The elevator doors slid open, and a burst of winter air rushed in, sending a chill down the Elemelon's spine.

Amidst the breeze, a dimly lit room lingered, its dimensions vague as it stretched out and faded into darkness. Despite the bleakness, it was clear that everything was covered in white—the high ceilings, the gridded floors, the concrete walls—all spotless and uniform.

The Elemelons entered as the warmth of the nearby lamp illuminated their faces.

Furna examined the room. “Huh? Where’s the ta-” A surge of wind and light rippled through the tiled floors before sinking to reveal an immense gorge.  

“There it is,” Furna shuddered, shaken by the sudden transformation.

Across the gorge, a long, narrow bridge remained—just wide enough for a single fruit to pass through.

“That’s…weird?” Furna questioned, still uncertain about the assignment.

Terrain walked towards the bridge. “Maybe it’s testing our balance."

As he stepped onto the first tile, he reached out a hand for Furna to come along.

But before she could grab on, another gust of wind divided them, knocking her to the ground.

As if prompted, the bridge tiles began to drop, forcing Terrain to race to the other side and dive onto the nearby platform.

He trembled. That was close.

Once the pounding in his chest subsided, Terrain pushed himself to his feet, his knees throbbing from the fall.

The ground started to shake violently. He watched as a pillar rose from the floor, its surface covered in text. At the same time, a thick, dark fog swirled up from the gorge, concealing the other side of the chasm.

Terrain inspected the wall’s contents. “So that’s what this trial is.” 

“Communication?”

A similar wall had appeared before Furna and Sky. Against the white stone lay writings that emitted a blue, ethereal glow, like a projection hovering just above the surface.

The words read:

Across the gorge–a trial of communication.

To get across, you will need to answer a set of questions. Your teammate on the other side will provide the answers. You will have one chance to send a message for help. This message will have a word limit. Powers and devices have been disabled. Tap to begin.

“This will be easy,” Furna said with a confident grin. “Terrain and I have great communication.”

Sky squinted at the text. “We should probably save the message for a tough question.”

Furna nodded. “Sure. Though… what if we already know the answers?”

She tapped the surface.

The wall shrank as the glowing text scrambled and settled onto the first question.

It was ridiculously impossible–a question so specific that only the writer would know the answer.

Furna blinked. “Never mind.”

“Terrain!” Sky’s shout broke the silence.

Furna winced, rubbing her ears. “Was that really necessary?”

Sky shrugged, peering into the dense fog. Her voice had vanished into it like a stone dropped into water.  

“Well, it was worth a shot.”

She turned back to Furna. “So, how are we supposed to communicate? We can’t hear or see each other?”

Furna scanned the room. It was barren, except for a single lamp planted at the entrance of the trial.

She perked up. “What if we use the lamp?”

“Like Morse code?”

“Exactly. Looks like Terrain has one too.”

Sky raised an eyebrow. “I don’t think he knows Morse code.”

“Then we’ll make our own system. The questions are true-or-false. We just need a signal for each.”

Sky made her way to the lamp. “Okay, but how do we create a system he’ll understand?”

As she lifted the lamp from its stand, two glass shards lay underneath. One red and one green.

Her expression flattened. Is this what they mean by ‘making it easier’? She thought, recalling the guard’s comment. Real Subtle.

She held the shards up. “Look what I found,” she said with exaggerated surprise, waving them.

Furna lit up. “Good find, Sky. Green for true, red for false. That’s as clear as it gets.”

“Let’s get his attention.”

Sky stepped to the platform’s edge and made a series of flashes while alternating between green and red.

Seconds passed.

A distant light answered back, mimicking their pattern…but no colour.

“Uh oh,” Furna frowned. “I don’t think Terrain has the shards.”

Sky sighed. “Figures. He’s the one with the answers.”

“We can improvise,” Furna said reassuringly. “Let’s use a signal he can replicate.”

Sky studied the question. “How about one blink for true and two blinks for false?”

Sky raised the lamp into the air- one green blink, then two red.

They waited.

One blink.

“True?” Sky asked, glancing at Furna.

Furna nodded and tapped ‘true.’

The platform rumbled, then extended forward.

“Yes!” They cheered.

Furna stood tall, hands-on hips. “I knew he’d understand us.”

Another question appeared. Another single blink.

Furna hit ‘true’ again. The platform lengthened.

“We’re on a roll,” Sky grinned. “So, we just keep doing this?”

“Looks like it. Unless they change it up.”

Sky rolled her eyes. “No way they’d make it harder.”

Furna tilted her head, puzzled. “Why would you think that?”

Sky froze. “Just…a hunch.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Terrain’s light flickered.

“Gah!” Sky flinched. “Did you see that? Was it one blink or two?”

“… Two?” Furna guessed, reaching for ‘false.’

“Wait–I think it was true!” Sky lunged for the other button.

“Careful!” Furna yanked her back as the platform shuddered and started to shrink.

They stared down into the chasm below, silent and eerie. A chill rose from its depths, carrying the scent of stone and something ancient.

“It’s probably not bottomless,” Furna said, trying to sound reassuring. “But it would definitely hurt to fall.”

Sky grimaced. “My bad.”

“No worries,” Furna affirmed as she re-answered the question. “Let’s just– ”

The floor shrank again.

“What?” Sky snapped. “What happened?”

“I don’t get it,” Sky said, looking back at the question. “What happened?”

“Hmm, I don’t remember this question,” Furna leaned in to examine it closely. “I think it’s a new one.”

Sky’s eyes widened. “They change the question when you get it wrong.”

“Which means-”

“We’re out of sync!” Furna panicked.

Sky peered across the fog. “How do we tell him that?”

Furna stopped to think.

“We can use the message-” Sky stepped toward the envelope icon.

“No!” Furna blocked her. “We can’t waste it this early.”

Sky threw her hands up. “We’re back at the start. One more mistake and it’ll spiral.”

“Let’s try,” Furna insisted. “We can figure something out while the platform can’t get any smaller?”

Sky clenched her jaw. “Fine. But if this fails, we’re using it.”

Furna nodded and examined the screen. “They’re numbered.” She pointed to the corner of the display. “We can signal the question number.”

Sky hesitated. “You think he’ll get it?”

“Trust him,” Furna said. She picked up the lamp and started flashing it several times.