Note to readers:
Sanguine Skies is the second book in the War of Fangs trilogy. If you haven't read the first, The Wolf and the Warriors, I strongly recommend you do so.
The characters in this story are drawn from the Allegiances of Sign of the Moon (excluding the cats who died in the previous book, of course). However, as far as the plot goes, the best I can say is that it's set after The Fourth Apprentice. I have never read beyond that, and as Dovewing and Ivypool are not cats I particularly care about, I have no need to. So I have no actual idea what happens to Lionblaze, Jayfeather, and Hollyleaf.
Think of it this way—after the events of The Fourth Apprentice, some Twoleg flipped a coin and one world split away from the universe. I'm told things like this happen all the time. In this world, the events of Fading Echoes and whatever comes after that didn't happen—it all progressed nicely, cats being apprenticed and having their warrior ceremonies and so forth—right until something went seriously wrong with the land around the lake. All the fish and prey dropped dead practically overnight. And what happened then? Read The Wolf and the Warriors.
If you have read that book, or you want a sample, read on—and review if you wish!

"Ask, and it shall be given; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be open unto you." –Matthew, 7:7

Beyond the slopes of the snow-capped mountains lies a lake of clear, shimmering water; a lake so vast that it seems to hold all the stars of the sky in its keeping. The lake is flanked on three sides by forest—pine, broadleaf, and woodland—and on the fourth there is sweeping moorland.
Today the lake's surface is smooth and unbroken, but on the night we speak of a small island jutted out of its depths. It rested as a shadow on a lake of silver, touched by the spreading fingers of the half-moon that hung in the sky. The moonbeams lit up the lightly shaded areas of woodland, but could not penetrate the thick broadleaf forest or the pines.

The air was cool and the slightest of breezes trickled through the lake, stirring up small waves that lapped on sandy shores. A smell of damp earth saturated the wind—a lasting remanent of the flooding rains that had drowned the earth barely ten suns ago. The lake had eventually swallowed the water, but the area around it was still marshy to the foot.
The world around the lake seemed quiet and still. But there was movement, almost invisible to the eye; the silent flight of a hunting owl, the stealthy tread of a fox, and a slight rustling in the bushes towards the edge of the broadleaf trees.

There was a pause, and then a pair of blue eyes glinted out of the darkness. The eyes were wide and wary, but the creature clearly found nothing to fear because a moment later it emerged.
It was a cat, a rather small, slender tabby tomcat with fur the colour of clouds bearing light rain. He crept forwards, pushing his way through the last of the cover, before he stopped at the edge of the moorland. Again he scanned the area; again he found nothing out of the ordinary, and began to run, a patch of light-coloured fur in the black expanse of the moors. Suddenly he seemed to lose all his grace, his paws falling beneath him as he tumbled to the ground.

"Mouse dung!" Jayfeather, medicine cat of ThunderClan, spat. He shook himself violently and climbed more carefully to his paws. Irritation burned his stomach. What was the point of having the power to see beyond sight if you couldn't even tell where the ground was uneven?
He continued his journey with greater care, stopping when the scent of fresh water assailed his keen nose. Though he had never seen the Moonstream, he had heard his old mentor (and mother) Leafpool describe it as a river of starlight, saying it reflected the heavens even though it flowed swiftly. Jayfeather skirted its edges, feeling the cold touch of mud ooze through his paw fur. The stream was larger than he remembered—swollen by the flooding rains, no doubt. Sudden unease pricked him; the thought of being caught next to a source of water when those rains came again filled him with fear.

The grey medicine cat trotted up the Moonstream, following it to its source—a spring of water sacred to the Clans, and very possibly the cats who came before them. He felt his paws find the footprints in the stone; marks of the healers of old. He wondered idly if any of the pawmarks belonged to Rock.
Jayfeather at last stopped at the Moonpool and dropped to his belly, his nose scenting for its glittering surface. He touched cold water, and dipped his mouth in, lapping up the icy drops.
A wave of lethargy began to wash over him; he closed his eyes and felt a chill emptiness begin to bloom deep within him. It grew, extinguishing every last drop of warmth in his body, but Jayfeather ignored this. He plunged even deeper into the cold, and was rewarded by a blaze of light that tinted the darkness inside his eyelids red.

Taking a deep breath, Jayfeather opened his eyes, and the blind cat saw beauty.
Four huge oaks towered in a circle around a rock that gripped at green earth. A sweet-smelling breeze whispered through the leaves. But unlike the previous times he'd been here, the clearing was completely empty.
Now fury began to burn within him, a rush of feeling that seemed out of place in the tranquil surroundings.
"Where are you?" he spat. "You wanted him dead, so why are you hiding?"
There was no answer. Jayfeather tilted his chin up towards the sky, where the stars seemed very bright and close.

