An Intro to the World Under your Paws [WC Event]

[spade]

[ words: 349 letters collected: _ _ _ _ _ _ ]

Stars, they were late. Late, late, late.

Paws scrambling to get a hold on the moorland ground Snowypaw bolted from the apprentices den, white fur streaking in the chilly breeze as the young cat sprinted towards where everyone was gathered. Crowtooth was shouting out something in the distance on a rock, though they couldn't make out exactly what the tunneller was saying.

And just as quick as they had spotted him, he disappeared below the earth, the group charging in after him. A few stayed atop and hadn't gone in - Whitefur and Frostpaw. "Aren't you guys going in?" Snowypaw asked breathlessly as they scooted past, not giving any chance to hear a response before diving into the small hole, a smile plastered to their face.

Darkness swallowed them up, and suddenly they stopped briefly. Every sounds above the moorland was silenced, so much so that Snowypaw could hear their own heart beating in their chest. Okay, first thing first was to calm down. Focusing on their breathing they managed to get it back under control. After a bit their blue eyes adjusted to the gloom but not nearly enough to see all that well. So instead, they focused on letting their nose do most of the work, jaws parting ever so slightly to catch wisps of the tunnellers scent.

Instead of deciding to follow Jaypaw or Cobwebpaw, Snowypaw took an almost immediate right and slipped into a small opening. Just ahead of them, a semi strong scent of rabbit met their nose and Snowypaw blinked. Rabbits were hard enough to catch on the moorland - this was their home turf! Swallowing a bit of fear that clogged their throat, the white-furred apprentice moved forward, careful to keep their paws from making any louder vibrations than necessary. Hopefully, they'd be able to sneak up on the rabbit, or catch it at a dead end. And hopefully it was small - they didn't want to have to leave early to go see the medicine cat!

Besides, finding Crowtooth and catching a rabbit? That would surely impress Twilightstar and her mentor.

[Rani]

@Mr.Pumpkin you rolled a 6!
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And so the event and the hunt for Crowtooth begins! Time to venture into the tunnels and find him, you get lucky and find a nice looking route that you can fit in, lets hope its in the right direction!


@Aurene you rolled a 6!
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Tunneling isnt the easiest thing but you seem to be making a good start of it managing not to bump into anything in the gloom and venturing deeper into the dark abyss to find Crowtooth.


@Naiad you rolled a 5!

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As morbid as your mothers wisdom may have been it seems to serve you well here today! The tunnel you chose starts to widen the further you go and eventually you come across something interesting, a tuft of black fur! Crowtooth came this way!


@Singing Jay you rolled a 4!
Word progress: _ _ _ r _ _
Some cats simply feel at home in certain places and this seems to be an example of that, Jaypaw is right at home and correct in his hunches. There is prey here and its a large fat vole digging for worms!


@spooky spade you rolled a 3!
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Despite being late your quick moving efforts to get right into it serve you well to close the gap and you are soon well on your way. The rabbit scent grows thicker and thicker until you find a new sight to you. Its not a full grown rabbit but a bundle of three young rabbits in a sort of nest. Youve somehow wandered right into a warrens nursery!

[Singing Jay]

788 Words in post
Word progress: _ _ _ r _ _

Yes, yes, YES! Jaypaw was right about the scent. Even though he wasn't yet sure what kind it was prey it was - it seemed like a mouse, which to be fair was the only prey they had caught so far - but they were sure Starclan was on their side now. No, no, that was a bad way to think, they weren't special, Starclan would be watching over all their clan mates, thinking that Starclan had eyes only from them was selfish and dump. Jaypaw knew cats who thought they were the center of the whole wide world. Jaypaw didn't want to be one bit like them.

No, everyone was special in their way, Jaypaw maybe a little less so. Well, if you didn't count their different tongue, it made them different in a way sure but it was far from a blessing, more a curse if anything. A little spark bloomed up inside the blue apprentice at the thoughts, a spark or resentment for Onyxkit and Jaypaw's clan mates who were more normal, anger at Starclan who let it happen, and self-doubt after everything that had happened with their family. Because they feared that their family was gone because of their difference. Being different was always good....


But that wasn't what Jaypaw should focus on, the scent was their mission now and they would make sure they catch whoever it belonged to. And they would make Spacklecloud proud, and if the others ever came back they would see what they had left behind, and what he had grown to become, even more so if Jaypaw somehow manged to start training as a tunneler. But that hope was still far way, and to get there they'd have to catch this piece of prey.


