"Jump, Lark!" Lark sprang into the air, her lean body twisting in the air. Citrus watched her sister, like a hawk in how swiftly she handled herself as she flew across the field. Her paws reached for the leaf pile they were using as the prey. Just like that, her sister crashed onto the pile, the leaves flying in her face. Opening her eyes, the blue pools landed on Blaze, and she sought recognition.

    Lark makes these jumps seem easy, Citrus thought, proud that Lark was making progress. She couldn't jump as far, even when she made sure to stretch out before training. Blaze gave her tips and pointers next time, and Lark caught onto them and used them, easily adding them into her leaps and bounds. She struggled to apply them, keep her posture up, and land gracefully.

    What other role would Lark choose, if she couldn't be a hunter? Although seeing Lark not achieve her dream of becoming a cat that could slip through trees and flow with the river was hard, for the past moon or two, Citrus had always seen Lark train herself harder when it came to hunting.

    "That's much better than the last time I saw you," Blaze noted, pointing to a small pebble. Lark and Citrus's eyes warmed at the sight of the gray rock, a marker to how far the brown she-cat could reach the last time she had seen him. Now, compared to where her sister landed, Citrus could've mistaken the jump for a kit's.

    "I'm always training and striving to be like you." Lark flicked her tail with her honest opinion. "Now that you're all fancy and a Beta, it means I have to try harder. I'm not going to be a drag on you or your reputation."

    "You won't be a drag unless you keep this up," Blaze growled. "If you keep comparing yourself to my skills, you'll find yourself making silly mistakes." Lark's eyes widened and she nodded. "I don't want to see you banished from the Tribe."

    "Right! No mistakes! Nothing! Bad mistakes will send me to the Tribe of Never-Ending Shadows where all those rotting Imperfects go when they die," Lark stated, her voice lowering and fur rising. Citrus nodded, making Blaze smile.

    Citrus couldn't remember a single day in her life that their guardians didn't remind them about the consequences of making mistakes and joining the Tribe of Endless Stars. Seeing the Imperfect cat already made her sick to her stomach. Apple claimed that imperfection could be a disease and made sure to clean himself thoroughly each day. She didn't want to join a tribe that had Imperfect cats.

    If imperfection was the stench of rotting animals and the bare tree branches in the cold wind, then perfection was the smell of daisies and the lush green forest with the branches reaching to the sun.

    I remember when I first learned about the difference between us and Imperfects and how the Tribe of Shining Suns refuses to deal with their suffering. How can they live their life suffering over and over, knowing that they risk failing and making mistakes? Do they not know about the Tribe of Endless Stars and Tribe of Never-Ending Shadows?

    However, there was one thought that had crossed her mind at the time, and she acted upon it. If they were suffering and the Tribe of Shining Suns wasn't going to help, then she would. There might've been a way to change the Imperfects, but they wouldn't truly be perfect. It could end their suffering, she argued. Changing a cat isn't easy, though. They're most likely going to fight against my plan.

    That was the only other option she had thought of and the latter seemed like the easiest plan. Eliminate all the Imperfects for good. Slaughter the kits and kill the parents. Make sure there weren't any other cats that bore the imperfection disease.

    If she was going to do that, she needed to train harder and improve her skills in combat. Citrus shook her head from her thoughts. She'd tell the others her plan later, and when they were older. Her plan would do nothing now when she hadn't even joined the Tribe of Shining Suns.

    "Citrus, it's your turn. Lark, find Maple and tell her it's time to switch." The she-cat nodded at the order and whirled around, marching proudly. Each step, Citrus observed, was raised at the same length as she walked away, tail waving in the air like a flag. It was a representation of how she would have walk in the Tribe of Shining Suns. Blaze turned to Citrus. "Now, what do you struggle with the most?"

    Citrus frowned. I'm good at all the skills... should I ask for a challenge?

    "How about everything?" Citrus asked. "I'm good, but not perfect." Blaze's eyes lit up at the word, and she felt a sense of pride flood over her at her brother's approval.

    "You're just like Mother," he meowed, a smiling cracking on his face. Citrus' heart fluttered at the memory of her soft pelt wrapped around her as she slept beside all of her siblings.

    "Could you tell her when you see her again that we miss her?" Citrus asked.

