Ok, time to play around with hypotheticals. Let's say an Islandclan patrol stumbles upon a cat they've never seen before on the shore. The cat looks to be washed up, and they have no idea how they got there. What would Islandclan do? If it was an apprentice-aged cat? If it was a kit?
Any cat who is washed up onto the islands since is said to have been brought by the Cat Fish Spirit.
Islandclan believes that, after the Great Cat led them to the Living World, things flooded due to the Jealous Cold trying to break the Star Warriors barrier to get to the Living World. The Cat Fish Spirit who lived in the lake swallowed all of the Lake Cats and held them in its belly like its kits. Once the waters had subsided they were spat out and reborn onto the islands.
Of all the clans, Islandclan would probably be the keenest to get outside blood in, because they are so cut off from other groups, and they have no ‘mainland’ territory, they rarely get outside blood. They don’t breed with loners like Marshclan or encounter rogues or housecats who are interested in joining like Roamingclan, Graveclan, etc. Therefore, of all the clans, they have the greatest risk for inbreeding issues.
Therefore, any non-clan cat who washes up on shore is going to definitely be given the offer to join– after the healers have warmed, dried, and restored the poor cat. If it’s a kit, it will be whole-heartedly adopted for sure; an apprentice-aged cat much the same. Since Islandclan offers plenty of prey year-round, little risk of frequent battles, and is one of the most peaceful and amiable clans, most cats would be quite interested in joining. If they weren’t, then Islandclan would escort across to the second (burial ground) island via the shallow water between the two, and from there over some more shallow water and to Mountainclan territory, where they could be restored to the mainland and go their own way.
It’s said that the first healer, Slug(nose) was washed up onto the islands.
