted him as well? “Mieginck! Could you come and help me reach it so I can jump away if I need to?”

Mieginck heard Palm and padded shyly over. “Yeah, sure.” He grabbed Palm’s scruff and lifted him up.

Palm stretched out one paw and let his electricity flow out of him into the wall. It didn’t hurt, so he gestured for Mieginck to let go of his scruff, and he moved his legs close to the wall so that he could just about keep his paw in the paw-print.

Eclipse glanced at her brother and realized she hadn’t talked to him yet. She padded over to him and smiled. “How’s . . . it . . . going?” she asked awkwardly.

Black Bird just growled, then spoke. “Finally want to talk to me now, huh?” he spat.

“I don’t know what you mean, Black Bird,” Eclipse said.

“You act like you don’t know me!” Black Bird retorted.

“I know you—” Eclipse said.

“You don’t! You stay with Mei all the time!” Black Bird said bitterly.

“Because I like him!” Eclipse hissed, with difficulty keeping her voice down.

“You like him more than me?” Black Bird said at normal volume. “That can’t be happening. I can’t have you break me again, Eclipse!” he hissed again.

Eclipse just shut the tears out of her eyes. And she walked away.

But Black Bird was really not going to have it. He jumped onto her back and clawed.

Eclipse floundered a bit. That was the last thing she had expected.

Everything seemed to turn into slow motion as Luana turned to see *Black Bird* attack Eclipse. *But? But they’ve been so close! I mean, she’s been talking to that other tom lately, but still! He should be happy for her! But the ferocity of that attack! What’s wrong with him?!* She dashed towards the siblings.

Bonita snatched Luana’s scruff.

“B-Bonita! What are you doing?! I need to help her!” Luana screeched, trying to twist out of her grip. Bonita was holding her like she was a kit!

“You need to stop interfering with other cats! What if . . . this . . . needs to happen?” Bonita asked.

Luana growled louder at Bonita’s comment. “Why would he need to attack his own sister?!”

“Well . .  what if you get caught in the middle or something, huh?!” Bonita growled through her fur. “You can see how angry he is! I’ve fought gatos like that and I’ve seen others fight like that. *No termina bien.”*

Heidi didn’t watch the cats fighting. She knew how it was going to end.

Iciclefur saw the fight take place in front of him, so he ran in as fast as he could. “Get off her! Get off her!” he screeched before he coughed, his eyes clouding over. He tried to use his powers, but it was no use. Now he was coughing blood as well and his hearing was dipping in and out. His vision blurred. “Ami,” he managed to say between coughs as he collapsed nearly right on top of the battling cats. “Ami, come here.”

Ami sprinted forwards, shocked by what was happening. “Father! Father! What’s happening?”

Iciclefur squinted his eyes, letting the tears flow. He couldn’t let himself die without Ami knowing the truth. “I’m not your father, and I don’t know who is. When your mother died, I took you in and the scientists were fine with that. They needed to keep you alive.” His head was flopped back on the floor now. He couldn’t summon the energy to lift it.

Ami was all over him, checking vital signs and trying to work out a cure, but they knew it was no use.

From the moment Iciclefur had been injected with one thing and his friends with two, he had known he was doomed. A control subject in a virus which would kill him. “Goodbye, Ami,” he coughed before all the strength in his body was gone. He lay still.

“No! No! Iciclefur!” Ami screamed at the top of their lungs, tears running down their cheeks. “No, no, no, no, no.” They buried their head in his pure white fur, muffling their tears.

Tears filled Mei’s eyes as he saw the dead cat on the ground, but he had someone to save. “Eclipse!” he cried out, crying to push through crowds of cats, and he did. “Get off her, you fox-hearted fool!” He let his personality slip — let himself go, let his fears take over as long as he could save Eclipse. He charged at Black Bird, trying to knock him off Eclipse.

Black Bird was suddenly knocked away from Eclipse, but only for a moment.

Eclipse felt the torn flash on her back, and suddenly one of her eyes was cut too. She looked at Black Bird, who had his claws extended. Her tears flowed freely now. One eye was shut closed, blood coming out of a vertical cut.

Black Bird attacked her.

Eclipse ducked.

Black Bird slipped, got back up, and attacked her again. He aimed for her throat.

Eclipse’s own brother was trying to kill her. She flipped him onto his back, being the larger sibling, and in a flurry of self-defense and confusion of what was wrong and what was right, she delivered a killing blow. And just like that, she got up and looked around. Two dead bodies were on the floor, and she personally knew one of them. The other she hadn’t talked to, but she was crying. Crying for both. She rested her forehead on the ground, trying to hide her crying. Who wouldn’t cry in this situation? She had killed her brother. *It was self-defense. But it was wrong.*

Mei looked on in shock as he saw Black Bird's dead body laying on the ground. Eclipse had killed her brother. He padded up to her and lay beside her, resting his head on her shoulders. “I'm so sorry,” he whispered. “This is all my fault. If I hadn’t started talking to you, then he wouldn’t have attacked you, and he wouldn’t be dead now.” He felt tears running down his cheeks. “I couldn’t save you.”

