Chapter One: The Start

From the shadows, trouble will arise.

The clans must group together, in order to survive.

When night takes over day, and all hope is gone,

Look to the north, and for the false dawn.

"What does this mean?" the leader of Cliffclan, Sandstar, mewed worriedly to the medicine cat. Mosstail's eyes lost their prophecy glaze as she started pacing by the entrance to the cave.

Sandstar was the new leader, having started only a moon ago. She still looked for the council of the older, and wiser, cats. So far, it had been enough. She had had Mosstail's wise advice always at the ready. But this time, Mosstail was just as hopelessly lost as Sandstar.

"I'm not sure. But have you noticed? The animals in the plain have begun to act differently. They hide more, go out less. The trees and plants have been growing faster, but medicinal plants are becoming scarce," Mosstail meowed back.

"Do you think the weather could cause those symptoms, or does the prophecy affect them too?"

Mosstail sat down wearily. "I don't know."

Sandstar eyed her with concern. Mosstail had weathered many seasons and it was becoming apparent in her fur and bones. Her once thick brown fur and golden eyes were both becoming dull. Her bones creaked. Yet her spirit was strong and her mind was clearer than when she was an apprentice. Because of this, she flat out refused to be treated like an elder.

On the other hand, Sandstar was young and at the age where she was demanding the same treatment from the older cats as they did each other. She didn't want attention from the toms because she was pretty, no; she wanted the attention because of her achievements and talent. She was beginning to get her way with that.

Still, it isn't to say that Sandstar didn't look good. But she wasn't glamorous, either. She had shiny gold-orange fur with white paws, and white smudged tail. Her eyes were green.

But back to the point.

"I wonder what it means when it mentions a false dawn to the north. That would be the opposite direction from Oceanclan, and the sun rises from behind Treeclan! I really wish Starclan had told you more. Why do they always talk in riddles?"

"Sandstar! Why do you speak of Starclan like that? They work in their way."

Sandstar rose and motioned for Mosstail to follow her out of the cave.

"It was stuffy in there", she said as way of explanation.

Out in the open clearing, Sandstar faced Mosstail and asked, "What is your council on this? Do you have any idea of what this means?"

She searched the medicine cat's face for answers, but didn't expect to find any.

"Of course I have ideas! I have many ideas. I always have ideas, about anything! But none of my ideas could possibly explain anything. We need the support of the clan. Call a clan meeting tomorrow, or today. But first, bring in Ashwhisker."

Although Sandstar was shocked by the tone of command in the medicine cat's voice, she did as Mosstail instructed and called in Cliffclan's deputy.

Ashwhisker slunk in, his long tail waving and head held high. His smoky grey head remained high, even after the news was told. He wasn't one for "petty" emotion-showing.

"Very well. We will call a clan meeting", he stated. Sandstar nodded and brushed past him and out of the cave. She strode to the large boulder which was the center point of the camp.

This boulder was bordered on two sides (with some space in-between) by two large granite cliffs; one of which bordered the ocean, to the west. The other cliff bordered Oceanclan, to the south.

"All cats old enough to catch their own prey come to Centerrock for a clan meeting!" Sandstar yowled. Her powerful voice echoed off the cliffs and disappeared into the roar of the ocean.

Slowly cats materialized from caves shielded by grass and shrubs. The four elders were the last to come out; they had been enjoying their afternoon meal together.

The five new kits were left in the nursery along with the new mothers, Wheatfeather and Snowpelt. The queens would later be told of what had happened through their mates.

"Cliffclan, I have grave news." Ashwhisker broke into the meeting with that dreary sentence.

"Not as much grave, as curious", Sandstar interrupted so to quell the frightened looks of the clan members. She cast Ashwhisker a furious glance.

"What we have now is a prophecy. Mosstail?" she glanced over, "Do you remember much of it?"

"Of course, Sandstar."

Mosstail retold the prophecy to the cats. As anxious yowling started, Sandstar calmly motioned for the cats to stop talking.

"The reason," she looked at each cat in turn, "I have decided to tell my clan the prophecy that I could have so easily made sure I and Mosstail would be the only to know, was because I know you want to be prepared. Who says this prophecy foretells a bad thing? How are we to know until it happens? Even so, we need to be prepared."

Sandstar stepped off Centerrock and headed back to the cave, her tail gently waving. She left Ashwhisker to settle the clan.

Later that night, in a fitful sleep, Sandstar was struck with the obvious.

"Shadeclan!" she yelped into the night.

Still half asleep, her groggy mind put together all that had happened recently with the prophecy.

First, it was Shadeclan's former leader's death. The old leader, Stonestar, had supposedly been poisoned with deathberry after eating his evening meal. His replacement, Burrstar, hadn't caused actual trouble yet, but was obviously power hungry and ambitious to the point of crazed actions. He had been making threats to Treeclan and Oceanclan, his border clans, by putting many extra patrols on the border to guard the camp (even though no one was trying to get in) and heavily guarded any visitors to the clan. That included medicine cats on the way to the Glowrock. Luckily Cliffclan wasn't being bothered as much by Shadeclan because they were at opposite corners to each other. However, distrust towards Shadeclan had been growing for a very long while.

Then there was the behavior of the prey. Even the shorebirds of Oceanclan, they were told at the last Gathering, were flighty and sometimes covered with thick black goo which sickened cats. Cliffclan's prey rabbits were starting to acquire the same smell.

Finally, Sandstar came to the conclusion her mind had been looking for. Obviously, Shadeclan would be the shadows mentioned in the prophecy and would probably attack the clans one by one to control all of them. The false dawn would probably be some attack maneuver thought up by a clan. She didn't have a clue about the rest of it, though.

Sandstar vowed to tell the rest of her clan of the breakthrough, once morning came around. Until then, Sandstar would sleep.