Note: This story takes place on Thundera many years before its destruction. As such characters you are familiar with will be significantly younger.

TYGRA'S TEST

Tygra sat on a log with his three class mates. They were all roughly the same age and had apprenticed under Master Black Claw for many years. It was a typical Tiger ritual that within a month of a child's sixteenth birthday they would partake in a test to determine whether or not they were worthy of being Thundercats.

Bengalia was the youngest of the bunch, she had barely squeaked into the group. She was attractive with pale orange hair marked with several black stripes. She was usually in good humor and today was no exception. She and Tygra got along the best of any of the four.

Stripes was a Tiger whose body seemed to have more stripes than any other in his clan. He was something of a smart aleck, playing pranks and performing careless stunts to impress both Bengalia and Ghost.

Ghost was the fourth member of the group. She was from the northern clans and bore the markings of the White Tigers. Her white hair and black stripes were usually shrouded by a dark cloak that, it was speculated, was made from the hair of those who had dared to cross her. She seemed surrounded by mystery. She spoke little and did little with the others, keeping to herself.

The group was sitting quietly, waiting for their mentor to arrive. After all this time of training they were eager for their final lesson to begin. "Some day I'm going to be the bravest Thundercat of all. I'll be fighting side by side with the heroes of Thundera fighting for justice, truth, honor and loyalty," Stripes said, standing on top of a slightly larger log. A small dagger appeared in his hand and he threw it with amazing accuracy at a nearby tree.

Tygra was the first to sense a shift in the air. Then he saw the disturbance. Behind Stripes, with Tygra in front of him, Black Claw appeared, dispensing with his invisibility spell. The old master crouched and pounced on Stripes, knocking him to the ground. Five razor sharp talons protruded from his glove as he looked down at the youngster. "If you're going to play with weapons, never let your guard down," Black Claw hissed.

"Alright, kiddies. It's time for you to go out there and earn your names. Somewhere in this small forest is the temple of the tiger. Inside you will find the ancient one, the legends say he's the very first Tiger to set foot on Thundera. You must find your way through the temple to him and ask him to name you a Thundercat," Black Claw said, "I will be with you at all times, although the code of Thundera prohibits me from interfering at all unless your lives are in danger. You need not stay together, in fact when I took the test I went alone. If you're not out in one week you will be deemed failures. Dismissed!"

The four scooped up their packs from the ground and made their first hesitant steps into the forest beyond. As they did so a second figure appeared beside Black Claw. "How many of them do you think will make it?" the leaner man asked.

"Good morning, Tigris, glad you could be here on such a momentous day. Stripes won't make it, I'm sure of that much. Ghost probably will, she's got most of the skills. Tygra and Bengalia? I'm not sure. It depends on if they can keep their minds on the job and their hands off each other," Black Claw said.

"Now, the first thing we need to do is figure out where this temple is going to be. Bengalia, why don't you climb to the top of that tree and see if you can find it. Ghost, we're going to need food at some point. If you can catch something, that would be great. I'll gather firewood and Stripes will forage for berries and such. The more food we can gather the better," Tygra said, resisting the urge to look up Bengalia's skirt as she climbed the tree.

"Why do you get to make all the decisions?" Ghost asked.

"Do you have a better plan?" Tygra remarked.

"Not at the moment," Ghost conceded.

"Good. Then we'll do it my way for now. If you come up with a better plan, tell me," Tygra said.

The four waited a good five minutes until Bengalia slid down the tree. "As best I can tell, there's some building somewhere to the north," she reported.

"North it is then, unless you have another suggestion?" Tygra said, pointedly looking at Ghost.

"North is as good a direction as any," Ghost shrugged.

"Figures. They always head north. Wonder why that is," Tigris said.

"It is a trial to see if they can identify illusions, not just create them. The trial is designed to make them think that north is correct," Black Claw replied.

The foursome had traveled for three hours, taking few breaks. As it was getting late, Ghost flitted off to find them food. Stripes and Tygra also disappeared to fulfil their tasks. Bengalia went about unrolling the four sleeping bags and made a quick survey from the tree tops. Again she could see what looked like a large structure in the distance, but there was something nagging at the back of her mind. This was far too easy. She'd wondered when she had first seen it. This was, after all, a test. As though confirming her doubts the building faded away to reveal nothing but trees. She quietly cursed herself for not trusting her instincts sooner. She could only imagine what the others would say when they found out.

