The Tests: Wait 6

The Tests: Wait 6

### Characters Present

Heidi, Iyda, Kimo, Frost, Flame, Bonita, Nol, Zed, Tess, Ollie, Palm, Shard, Pembroke, Tawny, Jay, Ambi, Rosica, Rattlesnake, Pebble, Fang, Harnor, Lantern, Eclipse, Thanya, Merri, Mist, Arc, Sunny, Ivy, Fini, Kayla, Luana, Yedda, Quintessa, Wildflower, Sunflower, Panther, Maya, Cobweb, Frostsong, Robin, Nest, Newt

### Important Events

Rattlesnake commits suicide, Sunny commits suicide, Robin and Nest meet

**Wait 6** is an episode in *The Tests*.

## **The Tests: Wait 6 (The Cliff)**

The cats emerged - well, minus the ones who had chosen to return home. They were in a humongous stone arena, locked in. Water troughs provided water in the harsh environment and there was one open exit, which led out onto a cliff edge.

The cats stared around. So this was the next Wait.

Heidi ran in.

Iyda chased after her.

Heidi immediately ran into a red tom. She stumbled back, keeping as much balance as possible.

“Who are you?” Kimo let out a yelp. “What are you doing here?”

Heidi looked a bit offended. “I’m Heidi, and I came here for my own reasons!” she said back tartly.

“I’m Kimo. I don’t know why I’m here,” Kimo said.

“Well, I didn’t exactly ask you,” Heidi said.

“I don’t care — I still answered, didn’t I?” Kimo asked.

“It’s rude to interrupt someone when they’re talking,” Heidi said.

“You were done!” Kimo said.

“How do you know that?” Heidi asked.

“I just do!” Kimo said.

Heidi rolled her eyes and sat down. “I could do this all day.”

Frost and Flame both came to the Wait side by side and looked around.

Flame found Frost. He looked at Frost. “Hey, Frost. Are you okay?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Frost said.

“Okay. Let’s go get something to drink,” Flame said.

Frost and Flame walked together to the water.

Flame practiced his water powers, and picked some up with his mind in a little bubble.

“Well, that’s cool,” Frost remarked.

Frost and Flame both drank from the little puddle Flame made on the ground.

Flame was shocked because of the static electricity.

“Sorry,” Frost said. “I can't really control that yet.”

Frost and Flame were both at least a little excited about the fact that they could help each other.

After the drink, Flame went looking for someone he knew — Storm. He was bored and he wanted to interact with someone he knew.

Frost did the same thing. She walked around and found a bird. She jumped up, and swatted it down and ate it. She went to go find a cat.

Frost and Flame gave up on looking for other cats, and sat together doing nothing.

Bonita stared at the ground in confusion. “Nol, why didn’t you leave?”

Nol paused and looked at her. “As much as I do want to go home . . . it wouldn’t be right leaving you here!” he purred loudly, and nudged her side.

“But what about you, Kousuke?” Bonita looked at the tom. He absolutely hated it here.

“. . . If Nol’s not going home . . . I won’t either. It would be pointless to return home without him,” Kousuke said.

Zed went into the group of cats who were walking into the new place, and went to sit down in a corner by himself.

Tess’s shoulder still ached, but Palm’s healing powers had mostly dulled the pain. She sighed, saying to no one in particular, “With our luck, the next Test will be even worse.” She drew a paw over her ear.

Ollie glanced at Tess, who was nearby. “Aren’t you going to thank the cats who literally dragged you away from a vicious plant monster?” he meowed.

Tess snorted. “That was their choice.”

Ollie rolled his eyes, but decided to take it upon himself. He padded up to Palm, Storm, and Marina. “Tess says thanks for saving her life,” he meowed awkwardly.

Palm walked slowly back over to Tess. “I’m just glad you’re okay.” Then he turned back around to face Storm. “What did you want to talk to me about?”

Shard had interacted with no one. No one at all. It was probably time to change that. His blue eyes swept over a group of cats and he decided to go over. Once they had finished talking, he decided to start. “Uh, this probably sounds stupid, but I’ve literally talked to no one so far, and I kind of hoped you guys would be the first. I’m Shard, by the way.”

“Hi, Shard!” Ollie piped. “I’m Ollie, and this is Tess. Over there is Palm going to talk to Storm and Marina.”

Tess rolled her eyes. “What’s your damage?”

Palm wandered up to Ollie and Tess. “Hey, guys. Storm doesn’t really want to talk to me. Shadows, are you feeling better?”

“I’m fine,” Tess meowed. “I just wish I could have fought that plant thing, though. Waits are boring.”

“Hi. . .?” Pembroke said.

Palm saw a new cat and called out to him. “Hello! Are you new here? Come over and chat with us! I’m Palm. That grumpy she-cat is Tess and the tom over there is Ollie! What’s your name?”

“I’m Pembroke. Sorry I just sort of popped up out of nowhere,” Pembroke said.

“Cool!” Ollie piped. “We did too . . . kind of.”

Tess raised an eyebrow. “You here to win?”

“I don’t know what I’m here for. My sister just sort of kicked me out.” Pembroke gave a weak half-smile to the other cats and sat down, tail twitching anxiously.

