camp rabbit-hole ;; digging nests.

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;; Hyacinthbreath is digging a nice big hole in the ground for the clan to sleep with their nests underground.

After the last storm that hit camp, she knew it would only be time before a bigger one hit. Snowstorms weren't often, but not impossible. The idea of Periwinklekit catching white-cough or something similar was terrifying, let alone any of her other kits getting sick. Cloudkit was strong, but he was still gaining weight after being starved in the wild for so long. She gets to work quickly, tiny white paws digging an entrance in the ground, before the tunneler shoves her way inside to reinforce the walls as she goes. She was fine with doing this alone, though she knew a few cats- especially the apprentices, would want to help.

Pulling herself out of the hole she was digging, Hyacinth pants softly as she takes a momentary break. She was getting older, but she wasn't too old yet- digging took a lot of energy, after all. "It's worth it, if I can make shelter for everyone.. A place to hide, if we're invaded."
 

"Ye mean when we're invaded..." The medicine cat scoffed, walking forward and offering the silver she-cat a smile despite his callous remark. It was a nice idea regardless but he doubted it would help much when it came to the camp being swarmed with those who sought their blood, to enrich the earth with crimson pools. They had many enemies and fewer still allies, they had marked themselves from the beginning as the last clan that would help nor recieve help. Sometimes he daydreamed about the barn, but his wistful thinking had been less apparently as of late. The chocolate masked tom found himself growing ever colder as the chill in the air began to bear down; this was going to be a long winter.
"But...think it'll be nice and warm when it gets cold out, line it with some moss and put some bracken near the outside? Reckon it'll help if the leaf-bare gives us a problem." Despite his uncertainty in the defenses, it would still make for a decent enough nest for the more fragile members of the clan and he considered asking if she'd help him dig a nice rut into the back of his own den where he could tuck Perwinklekit into a nice and insulated nest just in case his ailment lingered well into the new season. Dandelionwish wasn't feeling very confident or optimistic about the clan's wellbeing as it stood, but he was going to do his damdest none the less.

 

"All thats useless anyway." came the bitter remark from Melonpaw, disdain in her eyes as she watches Hyacinth dig at a hole. Perhaps it were jealousy that she'd never be able to do any of that without pain again (maybe if they hadn't exiled mama, she'd be better), bitter anger gnaws its way in to her heart and she turns her head with a huff. "The clans already hate us all, and Shadow is really far. And what if they find a way to collapse it?" though she tries to be helpful, it flies over her head that shes being mean.

She clears her throat. "Maybe further away from camp. Where no one can find it." she shrugs. Who knew if Shadow would even help them? She doesn't want their help, Melon wants them all to burn, Melon wants the whole world to burn. Her good back leg thumps angrily and she ignores the shooting pain that travels up her spine and in to her other leg, a bitter reminder of this clan.
"speech"​
 

Yewberry heard the sound of holes being dug, and so he was summoned from the entrance of the tunnel he was in. He sat a bit behind Hyacinthbreath as he listened to the conversation and tilted his head in thought.

A shelter.....

"Perhaps if we connected it to one of the tunnels and made an exit somewhere away from camp for cats to escape an attack....." He thought out loud. " It could also be used to ambush attackers from behind if they reach the camp. They likely couldn't fit in there like we can, so they couldn't chase as easily...."

He had other ideas, like making pitfall traps, but he would wait to present those. What if they thought he was stupid.

As a fellow hole digger, he approached Hyacinthbreath started digging alongside her.

"A collapsible tunnel could work to our advantage....." He said, when Melonpaw mentioned it.

"Would be one hell of a clean up though."
 
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I'LL BE THERE FOR THE HIGHS AND LOWS
GIVE YOU MINE IF YOUR HEART GETS BROKE


Cloudkit -as he was now called- had settled right into Windclan since arriving. His nest with Moonshadow was warm and safe, and he never had to eat bugs. The birds and mice and rabbits were way better tasting than the little critters he'd been hunting up on his own, and while he still had a ways to go, already the kits health was improving as he slowly began to gain his weight back.

As was a usual habit of his, the moment he'd spotted Hyacinth in camp he was quick to go scampering off toward her. And she was digging a hole? How fun!

As tiny paws brought him over however, he found himself walking into the middle of a discussion between her and some of the other cats. Pointed ears sat forward to listen, and slowly the smile dropped from his face. "What's 'invaded' mean?" he asked, having never heard such a word before. More troubling though, "And why don't the other clans like us? Windclans great!" asked, concern leaking into his words as he gazed from one cat to another with a confused expression. Hadn't they just had a nice little party with Shadowclan? "Maybe we should hold a party for them like we did with Shadowclan."



cloudkit - windclan - single - a small, brown and white tabby with amber eyes
 
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—————————coalfoot | windclan | male————————
Coalfoot was not a tunneler. As much as he respected the warriors that were able to navigate what he only knew as a dark, cramped labyrinth, he could never imagine doing it himself, in the same sense that he couldn't envision living in a dense forest with trees crowding out the sky.