    "The next time I see her is when I return with you, remember?" Blaze reminded with a chuckle. "I will let you know, she's looking forward to the day when she can have all of us back together. The days she spent without us were hard, but the memories of us all of us together kept her going."

    "Then I hope when she sees me again, she'll welcome me with open paws," she said.

    Any mother had to leave her kits when the youngest was able to eat real food. With Cherry being the youngest, Citrus and the others had to leave and spend a few moons until the she-cat was able to eat proper food, and then she was reunited with her little sister. A mother's job was short and simple in Citrus's mind. Find a mate, have kits, wait until the current kits at the Training Den finish the Test, and then take their kits to the Training Den. Then go back to their original job, or have another litter.

    "Blaze," Apple said, padding through the tall grass and into the field. "Maple said I'm with you, and Citrus is with her, along with Cherry."

    "Thank you for teaching me today, Blaze." With that, Citrus walked off, keeping her strides even the whole time.

    She did her best not to make it look like she was straining herself with both of her brothers watching her back the entire time. Back in the nursery, when Dandelion told her she had to be perfect, she had complained. She had to make sure that her strides were even, her pelt was groomed well, and that her actions were perfect – battling and hunting too. Once she was moved into the Training Den and had constant work to do, she found herself doing daily activities with ease, becoming more natural as days ticked on.

    If this keeps up, I'll be perfect and won't have to worry about the Test.

    Citrus found her other two sisters practicing their battle moves, with Maple instructing Cherry. Maple was swinging her paws, and Cherry mimicked her every move, down to how Maple's tail moved, her paw steps, her breath - everything. Citrus watched the two from where she sat, both aware of her presence. Maple took a leap, touching her paws against the ground. Her sister followed, her paws landing differently, but still landed her without harm.

    "I'm sorry!" Cherry wailed. "I-I tried so hard and still failed..."

    "No, it's fine. I struggled when I was first learning too. Besides, the land was only a few inches off, it wasn't a big deal," Maple tried to reassure her sister, only making Cherry worry more. Despite her attempts, her older sister couldn't stop the cream she-cat's quicksand mind.

    "No! I wouldn't get to see you anymore! I can't be making any more mistakes! I have to stop all my clumsiness!" Cherry whined. Lark appeared from the bushes and her face dropped at the sound of Cherry. She sighed and walked up to her, pushing away Maple.

    "It's okay, you've got eight more moons left. You'll be able to master it all in no time with all of us helping you." Cherry lifted her head and faced the muddy she-cat. Lark gave her a wide grin and the two embraced. Despite Lark's desire to be a hunter, Citrus always thought that Lark would make a good mother. Lark treasured her family over anything and didn't want to see any of her siblings in danger. Maple had the signs of a mother, but she loved the entire Tribe, where Lark was focused on her family.

    "But you'll all be gone! And I'll be lonely! Even Speck and Pebble will be gone! I'll be alone and only have you guys when you visit." Cherry picked up her fear. Lark sighed, whispering into her ear to soothe her.

    Citrus stepped up. "I'm going to be a scouter, and that means I'll get to travel to the Training Den and back to the Tribe. So maybe each time I do, I can visit you."

    Cherry eyes lit up happily and the tears were shining with new hope. "Really?" she asked. Her spirit was lifted, allowing Lark to leave and Maple to nod, acting like she had contributed.

    "Promise." Citrus's emerald green eyes flashed. The sight of Cherry's smile was something she looked forward to every day. Her carefree and loving personality during their training made her happy and took away her worries. I do love you, Cherry, Blaze, Maple, Arrow, and Lark.

    "Citrus, I see it's my turn with you. What do you want to work on? You know my specialty, so anything I teach you, you'll get!" Maple boasted, fluffing out her fur and facing the bright sun. She let out the breath she had sucked in and laughed, trying to make her smile.

    "Anything that's not hunting," Citrus replied, smirking at a certain muddy brown she-cat's reaction.

    "What?!" Lark exclaimed, and Cherry laughed. "Why wouldn't you want to hunt? We need to eat food to live! Hunting is the way we get food! Unless you want to starve! I, for one thing, like living with all of you! Starving isn't fun!"

    "It's fun seeing you overact," Citrus said and Lark exploded.