“Oh my gosh, that’s terrible! Well, I’ll look out for you! I’ve got electricity and healing powers, you see, so I can help you!” Palm said.

“Hi! I’m new here too. I also have no idea what I’m here for. Pretty sure ninety percent of these cats are here to win. Maybe ninety-nine,” Shard said.

On the other side of the portal, Tawny looked around. What had just happened? “Thunder!” She had something to tell him . . . something important. . .

Jay crashed into Tawny.

“Thunder?!” Tawny cried hopefully.

Jay snorted. “As if. When he’s through this portal, you might want to say bye to him. I’m going to finish him. Then we can be together,” he said, curling his tail around her.

Tawny hissed, pulling away. “I hate you!”

Jay shoved her into one of the water troughs.

Tawny emerged, soaking. “You’re going to pay!” And she leaped at him.

“Are you okay?” Ambi asked with concern.

“Да.” Rosica shook her head, embarrassed. “I mean, yeah. Are you?”

“A little shaken, but I’m fine,” Ambi replied.

“Good,” Rosica purred. “Same here.” She sat down and curled her tail around herself. “I’m really tired, though.” Her delicate whiskers twitched. “I need some rest.” She closed her eyes. “Stay,” she mewed, and drifted into sleep.

Rattlesnake heaved a sigh as the same flames flickered at his paws. Wren flickered into his memory much like the small flames he controlled, and he shivered. Not because he was cold; no, the fire was there. He shivered remembering Wren. The flames stopped moving and his eyes widened. He couldn’t handle it anymore. He didn’t want to handle it anymore. Good. The flames had stopped moving for a reason — he didn’t want them. Sure, he could grow flowers. He didn’t care. If Wren could grow instead of burn, why didn’t she? *Why?* Wren had become a monster. He knew that one day he would too. He knew it. He didn’t deserve to handle it anymore. He looked to the cliff edge and nodded to himself. He ran to it and stopped. He ran back and wrapped his tail around Pebble. “This is probably a bad time to say it — but Pebble, I love you.”

Pebble just looked at him as if he had lost his mind.

Then Rattlesnake took off, sprinting to the cliff. Without warning, he jumped off and plummeted down. He had reached his goal.

Fang blinked, looking around her. She was in the Tests just like Harnor had promised . . . but where was Loki? She had only agreed to come because the so-called “god” had claimed that Loki would be there. Though she had never known Loki directly, Stick had trained them both, so she had seen him quite a bit. Glancing around, she saw that many of the cats were nursing injuries. This appeared to be a sort of in-between place . . . Harnor had stuck her in the *middle* of the Tests! Snarling, she silently cursed the winged cat deity. She looked again for Loki, but she couldn’t see him.

*“Looking for someone?”*

Fang whirled around, but no one was there. She recognized the voice, though. “Harnor,” she growled. Could anyone else hear him, or just her?

*“You’re the only one who can hear me,”* Harnor said.

Fang’s thoughts were confirmed. “Where’s Loki?” she hissed.

*“Oh . . .  about that.”* There was laughter in Harnor’s voice. *“He died in the previous Test.”*

The words hit Fang like a sledgehammer. The she-cat staggered back. “No,” she whispered.

*“Unfortunately for you, yes,”* Harnor said.

Wherever Harnor’s physical form was, he was probably smirking. “You monster,” Fang snarled. “You’re lying.”

*“Look around. These are all the cats who remain from the Tests. Is your would-be lover among them?”* Harnor asked.

Despite herself, Fang looked around again. No Loki. And judging by the way some of the cats were behaving, he wasn’t the only one who had died. She hissed. “You’re a—”

Harnor cut her off before she could say exactly what she thought of him. *“There’s no need for that.”*

“I would say there is.” No response. “Harnor?” Nothing. He was gone. Or had Fang imagined the whole thing. . .? With a sigh of defeat, she flopped down on a patch of mossy grass. “Loki, I swear I’m going to win this thing. For you. For every cat who’s died. I promise.” She looked out over the group of other cats. She wondered if she should talk to someone, but dismissed the idea immediately. To make Harnor pay for what he had done, she had to win. And for that, she needed to work alone. “Wherever you are, Loki,” she murmured, “I hope you’re happier than them.”

Lantern looked at the cliff from a safe distance. A cat had jumped off already. He growled slightly to himself and padded off in the other direction. He wondered if there was any prey, but he didn’t feel that hungry anyway. As he reached the cave wall, he sent a layer of ice to cover some of it. Once he felt like he couldn’t cover any more, he realized that the part that he did cover was vaguely shaped like . . . her. Hissing to himself again, he stormed off in another direction. Not watching where he was going, he bumped into a mostly black tortoiseshell she-cat whose white tail plumed out. She had startling grey eyes that he had never before seen on any other cat. Still in his bad mood, he didn’t bother to apologize. Instead, he questioned this she-cat he had never seen before. “Who are you?” he grumbled.

Fang noticed that the tom was in a bad mood. “My name is Fang. I just got here,” she said, trying to keep it brief.

Lantern looked at Fang with a face full of disgust. “The rest of us have almost died here. You don’t deserve to be here.”

