Open The Farm all we celebrate are good times | snow tunnels!

[Clover]

{$title} who wants to dig snow tunnels with clover?

One of the things Clover missed about the warmer (well, warm-ish) moons was the softer earth. It was much easier to dig through that than the frozen solid ground, and sometimes you just want to dig tunnels for fun, right? At least the snow around the barn was a little bit softer than the ground, and after scraping a few pawfuls out she realized it was surprisingly easy to dig out tunnels in, and equally easy to smooth the walls of said snow tunnels down until they were shiny like ice.

She'd dug maybe a body-length's worth of tunnel, including a slightly wider area to rest in, when another idea struck her. Maybe some of the other barn cats, especially the younger ones like her, would enjoy it as much as she did! She crawled out of the tunnel, puffed her fur up against the cold, and trotted back towards the barn. It seemed like at least a few cats were out and about, either lounging in the hay or hunting for mice. Maybe this wasn't as good of an idea as she thought it'd be... Maybe they'd all laugh at her for wanting them to come out into the cold and leave the warm barn behind.... No, she had to get over herself eventually, and really what would the worst thing to happen be? A few cats laugh, and she goes back to her tunnels?

Silencing the nagging, anxious voice in her head, she spoke - although she noticed her voice didn't seem to come out very loud. "The snow's pretty soft right now... does anyone want to practice digging tunnels with me?"

__________way down deep inside ✿ there is a real me___________

• "speech" - thoughts
  

• 

• Clover(paw) she/her & windclan
  ✿ lh red lynx mink w/ white spotting
  ✿ 7 moons
  ✿ Peaceful and healing powerplay permitted.
  ✿ Slight suppressed southern accent
  
  
  penned by pastelskulls
  template by scarlet
  template art by redskiez​

 

[Hollow]

Hollow, -- 33 Moons / Barn Cat
Black spotted ghost tabby with bright amber eyes.
She is friendly, yet quiet, and always willing to help.
Tagging @Clover

---

There was a long silence, and Hollow looked down from where she lay up in the loft. She had taken quite a liking to staying up high and laying in the warm hay up there. She blinked as she thought about what the smaller cat had said, digging...? In this weather? While she was right- it did look quite soft and easy to tunnel into- why would they? Getting wet and cold, and the dirt was surely colder under all of the snow. But regardless, when nobody else spoke for a moment, she found herself quietly meowing a response, offering herself up for the task.

"...Digging? Uh... do you like... digging?

 

[Flicker]

The young calico was eagerly awaiting spring herself. She was dealing with the dreary skies as best she could, appreciating all the little things like sunrise and sunset, the light glinting off snow and ice alike, the sprawling dappled coats of the barn horses. But despite it all, the land was so, so sleepy. Flicker stayed up late and slept in just as badly, and she was starting to feel terribly antisocial. Her schedule just wasn't lining up well with the other cats. It was starting to get even worse than boring. Lonely.

"Tunnels?" Flicker echoed, her bi coloured ears perking up. She slunk down from the rafters, landing with a soft thump and turning her bright eyes to Clover. "That sounds delightful!" The young molly had been in her fair share of tunnels, usually waiting out the evening in old rabbit warrens after wandering too far from the barn. she had never thought to try her paw at digging them herself. Can't be that hard, can it? I'm small enough, we won't even have to make them all that large. Anything to break the monotony.
"I can't say I've had much experience myself, but there's a first time for everything," she responded to Hollow, a soft purr in her throat. "An' I'm sure Clover will teach us everything we 'ought to know."

 

[Hollow]

Hollow, -- 33 Moons / Barn Cat
Black spotted ghost tabby with bright amber eyes.
She is friendly, yet quiet, and always willing to help.

[Tagging @Flicker @Clover]

---

Hollow perked up, ears forward with interest. "Well... alright," she meowed. Her claws dug into the wood as she made her way down from the loft, climbing down carefully and slowly before she made the final jump to the ground.

She walked over to the two of them, tail low as she spoke again, "Is it... difficult?" She was never fond of the snow and how the cold bit at her pawpads, making her squirm and want to search for a place to escape and be warm to. It was fun to watch from inside a two-leg den, but out here where you actually had to touch it? No thanks. She supposes she ought to get used to it eventually. All of the other cats are clearly skilled in traipsing through it, with the way they go out to hunt and still return with plenty of prey to feed everyone in the barn.

She glanced past the others out at the white coated ground, and wondered if digging through the snow would make her claws ache.

 

[Clover]

Well, the other barn cats didn't seem to think it was a terribly stupid idea - and they even seemed to be interested, or at least playing along with her idea. As Hollow got closer, questioning whether it was difficult - followed by Flicker admitting she hadn't experienced much of tunnelling... "It's not hard. The snow's a little wet, so it'll stick together for tunnel walls pretty easy."