    "Stop making fun of me! I'm not four moons old anymore!" Cherry sharply elbowed her and Lark slipped, crashing onto her side. Maple didn't punish her, but her eyes scanned the area for any guardians that happened to be spying. Citrus helped Lark to her paws and she growled.

    "Why... I hate this!" Lark growled, flattening her ears.

    "You're fine, Spark wasn't around to hurt you," Cherry reassured. "Maple wouldn't hurt you, right?"

    "I would," Maple replied with a shrug. "I'm just really lazy right now and don't feel like getting up." Her amber eyes flashed with mischief and Citrus couldn't help herself but laugh. Cherry stared at her older sister with a look of disapproval.

    "Wow, so do you do this at the Tribe?" Lark asked, raising an eyebrow. "I'm sure the Alpha enjoys it, knowing that one guardian on break is as lazy as an old squirrel. In fact, I'll make sure to hunt that lazy rodent and then it'll regret ever being a bump on a log!"

    "So then, how about hiding? I'm sure that fat squirrel is going to need that in order to survive a teeny bit longer," Maple offered. Lark rolled her eyes.

    "Sure! Will I be trying to sneak up on you, or will you be doing that to me?" Citrus jumped in before Lark could make a come-back.

    "You three," Maple said to them. "Are going to be trying to sneak up on me. I'll let Blaze know what I'm doing so he doesn't send Apple over to me and realizes that we're all gone because we're all aware of how he reacts when something is changed in the plan without him knowing." Lark's appeared flustered and Cherry whisked her tail over her paws, the two sisters obviously remembering their trick.

    "I don't need to explain any further, right?"

    "No---"

    "So we try to find you?" Cherry asked, latching onto a plan. Citrus and Lark exchanged a look, understanding what she was doing. Cherry was best at stalling, driving any cat insane by asking the most obvious questions. This time, Cherry had her sights on Maple. If she could drive Maple away by eliminating the hardest hiding places, it would leave all of them an opening. It it took was time and Citrus's and Lark's patience not to burst out laughing and give away the plan.

    "That's the whole point of this," Maple said. Her green eyes studied the two older sisters very carefully. Citrus changed her face into a confused look, and Lark looked disgusted at Cherry's questions, but she caught on, to her dismay.

    "So, like, hiding in plain sight? Since that's one of the best places to hide? So we have to search in the tall grass, trees, and under shadows?" Cherry had a talent for acting like she didn't know what she was doing, something Citrus wanted. Her voice was timid, hopefully Maple couldn't pick out that it sounded too timid.

    "Yes, now that---"

    "So we have to look in certain places, what about boundaries? Any of those?"

    "How about the Training Den to the path here and back?" Maple padded off before Cherry could unleash anymore questions.

    She's smart, but I'll ask her, but if she doesn't know... Ahh, if only I could read minds. Lark was the first to speak up once Maple was out of ear-range.

    "Looks like Maple found out, sorry Cherry."

    Cherry shook her head. "You guys might've seen it as my old trick, but really, I just wanted time to talk with Maple."

    "But you'll see her for the next two moons!" Lark argued.

    "But by then, Citrus will be gone as well," Cherry murmured. "Then I'll have Apple and you. Then Apple will have to leave me, then you. Speck and Pebble will leave shortly, leaving me all alone."

    "I said I would visit," Citrus reminded. "You do know that we'll all be in the Tribe, right? We're all going to pass the Test." Citrus looked at Lark, who gave her a nod of confidence, boosting Cherry's worry. "Those moons you'll have to yourself, we'll be suffering the same pain because we're not all together."

    The muddy brown she cat nodded. "Yeah, we'll all pass the Test and be together with Mother!" she declared, puffing out her chest. Cherry smiled and stood up, mimicking the she-cat's action. Lark cracked up laughing and hugged her close, where the cream cat melted like honey in the embrace.

    I wish moments like these would never end. Citrus spoke up again to complete her sentence. "When we're all in the Tribe, it'll be---"

"Perfect," Cherry finished the sentence. Her eyes itched for praise, and she squealed when Lark shoved her to the ground in a playful mood. Her blue pools sparked with excitement and Cherry managed to push Lark off her pelt and get up. Smoothing out her pelt, she stuck her tongue out at her sister before giggling.

    "Yes," Citrus purred in agreement. "Perfect."