“It isn’t my fault Harnor didn’t put me in until now,” Fang hissed, forgetting her attempts not to rile him up.

“Say what you want,” Lantern huffed, and walked away, tail high in the air.

Eclipse slowly padded to the edge of the arena at the cliff. Looking down, she shot back into safe ground. She gathered her kits and slowly breathed. *Just don’t let them hear it.* That would work.

Lantern stormed off towards a shadowed place where the light from the cavern entrance couldn’t reach him. He curled up into a ball, bitter, sad, and annoyed. He tried to summon ice overtop of him, but the only ice that grew on him were little shards. His ice ended up spreading over the cavern floor in front of him, reaching out of his shadowed area into the light. Sighing, with nothing else to do, he got up and followed the growing ice. As he walked, the ice rink fanned out in front of him. He slid his claws out so that they would stop him from sliding too much. The ice rink couldn’t grow very big, and soon he had to really concentrate to make the ice grow. Once the ice grew very stubborn, he had already travelled from one shadowy place to another. He scrunched up his face and squeezed his eyes shut, forcing all of the magic power he knew he had inside of him out. He felt inside of him, spiritually, to where his magic was stored. And he was right; there was a lot of it. Why wouldn’t his ice rink grow anymore, then? Finally, finally, he felt like he unlocked his magic bottle. A cold, icy wind blew around him, then suddenly stopped. Everything stopped. Every sound stopped, frozen in time. He opened his eyes and stepped out of the shadow. Everything had stopped. Two cats stayed frozen in the air. Mouths let hanging open. An empty, silent wail. Thoughts frozen. He padded towards a cat that was closest. The cat was a large, long-furred black she-cat with her kits. His inner magic seemed to pull him closer to her, but he knew that he wouldn’t touch her, only hover his nose over her body and let his magic seep into her.

*Instantly, Lantern’s thoughts whirled out of control, and when he found inner balance again, he was somewhere new. Everything was foggy, but in front of him were two paws — his paws, but much larger, and black. No, these were the she-cat’s paws. It was very dark, and lights shined from above. They were blurry, but they looked like — stars? He could hear creekwater rushing somewhere. His thoughts were still slightly out of place.*

*“Black Bird!” The words slipped out of Lantern’s mouth. He couldn’t control them.*

*A black tom almost identical to Eclipse, with the icy-blue eyes and long black fur. Lantern had met this one before during the Test, but this one had died, hadn’t he?*

*There was another cat — no, kit. Lantern realized that Black Bird and Eclipse were kits as well. This memory was from a long time ago.*

*The kits were heading towards the creek.* No, *Lantern wanted to say.* Kits, stay back. It’s dark out. You’ll slip. *But of course his mouth was not his to control.*

*The kits went towards the water.*

Sploosh! *The one Lantern didn’t recognize fell into the water.*

*“Ash!” The kit’s name escaped Lantern’s mouth and a horrible feeling crept up into his stomach, lungs, and heart. Guilt.*

 Lantern pulled back from Eclipse’s body in the frozen present, trying to escape the horrible feelings. He noticed kits around her. Pulling up his willpower, he leaned over Eclipse again.

*Zap. A swoosh of magic and Lantern was in her past again. This time, he was much taller and he stared into the eyes of another Tests competitor — Mieginck. He felt another feeling blossom inside of him — love. He recognized it easily after he had been so in lov— No. He wouldn’t think about that now.*

 The memory-vision whisked away as Lantern lost focus and he grunted, annoyed. Maybe he should try again with someone else. Who? He remembered the warm feeling he felt in his chest a moment ago in Eclipse’s memory and couldn’t resist not thinking back to his old life. Perhaps he could . . . try the memory-vision on himself? He knew it could lead to many consequences, but — he couldn’t resist. He curled into a ball and placed his head over his body.

*Swoosh — Lantern was gone. Into the past.*

Fang pounced, landing square on the squirrel’s back. Its spine snapped and it laid still. “Lunchtime,” she murmured. She picked up the squirrel and carried it over to a tall oak. Holding the squirrel securely in her jaws, she leapt, climbing swiftly until she’d scaled most of the towering tree. When she found a branch thick enough to lounge on, she settled down to eat.

Thanya glanced around, shocked by the number of cats. How come so many cats felt the need to have more power? “Okay, Merri. So what the plan is, is you have to pretend to want the power — like, really want it like all these other cats do. I’ll just stay quiet.”

Merri nodded in response.

Thanya and Merri waited for some cats to approach them.

Fang saw two cats sitting by themselves. Shrugging internally, she walked over. “Hi. My name is Fang. I just got here. I’m hoping to maybe make some     friends. . .?”

Merri looked over at Fang. “Of course we can be friends! I’m Merri!” she mewed at Fang, smiling.

Thanya cut a glare at Merri before turning back to the she-cat. “My name is Thanya, and I don’t want to be here,” she meowed quietly. “Everything has been a curse since I came here. I just want to go home.” A small bit of fire appeared in front of her. “Get it away! Get it away from me!” she screamed, before the fire dimmed and disappeared. Still panicked, she sat a bit further away from the other cats. When she saw another cat approach, she was done. “What are you doing here? This isn’t a party, you know!” she hissed

Merri barged past her sister. “Oh, don’t listen to her. I’m Merri, and that’s Thanya! She’s a grumpy old furball. Don’t listen to her.”

