tunnels WHEN IT IS RAINING [tunnel milestone]

[SCORCHSTAR]

༄༄ The moorland had been pelted with rain last year, with the gorge filling up until it was nearly high enough to spill over onto WindClan’s territory. This year there has been no such flooding, but the snow that has laid like a blanket over the territory all winter is melting seemingly all at once. The flowers are thriving in the warming weather, and surely feeding off the groundwater that’s spread across the fields. Mud puddles litter the land, but below the surface the conditions are even worse. Water pools in the lowest parts of the tunnels, dirtying Scorchstreak’s pale paws and splashing mud across her white underside as well. It isn’t pleasant, but it can be easily washed out of her pelt, at least.

The tunnel to RiverClan has been an ongoing project for months, but Scorchstreak is determined to have it finished by the time the flowers are gone from the moorland. Today, the patrol that she leads digs through mud and clay, struggling with the occasional crumbling patch of sand, but it is neither of those substances that she worries about. A stretch of tunnel yawns dark and open before her, and as a slight noise interrupts her thoughts on the tunnel’s progress. She halts in her tracks, her body tense as she attempts to hear the sound better. "Hush," she bites out, with a lash of her tail for emphasis.

When the patrol at her back goes quiet, the sound becomes more clear. Instead of the usual silence of the tunnels, the trickling of water reaches her ears—it isn’t a good sign, typically, to hear water down here. It either means that they’ve dug uncomfortably close to the river, or it means that water is soaking through the earth itself and running down into the tunnels. Either way, the presence of water means that the tunnels’ structural integrity may be compromised. The calico’s ears draw back against her head, fiery eyes narrowing as she feels around with a paw in front of her. Loose mud shifts beneath the touch, and then her paw sinks into a pool of water. It’s too large to be just a pool of groundwater… an underground pond, perhaps, formed by the runoff from aboveground? It explains the state of the tunnel, how unsturdy it seems, but it is an obstacle that they do not have the time for. "There’s water here. We need to back up and find a way around it."


// this is a milestone for the March badge event!​

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[RATTLEHEART]

AS HE RAISED HIS FIST BEFORE HE SPOKE — Being back down in the tunnels was always a comfort for Rattleheart, their pale green gaze and the white parts of their pelt the only patches of them that had a chance of sticking out in the all-consuming darkness. To some it may have seemed eerie, but to them it was like being wrapped up in a blanket of comfort and familiarity, their paws and their nose guiding them along as they followed after the trusted form of their sister and fellow lead warrior. Their only occasional pause was to shove more dirt at the walls around them, or to make sure none of the occasional roots that stuck out and dragged along their sides would lead to issues in the future for the integrity of the whole tunnel. For the most part though, they were content with just heading towards the next inevitable obstacle in their path - hopefully something that would be kinder on their paws than clay.

It seemed as though their wish had been granted, but not without a new threat that presented a problem for every tunneler around them.

Taking a step back in response to Scorchstreak's words, a soft huff of frustration left the tunneler's unseen muzzle. "We definitely can't risk digging further into it. We'll be lucky if we all only end up drenched, and not drowned." The thought of sinking their paws down into the mud made them shiver with disgust, hardly a huge fan of the dirt that they usually had to deal with on a regular basis. Thankfully the calico seemed to think similarly, prompting Rattleheart to twist around and nudge lightly at those behind them, trying to direct them back towards where they had all come from. "We'll figure out somewhere else to start digging into so we can go around. Maybe we could try going higher? If this is where it has all ended up settling..." Their words were directed back towards Scorchstreak as they tried to move back, a grimace on their muzzle.

They couldn't imagine the frustration that their sister must have been feeling, considering how much the tunneling plan had already had to be altered by now. The both of them were fine at improvising when it was needed - which it often was, when it came to the art of tunneling - but this was just ridiculous. Rattleheart could only hope that Starclan would end up having some mercy on them, and they could dig above or around the water without just ending up back on the actual moors.

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

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[downyfur]

All tunnelers fear water. Both of Downypaw's mentors have had the grace to ingrain that in her head. Truthfully, if she'd given it even a shred of thought on her before then, she'd come to that conclusion as well. Water without surface is a terrifying concept, one even RiverClanners would be scared of. But the sounds of water so far have all been of no concern, even to the more experienced tunnelers. Whatever water lay down here was confined only to the sticky trappings of mud.

