The Tests: Wait 5

The Tests: Wait 5

### Characters Present

Natrix, Harnor, Schweiz, Chestnut, Iyda, Ami, Jinx, Fringe, Loki, Ifu, Marie, Leaf, Artemi, Sunny, Robin, Yin, Ambi, Lantern, Violet, Tawny, Clover, Thunder, Jay, Frost, Flame, Fini, Mandelia, Mist, Arc, Maya, Nest, Thor, Columbine, Azalea, Meadow, Shard, Vivara, Luana, Bonita, Nol, Kousuke, Sunflower, Wildflower, Frostsong, Moon, Marina, Kendall, Quintessa, Vanilla, Rosica, Yedda, Storm, Panther, Aquanetta, Feather, Wren, Blizzard, Dune, Fox, Eclispe, Mieginck, Rattlesnake, Ash, Violet, Onyx, Midnight, Kinkaroy, Ollie, Tess, Palm, Orchid

### Important Events

The Forgotten arrive, Ami meets Schweiz, Fringe and Loki reunite, Quintessa meets Yedda, a rockfall injures Quintessa

**Wait 5** is an episode in *The Tests*.

## **The Tests: Wait 5 (The Cave)**

The cats found themselves in a massive cave filled with catlike statues. Massive stalagmites and stalactites covered nearly every inch of the floor and ceiling, causing an array of strange structures.

Suddenly one of the rocks began to crack and the cats froze.

Natrix started on in shock at what was happening.

Harnor’s strange form appeared in the back of the cave. “I hope that you wanted some new friends around,” the great red god laughed, and then the rock cracked. Dust sprayed up in the air as more and more rocks broke.

Out of the dust plume padded a long-furred gray tom. “I’ve been stuck in there forever! Danke. Danke schön. You freed me.” He caught sight of Harnor and started hissing and spitting. “Oh you piece of fox-dung!” he cried, padding towards the god. “I turned down your offer! And this is how you pay me back!” The tom sprung at Harnor.

The other cats looked on in shock.

Then Harnor flickered and disappeared, leaving the gray tom on the floor.

Something clicked in Natrix’s mind. “Wait. You *turned* down his offer to join the Tests?”

The tom nodded. “Ten years ago, and I haven’t aged a day since. Ich heiße Schweiz. Wie heißt du?”

More cats padded around Schweiz, all of them emerging from the rock.

Chestnut shook out their fur and stretched their legs. “Ten years? I’ve been there for twelve!” they half-shrieked. “It feels like forever.”

Iyda hissed. “I don’t even know how long I was there. I only remember Freyda,” she mumbled.

Shcweiz looked around, shaking out his long gray fur. He didn’t know why and how Harnor had trapped him. He just wanted to go home to Pferd, Afrika, and Stolz. *Lilian,* he thought, staring down at his pebbles. Maybe she was here. He went around from cat to cat to cat, glancing at their pelts and then his pebbles. *No, no, no, no.* He dipped his head so cats wouldn’t notice he was one of the Forgotten, so they wouldn’t question him. Then he saw her. A she-cat with tabby fur, russet paws — and he had to lift his head to see her eyes — but when he looked, they were the same amber as his mother’s, but with a russet patch around them. She also had a russet tail-tip and a small yellow tag in her ear. “You’re not Lilian, but you look like her,” he mewed. “Wie heißt du?”

“What?” Ami replied. “I don’t understand!”

“Uh, what’s your name? You remind me of someone — my mother,” Schweiz huffed in response. It always annoyed him when cats didn’t understand.

“Ami, and remember to call me by they. I was born in a Twoleg lab, so the chances of me knowing your mother are barely 3.5%,” Ami meowed. These new cats were so strange.

Schweiz flicked his tail, annoyed. They had obviously frozen when they were trapped, which meant that ten years hadn’t passed in the real world, so this cat could still be relatively young if they were . . . no. It couldn’t be. “What did your mother look like?” he tentatively asked.

Confused, Ami looked at him. “Well, I never knew her. She died when I was born. But Iciclefur said she was pretty, lithe, spoke a foreign language most of the time, and looked like me, but she only had russet paws — oh, and a little white blaze on her forehead.” They tried to remember her the best they could — well, what Iciclefur had told them, anyway. “She often spoke about three kits — Horse, Africa, and Switzerland. At least, that’s what my father translated their names as. I thought my father was Iciclefur, but he lied to me, so I have no idea who he is.”

Schweiz stepped back from the cat, his breath fast. “Meine Schwester. Du ist meine Halb-Schwester,” he mumbled under his breath.

Ami flicked their ears and tilted their head.

“Ich heiße Schweiz. I am called Schweiz, which means Switzerland in German. My siblings are Afrika and Pferd — Africa and Horse. Your father is called Stolz — or Pride in English. Du bist meine Halb-Schwester. You’re my half-sibling,” he mewed to them. “Your mother is also my mother. Lilian.”

Ami looked at him in shock and stepped back, walking further and further away. Half-sibling. They had three half-siblings. . . They sat down.

Then Schweiz awkwardly came over and sat down next to them.

Ami shuffled a little bit away from him, still not sure what to think.

“Your mother would have been so proud that her little she-cat had been able to find me,” Schweiz mewed, and it was the truth. Lilian would have loved to meet Ami and would have been pleased to hear that she had found him.

Ami flinched. “Well, um, I’m not exactly a she-cat . . . I had an operation. It stopped me from having kits. Now I go by they or them.”

Schweiz nodded slowly. “But still, if we ever get out of here, I have to introduce you to your father.”

Again, Ami flinched. “Well, I had a stepfather. He . . . he . . . well, he's, um, not here anymore. But he’s all that I ever wanted and needed.”

Schweiz was hurt. He felt like sh— . . . no, they — were turning down their true family. Turning down him.

Ami didn’t want Schweiz near them right now. He was so keen to have them accept their father as Stolz, but they weren’t ready to do that. If Stolz had loved their mother so much, then why hadn’t now he come to find her like Schweiz had? Slowly, they snuck away.

Jinx caught a mouse.

Ami saw a cat looking confused. They padded over and spoke. “Hi. Are you okay there? Could I share with you? My name is Ami.” As an afterthought, they added, “Oh, and if you could call me by they, then that would be amazing! Did you know that only two percent of cats identify as non-binary, which means me and that other cat — Wildflower — we’re really rare! Oh, and don’t mind me. I love facts, so I like to tell them to others as well! Oh, and don’t listen to the cats who say we have powers. They’re all fake! It’s so obvious!”

“Yeah, sure. I’m Jinx, by the way.” Jinx stared into the distance. “I believe them,” she said, though it was barely audible. “I’ve always believed in magic. You know why? Because I was cursed by it.”

“You weren’t cursed by magic! You had bad luck, or some sort of mental illness, which led to you having certain actions.” Ami rolled their eyes at Jinx.

*Suddenly, Ami was plunged into another “vision,” as other cats called them. They were in a similar cavern to before, but giant statues stood. They tried to walk around, but their body was stuck stiff.*

*Then Ami saw a white she-cat coated in flames, hissing and spitting as cats leapt at her.*

*Ami saw pale brown, blood-soaked paws.*

*A pure white body, laying on the ground in a pool of blood.*

*Tears ran down Ami’s cheeks.* Iciclefur. *They saw themself crying next to the body and began to panic. What was happening? Their father wasn’t here to help them now. They were alone.*

*Then Ami saw it. Their own body on the ground, dead. They screamed.*

*The visions started to come again, more slowly this time. Ami was standing in the same tunnel again, but they knew what was coming. This was a vision they had seen before. Vines clung onto the rocks, yet they seemed to move slightly. They felt their paws cool and knew that ice was forming, but they decided to stay calm. This hallucination wasn’t hurting them or anyone; it wasn’t anything emotionally draining. The ice grew slower and they barely noticed. Their eyes were closed and they were shaking slightly. They were surprisingly calm for a cat trapped in a hallucination, they thought to themself. The cave with the vines was fine; nothing weird was happening. It was probably their mind projecting their feelings of being trapped into the environment around them, like a dreamlike state.*

Quickly, Ami snapped out of that image, and as they had predicted, ice coated their paws. *This is kind of cool,* they thought. *Well, as long as I have this compound on my paws, I might as well play with it.* They made ice swirl around their feet, but then they stepped in the wrong place, sending them skidding across the floor. They rose to their paws gently, careful not to slip on the ice again. Walking away from the massive ice rink, they made sure they were well clear before sitting down. They tried to start hallucinating. If they found the trigger, they could stop the problem! They thought about their father. They didn’t really want to, but this was the only way they could think of.

*As Ami found themself in a hallucination, they slightly smiled. The hallucination was different to ones they had had before, which was strange, as they often repeated multiple times. The brown tabby cat looked down at the ground. Their eyes felt drawn there. A kit sat on the ground — a golden tom-kit with sharp green eyes.*

*A godlike cat sat behind the kit, laughing.*

*Ami expected to see the strange red cat that kept appearing in their hallucinations’s taunting face — but as they looked up, the god was a she-cat. They had wanted to stay in the hallucination to try and work out what was wrong with them, but this snapped them out of concentration. This was just so strange. They couldn’t even work out what they were thinking. In shock, more ice seemed to form at their paws. “It’s not forming!” they screamed at themselves. “The powers aren’t real!”*

*Ami shook their head as more and more visions appeared, flicking by so fast that they were indistinguishable. “No!” they screamed. They were starting to think these powers were real.*

*A white tom with blue eyes appeared in front of Ami — Iciclefur — and next to him was a she-cat who looked nearly just like them. Lilian, their mother. They looked on in shock.*

*Suddenly next to Lilian was a black tom with white patches. Stolz.*

*“You’ve got to believe your powers are real,” Iciclefur, Lilian, and Stolz said at once.*

*Ami shook their head, ice appearing at their paws. “No, I won’t believe! I don’t care what you say!” Tears rolled down their cheeks.*

But as the cats disappeared, Ami found themself still in the cave in front of Jinx. The ice at their paws was slowly growing. “Sorry, sorry, sorry. I think I’ve got a mental illness or something. I keep getting hallucinations,” they mewed before images of their father’s death flashed in their mind. They slowly laid down on the ground, tired from the hallucinations. They hated them, hated this place, hated their life. A rink of ice appeared around them and tears fell onto it, freezing the moment they touched it. Silently, they settled down on the ice and began to go to sleep, forming ice spikes around them — a prison, a way to stop other cats from approaching them. They just wanted to be alone; they just wanted to go home; they just wanted to get away from here, even if they had to die to do that.

“Uh. . .” Jinx stared at Ami. “No. I was cursed by magic. Cursed to tell the truth from the moment I was born. You have to believe me. If you don’t, then my brother died for nothing.”

“I don’t buy it.” Ami swished their tail. Placing their russet paw on Jinx’s, they tried to comfort the strange cat.

*Then Ami saw Jinx again, but as a kit in the forest, alone, and they guessed her mother was out hunting.*

*A black cat with dark eyes stood over the kit and placed a paw on her head.*

*Time seemed to speed up around Ami as they saw Jinx struggling to tell lies and revealing secrets she would rather not say.*

*Ami saw Jinx talk to a black spirit with dark eyes and tried to run, but they were trapped here, stuck in Jinx’s life.*

*The spirit nodded at Jinx, and Ami watched as the amber-eyed she-cat told the first lie in her life.*

*“Now you just need to pay the debt of a life.” The spirit was gone.*

*Ami was thrown into the forest, where Jinx was crying over a body — a body that they now recognized. Jinx’s brother.*

Ami was thrown out of the hallucination, and pulled their paw away from Jinx’s like it was scalding hot. “What the heck did you just do to me?” they screeched. “I saw your past. I saw your past.” They collapsed to the ground in shock and tried to haul themself away from Jinx, scared. What if there really was magic?

“I — I did nothing!” Jinx objected. But she paused. Maybe now, this weird cat would believe in magic. . .? “You . . . you saw my past?” she whispered, barely audible. “Then you know . . . *everything*. . .”

Fringe stared at the new cats. They had . . . turned down the offer to the Tests? What kind of crazy cat did that? Harnor’s Tests may be madness, but at least they were giving these cats a chance to get powers that could help them. She snorted. These cats were idiots. She would have to avoid them. At least they wouldn’t be trying to win. Better if they stayed out of her way. *I have to win this, she thought. For Trixy and Dangle. For Perch. For Sparrow.* Sparrow. Was her sister even still alive? She wasn’t part of the Tests, but she had no idea how far Harnor’s power stretched. Could he affect the family and friends of those taking the Tests? And if so . . . what was he doing to them?

*“She’s safe.”*

 Perch’s presence next to Fringe caused her fur to lie flat. “Perch,” she whispered.

*“Fringe,”* Perch purred. *“Don’t worry. Harnor can’t reach Sparrow. She’s safe. She’s alive. And she’s waiting for you.”*

At least the new cats weren’t going to foil Loki’s plans for winning. He could best them easily if they didn’t want to fight. As he waited in the shadows unnoticed by the others, he watched his mother. She was getting smarter. She wanted to win. “You’ll have to get through me first,” he snarled softly, not caring who heard.

*“Loki. Loki, no. She’s your mother. Our mother.”* Trixy’s quiet voice filled Loki’s head.

Loki growled. No matter how hard he tried to keep them out. . .

*“Please, Loki. You can’t do this.”* Dangle was just as insistent. *“Think of Sigyn.”*

Loki stiffened. “Where did you hear that name?”

*“Would she want this?”* was Dangle’s only reply.

Sigyn. Loki’s best friend since he was a kit. Maybe more than that if they’d had the chance. “But she’s dead,” he murmured.

*“So are we,”* Trixy pointed out. *“If you continue down this path, you’ll never see her again.”*

“You’ve seen her?” Loki kept his voice at a whisper. No one would overhear.

*“Yes,”* Trixy and Dangle chorused.

*“She hates to see you like this,”* Dangle added.

*“She wanted to come, but you pushed her away,”* Trixy informed. *“She tried so hard. You wouldn’t let her in.”*

 “Sigyn. . .” Loki shuddered with grief. “No. I must — I have to see her.”

*“Then let her in,”* Trixy and Dangle chorused. *“Let her in.”* Their voices faded. *“Let her in. . .”*

“Sigyn. . .” Loki slowly slumped to the ground. “Sigyn, I’m sorry . . . come back to me. Please. I’m so sorry.” He focused on the pebbles. Slowly, one rose into the air a few inches off of the ground. Then another. The sound of a claw striking stone caused him to lose concentration. The pebbles clattered down. Growling, he focused again. This time, he lifted only one pebble. With a paw, he shoved it at Fringe.

The pebble bounced off of Fringe, catching her attention. Her eyes widened when she saw him. She glanced around, making sure no one was watching, then scampered over. “What?” she hissed. “Are you going to try to kill me again?”

“No.” Loki’s honesty surprised both of them. “I just — I wanted to talk.”

“Hmm,” Fringe said.

Fringe obviously didn’t believe Loki. “Trixy and Dangle have been talking to me,” he blurted.

Fringe blinked. “I know. Perch told me.”

Fringe mentioned Loki’s father casually, but he could see the pain in her eyes. *Perch being dead is killing her,* he realized. He sighed, curling his tail around his paws. His gold bracelets clinked together. “It’s about time I told you about Sigyn.”

Fringe yawned, blinking her eyes open. After Loki’s story, they had both fallen asleep. She had curled around her kit. Loki hadn’t pushed her away. She purred softly, looking down at her kit. He had changed. Whatever Trixy and Dangle had said, it was working. Maybe he would see Sigyn again. She stretched and got to her feet, careful not to wake him. “My kit,” she murmured. “Little Crow.”

Loki was only pretending to be asleep. As his mother padded away, he slowly opened his eyes. Crow. His name. His real name, the one he had been given by Fringe and Perch as a tiny kit, not able to open his eyes. Crow that Swoops over Dark Mountain. Just as Trixy’s name was Trick of Light on Water and Dangle’s was Dangling Briar over Stream. As his mother was Fringe of Cliff where Jays Walk. As his aunt was Sparrow that Perches on Branch. Only his father Perch and dear Sigyn went by their full names. He had ignored his true name for too long. He couldn’t let his past in the Twolegplace define him. Scratch, who had taught him to hate, who had named him after a Twoleg trickster god, couldn’t reach him here. He remembered what his mother had taught him of her faith. One god. He got up, shaking dust off of his fur. He would change. He would make himself change. Make himself see. He would see Sigyn again.

Ifu stumbled to his feet. *W-what’s going on?* The last thing he remembered was refusing Harnor’s offer for the Tests. Now . . . he was in a cave with a bunch of cats he didn’t know.

“Hello! I’m Fringe. What’s your name?” Fringe walked up to a tom she didn’t know.

