pafp GONNA BE A SUPERSTAR — tunnel talk

[cygnetstare]

♱—— the pale cat worked in the tunnels, @LUCKYPAW no doubt somewhere close by trying his paw at reinforcement work. the tunnels were always in need of repair, of steady paws to pack loose earth back into concrete walls through which they could safely walk. today she'd brought along another cat; tunnel work like this went better with more paws, and she wanted to get luckypaw used to the members of their small force and working with them. a good tunneler knew their teammates, knew their skills and their personalities so they would know just who to bring; weepingwillow could be hotheaded, but part of training was learning how to work with cats who might be more difficult. plus, the grey feline was dependably loyal, a useful teammate and a good enough tunneler. another apprentice joined them, @Marmotbite. pitching in with the repair efforts as well.

"soon this tunnel might be close to another, ayuh?" her voice fills the darkness of the tunnel, raspy and accented; consulting her mental map, they were close to the site of the newest tunnel soon to be dug. the one that would assure their victory over riverclan, their new path into the territory of the fish-eaters; she wouldn't mind chatting about it with her fellow tunnelers and future teammates. "me an' luckypaw will be helpin' with that, ain't that right? you plannin' on chippin' in too, weepingwillow?" her gravelly, but not unkind, mew is directed towards both of her companions here. they'd be spending a hell of a lot of time together if they all helped out, which she expected with weepingwillow's loyal disposition; might as well make conversation. she pauses and adds, "ought to help us out with beatin' the scales off those damn riverclanners."

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┏━⋆⁺｡˚⋆˙‧₊ OOC ☽ ◯ ☾ INFORMATION₊‧˙⋆˚｡⁺⋆━━━━━┓ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎‎‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ☄. *. ⋆♱･ﾟ:

• ooc: please wait for @WeepingWillow !!
  

• 

• ♱ cygnetstare — for their downy kitten-fur and perceptiveness (or uncanny gaze) she/they ; afab gender apathetic — windclan — tunneler — 34 ☾s —— cygnetstare is a corpselike chimera, split between long albino fur and a short black smoke pelt; their eyes are an unsettling pink. her creepy demeanour distracts from a strange fascination with death and an obsessive loyalty to windclan. —— smells like grave-dirt and blood ; sounds like vc tbd ; speech in #BF959C, thoughts in #000000 —— peaceful / healing powerplay permitted ; attacks/contact in underline ; will start fights ; won't flee unless ordered ; won't show mercy ; will kill or maim —— pansexual panromantic monogamist, single, not looking ; open to friendships, enemies, casual interactions, long-term romance, plotting ; not open to unplanned battles, flings penned by dejavu— desklamp9 on discord for plots

• battle stuff goes here for fights

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[WeepingWillow]

calm and collected, she keeps her composure
︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶

The trek through the tunnels was much better than a trek across the moor where the sun would beam and heat would radiate over them. She was grateful to be able to be a tunneler for the sake of the heat. Long hair coarsed down her way-too-slender form, shaggy and neatly groomed, except for dirt now in between her unsheathed claws and across the pelt of the warrior. Not like it mattered, the darkness would keep the sight unseen till they would finally pull free from them. She was not sure why CygnetStare had offered her to come with, but she would not deny. She was useful, as built to be. Any task she would be given would get done without complaint, and the task was painfully simple, but needed.

Tunnels collapsing were no good for anyone. And as Cygnetstare broke the silence, she would listen closely. Though blind in the tunnels, she knew that she was not wrong. "Are you suggesting I would not? Yes, of course i would be assisting. anyone that is able to pitch in should be doing so. I would not see why other tunnelers should not. There is a duty to begin, and Riverclan deserves every ounce of force we can give them. Especially with the bastards continuing to lie about us," She would respond as she directed the conversation to her. Her voice was low and cold, bitter hatred for the silly games they continue to play with the windclanners.

She itched to be in that battle, to flood and surprise their ranks and crush them. But, that is how the warrior was built. To fight and die for windclan. And she would not regret doing so either.
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thought speech​

 

[RABBITCLAW]

She wouldn't say she had the same kind of love for the tunnels that Weepingwillow does. Her fur is short so had she been a moor runner she wouldn't have complained too much about the sun being harsh on her, nor did she have the complaint of her pelt being darker and attracting more sun. Her fur was light, so in all she would have made a fine moor runner. The difference was that she was smaller compared to most moor runners, but she didn't care too much about that. She loved the tunnels for the thrill it gave compared to the moors. She loved the darkness, only relying on touch and scent as your guide. The chance that you can run into something dangerous or fall through into another tunnel. Even the possibility of being crushed while unpleasant, she dare not lie in her excitement in that chance. However, she knows and is aware her clanmates are different. They would rather not be crushed to death. Nor would Sootstar be too happy about it.

