The Tests: Wait 1

The Tests: Wait 1

### Characters Present

Harnor, Luana, Dune, Feather, Fringe, Ivy, Bird, Sunny, Eclipse, Black Bird, Caspian, Snow, Thunder

### Important Events

Harnor introduced, Tests begin, Dune and Feather meet, Dune and Luana meet, Sunny and Feather fight, Feather gives Dune a glowing rock

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

## **The Tests: Wait 1 (The Jungle)**

A giant, fiery red form appeared in the cats’ vision glowing as brightly as the sun.

When the glow finally dimmed, the cats could see their surroundings and the figure in front of them. They were in a glade with seemingly endless trees surrounding them.

In front of them stood a giant fiery-red cat with massive red eagle wings stretched out from his shoulders: Harnor. He smirked at the cats in front of him. Oh, how petty of them all to think that this would be easy. He toyed with the midnight-black stone that hung from a rope around his neck. This was going to be fun. “Greetings, you chosen ones,” he began, his voice regal. “Now some of you may be wondering: why are the others here?” He spat the word others like it was poison on his tongue. “And the answer is, if you fail the Tests, I will need . . . spares. But don’t worry — you’re relatively safe . . . for now.” He laughed to himself. “This is the Wait. The Test will come soon, but you may need some time to . . . adjust to this place. I mean, this could be where you die.” On that note, he hissed at all the cats below him, spread his giant wings, and lifted himself up in the air until he was just a speck of red in the cats’ sight.

Luana shivered as the tom flew up into the sky and swished her tail. She was determined to make him like her! Her green eyes blazing in determination, she looked around the clearing for other cats.

“What a load of fox-dung,” Dune hissed under his breath. He swung his head around and bared his teeth at the other cats, some of which were still staring around, mesmerised by the jungle. “Now let me make this clear,” he screeched. “I’m going to win this mouse-brained contest, and none of you are going to stop me.” For effect, the tom faked an attack-pounce towards the nearest cat he could find, landing just before their paws. He spat in their face and then padded off deeper into the glade. *No one will stop me from bringing my sister back,* he thought to himself, and lost in thought, banged right into a black she-cat. “Watch where you're going,” he hissed.

Luana let out a small chirp as a gray tom bumped into her. “Hey!” she snapped. “Learn how to control yourself,” she growled before stalking away.

Feather glanced up at the sky. *I came here to be able to save other cats, not to watch them die.* She heard a noise — it seemed like prey. She crept toward the sound, looking around a stone and spotting a mouse. She dropped into a hunting crouch and stalked towards it, pouncing. At the last moment, the mouse scuttled away, leaving her lying empty-pawed on the ground. *I have to find something.* Her stomach rumbled. There was movement in some ferns. *There! There’s a squirrel!* She stalked it, pounced — and caught it. She gave it a killing bite. *Should I share with the other cats, or eat it myself? I can’t trust them, but I can’t eat all this either!* She brought it over to a black cat. “Do you want to share?”

A she-cat came up to Luana and offered some squirrel. Starting to drool, she quickly replied, “Yes! Thank you so much! I’m Luana! And you are?”

“Feather,” Feather said as she dropped the squirrel. “So why are you here?” she asked. “I’m here to save cats from dying. I lost my family to a fox because I couldn’t leap onto the back of it in time to prevent the fox from killing them. . .”

Luana tilted her head in sadness. “Oh, I’m sorry. It’s not your fault — foxes are really hard to fight. I wouldn’t rest it all on your shoulders. I’m here because I couldn’t take the Twolegs anymore!” Her claws impaled the grass beneath her. “They decided everything for us! What we ate, what we did, where we lived, and even when we *died*!” She panted heavily. “They killed my father, so I’m here to protect the rest of my family when I convince them to join me in the wild,” she said, all of her anger and sadness melting away.

Feather stroked her tail along Luana’s back. “I know how you feel. My mother was born a kittypet. She always told us about it: about how she liked it, about how the Twolegs ordered her around. She left soon. After she had us, it was too difficult to live in the wild, so she went back to her Twoleg nest and found that new Twolegs lived there. They took us in, but Mother said that they were worse than her previous Twolegs. We left and went to another Twoleg — but rouges found us and made us our slaves. We escaped after a few moons into the forest.”