"Pathetic," Ghost said.

"You're kidding right? I mean, you're just saying this to get us to lighten up, right?" Stripes asked.

"I wish I was. I guess I only saw what I wanted to see. It was stupid of me not to realize it sooner," Bengalia said.

"No it wasn't. Obviously this test is designed to determine our abilities. We'll just have to try a different direction," Tygra said, placing his hand on her shoulder. After a quick meal they assigned watches and the rest slept.

The sun rose over the forest, sending rays of light through the trees on to the three sleeping tigers and their guard, Stripes. "Rise and shine, everyone. It's time to head in a different direction," he said, nudging the others with his foot.

"Which direction do we go?" Tygra asked.

"Well, it stands to reason that they would design their illusion to take us as far away from our destination as possible," Ghost said.

"In other words, you believe we should head south?" Tygra asked.

"That would appear to be what I suggested. Unless you have a better idea," Ghost said.

As they walked, Stripes couldn't help voicing his opinions. "I wonder if this whole forest isn't one big illusion. I mean, if they can come up with a large building, couldn't they invent the forest too?"

"Fool. With an illusion you have an object that to the naked eye appears real but isn't. We couldn't touch trees, eat deer or drink water if this were indeed an illusion," Ghost said.

"Alright, so the forest isn't an illusion, but what if there's a path somewhere that is obscured by illusion. Isn't that possible?" Stripes asked.

"Theoretically. Given the nature of our trial, it would also make sense," Ghost replied, amazed that Stripes had come up with a possible solution.

"Instinctively we should be able to identify an illusion from the real thing. Is there anything around here that casts some doubt in your mind?" Bengalia asked. The four looked around, examining every tree and every bush, hoping to find something. They didn't.

"Maybe we will when get back to where we started. I would expect an illusion to begin there so that, in theory, you could find a direct route once you entered," Tygra said.

Black Claw stalked slowly behind the recruits. They were admittedly doing better than he'd expected. It had taken himself two whole days before he'd realized the mistake. Many didn't know it until they reach the phantom building and found it was only a stone statue of the first Tiger with a humorous expression on his face, mocking them almost for going the wrong way. No one knew how this forest had come about or who had designed it this way. Many even wondered just what other secrets it held. Ships flying over it claimed they could see nothing, although many agreed that even as they watched the pattern of the trees shifted. Black Claw ran a little to keep up and soon watched eagerly as they encountered the next stage of their test.

"Hold up a moment," Ghost hissed. The others looked at her quizzically, "I can hear movement through the tree tops," she added.

Tygra nodded, going into a defensive crouch. He pulled a small tablet out of his belt and swallowed it whole. He had always found creating illusions difficult. Long ago Black Claw had given him a bottle of specially designed tablets that would calm his nervous system and allow his mind to focus properly. The pill, as it usually did, worked almost instantaneously. An illusionary fallen tree appeared over where he and Bengalia were. Ghost and Stripes quickly moved under the illusion as well.

"Hoo, hoo. I thought you said there were Thundercats nearby," said an ape like voice.

"Hoo, hoo. I heard them and saw them too. They must have been alerted to us," a second voice replied.

"No matter, hoo, hoo, they must be around here somewhere. We'll find them better on the ground," a third voice said.

From their illusionary shelter the four youngsters could see four simians on the road behind them. They were headed towards their hideout. As they walked they were searching the ground and peering through the bushes. Then, as they had feared, one of them hopped up on to the "fallen tree" and fell through. Knowing they had to take full advantage of their opportunity, the four dashed out of hiding and attacked the apes.

Stripes decided to head for the one nearest to him, the one that had fallen through the tree. As he hammered his fists against the muscled body of the ape he began to remember one of Black Claw's lessons "Even the Panthers, the strongest Thundercats, have difficulty matching a monkey in a one on one fight. We Tigers must do what we do best, utilize the mind." Even as the thoughts echoed through his head, the ape grabbed his arms and flung him from his shoulders into a nearby tree.

Tygra and Bengalia charged at one of the nearest two apes, hoping to overwhelm it with shear numbers. With some effort they turned invisible as they did so, startling the ape. He backed off a step and began swinging wildly with his club. Tygra quickly rolled under a frantic swipe and put his shoulder into the ape's knee. Beside him he knew that Bengalia was doing the same. Soon the ape had fallen to the ground.

