tunnels lost in the sauce - tunneling

[Mouseflight]

The sickness, the newly named yellowcough was not something that Mousepaw wanted to get. Already he had seen too many fall ill to this kittypet disease, even Sootstar had been found voice hoarse and unwell, and so he had quickly scampered off into the territory to do, well, anything he could that wouldn't get him sick. He didn't dare go near the ThunderClan border - they bordered SkyClan directly so why would he want to potentially get sick from them - and hunting had proven to be pointless. He had almost caught a rabbit until he got distracted, thinking of having to go back to camp filled with the dying and diseased, and so he had quickly tumbled tail over head after losing his footing. So dig it was, his last resort, the only peace and freedom from illness he could think of while not being a complete coward and running off completely.

I'm not a coward. Thought repeat in his brain as he dig in the dark. One paw forward, claws out, slash, dig, scoop. Yeah I'm not a coward... I just want to be healthy. Two paws forward this time, claws out, slash, dig, scoop, kick. WindClan needed healthy cats, now more than ever. He had to be there to hunt and to keep digging the tunnel, keep digging away and pray to StarClan he was going in the right direction this time, that they wouldn't run into another badger or a fox. The thought of the badger caused the apprentice to pause, head lifting up as ears swiveled to the front of his head, listening to the soft sound of others around him digging and talking amongst themselves, face twisting for a moment as he focused on in front of him before slouching down once more and digging. Paw forward, claws out, slash, dig, scoop, paw forward, claws out, slash, dig, scoop, two paws forward, your clan is sick, claws out, your friends are sick, slash, they're going to die, dig, you can't do anything, kick, yellowcough. Kick, kick, kick the dirt, right into someone's face.

⋆｡°✩ threw my voice into the dark

• tldr; he's digging and is visibly upset/more grumpy than usual but is staying silent!
  feel free to be the cat he almost kicked/kicked dirt into the face of
• 
  ⋆ mousekit - mousepaw - mouse???
  ⋆ ftm - he/him - 10 moons
  ⋆ bisexual - open to relationship
  ⋆ tunneler apprentice of windclan
  ⋆ attack - speech - thought
  ⋆ penned by tikki

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[SCORCHSTAR]

It would be near impossible not to notice the number of tunnelers who have retreated into the tunnels as of late, showing their faces only rarely aboveground as SkyClan’s disease continues to ravage their clan, bringing down even the strongest of WindClan’s warriors. The wisest decision, of course, is to stay as far away from as many cats as possible, so she cannot blame them—but still, it rubs her the wrong way that the clan seems to be drifting apart in the face of this illness rather than coming together.

Scorchstreak cannot truthfully say that she hasn’t been on edge lately, though. So when a pawful of dirt is kicked directly into her face, Scorchstreak sputters around the feeling on her tongue and pulls herself to her full height. "Hey!" Her voice rises, baring her teeth indignantly at the younger feline. "Watch where you’re kicking shit, Ratpaw," she hisses instinctually, voice filled with venom for a moment before she considers the situation they are in. They are all stressed, as everyone in the clan seems to be at the moment, and so she can afford a bit of grace for the apprentice’s carelessness.

"What has you so distracted, anyway?" She asks with a flick of her tail, dulled claws digging at a stray root that’s tucked into the side of the tunnel. Her tone has returned to its usual evenness, but curiosity shines through as she speaks. Is the young tom merely concerned about his clanmates, or shaken by the badger they had encountered before? Either way, if she can ease his worries, perhaps they will be more productive overall.​

[ LIKE A RATTLESNAKE ]​

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[LUCKYPAW]

Things only seemed to be getting worse, lately, more and more cats falling ill with no signs of it stopping anytime soon, and with the badger attack, too...well, you couldn't exactly blame Luckypaw for being more nervous than usual. The tunnels, comforting as they've grown to be recently, suddenly seem like a much more dangerous place - or, maybe not necessarily more dangerous, just that the danger is real now, real and evident. Worrying over something like running into a badger is one thing that he's gotten used to over the past few moons; actually coming face-to-face with one, however, is another thing entirely. That leaves camp as his other familiar option, but that's hardly a choice either, not with so many cats sick and congregated there. Besides, there's not much besides mundane chores for him to do there, anyways, since @cygnetstare isn't especially keen on being around there while the sun is still out, and truthfully he'd rather not train if it's not by his mentor's side. Even now, as he smooths over a leftover gouge in the earth from one of the other tunnelers, he seeks out her counsel. "Does that seem okay? I know we don't need to fill in every little hole, but that one just felt really big - like, big enough to stumble over, maybe, especially if you were going fast," he explains, scooting back to let them take a look themselves.

While Luckypaw isn't always especially keen to start up conversations with some of his fellow tunnelers, he's certainly not blind to those around him, and idle chatter often reaches his ears. Today, though, what catches his attention is Scorchstreak's sudden exclamation, and he's drawn entirely away from showing Cygnetstare his work, fur standing on end as he listens for something more - for a call to battle, a warning, anything he should be careful of. While he's always found himself jumping to attention at any sound of a disturbance, ever since he'd experienced firsthand just how quickly things can go wrong, he's been even jumpier than normal, flinching back at conversation held louder than usual. This time, it seems nothing was awry - or, at least, nothing actively threatening, though even still the split-second scare had thrown him off enough that he doesn't immediately hop right back to work. Instead, he lends an ear to Scorchstreak and Mousepaw, tilting his head curiously towards the other apprentice. Now that Scorchstreak mentions it, something does seem off with Mousepaw today. It's enough to make him a little leery initially, though he doesn't really seem sick or anything like that; no, it's probably something else then. Could be just about anything, he thinks wryly; there's been a whole host of bad things lately, it almost seems like it would be hard to just single out one.​

[ PENNED BY HIJINKS ]​