Fringe of Cliff where Jays Walk sighed. She had come here to get a power and find her sister, not sit around waiting to see if she’d live or die. As she peered around the glade, her stomach rumbled. Shifting position, she thought back to the last time she had eaten. That morning? The day before? The scent of prey drifted from the jungle, but she resisted, instead looking around the glade to see if there was anything to eat. No fresh-kill, but . . . *there*! A mouse, shifting through the tall grass at the edge of the jungle. She dropped into a crouch, eyes locked on the small furry creature. She crept forward in a perfect hunting stance. Then — *pounce*! She landed square on the mouse’s back, killing it instantly. The she-cat felt a brief twinge of guilt at having to hurt the mouse, but brushed it away. She had to eat. Slipping into the grass to hide her catch from the other cats, she ate quickly, torn between the urge to help the others and the urge to help only herself. The other cats might not want her help anyway. The mouse eaten, she decided to stay in the grass. Not close enough to the jungle to be dangerous, but where she could see all the cats from here and none could see her. Just how she liked it. . . She shivered, hunching lower in the grass as she watched another cat walk towards her. A she-cat, based on her scent. Not that she cared. She wasn’t here to make friends — she was here to save her sister. The thought of Sparrow brought memories to the front of her mind, but she shoved them away. “Beat it,” she hissed when the cat came closer. “You heard me; leave me alone.”

Ivy glared at Fringe. “Make me,” she hissed.

Fringe’s fur bristled at the strange she-cat’s tone. “Look, I don’t want to fight, but I would like to be left alone,” she said, trying not to sound annoyed or frustrated. “I’m just here to get my powers — then I’m leaving to find my sister.”

Ivy glared back at Fringe. “Actually, I’m planning to win,” she growled. She then turned her back on Fringe and padded off towards the other group of cats.

Dune paced around, his fur on end. He had never been good with cats — not even before his sister died. He saw two she-cats, fur bristling, on the other side of the glade, and laughed. He wished he could join that fight, but it looked like it would be over soon. He saw some cats peacefully sharing their prey and growled under his breath, “Stupid cats. Don’t they know it’s a competition?” Then prey-scent filled his mouth and he dropped into a hunting crouch. At least the jungle had a lot of prey. The scent got stronger and stronger until he was sure he must be right on top of the prey, and then he pounced. His teeth sunk into rabbit flesh and he spat it out hurriedly. He hadn’t eaten rabbit since the day Wren got attacked and killed — the memories were too raw. He was about to rake his claws through the prey when he realized that he could trade this for some other food. Two she-cats sat sharing prey not far away from him. Surely they would give him some food in exchange for a rabbit. He tentatively picked it up by its tail, the only place that he couldn’t taste the flesh, and carried it over to the two cats. “Look,” he mewed. “Here’s the deal. I don’t eat rabbit, so you can have it, but I want some prey in return. Just because I’m sharing prey with you doesn’t make us friends, okay? I’m just doing this to survive.”

Feather glanced at the rabbit. Her mouth watered at the taste of rabbit flesh. “Sure.” She pushed the squirrel towards the tom and snatched the rabbit from him.

“Um, thanks, I guess,” meowed Dune. Wren was the only other cat who had ever been nice to him, and he was taken aback that this strange gray cat was just offering food. “Can I eat here?” he tentatively asked as he sat down. “I’m Dune, by the way. What’s your name?” he said, then realized that this cat was his opponent and continued. “Not that telling each other our names makes us friends, you know. It’s, like, knowing your competition and stuff.” He looked away quickly — he had never been very good with other cats.

“I’m Feather. And fine,” Feather muttered. “I’m going to go find a place to sleep anyway.” She stood up and walked away.

Nodding to Feather as she left, Luana turned to Dune. She then made a face of annoyance. “Oh, it’s you. The cat with no manners. Humph!” she sighed, turning before turning back towards him, a mischievous smile on her face. “Nah, it’s fine. Tensions are high, for obvious reasons. I’m Luana! And why are you so obsessed with being rude?” she asked, smiling brightly.

“What?” Dune meowed, slightly angry. “I’m not obsessed with being rude. It’s just that I’m going to win this thing, and I don’t want anyone getting any of the wrong ideas. I *am not* looking for a friend.” *Oh, great,* he thought. *That sounds rude, but to be honest, I don’t know why I care. This cat obviously doesn’t know when* she’s *being rude.* The forest was getting darker around him and he was beginning to panic. His breath became faster and his eyes flicked nervously. “Oh my gosh. It’s dark. I didn’t think it would get dark here,” he mewed frantically. He didn’t even know if he was talking to Luana or not. “I can’t see where I am. It’s so quiet here and I’m alone.” He had hated the dark since Wren had died, and this happened every night — he couldn’t stop it. Wait, he thought. I’m not alone here. “Luana, I’m going to go to sleep now, so I’m just going to go and find somewhere to sleep,” he stuttered, trying to suppress the panic that had come over him.