Yet as Hyacinthbreath worked and worked, reasons uttered to be a shelter from the frozen season, he found he agreed. He was only a kit during the last leaf-bare, tucked into a warm den with a warm nest. It wasn't such a bad idea to have somewhere to retreat on particularly cold days, if not for himself then for the more fragile. Quite a crowd had gathered already, but it wouldn't be enough to deter him from offering a paw. The more the merrier, especially for such a task.

The young warrior trotted over, offering a quick greeting and pausing to watch the digging. "I think it's a great idea, honestly," he said. "I'd like to help, even though I'm not much of a digger. I can help out with anything you ask me to, though." The lead warrior already looked exhausted, and he was thoroughly impressed with the project so far. "I can take over your digging if you want, Hyacinthbreath. It's not good to wear yourself out."

[penned by its_oliverr].
 

"Turn A Deeper Blue"
Rune had been watching Hyacinthbreath for quite some time, partly to understand why his mother liked her so much and also get to know his half-siblings other parent. She was a rather interesting cat- very loyal and head strong but also could have a caring bone. Though that bone felt like a rarity like a fish or a warm day in winter. Though it was rather curious to watch her dig holes in the ground, talking to herself that he couldn't quite hear, then others joined her. First Melonpaw- no that was Dandelionwish, the next cat was Melonpaw and shortly thereafter it was Yewberry, Cloudkit and Coalfoot. What where they doing? Were they going to help Hya dig holes? Rune then rose to his paws curiously and padded on over, "I had thought that sleeping outside a bit- strange," And with the cold worsening with each passing day, it would be better to sleep underground then out in the open.
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How about instead of running thier mouths they actually did something useful like helping Hyacinthbreath digging this holes that might or might not lead to thier death one day. Who the fuck cared anyway. Everyone died one day. Leechpaw bite back to throw out any nasty comments for once, in truth caring too little to really make a statement. Leechpaw was not one who liked to sleep in a crambled place there he could get trapped or stuck in the same place with all of this cats. However, he was restless and wanted to do something to sick and tired to be stuck in the medicine cat den anymore. Putting himself into work was the only thing left he could do to keep himself moving, to care enough to get up in the morning. It was better then laying around somewhere trapped in his own mind.

He said nothing as he just walked over to where Hyacinthbreath had been digging and just like that he went into work, starting to dig as well without even bothering himself to seek eye contact with anyone of them. They could argue all they wanted. He was sick and tired to listening to them all to be honest. Just tell him what to do and he would do it. Overtime if lucky he might even stop feeling anymore. That would be fine with him.



 
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♚ Voices all blend together as she talks to herself, though it's Dandelionwish's that brings her out of her mind to make her talk. She straightens herself up as he mentions when they were invaded. "I'm not worried about those leech-covered parasites coming to the moors. They wouldn't last." She comments simply, distant violet-tinted hues turning to look at the freckled tom. As fond as she was of him, she certainly didn't like this change in his demeanor. War did things to cats, but living situations shouldn't change a cat this much. Whatever was going on, there wasn't going to be much of a solution to it for a while. Perhaps he was growing out of his sparkling-eyed childishness, leaving that all behind to become a tougher individual. He mentions how it could help to have some reinforcements to the walls, and Hyacinth huffs out her agreement. Perhaps some moss here, some sticks there... She's so focused on planning for the tunnel that she doesn't realize Melonpaw had arrived until she had spoken up, causing Hyacinthbreath to jump into the air in surprise. The angry look in her eyes makes Hyacinth narrow her own, expecting her to say something rude only to reel herself back in. This was Honeytwist's kit, she couldn't treat her like her exiled mother- Melonpaw wasn't Honeytwist. She wouldn't want her own children to be compared to her, it was a horrid realization that she was just as bad as the others in that moment.

"Then we fight them head-on. They don't know the moors like we do, we have terrain advantage." Hyacinthbreath responds simply, going back to her digging with harsh grunts. Her paws scooped dirt up, tossing it to the side. When she'd finally been able to fit her body and more inside, Hyacinth backed up once more to take a breather. Her eyes spy Cloudkit from the side, just as Yewberry moved to help her dig. They would take turns, then. One digs, the other rests. Vice versa. "Invaders are people who come into our camp with bad intentions. They could hurt us. If you ever smell someone who doesn't come from WindClan, by the smell of gorse and heather, little Cloudkit.. Run away into one of the tunnels and don't look back, then find your siblings and stay with them." Hyacinthbreath remarks absentmindedly, taking a break to pad over to her adoptive son. Her tongue rasps over the top of his head once, before she moves past him to grab a bundle of heather. Yewberry's suggestion is met with brightened eyes and an impressed smile, the molly moving back over to him to bump her shoulder against his. "We'll connect the underground nest to another tunnel, see how that goes. I'll run a drill for the Moor Runners and Tunnelers to make sure we understand what to do when we're attacked." She meows, ears pricking up when Coalfoot arrives. He offers to help her dig, and she nods gratefully towards him- happy to have help. It would take all day to dig this hole if it was by herself. "Switch out with Yewberry when he gets tired. We'll all take turns. Melonpaw, Dandelionwish, and Cloudkit.. How about picking some heather to help hide the hole? Most of it's in camp, anyways." She suggests with a shrug of her shoulders, watching with approval as Leechpaw joined to help her. With this many cats, it would be done in no-time.