“I’m Ifu. Do you know what’s going on?” Ifu asked.

“Well, Harnor apparently froze everyone into rock who refused to do the Tests. Everyone who wasn’t in rock is currently doing the Tests, including me and Loki.” Fringe flicked her tail Loki, who appeared to be just waking up. “Um . . . Harnor also mentioned you might have been frozen for a while. . .”

“How long?” Ifu gasped. “I — I need to get back to my family! My mother — she’s sick — I have to—”

“Ifu. Ifu, calm down,” Fringe soothed, touching his shoulder with her tail-tip. “Ifu. When were you frozen?”

“I — I don’t know,” Ifu said, shivering.

“What can you remember about what the Twolegs were doing?” Fringe asked.

“Everyone was celebrating . . . something about a war ending. The Twolegs are always getting into wars,” Ifu said.

“War ending. . .” Fringe trailed off, eyes wide.

“What? What is it?” Ifu demanded.

“Ifu . . . if you were born just after the war ended . . . you’ve been frozen for around seventy years,” Fringe said.

Loki saw the cream-white tom his mother was talking to freeze. Something Fringe had said shocked him. Judging by how he had been freaking out just moments before, he had been on a time-sensitive mission of some sort before he had been frozen in stone. And now . . . whatever he had been doing . . . who knew how long he had been stuck in the rock? Most likely any family he’d had were dead. As he padded over, he heard his mother talking to the tom, obviously concerned.

“Ifu?” Fringe waved her tail in front of his face.

Loki got closer and saw the tom was staring into the distance wide-eyed, paws trembling. But he wasn’t the only thing trembling. The pebbles on the floor in front of him rattled like there was an earthquake, but the ground was still.

“Ifu, calm down,” Fringe pleaded.

Loki glanced at his mother, then back at the young tom. Of course. Of course his mother would want to adopt the first lost kit she found. Despite the situation, he felt a twinge of happiness at his mother’s kind heart. “Mother,” he interjected. “Let me try.” He stepped in front of Ifu, forcing the shaking tom to meet his gaze. “Who were you trying to help?” he asked softly. “Family, I’m guessing?”

“Y-yes,” Ifu managed. “My mother — she’s — she was — sick . . . but . . . seventy years . . . they’re all dead by now. . .” His voice trailed to a whisper and he continued mumbling to himself, swaying slightly side to side.

“Ifu.” Loki moved so he was standing next to the tom, placing his tail on the other’s flank. It seemed to steady him. “This life isn’t the only one. Even if they’re dead here, they live on.”

Ifu stopped swaying and his paws and the pebbles stilled.

“There’s a kingdom in the stars where all the good cats go when they die. They fly up on eagle’s wings to a place where there’s always enough food and the streams never run dry. There are no borders in the sky and everyone lives in harmony forever,” Loki said.

Ifu slowly sunk to the ground, eyes glazing over as he thought.

Fringe and Loki both sat next to him as Loki continued speaking. “I have family there too. Perhaps my sisters and my father have met your family. Perhaps they’re friends. We can ask them when we see them again. Yes?”

“Yes. . .” Ifu had calmed. His eyelids drooped and his breathing slowed as he started to sink into sleep.

“Your mother is probably watching you now,” Fringe murmured just loud enough for the three of them to hear. “She must be so proud to have a brave son like you.” The she-cat looked up, meeting Loki’s eyes.

“Wouldn’t she think I abandoned her?” Ifu asked softly. “They must hate me.”

“No, Ifu.” Fringe spoke to the white tom, but her words were meant for both of them when she said, “No mother can ever truly hate their kit.”

Fringe, Ifu, and Loki crouched behind a rock. The squirrel nibbled a nut, unsuspecting of danger.

Loki flicked his tail, urging Ifu forwards.

Ifu crept around the rock, keeping low to the ground and downwind of the rodent. He readied to pounce, but froze when the shadow of a hawk covered the squirrel. The furry animal glanced up, then dropped the nut and ran. The hawk swooped low, grabbing the squirrel in its sharp talons. At that moment, he leaped. He landed square on the hawk’s back, digging his claw in deep. The predator bird screeched, thrashing in the air and pumping its wings to gain altitude.

Loki climbed onto the rock, then leaped, snagging the hawk’s wing.

Loki and Ifu brought it down together.

Fringe padded out into the open as Ifu bit down on the hawk’s neck, killing it.

Loki dragged the now-dead squirrel from the hawk’s talons.

“This is probably more prey than we need,” Ifu noted. “Maybe we should share it?”

“Hmm.” Loki glanced around. “With who? I haven’t seen another cat in a while.”

“How about them?” Fringe pointed with her tail at a cat in the near distance.

“Worth a shot.” Loki picked up the squirrel.

Ifu and Fringe carried the hawk. They made their way towards the unfamiliar cat.

*Oh, look. Cats are coming with prey!* “Could I have some?” Schweiz called out.

“Of course,” Fringe purred. “Here.” She set her end of the hawk down.

Ifu also dropped the bird.

Loki set the squirrel next to it. “Take your pick.”

Fringe watched Loki and Ifu practice fighting moves.

Even though Ifu had no interest in playing Harnor’s twisted games, he had agreed to train with Loki so he could defend himself if needed.

Ifu learned fast, quickly mastering the more basic moves.

Loki showed him moves Fringe hadn’t seen before, that he had learned while in the Twolegplace.

*“I told you he would come around,”* Perch murmured.

Fringe didn’t have to turn to know her mate was sitting next to her, translucent and star-strewn as he had been since the first time he had visited her in her dreams after he died. “I never said he wouldn’t,” she whispered, careful to make sure no one heard.

*“But you thought it,”* Perch accused quietly.

“He was so far gone,” Fringe said.

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

“I know that now,” Fringe said.

Fringe and Perch sat in silence for a moment as Loki and Ifu finished their training for the day.

Loki and Ifu finally stopped, both panting slightly.

Fringe felt Perch’s presence vanish. But she knew he was still watching.

Loki smoothed his pelt with a paw as he watched Fringe and Ifu talking quietly. He found that he didn’t feel the need to know if they were talking about him or not. This surprised him. He usually would care more about what others thought of him. But now . . . he knew that his mother loved and respected him as he did her. He had never really lost the love of his littermates. And now Ifu, a tom he had never met before a few days ago, was growing to trust him as well. He felt . . . safe. He felt more at home in this unknown wild than he ever had in the streets of the Twolegplace.

*“Because you’re with family,”* Trixy said. *“That’s why you feel at home.”*

“I was wondering when you would turn up again,” Loki muttered, though he was secretly happy to hear his sister’s voice.

*“Sleep, Loki. There’s someone who wants to see you, but not here,”* Trixy said.

“Who?” Loki could barely voice the question.

*“I think you already know.”* Trixy’s voice faded out.

“Trixy,” Loki whispered. There was no response.

“Loki.” Fringe padded up to him, Ifu at her side. “You alright?”

“Yeah,” Loki said. “Just tired.” He yawned, not having to fake it. Prodding at the mossy nest with his tail, he curled up next to Fringe and Ifu.

Loki, Fringe, and Ifu huddled up close for warmth.

Loki remembered the brief time when he, Trixy, and Dangle had shared a nest with their mother. He smiled at the memory. This felt like that. Safe. Home. He closed his eyes.

*Sigyn waited, her star-strewn twitching tail the only part of her that was moving. Maybe she hadn’t thought this through. What if they were wrong and he hadn’t changed? What if he was angry at her for staying away? What if — what if he didn’t come at all?*

*“He’ll come,” Trixy said quietly, as if reading her thoughts.*

*“We all know he will,” Dangle agreed.*

*Sigyn nodded, not trusting herself to speak.*

*There was a rustling of leaves. The bushes parted and Loki stepped through.*

*Loki. Crow. He had gone by both names. He had come. He had come. Sigyn smiled.*

*Loki looked around the clearing, seeing first his littermates. Their eyes met. He halted mid-step, frozen. “Sigyn,” he gasped, staring at the young she-cat who would have been his mate. He walked slowly forwards — one step, another. Until they were inches apart.*

*“Crow,” Sigyn whispered, eyes full of both joy and tears. “My Crow.”*

Iyda just stood there, looking fiercely at all the cats. She hissed. “I don’t know who any of you are or what any of you do! But there’s one thing about me all you need to know!” she said loudly. “I don’t like this or any of you!” She lashed her tail and ran behind all of them, looking for a way out. A way to get back to Freyda. A way back to the mountains.

Nutmeg sat, her tail curled around her paws, keeping her thoughts to herself. No one was doing anything wrong . . . yet.

Marie leaped and stretched her legs. Hearing the thanks, she flicked her tail. “Oui! Ce rocher était très mal à l’aise. Merci. Merci!” She glanced at a mottled gray she-cat looking at her oddly. “Paris?” she asked. Surely they knew. She was a lady. How far was she from her home?

Pebble shook her head.

Marie scowled a bit and shook out her fur. “Okay. Um . . . where am I? Is zis . . . ze right language? I mean, does anyone elze underztand? Zat stone was very . . . uncomfortable . . . thanks?” She humphed and muttered to herself, “Non seulement que ‘Dieu’ me piéger dans cette pierre, il me voyage aussi loin de ma famille? Dieu, il peut être, je ne croirai jamais qu’il fait cela pour le bien de nous tous!”

Leaf and Artemi were simply just there. No more, no less. They didn’t need to talk to the others. They had each other.

Leaf sat with Artemi and noticed other cats practicing powers. Well, maybe they weren’t powers. Maybe they were abilities. But he looked down and saw the shadows dancing around his paws — not at his will, but their own.

*Artemi was minding her own when everything went black. It showed Leaf, her best friend, running towards her with his claws unsheathed and grin erased. She tried to look away, but couldn’t.*

As Leaf jumped and landed on Artemi, her vision came back. She was panicking and frost was accumulating around her paws. She breathed deep. But then she lost it. *No! No, no, no! Leaf would never do that! Leaf would never attack me! she thought, lying down. These . . . these “powers” are lies!*

Ivy stood off to one side, itching for the next Test to start. All this standing around was pointless. She wasn’t here to make friends, she was here to save her brother. She ate a mouse she had caught under a nearby oak tree a ways away from the cluster of cats.

While staring into a puddle, Sunny saw that the ripples were crashing into each other angrily like her emotions were fueling them. She could use it as a fighting technique. Focusing, she made a small bubble, channeling her anger into it.

Robin had never seen such a weird sight. It wasn’t every day cats came out of rocks. Yet she was more worried about something else. All these cats were powerful. Too powerful. If they’d had any chance of winning at all, it was now far, far gone. She looked around. Now that Iciclefur was gone, she didn’t really have anyone to talk to or interact with. But to her, it didn’t matter. She was used to the peace and preferred it, really. She walked over to a corner and started to practice her powers. Half an hour passed and she was getting tired. As she was about to sleep, she looked in some glass. She was g . . . gone. Finally, she was invisible. So from determination for perfection and any chance against the new cats, she kept practicing for the rest of the day.

Yin felt something strange. It felt like her skin was cracking. She slowly opened her eyes and looked around. “What?” she muttered. *发生了什么?* She found that everyone had been covered in dust and rocks . . . what was happening? She saw cats everywhere talking, laughing, occasionally arguing, and cats practicing with . . . magic?! *What has this world become?! 世界变成了什么?! 我在哪儿呀? 这不是我的家! 我的朋友呢? 有毛快救救我吧!* She padded around the cave, very confused. She kept to the shadows, missing her old home and wanting to leave this creepy place.

“Don’t be scared. I’m Robin. Are you a new cat here?” Robin smiled, which wasn’t often when meeting new cats.

Ambi was tired. Tired of Ami, tired of the world, tired of living. What was the point of living? No one knew him; no one wanted to know him. The Tests were nothing but pain. He should have left a long time ago! Everyone hated him. He kicked at the rocks and whimpered in pain. Then he caught himself. *Oh, great. Now all the cats must think I’m as weak as a newborn kit! I bet Ami would be happy.* He sulked, thinking about how easy death would be.

Lantern walked up to a sad-looking cat. It was . . . Ambi. He was always dreamy-looking, but always had a sad tint in his eye or a slight droop in his tail. “Hey,” he said quietly. “Um, I’m Lantern. And you’re Ambi, right? Are you . . . feeling well?”

“I’m fine. I’m just tired of life, I guess. Who are you?” Ambi asked sadly.

“I’m Lantern. I come from this large community of cats. I got sick of the way they did things there, so I kind of . . . wandered off. And now I’m here. Do you want to . . . talk about it? Or would you like to share a hunt?” Lantern asked. He dropped the mouse he just caught in front of Ambi. “Do you think we could . . . share it?”

“Sure,” Ambi muttered. He took a small bite and passed it to Lantern.

Lantern took a big bite, then nudged the mouse back to Ambi. “Here, have the rest. I’m not that hungry,” he told Ambi once he had swallowed. He sat beside ginger-and-white tom quietly and felt a little awkward, though he didn’t mind.

“Thanks,” Ambi said, gulping down the rest of the mouse. He stared at Lantern, wondering who he was.

Violet was confused about what was happening. She could tell her siblings were waking up, and was a little nervous about it. What would they think of her?

Tawny looked around for Thunder, stressed by the news. Where was he? “Thunder! Thunder!” she cried out, tears filling her eyes. “Thunde— argh!” She had run into a black she-cat.

Clover looked up at her, her eyes narrowed. “Watch where you’re going!” she hissed. She sulked, because that was what she did.

“Well, sorry,” Tawny muttered, walking away from the cat. “Thunder, where are you. . .?”

Thunder heard someone call his name. “Tawny!” he yelled excitedly. He got up and ran, looking for his friend.

“I, uh, missed you. . .” Tawny muttered. Had she, really? Would she ever explain that she had felt anger at him for leaving her? “What’s been happening with you, then?”

“Nothing much. Mostly waiting and trying to find you,” Thunder said. “I missed you too.”

“Yeah. . . Hey, I need to do something . . . I’ll, uh, be back,” was Tawny’s terrible excuse to leave Thunder. She walked away without waiting for a response. Her tail lashed and she felt herself sparking. Her paws crackled with electricity. She looked for someone — another tom, preferably — to talk to. There was someone. “Uh, hey,” she meowed, trying to play cool.

Jay turned instantly. “Hi.”

“I don’t think I’ve, uh, seen you before . . . are you new?” Tawny asked.

As soon as she spoke the word “new,” Jay was standing right beside her, so their fur almost touched.

Tawny pulled away. *Oh, stars save me.*

“Yes, yes. You’re the first cat I’ve met so far. What’s your name?” Jay asked.

Tawny raised her eyebrow. “I — uh.” She smiled. “I’m Tawny!” Maybe she could make Thunder jealous if she tried to look happy with this annoying flirt . . . though she felt it was right, a small voice in her head told her, *Tawny, this isn’t you. Go back to Thunder. You’re changing, Tawny. . .*

Fini could hear a familiar voice in the distance. It was Tawny. But why was she like this? The last time the black she-cat had seen Tawny, she was nice, and Thunder was only a close friend of hers.

Thunder sat, confused. “Y-yeah, okay,” he said, even though she was already gone. *Is she angry at me? Did I do something wrong?* He just sat there, lonely, allowing his ice to coat his fur and the ground around his paws. He saw Tawny talk to another tom. He could tell this tom liked her. This only worsened his sadness.

Frost walked around a little bit to stay entertained, and walked over to Flame. “Hey. How are you?” she asked him.

“I’m pretty good,” Flame said, sitting down, looking into the distance.

Frost sat down next to him. Then she decided to go find some water in a pond. She drank some, and then her tail fell into the water and shocked her. She also noticed that about half of her big scratch was disappearing. She was walking around. She needed to talk to someone — anyone. She just felt a little lonely noticing that Flame had gone to talk to yet another she-cat. Man, he was sociable. She hadn’t figured out how to do that yet. She hadn’t brought herself to talk to anyone but Pebble and Frostsong. She should talk to someone. Oh, wait, who was that tom from before . . . Thunder! Why not go talk to him? He seemed nice. She went looking for Thunder.

Fini could hear the many mews of cats around her. *What is this?* She was confused about all of this. Fir had never told her about this before. Ears drooping miserably, the she-cat gazed at the others. She looked for someone to talk to. It had been a while since she had actually spoken to someone. Fir seemed to be the only one who truly understood her, but now she had a feeling that Fir had passed on and joined his ancestors. And the only reason that Fir had let her go was because there was exactly no reason for her to stay with anyone. She had learned how to hunt and fight and it had been time for her to fend for herself. *Maybe I was meant to be alone this whole time. . .*

Mandelia noticed a she-cat sitting on her own. The pale brown she-cat had spent a while thinking in the time that she was in the rock, and now she thought about it. Maybe winning the Tests would be a good idea . . . power over all cats. To be a god! Why had she turned down the offer? But that she-cat! Cats who were alone were more likely to let her in, let her become their friend, and more easy to kill or neutralize. “Hi. I’m Mandelia, but you can call me Mandi! What’s your name? I’m one of the new cats, by the way!”

