— Aster —

Leaning against the door I took one final deep breath before taking in the room. My heart stopped, as I caught sight of a tiger sitting across the room. The panic quickly faded when I noticed something, it was small. About the size of a medium dog.

Once I was done having a heart attack, I finally noticed the rest of the room. It looked like a nursery with lots of oversized toys. Even though the tiger was young. I didn't feel any danger from the kitten and reached for the key. The "Cat" noticed and pounced. I panicked yanking my arm back, causing me to jump back into the door.

"Ow." I was rubbing the back of my head when I felt a light tap on my leg. Turning I saw the kitten running a few feet away and stopping. Taking the chance I read the plaque.

Rule No. 6

Cats are Playful

Looking down at the kitten, it was looking at me expectantly. Thus we began to play. I say play, but it was more of me chasing after it. No matter how fast I ran I couldn’t catch up. Eventually, I fell to the ground unable to run anymore. While laying on the ground the "Cat" walked up to me curiously. Right, when it began sniffing my hand I reached for the key. The kitten jumped back right out of my reach slightly startled, but it didn't run away. I thought it was a game. This process repeated until I sat up. “I need to try something else.”

Sitting up, I surveyed the room looking for something. One item stood out; a fishing line with a bunch of feathers where the hook would be.

Casting the line out toward the "Cat", I began to jostle it around trying to gain its interest. Its eyes grew wide at seeing the feathers move. Its hesitation didn't last long before it pounced on it.

That was my queue. Lunging forward I caught the kitten from the air and pulled the key from around its neck. The kitten didn’t struggle; it licked me.

Finally, I was able to enter the final room.

The final room was a small fully furnished bedroom. It was a bright room with bright colors, like something you would see in a kid's room. The only way out was a door on the sidewall. There was no plaque. In fact, when I tried the door I found it was unlocked. Opening the door I found a full bathroom, with a sink and shower. How do I get out of here then? The final door and “Cat” must be somewhere in this room. I reasoned.

I began my search in earnest. I was tired, worn, and slightly scratched up. Even in my tired state, I was careful, I knew I couldn't make a mistake or it would start all over again. I did not want to go through that jungle again. Slowly, I hunted for the exit, the cat, or the plaque. I was looking for anything, finding nothing. What is going on here?

I don’t know how long I was searching before I began to ponder on the nature of energy. I can use it to feel inside locks, which allows me to see sharper, muffle the sounds I make. I can cover picks and manipulate locks. “What if…”

I focused on my will, envisioning what I wanted. I felt my eyes warm as the largest stream of mana cascaded out of them. This trick was something I figured out after learning to feel the inside of the locks. I thought if it can work small why not a little larger scale. I could feel every nook and cranny within about ten feet in front of me. For some reason, I could feel the things I could see the clearest. Everything else was slightly out of focus, but even with that limitation this trick let me feel something on the floor. Focusing on the area, a shimmer appeared on the floor snapping a trap door into focus.

When I took a step toward the door, my knees buckled as a wave of exhaustion flooded over me. The mana I was casting out stopped, and I barely kept my balance as a wave of tiredness flooded over me. My eyes tried to drift closed. To stay awake I focused on the door. It was partially covered by a rug. No wonder I couldn’t find it. While focusing, something else appeared on the door. The final plaque had appeared.

Rule No. 7

Cats like to Hide

I was so close, I only need to find the hiding cat now.

At first, I tried not to disturb anything in the room, but after a while of finding nothing, I got frustrated. I began tearing the room apart, finding nothing in it at all. I was about to flip the bed over when I saw it. Next to the bed frame was the “Cat”. It was so tiny, and the fact that it was visible shocked me. I had been looking everywhere for it and thought for sure it was gonna be invisible. The thing was the same size as the key. I calmed myself and gently picked up the tiny kitten that fit in my palm. Gently, I took the key.

All that was left was to find the keyhole. The problem was there wasn’t one, but when I got close to the door with the key another plaque appeared.

Leave not a trace or there is no lock.

"UUUUUUUGggggggghhhhhhhhhhh." The room was a disaster area.

“I’ll never straighten this out.” Instead of wasting my time trying to get the room perfect. I decided to start back in room one. “I'd rather face the panther than clean this up.”

Each time I restarted Jane would ask what room, laughing when I told her of the last one. This time was no different "Yeah, most people do the same. But gotta tell you those who do clean it up instead always miss something." A shiver shot through me, thinking on the idea of cleaning the entire room, only to find I missed something.

Heading back out, I began again. I only screwed up a couple of times, before I made it all the way back to the final room. This time as I searched, I was careful not to move anything. I found the kitten hidden in the same spot, grabbed the key, and found the keyhole to the trap door. I watched the key disintegrate, and opened the door only to see darkness.

Tired of the whole process I practically fell through the door. Tumbling in the air landing lightly on my feet on the hard stone ground. The light illuminated the room, blinding me for a second. “Congratulations! You made it!” Jane rubbed my hair, then put her arm around my neck. “You know most people screw up a lot more on the panther. Not to mention the playful tiger, and that last room. The damn thing is so hard to find. So how many times do you think you took?”

I stopped counting after ten, so I guessed “Twenty-four?”

“It was twenty-two! Not bad. Not bad. Any questions? I can answer them now.” She let go of me and stood in a teacher-like pose.

She wasn’t allowed to answer them before?’I thought of all the questions I had piled up since the start. “So I get the first three rooms, in terms of stealth, but what was the deal with the others?”

“That's more about what you have to do when you sneak around.”

“?” I don’t think my brain was working.

“Okay, let me explain from the beginning. The first door is as though you’re following someone who has no reason to be suspicious or suspect anyone. The second is similar but paranoid. You know, ready to pounce or run at any sign of being touched. The third was someone watching and waiting to run away. Someone who knows they're being followed and looking for the opportunity to run. The fourth room is about catching someone else who is distracted but still vigilant. This tends to happen a lot. Also, the first room scenario is way more common than you might think. Anyway, the fifth room was about getting past someone, like an alert guard waiting to take out some frustration. The sixth, yes, it has a point. Sometimes to get what you need, you need to do something that is a little out there. The final room is a simple one. Find your target and get out without a trace.

It kind of made sense but in the broadest of ways. “Sounds kind of flimsy.”

“Try saying that after getting caught by the panther.” I felt the blood drain from my face.

“That might change my perspective.” In an effort to change the subject. “So the cats are metaphors for people?”

She poked my nose. “Right on the nose! Now get some sleep. Day two starts early.” I could see a mischievous gleam in her eye as she spoke. This won’t end well for me.

After she left the room, an overwhelming wave of tiredness passed through me. I barely made it to my bed.