"Do you know who our mother is?" Leafpaw asked.
"No… Yes." Nightshade answered he paused, "Streamripple." His eyes shone with sadness and love.
"Yes," Leafpaw said, gently.
"I will teach you the ways of ShadowClan," Nightshade promised, "If… if you want to learn, that is,"
"We would like that," Lavapaw said.
"Yes," Leafpaw agreed, "One more thing, we have another sister, Clawpaw, she was too tired to make it tonight, but we will bring her to meet you soon,"
"Every quarter moon?" Lavapaw suggested.
"Agreed." Nightshade agreed, "You can start learning now,"
Nightshade padded closer to Leafpaw, "Show me how quietly you can walk."
Leafpaw moved one paw forward and immediately stepped on a dry leaf, "Firgures that leaves make me loud of all things."
Lavapaw snickered, "Maybe it's a sign from Starclan that you were born to be clumsy and loud."
Nightshade sighed, "Lavapaw, your turn."
Lavapaw lifted her paws so only the tips touched the floor. Then, she spread out her weight to make each paw as light as possible. She flattened herself to the floor and silently crept forward.
"Good," Nightshade said, "Now show me how well you hide."
Leafpaw crouched down and her shadowy black plet melted into the shadows. Soon, she was nothing more than a pair of bright green eyes. Lavapaw attempted to copy her, but her ginger pelt stood out strongly against the shadows. She growled a bit and lept into a tree, becoming invisible in the leaf-fall leaves.
Nightshade looked approvingly at Leafpaw, "That was great. Slit your eyes next time so you can see, but your eyes won't show," Then, Nightshade looked up at Lavapaw's tree. Her tail was hanging down so Nightshade pulled Lavapaw down with it, "You, on the other hand, need a bit more practice. That leap was impressive though."
Nightshade showed Leafpaw how to step lightly, and how to use her black fur to her advantage. Soon, Leafpaw could walk around silent and invisible.
Lavapaw had been slowly creeping up to Nightshade's tail as he trained Leafpaw. The moment before she pounced, Nightshade spun and knocked Lavapaw into a bush.
"You still need to work on hiding," Nightshade commented dryly.
Lavapaw shook out the dust from her fur and lapped at her chest. Nightshade pushed her into a pile of muddy leaves. Lavapaw vanished into the pile and didn't come out. Leafpaw squeaked in surprise as Lavapaw fell out of the tree above, her fur still perfectly groomed.
"How? What? Huh?" Leafpaw looked at the tree, completely stumped.
"I think Lavapaw has a natural talent," Nightshade said, "It takes moons for most cats to learn that."
"Learn what? All I know is that you pushed me into a pile of leaves, and the next thing I know is I'm falling out of a tree," Lavapaw said.
"It's a special trick," Nightshade explained, "You make it look like you went one way, but you go the other."
"So it's kind of like how Dar-" Lavapaw abruptly cut herself off, "I mean, I definitely didn't already know that."
"Well, you still need to hide," Nightshade said, "Try rolling in mud. It'll make you look like a puddle."
Lavapaw rolled in the mud and flattened herself. She looked exactly like a small, cat-shaped puddle. If Leafpaw didn't know better, she would probably have assumed that Lavapaw would jump out of the brambles behind her. So of course, Lavapaw jumped out of the brambles behind her. Confused, she sniffed the puddle, which was an actual puddle now.
"I saw your tail flick. You'll have to be more careful of it," Nightshade said, not even slightly surprised. Lavapaw and Leafpaw continued training with Nightshade until Lavapaw noticed the sky getting brighter.
"We should be getting back to our territory," Lavapaw said.
They thanked Nightshade, said their goodbyes for the night, and headed out of ShadowClan territory. They stopped by the river to catch a few fish, so they could say they couldn't sleep so they went night hunting. Leafpaw caught a trout, a salmon, and a dozen minnows, and Lavapaw caught the same, only she had one less minnow. They washed the scent of ShadowClan off of them so no one would be suspicious and headed back to camp.