And the scent was getting stronger, so whatever Jaypaw was doing, they were doing it well! Continuing to move forward they made sure to creep quietly and place their paws with a carefulness not usually seen, not even in them. After a while they slowly began to speed up, but only ever so slightly, since they didn't want to scare away whatever pray was in there.

As the tunnel split again Jaypaw didn't hesitate and chose left, in their mix of excitement and nervousness forgetting to look back and memorize the route they had come, but when they remembered it was too late to turn back. Jaypaw made a mental note that they had turned left twice, so when they went back they only had to reverse it, going right two time at the end.

Luckily it was slightly easier to follow and keep track or scents under here, since everything was a net of tunnels the scent could only come from a few directions, and all you had to do was to pick the right way, not find the exact place where the prey was hiding. Jaypaw already enjoyed hunting much more then battle and fighting, and one of their main problems; the self consciousness that came from hunting out in the open where everyone could see you was now gone, down here underground there was only Jaypaw and their prey. Of course it wasn't as safe as up there, as Crowtooth had said it was with higher risks that they gambled with but if Jaypaw could have this feeling in exchange for a little less security even they were ready to do it, at least now and then.


The scent grew stronger and stronger with every quiet step and another jolt of excitement made their tail twitch happily. It was close now, very close and after a few more heartbeats Jaypaw's ears could pick up the faint sound of scratching, as if small stones rubbed against other stones with sand in between. They could locate the sound coming from just around the next corner. Once Jaypaw went around it their prey would notice them right away, which meant they would have to leap as soon as they could after moving around it or their change might be gone.

A deep and quite breath before they charged. Unsheathing their claws and aimed at the further wall of the tunnel, using it to bounce of of and leap towards their prey. It was light brown and round, or not round, just very plump, good. A plump vole, and the sound they had heard was from it's paws digging into the earth, looking for worms and bugs no doubt. Jaypaw had been in luck, the vole was in a good place for where they had aimed their second leap and the preyed, hoped that they wouldn't miss now, this was maybe the most important prey they'd even come to catch, if they did that was.

[beau]

Letters Collected: _ _ _ _ o _
[Word Count for Your Convenience: 802]

Cobwebpaw slowed his pace a bit, worried for a moment that the tunnel would lead to a dead end as it tightened, then suddenly disoriented as the the burrow opened up, the now familiar pressure of the walls pressing of his pelt suddenly gone. He paused a minute to look around, he eyesight had adjusted a bit to the gloom, but not enough to be truly helpful. As he continued padding through the newly widened tunnel, he stepped unto something soft. The tom paused, squinting his eyes as he tried to make out what it was. It was definitely a tuft of fur, but to whom did it belong? Deciding his eyesight was useless, the apprentice leaned down and sniffed the clump of hair. Crowtooth! The tunneler had gone down this way!

The tabby continued forward, his pace encouraged a bit by the promising findings. His ears twitched, trying to take not of the differences in this space that he could sense with his other senses. The silence sounded, louder? He didn't know how to explain it. When he was in the tighter tunnel everything was more muffled, but there was a subtle echo in the more cavern-like pathway he was exploring now. The ground had grown harder too, and the tom suspected he was subtly making his way deeper into the more. Now that he was past the initial nerves, he found he enjoyed the silence of the tunnels. He could think without interruption, it was a welcome break from the quiet but constant murmur of camp. He actually allowed himself to close his eyes, fully sinking into his other senses and enjoying the experience.

He opened his eyes as the tunnel narrowed once more, it wasn't as tight as before, only grazing his ear-tips rather than pressing against his whole body. He walked for a few more fox-lengths, the tunnel opening once more to reveal yet another split in the path. This time there were three tunnels, two off towards the right and one on the left. The tom's feathery tail twitched as the cogs in his brain began turning, trying to figure out which tunnel he should go down now. It had worked out pretty well on the first path, where he had trusted his instincts, but now he doubted himself. He redirected his anxiety, deciding it would be best to form some sort of method. The black tabby parted his jaws, letting the musty scent of the tunnels wash over his glands. He closed his eyes as he scented the air, his ears pricking as the familiar scent of rabbit wafted towards him. He reopened his eyes, staring at the left tunnel where the smell was drifting from. He was about to spring down the tunnel when another scent suddenly caught his attention, perhaps carried by a draft through the burrows. Cobwebpaw hesitated. The new scent was familiar, but he couldn't quite identify it. It was definitely something he had smelled before, but what?

