The grass tickled Longstar's flanks, his orange tabby coat warming in the sun. His Clan was also lying around, not doing much because their prey pile was taller than a full grown cat and they had no need to hunt. Many brown and white-speckled rabbits along with a few thrushes, moles, and shrews piled among each other. They all had bellies as round as a kittypet's and everything was going swell with ThunderClan, MoorClan, ShadowClan, and RiverClan. There had been no border skirmishes lately and the only fight that the Clan had been with a rogue, although there were no major injuries. Opening his mouth to catch a scent on the cool breeze, the TunnelClan leader lifted his head to check on his warriors. Three kits, Gingerkit, Ryekit, and Springkit all played among the tunnel-hollow. The tunnel hollow was a small hollow on the edge of camp where apprentices and kits could practice tunnelling. Perking his ears as he smelt something peculiar, the leader narrowed his eyes. Lifting himself to his paws, he trotted over to his fastest cats. "Doveleap, Thistlenose," he said calmly, nodding his head to his den for them to follow. Longstar's long stride quickly carried him to his den.
"I need you to send out a patrol with two other fast runners. Not much has happened around but we need to make sure everything is okay in the other Clans, so split up the territories. I want you to go in twos," he dipped his head towards the exit of the underground den with a slight twitch of his whiskers.
"Longstar, is everything okay?" Doveleap questioned, his head tilting.
Eyelids drooping slightly, the old warrior nodded. The two toms climbed out of the den one by one as Longstar slid out as well, leaping up on to the tallbranch to watch them gather their warriors and leave. As the light warrior left with his patrol, he sighed and rested his graying muzzle on his flecked paws.
"Longstar! Hazeflank! Come come quickly!"
The leader was quickly awoken. Lifting his head, he squeezed out of the soil-made den and pricked his ears. "What is it?" he meowed urgently, paws pricking with unease. Tail curling over his paws as he settled down in the clearing, Longstar narrowed his eyes, fully awake as his deputy settled beside him, her dark tortoiseshell pelt standing out by his light orange.
"There were twoleg camps in the territories! Ours, MoorClan's, ThunderClan's, ShadowClan's, and RiverClan's! And they had dogs! Each camp had more than fifty dogs! Thistlenose heard a kittypet that said 'I can't wat until they drive out those warrior cats! We'll never be hunted.' So we think that twolegs are planning on destroying the five Clans!" Doveleap was out of breath as he finished, panting heavily. His words were so loud that even the kits stopped playing to listen in on the report. The Clan gathered around, listening intently for Longstar's reply.
Hesitating, the tom lifted his head. "Alright. Sparrowheart, Hazeflank, Hollystorm and Cloudsprint, please go to all four Clans and warn them. I need our strongest and best fighters to surround and guard the camp. Oh-make sure to ask the Clans to ally with us. If not, show them evidence," he ordered, waving his tail. He wondered how MoorClan would react. They had never been on good terms because, previously, WindClan separated their territory into two Clans since they couldn't keep good terms with each other, even though they were on seemingly neutral terms currently.
Sweeping his tail through the grass anxiously as they disappeared into the earth, Longstar sighed. He pricked his ears as his Clan muttered around, sharing gossip with elders who hadn't heard what was going on. Everything had escalated so quickly, and the leader didn't know what to do. Anticipation pricking at his paws, the tom padded under the gnarled oak root they used as an entry point, climbing up and out of the depression in the ground and sinking his claws into the fallen oak. Trotting up the trunk, he settled down between two vertical branches, which marked his usual look-out point. This was the point his mother's littermate used when WindClan had separated, and it was also the place where he met Sand, all those moons ago. Breath caught in his throat and his eyes watered with oiled tears. The she-cat was a beautiful dusty color, and her green eyes sparkled in the light of the sun.
