Coalpaw walked through he tall plants of the plain, stalking a mouse. He saw it skittering past his paws, and he dug his paws into the small morsel before it could run away. Another piece of fresh-kill for the clan! He turned around to see the Emberclan camp close by. The smell of the mouse wafted into Coalpaw's mouth, and it started to water. He put the mouse on the cold ground, and piled some dirt on top of it to make the scent go away. He kept forward, and looked for more prey to take back to camp.

Coalpaw opened his mouth again to find the scent of more prey. Instead of prey, the cold, pungent odor of the far-away-lands came to him. He looked around and tried to sharpen his senses to find where the smell was coming from. He identified more strange scents coming from the direction of Aquaclan. He followed the scent, making sure that no one followed him and that he didn't wander into Aquaclan territory. He kept tracking the scent until he got to the Aquaclan border. Coalpaw looked up and saw a couple of Aquaclan warriors talked in hushed voices near the border. Coalpaw rushed into some dead bracken and started listening as hard as he could.

"When do we launch the ambush?" asked a large grey tom. There were two other cats there next to him.

"Soon we will be. Soon none will be able to fight back to us!" hissed a pith-black tom with shining yellow eyes.

"Now we must go and get the ambush patrol to attack Emberclan!" yelled the third cat that had gold fur and amber eyes. They walked away back toward the Aquaclan camp, leaving Coalpaw in the dead bracken. He climbed out and replayed the events of the meeting in his head. Ambush. Attack. Aquaclan. Uh oh!

Coalpaw made a dash for the Emberclan camp. He kept running, dodging all obstacles and potential dangers. He climbed up the steep rock wall that protected the Emberclan camp from any attacks from the side, but Aquaclan would attack from the side if they were to invade. But would they ambush from the rock wall to throw everyone off track?

"Invasion, Invasion! There's going to be an ambush!" Coalpaw yelled as he ran into the camp. The moon was full, and no one was guarding the back. "EVERYONE UP!" he yelled with the power of Lion Clan. "THERE'S GOING TO BE AN INVASON!"

One by one, cats started climbing out of the dens and coming out to the leg to see what was happening. Froststar had also come out; searching for what nuisance woke him from his slumber.

"What is it, Coalpaw?" asked him mentor, Hailstorm. She was still drowsy from her sleep, and was irritated by her voice.

Coalpaw waited until everyone was awake. He climbed on top of the High Ledge, flanked by Froststar and Brightdawn, the deputy. He readied himself, and then started giving his message. "Cats of Emberclan!" he called out, worry clear in his voice. "I was by the Aquaclan border just a little while ago. They were talking of ambushing us!" he paused to let the idea sink in. Murmurs of fright broke out in the huddle of cats listening to Coalpaw. "We need to be ready for the attack so they'll be running away instead of us." Murmurs of approval now spread through the camp.

Brightdawn walked up to Coalpaw's side. "He's right, you know. Ever since my father, Bravestar, was leader of this clan, Aquaclan has always tried taking territory from us! Now that we know they're going to do it again, why no protect ourselves?" she looked at the group below, seeing them as individuals, not just warriors. I hope I'm not sending them to their deaths. He drove the idea out of his head. That couldn't happen. He wouldn't allow it.

Brightdawn got off of the High Ledge. She turned to her small army of warriors. She was going to make sure that Emberclan survived this battle, and that Aquaclan didn't. She looked at Fallenlight. "Fallenlight, take Snowpaw and two other warriors and apprentices to guard the camp entrance. Hailstorm, take Dragonfire to guard the nursery. Heavypaw, go fetch Heatherclaw." the muscular white apprentice trotted away. "Ivywing, Wishfang, Shadowpelt, Rosethorn and Snowstripe. You guys are the Aqua patrol. Apprentices, you guys are the Ember patrol." Brightdawn saw Heatherclaw walking toward the warriors, followed by Heavypaw. "Disperse!" she called to the warriors.

She turned to Heatherclaw and Featherpaw. "Hello, Heatherclaw. I needed to talk to you about this," she said, holding out her paw. It was crimson red, and twisted beyond correction. Some of the soft fur was torn off and blood was dried underneath. Her claws were chipped and only a sliver of what used to be there was there now. Heatherclaw took a good look at it, then at Brightdawn again.

"This is a message from Starclan. What there used to be, there is none." Heatherclaw recited. "But that was only the easiest, the claws. For peace to come, Treason will happen. A dull claw will be unsheathed for peace." she continued. "That was for the color and the claw that wouldn't-" she was cut off by a series of serious spasms that took over Heatherclaw's body. After the spasms, she rose again. Her eyes were glowing a sickly green color, and time had stopped in the forest. The only two moving were Brightdawn and Heatherclaw. Everyone else in the camp was frozen in time. Heatherclaw looked straight into Brightdawn's eyes. Then she started to speak.

"The Hawk will soar in the sky. A new threat will come into sight. The clans must trust one another. The darkest hour is coming." Heatherclaw dropped to the ground, and time started flowing again.

Brightdawn prodded Heatherclaw with her claw. She wouldn't make a movement. Guilt washed over Brightdawn. The medicine cat had died giving her a prophecy.

I started this chapter thinking about Moonpaw, but Coalpaw came in instead. By the way, I have a sneak peek on this threat. The first one has already been introduced, and the second one will be introduced in the next Skyclan chapter. R&R!

Gir: Spoon!