Luana’s eyes widened as she realized how rude she was being. Her mother would have raked her muzzle at this point. She was always bad at realizing limits and bluntness, but her eyes widened as the tom seemed to panic. “Uh . . . o-okay . . . and, uh . . . sorry!” she called after him. “It’s just like my mother said — ‘Luana, you’ve got such a big mouth and you don’t know when to shut it. You could get killed for that,’” she mumbled to herself. “I should probably sleep too,” she said, curling up in a ball on the spot. She sighed as she tried to sleep. Huffing, she slowly got up and looked around the clearing. Seeing a small, broken tree, she trotted over to it. Perfect! She squeezed in between the cluttered branches and wrapped her tail around her body, purring.

Feather walked off to some ferns where she would sleep. On the way, she spotted a cat in the grass, another cat padding away. She stalked over to the cat in the grass. “Move,” she growled. She bared her teeth at the she-cat through the grass. “You heard me. Move,” she snarled at the cat.

Ivy bristled. “You move,” she growled.

Feather growled. *This place is bad anyway. I’ll find a better place to rest.* She turned away and looked for some water.

“Owl? Where am I? I wish Owl was here!” Bird said. He bumped into a she-cat. “Uh, hello?” He tilted his head.

Ivy growled. “Watch where you're going!” she snapped.

“Sorry. Please forgive me.” Bird felt his fur get hot.

Ivy stood off to the side, aware the other cats were ignoring her. *I’m not here to make friends,* she reminded herself. *I’m here to get Dusk back.* She awkwardly started grooming herself, watching that she-cat with one eye.

Fringe peered across the clearing, scanning the edge of the jungle until she saw a thick-branched oak directly across from her. Standing, she sprinted across, knocking cats aside before running straight up the tree and settling on a branch where she could see the entire clearing. *Sparrow would have loved this tree,* she thought.

Sunny immediately went into survival mode. She ran, planning to stop at the nearest source of water. *If I want to win, I need to survive! If I want to survive, I need to get away from the other cats,* she thought as she stopped by a small stream. She drank, letting the cool water quench her thirst. She then rolled into a patch of ferns to disguise her scent and hid in a cave thickly covered with moss and lichen.

Feather found a stream and lapped at the cool water. There was a cave nearby — that would make a perfect place for a den. She padded to it and looked inside. There was already a cat inside. *I should find an unclaimed spot. No! This is going to be my den!* She bared her teeth. *I’ll fight for it if I have to!* “Leave,” she snarled at the cat already inside.

Sunny heard another cat’s growl. She growled back. “If you want me to leave, you need to fight me.” She unsheathed her claws. Life on the streets had made her a good fighter, and she was determined.

Feather laughed wickedly. “I will! And I’ll beat you! I chased off two cats at the same time once!” She lunged at Sunny and landed beside her. She flashed out her paw, claws unsheathed, at her hind leg.

Sunny’s claws hit the other she-cat’s eye.

Feather yowled and reared. Her paws came down between the she-cat’s ears. Then she dodged to the side and tried to unbalance her by trying to pull her front paws from under her.

Sunny let out a yowl of pain. She clawed at the she-cat’s eye even harder, her hind claws leaving deep scars in the cat’s belly fur. Then, quick as a snake, she lunged for the she-cat’s throat, clamping it in her jaws.

Feather yowled and tried to leap back. She slammed her paw on the cat’s leg, making her fall and let go. She leapt onto the cat and started raking her claws in her belly, causing deep gashes. She leapt off the she-cat, getting ready to lunge at the cat’s back if she stood up and didn’t give in.

Dune padded around, trying to search for a place to sleep, or just anything to take his mind off the darkness . . . and then he saw two cats caught in battle. *Oh, this is going to be great fun,* he thought, settling down nearby the fight. He made sure he was fully hidden.

Eclipse and Black Bird walk next to each other, looking for any form of meat.

Eclipse stopped and gestured that Black Bird move behind a nearby tree. She took off running.

A rabbit that was hiding in the long grass of the glade ran straight into Black Bird’s paws.

Hearing the two bristling she-cats, Eclipse nodded at Black Bird.

Eclipse and Black Bird walked towards the sound and ate while watching the fight.

“That one is going for the head first. Stay behind her whenever in a battle,” Eclipse whispered to Black Bird. This was going to be easy — or at least she thought it would be.

Fringe heard the fight before she saw it. Two cats — from her observations named Sunny and Feather — were exchanging blows in the middle of the clearing, surrounded by a ring of cats watching the fight. “I may as well put an end to this,” she muttered, sliding down out of the tree and padding towards the growing crowd. She shoved through into the ring. “What in the Dark Forest are you even fighting about?” she said loudly. “Don’t we have bigger things to worry about with the Tests coming up? Do you want to be booted before the fight begins?”

