camp i hold it's hard to break down } tunneling training

[RATTLEHEART]

AS HE RAISED HIS FIST BEFORE HE SPOKE — The meeting ended and the crowd began to disperse, different faces and colorful pelts streaming off in every direction - all except one. Rattleheart didn't go rushing off into a patrol, instead waiting until Sootspot and her sister had gone before she raised her voice into a call. "Kits and apprentices, come here! I have some things to talk with you about." There was a pause, her long tail curling tightly around her neatly packed together front paws. "And yes, that includes you moor running apprentices too." Sunstar had technically only ordered her to make sure the tunneler apprentices were keeping up with their training, but there was nothing wrong with having more knowledge than you truly needed, at least in her mind. What if one of the kits decided to squeeze their way into a tunnel unsupervised, or one of the moor runner apprentices somehow got themselves trapped down in one? The thought sent a shiver down the lead warrior's spine, more certain than ever that she wanted everyone she had called listening.

Once a modest - and incredibly curious - crowd had gathered, she made sure to offer all of them a reassuring smile, one light paw reaching out to lightly pat the nearest kit to her on the head. "Hello, all of you. Now I'm sure you're wondering why I called you all over here for tunneler training. Especially all of you." Her tail flicked towards the nearest moor runner apprentice, chuckling as she was greeted with a look skepticism. "The answer to that is simple - this knowledge can be useful to all of you, even if you're not tunnelers. Tunnels collapse, and accidents happen. I'd rather you all have a decent chance of dealing with such things as they come, even if you end up never actually needing any of this. Besides, it gives you a bit of a break from patrols." Rattleheart let out a snort, scanning over the herd she had amassed for any sign of Pinkpaw or her own apprentice's fluffy pelt. "I know we only have a few tunneler apprentices at the moment, but... that should hopefully change once the rest of you are old enough." Hopefully. There was still time for many of the kits present to have growth spurts that would leave them out of the tunnels, an unfortunate reality that she had accepted a while ago.

It probably wasn't a great idea to toss any of them into the deep end too soon, so instead she just let out a soft, thoughtful hum as her paws tapped against the ground. "How about we start with a basic question before I start advising you all. Can anyone tell me what exactly it is that tunnelers do for our clan? What are our jobs?" She knew that it wasn't a particularly difficult question, but it was also one that seemed to go over the heads of even some adult moor runners. After all, what reason did they have to worry about what tunnelers did when that wasn't their job?

THE RIGHTEOUS HAND OF GOD 𓆩♡𓆪 THE DEVIL THAT YOU FORGOT

• 

• 
  ❥ longhaired black and white tom with pale green eyes
  ❥ 49 moons old; ages the 1st every month
  ❥ afab; uses he/she/they pronouns
  ❥ homosexual homoromantic; mated to venomstrike
  ❥ sibling to scorchstreak, lizardbounce, and rabbitclaw
  ❥ currently mentoring downypaw
  ❥ somewhat difficult to befriend; wary but kind
  ❥ "speech", thoughts, attacking
  ❥ peaceful powerplay allowed
  ❥ all opinions are ic

​

 

[mistcrawl]

This meeting wasn't a particularly exciting one from his dimmed gaze, but it did give insight to what would occur over the next several moons. Hopefully RiverClan's tunnel would officially be seen to it's completion, and the rest of them would be able to have their chance with StarClan once more. He feels fatigue just from listening to the minute bickering that had occurred and taken the moment after the meeting to relax and breathe. Soon enough he would be pulled to another patrol, and so for now, he reclines and cleans the fur of his chest.

Rattleheart calls out - not for him, but if his young is out and about, then to them - and Mistcrawl listens. It makes sense, to make them all aware of their eventual duties or ways they can help their Clanmates. A moor runner who can dig is better than one who can't, after all. He settles back, gaze flicking over the apprentices and kits to see if his grandson or child is among them. His ears fold back for a moment before he continues simply listening.​

 

[Grasspaw]

𓆝 . ° ✦ Grasskit had nearly tripped over himself in his excitement to get to Rattleheart. He was gonna learn about tunnels! He was already a bit of a fiend for digging. Maybe a little too much, at least in camp, but it wasn't like he could go anywhere else. He grinned as Rattleheart patted him on his head. He was too out of breath to answer the question even if he knew. The pollen in the air had been making him extra wheezy the past few days, stunting his usual habit of running around with his friends.

✧　°　.　✶　.　°　✧​

ooc Information

• ooc: —
• 

  NAME — HE/HIM ･ 2 MOONS ･ KIT & WINDCLAN ･ PENNED BY TWITCHTAIL

  Small fawn tabby with pale green eyes.
  "speak" thoughts action
  — peaceful, healing, and minor injury powerplay allowed

​

 

[rivewhisper]

"TAKE ME TO YOUR ORCHARD, SO SWEET"​

And yes, that includes you moor running apprentices too.

Well, that much she couldn't ignore. Rivepaw's ears twitched as Rattleheart called them all closer, and her tufted paws found their way to the slowly gathering crowd of kit and apprentice- and Mistcrawl, too. Her eyes swept over the crowd, as if searching for a red pelt, before returning back to the tunneler hosting the lesson. Rattleheart's gaze met with Rivepaw's, who only lifted an eyebrow, before turning her vision away. Holding a look was challenging these days, but Rivepaw's vision soon switched back as Rattleheart began to lecture.