*“Grumpy old furball!* Oh, so it’s not me who’s saved your skin countless times!” Thanya said.

*Mist moved Arc to a corner far from everyone else. As the white tom lay motionless on the ground, he took a look around the room, particularly the cliff edge. There was no good reason to be near the edge, and yet cats were. They could fall to their death at any given moment! As if to prove this, a tom leaped off. He stared at the cliff, not knowing whether he should be laughing or crying. That had to have been the most pointless death he had ever seen. He looked down at his paws and noticed a bright blue emerald sitting in front of him. He turned around and saw that the other emeralds were rotating around him. Shock was replaced by shock as they lifted him in the air, never leaving their orbit.*

*Arc stirred and looked up at Mist. “It’s up to you now. . .” He managed to get out before reality was distorted. Up was left. Left didn’t exist. At some point, he heard himself think,* You took your time!

Arc remained in a subconscious state for an entire hour. After he had activated the emeralds, they had taken Mist to another reality and shut his mind down. Slowly, he opened his eye. The first thing he noticed was the environment. The second was all the missing cats. The third was two new cats sitting by themselves waiting for someone to come and talk to them. He stood up and walked over to them. “Hi! My name is Arc. What’s yours?”

Sunny looked around. Cats sharing prey, laughing, singing. Did she deserve this? She didn’t. She had no one, nothing. She was alone, and would always live like that. She wouldn’t live like this. Slowly, she unsheathed her claws, putting them on her throat. She would be in the stars with her family again. She closed her eyes as a single tear dripped down her cheek. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” she whispered. The last thing she felt was pain, darkness, and then nothing.

Ivy was startled by all the new arrivals. She didn’t feel comfortable around so many strange cats. *I’m not here to make friends,* she reminded herself. She was here to save her brother.

Fini rose to her paws, taking a look at her surroundings. *Oh, it’s been some time since I’ve seen another cat around.*

 Ivy blinked at the newcomer, giving her an unsure glance.

Kayla padded around. *Argh. When will it start? I just want to get this over with!* she thought. Maybe she could try and enjoy herself. Her mother was right! Why didn’t she just listen to her? Now she had to go through all of this!

Luana panted hard as she sat down heavily. She swiped her paw over her cheek and groaned at the sting. Her cheek had a decent cut, but it would heal.

Yedda looked around, curious. She padded around even though her paws ached. She sat down and gave her paw a lick, trying to ease the pain. She started to sing softly to take her mind off everything.

*“We’re dancing in the dark with you between my arms,*

*barefoot on the grass, listening to our favorite song,*

*and when you said you were a mess, I whispered underneath my breath,*

*but you heard it. Darling, you look perfect tonight.”*

Quintessa took a long, sweet breath of air. It tasted fresh, free of the smoke and chemicals clouding the air in the cavern. She realized there was another scent as well — death. It had been clogging up her senses, all the destruction the monster had caused. She gritted her teeth, remembering her leg. She still had a small limp that was more prominent now that her energy and adrenaline had faded in the calm. She looked for a place to sit, then saw a cliff edge. She padded over to it and gasped softly. The soft ruffle of wind filled her fur and instantly reminded her of the mountains. Her tail curled around her, she laid down, eyes closing ever so slowly, and before she knew it, she fell asleep.

Wildflower stumbled through the portal and landed awkwardly. Their ankle felt weird, and they weren’t sure if it had become like that just now or during the last Test. They decided to hobble over to Quintessa on three legs. She was asleep when they got there, and they set to work making her a new splint. They made themselves a splint too as they listened to Yedda sing. They loved this song. They hummed along as they grew the herbs and plants for their splints.

*“Dancing in the dark, you between my arms.*

*Barefoot on the grass*

*listening to our favorite song.*

*I have faith in what I see,*

*now I know I’ve met an angel in person*

*and she looks*

*perfect.*

*I don’t deserve this.*

*Darling, you look perfect tonight.”*

Sunflower almost regretted not going into the portal home. But there was nothing waiting for him there — no Starshine, no Wildflower; just a burnt forest and moor, and a blind fox. He had to stay here with Wildflower, but she — they — had their own friends now. *Look at them now, curled up beside the pretty brown she-cat.* They had grown so much while he was trapped in the stone, from an abandoned kit to a content, almost full-grown cat. So now Starshine was dead, his home had been destroyed by fire, he had gotten trapped in time for about half a year while his other sister mourned his fake death, changed their sexuality, and went to a death competition for immortality, and now he was also stuck in this immortality business where all of these cats were either suicidal or happy-go-lucky and probably insane, and he could turn into a bird?

Panther padded around, the shock of five deaths reaching deep inside his heart. He ended up next to Yedda, who was singing softly. “You sing so well,” he muttered.

Maya crept up to the other cat, slightly shy. She didn’t have anything to do anyway. She might as well make some friends. “That’s really pretty,” she told Yedda. The song sounded slightly familiar . . . maybe that meant she was getting more of her memories back?

