Fallingstar lapped up a few drops of water from the moonpool. Immediately she lifted out of her body and saw her form relaxing. But then darkness filled her vision.

She awoke in StarClan's hunting grounds and peered around for other cats. Aha! A shimmering form was glittering ahead. Fallingstar padded forward into the mist. She paused behind the StarClan warrior, waiting for it to turn around. After several heartbeats, she let out a slight cough.

The glittering cat spun around, a startled look on their face. Fallingstar stepped back in surprise. "Huh?" She gasped.

The StarClan warrior was already backing away. "A living cat! A visitor..." they murmured to another cat.

Staring harder, Fallenstar saw another, darker shape behind the bright one. This one sparkled too, but their fur was naturally darker. "Nightleaf?" Fallenstar asked in disbelief. Why would a HollowClan medicine cat come to meet her? She blinked, focusing on the first cat again. She sifted through her mind, trying to locate this cat within. It was a small, tabby cat - a tom. "Uh... please don't take this as rude, but... I don't seem to know who you are." She nodded at the smaller one.

"Shakenpaw. Of MeadowClan."

Another one not from her clan? And neither of them knew she was coming? "Why were you so surprised when I arrived?" She asked nervously, afraid of the answer.

"Perhaps we are not the right ones to show you." Nightleaf sounded nervous too. "I'll go get one from your own clan." The black she-cat darted away, leaving Fallingstar with Shakenpaw.

"She will be getting Lichenstar, I believe," the starry apprentice mewed, filling Fallingstar's heart with warm memories of the former ShallowClan leader.

But when Nightleaf returned, it was not with Lichenstar, but with ShallowClan's old medicine cat, Shimmerpelt. "Vine star was busy," the medicine cat apologised, "sorting out some of our problems."

Fallinstar saw Shakenpaw flash Shimmerpelt a look. She herself was shocked and horrified. StarClan never had problems!

Shimmerpelt padded up to her and stroked her shoulders with his tail. "This way," he purred in a deeep, soft voice that showed no trace of the whitecough he had perished of.

She followed behind him, gazing about as much as she could, trying to grasp the surroundings. But the world of StarClan was shrouded in an unnatural mist - StarClan was always in green-leaf... wasn't it?

Shimmerpelt stopped suddenly, and she skidded, almost crashing into him. However she regained her balance and went to see what he was looking at. She saw a version of the moonpool that earlier she had sipped from.

"This is where we see the world of your clans," he mewed. Fallingstar detected a note of sorrow in his voice but ignored it. She quickly leaned over to see if she could see any cats she knew, but the thrill she felt was immediately crushed as she realised that the waters were fogged over.

"But - but - I don't understand!"

"Let me explain." Shimmerpelt turned to face her and she saw her shocked face reflected back in the medicine cat's blue eyes. "StarClan is losing connection with the cats down below. There is one cat who will either save the bond, or severe it."

Fallingstar's paws shook. A prophecy! She gasped, but then she was falling. Cold water enveloped her.

Fallingstar snapped back to the living world. She was still shaking.

When she arrived back at camp, she heard the wail of a queen from the nursery.

It this them? The cat who will save it - or severe it...? She closed her eyes, feeling terror pulse through her body. What choice will they make? Which path will they take?