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Post by Fawn on Dec 9, 2018 15:16:02 GMT -5
Mudpelt LightningClan || Senior Warrior || 52 Moons 'Cause they will run you down, down til the dark The leaf-fall Gathering was a couple of sunrises ago; it had gone smoothly, much to Mudpelt's deep relief. It had also created a buzz amongst the young warriors and older apprentices. With Windpaw and Sleetpaw holding a season of experience now, talk began to turn toward seeing the oldest take their place in the warriors' den before too long.
It was the nature of things. Mudpelt in particular had been driven to make sure that his apprentice was ready for everything that came her way; her disability was always at the forefront of the senior warriors thoughts. Not with pity or regret; instead, he tried to consider her training from every possible angle. What would benefit Shadepaw the most, what would prove the biggest obstacle, what was going to take a little longer to work on.
Mudpelt was grateful for the tasks her training proposed; he always felt the most useful, the most dedicated to LightningClan when he was actively serving others.
"Before we reach the warrens, I want to talk about leafbare and your warrior ceremony."
Mudpelt's even tone, serious and always so professional, filled up the space between the grasses as they traipsed through a cool moorland. "There has been talk of ceremonies coming up. I want you to know that I speak to Firestar frequently about your progress." Mudpelt was always dutiful to report to LightningClan's higher-ups. "I believe you can become a warrior before the end of the season, but only after you've learned how to handle snow. Leafbare is difficult, and the snow has a way of hiding dangers. I want to make sure you're prepared. This is where the tunnels will come in handy."
"You are a strong hunter, and I believe you're well suited to hunting prey in the tunnels. I am better at hunting out in the open, I don't have the right build for tunnel hunting."
This was true. Mudpelt was stocky and solid, like his father had been. The abandoned (and sometimes occupied) warrens triggered a kind of mild claustrophobia. He did not like feeling the earth brush against his shoulders or against his ears. But he was accepting of a little discomfort for the sake of training Shadepaw. "We are going to work with Brightpool and Dawnflight today. They'll be teaching us how to navigate the warrens."
It was a relief to know that Shadepaw - provided the Clan's tunnelers kept the entrances and exits clear - would have places to shelter from bad weather if she was ever caught in a winter storm. She could hunker down in the tunnels, or even find a way back to LightningClan's camp to avoid the worst of it. The tunnels were going to be a lifeline for many LightningClan cats, not just Shadepaw. They will run you down, down til you fall
459 Words || Taxx || Notes (Brightpool mention!) |
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Post by Taxx on Dec 10, 2018 15:37:10 GMT -5
Shadepaw Apprentice of LightningClan I don't Really care if nobody else believes It felt like it was getting colder every day; Shadepaw was reminded often of the first time she'd felt this chill, back when she'd been a kit. They were dim memories, but she still remembered the first time she'd set foot in snow, how it had crunched under her weight and the instant cold contact with her pad that had sent her backing up, unused to it and her ability to navigate. But she'd learned, and she'd spent many days playing in it as the drifts piled up- and just as often getting buried and having to struggle to claw her way back to solid ground with the flakes melting on her fur.
It wouldn't be long before it snowed again, she was sure. There was a faint scent in the wind that carried a long-ago memory, but the ground was still firm beneath her paws, the flattened grass still familiar to her. Her ears pricked as Mudpelt's voice reached her, her tail flicking at the thought of getting her warrior name soon, but she said nothing as she padded on in her mentor's steps.