"Damn you," he whispered bitterly, and pressed his face into the sweet earth so his warrior ancestors would not see his sorrow.
I knew it—I knew it all along. StarClan can't do anything, and they're no different from when they were alive.
"Little one," a voice said softly.
Jayfeather flinched and looked up. Across the clearing, pacing towards him, was a badger.
"Midnight," he breathed. Of course the stargazing prophet would be here. She always seemed to step in when StarClan failed.
The beast closed the distance between them and sat down a few fox-lengths away. Her bright black eyes shimmered with sadness; she had known Firestar too.
"You grieve, little one," she whispered, and Jayfeather turned away from her. The badger leaned forwards and gently tapped his cheek so that he was staring into her face again.

"There no shame in grief, Jayfeather, just as bleeding wound not bad."
The medicine cat hung his head. "But he's dead, Midnight," he murmured. "He's never coming back."
"You thought to find Firestar here?" asked Midnight. She shook her head. "StarClan flees, Jayfeather. They not return."
"They've left? Why?"
"Because of prophecy. They fear it, they see it coming, they think it means death."
"What prophecy?"
"Legend. When prophecy comes to pass, spirits will fall from sky."
Jayfeather shivered. "What is this prophecy, exactly?"

Midnight closed her eyes. "Cannot translate it. Look into pool, see memory."
The grey tabby looked to his left and saw a small spring of water swirling in the grass. For a moment the water was cloudy; then it resolved into the face of a tortoiseshell tom.
Jayfeather stumbled back. "Sol!" he cried.
The badger grunted. "Wander-cat, yes. Told Midnight. Listen."
Taking a deep breath, the medicine cat stepped forwards again and watched Sol. The rogue shrugged his muscular shoulders.
I'm seeing Midnight's memories, Jayfeather realised.

"I only heard it once, Midnight," Sol said in an amused tone. "I was hunting far from here when a snake attacked me. Before I could do anything, a mighty stag crashed through the trees and crushed it under his hoof. When I asked him why he saved me, he spoke of the legend, and told me the verse. He drew this in a tree with his antler…" and here the pool changed to show dirt, where a strange symbol was marked in. Four circles overlapped each other in what a Twoleg would call a Venn diagram; a larger circle enveloped them all.
Sol tapped a claw to the four conjoined circles. "These four represent the cat, the deer, the owl, and the wolf. They overlap, meaning that their fates are connected. What affects one will affect them all."

"The larger circle?" grunted Midnight.
Sol shook his head. "The stag wouldn't say."
"Then tell me verse. You remember."
The rogue took a deep breath, and began.
"When four cats are born under the shadow of lies,
Watch for the wounded; they walk with green eyes.
The wolf breaks away, and vengeance will rise
As nature slays nature under sanguine skies.
The deer shall hunt as the star-spirits flee,
While the owls look beyond, both lost and free.
By a lake, sheltered by the mountains' lee,
A secret awaits—one that none should see.
The weapon is born to slay all who have breath,
So answer these questions: what is right? Who should be left?
And all who are touched shall be gifted and bereft,
Watch for the wounded; they bring the stars' death."

The blood was roaring through Jayfeather's head as he listened to the words, every line imprinted on his memory forever.
When Sol finished speaking the Midnight in the pool made a harrumphing noise. "What does Sol wish of Midnight?"
The tortoiseshell curled his tail around his paws. "The verse interests me. Four cats born under the shadows of lies?"
"Lies seem to be necessary for cat-births."
For a moment Sol grew angry. "Keep your secrets, then, Midnight! I already know that four cats were born by a lake because of lies. Leafpool and Crowfeather—"
"—had three kits," Midnight rumbled. "Two, perhaps, now. I know not."
"The Three in the prophecy—"
"Doveflight and Ivypool not be born under lies, Sol, but if you insist, then see for yourself."

Sol's amber eyes shuttered. "They will not let me near."
"For good reason," answered the badger. "You may go."
Sol scowled, and the image in the water dissolved.
Jayfeather looked up at Midnight. "Us?" he whispered.
Midnight moved her head from side to side in a way that could mean either yes or no. "As I said. Many cats born. Not all of verse fits you."
"And this is why StarClan ran away?"
Midnight did not answer this, and turned her head up to the bright, pulsing stars above them. "Go now, Jayfeather. Do not speak of verse unless needs must. Be well." The badger looked back at him, and then vanished, leaving him alone in a memory of Fourtrees.
Jayfeather stood alone for a time, wondering what it could all mean. Then he closed his eyes, and awoke from his sight.