Ghost decided to play her favorite trick on this mutant. Few Tigers ever mastered the ability to make oneself intangible, but she had learned it early on. It merely served to add to the mystique of her name. The ape mutant, as predicted, assumed her to be an easy target. The baffled look on it's face only served to make Ghost laugh as it swung through her non-corporeal body.

"I've got the one by the log," Bengalia hissed at Tygra as the pair pounded the ape's head against the ground. Tygra nodded, though invisible. He grabbed a large branch from the ground and charged forward.

Ghost allowed the ape creature to tire himself out a little, swinging wildly at her. She quickly became tangible, connected with a kick to the mutant's jaw, and became intangible again. She found the switch from solid to ethereal to be more taxing than maintaining her phantom state but could endure a little pain in favor of a tremendous advantage.

The mutant was about to pick up Stripes, to finish him off, when a large serpent reared its head from the bushes beyond the Cat. The mutant backed off in terror at the sight, looking for it's weapon. Instead it found a young Tiger swinging his own club at his head.

Tygra moved quickly, the advantage of invisibility wouldn't hold out for long. Already he could feel the effects of the pills wearing off, and he didn't have time to take another. He cracked the branch across the mutant's knee cap and brought the end of it up to smash the ape's jaw. The mutant howled in pain and fell backwards. Tygra finished the job breaking the branch across his enemy's face.

Ghost watched as her companions gathered around. Her opponent had been felled easily. Tygra seemed shaken but no worse than before. Bengalia had a small scratch on her knee but was otherwise in peak condition. It was Stripes who worried them. He hadn't moved in the five minutes since he'd been thrown against the tree. Bengalia dispelled the serpent and checked for a pulse. "He's alive," she announced.

"Can we move him? The sooner we're away from here the better," Tygra said.

"I believe so. I'll carry him for a little while, then you take over," Bengalia said.

"They fight well," Tigris commented.

"Combat is but one part of being a Thundercat. We'll see how they fare when they reach the temple. Assuming they make it," Black Claw replied.

The temple was not that far away, as it turned out. The four, Stripes had wakened complaining of a headache, arrived with no further incidents within two more days. They all knew that they only had three more before they had to return.

The temple was a massive structure, measuring some ten stories tall and thirty meters wide. There was only one visible entrance and no windows. The door was made of gold, though it swung open with surprising ease. Ghost was the first to cross the threshold into the strange hall way. The walls were made of a strange orange rock with veins of black running through them. The floors had murals depicting Tigers in various acts. Some were dancing, some were eating, some were embroiled in a bitter fight. For so large a building they were surprised to see that there were only four doors. Above each door was their name.

"I guess we're intended to go into our own little rooms," Stripes said with a shrug.

"Obviously," scoffed Ghost before she and Stripes went opened their doors.

Bengalia and Tygra stood for a long moment looking at each other. "I guess this is good-bye, for now," Tygra said.

"I guess so. Good luck," Bengalia replied, kissing Tygra lightly on the cheek.

"You too," Tygra purred.

Tygra opened his door and entered a small room with what appeared to be wooden walls. In the middle was a tiger skin rug. This appeared to be the only feature of the room. He slowly made his way around the room, examining each section of the wall, searching for some clue that it might be an illusion. There were none. Instead he focused his attention on the rug. It seemed odd to put something like that in a room like this. As he reached down to inspect it a claw from the rug snatched his pouch from around his waist. "Hey!" he shouted, leaping away. The rug seemed to grow, gaining form. Tygra felt helpless. What could he do. Without his pouch he couldn't access his pills. "Help!" he cried, pounding on the door.

"It would appear that Tygra might not make it," Tigris said evenly.

"That's too bad. I hate having to perform first aid," Black Claw remarked.

The door flew open and Bengalia burst into the room. The door slammed shut behind her. "Thank goodness you're here. I need you to help me defeat the rug," Tygra said.

"No problem Tygra. It'll be a piece of cake once I perform the correct illusion," Bengalia replied. Instantly there was a larger tiger standing in front of the wall. The rug turned and glared at it before lunging at it head first. It struck the wall with a sickening thud and returned to rug form. "You saved my life," Tygra said, moving to try and find his pouch.