After she managed to walk in snow. She knew it was a good thing to learn, but she wasn't much looking forward to it. Out here, the snow would be a real challenge- for someone who couldn't see, how could she chase prey? Running at full speed was something that required sight, and she knew it. Hunting in the tunnels, though? That she could do. Smooth terrain beneath her and no snow to struggle with where what she was used to. "Why have we never used the tunnels before?" she asked, curious; she'd only started hearing about them not long ago, and supposedly they had always been there, so why hadn't LightningClan been making use of them during leafbares past? 'Cause I've still got a lot of fight left in me |
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Post by Fawn on Dec 16, 2018 16:37:06 GMT -5
Mudpelt LightningClan || Senior Warrior || 52 Moons 'Cause they will run you down, down til the dark "We've used them in the past, but not extensively. Not since Brightpool began a resurgence in Clan interest in tunneling." Mudpelt replied, sharing what little he knew of the subject. He was an expert by no one's standards, but the origins of this renewed hobby were at least semi-familiar. "Brightpool knows more than I do. LightningClan used tunnels in the days before the Clans moved to the valley. Back when they were called WindClan. The elders told us that WindClan's tunnels used to stretch all over the old forest, even leading into other Clans' territory."
Mudpelt shook his head, mewing an addendum before hailing Brightpool and Dawnflight. "The truth has a way of distorting over whole generations of time. Please do not take what I have shared as fact. Only StarClan knows for sure how things were."
It was crucial that they focus on the present. On the future, even. Leafbare was coming, and he needed her prepared.
It was his white-furred kin that greeted him, however. Instead, it was Dawnflight and the bulky tom a few moons younger than him (but with the disposition of an elder), Cricketnose. "Is Brightpool well?" Mudpelt asked after greetings were exchanged.
"She is. She was called away for an assessment with Ivypaw." Cricketnose immediately got down to business, addressing Shadepaw. "First things first, we're going to walk through the tunnels so you can get your bearings."
"What should we keep in mind, going in?" Mudpelt felt the first few prickles of apprehension over going into what looked like a narrow space, but he shoved it down.
"Trust your whiskers, trust your nose, trust your ears. Your eyes are useless in here." said Cricketnose. The tom was of a larger build than the other slender tunnelers, but his sense of smell more than made up for it; he could flush prey with the best of them.
Mudpelt gently touched Shadepaw's flank with his tail, encouraging her to explore the entrance, get a sense of these new surroundings. "Can you explain to Shadepaw and I what a tunneler does?"
Cricketnose nodded, his strong voice muffled as he went underground and the others followed. The scent of cool earth was strongest at the entrance, and Mudpelt, grateful he was not claustrophobic, found himself slowly beginning to adjust once his eyes had adapted to the darkness. Cricketnose had said eyesight was useless here, but old habits were hard to break, and Mudpelt found himself relying on his vision more than anything else.
The tunnels were extensive, and he frowned, somber expression dark from the very real possibility of getting lost.
As if sensing Mudpelt's thoughts, Cricketnose spoke up. "Tunnelers are cats who have experience traveling through these rabbit warrens. They're connected all over the territory; we use them to get from place to place quickly without having to deal with large predators or bad weather. An inexperienced cat in the tunnels will find themselves lost real quick. So never try this without proper training or an experienced tunneler with you."
"We also dig out any warrens that have partially collapsed, or need to be connected to a bigger tunnel system," added Dawnflight. "One of the most important parts of our job, though, is flushing out prey for our hunters to catch."
Will scroll. They will run you down, down til you fall
544 Words || Taxx || Notes |
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Post by Taxx on Dec 29, 2018 17:28:08 GMT -5
Shadepaw Apprentice of LightningClan I don't Really care if nobody else believes Shadepaw knew the elders' stories, but those tales were of times many seasons ago, well before the Clans had moved and established themselves in the valley. Just words, passed down through generations of cats, as Mudpelt had said- who knew how much of it had been added or embellished since the times that the tunnels had been in use, in that land no Clan cat would ever visit?
When she heard Cricketnose's voice outline the lesson, she nodded, and as Mudpelt spoke next, she listened as she took the few steps to the tunnel's entrance, brushing her whiskers against the dirt, scuffing her paws in the loose soil at the mouth of the tunnel, and extending her head to take a sniff; stale air, cold and damp, but carrying a trace of rabbit, told her that there would be some reward for venturing down there. "My eyes are useless everywhere," she replied, tail whisking at the tom who'd spoken; as the three warriors brushed past, she followed them underground.
