tunnels Two Roads || Missing Tunneler

[REDRUMBLE]

"MAY YOUR FEET SERVE YOU WELL, AND THE REST BE SENT TO HELL"​

Tunnels were always tight, something she had to get used to quickly when she had joined the moor living clan. She hated the feeling of crawling through a particularly tight area, always appreciating the small reprieve whenever they'd find an actual living area that the rabbits and badgers had carved out for themselves. The journeys between these caverns were always harsher on the patrols, always the most fragile. In the darkness, it was hard to tell which way to go on occasion and even harder to keep track of everyone between these spaces.

When Redrumble dropped into, what she assumed, had been a previous badger nest (judging by the roomy space they had dug out) after their patrol leader, something seemed...off. Like there was something missing in the overall scent of the patrol, masked by the dust and clay that clung to their coats. She noticed it though and it took her a few moments of her closing her eyes and concentrating on the scents around her in order to pinpoint the problem. Her gaze snapped open when she realized.

Redrumble started looking between the patrol members frantically, her eyes having adjusted enough in the darkness to see their shapes. Which one was it... Which scent wasn't muddled with the rest of their's? It took her a few seconds of looking through their faces until a smaller, more brightly shaded, shape caught her eye...without the larger, darker shadow that was usually guiding her. 'Whitepaw. Who was her mentor... the blind one?' It took her a second before she let out an small gasp.

Dirt covered paws carried her closer to the apprentice, anxiety writhing through her bones. ❝ Wh-Whitepaw... Where's your mentor? Ambertail, I believe? I don't see him with the patrol... ❞ Yellow gaze turns from the white apprentice to the rest of the shadows that were apart of their patrol. She was about to call out in a panic, her heart beating in remembrance of what had happened to Dazzlepaw and how thet still hadnt found him. Before she could let her knawing anxiety take over though, she stopped herself, freezing for a second before she drew in a deep breathe.

Releasing it in a low stream of air, she steadied herself before speaking, voice calmer then when she spoke with Whitepaw. ❝ Ambertail is missing! Does anyone have eyes on him or happen to see where he went? ❞ The blue tabby chimera hoped that maybe a cat or two had an idea of where he could have gone or even heard it happen. How long had he been missing? Would they have to backtrack to find them? The idea of having to tell Sootstar that a tunneler went missing and that they couldn't find them was not a pleasant thought...

Tunneler Prompt: You realize a clan-mate has been separated from your patrol! How does the team respond? Do they panic or keep their wits about them? Do they find their missing clan-mate or has tragedy struck?

@AMBERTAIL @whitepaw
No need to wait for them to post, not a PAFP!!
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⊱ ♞ ⊰​

 

[SCORCHSTREAK]

When Redrumble stops short beside her, Scorchstreak is quick to turn as well, hoping to figure out whatever has set the younger she-cat on edge. Redrumble glances around, as though she’s counting—Scorchstreak is reminded of herself, when they had lost Dazzlepaw in the cave-in. "What’s wrong," she murmurs, but catches on quickly to what the problem is: they’re missing a member of their patrol. The shape that normally lingers near Whitepaw is missing, leaving an Ambertail-sized hole in their patchwork of a patrol.

Redrumble’s obvious concern only stirs more worry in the calico. They’d lost too many cats already. What if Ambertail is trapped somewhere in a collapsed tunnel, the same as Dazzlepaw? What if he’s lost, in the dark and alone, slowly suffocating beneath the dirt that should have kept him safe? What if-

She sucks in a deep breath, trying to calm herself. Panicking will help no one, and she’s not only looking after herself now. She shifts closer to her tunneling partner, attempting to brush her shoulder against Redrumble’s. "Maybe he wandered off on his own by accident?" It would make sense, if their scents are too muddled, for the sightless tom to have gotten confused or lost. She looks for Whitepaw, hoping the apprentice will be able to shed more light on where her mentor could be.
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[ LIKE A RATTLESNAKE ]​

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[SOOTSTAR]

SOOTSTAR ♀​

Sootstar lags only a short distance behind the patrol, she hears what they talk about clearly through echoes. Reaching them she meows, ”I think I might’ve heard him mumbling about some loose stones awhile back.” The she-cat offers calmly, but she shares the same thoughts with Scorchstreak. Had something happened? ”Perhaps he stopped to secure the rocks better? They were right in the middle of the walkway, could’ve tripped anyone.” It was better to think logically than jump to scary, longwinded conclusions. Ambertail was an experienced tunneler, he knew how to old his own down here blind or otherwise.