Just as quickly as it began, the tunnel began to make some headway, getting a few small feet underground. Hyacinthbreath smiled for once, waving her tail for the group to stop digging so she could give further instructions. "Start digging sideways, and expand from there. Make the hole big enough for at least five full-grown cats to fit." After her order, she begins to look around for the closest tunnel in camp, tail flicking in irritation. The thought of them getting attacked... "Those cowards wouldn't strike first, anyways. The only one who seems to have any guts is our ally." She muttered softly to nobody in particular, before her head swiveled and she stood up on her back paws. "Rune!" She called out for the tom, critical gaze sweeping over the two-toned son of her best friend and mother of her kits. She knew he was watching her, deciding on how he felt about her- she couldn't care less for his opinion, but she certainly didn't want to cause any bad blood between herself and Moonshadow's oldest son. "Mind getting your paws dirty? You a Tunneler, mate?" She asks the tom, before she halts- remembering he might not remember what the two subranks are. "You dig much? You're pretty big, compared to your mother- perhaps you'd do good at beginning tunnels, not going inside of them."
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" W-what..." Leechpaw froze with one of his paws still up in the air, and for a brief second he was convinced he had heared wrong. He most had...but no. The more he thought about it the more sure he became. Leech-covered parasites... His blood turned as cold as ice. It had been quite some time he had heared anyone say something like that in his presence...but his mom had all of the time. A constant reminder to make sure he rememberd every single day. " What the fuck did you just say..." His voice was chilling to the core, and as he placed the paw back down on the ground to dig into the dirt his head spun around to stare wide-eyed at the lead warrior. The rest of the conversation had only become a blur to him, in his head this three words just repeated itself inside his head over and over again. " You wanna know why i named you Leech?. Because that is what you're, a parasite draining the life out of me."

Leechpaw clenched his teeth tightly together but instead of saying anything more he just stormed right past her and anybody else for that matter. Using his very name in this conversation, while he was there fully aware over how much he hated his own name. How it made him feel... Fuck them all. If they wanted a leech then perhaps he should give them one. At least that was what he thought in that moment, blinded with his already existed grief and now painful memories of his childhood.

// leech didn't stay long sorry <33



 

"Turn A Deeper Blue"
Called out in front of everyone by the lilac molly, Rune flinched a bit with his ears flicking back. She wanted his help? He did use to dig trenches back home for motes or for battles, but a tunnel? He wasn't sure if his skills would be what she was looking for, but who was he to object to her anyway. He wanted to make nice with her as she was his mothers' friend and co-parent to his siblings. Though the pale cat seemed to want nothing to do with him. Her gaze was always critical, voice always stoic and distant, and it made him wonder how she got close enough to Moonshadow to have kits in the first place. Hyacinthbreath didn't seem like the type of cat to get close to just anyone.

Regardless, the white and smokey black tomcat got to his paws and nodded in understanding, "I do not have a place among your clan yet, but I can help with making a tunnel- yes," He responded to her question with a light smile across his maw. It was awkward and uncertain, but he was trying his best. White and smokey black paws moved to reside beside the warrior and start to dig into the ground, it was cold but not yet frozen.
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Dandelionwish's ears flick upward and then back as Melonpaw begins to agree with him although far more directly and with sharper language, instinctively his eyes darted to her leg and he wondered if the sudden temperament was from pain. He'd have to ask later if she needed anything else for it, it had been several days since she'd last had to stop and get something to help. He wished there was more he could do but, ah, wishing never got one anywhere. Maybe he could ask the other medicine cats later. If they even humored him that is. Two tunnelers are present and he shakes his head as discussion continues on about making the hole and conneting it; his fear of the underground creeping upward into his throat. The idea of being suffocated beneath dirt and left pre-buried for the earth to take back. He was not about to help outside surface level things, fetching heather would be simple enough for him but even as he trailed off in thought it registered what Hyacinthbreath had said. Leech-covered. He'd been faintly aware of the dark apprentice joining them, he heard Coalfoot's words to assist, Rune's commentary on their nesting situation, but it all slowly blurred into a haze as he turned in time to catch the sleek black tom's expression twist into disgust and rage before he was just as quickly leaving. Dandelionwish felt the world spin abruptly and he ignored them to turn and go rushing along after the black tom in a silent stupor.

//out!