Mist was very confused. There were so many who had turned down Harnor’s generous offer. He couldn’t fathom why anyone would do that. Had they lost their minds? He resolved to ask one why. He looked for a Forgotten cat. It wasn’t easy; there was nothing different about them. After a while, he was ready to give up. He sat down in the middle of the cave. Listening closely, he heard a she-cat behind him saying, “. . . I’m one of the new cats, by the way.” He turned around, trying to identify the speaker. He saw two she-cats talking together and knew that one of them had spoken. He sat nearby and listened.

Arc huffed. He was tired of waiting for Mist to be alone. He had finally found out the name of his greatest enemy, but wasn’t getting any closer until Mist was by himself. It was then when he would strike.

A ginger-and-white she-cat stumbled out of a . . . stone? Wait, what was happening? She surveyed the area, her mind foggy. She had a pounding headache. Where was she? Other cats, some looking confused, some looking angry, padded out from the stones as well. There were a ton of other cats gathered below, some talking to each other, some just watching as the cats came out of their stone prisons. She stumbled towards a tom, hoping he could explain what was happening. “Um. . .” the she-cat began. “Where am I? What am I doing here?”

Mist padded away from the conversation he was listening to, as it wasn’t getting anywhere anytime soon. He decided that knowing why cats had declined the Tests didn’t matter. He walked over to a rock that didn’t appear to have anyone inside. He wondered if anything was different about them. Just as he was about to see, a ginger-and-white she cat stumbled out of the stone straight towards him. He jumped back, surprised. “Um . . . where am I? What am I doing here?” she asked. He sighed. How much did he need to explain? “Well, you’re in Wait Five of the Tests. You refused Harnor’s offer, so he trapped you in a rock because . . . well. . .” He broke off as he realized he didn’t know why Harnor had done this. “I don’t know why,” he finished.

The she-cat gave Mist a confused glance. “Um . . . what? I barely understood anything you said in that sentence. Harnor? Wait Five?” She shook her head to herself, trying to get rid of the pounding in her ears. She had strangely felt a blossom of rage in the pit of her stomach as she said the word “Harnor.” She then gave the tom who was talking to her a reproachful look. “Do I . . . know you?”

Mist gave an exasperated sigh. “Okay, you clearly don’t remember anything, so I’ll start from the beginning. Harnor is an extremely powerful cat. He created the Tests to give other cats the chance to gain similar powers — or as the popular opinion says, for entertainment. You turned down the offer, so he froze you in stone. We’re in Wait Five, or the fifth gap in between the Tests. Nothing much happens in Waits.” As he explained all this, he realized that he might have been wrong about Harnor. He was starting to see the Tests as a curse. He, for the first time in his life, viewed Harnor as he really was. A monster.

The she-cat flattened her ears. “I . . . I shouldn’t be here,” she murmured. “Something is really . . . *wrong*.” She tried to remember something about declining these . . . “Tests,” but her mind felt like it had cracked into two as she tried to remember any details. She hissed to herself. She knew the pain was in her head, but she felt like she wanted to curl into a ball and shriek. She stumbled on her paws, turning back to the tom. “Can you take me to Harnor?” she asked. “He has to know something. He has to know why I’m so. . .” She searched for the right word. “Foggy.”

Mist sighed. “I don’t know if a single cat here would want to see Harnor.” He paused for a moment, thinking. “The only way you could speak with him is when the next Test starts, and from what I’ve seen, he’ll just ignore you.” As he looked around, he concluded that this she-cat was the only one with this problem. “I don’t understand why you don’t remember anything. Everyone else is fine.” Suddenly he had an idea. “Wait. Do you remember your name?”

The she-cat stared at Mist blankly. *Of course I know my name. . .* But as she opened her mouth, nothing came out. She growled to herself. Why would I not know my own name? She searched through her mind, but she just got the same splitting headache she had gotten earlier and she hissed in pain. She tried to ignore the pain, diving further into her memories, which seemed inaccessible.

*Suddenly a vision shot through the she-cat’s mind. She was chasing after another she-cat, her paws thumping on the grass in a pounding rhythm. Her ears felt like they were underwater, but she heard the other she-cat’s words as clear as day.*

*“Come on, Maya!”*

The she-cat shot back to the present, looking Mist in the eye, her sides rising and falling heavily. “My name is Maya,” she meowed. “. . . I think.”

Mist could understand why Maya couldn’t remember a few random moments if it had been so hard to recover something as simple as her name. “Has it always been so hard to remember things?” He quickly realized that this was a stupid question. She might not know!

Maya flattened her ears. *Is this tom stupid?* she thought. “Well, I wouldn’t *know* if this has happened before,” she meowed to Mist carefully.

Mist twitched his ear, embarrassed. “Sorry. I just realized that.”

“Mhm,” Maya snorted. She shuffled her paws anxiously. *What now?* She had no idea why she was here or what led to her being in this place. The only cat that could help her was a sadistic maniac. Harnor. And she couldn’t even see him until the next “Test.” “What are we even supposed to do around here?” she asked Mist.

“That depends. In one of the Tests, we fought a cat with fire powers. I heard that the Test before that was a ten-mile run. Until the next one, you can practice your powers.” Mist tilted his head in thought. “At least, if you have any. . .”

Maya flattened her ears at Mist. “Listen,” she growled, slightly annoyed. “My memory might be foggy, but do you seriously think I’m gullible enough to believe that I have magical powers? I can’t believe you think I’m that stupid!”

Mist looked at Maya. “I don’t know if you have any; I’m just assuming you might. Here, let me show you.” He closed and opened his eyes, turning them completely dark blue. He then summoned wind and pushed himself up in the air. When he touched the ground again, he blinked and his eyes went back to their normal color.

Maya shrunk back, terrified. Had this cat just *flown*? She stumbled away from Mist without a goodbye. *I have to find a way out of here. . .* This couldn’t be happening. She couldn’t remember her life. Cats actually had magical abilities. Even with her messed-up brain, she knew that wasn’t right. She was so distracted that she didn’t notice when she stumbled straight into a tom. She looked up, about to mumble a “sorry” — but he had a thin layer of ice coating his fur. She shrieked, stumbling back, but ran straight into another cat.

Thunder almost fell over when the she-cat bumped into him. He was saddened even more when she screamed in fear of him. “Maybe I should learn to control these powers?” he thought out loud.

Frost got up because a cat bumped into her. She turned her head to look at them. “Hello? Who are you?” she asked curiously at the cat that had bumped into her. “Are you okay? I heard you scream,” she said. “You can come sit here if you want.” She gestured with her tail next to her.

Maya shuddered, tentatively creeping towards the strange she-cat. “I . . . I’m Maya,” she stuttered, terrified that the other cat would start blasting lightning at her or something.

“Hi, Maya. I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Frost, and contrary to my name, I don’t have ice powers.” She smiled and looked off into the pond, then back at Maya. “How long have you been here?” she decided to ask.

Maya tried to ignore the way Frost casually mentioned having powers, flattening her ears. “Um, I just came out of one of those rocks,” she meowed, gesturing with her tail to the cracked stones. “Don’t ask me how long I was trapped, because I have no idea.”

“Well, that’s interesting. I’ve never met a cat that came from a rock. That’s sort of cool.” Frost was slightly fascinated by the thought that cats could come out of rocks. She changed the subject. “Do you know anyone else here?” she asked.

Nest opened her eyes, breathing hard. She looked around her, heart racing. The rock had opened. She quickly dashed out of the large boulder, glad to be free at last. She didn’t know why Harnor had opened the rocks. There didn’t seem to be much reason to do this, as there were already plenty of cats in his stupid Tests. Needless to say, she would almost rather be stuck in stone. At least she had a chance of survival there. She hid in the back of the cave, hoping that no one noticed her. She remembered her life before, when she was never safe, and wondered if the Tests were any better than that. She supposed she had it better than the other Forgotten. She hadn’t lost anything at all. In fact, there was so much to gain . . . just no need for it. She didn’t want to become anything more than she already was. But she just might have to.

Thor felt more lonely than he ever had in his life. All the cats — at least some of them — were with *friends*. He stalked over to a she-cat. “So why *did* you refuse to come?” He tried to sound friendly, holding back a hiss.

Nest looked around at all the cats. She was confused why anyone would be making friends, as they could easily find themselves locked in relentless combat against each other. As if to prove that these cats were all insane, a tough-looking tom walked over to her and asked the strangest question. “So why *did* you refuse the Tests?” Normally she would roll her eyes and walk away, but the way he said it set her off. “Oh, I’m *so* sorry that I prefer to let cats who desire power have it,” she said reproachfully. “And that I would rather not risk my life to gain a position that I don’t want. Not that I have much choice anyway.” She glared at the tom. “Why don’t you open your eyes and see what’s right under your nose for once in your life?” Her ear twitched angrily as she finished speaking, but she stood her ground. Why could no one understand that not everyone was so desperate for strength? Especially when they didn’t deserve it?

Thor took a step forward. “Hey, I just wanted to ask. No need for that.” He sighed unhappily. *I’ve messed it up again!* “I’m Thor. Now if you wish, you can go back to sulking on your own like me.” He turned and stalked into a corner.

Nest stared after Thor, not knowing what to do next. She didn’t care about other cats much, so she wasn’t sure if she should apologize or not. Thor had no idea what it was like to have to run from yourself. He had no idea how lost she was and how angry that made her. He was not responsible for any of that, but she didn’t care. She disliked him all the same.

Thor hissed softly. She’ll get lonely eventually. *She’ll need friends.* He turned around to see the she-cat staring after him. He met her gaze, a friendly twinkle in his eyes. “Well, you’ll need friends here if you want to live and get back to where you used to be. You need friends, and you know who to come to when you want to make some.” He looked deep into her eyes, unblinking.

Nest couldn’t *believe* this tom. Had he lost his mind? “You should be careful. If you go around trusting everyone, you’ll be dead.” She flicked her ear, the one with the little white tag on it. “I learned that the hard way.” Then she turned away and walked off, hoping never to see Thor again. She didn’t realize how right he was.

Thor hissed. “Well, be dead, then. Never go back to your home. Die. I don’t care!” *She doesn’t know how hard my life was! She doesn’t know how hard I really trust!* He leapt onto a ledge and yowled, “Join me! We all need friends here or we die. So I’m giving you all a chance for that. Together, we’ll have all we need if you’re with me.” He glared at the she-cat and started to sing a song Rose had taught him, editing a few parts.

*“Right here, right now*

*I put the offer out.*

*I don’t want to chase you down.*

*I know you see it.*

*You run with me*

*and I can cut you free*

*out of the drudgery and walls you keep in.*

*So trade that typical for something colorful*

*and if it’s crazy, live a little crazy.*

*You can play it sensible, a king of conventional*

*or you can risk it all and see.*

*Don’t you want to get away from the same old part you gotta play?*

*’Cause I got what you need, so come with me and take the ride.*

*It’ll take you to the other side.*

*’Cause you can do like you do*

*or you can do like me.*

*Stat in the cage, or you’ll finally take the key*

*Oh, dang! Suddenly you’re free to fly.*

*It’ll take you to the other side.*

*Now is this really how you like to spend your days?*

*Whiskey and misery and parties and plays.*

*But you would finally live a little, finally laugh a little?*

*Just let me give you the freedom to dream*

*and it’ll wake you up, and cure your aching.*

*Take your walls and start ’em breaking.*

*Now that’s a deal that seems worth taking*

*but I guess I’ll leave that up to you.*

*Don’t you want to get away to a whole new part you’re going to play?*

*’Cause I got what you need, so come with me and take the ride*

*to the other side.*

*So if you do like I do*

*so if you do like me*

*forget the cage, ’cause we know how to make the key.*

*Oh, dang! Suddenly we’re free to fly.*

*We’re going to the other side.*

*So if you do like I do*

*to the other side.*

*So if you do like me*

*we’re going to the other side.*

*’Cause if we do, we’re going to the other side.*

*We’re going to the other side.”*

Columbine took a shaky breath. This wasn’t an uncommon action for her; living cats generally took a large number of breaths, and she seemed to be in a constant state of shaky nervousness. However, this breath was rather extraordinary because it was her first in moons. “—have to protect Azalea!” she shrieked. “Azalea?” Her kit was gone. Only secondarily did she realize that she wasn’t in her den anymore. The familiar scenery had been replaced with a cave where her meows echoed back at her, ringing in her ears over and over. “No!” she hissed. “I can’t be. . .” This new place was filled with cats, many of them as confused as her, but none of them were Azalea. “Azalea? Azalea!” she shrieked again and again and again, calling the name out into the mists. Her kit had been her world, and now that world was shattering.

Meanwhile, Azalea was prowling and hissing through the forest quite aimlessly.

Thor heard a rock cat call for someone. *My chance!* “Hello . . . I hear you’re looking for a cat named Azalea, right? I can help. What does she look like?”

Nest was getting nervous. After all this time, the Test still hadn’t started. “What’s taking so long?” she wondered out loud. Was this normal? What was Harnor doing? Considering the amount of time they had spent here, he could be making an entire ocean! She worried that it would be too difficult for her to accomplish. She hadn’t the faintest idea how the Tests worked! For all she knew, they could all die within a week! She closed her eyes, considering the possibilities. When she opened them, there was a glowing blue sphere floating in front of her face. Having no idea what this was, she shrieked and jumped back. The orb stayed where it was, gradually fading. She whipped around and sprinted away blindly, determined to put as much distance as she could between herself and the strange orb. She ran until she saw a cat who looked as startled as she was. “What’s going on?” she asked her.

“What do you mean?” Maya asked. She smoothed her fur, making sure Frost was still near her. She didn’t like being around strangers. Well, Frost was a stranger, but not as much as this other cat. But everyone here was a stranger to her, so it didn’t really matter.

Nest tried to create a new orb, but it looked much more unstable and didn’t last nearly as long. “What is that?” She paused and added, “Can you do it too?”

Meadow breathed. It’s been a while. . . There were so many cats . . . so many who had accepted . . . and . . . and some who had refused! So she wasn’t the only one . . . Then she remembered. *Buttercup!* She started calling out, “Buttercup! Buttercup. . .” Then she remembered.  Her sister was dead, and that was why she had refused the Tests.

Shard blinked his piercing blue eyes. So this was the Tests. He had agreed to join because . . . because of Posy. He shook her from his head and decided to try his luck. His striking eyes searched the place for someone who could help him. He wasn’t going to become one of these weirdos who sat around moaning with no friends. There seemed to be quite a lot of them here. He walked sturdily over to a black she-cat. She had a good build and pretty fur. “Hey,” he meowed, trying to catch her attention. “So this is the Tests, right?” He saw some cats playing with things . . . electricity? Some were even floating! “Do those cats have . . . powers? Sorry if that sounds weird, it’s just . . . I’m Shard, by the way.” So far, he had played it cool and not acted too weird. That was good, wasn’t it?

Flame looked around to talk to some new cats, because he only knew three. He saw a cat and went up. “Hi, I’m Flame. Who are you?” he said to the new cat.

Vivara blinked, staring around at the huge world beyond the cave she had been trapped in for so long. She nuzzled the metal band around her wrist with her family’s fur on it, and the fox’s fur from her sister’s claws to remind her that not everything was perfect. She needed to watch her own back now. Still, she couldn’t stop staring at the world that evil cat had stolen from her when she had refused the Tests and had been locked up, covered by suffocating rock walls and midnight-black darkness. Her blue nearly-blind eye saw a jumble of light and shapes and colors. Her green eye could see it all clearly. She stood in the opening of what she had escaped from. She stared around her, seeing groups of cats. Some were having conversations; some were just staring around like she was, and she felt a sort of kinship to them — which was ridiculous — and she saw all sorts of things. Cats were looking confused, mad, sad, happy, lonely, and a whole host of other things. She stepped into the shade of a small tree, wanting some time away from it all to get used to it; to all the cats surrounding her to the fresh air and the bright light. A cat walked up to her and she turned away from them, hoping they would take the hint and leave her alone.

Luana looked at the cats with wonder. “Woah!”

Bonita glanced down at Luana. “They aren’t that interesante, Luana.”

Luana glared at Bonita. “Bonita, they came out of *rocks*. How is that not cool?!” she chirped.

Nol padded nervously into the room. All these new cats. . . His ears pricked as a she-cat and tom padded over to him.

“Hi! I’m Luana, and this is Bonita! Welcome to the Tests!” Luana purred.

Nol smiled and looked up at Bonita, now realizing his mistake. “Sorry,” he blurted.