Yedda saw not one but two cats approach her — one a shy she-cat, and the other— *Wait a minute!* She knew him! “Ooh, you’re . . . um . . . Panther! That’s right! You were sad about something . . . I don’t remember, though. . .” Her head wandered, trying to find the little bits of information she needed. She turned to the she-cat curiously. “I haven’t seen you around, though . . . so I’ll introduce myself! My name is Yedda. I love singing and meeting new cats! I was trapped in some rocks for a while because some big red guy didn’t like me. I don’t know; I think his name was . . . Harper? Happy? Harnor, that’s it! Yeah. So anyway, why don’t you tell me a bit about yourselves?” She smiled toothily. She padded away from her small group, feeling a bit out of it. Her eyes widened as she saw a small orb float around her. She nosed it, and it wiggled as if her nose tickled it. She smiled a bit, then noticed it was leading her somewhere. She padded after the orb of light swiftly. As she got farther away, she felt her mind wander. *I remember Quintessa had her windy, shieldy thing. Could I make one of those? Probably not a windy one, but maybe an . . . orby shield? Hmm. . .*  She looked at the orb curiously. *Grow! Grow! Grow!* The orb didn’t grow; it only led her further. Her friends out of sight, she focused on her orb. *Didn’t you hear me? I want you to grow! Argh!* It led her to a small tunnel and stopped, floating over it as if to say, *Go on.* She backed away, memories whirling through her head. “No . . . not there. Lead me somewhere else, orb.” The orb stayed where it was, putting its figurative foot down. She shivered and sighed, then ever-so-slowly put a paw in, then out. In, then out again. This happened for a while until she was sure the tunnel was safe. She was already regretting going inside. She wanted to turn back, to escape what still haunted her. She pressed on bravely — bravely as in she was terrified, but couldn’t remember her way out. This gave her a little time to think about herself and her powers. *So my powers are this orb. I think. I wonder how big it can get. Could it get out of control? Could I hurt more cats like I did Quintessa?* She shook her head physically. *No. I won’t blame myself for what happened in that tunnel. Back onto my power — I wonder if it will continue doing this, leading me around tunnels and such. I don’t really know much about it, do I? The only time I really used it was in the Test.* It dawned on her she was nearing her — the orb’s — destination. She prepared herself for it. The orb raced faster and faster. She started running, her heartbeat racing as she ran through puddles and dodged stalactites and stalagmites. The light was nearing; scratch that, she was nearing the light— She found herself on a ledge overseeing many cats. She could see her small group of Panther and that she-cat, Quintessa and Wildflower, even Palm, Tess, Ollie, Marina, and Storm. The orb disappeared, and she was there. She felt a strong urge to sing, but kept her mouth shut. She thought, actually thought about it. A few moments later, she decided to trust her powers, her orb-thing. And she began to sing.

*“You know the bed feels warmer*

*sleeping here alone.*

*You know I dream in color*

*and do the things I want.”*

 Yedda started slow, unsure. Her paws started thumping to the beat, her tail swaying along.

*“You think you got the best of me.*

*Think you had the last laugh.*

*Bet you think that everything good is gone.*

*Think you left me broken down.*

*Think that I’d come running back.*

*Baby, you don’t know me, ’cause you’re dead wrong.”*

 Yedda felt a spark, a tiny pulse. Her eyes glowed a creamy white as she belted out the next lyrics full force, sending white waves through the air.

*“What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.*

*Stand a little taller.*

*Doesn’t mean I’m lonely when I’m alone.*

*What doesn’t kill you makes a fighter*

*footsteps even lighter.*

*Doesn’t mean I’m over ’cause you’re gone.*

*What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, stronger.*

*Just me, myself, and I.*

*What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.*

*Stand a little taller.*

*Doesn’t mean I’m lonely when I’m alone!”*

 Yedda had to catch her breath. *What the heck?* She felt . . . empowered. Just like her song. She stood a little taller as she padded back to her group, fur a bit frizzled.

“What . . . was that?” Maya asked, breathless. The thought of powers still freaked her out.

“I . . . I don’t know. This little orb-thing led me to the ledge over there, and . . . I just followed my instincts, I guess.” Yedda shrugged. “Anyway, back to the now.”

“That’s . . . interesting,” Maya muttered. “So how did you get here?”

“Oh, I just rejected that big red guy. See, I wanted to sing, and like, he didn’t, I guess. What about you?” She tilted her head to look at Panther. “And you, Panther?” She wanted to include Panther too.

“Um . . . I . . . uh. . .” Maya stammered, “don’t remember . . . exactly.”