“Oh, it’s not your fault! It was me. I let you talk to me; you reminded me of Ash and I loved Ash so much! He didn’t like it, though. He never liked anyone after Ash died. He was broken and nothing could fix that, and I killed him! I thought he was better; all these cats would’ve helped him like they did me. Every cat that died would break him more until he was normal again, but no! He attacked me. Oh, what am I going to tell Mother and Father? Lily? Oh, I bet she’s grown so much. Lily is my little sister. . .” Eclipse rambled to get her mind off her brother. She had been shattered beyond her breaking point, and now she was back to the fun, loving, kind, caring cat she was before. Black Bird had not only broken her, though; he had freed her from the chains of evilness he had tied around her.

Misha stared in horror at the dead bodies. *Не надо было драться. Тогда бы он не умер.*

The door clicked open.

The cats moved through. The next room had a mass of pebbles covering the door.

One cat tried to make them budge with their paw, but it didn’t work.

The riddle on the wall spoke,

*Fly, fly*

*little stones,*

*like birds through the sky.*

There was a huge mound of cats near Fini, but she had a feeling nobody needed time powers for anything. So she figured she was better off alone.

Tess angrily sat in a corner. She rolled her eyes. *How long until we get to the shadows and invisibility room? I want to* do *something.* She sighed and decided to practice her powers instead. She needed to be adept enough to crush her opponents. She focused on another one of her memories and let the anger consume her.

*“Too scared, little kitty?”*

*Tess angrily opened one eye, enraged that she had been woken up. It must be another stupid little squabble. They had fights almost every day in the rogue group she was a part of. Sometimes they rarely did any harm, but other times, the losers were killed. If they were stupid enough to get in the fight anyway and lost, then they deserved to die, she had always thought. She got up from her nest, shaking scraps of moss from her pelt.*

*Walking towards the center of the alley, which was used as their camp, Tess saw none other than her brother, Hobbs, circling another one of the rogues, Cobra. Cobra was a strong cat. She wasn’t sure if Hobbs could hold his own against the other tom. She shrugged, deciding to see how this played out.*

*Sitting down, Hobbs gave her a little wink from where he was circling Cobra.*

What now? Did Cobra sit in Hobbs’s spot? Did he eat the heron Hobbs wanted? *Tess’s brother was definitely stupid enough to start a fight with one of the strongest cats in the group over something that petty.*

*All Tess did was watch as her brother was torn to pieces by Cobra. And she barely cared.*

Tess snapped back to the present immediately as she felt a tugging sensation come from her heart. She held onto her anger at Hobbs and herself, the magic feeding off of her rage. She looked down at her paws and almost yelped when she saw her body fade in and out of view. She had done it! She had gone invisible, if only for flickers at a time.

Heidi saw the pebbles on the floor and looked at Natrix. “Air and telekinesis! We have to make the pebbles fly!” She called her powers and a small amount of pebbles levitated.

Storm smiled. *Finally!* It was her turn. She had definitely waited her fair share. Concentrating on a few pebbles, she gently began nudging them to the side of the door. It was slow work, but it was work, and she doubted that the other cats could go much faster anyway. Soon she was satisfied with her progress, and decided to leave the rest to Quintessa and the other cats who decided to help.

Quintessa stood, gaping, at the pebbles. *Could this be my — the air room?* She decided to give it a try. Concentrating on one of the pebbles, she tried telekinesis. *Move. Move. Move.* The pebble started floating. *Left. Left. Left.* The pebble moved left. She set it down slowly. *Guess it is.*