Bonita looked at him and frowned. “What?”

“I thought you were a tom,” Nol said.

“. . . I don’t care,” Bonita said.

“Oh, okay!” Nol smiled wider and turned to Luana. “So what are the Tests?”

Luana explained.

Now Nol dreaded them even more. “I don’t want to do this!” he whined. “I would rather go back to the rock.” He pouted and little cracks formed around his paws.

Luana looked down at the cracks and smiled, looking at Bonita.

Nol looked at both cats with confusion. “What? Is there something on my face?”

Luana let out a small laugh and motioned to the cracks at Nol’s paws. “No, those!”

“Those are just cracks,” Nol muttered, getting frustrated at the ground. He jumped back and more cracks formed. “W-what?! What’s happening?!” He started panicking.

Luana felt a small rumble in the ground. “Hey, hey!” she soothed. “That’s just your power, okay? It’s not going to hurt you, alright?” She crouched down next to him and ran her tail over his back.

Nol felt comforted by the she-cat and relaxed slightly. *Even if I’m forced to be here, at least I have these two.* He shifted from paw to paw as he stared at the other cats. How did cats even get to be this weird? Why were they talking like that? “Why are all these cats so weird?” he asked the tall cat, Bonita.

“¿Y por qué lo sabría exactamente, Ginger? Yo también soy nuevo aquí,” Bonita huffed.

Nol looked at her with a small smile. “. . . Did you just call me Ginger?”

Bonita blushed faintly, growling at the tom. “It doesn’t matter. You just need a name, idiota.”

“Hey, just pick one. I can’t keep track of all these names,” Nol teased. He liked seeing the stoic cat loosen up.

“Fine!” Bonita snapped, embarrassed. “Then you’ll be Idiota. Happy?”

Nol smiled cheekily. “Yeah, I like Happy.”

“Fine, then that will — wait, what?” Bonita stared at the tom in confusion.

“Happy. That’s my nickname, right?” Nol asked.

Bonita glared at Nol. “Okay, *fine*. *Happy.* That’s your name now. Want a sticker or something?” she growled, frustrated and smirking as she stalked away.

“Alright! Bye, Tall and Snappy!” Nol called after her.

Bonita rolled her eyes. *Stupid tom.*

Nol trotted up to another cat. “Hello!” he chirped. “I’m Nol. What’s your name?”

Bonita padded up slowly behind the tom. *You can’t just make friends with all these cats.* She growled to herself. “You don’t know who’s going to hurt you . . . I don’t need to be friends with an injured cat!”

Nol turned around as Bonita growled the last part out loud. “Aww, we’re friends!” he purred teasingly. Turning back to the cat, he happily added on, “And this is my friend, Tall and Angry — or Bonita for short!”

Kousuke shook his fur and rolled his eyes over the various cats, accessing the situation.

“Kousuke?” Nol’s small voice piped up behind Kousuke.

Swishing his tail, Kousuke turned slightly, glaring at his brother. “You did this.”

“No!” Nol snapped, moving towards Kousuke’s side. “Why would you think that?!”

“You like common cats. I don’t see why you wouldn’t jump at this chance.” Kousuke finally noticed a familiar tall tom next to his brother. “And I see Soushi is with you too.”

“No,” Nol grunted. “This is Bonita.”

Bonita glared at the two tom glaring at each other. “Hey, you two! We don’t need more gatos killing each other. Díos mio. Who are you?” She stared the black tom down, moving to block him from Nol.

Kousuke flattened his fur from his standoff with Nol. “I’m Kousuke, Nol’s older brother. Can you take us back?” He narrowed his eyes at the cat blocking his brother.

“She’s not some sort of help, Kousuke.” Nol pushed past Bonita.

Kousuke’s brows furrowed and he turned away from his brother. “Fine. I’ll go look for someone else, then.” As he padded away, he turned his head slightly back. “And when I find someone, we *will* be going.”

Bonita looked down at Nol.

“Are you going to tell him that we can’t leave?” Nol laughed slightly.

“Nah. Let him meet someone. He needs it,” Bonita said.

Sunflower slipped out from inside a rock. *Wait.* Inside a rock? He glanced around and saw so, so many cats. Where was he? It took a moment, but he racked his memory and remembered the bright red . . . avian? Harnor. And. . . *Starshine. Wildflower.* His dead sisters. That wretched fox that killed Starshine. The wildfire that had killed Wildflower. And now where was he? Harnor brought him here. . . *The Tests?* He leaned against the rock that he had just fallen out of, glad to notice that it was solid.

Wildflower crouched in the corner, watching cats come out of stones. So many cats. So many new cats speaking so many more languages. Where were they? Were they not just in a Test, a trial, a race from death? What had happened?

Frostsong was confused. Why were there cats coming out of rocks? It was too strange to process. She noticed a cat in the shadows and padded over to her.

Moon saw a she-cat padding over to her. She quickly slid out her claws and growled. “What do you want?” she rasped.

“Woah! Calm down! I’m not a threat,” Frostsong said. “There are cats coming out of the rocks who refused the Tests.”

“Wonderful,” Moon growled. “I should have refused the Tests.”

“But why would you not want powers?” Frostsong asked the cold she-cat.

“It won’t help me,” Moon growled. “Now get out of my face!”

*Wow.* She was really mean. Frostsong ran to find other cats.

Storm sighed. A new Wait and . . . new cats? *Oh well.*

Marina smiled. New cats . . . older, yes, most of them; but they might become her friends. She padded over to Storm and Quintessa. “Hey,” she mewed. “What do you think of these stone cats?”

Kendall shook herself. “Hi!” she said happily. She looked for someone. She didn’t know who, but preferably foreign. English cats were boring.

Quintessa wondered how many other cats were here. She hissed quietly. *Harnor is even more evil than I previously thought — we have to watch our backs.* She wandered around, looking straight through some of the cats’ eyes. They all had different expressions — fear, fury, and the occasional sorrow. She winced as she walked forwards. *They didn’t deserve this. Nobody deserves this except the one who made this.* She turned back to the group, where the others were all looking around as well. Suddenly a low grumbling sound rumbled from her belly. *I haven’t eaten in a while. I wonder what kind of prey there is in a cave.* She padded over to a small crevice. *Mice?* She sniffed, confirming the creatures were there. She crouched, ready to pounce. A small mouse flew out and she quickly dispatched it. *My skills have sharpened.* With brisk movements, she sat down a little ways from the group, keeping a watchful eye on everyone while eating her catch.

Vanilla snapped out of whatever world she was in and was instantly puzzled by her surroundings. She didn’t recognize any of the strange cats around her and couldn’t remember anything that happened previously. The *only* thing that came to mind was the Tests . . . she needed to finish the Tests! She looked around for a friendly-looking cat to talk to.

Quintessa noticed a she-cat padding around looking for someone to talk to. She decided to talk to her. Padding over, she quietly mewed, “Hello. My name is Quintessa.”

Vanilla was extremely relieved for somebody to talk to. “Oh, hi!” she exclaimed, slightly shyly. “My name is Vanilla. Would you mind explaining what’s going on? I can’t remember anything. . .”

Quintessa nodded. “We’ve just finished the fourth Test, so we spend time here in this cavern, waiting. That’s why this is called a Wait. It also appears that whoever rejects Harnor’s offer to join the Tests has ended up here and are just now emerging. Oh, and also, we all have powers. Mine are air and telekinesis, which means I can do this.” She lifted herself a foot off the ground to demonstrate. After putting herself down, she continued. “We also can make friends or enemies with each other. Really, I haven’t interacted with many, so my friends are limited, but at least my former enemy—” her tail pointed to Dune “—is now my friend.” She took a deep breath. She had never talked this fast in her life.

Vanilla was shocked when Quintessa lifted herself from the ground, and a little stunned as she took in all the new information like a sponge. “The . . . the fourth Test? How many Tests are there? And do I have powers too?”

Quintessa felt her head tilt a little. After a few moments of thought, she replied, “I actually don’t know how many Tests there will be. All I know is that I’ve survived two. And I’m ready to survive more. Oh, and you probably have powers too. You just haven’t discovered what they are yet.” She looked Vanilla up and down. “Hmm. Well, whatever it is, I suggest finding a small space and concentrating. Your powers will start small, but once you practice, you’ll get stronger. Anyway, I’m going to go now, since it seems you’ve got a good amount of information. Bye.” Then she left, padding away, wondering where Frostsong was. She hadn’t talked to her in a while and it would be nice to catch up.

Vanilla nodded in gratefulness to Quintessa. *So I might have powers too?* She knew next to absolutely nothing about the Tests except that she was determined to survive all of them. But how could she do that before knowing what her powers were, or if she even had any?

Rosica looked around her. There were a lot more cats than she expected. A good lot more. And maybe some would be as horrible as Ivajlo. . . *Защо дойдох тук?* She sighed and walked forward, her tail twitching. Then she saw the other cats looking different from the others. What had happened to them? She heard them explain . . . explain that they had been . . . trapped in rock. . . *Ето защо. . .* Her eyes widened and she looked at the Tests cats beside her. They looked as terrified as she felt. *That’s good,* she thought. As the cats split up, she looked for someone to talk to. She walked up to a dark brown she-cat who looked like her a bit. “Здравейте. Аз съм Росита. Кой си ти?” She sighed out of stress, realizing that this cat didn’t speak her first language. “I’m Rosica. Who are you?” She cursed. The cat hadn’t seen her. How much longer would she go unnoticed? “Защо винаги съм толкова сама?!” She sighed and sat down again.

Quintessa noticed out of the corner of her eye a bored-looking she-cat. She decided to pad over, thinking, *What the heck? She’s bored, I’m bored, so why not go talk?*

Kendall heard a foreign language. She got over-excited. “Не си сам! Здравей, аз съм Кендъл. Как се казваш? и да, аз говоря много езици,” she said to the cat.

*Finally!* Rosica *wasn’t* alone! “Страхотен! Започнах да мисля, че тук съм единственият, който говореше български.” She looked at her, and thought about her accent. “Вие не сте от български, нали? О, името ми е Росица.”

Kendall shook her head. “Не, не съм от България. Моят приятел Керъл ме научи на много езици. Името ти е хубаво.”

Quintessa purred. “I’m doing well, thanks.” She turned back to the other she-cat, who was talking in another language. Her head tilted as she tried to decipher the words.

Frostsong came to a stop when she found Quintessa talking to a new cat. “Hi, Quintessa! I haven’t seen you in a while!” She turned to face the new cat. “Hi! I’m Frostsong. What’s your name?” she asked in a friendly tone.

Quintessa smiled warmly at Frostsong. “Hello, Frostsong. Yes, it has been a while! I was actually hoping to talk to you. How are you?”

“I’m great! How are you?” Frostsong replied. She fidgeted with her flower chain on her tail, flicking it back and forth.

Something caught Quintessa’s eye. She padded over to a blueish she-cat still in a rock, who was looking up and opening her mouth. *Wonder when she’ll get out.* Suddenly, the rock cracked. It crumbled away, leaving a coughing and sputtering she-cat.

Yedda’s mind was fuzzy. *Where am I?* She looked around. *Cats! Lots of cats! Ooh, and one right in front of me!* She padded close to a she-cat. “Hello there. My name is Yedda, and . . . I have no idea what I’m doing here. But anyway, want to hear me sing?”

Quintessa had no idea what was wrong with this she-cat, but there was definitely something. “Um . . . I guess?”

Yedda smiled widely. “Great!” She cleared her throat, then began to sing the first song that came to mind.

*“I had a dream — or was it real? We crossed the line and it was on.”*

Yedda’s paw started tapping.

*“I’ve been denying how I feel. You’ve been denying what you want.”*

Yedda felt her whole body move to the beat.

*“You want from me. Talk to me, baby.*

*I want some satisfaction. Take me to the stars. Just say ‘oh.’”*

Yedda jumped onto a ledge, full-out dancing.

*“Ah, I want to cut through the clouds — break the ceiling.*

*I want to dance on the roof, you and me alone.*

*I want to cut to the feeling, oh yeah.*

*I want to cut to the feeling, oh yeah.*

*I want to play where you play with the angels.*

*I want to wake up with you all in tangles, oh.*

*I want to cut to the feeling, oh yeah.*

*I want to cut to the feeling, oh yeah!”*

Yedda bowed.

Quintessa stared at her. *What the actual heck?*

Yin was scared. Very scared. She cautiously padded up to two cats. One was . . . singing? “你可以帮帮我么？这是哪里啊？你们是谁?” she asked. “Wonderful singing, by the way,” she told the singing cat.

Yedda smiled. “Thank you,” she said graciously, giving a bow.

Quintessa introduced herself. “Hello. My name is Quintessa, and this is . . . what was your name again?”

Yedda hung from the ledge upside down. “Yedda.”

Quintessa raised an eyebrow. “Right. . .”

“My name is Yin,” Yin said in a Chinese accent. “Your friend here — Yedda? — does she always act like this?” she asked.

Quintessa replied to Yin’s question. “I’m not actually sure. See, I’ve only known her for about five minutes. But I assume yes.”

Storm looked around. She could understand the Chinese-speaking cat, the weird, loopy cat seemed approachable enough, and there was also this silver cat standing in front of Feather. The black she-cat decided to approach the group consisting of a confused Quintessa, the previously-singing loopy cat, and the Chinese-speaking cat. She left the silver cat for Feather. “Hey!” she greeted. “你好!”

Yedda smiled at Storm. “Why hello there,” she purred. “My name is Yedda, and you are?”

Quintessa padded up to Yedda. “That’s Storm.”

Yedda, still hanging on the edge of the ledge, fell promptly on her head. “Oof.”

Quintessa snorted. It felt weird and she quickly covered it with a cough. “That’s what you get for hanging on that ledge.”

Yedda frowned, then walked up to Storm. “Wanna hear me sing?”

Quintessa shook her head violently, trying to tell Storm to say no.

Wildflower was hiding behind a rock when a cat jumped on top of it, dancing and singing. They observed the cat for a moment, who was talking to Quintessa, Storm, and another new cat. They padded out from their hiding spot, eager to meet this enthusiastic and . . . admirable cat. “I — I loved your, um, p-performance. That was beautiful.”

Yedda heard someone else, and turned before Storm could answer to another cat. Her face lit up when she heard their compliment and she beamed brightly. “Thanks,” she said, taking yet another bow. “And that’s not the only song I know.”

Quintessa groaned. *I can’t take much more of this.* She padded away, annoyed with Yedda.

Yedda watched Quintessa walk away. “Where are you going?” she inquired loudly.

Quintessa muttered something, then continued.

Yedda shrugged. She didn’t need Quintessa.

Panther was feeling rather bitter again. He thought he had a friend for three days, and then she was gone again. *Why do I keep driving cats away?* Tears fell down his face as he thought about Moon. He missed her. But he would never see her again.  “I bet no one even remembers me. They probably think I came out of one of those rocks there! It’s a wonder that anyone even talks to me. I miss Moon,” he muttered.

Moon heard a cat muttering to himself. “Shut up! Some cats don’t want to hear your thoughts,” she growled. Something about the tom looked familiar. She shook her head. *No time for silly dreams.*

Yedda padded over to a tom who seemed nice. “Hello! My name is Yedda. Who are you?” She bared her teeth happily.

“Hi!” Panther said, brightening. “I loved your singing! My name is Panther! Aren’t you one of those stone cats? I’m so happy to finally meet someone who isn’t going to say ‘hi’ and ignore me for the rest of their life!” he ended bitterly.

Yedda’s smile darkened a bit. “That doesn’t sound very nice,” she muttered. Then she decided to try and perk up Panther. “You know, when I’m down, I like to sing a happy song. Like . . . this one!” She pranced as she started singing.

*“Looking up at a sunny sky. So shiny and blue, and there’s a butterfly.”*

A butterfly flew around Panther.

*“Well, isn’t that a super fantastic sign*

*it’s gonna be a fantastic day?”*

Yedda smiled.

*“Such marvelousness*

*it’s gonna bring. Got a pocket full of songs that I’m going to sing!*

*And I’m ready to take on anything.*

*Hooray!”*

A tiny spotlight of pure light appeared over Yedda’s head.

*“Some super fun surprise around each corner.*

*Just riding on a rainbow, I’m going to be okay*

*hey!*

*I’m not giving up today.*

*There’s nothing getting in my way.*

*And if you knock, knock me over*

*I’ll get back up again, oh*

*if something goes a little wrong*

*well, you can go ahead and bring it on.*

*’Cause if you knock, knock me over, I’ll get back up again.*

*Whoa, oh, oh, oh, oh, get back up again, whoa, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh!”*

Yedda stopped, looking at Panther hopefully. “Did it work? Did I make you happy?”