Then Scorchstreak's tail lashes out, her hiss slithering through the darkness. Downypaw's ears prick and nostrils flare in the inky silence, straining to discern what kind of roadblock they've encountered now. Then, splashing sounds. Not the suck of mud against a paw, but the true splash of clear water. Just as their mentor does, the apprentice shifts backwards, uneasiness pooling in their gut. Beside them, they hear a soft puff of air from presumably Rattleheart.

Going around, going higher...the detour doesn't frustrate Downypaw as much as it might Scorchstreak and the others. Conceptually, she understands the reasoning behind a hidden path to RiverClan. But the routine, day-in-day-out work on it has sapped the motive from them, and they have to wonder what's so good about this compared to sending out more hunting patrols down the tunnels. With Sootstar gone, RiverClan and WindClan had less of a reason to antagonize each other anyway. And wasn't this tunnel Sootstar's idea in the first place?

"Is this because we're near the gorge?" they ask quietly, mostly to Rattleheart but available to anyone near them. Tunnel patrol leaders have made clear the effect of rainwater on the tunnels, but they're doubtful even a large rainstorm could create a body of water as big as Scorchstreak and Rattleheart are making it out to be.​

 

[paris]

Flickeringspark whisked her tail as she padded over to help her clanmates.

(Short bc I'm at lunch)

 

[Mouseflight]

Since their return from the barn, Mouseflight had been itching to get back to work on the tunnels, especially the one that would lead into RiverClan territory. He wasn't sure if Sunstar would have the same sentiments towards RiverClan that Sootstar had or if he'd even want to use the tunnel in the same way she had been planning to use it but so far the tom hadn't said to halt tunnel progress and so they had continued on. He was in his element down in the tunnels, paws scooping through the clay and sand that lay before him as he worked alongside his fellow tunnelers, ears pricked as he listened to the soft sound of earth being moved before the soft command of "hush" reached his ears and he was quickly out of his focused state, eyes glancing over to the lead warrior as paws froze and breathing slowed.

Water. There was water nearing where they were digging and they needed to move and so he began shuffling backwards with the rest of those that moved as well, ears flattening to avoid touching the tops of the tunnels as he looked behind him. "Do you think this means we're getting near the end?" Even as he asked this Mouseflight didn't believe it, didn't believe that after moons of the tunnel not being touched they could be so close to the end goal, not with the luck they've had so far. But still, he'd wait for an answer from those around him, hopeful that it was possible.

⋆｡°✩ threw my voice into the dark

•  
• 
  ⋆ mousekit - mousepaw - mouseflight
  ⋆ ftm - he/him - 16 moons
  ⋆ bisexual - open to relationship
  ⋆ tunneler of windclan
  ⋆ attack - speech - thought
  ⋆ penned by tikki

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[SCORCHSTAR]

༄༄ Her sibling’s presence at her back is enough to smooth out a bit of the calico’s frayed nerves, and her dappled tail brushes against the other lead warrior’s shoulder in an attempt to soothe both herself and them. The presence of water within the tunnels… it is unsettling, even with the wealth of tunneling knowledge that she has built through her lifetime. She knows what she is doing, she knows how to deal with such situations, but she is not looking out for only herself any longer. She has a clan, a patrol, to look after. She has Rattleheart, Downypaw, Mouseflight, Pinkpaw to keep safe. And taking risks with waterlogged tunnels is a sure way for all of them to find their way to the stars.

"I think the water must be from the melting snow," she states in response to Downypaw’s question, though she isn’t certain herself. For all she knows, the water could be placed here by StarClan themselves. "It could be from the gorge, but I’m not sure." The gorge is strange and vast, a far drop to certain death—and she is admittedly not knowledgeable about how the water of the gorge interacts with the surrounding underground areas.