With claw scratches over his pelt, but nothing too major, Dune padded over to the pebbles and started to lift them. One by one, they started to move to the side. The work was painfully slow and he was very impatient, but it would help him get his kits out, so he kept going. He had to ignore his strange purple glow and just concentrate on the task at hand. Move a pebble. Drop a pebble. Move a pebble, drop a pebble. As he grew more and more bored, he began to lift them up higher in the air and swing them around, trying to avoid cats’ faces. It was actually quite fun once he got started. As he went, with each pebble he moved, he felt a bit of energy drain from him. It was a strange feeling, so he decided to try and blow the pebbles off instead. He let some wind blow across the pebbles and half a dozen or so tumbled to the ground. He huffed. Wasn’t there a quicker way? He began to play more with the pebbles; lifting one up, then lifting two up, three, four, five! He tried to toss them away to save time, but it didn’t work. They simply flopped to the floor and he had to pick them up again. Then his glow started to intensify and he was floating above the ground again! He hated that part of his power. He didn’t like the feeling that his legs were useless and dangling. He hadn’t worked out yet how to lift up his paws while flying, so it made him weak. Moving more and more pebbles each time, he soon found he was able to lift up nine pebbles at a time, and he gradually got used to doing it while in the air. After a while of shifting pebbles, he licked his paw and started cleaning his forehead. *Wait,* he thought. *I just lifted my paw up!* He let out a yowl of triumph and batted at the air with his paw. He would make this work. Discarding the pebbles — he had moved loads now — he padded away from the door, but as he went, he moved his legs as if he was walking. To start with, it looked like he was walking in slow motion, and felt like it too, but soon he got the speed of his wind and his run at the same pace, and running through the air felt more natural. His glow massively intensified, but then dimmed. He knew something had happened, but he wasn’t sure what. He fell to the ground and walked back over to the pebbles. He found that as well as lifting more, he could now throw them! He set to work, clearing them away.

The pebbles collapsed away from the door.

The cats sprinted through, some with tears in their eyes, heads hung low. But they continued still, because they knew it was the only way they could live and hold the memories of the cats who had been lost.

The next room was open-topped — or so it seemed, until a cat climbed up and found the ceiling was simply dressed to look like the sky above. The words on the wall read,

*Everyone calls them by different names,*

*but they’re here to guide your way.*

*Reveal them,*

*which cannot be done with light.*

*Reveal them to escape before night.*

*Stars.* Chao remembered now what he was missing. He remembered where it was. In the night sky, he used to look there to see if it had moved — which it had, sometimes disappearing, lost to the sun. Hydra.

Tawny realized that Thunder hadn’t spoken to her the whole of this Test! She started to get angry. She made her movements brisk and angry. She saw Thunder with other cats. Well, if he was with other cats, so could she. She strode angrily over to another tom. Maybe she could make better friends with *him*. “Hi. I’m Tawny. You might have seen me around. Who are you?”

Chao stared at the sky. The instructions given to him by his father echoed in his head. *Arc to Arcturus, fall to Spica, catch the crow; you’ll know where it is.* As his gaze swept around the darkening sky, he heard a voice ask his name. Normally he would respond “Chao,” but his father’s words were still in his head. *Arc to Arcus . . . Arc to Arc . . . Arc to. . .* He found himself finishing the sentence out loud. “Arc.”

“Uh, o . . . kay? Arc?” Tawny stopped. “Seriously. Uh, okay, Arc. Um. . .”

Chao hesitated as he realized his mistake. He was about to correct it when he saw the purple emerald on the ground in front of him. He knew that he needed to let go of the lies he was telling everyone. He sighed and confirmed. “Yes, my name is Arc. What’s yours?” As he said this, he picked the emerald up off of the ground and added it to the others on his right paw. It felt good to use his real name again.

“Uh, I’m Tawny.” Tawny looked at his paw. “What’s that amethyst for?” she asked. “What are your powers? Just curious. Mine are electricity and healing.” She stopped. “Wait. I’m pretty sure I’ve heard cats call you by a different name. Or was that just a nickname?” She sighed. “Never mind . . . oh, well, I guess we could probably be friends — I’m not just friends with anyone.”

Arc had a lot to explain. The emeralds, his name, his objective. He had no idea where to start. “Well . . . I have fire and nature powers.” He hesitated to tell Tawny more about himself. He decided to explain his name, as it was the least important piece of information. He knew not to trust anyone too soon. “I told everyone my name was Chao, but it isn’t.” He closed his eye and hung his head. “I was hoping I could escape my past. I should have learned by now that you can’t.” He opened his eye and sighed. “I don’t have many friends.” He looked at Palm, who was across the room. “It would be nice to have someone else who knows.”

Ami hissed and spat, tears running down their cheeks. “He’s gone and no one even cares!” they sobbed, their head hung low. This was the room that Iciclefur would have thought he could help with. He thought he had shadows and invisibility powers, but now he was gone. They didn’t know what to think anymore. “Come back to me, please,” they whispered, glancing around, trying to find emotion on any other cat’s face. They couldn’t see any. They no longer knew what to believe. They knew that magic wasn’t real, but if their father had lied, what else was fake?

Ambi padded over to Ami, who was crying. “Are you okay?” he asked gently. He didn’t know what to say. He had seen the battle. It was terrible. And for a peace-lover like him, it was like being in the Dark Forest. Sure, he had been betrayed by his best friend, who he thought cared about him, but it was nothing compared to what Ami was feeling. To know that your father — well, ex-father — had lied to you this entire time, and for him to be killed — that was just . . . he was shocked. He felt hollow seeing two cats die within five minutes of each other. “Try to have a vision again,” he whispered. Then he realized that they didn’t believe in magic. “Never mind. I’ll find someone else.”

