don't panic, it's only the end of the world [c]

Smokepetal made the trip from the Moonstone, to SkyClan's territory, in record time. The urge to be home was stronger than any inclination she had to be stealthy or discreet, and the moment she crossed the border back into her own territory, the medicine cat finally allowed herself a moment to rest, falling to her haunches with chest heaving, and heart beating so quickly she could barely hear the forest over her own pulse. Over and over again, images played over in her mind. A red sun, stars made of fire, blood pouring from the eyes of a small, horrifying cat.

Why would StarClan send them something so... so wrong?

Reason told her that it had to be some sort of warning she was meant to relay, hence her haste to return to SkyClan as quickly as she could. Eventually, the striped she-cat got to her paws again. Now that she was theoretically safe, within SkyClan's territory, the adrenaline that had carried her this far was fading, and sudden exhaustion made her limbs heavy. Smokepetal shook her head, taking a deep, steadying breath before setting off at a lope towards camp. Her body begged her to stop and rest, but she didn't even slow until she set her eyes on the tunnel, and even then only long enough to shove her way into the camp proper. "Fetch Wolfblossom - at once please, and send her to Birdstar's den," she asked the nearest warrior, who nodded curiously and hurried towards the warriors' den. Smokepetal exhaled heavily, casting her eyes upwards, to the stars that were rapidly fading as dawn threatened. Why did they seem so far away?

Without giving it any more thought, she bounded up to the branch and climbed to Birdstar's den, peering inside and allowing her eyes to adjust before calling out, gently, "Birdstar? Are you awake? We must speak."

The warrior found Wolfblossom quickly, and the deputy thanked them with a smile, heading toward Birdstar's den as instructed. Smokepetal... She had gone to the moonstone the day before with the other medicine cats. Had something happened? Some news perhaps, on this starforsaken prey shortage? It must've been urgent, for the medicine cat to call on the leader and deputy so immediately upon arriving in camp.

"Smokepetal?" Wolfblossom stepped into the den carefully and sat, tail twitching over her paws, "You brought news, I take it?"

The deputy was right behind her, more quickly than Smokepetal would have thought possible, and then Birdstar was awake too. The medicine cat nervously sat and drew a paw across her face, tail flicking as she tried to think of how exactly to tell them what she saw. A deep breath, then another, and it all spilled out from her. She described the vision in detail: the horrifying cat, the message, rambling on and on until she was breathless and had to stop for air.

Smokepetal sat there, sides heaving gently, looking between Wolfblossom and Birdstar. "I haven't seen anything like this before," she said finally. "StarClan usually... they... usually it's not so... so..." she trailed off with a frustrated, shaken sputter.

She had never felt quite so helpless before as she did right now. Usually, she had StarClan to look to for guidance, but the thought of trying to contact them again any time soon made her nauseous.

The tiredness that Birdstar tried to push away was still evident to her sister, and Wolfblossom sat next to her, allowing their pelts to brush briefly as she glanced at Smokepetal. The medicine cat seemed a little more than rattled, and as she launched into an explanation of what the stars showed her, Wolfblossom understood why. The deputy's ears flattened as an uncomfortable sense of dread washed over her. It sounded as if the recent prey shortage would be the least of Skyclan's worries coming out of such a gentle greenleaf.

"It's telling us to run?" The thought of Skyclan running from anything sent a flash of anger through her, but above everything else, this message received at the moonstone was making Wolfblossom struggle to keep her fur flat, unease spiking through her. "They couldn't have given us a more specific warning?"