Her sibling suggests that they begin to dig above the waterline, and she does not hear out any remainder of their suggestion before shaking her head. "We go around," she states, her jaw clenched with focus. If they dig up, they risk falling back down. There is no way to tell just how far up they need to go, and when the earth below will give way to a watery grave. To Mouseflight she says, "We’re almost certainly near the end. By the end of the season, we will finish this tunnel." RiverClan has proven itself to be a threat already, so they cannot afford to wait any longer. But the last section of this tunnel has been the longest to dig—setbacks of all kinds have plagued the tunnelers, and now they have encountered yet another. Her conviction to finish the tunnel project that she helped to begin has only grown with each obstacle.

In a way, she hopes for this tunnel project to simply be over. All the changes, the adjustments, have steadily chipped away at her patience. She has grown tired of digging and digging and yet receiving little reward for all of their efforts. She wants to enjoy the fruits of every tunneler’s labor, already. She wants to be able to return to Sunstar and tell him that it’s finished. They need to find a way around this water, and they need to find a good path around it. "Let’s try going to the left. That will take the exit closer to the twoleg bridge," she says, glancing toward Mouseflight through the darkness.​

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[downyfur]

Scorchstreak's reponse drifts through the darkness, riding upon unseen ripples. Downypaw tucks her tail a little tighter around her heels, as though afraid to disrupt the water any more than she already had, or accidentally touch a patrolmate when they least expect it. Something could go wrong, and it could go wrong very fast. They would have no part in it if it did, if they survived of course. All the better to play it cautious, as Scorchstreak seemed intent on being. It's reassuring. She, in all her inexperience, could not possibly account for everything that could go wrong. But someone like Scorchstreak definitely could.

Downypaw closes their eyes to imagine the source of the water, a futile effort given that they couldn't see anything with their eyes open anyway. They imagine the snowmelt trickling through the earth in a thousand different little paths, all ending up in this same well. Or a leak in the great walls of the gorge, sprung inwards instead of outwards. Could it be that RiverClan discovered the tunnel already and planned this as a countermeasure? Downypaw immediately thinks it's a stupid idea. She wasn't one to underestimate the ingenuity of other clans, but between the lack of tunneler knowledge and the chaos in WindClan over the past moons, there stood no possibility of them finding out through either their own efforts or a WindClanner's.

Around, the lead warrior says. The word is tightly-laced, bound with startling grit. Why would Scorchstreak care so much about this? Downypaw chalks it up to the longstanding animosity between WindClan and RiverClan, of which Cottonpaw's story had probably only been one piece of. The apprentice, however, still balks a little at the prospect of war. Again. It wouldn't be against their own clanmates, but it wasn't really necessary with Sootstar gone and prosperous seasons ahead of them, right? They could afford to slow down.

Regardless, she nods along in the dark. Maybe Scorchstreak was just seeing something she couldn't. They shuffle past Mouseflight, clearing a space for the patrol leads to guide them to the left. "How close are we to the bridge, do you think?" she murmurs to no one in particular. "Like a few tree-lengths?" Their map of the tunnels had gotten scrambled somewhere along the line. At least they still had eight more moons to commit it to memory, along with this giant new one.​

 

[✧ Marmotbite.]

MY BODY'S COVERED IN TEETH MARKS
YOUR BITES WORSE THAN YOUR BARK​

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marmotbite & 16 moons & demigirl & she/they/it & windclan tunneler ​

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Digging this tunnel - while informative - has been nothing short of a nightmare. Even now, marmotbite cannot shake the unease she feels, knowing that it had been her deciding vote that had led them straight into the snarling, frothing jaws of the badgers. Nobody had died - thank the stars - but she'd gotten the fright of her life and a strong smack her her tender skull for her mistake. And so she keeps her jaws shut tight this time - not because she has no opinion to add into the conversation, but because she fears it will be wrong again. She has no urge to face danger again so soon - or ever, really. Especially now that she has a mate. In the end, scorchstreak takes the lead, taking the choice from all of their paws as she decisively speaks, telling them they'll just shift things to the left a bit. Head bobs and she agrees - already moving to do just that even as downypaw asks how close they'll be. At least, this time if things go wrong, it won't be marmotbite's fault.

━ actions & " speech, " & 'thoughts/quotes' ━

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T H E R E S ━ A ━ D O G ━ I N ━ Y O U R ━ H E A R T

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