Cricketnose's voice echoed back to her as he continued to speak; Shadepaw listened, her ears full of the sound of the breaths of the cats ahead of her, their fur brushing past dirt walls, and the scents of their bodies was suddenly much more overpowering in the enclosed space. "Won't the rabbits know the tunnels even better than we do? How do we flush them if the tunnels branch out so widely?" Curious, she pricked her ears to listen, the tips brushing against the top of the tunnel until she lowered her head; a sudden rush of fresher air from the side told her of another tunnel that stretched upward to the moor, but the wind held the cold of leafbare in it, no warmer than the air in the tunnel, and Shadepaw turned away from it to hurry again after her mentor and the other two warriors. 'Cause I've still got a lot of fight left in me |
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Post by Fawn on Jan 18, 2019 12:00:09 GMT -5
Mudpelt LightningClan || Senior Warrior || 52 Moons 'Cause they will run you down, down til the dark "More than one of us will flush a rabbit out at a time," said Dawnflight.
"An experienced tunneler can force the rabbit to avoid certain paths, or even close off their escape routes entirely." Cricketnose brought them to the first big den; it was abandoned, and not unlike LightningClan's camp in terms of size. Mudpelt's whiskers twitched as he picked up the different scents coming from each of the branching tunnels. "Well done," he mewed privately to Shadepaw, wanting to encourage her inquisitive nature.
"First thing we're doing is finding all the entrances and exits." Cricketnose turned to face their little group. "Every warren usually has at least two. Rabbits aren't that smart, so the entrances and exits are all over the place - some right next to the other because of a tunnel cave-in. We're going to start on the left, and I want you to use your nose to find the entrance."
"And if we get stuck?" asked Mudpelt, regarding the leftmost branching tunnel with a touch of hesitation.
"Just call for help, Dawnflight and I will hear you. These tunnels are empty, so feel free to stomp around like a bunch of badgers until you get your bearings."
Mudpelt grimly nodded to the experienced tom, and touched Shadepaw's flank with his tail. They would go in, together. He did not want her going first into these dark, unknown passageways, but she needed to experience this. He would just take care to keep an eye on the dirt roof overhead and the earth walls surrounding them for signs of weakness. He didn't think Blazefang would forgive him if he got himself suffocated by a collapsed tunnel.
Dawnflight and Cricketnose deserved his trust, too. They wouldn't let them wander by themselves if it was in any way unsafe.
"It's unfortunate we can't mark our progress," Mudpelt murmured. What would they even use? Stones? Garlic leaves? He didn't want the scents to overwhelm or confuse Shadepaw. He'd just have to grit his teeth and endure this sensation of being... lost. They will run you down, down til you fall
349 Words || Taxx || Notes |
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Post by Taxx on Feb 4, 2019 19:18:03 GMT -5
Shadepaw Apprentice of LightningClan I don't Really care if nobody else believes The answers made sense and Shadepaw nodded to herself. Blocking tunnels was a good strategy; a rabbit running headlong into what it believed was a safe place could instead corner itself and make the catch easy. Or, a warrior lying in wait while another flushed a rabbit to them. There were ways, and it might even be easier down here, than above.
Finding entrances didn’t sound all that hard- it was just sniffing for fresh air, right? Head turning to the nearest source, Shadepaw breathed in the cool air, slightly warmed by the earthen walls of the tunnel it swept down, and then flicked an ear toward Mudpelt. “Why can’t we?” she asked, puzzled and missing the point of his question. “Which one are we checking first? We can mark the entrance of each tunnel with our claws so we don’t get turned around.”
Turning toward the sound of his breathing, Shadepaw padded toward him; she paused when her whiskers brushed his shoulder and lined herself up with him, facing not the tunnel she had been facing, but a different one. There was no fresh air coming from this tunnel, and she frowned as she sat. “Do we have to explore the tunnel if there’s no entrance?” 'Cause I've still got a lot of fight left in me |
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Post by Fawn on Feb 7, 2019 19:29:36 GMT -5
Mudpelt LightningClan || Senior Warrior || 52 Moons 'Cause they will run you down, down til the dark Mudpelt frowned, considering her suggestion. "I thought using scent markers might confuse you. We can try your method, it may work for us just fine. Your senses are sharper than mine, underground." Mudpelt's voice gentled, almost as though a father figure to a kit. "I trust you." Navigating in the dark was her area of expertise, not his.
