The moon was only a claw scratch in the dark sky. A handsome ginger tom with stars shining in his pelt pushed his way through a row of bushes into a large clearing. The clearing was already filled by other cats, all with the same worried expression. The tom settled down near the back of the crowd of cats. A blue-gray she-cat with worried blue eyes sat on a branch of the wide-spreading tree. She cleared her throat.
"I believe we all know what needs to be said at this meeting," she mewed.
The ginger tom nodded somberly. He gingerly rose to his paws and picked his way through the gathered cats. "Bluestar?" he asked when he reached the front. "May I speak?"
The blue-gray ThunderClan she-cat nodded and made room on the branch. With a huge leap, the tom joined her, gazing down on the assembled cats.
"We need to warn the Clans," he meowed.
A white tom with jet-black paws snorted. "Anything we don't know, Firestar?" he asked.
Firestar looked to Bluestar beside him. "They have lived in peace for moons... I worry they are not prepared for what lies ahead."
He heard murmurs of agreements from several of the cats. "We need to warn them at the half-moon medicine meeting," he meowed seriously.
"If it isn't already too late," added an old, pale brown tabby tom. "This danger is coming soon."
At this a chorus of yowls rose up, chaotic caterwaul filling the island.
"Quiet!" someone yowled.
The chatter died down as everyone turned to a gray she-cat with frazzled fur. "If we want to warn the Clans of the coming darkness, we need to work together for the right message."
A white tom stepped forward. "Yellowfang is right," he meowed. "We can't all speak at the same time."
"But how will we know to send the right message?" a silver she-cat asked, her voice filled with worry. "What if they don't understand what we mean?"
Firestar thought for a moment before responding. "There are nine medicine cats in the Clans," he pointed out. "If we send each of them a different message... surely they will understand how to move forward in the best way possible."
He swept his gaze across the cats, wondering if this idea would work. The Clans need to understand that there is a danger, he thought. If we don't guide them...they may not make it through these times.
"Who will send the messages?" a dark tom with blue eyes asked. "Who is most likely to be taken seriously?"
"I will send one of the messages," Firestar announced, standing straighter. "It makes sense, since it was my idea."
"I can send a message, too," a pale brown tabby she-cat offered.
"I will, too!" a big, dark gray tabby tom announced.
"Who will send the message to ShadowClan?" Firestar asked.
A muscular white tom with black feet and a gray tabby tom with amber eyes rose to their paws. The gray one shifted his paws nervously. "I'm not sure I can send the right message," he admitted.
"I'm sure you can, Shadowsight," a white and brown tom with blue eyes encouraged. "You just need to work on what to say."
"Willowshine and I will send a message to RiverClan," a golden she-cat with spotted fur meowed.
"I can send a message to one of the medicine cats," a gray tom with white splotches said. "And Harestar too."
A brown and white tom nodded. "Yes, I will," he announced.
Firestar looked up at the moon again. "We have the cats to send the messages," he mewed. "Now all we have to do is wait until the half-moon meeting to warn the Clans."
He looked back down at the cats below him. "Or the Clans may not survive."