He tilted his head to the side, the new scent was coming from the closest tunnel on the right. Why did it always come down to two decisions? Why left or right? He considered both paths. The one with the rabbit almost guaranteed prey, but he had never even caught a rabbit on the moor, much less underground. Rabbits could be dangerous too, they had powerful hindlegs, and if he got caught in the chase he could get disoriented and lost in the tunnels. On the other hand, the mystery tunnel could be equally dangerous. Whatever was down there ranged from a mole to another cat to even a predator. Which one to choose? He supposed he could go down the tunnel with no scent, but who was to say that would lead to anything promising? He sighed, almost deciding to retrace his steps and find another route when something caught his eye.

A mid-sized spider, one that was barely visible in the gloom of the tunnels, scuttled across the hard dirt floor. His pale yellow gaze followed the small creature as it came to a stop, also at the crossroads. The arachnid barely hesitated before it scurried down the closest tunnel to the right, the tunnel with the mystery scent. It paused once more before disappearing into a tiny hole, that must lead off to a hole other network of micro tunnels, a warren used by worms and spiders and beetles. The apprentice took one pawstep down the mystery tunnel, then another, before crouching down the tiny opening the spider had escaped into. "I'm trusting you, don't lead me astray." He murmured, a half sarcastic tone to his voice. The tom straighted, taking a deep breath, before padding down the passage, ready to face whatever creature was awaiting him.

[glitch]

As soon as Crowtooth explained the rules, Earthpaw raced out of camp to start tunneling. He wanted be a regular warrior, but his mother had named him after tunneling. He was a natural at seeing in the dark so it would be easy. He began to tunnel. Once he got deep enough, darkness threatened to engulf him. But he could see in the dark quite well. He began to tunnel forward instead down. He then scented vole. He managed to catch it. But when he began to tunnel up, the tunnel he made began to collapse. He actually couldn't see, and he was suffocating. With the last of his strength, he pushed his way out of where he was stuck, then closed his eyes and fell limp. (hes not dead) *i dont know how many words*

[spade]

[ words: 227 || letters collected: _ _ _ r _ _ ]

Oh no. Ohhhhhhh no ohnoohno. Those were baby bunnies. Knots twisted themselves inside of Snowypaw's stomach as the apprentice shook their head. No, they couldn't kill... baby bunnies! That was heartless and cruel and... and... well, it was no wonder they hadn't been successful with most of their hunts - with that mindset, it was highly unlikely that they would ever be able to contribute prey to their Clan.

"Hi little guys," they cooed, noticing the loud squeaking that seemed to be echoing from all three. Flattening their ears, Snowypaw started to back out, giving a shake of their head. "Oh, no! Don't worry! You're safe! Just... stay here, alright? I'll make sure no one comes this way." With a bit of relief now, they turned around in the tunnel they were in, coughing as some dust puffed up into their face, and made their way out.

It was still dark, so this time they attempted to go down another section, trying to forget all about the bunnies they had seen. Thankfully there wasn't a warrior around to scold them - and it was definitely something Snowypaw would have to ponder later. For now, they refocused on the task at paw as they continued to squeeze themselves into a rather narrow space, curving their claws in a first try attempt at making it just a bit bigger.

[FriedChicken]

Moletongue bounded over ready to tunnel.

[Rani]

@Singing Jay you rolled a 5!
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The (now dead) vole is yours! Given Windclan is always a little prey short every bit is useful and this fat vole is sure to impress the clan! After all ones first tunnel catch is important! Now what next?

@Naiad you rolled a 6!

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The strange scent is a fascinating mystery which you soon solve when just around a corner not yet noticing you is a groundhog! Crowtooths brought back a couple of these before to the prey pile which must be where you know the scent from but these large rodents dont seem to have your awareness as they go about their digging. They cant kick like rabbits as you recall but their teeth are a little bit big..... But so is their meat content, these are a chubby fat prey animal if caught.


@TAC0C4T you rolled a 1!
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Pros and cons with every action you caught the vole but came upon some bad luck. Luckily for Earthpaw Crowtooth had tons of experience and was able to hear the small section of tunnel collapsing and made it over to the area in record time. Noticing the apprentice was still alive he sighed in relief and reached out a paw to gently shake him. "Earthpaw wake up. You had a bit of an accident in the tunnels but youre fine. I need to know if you want me to bring you up to the surface, I know the way out and can carry you but if you want to continue. If you ask me to bring you up youre disqualified its nothing to be ashamed off but its your and only your choice."

@spooky spade you rolled a 3 with advantage!
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Your compassion for the little rabbits may end up with empty hungry bellies but its actually the smartest move in the long term. Thanks to you those baby bunnies will grow big and strong into adult rabbits and have their own babies so when theyre eventually caught there'll be more of them to eat. Still time to move on and with some careful wiggling and some digging to make the area wider you pass through the tight spot to a much larger tunnel area!