Yedda let out a yawn. Her tail twitched— *Wait a second. Hold up. Something doesn’t feel right.* She looked down at her tail — and screeched. “My tail! My gorgeous, plumey tail!” She turned in circles trying to get a good look at her now very stubby tail. The fur was just beginning to spring in tiny patches, since the rest had been chopped off during the last Test. Whimpering, she laid loaf-style and wailed. “Now I look like . . . like . . . *a tailless freak!”* She looked up at Maya and Panther. *“Don’t look at me!”* She raced away past a couple of cats, into a small space between some rocks. “Wah!” she shrieked horribly. The ground trembled a bit. She was sniffling. At least her wails have basically stopped. She glanced at her tail-stump. She waved it. She cringed. She loafed. She paced. She sighed. *Calm down. It may not grow back, but many cats have it worse! You’re lucky to be alive! Why don’t you sing to make yourself feel better?* She opened her mouth and — nothing. *What the—* She closed her mouth and opened it. Nothing happened; no glorious sound escaped her lips. *Curses! Many, many curses!* She went out of her rock-place to look for Quintessa. *She’ll know what to do.*

Cobweb woke up from her sleep. She yawned and stretched her legs. She then thought about when Harnor had given her the power of shadows and invisibility. She had decided she would still play in the Tests, though. *I mean, what else could I do? I have no home and nothing else left for me. I might as well spend my last days in action, not boredom.* She thought about the night before. She gave herself a quick groom, then went out to hunt. She found a mouse nibbling on a seed and crouched down low, careful not to scare the mouse. She then pounced and bit its spine, and carried it up to a nearby tree. She felt safer eating in trees because she was better at fighting from aboveground, not belowground, so she could defend herself from predators trying to steal her food. After her small meal, she decided to go see what new cats had joined the Tests. *I need to know what others I might fight against,* she thought as she silently walked around the clearing.

Sunflower noticed a she-cat walking around and decided he might as well go talk to her. Wildflower was asleep anyway. “Hey,” he said. “I haven’t seen you around much, but maybe that’s because I just got here last Test.” Hopefully that would prompt some conversation out of her.

“Hi,” Cobweb meowed as she saw a tom walk up to her. She didn’t expect anyone to say anything to her — at least, it was like that before. “I’m Cobweb. Who are you?” she asked.

“I’m Sunflower,” Sunflower responded. “Not really sure how I got into this mess. How did you get here?”

“I was here for a while. I came to the Tests because I was exiled from my Clan, so I came here. On the journey here, my brother Star died, so I decided to try to win for him,” Cobweb said. *I can’t mention my powers just yet,* she thought. “Why did you come here?” she asked.

“I’ve never heard of any Clans,” Sunflower said. “I had originally turned down Harnor’s offer to look for my sibling, Wildflower. Turns out he doesn’t like being rejected and turned me into a rock for a year. And then I got reunited with Wildflower here. It’s been kind of scary so far.” He shivered.

Wildflower blinked their eyes open sleepily. They stretched out their muscles, sore from so many days of running and fighting. Frankly, the Waits were their favorite part. Yawning slightly from the best nap they’d had in ages, they noticed Quintessa was still asleep beside them. Maybe they would go and interact with somebody else this Wait. Maybe Luana? Had they met before? They padded up to the black she-cat. “Hello,” they mewed. “How are you?”

A leaf tickled Quintessa’s nose as she was stretching, just now waking up. All she remembered was getting out of the portal with Dune, Yedda, and Wildflower, luckily alive, feeling very refreshed — and then very, very tired. *I must have slept quite a while.* She stiffened as she heard an uncatly screech and turned, fur fluffed up, to a wailing Yedda who just now realized her tail had been shredded in battle. Rolling her eyes, she eyed her leg. It had a fresh splint — Wildflower must have made her a new one in her sleep. She looked around as she saw that tom — what was his name? Oh, right — Sunflower — the one related to Wildflower. She padded over to him. “Hey. Um, have you seen Wildflower? I need to find them.” She felt her memories slowly come back in — they were both going to find Frostsong, have a little one-on-three time. Her face shifted into a slight smile. *Like friends do.*

“Oh, I thought they were with you a second ago?” Sunflower answered. He looked around for them, but couldn’t find them. “You know what? Let’s try this. *Wildflower,”* he yelled.

Wildflower flinched at their name. They remembered them and Sunflower and Starshine did this back home. “I’m here, Sunflower. What do you want?”

“Quintessa was looking for you,” Sunflower said.

“Alright, I’m coming.” Wildflower ran over to Quintessa and Sunflower. “Alright. I’m here!”

Quintessa smiled at the two. She turned her head to Wildflower. “I woke up just a minute ago,” she mewed. “And I’m ready to go find Frostsong.” Her ears flicked. Yedda was wailing still. *Maybe I should. . .? Nah. Frostsong is the goal right now.* With new determination, she focused on her powers and lifted Wildflower and herself a few feet above the ground, easily looking above all the heads of others.

“Ack. Sunflower, I’m not sure Quintessa can . . . uh, well, maybe you should go check on Yedda,” Wildflower said.

Quintessa floated while in loaf shape, making a very serious face. *So serious.* She floated over the trio while trying not to giggle. Her need to chuckle subsided as she and Wildflower gilded gracefully over some cats. “Now where are you?” she murmured.

