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"Hawk!"

The moment Myrtlestar heard her clanmate's frantic call, she sprang to her paws. Without even a moment's hesitation, she stalked out of her den, leaving behind the cool shade of the fallen tree. Dust swirled in wake of her pawsteps.

   Her gaze swept across the camp. At a glance, all was well. It was sunny, the sandy clearing quiet and undisturbed. But Myrtlestar knew better. She spotted Fuzzykit and Burrkit playing near a shallow tide pool and raced towards them, ignoring their indignant mews and herding them towards a covered part of the camp.

Reassured of the kits' safety, she looked into the sky. It was a clear, brilliant blue, and she had to squint against the bright sun. There. High in the sky, the great feathered predator circled the camp from above. Myrtlestar's pelt prickled along her spine as she took in the size of the beast. She had seen several ospreys before, but never one so big. Or so close.

"What's happening?" Fuzzykit mewed, her fluffy black tail bushed in excitement. "Are we under attack from an enemy Clan? I'll protect everyone!" Squirming against Myrtlestar's belly, she tried to push past her in order to get a closer look around the camp, but Myrtlestar shoved the kit backwards to where Burrkit was still huddled obediently.

Fuzzykit seemed to realize the urgency and fear radiating off her mother's pelt. "Are we going to be okay?"

"Shhh, Fuzzykit," Burrkit mewed sternly. "Myrtlestar has it under control. She always does." The she-cat in question did not, in fact, have anything under control, but she felt warmed by the sincerity of the kit's trust.

Myrtlestar's attention snapped towards the clearing as a screech and a cry of shock split the air. In just a few heartbeats, the hawk had dived -- straight at the Clan's healer. It would be on Morningnose in mere moments.

The kits driven from her mind, Myrtlestar rushed forward to meet the feathered creature in its descent, but as she bunched her muscles to jump onto it, a dark gold pelt streaked past. Bristlebee caught hold of the hawk before it could get to the healer. She swiped a paw across its angular face, making it squawk with pain.

Myrtlestar caught up as the hawk turned on Bristlebee, the bird delivering sharp pecks to its attacker. The senior warrior didn't waver even as her own blood began to speckle the ground.

Myrtlestar clamped her jaws around one of the bird's wings, struggling to get a grip on the feathers. She vaguely registered Fawnspots appearing and doing the same on its other side.

The osprey struggled valiantly against the three cats. Despite being outnumbered, it was an undeniably strong and clever creature. At last, it managed to pull itself away, unsteadily taking off back into the sky.

Breathing heavily and spitting out a mouthful of tawny feathers, Myrtlestar watched it fly away until it became a small speck amidst the blue, and then nothing.

Her muscles stayed tense. She shivered, half in shock and half in relief. The clear sky suddenly seemed threatening rather than lively. Shaking herself off, she got to her paws. She only obtained a few light scratches, and Fawnspots appeared unscathed, but Bristlebee was shaking crimson droplets out of her pelt. Concerned, Myrtlestar stepped towards her, only to be blocked by Morningnose.

"How reckless!" the healer exclaimed as soon as she dropped the herbs she was carrying in her mouth. She glared at Bristlebee for a few beats before her gaze softened. "Thank you for saving me...," she muttered. Bristlebee gazed at the cream she-cat with a strange affection in her eyes.

As Morningnose swiftly got to work on dressing the puncture wounds in Bristlebee's shoulder, Myrtlestar addressed the Clan, her tone and expression grim. "I want you all to be on alert from now on. The osprey wasn't able to do much, thanks to the quick thinking of our warriors, but we were lucky this time. If it had gone for one of the kits...." She trailed off and glanced at where she had left them. Thankfully, Sleepymoon had made her way over there and wrapped her tail protectively around them.

"Don't worry, Myrtlestar," Fawnspots meowed. He padded over from where he had been talking quietly with Bristlebee. "I'll make sure to always check the sky whenever I'm watching the kits. They won't go unprotected -- I promise." Clearly, he still held guilt over last moon's incident with Fuzzykit.

Myrtlestar dipped her head appreciatively at him.

"What I'm wondering," Morningnose began, sitting back after one last satisfied sniff at her handiwork on Bristlebee's wounds, "is why the beast would go for a fully grown cat such as me. It must have been starving to be able to take that risk. But it fought like a well-fed hawk. I wonder--" She broke off suddenly, eyes drifting towards the kits now marching around the clearing, playing some kind of guarding game. "Myrtlestar, may I speak to you in your den? And Bristlebee, if I come out here and you're not resting, I'll personally drag you to your nest!"

Though her pelt was warm from the bright Greenleaf sun, Myrtlestar felt her blood run cold at Morningnose's serious tone. She summoned Sleepymoon with a flick of her tail-tip and they followed Morningnose to the leader's den.

Once they were safely out of the other cats' earshot, Morningnose turned to her leader. Her periwinkle-blue eyes were solemn. "It doesn't add up that the osprey would go for me. I'm nearly as big as it. Myrtlestar -- you were quick to protect the kits, but it didn't seem to even be aiming at them. Its strange behavior makes me wonder...what if it was a sign from StarClan? What other explanation is there? I tell you this, because I'm sure this omen can't mean anything good."

Fighting the urge to shiver again, Myrtlestar reluctantly considered this new variable. She exchanged a dark, worried glance with Sleepymoon. It was true that StarClan had accepted them, embraced them, even. They had willingly granted Myrtlestar her nine lives. But what if now they were starting to change their minds about PebbleClan...?

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ᴄʟᴀɴ ᴀɢᴇ (ᴍᴏᴏɴs): 2
ғᴏᴜɴᴅɪɴɢ ᴍᴇᴍʙᴇʀs: 9
ᴛᴏᴛᴀʟ ᴍᴇᴍʙᴇʀs: 9
sᴇᴀsᴏɴ: mid Greenleaf