@FriedChicken you rolled a 5!
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Once more into the breach! The air down here is musty and still darkness quickly closing in until theres very little you can see but you know Crowtooth is down here somewhere and its your test to find him! But how to start?

[beau]

Letters Collected: ____ow
[Unfortunately cannot do the word count as I’m on mobile, should be over 100 words though!]

Cobwebpaw’s pace was brisk as he padded through his newly selected path. As he rounded the corner the mystery scent was growing stronger. He came to a dead halt, suddenly aware of some odd creature snuffling at a wall of the tunnel. It was a large, awkward shaped rodent. As the tom silently watched the plump creature paw at the wall, it clicked in his head. Groundhog. It was a kind of prey he had only seen once or twice in his life, and had never tasted, but he vaguely recalled Crowtooth dragging them into camp from time to time. He tilted his head curiously as he watched the groundhog waddle around. It must not have very good eyesight, or perhaps it wasn’t very smart, because it had yet to take notice of the tom’s presence.

Coming to his senses, Cobwebpaw concluded he would have to catch it. He dropped down into a hunting crouch like how his mentor, Dovefall, had shown him, but hesitated. Was this how you hunted prey underground? He didn’t have a lot of room to pounce. Perhaps he could catch it with his front paws? Whatever he did, he would need to figure out quick. Even a blind animal would sense his presence eventually. The apprentice took a careful step forward, followed by another, before pausing once more. The groundhog had gone stiff, it’s loud sniffing increasing in volume. It took one uncertain hopping step away from Cobwebpaw, he would definitely need to catch it soon.

The dark apprentice suddenly struck forward, his claws digging into the large rodents fat haunches and dragging it closer towards him. He began to awkwardly maneuver the squirming animal. As he twisted around the groundhog in the tight space the groundhog let out a loud squeal, which was quickly silenced by a swift bite to it’s neck. Panting, the slender tabby took a step back, observing his prey. It was large enough to feed a cat or two, perhaps he would deliver to the nursery once he returned to camp, but he needed to figure out what to do with it now.

He supposed he could take the groundhog with him, but its size would make it awkward to carry, and he would be almost guaranteed to miss any other prey he ran into. Perhaps he should attempt to return the surface, and leave the groundhog up there. Yes, then he could retrieve it once the trial was over. Picked up the large creature and continued through the tunnel. Eventually he came across a second one, a burrow which seemed to head up at a steep incline. He could either continue straight, or head up this new tunnel. He didn’t hesitate for very long, now leaning into his instincts as he grew used to being in the elaborate tunnel system. Hopefully this tunnel would lead the tom to the surface, and not dive back down into the depths of the moor.

[alaskaa]

Words = can't count because i'm on mobile, but should be over 100!
Letters Collected = _ _ _ _ _ _

Dawnstreak began digging, scraping the ground with her claws, making mounds of dirt beside her. Her muscles started to ache a little, but Dawnstreak grit her teeth, refusing to give up. She squinted into the dark tunnel of brown dirt. It was so dark down there. No matter, though. Dawnstreak unsheathed her claws as a precaution, and slipped down the hole.

The stench of rabbit dung immediately flooded her nose, and the brown-and-cream warrior wrinkled her nose in disgust. Blech. Fighting the urge to turn tail and get out, she ventured forwards, her whiskers quivering. Specks of dirt landed on her groomed pelt, and Dawnstreak winced.

Her maw opened, and scents flooded in like water in a flood. There was a strong smell of rabbit. Suppose there was a rabbit warren nearby? Padding forward, Dawnstreak ducked her head, and began shovelling up dirt again, making more tunnels.

Letting her trusty nose guide her, she wandered straight into a crumbly wall of dirt, face first. Dawnstreak groaned. More dirt!

Frustrated, her jaw clenched, Dawnstreak burrowed her way through, throwing up dirt. She burst through to a family of rabbits sharing a meal. All the rabbits turnd their eyes on Dawnstreak and squealed.

Furious the warrior felt her hackles rising. She crouched into her hunter's crouch, staying so still the rabbits eventually continued with their meal. Dawnstreak's paw shot out, grabbing one, running uphill, knocking over the bewildered bunnies. She emerged from a hole, clutching a squealing rabbit. Dawnstreak looked down at it and slit its throat. Holding it in her maw like a prize, she raced back to Crowtooth, shaking dirt from her fur.