Frostsong padded around, creating random ice spikes due to shock. *I should have foreseen it! Should have stopped five cats from dying!* She sat down bitterly. *Moon left to find someone, and she’s alone.* She saw Quintessa flying around and motioned with her tail, but she stopped. *She’s probably looking for Dune or Wildflower or someone.*

Quintessa stopped. Stared. “Frostsong!” She placed her and Wildflower down a few feet away and ran up, purring like crazy. “You’re okay!” She noticed the ice spikes. “And your powers have grown stronger. . .” She grinned widely. “We have so much catching up to do. We haven’t talked in a while! Have you met Yedda yet?” She turned for a moment, pricking her ears. *“Yedda!* Where is that crazy she-cat?” She turned back to Frostsong, waving her paw dismissively. “It doesn’t matter. She can meet you later.”

“Frostsong!” Wildflower almost squealed. “I’m so glad you’re not dead! Whoa, your ice spikes so pointy. And cold.” They shivered from the cold radiating from the ice. They weren’t even touching the ice. “I wonder if I’ve gained any new skills.” They screwed up their face and concentrated their energy on, well, producing magic. And then a pretty songbird appeared. “Wow. That’s so cool,” they said. “Maybe we should eat it.”

“I don’t think so,” Frostsong said, frowning slightly. “Anyway, it’s awesome to see you two again!”

Robin looked around. . . Of course she wouldn’t go home. What was there to go home to? Just a barren land and an empty cave. She looked around at the other cats sitting around her — some with sad, depressed expressions, probably about the cats that were lost while fighting. Even though she didn’t know them, she felt the pain. It was like a thousand sharp blades in your body — only the pain wouldn’t go away. . . She padded over to a quiet corner and tried her best to help her swelling wound, but she couldn’t. She couldn’t heal. She was useless at fixing things; the only way she might survive was to find a cat with healing powers. So she shouted at the top of her lungs for any cat with healing to help. Only time would tell how long she had.

Nest had witnessed over eight cats die since her arrival. Three of them were killed here. Two were suicide. One had just . . . disappeared. She didn’t know what had happened to him. The worst part was that she was the only one who seemed to notice. This was wrong. She could feel the ground trembling around her as if the earth itself was angry at the unjustifiable loss. She had spent her whole life without an objective away from other cats . . . and yet she had never been so alone.

Robin looked over and saw a cat looking just as miserable as her. She wandered over. “You okay there?” As she sat down, she hissed with pain from her legs, but tried to hide it from the she-cat. “I’m Robin, by the way,” she said as she smiled — which was something she hadn’t done in a while.

Nest looked at Robin carefully. “My name is Nest,” she told her. She had seen another cat who had pretended to make friends with other cats just to betray them, and she hoped that this cat wasn’t like that. “How long have you been here?” she asked, becoming a little more friendly.

“I came here two Waits ago. I haven’t really talked to anyone, though. Well, except you, of course,” Robin said, looking at Nest. “You probably haven’t seen me around, though. I stay in the shadows. You’re Forgotten, right? I saw you come out of rock.” She stopped and looked at Nest. “I’m really sorry you’ve been forced into this.”

Nest shrugged. “I don’t really care where I end up, as long as it isn’t where I came from.” She looked at the dwindling group of cats. “It feels so . . . empty.” She turned back to Robin. “So many cats have died recently . . . is it always like this?”

“I guess it is. I knew one of the cats who died.” Robin stopped and took a deep breath. “No one even really cared except really close friends. I just guess some only want to win; they’re not here to make friends or make relationships — just win. . .” A silence grew between them. “This Wait layout doesn’t help. So bland and bleak, not to mention a cliff over there. Harnor is really trying, I sense. Anyway, enough of this sad stuff. Let’s talk about something else. Um, what powers do you have?” she meowed as she tried to think of happier things, which there weren’t much of right now. . .

“Well . . . I can make the ground quake, and sometimes a glowing blue sphere will appear around me. What can you do?” Nest asked.

“I can make small spaces dark, and turn invisible for a few seconds in the shadows.” Robin started licking her open wound on the other side of her leg from the last Test, trying to stop the blood. The wound was barely healed and had a chance of infection.

Nest winced at Robin’s leg. She couldn’t believe she hadn’t noticed it until now. “How did that happen?” She was sure that it would get infected if it wasn’t treated soon.

“In the last Test, when I was trying to fight the plant monster, I ran at it while invisible. I damaged it, but it retaliated and a thick vine covered in sharp thorns smacked into my side,” Robin quickly replied, realizing Nest was looking at her still gently oozing wound on the side of her leg.

The cats got an . . . unsettling feeling. On the breeze and in the air, they could sense something was coming. The next Test was coming. They could all feel it on the breeze. No one would be able to stop it. They all knew blood loss would be worse than ever. The only way was to prepare.

More and more cats focused on their power, for they believed it to be the only way.

A single red feather drifted to the ground. Red, just like the future blood.

Nest felt bad about staying away from the plant monster now. It had done so much damage and she had done nothing about it. She knew that not all of that could have been prevented, but she should have tried. “Why is it so . . . cold?”

Robin looked at Nest strangely until she suddenly realized something was wrong. “Are you okay, Nest? It seems like something is wrong.”