"Wrong, Tiger. I've come to take your life!" Bengalia hissed, lunging at her stunned companion.

"What are you doing?" Tygra asked, trying to block Bengalia's punches.

"What does it look like? Hmm. Not a bad idea," Bengalia said, turning invisible. Tygra felt a massive weight strike him in the chest, causing him to fall on to his back. He had to get up. The only way to beat her would be to use some of his powers, but without his pills, he couldn't, could he? "Here's a little secret, love. Only one of us is allowed to survive in here. That's what I was told in my room. I've already disposed of Ghost and Stripes. Now it's your turn," Bengalia said, from somewhere in front of him. Tygra backed away. For the briefest moment he considered allowing Bengalia to win, she deserved it more than he did anyway, but then a thought occurred to him. What if she was an illusion?

Tygra closed his eyes and concentrated harder than he'd ever concentrated in his life. He had to succeed. He couldn't let himself perish here! "Where did you go, lover boy?" Bengalia said, startled. Tygra opened his eyes. He was invisible. He couldn't believe it. Maybe he could win. "I'm over here," Tygra said, creating an illusion of himself next to where he now stood. Bengalia chuckled. "So trusting. That will be your downfall," she said even as she tumbled through the illusion. Tygra jumped on her back and grabbed her arms, twisting them so that they almost broke. Bengalia faded away from view, as did the tiger rug. A second door appeared on the back wall. As he stood to leave, Tygra saw his pouch on the ground, he glared at it for a moment and proceeded without it through the door.

Bengalia, the real one this time, sat on a stone bench around a fountain. She had a massive welt on her right arm and a bloody scratch across her forehead. Stripes was alive and well, save for a few minor bruises mottling his body. Ghost was in the worst shape of all. The leggings of her trousers had been torn to ribbons and her left arm hung funny.

"Glad you could make it," Bengalia said, her voice indicating that she did not want to talk about her test.

"Now we're all together again," Stripes said cheerfully, ignoring Ghost's glare of hatred.

"What now?" Tygra asked.

"We're supposed to go see 'the first Tiger' one at a time. Who wants to go first?" Stripes asked.

"I will," Tygra said.

The scenery around Tygra shifted once more, taking him to a flowery meadow. An old Tiger walked slowly through the flowers, stopping occasionally to smell a brightly colored one. Tygra ran forward to greet the man. "Are you the first?" he asked.

The old man eyed Tygra with suspicion. "Perhaps. What is the code of Thundera?" the old man asked.

"To fight for truth, honor, justice, loyalty," Tygra replied instantly.

"What is the greatest strength of a Tiger?" the old man asked.

"His or her mind. The ability to discern truth from falsehood, reality from illusion and to deceive others when necessary by preying on their natural inadequacies in those same areas," Tygra recited.

"Now you tell me. Who am I? Am I the first?" the old man asked.

"No, I guess not," Tygra said.

"Why not?" the old man asked.

"Because you would have to be several hundred years old, and to do that you would have to have cheated death," Tygra replied.

"Can death not be cheated? How do you know that this forest doesn't magically keep me alive?" the old man asked.

"I don't. But I also sense that you are not wholly here. As though you are being controlled by someone else. Black Claw!" Tygra said suddenly.

"That, my friend, is correct," the old man said as he faded away. Black Claw stepped forward, becoming visible. "You have done well. You conquered your fears and stood for the code. I must admit that I began to worry when you felt attached to your pouch. Your love for Bengalia was strong, and yet you defeated her nonetheless. It would have been interesting to see if you would have killed her in time. That is neither here nor there. You have earned your right to be called a Thundercat. Tigris, come forward with the gift," Black Claw said. Tigris faded into existence and produced an insignia badge and a small bola whip. "These are yours to carry with pride. You have done well Tygra," Black Claw said, handing the objects to the new Thundercat.

Tygra beamed as he stood outside the forest, waiting for his friends to arrive. Bengalia emerged wearing a similar badge of honor and carrying a small hammer. The two embraced and sat waiting. After a time a dejected Ghost emerged. She barely glanced at the two and stalked home. Stripes looked disappointed, as he too had failed, but went home whistling a merry tune. "Shall we go celebrate?" Tygra asked.

"I think I would like that," Bengalia replied and the two walked away together, hand in hand.

THE END

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