Chapter 12: Visitors: Shadowclan

Evening's light filtered through the leaves of the four large trees that dominated the clearing. I'd had ample time to wind down from the stress Hawkfrost put on me. On top of that, I'd been receiving plenty of attention from Father. He seemed dead set on making today a good one despite the interruptions. It went slightly contrary to Father's nature. Father was always the type to prepare and then prepare some more. I was honestly surprises he wasn't grilling me on emergency medicines or other survival tactics. Admittedly, I never really had the head for medicine. The scents and names all blur together, but I did have a basic understanding of field dressing injuries from Father insisting I have lessons with Cinderpelt. It didn't hurt that Cinderpelt was a pretty cat whose voice sounded was soft and sweet.

"Gah!" I quietly mewed, shaking that thought out of my head. If Father or, even worse, Stonestep caught wind of my crush… I'd never head the end of it. Correcting my drifting thoughts, I guess Father's behavior was somewhat explainable. He'd already taught me all he could, but in his words, experience was the best teacher of all. Father saw this journey as not only a means to learn of the coming threat, but also a way for me to mature. That's also likely why he wanted Squirrelpaw to tag along too.

My lazy pondering was cut off by a rustling from the Shadowclan side of the clearing. Looking over, I saw two cats emerge. One was the leader of Shadowclan, Blackstar. The other was a molly who bore a very similar build to Brambleclaw. She was a tortoiseshell molly with kind green eyes, Shadowclan's chosen, Tawnypelt.

Blackstar approached Father immediately. "Smudgefoot. It is good to see you. Seeing as your new role involves acting as an intermediate between clans, I do have some work for you. Due to a recent outbreak of rats from the carrion place, I want to request from both Riverclan and Windclan either to allow us to push the borders a bit or to send a few warriors to help us deal with the rat problem."

Father tilted his head in obvious annoyance. "So, you're requesting that either they send warriors to deal with a Shadowclan problem, or you'll push their borders? That sound about right?"

Blackstar nodded, which Father seemed none too pleased about. Father got right in Blackstar's face to remind him that he was no push over. "Hear me now Blackstar. It was the way of Brokenstar and Tigerstar to force their problems onto others. You are supposed to be better than that. I know you are. Let's get down to the point. You aren't requesting this just to tweak your neighbor's tails. What exactly is it about this problem that requires outside assistance?"

Blackstar honestly looked lost for a response. He had been called out, but it looked like he couldn't refute Father's claims. Finally, he hung his head a bit before replying. "Fine. It isn't just an outbreak. We spotted a few who have the madness disease. Normally, this wouldn't be an issue, but we're overall low on cat power. We can't run all the necessary patrols and complete an extermination campaign at the same time. Leaving our borders weak could get us attacked, but at the same time, we really don't want the madness disease getting loose."

Father looked slightly scared by this mention of a madness disease. "Tell me, does this disease cause foaming at the mouth and normally cowardly animals to suddenly act violent?"

Blackstar nodded. "That's the one. Shadowclan is usually fully capable of dealing with it, but again, we just don't have enough cats."

Father nodded. "Ok. This is an issue worth getting outside help. Though, I doubt the other clans are all that familiar with how to deal with the maddened. On the other paw, I can put you in contact with The Pulse. Their cats are quite familiar with dealing with diseased animals. My suggestion is to make a deal with Hattie to bring a few of these cats in to deal with the problem. They'll likely request prey for their troubles. This'll also be a good chance for you to recruit some into Shadowclan. As long as you let Hattie know that's your goal, she'll likely look for some good candidates to send your way."

Blackstar looked befuddled at the suggestion. "Why would she do that? She'd be losing cats."

Father shook his head. "The city is overpopulated. Cats can't always catch enough to eat. Hattie is already overworked trying to ensure the city is safe while keeping everyone from starving. Getting rid of a few mouths is in her best interests."

Blackstar huffed in response. "Fine. Set up a meeting with this Hattie cat. I'd prefer for it to be done as soon as possible. My cats are already running double what I want to keep the threat contained."

Blackstar and Father went on to hash out the specific details, but Tawnypelt pulled me away. "Let's leave all the boring stuff to them. Anyways, we haven't been formally introduced. My name is Tawnypelt. I'll be with you on this journey. I'm honestly excited. What lies beyond our borders, and who is this Midnight we're supposed to meet? Sorry if I'm rambling, but what I'm meaning to say is that I look forward to traveling with you. I'll keep you safe out there."

'Who is keeping who safe' is the rebuttal that flashed in my mind. I looked into her eyes, attempting to see any wariness to work with me, any reason at all to believe there was a hint of hostility. There simply was none. She was being genuine, which was a strange thing to see.

"Yeah." I answered slowly. "I hope we don't get in each other's ways. I'm Darkpaw, by the way. I may be young, but I was tasked with acting as the intermediary in case any disputes come about. Technically, I'm not Thunderclan at the moment. AS to the journey itself, I'm not exactly looking forward to it. I…" I began, not really wanting to reveal my weaknesses but also knowing she'd find out about my condition soon enough. "I suffer from frequent nightmares. Usually, Father, Dad, or Stonestep will rouse me from them, but they can't accompany us. I'm not sure what I'll do. Just giving you a heads up."

Tawnypelt gave me a pitying look. "Oh. That's awful. It's ok if you don't want to share, but is there anything I can do to help?"

I dismissed her worry. "Nothing really can be done. I don't really want to share what occurs in those dreams right now, but if you see me having one, don't be afraid to shake me awake. I usually need a pretty firm one to wake up from one of those. I may also act out a bit upon waking. Just remind me where I am. Sorry if that's too much to ask of you."

Tawnypelt shook her head. "It's no problem, really. You can trust me to wake you up if you have one of those nightmares. I promise. Hopefully… Hopefully this journey will help you put them to rest. I'll make sure nothing bad happens to you. I swear it on my honor as a Shadowclan cat."

I wanted to rebut her, to tell her she didn't need to go that far. My mission was to keep her and the rest alive above all else. She couldn't afford to care for me given the necessity of her return. I opened my mouth to speak, but she spoke first, preventing me from telling her.

"Looks like Blackstar is calling me. See you soon Darkpaw." She pleasantly mewed before trotting off after Blackstar.