Pebble looked around, and though she gazed at the kits for a moment, she saw no one else worth walking up to. Her paws shifted uncomfortably and she saw a new blue-gray she-cat. She decided it was worth it and padded up to her. “Hello! I’m Pebble! What’s your name? You’re great at singing, by the way!” she said happily.

Aquanetta blinked. Where was she? Carefully taking a step, she surveyed her surroundings. There were many cats playing with what looked like . . . powers? Yes, there was water . . . electricity . . . air . . . and then there were cats who looked a bit like what she must look like — slightly confused, slightly scared. She breathed. Her last memory was the small black cat growling, turning into a ginormous red monster-cat . . . then gray nothingness took over as everything faded. All she had said was no. All she had wanted to do was go live with Mother and Father and her sister again. That was it. Tears formed in the corners of her eyes, but she blinked them back. She bounced around, looking for a friend or two. Tentatively approaching one of the cats who looked . . . older, less confused, she asked a question. “C-can you please explain what’s going on?” She looked desperately at the gray she-cat. A mother, no doubt, and a rather new one from the distinct milk-scent wafting off of her. Two little kits played near her, and she was positioned slightly towards her kits. *Just like a mother.*

“Wren, Blizzard!” Feather said.

Wren and Blizzard stopped practicing their powers and sat down next to her.

“This is the Tests. It's a series of challenges. And the time in between Tests is called a Wait. We’re in a Wait right now and it seems that the fox-hearted god, Harnor, trapped cats who refused to join in rocks here, only to free them. Every cat has powers. I have fire and nature, Wren has healing and electricity, and Blizzard has water and poison,” Feather said.

“Oh!” Aquanetta mewed, catching on quickly, smiling. This she-cat seemed friendly. “Alright, thank you! Can you explain to me why Harnor trapped us in rock? Honestly, all I said was no. . .”

Feather shrugged. “I don’t know. Perhaps he was mad at the cats who refused? He does like playing with us, that fox-heart.” She lowered her voice to a quiet snarl. “And here’s a tip — stay away from Thor over there.” She pointed with her tail. “If he approaches, walk away. He’ll shred any cat he gets his claws on.”

Dune saw Thor in the distance and heard Feather talking to another cat. She was talking about Thor, that fox-hearted piece of rotten crowfood fox-dung. Padding up to the two cats, he hissed, “Stay far away. If he would hurt our—” he slightly flinched as he referred to his and Feather’s kits “—kits, then he would hurt you as well.” He looked at Feather again and awkwardly asked, “How are Blizzard and Wren doing? Could you ask them if they want me to help them with their powers, or fighting or hunting or anything? I really want to help them with the Tests as much as I can.”

Aquanetta surveyed the odd couple. They didn’t seem . . . quite right. A feud between them, perhaps? Or did it go deeper. . .? No matter what, dads shouldn’t flinch when referring to kits right in front of them. It was wrong. She sighed. She made a mental note to stay away from Thor — who would *dare* hurt kits? — and to possibly stay closer to the cat in front of her. “Oh, I never got your name,” she mewed. “I’m Aquanetta. Who are you? Can you please explain to me what these Tests are a bit better?”

Feather smiled. “They’re fine. Wren has healing and electricity powers and Blizzard has healing as well. Why don’t you go see them?” She looked at the others, who had padded away and were cooing over the newborns. Turning to Aquanetta, she meowed, “Oh, it’s just some challenges where we try to live. I’m Feather.” She padded to a dark corner. At least, it was supposed to be dark. *What’s giving off that eerie purple light?* The light seemed to be coming from a crevice. She reached a paw in until she felt her claws gripping something. Pulling it out, she saw it was a ruby. *There’s still a blue light.* She reached in again. This time, her prize was a small diamond. She gathered up some gems and grew a clump of sticky weed. She made two gem-rocks that kind of looked like hearts. They gave off a lot of light. She grew some more sticky weed, so she could attach a vine to each to make necklaces. She put one on and dropped the other at Dune’s paws. *That should help his fear of the dark a bit.* Then she shuddered as she remembered why he had that fear. *Wren got killed on a dark night. And then I killed her again. We’ll, there’s no taking it away now.*

Dune looked down to see Feather’s gift at his paws. It reminded him of something. Wait, that was it. She had given him a glowing stone in the first Wait. The gems were red and blue, so they gave off a purple glow, which made him smile slightly. He lifted up the necklace using his telekinesis and began to glow the same purple as the gems. His eyes had their usual purple ring around them. The necklace helped with the dark, but as always, the purple reminded him of Wren and the fact that Feather had killed her. He smiled and nodded his head at Feather, and walked off silently.

Aquanetta let the father leave and turned to Feather. “Do I have powers?”

Fox licked his fur. Grit and dust coated it. Once he had given himself a thorough cleaning, he searched for a cat to talk to. His eyes fell upon a white-and-gray tabby tom. He walked over. “Uh, hello. I’m Fox,” he sighed.

Dune saw the other cat approach him and hissed, getting into a battle crouch. “I don’t know what you want and I don’t give a fox-dung what your name is. But you’ll want to remember mine. I’m Dune, and you need to stay away from me!” he growled at the tom, low and menacing. “I don’t want another fight, but I will if I have to.” The cave was the perfect place to practice with his rocks, and he lifted them up in the air, surrounding the other tom. He dropped the rocks down again and walked off.

Fox yelped. He ran away once the rocks dropped. He scurried over to two she-cats. “Woah, what’s happening?” he asked. “That cat — Dune, I believe was his name — just lifted rocks! A-and cats are creating ice rinks, a-and. . .”

“You’re in the Tests. We have powers now after surviving three Tests. Wait . . . how are you here? Didn’t the rock cats refuse the Tests?” Frostsong asked.

“I’m Fox. If you mean the cats who were trapped in stone, then yes. I’m a rock cat. Can you tell me more about these . . . *Tests*?” Fox looked around wildly. “Why did he trap us in rock only to be freed again? I want to go home to Violet and Stream and the rest of my group!” he wailed.

Quintessa was relaxed. Her tail curled around her, she breathed deep breaths. But then she thought about Harnor. The deaths. Especially the dead kit. She shivered. It would never leave her — the death of a kit, a kit she could have saved had she not been caught up in her own selfish issues. She wondered how the other kits were coping. She decided to pad over and check. Then she saw Dune and his kits, Blizzard and Wren. They looked . . . bigger. *They grew up fast.* She turned to Dune. She didn’t know what to say. *What do you say to your enemy-turned-friend? “Hi”?, I guess. Here goes.* “Hello.” It came out soft. Softer than she had expected.

Dune turned to see Quintessa behind him. “Hey! How’s it going?” he mewed. “I’m not really sure what to make of these new cats. They’re a bit strange. What do you think?”

Quintessa thought of Yedda. “Yes, they are. I’ve met one, and so far all she’s done is sing at cats randomly. She’s over there.” She pointed with her tail towards Yedda, who was with Panther. “I’m doing fine. Learning how to relax when I need to. Of course, you should never relax too much here. We all know that.” She shivered as she thought of Harnor. “How have you been? I haven’t talked to you in a while.”

“Not much, really,” Dune mewed. “I’ve kind of been missing the company of other cats, to be honest. It’s been very lonely, and I’m still a little bit uncomfortable talking to Feather, and I haven’t seen Luana anywhere! I’m a bit worried about her, to be honest.”

Mandelia heard the word *lonely* coming from the tom’s lips and smiled. Easy prey. She padded over, the beads around her neck swinging from side to side. “Hi. I’m Mandelia, but everyone calls me Mandi!” She tried to make her voice as high-pitched as possible.

Dune saw the she-cat and immediately knew what she was trying — the old tricked-by-love game. And he guessed that she wouldn’t be picky about genders as long as she got someone killed. He had two options — play along or leave her be. “I’m sorry,” he whispered to Quintessa. “What I’m about to do is for your own good. Oh, hey, do you want to go on a walk with me?” He tried to replicate the nervous mew of a lovestruck tom.

Mandi smiled. This one was too easy.

Mandi and Dune walked behind the now-cracked rocks.

Dune settled down, yawning. “You’re beautiful, you know,” he mewed — and to be honest, he wasn’t lying. Mandelia was very pretty.

Mandi laughed and nuzzled him. This tom was more stupid then most.

Disgusted, Dune curled up and laid down to sleep — but really, he only closed his eyes.

Mandelia took her chance. Quietly, she padded around to Dune and moved her paw just above his throat.

Dune didn’t stir.

Mandi plunged her paw down towards his throat. *One down,* she thought to herself.

Dune shot up and grabbed her paw in his jaws. Swinging a paw at her throat, he was surprised at how strongly she fought back. Suddenly beads fell off her necklaces and coated the floor.

Mandi screeched in rage and charged at Dune.

Dune picked up rocks and beads and flung them at the she-cat.

Mandi hissed and ran. Why had she been so foolish to think that he had trusted her? Her mind must be slipping if she was to be fooled by a stupid tom.

Dune lifted his head with pride, but then noticed too late that a rock he had thrown was heading straight for Quintessa. *“Look out!”* he cried, and charged towards her, trying to knock her to the ground and out of the way off the rock. But before he could, the rock was heading towards him and he hurriedly halted it with his powers. Exhausted, he flopped to the ground. Pulling himself up onto four paws, he whispered to Quintessa, “Don’t trust that she-cat. She may be Forgotten, but she just tried to kill me, and I think she wants to win.”

Luana padded over to Dune and Quintessa, purring as she reached the tom and she-cat. “Hey!” she chirped. “I have *no* idea what you mean, Dune.” Her eyes lazily rolled over the various cats. “This is pretty normal where I come from. Kittypets are weird. . .” she whispered underneath her breath.

Quintessa was in shock. She had never known anyone so desperate to kill. Her breath came in all at once, having stopped when the she-cat, Mandi, had attacked. She noticed Luana had padded up and wondered where she had been. *Did Luana just . . . what? Where did she come from?* She eyed Luana with curiosity, then shrugged. She turned to Dune. “T-thanks for, you know,” she muttered. Why can’t I ever have a normal conversation with a tom? She took a breath. “I’d better be going. You and Luana can catch up. I’ve got to take care of the lunatic over there.” She looked pointedly at Yedda, who was talking to some random black tom. “Bye,” she said, padding off to Yedda.

“Bye, Quintessa!” Dune mewed after her. Then he turned to Luana. “Don’t go anywhere near that light brown she-cat, the one with the beads. She seems pretty and gentle, but she tried to kill me.”

Luana nodded. “We haven’t talked in a while. Things have been pretty crazy recently, huh? Kind of makes me miss the old days.” She smiled wistfully. “But whatever.” She shrugged. “Can’t go back now. Hah!”

Dune smiled at Luana. “Yeah, things have been going by so quickly, what with all these new cats and their powers. Everything seems to be changing. It would be great to spend some more time with you, though.” He nudged Luana playfully. “How about whenever the next Test comes, we stick by each other, Quintessa as well? If one of us fails, we all will. If one of us passes, we all pass. I can’t imagine a world without you or Quintessa.”

Luana smiled. “That sounds like a great plan!” She smiled teasingly and stuck out her tongue. “Woah, Dune. You’re such a genius.”

Eclipse completely ignored the new cats. She sought out Meignick. She needed to tell him. She had to. She had to. She found him and ran to him. “Meignick. Oh, Mee. Oh, my. . .” She looked at him. This was awkward. “Miegnick, I . . . I think I’m expecting your kits. . .”

Mieginck stopped short, shocked. “Oh my gosh, Eclipse!” he mewed. “There’s no one I would rather have kits with. There’s no one I would rather share my life with than you.” Happy tears ran down his cheeks and he nuzzled Eclipse. “But what's going to happen to them in the next Test?”

“Nothing! Nothing will happen to them, and if anyone hurts them, I’ll personally make sure they don’t forget it. I’ll make sure of it, I promise. I promise. I promise!” Eclipse smiled broadly. She sat next to Meignick and found a small puddle of water on the floor. She looked at it and almost gasped. She went back to his side and kept her thoughts to herself. The scar across her eye — the scar Black Bird gave her — would probably never go away. It made her look ugly. But she was lucky to have Meignick; lucky to have someone who saw her heart before he saw her scars.

Rattlesnake glanced around uncertainty as a black she-cat in front of him collapsed.

Eclipse gasped.

When she was done kitting, Rattlesnake just glanced shyly.

Eclipse counted them. *Five. That’s a lot.*  She sighed. “I’ll name two and leave three for Mieginck to name. . .” she muttered. She looked at a black tom with an ash-gray tail and sighed. That one would be Ash. She looked at a different one, who basically looked almost exactly like Mieginck. That one would be Violet. The other three — a copy of herself, a kit who looked like half of the two, and a kit with a white tail shading out to golden — were unnamed, but ready to be named by Meignick. She noticed Rattlesnake. “Will you go get Mieginck? Act panicked like I might be dying. I’m not, but he’ll be quicker to get here if you act like that.”

Rattlesnake nodded and raced off to Meignick. “Meignick! E . . . Eclipse needs you!” he said, trying his best to act panicked.

Mieginck heard a panicked cry and sprinted over to Eclipse. “Are you okay? Has something gone wrong? What’s hap. . .” Then he saw the kits. He stared on in shock and nuzzled Eclipse. “They’re beautiful. What are their names?”

Eclipse pointed to the one with the dark gray tail-tip. “Ash.” She moved her paw to the clone of the kits’ father. “Violet,” she said. “I’m leaving the last three for you to name.” She smiled and cleaned her kits.

Mieginck looked down at the other kits. He didn’t really know what to name them — but then he remembered a beautiful black stone he had seen while travelling through the desert. The kits’ pelts were sleek in the cave and reminded him of that wonderful black rock. “Onyx, for that one,” he mewed, gesturing to a kit, smiling down at the newly-named Onyx. Looking at the other kits, he thought what names would fit. Eclipse’s names were amazing, and obviously she had really thought it through. “And that one will be Midnight.” He pointed at another kit. And the final kit. Well, what could he name her? Shadow? No, that sounded wrong. Shade didn’t work well either. Maybe he could call one Black Bird after Eclipse’s brother. That would be cruel, he decided, as Black Bird had opposed them being together. One name stayed in the front of his mind. A name from his past. A cat who was always his best friend — possibly could have even become his mate in the future. Kinkaroy. Looking up at Eclipse, he began to speak again. “And that last one, the one that looks just like you—” he licked the kit’s forehead “—could we name her Kinkaroy?”

“Of course. Those are beautiful. They’re amazing. Kinkaroy is great, Onyx is great, Midnight . . . reminds me of me. It’s weird how amazing something can be,” Eclipse said. She laid down and promptly fell asleep.

Ash opened his pink jaws in a wide yawn. He mewled in his sleep.

Midnight mewed cutely and squirmed around.

Kinkaroy let out a loud mewl as she snuggled closer to her mother’s belly, suckling. She wanted to stay here forever, feeling the warmth of her littermates and the comforting mew of her father and mother.

Onyx rolled on his back and waved his paws in the air, squeaking.

Eclipse slept, curling her tail around her kits. Her eyes flickered open tiredly as she woke. She let out a small purr, put her head down, and closed her eyes once more.

Rattlesnake felt bad about worrying Mieginck, but since Eclipse had told him to do it, he didn’t mind. He was more scared of her, anyway.

Eclipse nuzzled her kits and wrapped her tail around them. She slowly started singing a lullaby.

*“There’s a faraway land, so the stories all tell*

*somewhere beyond the horizon.*

*If we can find it, then all will be well.*

*Troubles there are few, someday we’ll go to. . .”*

 Eclipse dug through her head to remember the name. Then it came to her.

“Solla Sollew, Solla Sollew.

Solla Sollew, Solla Sollew.”

Eclipse swallowed audibly as she remembered singing this to Ash, and Black Bird there watching. She skipped a verse as she started singing again.

*“I’ve had so much trouble finding my way there.*

*When I get close, it disappears.*

*If I can get there, I’m going to stay there*

*if it takes me miles, if it takes me years.*

*High on a mountain, or lost on the sea*

*sooner or later, I’ll find it; I have a picture of how it will be.*

*On the day I do, troubles will be through*

*but I’ll be home with you.”*

Midnight purred.

Luana smelled a familiar scent and padded towards Eclipse. “What — oh!” she gasped, her eyes widening as she looked at the small kits by Eclipse’s side. “Oh, you’ve had kits!” she purred loudly, her heart melting at the sight.