Vision. Oh, was this cat mocking Ami? A “vision” —  or so he had called their hallucinations — were what had made them see their father die — and in an effort to stop that from happening, they had influenced it. “Shut up! You don’t understand!” they hissed and spat with more anger then they had ever had. “Go bother someone else! Leave me alone!”

“Fine! I bet you blame yourself! Well? Do you? You know what? I think you’re the one who doesn’t understand. You think it’s easy for me to see someone die? *No! It isn’t!”* Ambi spat angrily at Ami. He stalked off, fed up with Ami always prancing about, spouting facts and pretending something right in front of them wasn’t real. *They’re so arrogant! The world doesn’t revolve around them! They think everyone’s mocking them every time they even start saying the word “magic.” Sure, they’re dealing with loss. But that doesn’t mean they can just yell at me! And I literally said I was going to find someone else!* He was frustrated with Ami. He was tired of them always being so stubborn. Why did they refuse to believe in something so wonderful?

Jaoien had watched. But she didn’t know that Ami’s father — or whatever he was — was dead. She padded up and sat next to the cat. “Hey, I’m sorry. It wasn’t your fault, okay? No one can change fate. You, of everyone here, should know that,” she said, trying to make Ami feel better.

“I thought he was okay. I hallucinated that he would die, so I stayed away from him so that nothing could go wrong. I didn’t see his illness!” Ami sobbed. “I could have cured it. I’m sure I could have!”

Marina padded over to Ami. “I’m sorry,” she mewed. “I didn’t know your father very well, but he seemed to be a good, honest cat. Someone who will find somewhere wonderful to be among the stars now.”

“Thank you,” Ami quietly replied. “I’ve never believed in magic or spirits, but I think that Iciclefur would have done what he could to stay watching over me. I don’t believe in any spirits but his.” They glared over at Ambi. “At least some cats are able to respect my views.”

Tick-Tock stumbled over mournfully to Ami. “I-I’m sorry about your father. I really am.” She looked into her friend’s eyes. “But his spirit will always be with you. Always.”

Ollie turned away from the cats he was talking to in shock. His eyes widened at the small huddle of cats trying to comfort a cat that was crying. What had happened? He would have comforted them, but he didn’t even know their name. . . He suddenly wasn’t in the mood to talk. “See you later,” he mumbled to Wildflower and Moss. He walked towards a corner and sat down. Had some cat died?

“Are you okay?” Frostsong asked Ami gently. She didn’t know how it was like to lose someone, but cats and Twolegs had betrayed and abandoned her so many times she might be getting used to it. “I won’t pester you about magic like that cat you were just talking to did, but sometimes you need to face the facts. Iciclefur was probably a wonderful and noble cat, unlike that fox-hearted Harnor. He lied to you, but just to protect you. I wish I could have met him.”

“Thanks. But I’m going to stand by my beliefs. That’s something that Iciclefur taught me, and I’ll honor it.” Ami was pleased that the she-cat wasn’t forcing them to believe in something they didn’t like, like that stupid tom had tried to.

Frostsong nodded respectfully to Ami and padded away. *Well, there isn’t much to do here. I might as well practice my ice powers.* She ran to a small corner, where she wouldn’t be disturbing any cats. She focused her energy and made a small ice rink. *You would think a cat with ice powers would know how to skate,* she thought to herself. She began skating. It wasn’t pretty; she fell every other step she took. She suddenly slipped and fell on her head. “Ow. . .” she groaned. *I need proper skates!* She summoned a huge burst of energy to create flat panels of ice strapped to her feet. *Much better.* She smiled. *This was fun. I should teach some of the other ice ca—*

*Frostsong’s eyes turned a menacing black color. She was again swallowed by bright lights, and she was released in the middle of a battle scene.*

*Two cats, one white and one black, were fighting each other.*

Wait a second. Is that . . . Panther? *Frosting asked herself.* And who’s that white she-cat?

*The two cats were drawing blood.*

*“Stop!” Frostsong tore into the battle, but she was again swallowed by the light.*

Frostsong was dazed by her new vision. *Is one of them going to die? Like Iciclefur? I have to stop it somehow.* She was now worried. Her mind began brainstorming all sorts of other possibilities that could be happening. In her fear and confusion, she had summoned a small pillar of ice that drained most of her energy. She skated around her small rink again. *Calm down.* She was skating in frantic circles and conjuring ice spikes while running through her previous vision. But some of the details had faded. She only remembered that there was going to be a fight soon. Between someone she knew. “But who?” she asked aloud. She didn’t notice her spikes had gotten a lot bigger. She was suddenly exhausted by the energy. She glowed an impossibly bright silver color, lighting up her small corner. Then the world went back.

