Life 4:10
It was soon proven that Snakepaw's prediction was correct. Standing at the border of Shadowclan was Tawnypaw and Darkstripe. Darkstripe nervously fretted in place, wary of being spotted by Thunderclan. It was Snakepaw and Blackfoot that found them.
"What brings you two here?" Blackfoot tested, preparing to fight in case this was a border skirmish.
"Well… We wanted to defect.' Darkstripe stuttered out. "I just can't go against Tigerstar, and Tawnypaw here deserves the right to meet her father. "
Blackfoot hesitated, wary of deception, but Tigerstar had said to watch for Darkstripe or any of his kits. He didn't trust them, but Tigerstar's orders were absolute. "Alright. Come with us. We'll take you to camp. Tigerstar should be coming back form Riverclan right around now."
Blackfoot silently signaled for Snakepaw to take the rear in case either of the two decided to do something sneaky. Snakepaw nodded acceptingly, moving to the back of the group to watch the two unproven cats. Thankfully, the two were well behaved for the journey besides Tawnypaw briefly getting distracted by a frog. They reached Shadowclan's camp with ease. Tigerstar had just gotten back, which was fortuitous timing. He spotted the four entering.
"Darkstripe and Tawnypaw. I didn't expect you to join us. I'm glad to see you both. Though, I wish your brother had come as well." Tigerstar mewed with a practiced grin.
Darkstripe preened under the attention, but there was some visible unease beneath the surface. It was like there was a part of him that was cautious or afraid. Meanwhile Tawnypaw looked up at Tigerstar with curiosity She didn't know all that much about her father besides the fact that cats kept comparing her to him while simultaneously not telling her anything about him. It was infuriating to the apprentice. She had to know why every cat went out of their way to avoid her and belittle her for being like a cat she barely even knew.
Tigerstar, clearly done with his 'welcoming' turned to Blackfoot. "Blackfoot, get those two settled in. I'll be giving Tawnypaw to you. You'll also be tasked with getting Darkstripe caught up." He commanded.
With that, Tigerstar disappeared into his den, not even giving the two new cats the time of day. There was a look of disappointment that crossed Darkstripe's face. He'd been clearly anticipating some kind of heartfelt reunion with Tigerstar, but to Tigerstar, Darkstripe was merely a loyal pawn.
Tawnypelt's face screwed up in anger. "Did he really just…?" She started to question before Blackfoot silenced her with his tail.
"It isn't worth it. Come along you two. I know a good spot in the warriors den for you Darkstripe, and you should have plenty of space to choose from in the apprentice den Tawnypaw seeing as it is just you and Snakepaw for now. Though, there should be some new apprentices in a couple moons." Blackfoot mewed in a tone that implied pressing Tigerstar further would be a bad idea.
Darkstripe looked dejected as he entered the warriors den, immediately collapsing into the nest Blackfoot pointed out to sleep away his sadness. After seeing Darkstripe to the warriors den, the other three went to the apprentice den to help Tawnypaw set up a nest, knowing she wouldn't know how to weave a soft pine nest since she came from Thunderclan. After Tawnypaw's nest was situated, the three emerged from the den. It was too early to call it a day yet, and there wasn't any planned formation training today, so Blackfoot decided it may be worthwhile to give Tawnypaw a taste of how Shadowclan trains their apprentices.
He led Snakepaw and Tawnypaw out into the marsh to show Tawnypaw the basic dangers of the territory. While snakes and rats are what other clans would think of for the dangers of Shadowclan, they missed some of the more naturally occurring and equally dangerous ones that can catch a cat unaware.
"This is a water trap." Blackfoot mewed, gesturing to something that appeared to be a puddle.
"That's just a puddle." Tawnypaw skeptically mewed.
"Really?" Snakepaw asked, knowing full well that this 'puddle' was far deeper than it looked. "Well, watch this!" Snakepaw mewed, taking a diving leap at said 'puddle.
His entire form disappeared into the water. This 'puddle' startled Tawnypaw as Snakepaw disappeared into it entirely. The surface even grew still, making it seem that Snakepaw was never there at all.
"What! How did…?!" Tawnypaw mewed with her fur spiked with fear. "Is he coming back?"
"Give him a moment." Blackfoot answered patiently, seeing the surface begin to ripple as Snakepaw was making his way back to the surface.
Snakepaw breeched the surface of the 'puddle' and pulled his soaking wet form free. "Whew! That one was a deep one. It had an undertow too! I probably shouldn't have just dove into it, but I saw some good frog spawn down there. In a moon or two, this spot will be 'hopping'." Snakepaw mewed, giggling at his own pun.
"That's why we call it a water trap. If you're not a good swimmer like Snakepaw, it'll suck you right down to the bottom. It's important to know how to swim in Shadowclan for that reason. We've got a few cats trained to dive into these and check them out to see if they're going to produce any prey for the season. They're equally dangerous and beneficial to our clan." Blackfoot explained as Snakepaw went about drying himself off from his dive.
"You're going to throw me in that?" Tawnypaw questioned defensively.
"No no. There's a pond we use to teach swimming. I just wanted you to realize that you can't just trust that a 'puddle' here is just a puddle. We lose an apprentice almost every year because one of them thought it'd be fun to splash in a puddle. Shadowclan is a difficult place to live in, but we are powerful because we can survive such a hazardous place. Other clans never realize how much their territory coddles them. Never travel the territory alone. There's plenty of things out here that can catch even a good warrior by surprise. We usually keep in pairs at minimum. Even the medicine cats request escorts when they go picking herbs or go to the Moonstone. Mud traps can sometimes appear overnight. Not super dangerous, but you can get stuck in one without someone to dig you out." Blackfoot mewed with a calm that unnerved Tawnypaw.
"Why would you choose to live here?" Tawnypaw questioned, frightened by the idea that the very territory they were on could be their enemy.
"Where else do you think we could go? There's simply no other territory to claim. Thunderclan has the forest. Windclan has the moor, and Riverclan has the wetlands. There's nowhere else to go, and we wouldn't want it anyways. The most important thing you must understand about Shadowclan is that be believe in strength through adversity. We face challenges together, overcome them together, and achieve victory together. Shadowclan is strong because we succeed in a place where all other clans would fail." Blackfoot mewed passionately, taking a page from Snakepaw's book.
"I think I want to lie down." Tawnypaw mewed with an exhaustion only possible through both mental and physical strain.
"We can go back to camp and let you take a nap. We'll cover star navigation when you wake up." Blackfoot mewed.
"You want us to be out there at night?!" Tawnypaw yowled.