Quintessa had scented the milk-scent and padded closer. A black she-cat appeared to have had kits. She counted five. She stayed back a little, making sure to give the mother space. “You must be very proud. Your kits look very healthy,” she mewed quietly. Her heart swelled with joy, but another emotion appeared as well. She pushed down the unpure feeling, but it wouldn’t go away. *Sometimes I wish that could be me. Instead of coming to these stupid Tests with the stupid fox-heart, I maybe could have found someone. Settled down. Had kits.* Her common sense fired back. *But what would the odds be of my soulmate just walking into the wild and cold mountain? And I’ve made friends here — Frostsong, Wildflower, Palm . . . I guess Dune? I’m honestly not sure with him. Yedda, even though I’ve only known her for ten or fifteen minutes, seems like a good friend. I don’t need a mate to be happy.* The small voice protested before vanishing, *Then why am I here? You want a mate, Quintessa, whether you like it or not.*

Ollie was glad to be out of that shadow room. He stared, confused, at the cats popping out of . . . rocks?! These Tests were getting stranger and stranger every day. He kind of wanted to go home at this point. . . He didn’t want to be here. These cats were *killing* each other . . . and he wanted no part of it.

Tess glared at the newcomers. She didn’t want even more cats! They would ruin her chances of winning. Most of these cats had forgotten what these Tests were about in the first place, but she hadn’t. She had come here to win, and that was what she was going to do. She decided to practice her powers, watching the ever-growing shadows swirling around her paws.

Ollie wandered around, looking for someone to talk to. He noticed Tess sitting in a corner scraping the ground with her claws. He sighed. He would become friends with her if it was the last thing he would do. He padded over to her.

Tess sighed as she saw the chipper cat, Ollie, walking towards her. *Ugh.* “What do you want?” she growled.

Ollie sighed and paused as though in thought. “Fighting lessons.”

Tess burst out laughing.

“What?” Ollie meowed defensively.

“A fluffy kitty like you will never learn how to fight. And besides, why would you want to fight?” Tess said.

“Because. . .” Ollie began. *So I can never feel defenseless again. So I can stop a fight when it happens.* “Self-defense?” he squeaked.

Tess snorted and started to walk away.

Ollie’s ears drooped.

Tess paused, looking over her shoulder at Ollie. “You coming?”

“Where?” Ollie meowed.

“We have to get out of the way of all of these other cats. Duh,” Tess said.

“Oh,” Ollie gulped. He couldn’t believe she was actually going to teach him to fight!

Tess rolled her eyes to herself. *“Come on!”*

Ollie scrambled to keep up with her as she trotted to an empty part of the area.

Tess couldn’t believe she was actually doing this. She started showing Ollie the proper moves. She rolled her eyes. “You *suck*, Ollie!” she hissed.

Ollie glared at her. Everything was sore. He was barely standing. And she had the nerve to tell him off? “Listen,” he growled. “We’ve been practicing basically this entire Wait. I’ve been learning. So you can’t tell me that I suck!”

Tess opened her mouth.

Ollie kept going. “I haven’t had any training my entire life! Yet you’ve had to fight for basically everything from the looks of you. So yeah. I’m trying. So will you lay off of me?”

Tess gave him an amused glance. “Sure,” she meowed, surprised at his attitude. “Let’s take a break.”

Ollie huffed, laying down.

Tess awkwardly laid next to him, their fur somewhat touching, and stayed like that for a while.

Palm padded up to them and sat down next to the two cats, bored. “Has anyone else noticed how weird some of the new cats are acting? I don’t trust that pale brown she-cat over there. She looks like she’s up to something — acting too friendly to seem natural.” He glanced over at the cat, but then quickly looked away and back to Ollie and Tess. “How are your powers going, Shadows?”

Tess turned to Palm, smirking. “My powers are going well, I guess.” As she said the sentence, she flickered in and out of view. She managed to stay invisible long enough to cuff Palm’s ear with her paw without him seeing her.

As Tess cuffed Palm’s ear — well, invisible Tess did, anyway — he laughed. He made a tiny electric cat at his paws, and made it run over to Tess and poke her on the paw, giving her a small and harmless electric shock.

Ollie shuffled nervously.

Tess hissed as the tiny electric cat danced at her paws, giving her small shocks. “That’s actually impressive,” she meowed.

Ollie glared at Palm, slightly jealous. “Well, look what I can do,” he meowed, trying to make a tiny cat out of ice. As soon as he formed it, however, it crumbled to pieces. He growled to himself.

Tess chuckled. “Maybe next time,” she meowed.

Palm saw Ollie struggling to make a tiny cat and padded over to him, pressing against his fur. A bit embarrassed that he had to get that close to reach Ollie’s paw, he touched the tom’s legs and moved it over slightly. “Your paw was too close to the ice. I think you tried to make too much ice. Make a little less, and then your cat will be smaller, but it will stand up.” He made his cat again, showing Ollie how he kept his paw away. “See? I do it to remind me of the friends I’ve lost. I wish I was more confident and could talk to Mei, but he just seems scared to approach me. I think it might be that he’s seen my earring and how many cats I’ve lost.”

“Um . . . thanks?” Ollie flattened his ears, slightly flustered, and moved his paw away from the area he concentrated his ice on. He breathed through his nose and closed his eyes, trying to keep his emotions in check. He opened one eye, surprised to see a tiny ice cat sitting next to Tess.

“You did it, Ollie!” Tess exclaimed, surprised.

*Why can’t* I *get a nickname like Shadows or Sparky?* Ollie thought ruefully.

Yedda looked around, eager to introduce herself to everyone. But where to start? Her eyes met a trio. *Aha.* She padded secretly along the wall, then jumped on a flat, elevated rock that made the perfect stage. She cleared her throat extra-loud. “I would like to dedicate this song to all the couples out there,” she said clearly, giving a wink at the trio. “You know who you are.”

*“Just shoot for the stars.*

*If it feels right*

*then aim for my heart*

*if you feel like.*

*And take me away*

*make it okay.*

*I swear I’ll behave.*

*You wanted to know*

*so we waited.*

*I put on a show.*

*Now I make it.*

*You say I’m a kid*

*my ego is big.*

*I don’t even care.*

*And it goes like this—*

*Take me by the hand*

*and I’ll know you.*

*Kiss me ’till it’s love*

*and I’ll show you all*

*the moves like Jagger.*

*I’ve got the moves like Jagger.*

*I’ve got the moves like Jagger.*

*I don’t need to try to convince you.*

*Look into my eyes and I’ll own you*

*with them moves like Jagger.*

*I’ve got the moves like Jagger.*

*I’ve got the moves like Jagger. . .”*

 Yedda never did realize that tiny orbs were floating above her, making a spotlight.

Quintessa smirked as she predicted “the sulker” would get angry at Yedda, then Ollie would calm her down, or maybe Palm. All she knew was Yedda was most likely making a fool of herself.

Palm saw the she-cat singing and shuffled his paws awkwardly. So what if he had a little crush on Tess? Everyone got crushes! Anyway, it wasn’t anything serious. . .

Tess pricked her ears. Was someone seriously *singing*? “Ahem!” she hissed to the she-cat. “What are you doing?”

Ollie shuffled his paws nervously. “I thought it was kind of nice. . .” he mumbled.

Yedda smiled broadly at Tess. “Singing, of course! I just love to sing, and since I already sang over there—” she pointed with her tail to where she had popped out of the rock “—I thought to come over here and sing! And what better to sing for couples than a couple song?” She shrugged. “Anyway, I’m going now. Bye!” She bounced away, cheerfully humming. She wondered where to perform next. *The whole world is my stage!* She saw a black she-cat with kits. *Kits!* She almost raced over, but thought better of it. She calmly walked to the she-cat, a huge smile on her face as she saw the cuteness increase as she got closer. She nearly squealed. So cute. She wanted to pad right up to the little kittens’ faces and smush them. But she kept her distance, as mothers usually weren’t as cute as the babies they protected when they were angry.

Quintessa mentally facepawed. *How dimwitted can a cat be?* She thought for a moment. *You know, she wasn’t wrong about the couples thing, though. Those three have been spending time together, I’ve noticed. It won’t be long before two of them hook up.*

Storm looked at Quintessa and the Chinese-speaking cat. “Now that we’re rid of Ms. Loopy. . .” she grumbled in a low voice, then spoke in a normal voice to the Chinese-speaking cat, “你的名字是什么?”

Yin smiled brightly. “你知道中文呀? 太好了! 我是银。你是晒呀?”

Storm returned the smile. “Yep! 你好银! 我是 Storm. What’s your story?”

Quintessa smirked. “Ms. Loopy . . . it fits her. . .” She glanced at the mentioned she-cat, who was still up on the stage singing, and wondered how the trio would react. *It’ll probably make for a good laugh.* She watched everyone quietly. The wind blew through her fur and she felt herself relax. She placed herself right behind a rock close to Yedda. She sat, ready to enjoy the show of “Ms. Loony”; plus, she was curious who the next victim would be.

Yedda, not realizing Quintessa was behind her, was hanging upside from a ledge, eager to get singing again. She looked up at what would have been the sky if they weren’t in a cave.

*"Every night, I lie in bed,”* Yedda started.

Quintessa nearly gasped. *I recognize that song. . .*

Yedda continued.

*“The brightest colors fill my head.”*

A small ball of light and energy appeared, circling Yedda’s head.

*“A million dreams are keeping me awake,”* Quintessa sang.

Yedda turned sharply. *Quintessa?!*

Quintessa padded up with Yedda.

Quintessa padded up with Yedda.

*“I think of what the world could be, a vision of the one I see.”*

Quintessa’s voice grew louder with every word. I forgot how this felt!

Yedda smiled. *I love duets!*

Yedda and Quintessa sang together.

*“A million dreams is all it’s gonna take! Oh, a million dreams for the world we’re gonna make!”*

*“For the world we’re gonna make,”* Quintessa whispered.

Quintessa looked at Yedda. “How did you know that song?”

Yedda shrugged. “It’s one of the many. The real question is who are you and what have you done to Quintessa? She wouldn’t come up here and sing!”

Quintessa’s pelt burned.

Yedda grinned. “You were wonderful,” she said sincerely, placing her tail on Quintessa shoulder.

Quintessa smiled back. “Thanks.” She padded off the rock, deciding it was dinnertime.

Dune heard Quintessa’s singing and began to blush. He had never been that keen on singing, but her voice was . . . well, beautiful.

Frostsong listened to Yedda and Quintessa’s duet. “They’re good!” she murmured.

“Yeah! Yedda is my friend! At least, I think so,” Panther mewed brightly.

“她们唱的真好。I feel like I’ve heard this song somewhere. . .” Yin muttered, joining Frostsong and Panther.

Frostsong remembered the last time she had heard Quintessa sing. *She was crying, lonely. I watched her silently, tears falling down my face as she fell asleep. It was so beautiful.*

*Suddenly Frostsong’s eyes flashed a startling mix of yellow and pink. She was swallowed by the light again.*

*This time, Frostsong saw a cat walking alone. An orchid tucked behind her ear, walking up to — was that Ollie? They talked quickly and seemed to know each other. They actually looked really similar!* But who. . .?

The light jerked Frostsong back to reality and she was frozen. *Should I tell Ollie? No, he has the same powers as I do. He’ll know.*

Storm listened to the duet, smiling. It had been so long since she had last sang . . . but hearing the sweet song almost made her open her voice again. But she couldn’t. The last time she had sung, it had been when Ember died. She had sworn that she would never sing again. Tears streamed down her face as she remembered him. . . Her tear silently splashed against the stone as she curled up behind a boulder and cried, truly cried, for the first time in years. *Well, I know one thing,* she thought bitterly. *No one but Marina will comfort me . . . and Marina is with the singing duo and Yin right now. . . I’m so alone. These Tests . . . have detached me. I don’t know if I even have friends here anymore . . . I thought Quintessa was one, and Yin now . . . I’ll consider Ms. Loopy . . . I’m still alone now then, huh? The only reason why cats would ever socialize with me is if I approached them, and even then, they only do it because of manners. Am I really so bad? Do cats really think of me like I think they do? I just wish there was someone other than Marina I could rely on, because two is better than one cat to rely on. Why am I such a . . . freak?*

Flame was walking around to find another cat to talk to. He found a puddle and drank water. Then he went over and saw a lonely cat, and went up to talk with them. “Hi. Um, I’m Flame. Are you okay?” he asked the crying cat. “What’s your name, if you don’t mind me asking?” He decided to start with that.

Schweiz saw a cat crying and padded over. He couldn’t find Ami anywhere, so he decided to talk to her. “Es ist okay. Es ist okay.” Then he realized that he was speaking German again, so translated himself. “It’s okay. It’s okay. What’s wrong? You can tell me. I promise I won’t bite.” He smiled at the she-cat, hoping to cheer her up.

Palm looked up at Tess, who was hissing a bit. He had to stretch up to whisper in her ear, “I’ve got an idea to get rid of Loonypants here, but I don’t think you’ll like it. We need to get Ollie in on it as well.” He nudged Tess and Ollie so they stood in a tight circle, out of earshot from the crazy singing she-cat. “I don’t mind her singing, but it’s seriously a little bit embarrassing to be called a couple. I’ve got an idea to get her away. So two of us need to pretend to be a couple while the other one acts all sad like they’ve been left out. That she cat won’t be able to resist singing a song to the lonely cat. So while she sings, the two pretending to be a couple go and hide behind a stalagmite. Then the other cat can show her the kits, and voila, she’ll be so distracted she won’t even notice the last cat sneaking away!” He looked at the other cats and smiled, then realized that two of them would have to pair up, and whichever way it happened, it would be awkward. If he and Tess went together — well, he felt a little embarrassed around her; he thought everyone could see the flush in his cheeks. If Ollie and Tess went together, well, that was a whole new level of embarrassment — and, well, he didn’t mind pairing up with Ollie, but . . . it would be a bit awkward. “So, who wants to go together? I’m happy either way, but I want this plan to be sorted before she starts singing again!”

Tess rolled her eyes. “I don’t like it. . .” she growled. “But if it gets that weirdo away from us, then I’m all for it.”

Ollie shrugged. “I guess I’ll be in a couple with Tess. . .?” he meowed awkwardly.

Tess glanced at the other tom. “Whatever.” She led Ollie to a little corner and pretended to laugh at something he said. She was honestly keeping herself from clawing his ears out.

Yedda looked back at the trio. She sensed something off and wondered if she should pad over. *Nah,* she thought. *They’ll figure it out.*

Palm saw Ollie and Tess sitting next to each other and laughing, and tried not to be jealous. Well, actually, he did let his jealousy show and began to fake cry, hoping that it looked like those two were laughing at him. He kept glancing over his shoulder at the two cats, and flicked his tail towards them, gesturing for them to keep an eye on him to see when they could hide behind the rocks. He padded towards Yedda, head hung long, and started sobbing loudly. “Why did it have to be me? He could tell that I loved her . . . why did he do that to me?”

Yedda gasped. “You poor, poor thing! I know what will cheer you up!” A mischievous glint appeared in her eyes. She started to sing.

Yedda stopped. She purred into Palm’s ear, “Now I’ll go take care of those two.” She glared in the direction of where Ollie and Tess were — or rather, where they used to be. She knew they had to be there somewhere.

Palm glanced over, hoping that Ollie and Tess had left, and then turned back to Yedda. “Could you stay with me? I love your singing.” He nearly laughed at himself as he spoke. “We could go and see the kits. I bet they would love your singing!”

Yedda smiled. “Thanks!” She pondered on this invitation. *I could go see the kits . . . they were so cute-looking . . . but. . .* She shook her head. “I’ve got a bone to pick with those two. You seem so nice, and the way you were crying, it almost broke my heart . . . now I’ve got to give them a piece of my mind!” Her mind was set.

Quintessa had to laugh. She ducked into a bush and let out a loud cackle. She was laughing so hard she was trembling. “T-that tom w-was so f-f-fake!” She hoped nobody could hear her. It was a bit too embarrassing for a serious cat like her to be caught laughing like *that*.

Wildflower rounded a bush where a strange cackling sound was coming out of. It sounded almost like. . . “Quintessa?” They gaped at her, then started chuckling themselves. “A-are you o-okay? Ha-as Loopy g-gotten to y-you?” Quintessa’s . . . weird laugh was so contagious, they couldn’t help themselves from laughing as well.

Quintessa chuckled. “P-probably,” she wheezed out. She stopped when she realized she was talking to someone. Who had seen her *laugh*. Her pelt heated up. “D-don’t tell anyone you saw that,” she said quickly. “It’s . . . kind of embarrassing, to be honest.” She stared at the ground.

“Oh, I won’t tell anyone,” promised Wildflower. “But I promise I’ll remember. What made you laugh so hard, anyway? Was it Loopy?”

Dune padded up to Quintessa and Wildflower and smiled at her, shuffling his paws. “That, um, singing you did. It was um, very, um, nice. No, um, it was better than that. It was b . . . b. . . beautiful.” He flushed, ashamed of his stutter. He glanced at Quintessa. “Do you think we should stop Yedda from shouting at Tess and Ollie? I’m pretty sure they were just trying to get away.”