Pebble started to get tired. She wanted to sleep, she had to sleep; but she could wait until the Wait.

Frost walked next to Pebble. She noticed that she was looking not so great. “Are you okay, Pebble? You seem tired or something.” She was trying to detect what was wrong with her friend, but she couldn’t read emotions very well.

Pebble nodded. “Just a little. It can wait. I won’t worry about it,” she responded.

Flame saw Frost walking with Pebble. He decided to leave her alone with Pebble. He decided to look for the only other cat he knew, Jaoien. He hadn't heard anybody talk about Jaoien. He scanned the area of cats, but didn’t see her. “Jaoien,” he called softly, hoping she would hear — but he faced the truth that she probably wouldn't hear him. He was wondering what he was going to do for the rest of this Test. He was slightly bored. He was going to look for his only friend, Jaoien. Yes, that was what he was going to do. “Jaoien!” he called to the general mob of cats to see if he could find her. He went over to Frost and Pebble and asked them if they had seen Jaoien, because he thought that Frost would be okay by herself and her friend Pebble. “Have you guys seen Jaoien recently?” he asked Pebble, because he knew that they were good friends.

“Wait—” Pebble half-gasped. “Jaoien is here?” She smiled.

Jaoien heard Flame call out her name and left Ami. “Hi! Did you need me?” she said.

“Hi Jaoien. Where have you been?” Flame asked. “I’m just a little — I don’t know how to put it — lonely, I guess,” he said. “I don’t know anyone else here except for Frost and you. Maybe you could introduce me to some new cats? Or — no, I have no other ideas.” He smiled a little. “Also, yes, Pebble. Jaoien’s here. We can all talk for now until we go to the next Wait,” he suggested.

Rattlesnake hated death. He hated it. There didn’t have to be a reason, and even if there was, he would never admit to it. He sat far to the side and started to believe the cats saying no one had powers. Without powers, he wouldn’t turn out like Wren.

Heidi bolted through the door. She was starting to get bored.

Eclipse refused to read the words on the wall. She knew what Black Bird’s powers were, and she knew she had killed him before he got to make any use of them. And almost every power had been tested; his was the only one left. So she didn’t think about it. She looked down and noticed something. Was she. . .? She was. “But I’m not going to tell anyone yet. Except maybe Black Bir—” she whispered. He was dead. But she could keep him in her mind and tell him later. In a dream. He was her brother; he deserved to know if she was expecting kits.

Reed sat, bored. No one to talk to bored. He didn’t care; he was just bored. And probably also boring.

As Natrix stepped into the place beyond the door, she looked around.

Moon had nothing to do. She went over to a corner and practiced her powers. She was so bored of all the cats sitting around doing nothing. Well, cats were fighting too, but what for? *Nothing!* It made her so mad sparks started flying wildly around her paws.

Thunder sat, lonely. He missed Tawny; he couldn’t seem to find her. Every once in a while, he'd get a flash of what felt like a memory, but of something that didn’t happen to him or hadn’t happened yet. “I hope Tawny’s not mad at me,” he muttered to himself. He decided to see if he could find her or at least someone who’d seen her. He walked up to a pair of she-cats. “Hi. I’m Thunder! Have you seen a cream-coloured cat with tawny spots named . . . well . . . Tawny? I haven’t seen her since the last Wait. I hope she’s okay; I’m worried I may have hurt her feelings.”

“Hi, there!” Frost said. “Um, I think I saw her at one point, but that was near the beginning of this Test,” she answered. “Who are you, by the way? I haven’t seen you before. I’m Frost. You probably didn’t need to know that. You’re just looking for Tawny,” she said quickly, not trying to be annoying.

Panther padded around the cave, wishing the cats would hurry up. Somebody could die here! He wished he had shadows and invisibility powers. It would make this so much faster.

Frostsong awoke, her vision blurry. She was confused. “What happened?” she muttered quietly. She felt tired, but somehow full of energy. She summoned an ice rink. It was a lot bigger now. *My powers got stronger. . .*

Wildflower sighed. This was taking forever. They padded to Frostsong, who was looking a bit shaken up. They carefully stepped over the rink of ice and sat down beside Frostsong, gently stroking her back with their tail. “Are you okay? That’s the biggest ice rink I’ve seen anyone ever summon. It must have taken up a lot of your energy.”

“Yeah. It did,” Frostsong said warily. “I think my powers have gotten stronger. Have yours?”

Storm sighed. So many of the cats who could help now were just sitting away, scratching their heads at such an obvious puzzle. “You have to *make it dark!”* she yowled.

