Prologue

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Honeywing felt blind, helpless and alone. StarClan was no longer the sunny, warm and prey-filled place that it used to be. It was dark and blinding. The forest was dying, and the Clans had yet to leave the forest after nearly two moons of being told that they should've. Honeywing could no longer reach the living cats, they were incapable of speaking with any cats in the Clans. The medicine cats had stopped going to the moonstone on the half-moon, Honeywing could only hope that they would be leaving soon.

The sound of pawsteps in the dead grass caught Honeywing's attention, she turned her head to the side trying to see who had caused the sound. She felt a chill as a slow breeze picked up, ruffling her golden fur. Through the shadows, Honeywing made out the silver tabby pelt of Moonwhisker, the former AshClan medicine cat.

"Moonwhisker." Honeywing called out to her friend and trotted up to you. "I haven't seen you around in a while."

"I've been busy," Moonwhisker replied, her voice strained and exhausted. "Eagleclaw and I have been trying so hard to reach out to our Clan, but there's something stopping us." She dropped her head. "I don't know what to do, they have to leave but they haven't yet. Leaf-bare is here and sickness and starvation are not far behind."

"I know, Moonwhisker." Honeywing let out a sigh, feeling her heart twist. Watching the forest she loved so much die, killing the cats along with it had been such a horrible thing to see. It pained her everyday, and knowing that she could no longer see the forest made it even worse. "We have to do something, we have to let them know that it's time to leave."

"We can we do? We can't talk to any cats down there." Moonwhisker asked. "We're completely cut off from them, I hate feeling so useless." She lashed her tail.

Honeywing thought for a moment. "Maybe we can't speak to them, but perhaps we could send them a sign. The gathering is soon, on the night of the full moon we will send them a sign. A sign that it's time to leave."

"What kind of sign?" Moonwhisker tilted her head. "What could we send them."

"We had always planned to guide them to their new home and we still can if they leave the forest. We just have to send them a sign to let them know."

"We should talk to the others about this. I haven't seen Sagefeather around but I think I know where Barkclaw is. We should gather all the medicine cats and discuss this sign."

"I agree." Honeywing nodded. "You get Barkclaw and Eagleclaw, I'll try to find Poppyfur, Badgerstripe and Skyclaw." The two medicine cats split up, each vanishing into the darkness of StarClan.

It didn't take long for Honeywing to find Poppyfur, and she managed to find Skyclaw but not Bagderstripe. She decided she didn't have enough time to waste looking for him and headed back to their usual meeting place. It was normally a gentle waterfall, but the water had stopped completely, leaving only dry stone.

Honeywing approached the meeting area and saw Moonwhisker waiting with Barkclaw and Eagleclaw, with Eagleclaw looking annoyed as usual. "Thank you all for coming." Moonwhisker mewed, standing up as the other cats grew closer.

"What's this about?" Poppyfur demanded, looking at Honeywing with curious green eyes.

"We talked about it and we need to send the Clans a sign, we have to let them know that it's time to leave, now." Moonwhisker explained. "If they don't leave soon they're in serious danger of dying."

"How do we know we can even send them a sign?" Eagleclaw growled. "Riverstar is so stubborn she probably wouldn't even listen to it."

"We can send it at the gathering, and we can use it to guide them home." Honeywing said quickly, she knew that Eagleclaw would take the most convincing. "They have to listen to it."

"Do we even know where we're sending them?" Barkclaw interjected.

"I know." Skyclaw spoke up, the old MoonClan medicine cat spoke up after keeping silence. "I also know what kind of sign to send them. The only dreams I've had lately are of a beautiful territory, surrounded and protected by mountains. I've seen this territory countless times and I've seen the path they must take."

"So what kind of sign do we send them?" Moonwhisker mewed, sounding hopeful for the first time in moons.

"We send them an owl, a bird known for their wisdom. An owl that can guide them to their new home."


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