Quintessa gasped at Dune. *Dune complimented . . . me?* She mentally shook herself back. “Um . . . sure. Yeah.” She looked over, at Yedda, who was currently advancing towards a rock, a rather angry look on her face. *Wow. When she gets mad, she gets* mad*.*

Yedda continued padding around. Her eyes threw daggers at whatever she saw, determined at finding the couple. She realized Quintessa was walking up to her. “Oh, hi,” she said, reverting back to her cheerful self. “What do you need?”

Quintessa stopped. “I need you to stop being angry. Why are you angry, anyway?”

Yedda’s smile dropped. “The tom over there was sad because his friend—” she hissed out the word “—started going out with his crush, breaking up their happy trio and ruining the poor guy’s chances at wooing her.”

Quintessa nodded, pretending to understand. “Could you maybe calm down and, you know, think about your actions?”

Yedda sat. And thought. Then she got up. “Okay! Done thinking! I know what to do now.”

Quintessa sighed with relief. *She’ll stop now.*

Yedda turned away from Quintessa.

*“’Cause baby, now we’ve got bad blood!*

*You know, we used to be mad love.*

*So take a look at what you’ve done, ’cause baby, now we’ve got bad blood.*

*Hey!*

*Now we’ve got problems and I don’t think we can solve them.*

*So take a look at what you’ve done, ’cause baby, now we’ve got bad blood.*

*Hey!”*

Yedda bowed. She shouted to Palm, “Okay, now they know what you feel! You’re totally welcome!” She grinned. Then her belly grumbled. “Hmm, I’m hungry. Anyone got some grub?”

Quintessa would have facepalmed, had she had palms. She mouthed *sorry* at Dune and Palm. *This she-cat will never learn.* She sighed. “Come on. I’ll teach you how to hunt. There should be some mice around here.”

“Mice?! What are we, animals?!” Yedda asked.

Palm sniggered as Yedda seemed shocked by the prospect of eating live food. The tiny tom preferred to eat lizards to warm-blooded creatures, especially after they had been sunning in the desert. He used to spend hours watching the sun reflecting off their scales before he caught them. They were so oblivious to the cat stalking them. Then he noticed this was his chance. He whispered to Quintessa, “Thanks for helping Tess and Ollie. It means a lot to me. Consider us even. I helped you in the desert, after all. But if you ever need a favor, come to me.” Then to all the cats, he mewed, “I’ve got to be off now. I need to go get some mice to eat.” He made sure that Yedda unstood he was going to eat mice so she wouldn’t follow. “I’ll be okay on my own now.”

Tess and Ollie shared a scared glance.

Though Ollie enjoyed the strange she-cat’s singing, neither cat wanted to face her rage.

Tess and Ollie began slowly creeping away, hoping Yedda wouldn’t notice them.

Orchid paced around the shadows, wondering where she was. She walked up to two cats. “What is this place?” she asked.

Tess scowled. “Welcome to heck.”

Ollie shot Tess a glare. *She’s probably scaring the poor she-cat.* “These,” he began, gesturing with his tail all around them, “are the Tests.”

“Basically,” Tess interrupted, “some ‘god’ threw a bunch of cats in this place and forced them to compete against each other for powers. You rejected his offer, so he threw you in a rock for who-knows-how-long. . .”

Ollie interrupted Tess with a small hiss. “Anyway,” he continued softly, “we’ve all pretty much figured out by now that Harnor — the god — has no intention of ending this thing anytime soon — at least not without killing most of us,” he finished cheerfully.

Tess snickered. “Way to not scare her,” she whispered.

“Still. . .” Ollie meowed. “Even Tess, who wanted to kill everyone at the beginning, has softened a little now that she knows Harnor’s true intentions—”

“I still want to kill *some* cats. . .” Tess growled with a glance at Yedda.

“—so you should be fine,” Ollie finished without acknowledging Tess’ comment.

Orchid padded away from Tess and Ollie. They were freaking her out. *I was trapped in stone? And I refused the Tests! That she-cat was so scary!*

 Tess and Ollie exchanged a glance as the strange she-cat padded away from them, looking terrified.

“Great job,” Ollie meowed. “You scared her away.”

Tess sniffed, looking amused. “I didn’t think it was physically possible for you to be sarcastic.”

Ollie shrugged, turning his head to watch the she-cat leave. *Something is familiar about her. . .* He pushed the thought to the back of his mind. She had probably been trapped in that stone for seasons upon seasons. Why would he recognize her?

Yin was still confused. Why was she here? She had turned down the Tests, not accepted them! She needed to find help. She walked towards two cats who seemed to know what was happening.

Tess suddenly prodded Ollie with her paw. “Oh, look. We have another lost soul looking for advice,” she muttered with a glance at a she-cat who was walking towards them with a confused look on her face. “Because I’m obviously the best cat for scared cats who have no idea where they are to confide in.”

“Yeah, right,” Ollie snorted.

Palm ran back over to Tess and Ollie. “Hey, Shadows! That went pretty well! I mean, Yedda did try to come back and shout at you, but apart from that, it went good!”

“Good thing she didn’t,” Tess meowed.

Ollie raised an eyebrow. “You scared of her?”

“No,” Tess snorted. “It’s because I would have ripped her to shreds.”

Ollie shuddered.

“Hey, Sparky,” Tess meowed. “Did Yedda ever see the kits or whatever?”

“No, she ended up talking to Quintessa. Quintessa just about managed to draw her away from you two!” Palm said.

“We might as well thank Quintessa for distracting Yedda!” Ollie chirped.

Tess sighed. “Do we *have* to?”

Yedda and Quintessa padded into a small tunnel.

Yedda stuck to Quintessa like glue.

Quintessa groaned. “Will you get off? I’m trying to hunt.”

Yedda shivered. “It’s dark. And scary.” She pressed closer.

Quintessa rolled her eyes. She continued onwards, eventually finding a small crevice full of mice. She concentrated on using her powers in order to capture her prey.

Yedda was singing.

*“You stumble through your days, got your head hung low.*

*Your sky is a shade of gray like a zombie in a maze—”*

“Shut up! You’re scaring the prey!” Quintessa growled. Her eyes flashed orange-pink as she got a mouse. “Let’s go.”

Yedda whimpered. She followed Quintessa silently. *Why do I make everyone angry?*

Suddenly a rumbling noise sounded through the tunnel. It grew louder, and soon, Quintessa realized why. “We need to get out now! The tunnel is collapsing!”

Quintessa and Yedda raced for the exit.

A rock was about to fall on Yedda until Quintessa pushed her out of the way. The rock fell on Quintessa’s leg instead, making her screech in pain.

“Quintessa!” Yedda screamed.

“Go! Please! Get out!” Quintessa tried to move. It only increased her agony. “Please go! Get help!”

Yedda nodded. She ran out, only to find the entrance covered up with boulders. “Quintessa. . .” She started wailing. “Please! Someone help! Quintessa is in danger!” She started sobbing. “Please . . . she saved me.”

Dune heard the cries and rushed towards Quintessa. “Oh my gosh, Quintessa. Quintessa, I can’t lose you. Not after Wren! Not after everything!” He began to lift up the rock, but it was so heavy that he nearly collapsed from the effort. “I need someone else with air and telekinesis powers! Please, anyone!” Tears rolled down his cheeks. “I can’t lose another cat.”

Quintessa heard Dune. “Dune! Please don’t freak out! I’m not dead!” She looked at her leg. “I need help, though! My leg — it kind of has a rock on top of it!” She tried using her powers. The rock trembled a little. It didn’t move, though. *Stupid rock. Stupid powers. Stupid everything!* She clawed the ground in anger.

Frostsong raced to where Quintessa was. “Calm down,” she mewed urgently. “If you calm down, you and Dune can work together to move the rock. I could freeze the base to make it a little more slippery.” She concentrated her energy into freezing just the little path under the base of the rock.

Yedda tried pushing the rocks. She tried pulling the rocks. She sobbed some more.

Loki heard the shouts and raced towards the sound.

Fringe and Ifu followed him.

A she-cat — Quintessa — was trapped under a rock. A tom — Dune — was yelling for help, trying to lift the rock with telekinesis. Loki lunged forwards. “I have air and telekinesis powers too. Let me help.” He added his powers and the rock slowly lifted.

Mist looked after Maya, concerned. If she was so easily spooked, there wasn’t a good chance that she would make it to the next Test. Wait until she discovered that she had her own powers! He started to walk after Maya when he saw four cats trying to lift a rock off of a brown she-cat. He stopped, wondering which way to go. He quickly decided that the brown she-cat was in more trouble and rushed over.

Frost turned her head. She heard the cry for a cat with healing powers. “Maya, come with me to this cat that needs help,” she said as she ran over to see a cat stuck under a rock. “I have healing powers. Mind you, they’re weak, but I can try to help,” she said.

Maya followed numbly. *Healing powers. That’s . . . cool? Terrifying? I wish I had any clue what was going on.*

Storm raised her head, all tears suddenly dry on her face as she stared in terror. Her long legs carried her swiftly besides Dune and she concentrated hard on the rock, slowly lifting it. She wasn’t the only one who could lose something — a friend . . . Quintessa could lose her legs, or even worse . . . her life.

Flame saw the cat get up and run out of the cave. He got up and slowly started walking towards where she went.

Jaoein sprinted over. “Are you bleeding?” she quickly asked. “Well, not yet, but—”

“Out of the way!” Heidi half-yelled to the cats not moving the rock. She closed her eyes and concentrated. Helping to lift the rock, she yelled, “We need cats with healing powers!” She strained, still trying to concentrate on lifting it.

Wildflower sprinted over towards Yedda’s voice to where Quintessa, Dune, Storm, Mist, and several others were. *No, no, no. You’re* not *going to do this to us. Don’t you* dare *die.* They focused their energy towards the cave floor, hoping that somewhere under the stone there was soil that a plant could grow from. They could feel their magic seeping through the cold stone, just a single layer, before finding dirt. Almost laughing out loud, they grew a maple tree seed. Focusing all of their energy now, they forced the plant to grow through the layer of stone. Subconsciously, they noticed that their fur was glowing in golden ripples. They could feel the tree struggling through the layer of stone, but not fast enough. *Faster, faster. Quintessa is in pain!* They gasped as the tree burst through the stone right beside Quintessa’s ears. They kept pushing the tree to grow faster, which was much easier now that the tree was free. The branches of the tree reached the stone on top of Quintessa and kept growing sideways, pushing the stone farther off of Quintessa’s leg. Just as they thought the stone was sure to fall off, they passed out beside Quintessa.

Luana sprinted over at the shrieks and got caught up. “How can I help?” She thought out loud. She tried forming ice spikes underneath the rock, careful of other cats and Quintessa, to get some sort of leverage for the others.

Dune pulled at the rock so hard that it slid out onto the ice path.

After everyone had moved the rock, Quintessa gasped, free of her pain. She was splayed out, her front paws stretched out in front of her and her back paws out as well. She looked at the leg that had taken the rock and cringed. Her leg would possibly be like that for life, leaving her with a limp. But I have to be grateful. *My leg isn't broken and I’m not dead. And I have cats I can trust to help me.* The last words she thought stung. She was used to fending for herself. She wasn’t a codependent cat. She didn’t want to have to make others go out of their way to help her, of all cats.

Yedda looked up, eyes red. “Omygosh!  Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!” She pressed close to everyone. She took one look at Quintessa, though, and started wailing again. “I’msososososorrypleaseforgivemeQuintessapleasepleaseplease!”

Quintessa growled. “Please just stop. You can help me by not wailing and making a blubbering mess of yourself.”

Yedda only nodded.

Feather ran her paw over Quintessa’s leg. “It’s not broken, just a little of its socket. This will hurt, but it’ll be put back into place; though I don’t guarantee there won’t be a limp.” She fastened her teeth around Quintessa’s leg and jerked her head. She grew a comfortable cushion of plants and fastened some vines around her leg. “There. Make sure to keep off of it.”

Loki collapsed, exhausted from moving the rock even with so much help.

Fringe immediately rushed over to him. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, just worn out,” Loki muttered. “Is that she-cat alright?”

“Her leg looks pretty bad,” Fringe commented, cringing as she glanced over.

“Huh. . .” Ifu stared at the she-cat, Quintessa for a moment. “H-hey. I think I can help.”

“How so?” Fringe wondered.

“Well, you know how Harnor gave all of the ‘Forgotten’ cats gifts with our powers?” Ifu mentioned.

Fringe and Loki nodded.

“I think . . . and he probably meant this as a joke . . . I think mine is healing.” Without waiting for their response, Ifu rushed over to where Quintessa lay. “H-hey, um, Quintessa. I think I can help you.”

Quintessa’s face tightened. She opened her mouth, then closed it. *Should I trust this cat?* She stared at him. *I guess I have no choice. It’s not like I can fight him or anything.* “Go ahead,” she mewed.

Ifu nodded. He pressed his paws against her leg, not looking at her face, so he wouldn’t see if she winced. He called up his power, hoping beyond hope that he had been right. His paws started to glow a soft pinkish light. He gasped as the light blazed up suddenly. When it died, Quintessa’s leg was mostly healed. “Wow, that actually worked,” he whispered. Then, louder, he said, “I don’t think it fully healed. You might have a limp from now on, and maybe take it easy for a while.”

Yedda saw the tom heal Quintessa. She had heard him talk to her. He said she would have a limp from now on. *This . . . is all my fault. I can’t talk to Quintessa now. She’s going to hate me.* She looked around for someone, anyone who could help her. Her gaze caught a glimpse of a black tom, and she realized that he was the one she was talking to earlier. He didn’t look happy and she wondered if she should even bother. *He’s the only one who won’t hate me, right?* She padded over, tear stains on her face and her nose still full. She sat by him. “Hello. It’s me again.”

“Phew.” Luana let out a breath of relief. “Okay, to help your leg and prevent it from breaking any further, we need to make a splint. We need a sturdy stick to hold her leg in place and vines to keep the stick in place! Any fire and nature cats?” she asked, glancing at a few.

Lantern had gotten pulled towards all the commotion. “Well,” he answered Luana, “that one over grew a tree. They seem to be out cold at the moment, but we could use what’s already there.” He bent off a sturdier branch from the maple and handed it to Luana. “And some ice to stop the swelling.” He summoned some ice onto a pebble and rolled it over to the brown she-cat, Quintessa.

Frostsong dipped her head to Quintessa and headed off. She wandered down a tunnel, listening for mice. She caught one, but she didn’t know that she had wandered so far. She was lost! Panic was beginning to sink in. She quickly scrambled around the cave, feeling for air and listening for chatter. *Nothing. Calm down. You can see things in the future and from the past, remember?* She tried as hard as she could to tap into her visions, but she could only see a flash — her turning to the left. She quickly scrambled up, and used her tail to feel the walls so she knew when to turn left.

Sunflower got up from his spot beside the rock — the rock he had just . . . slid out from — to go see what happened. Perhaps they needed help? Just as long as nobody died, so no one would be experiencing the pain he felt. . . *Starshine . . . Wildflower . . . Mother . . . Thundercloud . . . all dead, all of them. . .* There was a rockfall? He couldn’t understand why there were huge ice spikes shooting out from the cave floor or why there was a maple tree in a cave without sunlight. He scanned the crowd, searching for broken faces filled with tears, only to find laughter and — a body on the cave floor that looked almost like — Wildflower? His . . . sister? He scrambled over, and there she was, on the ground just beside the maple, eyes closed but breathing heavily. *She’s . . . alive?* “Somebody,” he barely whispered. “Someone help. She’s out cold. Please.” He would stayed beside Wildflower, unable to do anything out of shock. He might have slept for a while, because Wildflower was stirring beside him. Hastily getting on all fours, he waited.

Wildflower glanced the other way as if they were looking for someone.

When she turned Sunflower’s way, he was almost dying of anticipation.

“Hey,” Wildflower started. “Do you know where Qui—”

Wildflower and Sunflower stared at each other for a moment before burying themselves into each others’ fur. Taking in each other’s scents, one with the smell of the open sky, the other with hints of smoke and ash, but both smelling like home.

Wildflower started sobbing. “Sunflower, I’ve missed you so much. I-is Starshine. . .?”

Sunflower pulled back, shaking his head. “No. She died. A . . . fox right after the fire . . . How — how did you survive? I thought . . . is this . . . Harnor’s doing?”

Wildflower nodded. “I survived the fire, and I kept on looking and looking. But I found no trace. I thought — I thought the fire had taken both your lives. I lived with this loner for a while, but she died too. Harnor gave me this chance, and I decided to take it. It might have gotten you and Starshine, or it might have at least told me what happened to you.”

“Oh,” Sunflower stated. “I turned down his offer. But that was only a day after the fire. So. . .”