As Quintessa padded into the next room, she wondered what had happened. Cats were acting . . . quieter than usual. She looked around, suddenly catching a glimpse of a sobbing cat. The pain on their face, the way their head hung — she could tell that something major had happened. *But what? It’s funny how things happen right underneath your nose and you don’t even notice.* Padding on, she reached the wall inscribed with words. Once she had read them all, she sat a little ways from the group, thinking. *It has to be stars, right? Stars only come out at night, so this is the shadow room.* Since she was unneeded currently, she stayed where she was, observing the cats in the group. She wondered, thought, pondered. She watched silently. The glow around her was faint but visible. Her mind was clear and calm like a lake with no ripples. Nothing could disturb her as she floated with her peers.

Dune saw Quintessa floating through the air and decided to join her. “How’s it going?” he mewed.

Quintessa’s eyes snapped open as she came face to face with Dune. “Oh, fine,” she replied. “Just. . .” she searched for words. “Everything is happening so fast. Cats appearing, cats dying, powers. Sometimes it feels good to just . . . I don’t know. Be calm. Steady your mind. Then you can be prepared for the crazy.” She floated down, setting her paws on the ground. She looked around. There was hardly anyone in this corner of the room. *A place to relax. To clear my thoughts.* She floated an inch above the ground, settling her mind yet again. A clear, calm lake with no ripples. She felt something, though. A tug back to the earth from her little safe haven. *I can’t calm down, not now. Heck, sometimes I wish that this place was less rowdy. Wait, did I really just think that? What the heck’s happening?* She floated down. *Whatever’s happening, I’m staying alone. I shouldn’t interfere with other cats’ problems — not unless I know them well, lest I end up causing more trouble than needed.*

Dune saw Sunny sitting alone in a corner and padded over. “Sunny, are you okay?” he mewed, sitting down next to her.

Sunny looked at the scene, sadness in her eyes. Everyone had betrayed her. The world had betrayed her. The sadness turned into rage. “Get out. I don’t want to see you again,” she snapped at Dune.

Bonita stalked over to the she-cat. “Hey! Chica! Can’t you ciérralo?” she snapped. Seeing the fear in her eyes, she softened a bit. “What’s wrong?”

“No,” Dune mewed. “I know something is wrong. You were so positive when I last talked to you. Come on. It won’t do any harm for me to sit next to you! You might even feel better having someone to talk to.” He sat down next to Sunny and smiled at her. He knew the signs that someone’s mind was going downhill; he had been in that same place as well. “So what’s your power?”

Sunny lunged at Dune, twisting and targeting at his belly, clawing it hard, hoping to leave deep scratches. “Go. Now. If you go near me ever again, you won’t be as lucky.”

Feather hissed as Thor approached. “Stay away, you stupid fox-heart. Away from me, my mate, and my kits. We have nothing to do with you. I thought you learned that by now.” Her lips drew back in a snarl. “Or I’ll kill you. There’s nothing good about you, Thor. No one likes you. They would be happy if you were dead.”

“Oh, I don’t know who your mate and kits are, but the two of us have everything to do with each other. You attacked me multiple times. I could have killed them!” Thor turned to leave, but then stopped and looked back. “Anyway, who are they?” He added sarcastically, “Just so I don’t waste my time being killed.”

Cautiously, Feather angled her ears to them.

“Oh, that would make sense why you’re always saving him. But . . . maybe it’s really because he’s so weak that he can’t even draw any blood,” Thor taunted loud enough for Dune, Blizzard, and Wren to hear.

Without warning, Feather created a long, deep gash on his side. “I’ll show you who can’t draw blood!” she screeched. “No one speaks about Dune like that!”

Dune heard the tom’s words and walked slowly and ominously up to him. “What are you saying about me? If I recall, I had to stop fighting you so that I could help us get out of this room and save your flea-ridden, mangy hide from being stuffed in a cage forever. Have some respect.” He glanced at Feather and mewed, “Stay back with the kits. This might get dirty.” He crouched down into an attack-position and then sprung. Yet he wasn’t alone. By his side were multiple rocks and pebbles which he had found on the floor, and he threw them at Thor’s eyes. Then he lifted up into the air and ran through the sky and onto Thor’s back, trying his best to tear at the tom’s flesh.

Ollie yowled as he saw the cats fighting. He tried to intervene, but some cat held him back.

Luana pricked her ears as Dune and Thor got close. *These two can’t stop! They’re going to get themselves killed!* “Boys, please. Let’s settle this *later*. When we aren’t all in a tiny room. Please,” she begged, her eyes flashing aqua as she made a small rink that surrounded herself. *I still lose control when I’m emotional.*

Feather nodded and crept back to the kits, who were standing a few tail-lengths away — but she was ready to leap in.

