1. augur
soothsayer; prophet

2. affable
pleasantly easy to approach and to talk to; friendly; cordial; warmly polite

3. cautelous
Crafty, cunning

4. awareness, realization, or knowledge; notice; perception
cognizance
awareness, realization, or knowledge; notice; perception

5. detritus
rock in small particles or other material worn or broken away from a mass, as by the action of water or glacial ice.

6. diatom
any of numerous microscopic, unicellular, marine or freshwater algae of the phylum Chrysophyta, having cell walls containing silica.

7. to urge, provoke, or incite to some action or course
instigate
to urge, provoke, or incite to some action or course

8. to place between; cause to intervene
interpose
to place between; cause to intervene

9. reversed in position, order, direction, or tendency
inverse
reversed in position, order, direction, or tendency

10. portent
an indication or omen of something about to happen, especially something momentous

11. extraordinary in size, amount, extent, degree, force
prodigious
extraordinary in size, amount, extent, degree, force

12. zooplankton
the aggregate of animal or animal like organisms in plankton, as protozoans

13. Nothing will come of nothing
You will gain nothing if you invest nothing

14. Once bitten, twice shy
 When something or someone has hurt you once, you tend to avoid that thing or person

15. On tenterhooks
in a state of suspense or agitation because of uncertainty about a future event