RUN LITTLE ONE - intro

[Doverunner.]

The ground was but a blur beneath white-toed paws, yellow eyes skyward as a small lilac shape raced through the moor with a joyful laugh on her lips, feeling the wind whip her fur and the grass be eaten by her swift paws as she landed another bounding pounce, watching a flurry of wings scatter at the entrance of the small cat. She watched the birds hurry into the expansive blue and white sky, awe as feathers danced upon the breeze from the fowl's hurry to escape, tail lashing behind her as she observed them.

A feather floated down, catching Doverunner's eye as it twirled and twisted in the air, tantalizing as it drifted closer and closer to her reach as she crouched low to the ground, giggling as she gave one... two... three wiggles of her hips. With a sudden burst, the tunneler leapt into the air, batting the feather off it's gentle course and sending it wheeling through the air, laughing as she landed with a thud to continue chasing after the little feather, bouncing along the ground to send it back up and whirling ahead.
"speech"​

 

[Badgermoon]

The broad-shouldered tomcat had not been having a successful outing thus far. Every attempt he'd made to catch something had ended in failure: a rabbit disappearing into its burrow, a bird flapping just out of reach, a mouse vanishing into a patch of tall grass...his yellow eyes were narrow as Badgermoon once again pounced, only to land - yet again - on nothing but grass. "Hare-dung," he muttered under his breath as he straightened up, dark tail carving arcs in the breezy air as it lashed in irritation. He was preoccupied with thoughts of tunnelers and kittens and broken hearts under the stars, and it was distracting him from his duties. Foul-tempered and empty-jawed but unable to clear his head, the deputy began stalking towards the gorse-lined hollow to find someone - or something - to redirect his energy with, only to pause when he spotted someone...frolicking? Chasing a feather?

"I usually chase the rest of the bird, not just a feather." he remarked with quirk of his brows, his yellow eyes dancing with interest over the playful young warrior. It was nice to see someone in high spirits: it even prompted a small smile to appear on his face. "But I think you're an innovator, Doverunner." he was reminded of Moorpaw rolling in the dirt, dust-bathing like a bird, and thought with fondness of the silly side of life. Not everything was war and rogues and violence, now, was it? He extended his long forelegs and began to knead at the ground, realizing it had been some time since he'd had a chat with the lilac she-cat. "How is warriorhood treating you, then?" she was relatively new to it, if he was remembering correctly. "Are you enjoying being, uh, dirt-bound?" Tunnelers. Weirdos.​

 

[SNAKEHISS]

❪ TAGS ❫ — Having been accompanying his mentor on this hunt, Snakepaw carries a single mouse in his jaws. It was small and could probably feed a kit at best, but it was something. He sees Badgermoon stalking away in the distance empty-pawed; unusual for the deputy. Perhaps his luck was poor today.

Trotting over to see what had grabbed Badgermoon's attention, a judgmental stare befalls the lighthearted presentation of one of the newest warriors, frolicking about the moors and chasing a feather like a kit. How was it that she had been named Doverunner, anyway? Shouldn't she have been named Dovedigger? He briefly wonders what name Sootstar would bestow upon him — hopefully something intimidating like Snakeclaw or Snakestrike...

Snakepaw set his kill down, a mildly irritable expression smeared across his features ( which was not unordinary for the tom ). Offering his own input, the apprentice snorted, "Surely not. Who enjoys getting their fur all messy, anyway?" He would loathe being dirt-bound! He was not the largest cat in WindClan; any smaller and he likely would have been made a tunneler. Sootstar claimed that the duty of a tunneler was crucial to WindClan's success, but he simply did not see the appeal to such a job.​

 

[► BUNNYPOUNCE.]