Wildflower’s eyes widened. “It’s been two seasons,” she breathed. “That means . . . I’m older than you. I—” They straightened themself so they would stand at their full height.

Sunflower did the same. “You’ve grown, sis,” he said.

Wildflower lowered their gaze. “I — I decided that. . .” They gulped. “That I would rather be non-binary.”

“What?” Sunflower blurted.

“Non-binary. Like—” Wildflower said.

“No, I know what it is. I just — I didn’t know.” After a little hesitation, Sunflower added, “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Wildflower said.

Storm breathed heavily once Quintessa had been freed, before the tears started coming at her again. There was too much hurt, death, injury surrounding her . . . it reminded her too much of Ember. She quickly ran off to hide again, this time sliding through a sliver of a crack that served as an entrance to a little space made out of boulders. The only entrance was the almost unnoticeable crack she had just entered through. It was a nice spot, quiet and secluded. She made a mental note not to show or tell anyone else. The black she-cat curled up and began quietly sobbing again. *Hopefully no one bothers me this time,* she thought. Her thoughts turned angry. *I’m the only cat who no one wants to be friends with. Quintessa only bothered with me whenever I approached her, Frostsong only dealt with me whenever I was with Quintessa, Yin seems to be having her own fun, and all the other cats have their own business unrelated to me. Tess, Palm, and Ollie are pulling something on Ms. Loopy, Dune and Feather are dealing with a broken romance and kits, and all the other cats seem to be doing something related to one of the cats I just thought of. Just me. Alone. Even Marina is too busy to be with me.*

 Flame saw the crying she-cat run away. He wondered why she ran away. He wanted to follow her, because he had no friends and he should make some new friends. But he realized that if he were upset and ran away, he wouldn’t want to be bothered either. He walked in the direction that she ran into and couldn’t find her, so he walked away and sat down against the rock wall.

Storm heard a cat sit by her. She frantically looked for another exit. *Why do cats even pretend that they care? They should really just go on with their business.*

Flame looked over to the she-cat. “Are you okay? I’m probably annoying you. I’m assuming you want me to leave,” he said. He got up to leave.

“T-thanks,” Storm mewed gratefully. At least there was *one* cat who wasn’t Marina who understood what to do when she was upset.

“You’re welcome,” Flame said, and sat awkwardly, not knowing what to say next.

Fox licked the she-cat’s ear in a friendly way. “What’s wrong? I’m Fox. Who are you?” He paused, curling around the she-cat. “You don’t have to be lonely.”

Maya wandered away from the crowd, realizing she had lost Frost. She looked around, completely overwhelmed. What now? She noticed some cats in their own corners just . . . crying. Completely vulnerable. She guessed that was what she was now. Vulnerable. Alone. Confused. Without realizing it, she had crumpled to the ground. What’s the point? *I don’t even know . . . who I am.* She let the tears fall from her cheeks. Who was she? Why was she here? She lied there for a long time, crying. At one point, the earth suddenly shook and she jumped up, looking around. Was that an earthquake? None of the other cats seemed to have noticed. But something had stirred inside her. Could it be? *No. No way.* Those couldn’t be her powers. Could they?

Frost ran over to Maya. “I’m sorry. There was a cat in need, so I helped. I didn’t mean to leave you,” she told her.

“It . . . it’s fine,” Maya stammered. “Is she okay?”

“I think she’s okay now.” Frost smiled. “Are you okay? You seem sort of — I don’t know. Lonely, I guess. Do you want to go meet some other cats?” she suggested.

Maya nodded to Frost. “Um . . . sure. I guess we can meet some cats.” She sighed. “It’s not like I have anywhere else to be . . . at least, I don’t think I do.”

Quintessa saw everyone start to leave. The show was over, and now she was stuck with a limp. *I should be angry, right? Angry at Yedda. But it’s not her fault. It was my own fault for going into a tunnel without making sure it was safe. And now I’m probably going to be the next one to die in the next Test. Frick.* She tried to get up, making sure to “take it easy,” and simply held up her leg. It wasn’t the easiest thing in the world, but she eventually found a small, shaded spot to lay. She wondered where Wildflower and Frostsong were. Where Dune was. Where the mother cat was. She wondered where Yedda was. Her vision blurred and she felt herself relax. She needed and wanted to stay awake, but she couldn’t; her energy was sucked out of her. Eventually she greeted the darkness.

Marina padded over to Quintessa. Was Quintessa her friend? She didn’t know, but she did know that Quintessa was in pain. *When I was little . . . Mom and Dad used to sing me songs before bedtime or while I was sleeping to heal me faster. They said that it was good for the heart, mind, soul, and body, and that sleepiness soaked the music in better. This is going to be awkward . . . but it can’t hurt to try singing to Quintessa, right? According to Mom and Dad, whenever I woke up after they sang to me, I would always seem happier and healthier, physically and mentally. . .* Taking a deep breath, she began a beautiful song she had learned from her father, the one that Quintessa and Yedda had been singing together before Quintessa hurt her leg.

*“I close my eyes and I can see*

*the world that’s waiting up for me*

*that I call my own.*

*Through the dark, through the door*

*through where no one’s been before.*

*But it feels like home.”*

 Marina hesitated slightly, taking a small breath to calm her nerves. She felt so . . . vulnerable, so exposed, singing to a sleeping cat.

*“They can say, they can say it all sounds crazy.*

*They can say, they can say I’ve lost my mind.*

*I don’t care, I don’t care, so call me crazy.*

*We can live in a world that we design.”*

 Marina’s voice grew stronger with every word, her tentative song slowly becoming more and more golden.

*“’Cause every night, I lie in bed.*

*The brightest colors fill my head.*

*A million dreams are keeping me awake.*

*I think of what the world could be*

*a vision of the one I see.*

*A million dreams is all it’s gonna take.*

*A million dreams for the world we’re gonna make.”*

Marina smiled slightly, stopping in the middle of the song to see if there were any effects or if Quintessa would wake up.

*Quintessa couldn’t feel, couldn’t see. It was like she was disconnected from her body. She could hear. And hear she did. She heard a beautiful voice singing to her the song that she and Yedda had sung. She wanted to sing, but her voice seemed to be stuck. So instead, she chose to listen.*

Meanwhile, the peaceful physical form of Quintessa smiled softly.

Palm heard Marina’s song and nervously padded over.

*“I close my eyes and I can see*

*the world that’s waiting up for me*

*that I call my own.*

*Through the dark, through the door.*

*Through where no one’s been before.*

*But it feels like home.”*

 Palm smiled at Marina and watched as his spirits appeared around him. He took in a deep breath and prepared for his favorite part of the song, holding his head up proudly.

*“They can say, they can say it all sounds crazy.*

*They can say, they can say I’ve lost my mind.*

*I don’t care, I don’t care, so call me crazy.*

*We can live in a world that we design.”*

 Glancing at Marina, Palm gestured for her to join in.

Marina looked at Palm and gave a tentative smile. He probably didn’t know it, but he was giving her the opportunity to sing her favorite part. By the look on his face, he had just sang his favorite part. She beamed at him, and let her voice melt into his and join with it, creating a golden harmony.

*“’Cause every night, I lie in bed.*

*The brightest colors fill my head.*

*A million dreams are keeping me awake.*

*I think of what the world could be*

*a vision of the one I see.*

*A million dreams is all it’s gonna take.*

*A million dreams for the world we’re gonna make. . .”*

 Marina seemed to glow as she sang her favorite part, and then transitioned into another part.

*“There’s a house we can build.*

*Every room inside is filled*

*with things from far away.*

*The special things I compile*

*each one there to make you smile*

*on a rainy day.*

*They can say, they can say it all sounds crazy.*

*They can say, they can say we’ve lost our minds.*

*I don’t care, I don’t care if they call us crazy.*

*Run away to a world that we design.”*

 Marina beamed again at Palm, tilting her head, silently asking through a gesture whether or not he wanted to sing the rest with her. She hadn’t felt this way in ages — free like a bird, her soul glowing like candlelight. Only once she had sang and let her soul fly did she realize how long her soul had been caged.

Palm gulped and looked at Marina. He didn’t know the next line. Diamond had only taught him that part. “Could you teach me the next part ? My. . .—” he paused, deciding how he was going to address Diamond “—father only taught me that bit. Well, my foster father, anyway. I don’t know who my real father is.” He fiddled with his earring.

“Oh!” Marina mewed, snapping out of her magical singing moment. “Of course. But, uh . . . I can typically only teach things the way I learned them . . . and my parents taught my sister and me this song along with a dance. It’s a two-cat dance, so if you’re uncomfortable with that, I totally understand. I just . . . it won’t feel the same and I won’t teach as well if without the dance, but I could still tell you the lyrics. I — I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable or anything…” she replied shyly, a bit flustered at asking this tom whom she had never really interacted with before to dance.

Yedda heard someone singing. She turned and saw a black she-cat and a tom singing to Quintessa. She winced. Her whole body trembled, and it took all her willpower not to go over and sing as well.

Aquanetta looked over at a black she-cat and a tom singing to a brown she-cat who was obviously hurt. Her brow raised. If she could only find some herbs in this cave . . . comfrey root, dandelion, dock leaves — perhaps if a nest could be compiled . . . what else? *Oh, yes.* Elder leaves! And marigold, rush, and willow bark could all help. Not that any of those herbs would be found in a cave, though. If only . . . those herbs would help the she-cat so much . . . and perhaps a mixture of poppy seeds and thyme for her shock? *And comfrey and stinging nettle for the wound may work as well. . .* Hopefully Harnor — was that his name? — could set the next Test in someplace where she could find some of those herbs to heal the she-cat. And perhaps she could even find some sorrel, daisy, chamomile, and burnet . . . ragwort or lamb’s ear could help, too, for all the cats in the Tests. Since there were no herbs around as far as she knew, however, she approached a she-cat who was observing the singing from a distance, who seemed to itch with the need to sing as well. Out of curiosity as to why the she-cat didn’t just join the two cats already singing, she approached her. “Hey. My name is Aquanetta!” she introduced.

Yedda tried to smile. “My name is Yedda. Sorry for you to see me like this,” she said bitterly. Her tears had stained her face with long trails against her normally shiny blue coat. She looked down. “My friend got hurt because of me,” she whispered, her voice barely audible. “Now everyone will hate me, including her. Whenever I try to help, I always mess things up. I love singing, but. . .” She stopped. She felt her face get hot with embarrassment. She turned straight to Aquanetta. “I can’t get anyone else hurt.” She looked back at the black she-cat. *Quintessa’s other friends will be able to help her. She doesn’t need me. Nobody does.*

Aquanetta looked at the blue she-cat, and then at where this cat — Yedda — was looking as she talked. She pieced together a good enough picture to understand what was happening. “Well, Yedda . . . what I learned during my journey before I got stuck in rock is that you should never assume what other cats think of you until you’re sure. Otherwise, you’ll destroy yourself, torturing yourself about all the what-ifs before you finally decide to just hide. And what if they aren’t mad at you? You’d be hiding from friends for no reason. Now that black she-cat and over there who you obviously want to sing with — she’s in the middle of a song right now, so maybe it’s for the best that you didn’t join. And that brown she-cat? Quintessa, I think. Why would she be mad at you? Did you directly or purposefully cause her harm? And even if you did, friends make mistakes. You just need to head down the hill instead of deciding to be stuck at the top, hiding.”

Yedda simply stared. “Wow . . . that was deep,” she said, after a few moments. Her head-wheels were turning as she was figuring out what Aquanetta just said. “Thanks for the advice, Aquanetta.” She smiled. *Maybe she’s right . . . I need to look at this in a positive way. I have to make sure I know things before jumping to conclusions. Does Quintessa hate me? There’s only one way to find out. . .* She nodded towards Quintessa. “I’m going to go talk to her,” she mewed to Aquanetta. “Thanks again for the pep talk.” She smiled warmly at the silver she-cat, then padded over to Quintessa.

Quintessa felt herself jerk back into her body. She opened her eyes slightly, then closed them. Then opened them again. This happened repeatedly until she fully woke up. *Oh, good. I’m not dead.* She still felt an ache in her leg. *Dang it.* Her ears started working again. She turned her head and saw Marina and Palm doing a duet. Their melodious voices blended nearly perfectly, resulting in the true beauty of song. She felt herself want to sing, but she quieted that desire. *Everyone knows voices after you just wake up are hoarse and nasty-sounding. I wouldn’t want to ruin their song.* She smiled at the singers. “You sing beautifully together,” she said when they stopped. “I would like to know, though — why did you come over here and sing? I mean — you could have sang anywhere else — but you chose . . . here? With me?” Her head cocked a little.

Marina glanced at her. “Oh! You woke up! Palm doesn’t know the rest of the song, so I’m going to teach him . . . if you want, you can watch, but make sure to keep your head down and rest, okay? And to answer your question . . . well, when I was sick and went to sleep, my parents would sing to me, and then when I woke up, my mind, heart, soul, and body seemed to heal and become better. The singing wasn’t a miraculous medicine — I would still have the sickness or injury, but it seemed to get a little better, and I would feel better about it — not as scared, shocked, nervous, upset about it. I started singing and Palm joined.”

Quintessa rolled her eyes playfully. “Sure thing, Dr. Marina,” she mewed. She saw Yedda out of the corner of her eye. She turned to face her. “Yedda! Where have you been? I would have thought you would be here singing with Palm and Marina.”

Yedda looked at the ground. “I’m sorry,” she murmured, barely audible.

“What?” Quintessa asked.

*“I’m sorry, okay?!* I’m sorry your leg is hurt; I’m sorry for making you angry all the time; I’m sorry for just being a bad friend! Do you hate me?” Yedda asked.

Quintessa was taken aback by Yedda’s outburst. “Of course not! It wasn’t your fault the tunnel collapsed!”

Yedda felt her eyes fill with tears of joy. Aquanetta was right. She raced right up to Quintessa, purring loudly. “OhthankgoodnessIwouldhavediedwithoutyouasmyfriend!”

Quintessa smiled, then frowned. “Yedda, my leg—”

Yedda backed away, immediately. “OhnodidIdosomething—”

Quintessa waved her paw. “It’s okay, it’s okay. Just don’t touch it, okay?”

Yedda nodded, sighing with relief. “Phew! Now I can sing again!”

Quintessa raised an eyebrow. “What?”

Yedda looked at the ground sheepishly. “I promised myself I wouldn’t sing because you hated me.”

Quintessa rolled her eyes again. “And now you know I don’t.”

Yedda sucked in a breath, ready to start—

Quintessa covered her mouth with her tail. She nodded to Palm and Marina. “They’re gonna sing right now, so shh.”

Yedda sat down, understanding. *They’re cute together.* She was back to her hyper self. She was giddily bouncing around, waiting for the show to start. It would have been complete had she had some popcorn and soda. She smiled at Palm and Marina, blissfully oblivious.

Aquanetta smiled as the she-cat seemed to regain energy. *Should I join them? Or maybe I shouldn’t, because I might not be invited? Maybe I’ll just wait for an invitation. Aquanetta! Remember what you just told Yedda! Okay. I’m going to carefully approach them . . . see what happens,* she thought nervously. She tentatively took a step in the black she-cat, tom, brown she-cat, and Yedda’s direction, hoping that they wouldn’t really notice.

Marina smiled playfully at Quintessa’s joking remark. Her friend seemed certainly better, and Yedda did too. Unfortunately, there was that glint in the blue she-cat’s eyes. . . She shook off her dread at seeing Yedda’s dreaded look and turned to Palm, offering out her paw. “Just tell me whether or not you’re alright with my way of teaching.”

Palm smiled at Marina. “Okay!” He placed his paw in Marina’s. “I’m fine with it!” He bounced up and down, making sparks jump around everywhere.

“Alright, then. So basically, you do these little step-moves here,” Marina explained, showing him how to do it. “And the lyrics would be *Every night, I lie in bed* with it. . .”

Storm saw her sister, and. . . *Oh my gosh, Marina is with a tom! He must have manipulated her . . . does she not remember what I told her about not dating or anything before she’s sixteen moons?* She freaked out in her mind. I must rescue my baby sister’s crazy mind from the manipulation of toms! She frantically pushed her way past the tom — his name was Flame, right? — and hurried towards her sister, Quintessa, Ms. Loopy, and *the dreaded tom who was manipulating her sister into hanging out with him.*

Quintessa saw Storm pad over. “Hey, Storm. How’s it going?” She offered friendly small talk. Then she took in Storm’s face. She didn’t look like a cat who wanted to make small talk. She glanced at where Storm was glaring and realized it. “Ah.” She closed her mouth. Better not interfere with the angry mama she-cat.

Storm glanced at Quintessa. She decided to get the . . . ah, *inner story of the creepy tom trying to lead on her sister.* “So, what’s going on?”