Thor closed his eyes so the rocks only left some small bruises on his face. He clenched his teeth as he felt some flesh rip from his side. He began bucking wildly. Suddenly he reared up and fell backwards. *I’m sure I crushed him!* He heard gasps and felt someone drag him off, but he pushed out his back legs, sending the white tom — that she-cat’s kit — flying back.

Blizzard struggled up. “Have . . . to . . . free . . . Dune. . .” he gasped in pain. Cats surrounded him.

Feather was biting Thor’s leg, getting him off Dune.

Blizzard’s vision blurred and he lost consciousness.

Luana gasped as Thor hit Blizzard. Dashing over, she kneeled next to the tom-kit. “Are you alright?” she mumbled. Becoming mad, she whipped to face the tom. “How dare you?! Are you honestly that much of a — a?!” she stumbled over her words, she was so mad. “Big jerk!?” She blushed slightly; that was the best she had. “He did nothing!” She lowered into a defensive crouch and snarled at the tom.

Thor snorted, swiping his paw at Feather’s face. “I do what I want.”

Dune saw Luana and padded over to her, whispering something in her ear. “Make some ice around his paws. Then he might fall over, and I’ve got a better chance of getting him away from the kits.” He charged at Thor again, but was ready to take off whenever needed so he wouldn’t get caught by the ice. He lashed out a paw at the tom’s eye and then threw rocks at his face again, trying to claw at his front paw that he seemed to favor.

Luana nodded her head. Waiting for Dune to charge, her eyes flashed aqua, as did her speckles. A small ice rink shot around Thor’s paws.

Eclipse got up and unsheathed her claws. “I don’t want to fight, but if you touch another kit, you won’t forget me,” she growled. She didn’t want to use killing Black Bird as a threat, but if she had to, she would. No one would ever hurt her kits. She knew it. So she would protect others.

Wren sprang up. “No one hurts them like that!” She heard cats saying something about kits being hurt. “We’re not kits anymore!” She clawed at Thor’s leg.

Luana ducked and slashed at Thor’s side. Hearing Wren, she smirked. “Heh. You’re younger than me.” She reared up, snarling. “And I knew you as a kit a bit ago, so you’re still a kit to me!” she laughed breathlessly.

*Luana staggered back as she saw three kits, and her . . . sister?! They were definitely her kits. She’d had kits with Zane!* I . . . missed that. I have to get out of here! To get to them!

“Why is no cat doing anything?” Ollie wailed from the sidelines. “Stop fighting! It’s pointless!”

Tess heard noises just as she was about to reply to Palm. “I gotta go check this out. . .” she mumbled. She slipped away from Palm, padding towards the sound of noises and towards the crowd of cats clumped on the other side of the room. Her eyes widened as she saw the group of cats fighting each other. She sat down smoothly, her tail thumping lazily on the floor. “Ooh . . . drama,” she meowed.

Ollie glared at her, angry for once. “How can you sit down and let this happen?”

“Sometimes you just have to let them settle it by themselves,” Tess meowed, pushing down memories of when she watched her brother die in a fight just like this. *You could have saved him if you intervened. . .* a small voice whispered, but she flattened her ears, dismissing the thoughts.

Storm snarled at Ollie, “Well, why aren’t you doing anything, mister I-sit-in-the-corner-and-complain?” Growling, she leapt into the fray, shielding Blizzard with her body as she carefully picked up the blacked-out kit. Gently, she held him by the scruff and walked out of the fighting cats. *A kit shouldn’t have to deal with that. Now for his sister . . . ah, she wasn’t near the fighting cats.* She put Blizzard down next to Wren. “You two stay here, okay?” she mowed softly. Another kit wouldn’t be scarred or die on her watch. She sprang into the fighting cats again. Standing in the middle, she used the scream that she hadn’t used for moons . . . the one that would scare away the birds and prey near her when she used it. *“Stop fighting!”* she screamed.

Ollie ducked his head, not willing to reveal that the reason he hadn’t saved them was because he had never been taught to fight. He quickly slipped over to the kits, doing the one thing that he did know how to do. “Are you okay?” he meowed. He knew a little about herbs and healing cats, and though there was no plant life in this Test, he still could do what he could. He tottered away from the fighting to a corner of the room, ashamed of how he did nothing to help. What could he have done? He didn’t know how to fight; he didn’t know how to survive on his own. He was utterly useless. He sat down for a moment, ready to give up on himself when a thought occurred to him. *No way are you letting this get you down. You won’t end up like those cats that are so depressed they can barely speak. No. You’re* Ollie*. You’re the one that helps cats when they’re feeling down. You* help *cats. So stand up and start doing something.* He looked at his paws, small circles of ice forming around them. The cold slightly tickled his fur, but it barely bothered him. He needed to become more adept at his powers if he wanted to ever help others. He sat down and honed in on all of his senses, focusing on the cold.