RUN RABBIT, RUN RABBIT, RUN RUN RUN
bunnypounce | 22 months | female | she/her | physically medium | mentally easy | attack in bold hotpink

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Bunny is hesitant to leave the shadowy safety of the tunnels. Her sanctuary, her chapel - where only earth and dirt await her, and he sun can't bite her. But the anxious tap tap tap of her good leg against the tunnels exit gives her away as she watches doverunner with wide, glittering eyes - oh, that looks fun. She hesitates only a moment longer before skittering out into the sunlight, wincing and squinting against the heat and the glare but determined nonetheless. "Bunny play too!" she chirrups eagerly as she tries to catch the same feather - though her awkward gait has her missing her pounce by more than a tail length, and she stares forlornly down at her very empty paws.

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[Cloudedsky]

( ♬ ) Doverunner has always been such a free spirit, ever since they were both tumbling kits within the nursery wall. Cloudedsky remembers all the times her and Doverunner would frolic about their new camp site, exploring every nook and cranny they could and giving their guardians quite a scare. Doverunner always would find anything and call it the most interesting thing, always having such a vivd imagination. They were both always together, well into apprenticeship and finally to warriorhood, both scavenging and exploring the tunnels with wonder. Though, as Cloudedsky grew older, she became more serious about her duties and impressing her peers to be the best.
A flash of lilac fur had whizzed passed her peripheral, jumping skyward to reach the colorful feather of the bird she just scared off. Blue ears pulled forward as her head swiveled, leaving the exit of the tunnel just behind Bunnypounce. Doverunner is prancing about the moorland, not a care in the world, and Cloudedsky sets her jaw as she watched. Apart of her was envious of her care-free spirit; what was it like to not feel like someone was judging your every move? She sighs, hardly noticing that Badgermoon and Snakepaw had appeared from the moorland grass until a low tone voice speaks to the other tunneler. Cloudedsky attempts a small smile in greeting, though it falters when the deputy mentions about her being 'dirt-bound'. Sunburst eyes pierce into him, then flit to the shadowed apprentice that pipes up beside him. Ignorant, she snorts with lash of her plumed tail and a flick of her ears. She could never understand why moor runners believe being a tunneler was just so off putting. Sootstar herself was a tunneler! If anything, they should be on their bellies begging to be apart of it too. Insulting the position was like a direct insult to her mother. "Being a tunneler is a blessing. It's one of the reasons why WindClan is different from the other clans. They could never." She answers him in a cool tone, a flat smile pulling back pink lips as she eyes the gangly apprentice.
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( You should see me in a crown ; I'm gonna run this nothing town )

 

[Doverunner.]

As she lands with another heavy thump, eyeing the feather as it continued to try and fall, a few voices catch her attention. Doverunner flicks an ear in greeting to Badgermoon, smiling at his comments as her eyes remain focused on her prize. "Nothing beats playing with a feather after a long day in the underground," She replies playfully, another bounce as her paws sliced through the air, creating more air to keep her feather floating before being followed by her hitting the ground gracefully.

The following comments makes her head snap in the direction of Badgermoon and his charge, the term "dirt-bound" almost like an insult that rubbed her lilac pelt wrong, brows knitting in confusion as she struggled to think of how to handle it. And it only was more scathing as Snakepaw's irritable little comment made her uncharacteristically frown, standing straight to stare at the pair. But as she was thinking of a response, a white shape whizzed past her and pounced for her feather, followed by Bunnypounce's announcement she, too, wanted to play. Laughing as she watched her fellow Tunneler pounce, the light returned to Doverunner's eyes, rising onto her hindlegs before leaping over the other to slam the feather to the ground, forgetting for a second she was even a bit upset by the deputy and his annoying apprentice's comment. She remained crouched a moment, tail flicking behind her, before she picked the feather up and presented it to Bunnypounce, smiling encouragingly.

Cloudedsky piped up, defending their position's integrity, as Doverunner gave Bunnypounce the feather. Laughing, a sound that filled with that child-like joy she always held, she added playfully to Cloudedsky's comment, "If Starclan can make a Tunneler into leader, surely that says something about our position. Plus, leaf-bare is alot easier when the rabbits hide in their burrows and it's us who have to go in there and hunt them for everyone." A reminder of just how important their role was, that without them, the clan likely would starve or have to refer to more... unsavory behaviors.
"speech"​