She slowly sank down into a sitting position, thinking quietly at her question. She knew the answer- the tunnelers moved different, found routes through the territory in stealth that the moor runners couldn't, but needed to be small and quick. Hunting in the tunnels and burrows were easier for them then the longer legged of the moor runners. They could flank enemies in their territories, travel safely in order to gain knowledge on any other forces... the list went on and on, really, just as the list did for the moor runners.

However, Rivepaw held her tongue, blue eyes shifting towards the rest of the crowd to see if anyone else would answer before she.
​

"yuh"​

 

[Quietcrow]

It seems the apprentices are getting called over for another meeting. Quietpaw isn't in much of a rush to follow Rattleheart dragged his paws, letting a few other apprentices gather around the black and white cat before he did. Trying to be unnoticed, Quietpaw lowered his head to blend in with the group of young cats. Wide blue eyes watched and listened. 'Oh, this cat was a tunneler'. Not many cats were. His black tale swished back and forth low to the ground. A lesson for both Tunneler and more runner apprentices must be important.

Their last question stumped Quietpaw. Aware that these cats have certain skills that a few cats in the clan possess. Was this a trick question? Maybe the tunneler wanted a simple answer. Or perhaps they want to share uncommon information with the clan youth? "Tunnlers,, travel in,, the tunnels?" Quietpaw mumbled unhelpfully.
​

​

 

[RATTLEHEART]

AS HE RAISED HIS FIST BEFORE HE SPOKE — For a moment, she was greeted by nothing but silence. Plenty of interested gazes, sure, but no voices arose from the crowd that had gathered, a fact that caused a sigh to leave her muzzle. Rattleheart was entirely ready to have to answer her own posed question, only for the surprising - and nearly silent - voice of Quietpaw to be the thing that rescued her. "Well... that is right, at least on a base level! We're the ones sent down into the tunnels that know how to both navigate and repair them, and they allow us to move through the territory quickly and without being seen. The tunnels themselves are great for both hunting and battle, since many of them allow us to sneak up on enemies. Whether those be other clans, or predators on the moorlands." There was a certain enthusiasm to each word that left her, her usually dulled pale gaze lit up brightly as she taught. It seemed she had taken to it naturally, a fact often reflected in her mentoring as well.

Although Rivepaw didn't seem eager to be the center of attention, she was the main moor runner apprentice present, meaning that the lead warrior nodded towards her with her next question. "Rivepaw. You've been learning the ways of moor running. I know your training got slightly interrupted for... obvious reasons, but would you be able to say how moor runners and tunnelers work in tandem with each other?" There was a slight pause, and then Rattleheart offered up an encouraging smile. "It's alright if not, it's something I'll be going over anyways." She didn't want to put Rivepaw on the spot, though she did have to wonder just how much Snakehiss had taught her about her tunneling clanmates that worked alongside her. Surely he must have at least mentioned something, considering how highly he had once thought of Sootstar - and her own penchant for emphasizing the importance of tunnelers.

THE RIGHTEOUS HAND OF GOD 𓆩♡𓆪 THE DEVIL THAT YOU FORGOT

• 

• 
  ❥ longhaired black and white tom with pale green eyes
  ❥ 49 moons old; ages the 1st every month
  ❥ afab; uses he/she/they pronouns
  ❥ homosexual homoromantic; mated to venomstrike
  ❥ sibling to scorchstreak, lizardbounce, and rabbitclaw
  ❥ currently mentoring downypaw
  ❥ somewhat difficult to befriend; wary but kind
  ❥ "speech", thoughts, attacking
  ❥ peaceful powerplay allowed
  ❥ all opinions are ic

​

 

[rivewhisper]

"TAKE ME TO YOUR ORCHARD, SO SWEET"​

Rattleheart speaks to Quietpaw- who funnily enough broke the silence. What an ironic name, right?- and instructs them on the tunneler's job. It wasn't everyday that Rattleheart got to speak upon this. Afterall, there wasn't a lot of tunnelers compared to moor runners. Or was there? Rivepaw made a silent thought to start counting them up as she saw them in camp, but the lapse in silence soon stole her attention back to the lesson.

Please don't pick me. Please don't pick me. A soft breath left Rivepaw moments after Rattleheart picked her, and she forced down a yawn, shifting on her paws. Well, did she know the answer to the question? That was a question in itself. "No, no. It's alright. I know it." Rivepaw spoke, giving her a few seconds to brace. She cobbeled together two mentor's worth of information- Snakehiss and Sunstar alike. S names. Now's not the time to be distracted!

"Tunnelers can feed information to moor runners, quicker then the runners may be able to- running information to and from camp. This is helpful in battles, wars." Of course it was the first thing she spoke upon- it was what rested the heaviest in her mind. The civil war from within that had given her scars to remind her of the turmoil following. "Not only that, but tunnelers can chase prey out to moor runner's waiting claws, and vice versa- the prey that disappears into the tunnels from being chased, tunnelers can retrieve." A soft breath left her. Was that right?
​

"yuh"​