*As Ollie focused on the cold, something buzzed at the back of his mind. He didn’t know what it was, but he focused on the buzzing. Suddenly the warm scent of milk overwhelmed him.*

Ollie opened his eyes, snapping back to reality. He opened his mouth and breathed in the smells, but nothing smelled like milk. So where had it come from? He shook his head, focusing again on forming small patches of ice on the ground.

Bonita glared at the other cats. *All they do is fight. ¡No logran nada! Like I used to. . .* She shook her head as she thought back to those idiota memories. She looked around for that one she-cat, Clover.

Robin was getting tired of watching the other cats fight with each other. “Stop! Be ashamed of yourselves! Two cats just died and you fight . . . is this what they would have wanted? For us to fight like animals? No! Iciclefur was my friend, and I bet Black Bird — to some — was a special cat, and we fight? If you had a friendship or trust with one — or both of those two — amazing cats, show some respect to them. Because right now, it doesn’t look like it. . .”

Panther was restless. He couldn’t do anything but watch cats put out the stars. He heard a shriek and yelling. “There are cats fighting?!” he cried, too frozen in shock to move.

Moss hurried over. “How can I help?”

Tess slightly bounced on her toes, realizing what to do after the fight. “Finally!” she hissed. She paused. “Wait . . . what am I supposed to do, exactly?”

Echo paused. “I’m not really sure. I think we’re supposed to make the room dark, but after that . . . I have no idea.” Her eyes flickered cautiously at the sight of the crowded mass of cats as tiny shadows danced like flames at her paws. Pale, silvery-blue sparks wreathed her fur like exquisite, glitter-dusted flowers, but it didn’t make her feel pretty. It made her feel afraid.

Tess was overjoyed to finally use her powers. She didn’t need to delve into a memory to access them anymore. It was as if she was connected to them. She stared at her paws as shadows began to flicker around them. They swirled through the room, but barely filled it up. She still wasn’t powerful enough for that.

Palm padded up to Tess, pleased to see that her powers were working. “Hey, Shadows. I see your power is going well!” he mewed, well-prepared for the “Sparky” taunts. But to be honest, he didn’t mind them. He quite liked the nickname.

Tess, after her brief rest, got up and started towards the center of the room. A few stars were still visible, and she tried to concentrate on using every ounce of her energy to cover them. She had to prove to Harnor — and to everyone else — that she was the perfect cat to become a god. She let the shadows engulf her senses, the darkness powering through her veins. She began to feel weak as she moved the little shadows she could over the stars, the little lights slowly blinking out. After only three stars or so, she collapsed, too weak to do any more. She whipped her head up and flattened her ears to see that cat she had been talking to earlier. “Did you just call me Shadows, Sparky?” she hissed, one eyebrow raised.

Palm smiled at her, not really intimidated. “Well, if you’re calling me Sparky, I thought I might as well come up with a nickname for you, Shadows!” he laughed, and his sparks danced at his paws again. He formed a tiny electric cat out of them.

Fringe puzzled over the words. Suddenly — oh! *Of course!* She scrambled up as high as she could go. “Come on! If you have shadows and invisibility powers, put out the stars!” She stirred the shadows, covering one, two, three, four . . . four. That was as far as she could go. “No. Come on,” she muttered. She knew she was flickering in and out of sight, but she had to focus. “Come on.” Another; that was five. She struggled to hold it. The other two could get the rest. “Come on,” she muttered. “Hold it. For Trixy and Dangle. For Perch. For Sparrow.” She strained to keep the shadows in place, quivering on her perch, all her effort put into holding the shadows.

Loki watched his mother putting out the stars. “How fitting,” he purred, “that the very lights she swears by have to be put out for any of us to escape.”

*“Don’t mock her, Loki.”* Trixy’s voice pushed to the front of Loki’s mind.

Loki growled, pushing her back.

Dangle took her place. *“Please, Loki. You need each other. Remember. You promised.”*

Loki shoved Dangle’s voice away too, forcing his littermates to the back of his mind again. *Focus, Loki,* he told himself. *You’re going to win this.*

Tess concentrated on putting out the stars as well and noticed a cat talking to himself. “Weirdo,” she growled, purposefully just loud enough for him to hear her. She sighed. This room was taking way longer than it needed to. “If you have shadows and invisibility powers, use them already!” she screeched loud enough for everyone to hear.

Robin still didn’t know what her power was, but she felt an urge that she was needed. She focused all her powers on the urge, then shadows started to disappear from the ceiling one by one. It was slowly working, but soon she got a sharp pain and fell to the ground, limp — but all she could think about was her power. *Shadows and invisibility. . .* She felt like there was more to it, but she was too tired to carry on. She hoped she had done enough to get to the next room. . .

The cats, in the darkness, slowly and cautiously followed the stars out of the room.