A single star twinkled in a green-gray sky. Though it was early morning, the sky was hidden behind the thick clouds, looming and ominous. Every once in a while a bird's call would wrack through the skyline, followed shortly by the form of the bird – normally a blackbird, causing it to appear very apprehensive and foreboding – streak across the dark sky. The star was even fading from amongst the sky, making the morning dawn far more impressive and angry.

And in the pale morning glow of the hidden sun, a small white tom prowled forth from his den, which was a burrow under the roots of palm trees. He felt the warm sand touch his paws, although the sand was not quite unbearable to the touch yet. At a closer glance, the tom was not quite white, but he had light ginger stripes along his body, darknening the most around his tail. He set his fierce emerald gaze upon the foreboding clouds, which gathered above. The light-colored tomcat, almost the color of sand itself, let a small sigh escape his nostrils. He prayed for rain, for a storm, for it had not stormed in a quarter moon. Even though the island on which he lived was surrounded by water on all sides, his Clan - MeadowClan - could die of thirst if IslandClan did not stop this drought they felt it necessary to punish all of the Clans with.

The tomcat tensed, every hair on his pelt prickled, as his ears caught the sound of pawsteps, neat and nervous, approaching him from the healing cat's den, another burrow underneath the roots of trees. A pair of ocean-blue eyes glinted in the sickly morning light, and the sandy-colored tom visibly relaxed as he recognized who they belonged to. The small cat gave his chest fur a couple of quick licks, trying to hide how easily she had scared him.

"Acacialeaf," The white tom greeted the other cat, his deep, commanding voice rumbling throughout the eerily-quiet camp. Acacialeaf, named for her pelt like the leaves of an acacia tree in Storm season, The other cat, called Acacialeaf, did not seem to hear him, her light brown fur bristling and her deep blue eyes wide with terror. The white tom's leaf-green eyes widened with alarm, and he pressed his flank to hers, steadying her as she took deep, gasping breaths. He did not press her for answers as she fixed her gaze, stark with terror, upon the darkening sky. Finally, she tore her cerulean pools from it and turned to look at the white-and-ginger tom, who tilted his head questioningly to one side, sweeping his striped tail along his healing cat's flank in comfort.

"I fear," Acacialeaf panted, her muscles trembling and her eyes unblinking. She tried again, "Sandstar, I fear...I fear..." The tom called Sandstar felt his neck fur rise in fear of the unknown, and he flattened his ears to his head, ginger tail lashing in anticipation of his healing cat's words.

"Is it a sign from IslandClan?" Sandstar asked, his voice hardly more than a whisper. His sand-colored pelt quivered in fear, and he added, "Have they shown us any hope of survival?" Acacialeaf did not respond right away, only stared deep into his dark green eyes. The light brown tabby twitched her whiskers, tail swishing in clear agitation.

"I fear...I fear that the future of MeadowClan seems bleak," Acacialeaf murmured, her voice softer than a trickle of water across pebbles. Sandstar's green eyes flew wide with alarm, but he did not interuppt her as she continued, "IslandClan has indeed spoken to me tonight, and I fear for what they have told me."

Sandstar dug his claws into the earth, feeling comforted by gripping the soft dirt. This was not what he had hoped to hear from his healing cat. His Clan had endured moons upon moons of constant famine, drought, storms, and war, especially war, war against CoralClan. Twilightstar, the ruler of CoralClan, under the influence of her new delegate, Cliffstorm, was acting ruthlessly, trying constantly to expand her territory into MeadowClan and wipe out inferior cats. He had been praying feverently to IslandClan for an answer, for an end to all of this needless bloodshed of his protectors. And now, IslandClan told him that there was no hope?

"The protector's blood will be spilled, and the water who drowns the bird will bring storms to wash away his blood," Acacialeaf meowed, her voice soft as she recited the prophecy of IslandClan. Her eyes were gentle and calm now, like the waves of the ocean in the eye of a hurricane. Sandstar stared at her in complete alarm.

"But surely that is not a prophecy of hope!" Sandstar spat angrily, his hackles raised and his neck fur bristling in fury. How could IslandClan bring even more destruction to his already-suffering Clan? "Haven't we suffered enough?"

The white-and-ginger ruler turned, his legs stiff and rigid, and stalked angrily away from his healing cat, tail lashing in frustration. Acacialeaf stared helplessly after him, her blue eyes wide with distress. But inside her, the storm of despair in her heart was calming. She knew that before there was peace, there had to be suffering, and IslandClan had promised MeadowClan peace. The light brown tabby she-cat let out a small purr, the first time she had in moons, and turned to her den, to go and mix poultices that the protectors of MeadowClan would soon need. Just as surely as the sun would set in the evening, this suffering, too, would pass.

A/N: The next chapter will start off the sequence of POVs.
I believe there will be...3 POVs.
I'll give you a hint!
Two of the POVs are in MeadowClan.
One of them is in CoralClan.
And one of them is Tornadostorm, the delegate of MeadowClan!
So, what do you think? R&R, please!