Newt was suddenly just there. No explanations, no nothing. He was there. Where, he didn’t know; all he did know was the floor was particularly cold for sand. And slippery. Quickly, the tom glanced down at his feet. Ice. There was ice around his paws. Tentatively, he started to step off the ice and onto the sand. But with every paw he moved, a new circle of ice appeared, taunting him like it was laughing, mocking how he couldn’t escape it. The time spent in the arctic, he had been walking on ice. He hoped that this would be an escape, but no, the ice had followed him here. So he ran. Trails of ice followed him wherever he went. As he sprinted away, the tiny rinks got further and further apart until something caused him to to stop. Looking at his paws, he saw ice spikes had appeared in front of him. But then, looking down, he saw he was on ice over a cliff edge. And it was cracking. Slowly, he shuffled his paws around.

*But just as Newt turned, he saw Lizzy. Standing right there.*

And then she was gone. Slowly, Newt walked towards the cliffside — and then blood. Blood on the ground. Blood on his paws. Blood in his mouth. He stumbled back in shock and the ice gave way under him. Just in time, he grabbed the cliff edge, hanging on as tightly as he could. If ice formed now, he knew he would either fall or be trapped there until the ice melted and his paws went numb. Then he would fall. He had seen some other cats trying incredibly hard to get their powers to work, but not him. His worked all the time. Maybe if he tried very hard to stop them . . . concentrating, he began to pull himself up the cliffside paw by paw. He felt ice spikes forming occasionally, but most of the time, none appeared. Then his front paws reached the top. Now he let the ice form around them. Trapping his paws. He used his back legs to haul himself up, and the moment he was safe, he pulled himself to his paws and ran from the cliff edge, followed by a trail of ice.

Suddenly, Frostsong’s smile disappeared. “I smell blood,” she whispered. “Something is coming. From Harnor. We need to prepare! Do you want to practice with our powers together?”

Quintessa smiled brightly. “Of course! Wildflower, would you like to start us off with your powers?”

“Sure! I can make a lot of fire and grow lots of plants! Maybe I’ll grow a tree.” Wildflower concentrated for a moment, then grew a small sapling from a patch of stoney-dirty-dusty patch. Making the small tree grow bigger was an easy task, and green maple leaves filled the cavern as the tree grew bigger and bigger. “Whew,” they sighed when they were done. “What about you guys?”

“I can go next,” said Quintessa. Her tail swished in the rhythm of an unknown beat. Her eyes started glowing. She unknowingly lifted herself in the air, surrounded by an aura of sunset colors swirling around her. She let out a blast of freezing air right over Wildflower and Frostsong’s heads, directly missing them, then a wave of heat. She then surrounded herself with her wind, creating a shield to be reckoned with. After her large display of power, she slowly put herself back down without a word, then gave each of her friends a little smile.

“Woah,” Wildflower breathed. “That was so cool. I didn’t know you could do that!”

Frostsong smirked. This was fun! She created a freezing ice spike that whizzed right above their heads, piercing the stone behind them. Then she formed an ice rink and did a triple axel. After, she skated over to a large rock and froze it down to the core. With a quick flick of her tail on the rock, the ice shattered, bringing the rock with it.

“Wow. What?” Wildflower exclaimed. “Where did you learn that?!” They proceeded to light their maple on fire, which made it much warmer, but also made a lot of smoke. “Not — not a good idea,” they coughed.

Frostsong started coughing. She froze the maple, which stopped smoking. “Can you juggle fire or something?” she asked curiously.

Quintessa picked up the rock shards with her powers, levitating them a foot into the air before directing and shooting them into a rock wall, them sticking there. She blew away the smoke caused by the fire Wildflower made, giving her friends a playful look as she used her wind to tickle them gently.

*Unknowingly, Frostsong’s eyes glowed a dark gray. But she felt it. “Another vision. . .'' she murmured. But this time, darkness crashed over her. What? When she rose again, she was in the same place, but she saw blood everywhere. A single red feather floated to the ground, untainted with blood.* Harnor.

“Frostsong?” Wildflower gasped. “What’s wrong?”

Frostsong continued practicing even after her super creepy vision. *I have to get stronger. . .* She was very exhausted. Suddenly, time stopped. Literally. She was glowing bright silver and the world around her was black-and-white. No one moved. She explored this time stop. *Did I do this?* Suddenly, color rushed back and time started moving again. *Cool!* She breathed out an exhausted sigh. She created an ice rink and started skating. She suddenly felt someone breathe beside her. “Who’s there?”

*A translucent cat padded towards Frostsong.*

 “Winterwish?” Frostsong whispered. This couldn’t be! Winterwish was dead! “But you’re dead!” she whispered to Winterwish.

*“I’m dead to everyone else. But you can summon and communicate with me,” Winterwish said in a distant, ethereal voice. “Keep practicing your powers!” he said before he disappeared.*

Frostsong formed an ice rink, skating around and trying to make sense of what just happened. She was so frustrated, she created an ice spike and shot it above her. Pebbles came raining down, but they didn’t bother her. Soon larger stones came raining down, and then large rocks. She was alarmed and started panicking. Then she realized she could make an ice shield. She quickly made one and prayed it would hold. Cracks began forming in her shield and she sent another surge of energy to fix it. She was so tired. She waited until the rocks stopped falling, and with the last bit of her energy, she froze the cracks her ice spike made, and her world blacked out.