Dune emerged from the grass, hissing. “I could’ve taken both of you two. If you want to win, you need to actually be able to fight — and you — Fringe, is it? You need to get out of other cats’ business. If these two want to kill each other, then you might as well let them. I mean, it’s less competition for the survivors.” Then he looked at Feather, suddenly aware that he was being really rude to her. “Not that I want you to die,” he said hastily, glancing at her.

Eclipse groaned. She *did* want someone to die — one less more to kill. Plus, she was studying how other cats fought.

But Black Bird nodded and walked up with Fringe. “I would rather have to kill two cats than one.” He smiled.

Eclipse gave him an unapproving stare.

“Kidding. . .”Black Bird muttered, then walked back to her.

After that, Eclipse flicked him with her tail. “You be stupid if you want, but one less to kill is one less cat who has many others who want revenge. Black Bird, you’re ignorant.” Then, walking away to find a place to sleep, she tripped.

Black Bird helped her find a place to rest.

Eclipse glanced at him. “But I love you sometimes.”

Sunny turned tail and fled, running towards the stream. She applied cobweb and marigold to her wounds. She made a nest under a tree and yawned. *I guess I should go to sleep now,* she thought. *And then I can follow the stream tomorrow.* She made herself comfortable, closed her eyes, and went to sleep.

Feather let out a yowl of triumph as she chased her opponent. She tried to deliver one last blow before she slowed and turned back to the cave. She saw cats watching and snorted. *I’m going to win this. If they want to try, they should do something instead of sitting and watching me while I win.* She put a cobweb she found on a wound, and rasped her tongue over a scratch to try to make it stop bleeding. After the blood had stopped pouring and had dried on her fur, she padded towards the stream to wash it off. When she came back, she saw something glowing. It was bright, but hard to see because roots grew over it. When she got closer, she could make out a pebble. She clawed at the roots of the oak until she could reach it with a paw. She spotted Dune and carried it over to him. “I, uh . . . I found this and, um . . . wanted to give it to you.”

“Umm, thanks, I guess,” Dune mewed, a bit shocked by Feather’s sudden kindness. He looked down at the pebble, which was slightly glowing. *Yes,* he thought. *Now it won’t be so dark when I’m trying to sleep!*

Caspian managed to mindlessly pace into a clearing with other cats, sensing the clotted tension in the air by bristled fur and bared teeth. He stumbled as a gray tabby she-cat swiftly darted past him, but he quickly regained his posture. He decided not to point it out to the she-cat. His gaze flickered between cats, hoping one seemed nice enough to talk to. No one caught his eye. Sighing, he decided that it was more important to find a resting place than a new friend anyway. His pupil fluttered the area and saw a small slit underneath a background tree. Joyfully, he ran to the large burrow and clumsily slid in.

Snowdapple padded around the edge of the clearing, her eyes scanning the cats in it. She gave an unexpected shiver remembering Harnor’s words. Was she a “spare”? She couldn’t be, right? Harnor had invited her here — though he had invited everyone else. . . She looked around nervously.

A cat bumped into her.

“Uh, sorry. . .” Snow called.

The cat turned and stalked away.

Snow blinked, trying to recognize any cat among the plentiful faces and pelts. She looked back at the place where Harnor had disappeared and gave a sigh. Was she going to fail the Tests? She looked down at her paws and scanned the clearing carefully. She knew she was a loner, but maybe some of the Tribe cats or even some Clan cats would like her. She doubted it, but it was worth a shot. She got up, took a breath, and padded into the crowd of cats. Pelts brushed past her and she fought to shrink back underneath their criticizing stares. She held her head high and moved blindly through the cats, just wanting to get away from all of them. “I have to get over my fears. . .” she whispered as she finally got through the mass of cats. She looked around and only saw a few cats scattered around her. She sat down and began to wash herself, wondering what power she might receive.

Thunder padded through the dense brush. His paws ached. He had been searching for almost a moon now. Fuzzball — or Fuzz for short — had told him to follow the line of stars and he would find the Tests. Ever since he was a kit, he had been told the stories. His mom had told him they were fake, but he was determined to prove her wrong. Just as he was about to take a rest, he saw it — a cat with wings. The cat announced something; the only words he could make out were “spare”, “wait” and “Tests” — he knew it! The stories were true! He had found the Tests. He raced down into the clearing and was amazed by all the cats.

Harnor suddenly appeared in the middle of the jungle, staring at the cats. They all knew that the first Test was about to begin.