"If you can tell from this distance that there's no exit or entrance, then no we do not." said Mudpelt, stepping forward to examine the tunnel that had caught her attention. Rabbit warrens were twisting, winding things. Just because they could not taste the cold air on their tongues or feel a subtle breeze on their whiskers did not mean it was a dead end. Mudpelt withheld this commentary, though. Shadepaw needed to figure things out for herself.
"If you find a tunnel you think we should explore, lead the way." Mudpelt stayed close, the dark hairs of his coat just faintly brushing Shadepaw's, letting the she-cat know he was awaiting her decision. It took patience and no small amount of courage to be a tunneler, Mudpelt realized. This was going to be a good test to see whether or not Shadepaw had both. They will run you down, down til you fall
201 Words || Taxx || Notes: She can pick a tunnel and the thread can end, or we can skip ahead to them discussing her progress on the way back to camp? |
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Post by Taxx on Feb 15, 2019 11:12:42 GMT -5
Shadepaw Apprentice of LightningClan I don't Really care if nobody else believes It took a while for Shadepaw to find her way out; she'd turned away from the first tunnel and headed down another, fresh air on her tongue, certain that this way would lead to an entrance; when she bumped into a solid wall and realized this was a dead end; not until she'd backtracked did she realize the wind which had seemed promising had come from overhead- a small hole in the roof of the tunnel.
The third had gotten them out, though, and she'd felt relief when she'd felt the sun- no matter how lacking in warmth- on her pelt again. She fell in behind Mudpelt, padding close to his side as they started back to the camp. "You were right- it's a bit confusing. Or misleading. Scents get mixed up; I wonder how it'd be to hunt down there. I'd like to try. If you think I'm ready?" It couldn't hurt to get used to it; she'd never done that well with moor hunting. Maybe the tunnels would be easier- once she got used to just walking them. 'Cause I've still got a lot of fight left in me |
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Post by Fawn on Feb 23, 2019 10:18:12 GMT -5
Mudpelt LightningClan || Senior Warrior || 52 Moons 'Cause they will run you down, down til the dark Mudpelt & Batear
Their foray into tunnel exploration had been touch-and-go; Shadepaw had bumped into a dead end and backtracked. The stocky tom had to exercise self-control not to warn her beforehand. She had to learn, and he refused to let himself coddle her because of her blindness. She was a lively young warrior-to-be, and Mudpelt had always resolved not to treat her as some sort of helpless kit or disabled elder in need of constance guidance.
The mud-colored warrior took Shadepaw's words into consideration, speaking once a blustery leafbare wind had subsided. He hadn't thought about how sheltered they'd been from the weather, throughout today's training session. Now, with the moorlands stretching out in all directions, Mudpelt truly felt the effects of the leafbare winds. "The only way you'll be ready is to try. As long as you have someone experienced with tunnel-hunting to help, I think that would be fine. Remember to be careful, Shadepaw. I've heard rumors that cornered rabbits can lash out, bite or kick if they think it'll scare us off." A bite or a kick she couldn't necessarily see coming.
Not to mention, there was a chance Shadepaw could bump into a mother rabbit and her kits. Were all animal mothers protective? It couldn't have been just cats. Mudpelt's tail curled in thought. He wanted to be there to help, but he couldn't safely call himself an expert or even experienced in tunnel-hunting. He was much more comfortable in the wide open, where endurance won out and strategy didn't factor in much.
Nightstep had an uncanny affinity for hunting and fighting, particularly at night. The darkness of the tunnels wouldn't deter Shadepaw's father; perhaps he would have a word with his distant kin, to see if Nightstep might enjoy the opportunity to partner up and help Shadepaw reach her full potential in the tunnels.
They will run you down, down til you fall
308 Words || Taxx || Notes (Nightstep mention!) |
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