What she does look forward to like most is the completion of the tunnel to get back at those slimy Riverclanners. She had been working with her family, but decided to move on, catching only Weepingwillow's words. "Hey loves, seems like you got this area covered. The others are checking the wall along the way, see if needs more stability. Can't really crush those slimy fish eaters if we get buried in dirt, ya know?" Rabbitclaw decides to move closer and can make out who the others are better. Cygnetstare, Luckypaw, and Marmotpaw are here too. "Cyg, teachin' the apprentices ay? They're still learnin' so let's check how's their work."​

 

[LUCKYPAW]

When Sootstar had first announced him to be a tunneler, he had imagined things to be...well, a little different than this. Before he'd even entered a tunnel in the first place, they had been places of dark uncertainty, full of hidden dangers, and while that hasn't necessarily changed, Luckypaw has at least grown used to it, more than he would have expected. Sure, he still starts at unfamiliar sounds, still balks at scents that aren't totally familiar, but even with the new tunnels and learning new pathways, things are still remarkably mundane down here. Patrols provide something new to do, but otherwise he's learning that being a tunneler really does require a lot of maintenance work - not that he's complaining about it, especially when that maintenance work is what keeps the walls from crashing down around them all. It's a job he takes seriously, even if his paws thrum with nervous energy between each motion at being given such a vital task. He'd have to do it eventually, as a full-time tunneler, but with such little experience, it feels unwise that he's just...allowed to have such free reign over tunnel walls that need extra work to be considered safely standing. What if he messed something up, pressed a paw in too hard and brought down the whole system atop their heads? It's not the first time he's considered such a thing, though Luckypaw tries to reassure himself that if Cygnetstare didn't think he could do it, she probably wouldn't be leaving him relatively to his own devices.

As if brought forth by his very thoughts, his mentor's voice suddenly pitches towards him, though it's directed to Weepingwillow instead. When Cygnetstare had said they'd be working with some other cats today, he hadn't had any qualms - it's always better to work in groups, they'd taught him early on, and he certainly doesn't mind more help, even if being around other, more experienced tunnelers makes him slightly nervous. With others around, it's more likely that someone might notice a slip-up, and so as he feels out weak spots in the walls and listens to Cygnetstare's familiar lilt, he's careful to double check all his actions and movements. The topic at hand is the new tunnel, and Luckypaw's ears perk up slightly at that; the more he hears about it, the more exciting it seems, as it's clearly not commonplace that something like that is built. As he's addressed, the apprentice pauses for a second, not wanting to knock anything around in the moment he's not paying attention, before responding with a murmured, "Yeah," so as not to impose on the conversation that he's not really apart of. As Cygnetstare and Weepingwillow continue on about RiverClan, he'll half-turn towards the direction Marmotpaw is working, hesitating for a moment before asking, "What about you? Are you excited for the new tunnel, too?"

The sound of another cat approaching is far from abnormal down here, especially in an area like this, and Luckypaw takes a moment, seeing if he can recognize just who it is; unfortunately for him, he hadn't been paying too close attention to his surroundings, and once Rabbitclaw speaks, it's immediately evident who it is. Disappointed, he returns back to his task, pressing another pawful of dirt into an area of the wall that felt a little weaker than what should be normal, though when Rabbitclaw mentions the apprentices, his ears flick in that direction, even if he hasn't been directly addressed yet. While he's still considering calling out some sort of greeting to his aunt, she suggests the tunnelers should check the work they've been doing, and that gives him pause, green gaze raking uselessly over the invisible places along the wall that he's been filling in. There's only one way to make sure he's learning correctly, and it's better to stop any bad habits before they form - he knows this, of course, and besides, if he'd made any egregious errors, the walls surely would've come down by now. Or, at least, they would be noticeably weak, probably. Still, it's hard not to worry that he's done something wrong even as he takes a step back, tail searching out the wall opposite to him. "You can check my work, if you want." It's aimed somewhere into the darkness, an invitation for anyone his senior to step up if they so wish, though inwardly he can't help but hope it's his mentor themself who takes on the task, being the most familiar with her teaching style down in the tunnels.​

[ PENNED BY HIJINKS ]​

 

[BLUEFROST]

Though she’d felt seen by StarClan when Wolfsong had announced the omen, Bluepaw is learning the work itself is far less glorious than she’d imagined it to be. She’s eight moons now and has been tunneling proper for about four of them—though she’s nowhere near the expertise of the warriors, she can see when a stick shoring up a tunnel needs reinforcing, can clear debris with the best of them, and can scent her way through the more familiar network of tunnels easily. But digging new paths is brutal work. Her paws are sore, her claws, too, and each evening she retired to her nest drained and aching. She spends just as much time picking dried earth from beneath her nails now as she does tugging them from her lustrous gray fur.

Still, hearing the older tunnelers talk about defeating RiverClan puts all of this in perspective. She is Luckypaw’s senior, but she’s still an apprentice, so she finds herself beside him today. Despite now being an apprentice for a moon, the pale, insipid twin to Scorchpaw is no more confident in his abilities. She sometimes wonders how cats like Badgermoon and Scorchstreak could have created such a timid creature. Marmotpaw is a bit less insipid, though, and Bluepaw twitches an ear as the two make stilted conversation.

“It’s good news that we’re joining tunnels, finally, isn’t it?” She swings impassive green eyes to Cygnetstare, Rabbitclaw, and Weepingwillow. “We’ll be making a breakthrough soon, right?” Part of her impatience is to succeed where Cottonpaw no longer can, where her moor runner littermates cannot, and part of it is to give her collapsing body a long rest.

✧ INFO.

• mentor tag @SOOTSTAR
• 
  — bluekit . bluepaw
  — she/her, apprentice of windclan
  — bisexual ; single
  — long-haired blue she-cat with white and green eyes
  — “speech”, thoughts, attack
  — penned by Marquette
  — art by Meg

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