She looked around the barn, searching for any signs of things being moved around, or rustling from inside the hay piles. The kits were probably getting sick of the indoors, too - she knew she would be if she was suddenly shut up inside the barn. "I wonder if any of the kits would like to come tunnel with us, too... it'd take them off the caregivers' paws for a bit." The last sentence was more of a whisper, as if keeping the secret from any possibly hidden kits around. Even if it wound up just being the three of them... a network of snow tunnels around the barn could be fun to make.

__________way down deep inside ✿ there is a real me___________

• "speech" - thoughts
  

• 

• Clover(paw) she/her & windclan
  ✿ lh red lynx mink w/ white spotting
  ✿ 7 moons
  ✿ Peaceful and healing powerplay permitted.
  ✿ Slight suppressed southern accent
  
  
  penned by pastelskulls
  template by scarlet
  template art by redskiez​

 

[Dusty]

✯

indent Dusty watches the three mollies with mild interest. It's sweet that Flicker and Hollow are spending time with little Clover. Dusty remembers her own youth, and feeling oh so proud whenever she got to hang out with the 'grownup' cats. Being raised by her grandparents made other adults seem younger by comparison, more like cool older siblings when they were really old enough to be her parents. She could hardly wait to be their age, to be free of the anxieties of youth and granted with newfound freedoms. Now, Dusty knows that those anxieties never really leave. They've continued to haunt her her whole life up until now, and she reckons they'll keep haunting her until she finally does herself in. The difference is, now, she has the experience and authority to confront those fears, and make sure the worst case scenarios never happen.

indent Case in point - Clover just asked if they should invite the kittens to join them. It was quiet, almost not meant to be heard, but it didn't escape Dusty's keen hearing.
"You sure that's a good idea?" Dusty drawls, calling attention to Clover's idea. "Tunnels are fun and all, but what happens when they collapse? Who's gonna be digging the little ones out?"

✯

 

[Hollow]

Hollow, -- 33 Moons / Barn Cat
Black spotted ghost tabby with bright amber eyes.
She is friendly, yet quiet, and always willing to help.

Tagging @Dusty @Clover

---

Hollow's ear flicked in Dusty's direction as she spoke up, and then looked over at her, worry slowly growing as she took into consideration her idea. Tunnels could be dangerous for someone so small, especially if they were too deep into the dirt where someone might be unable to reach the surface by simply reaching up. Her head kind of dipped a bit lower, anxiety biting at her at the thought of any of the little ones being put in danger.

"Maybe Dusty is right... they might be a bit too young for this..." she mumbled out nervously, barely audible. The last thing she would want was for something to go wrong, but her and the other she-cats were more than capable of taking care of themselves, versus a kit who might not know what to do and panic if something happened.

 

[Clover]

Clover dipped her head slightly at Dusty's response, her ears going back very slightly without her really even noticing. The older cat did have a point... Even with more adult cats around, if a tunnel caved in on a kit it might be hard for the rest to get them out in time. Sure, she'd been digging tunnels for a while... but in an emergency she knew panic would take over and she wouldn't think clearly enough to save someone... and even Hollow seemed to agree it might be a good idea to leave the kits out of it for now.

"That's okay, then. We can just go dig the tunnels out ourselves, and of course I'll make sure everyone knows how to keep themselves safe while we're digging." She waved her tail in a gathering sort of motion, feeling a bit more confident as she took a mental inventory of who was coming with her. Hollow, Flicker, and... "Dusty, do you want to dig tunnels with us?" Couldn't hurt to offer, right? The more the merrier?

__________way down deep inside ✿ there is a real me___________

• "speech" - thoughts
  

• 

• Clover(paw) she/her & windclan
  ✿ lh red lynx mink w/ white spotting
  ✿ 7 moons
  ✿ Peaceful and healing powerplay permitted.
  ✿ Slight suppressed southern accent
  
  
  penned by pastelskulls
  template by scarlet
  template art by redskiez​

 

[BUCK]

The chocolate tabby tom looks upon Clover's "creation", molten eyes glistening with amusement. A hollow tunnel... for what reason? Who knows. It sure looked fun, though. Buck always liked to dig deep into the snow during leafbare, especially when boredom struck, but never had he considered making a tunnel out of it.

When the younger cat attempts to recruit other barn cats to join her digging, Buck gets to his paws and pads over. "Count me in." He chirps, tail waving like a flag due to his mounting excitement. Maybe they could use the tunnels to pop out of the snow and surprise their prey... Either that, or it would be a great use for a game of hide-and-seek.

He flashes a smirk toward the ever-concerned blue-ticked tabby she-cat. "C'mon, Dusty. I promise the barn won't collapse while yer' gone." Buck teases, though he secretly hopes that she considers tagging along. It would be interesting for her to engage in something fun for once.

𝐑𝐈𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐌 ✹ . + ˚ · 𝐑𝐔𝐍𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇 𝐌𝐘 𝐕𝐄𝐈𝐍𝐒

• 

• 

  — buck / 26 moons / he/him pronouns
  — loner / barncat
  — sh chocolate tabby w/ orange eyes, bite marks on left foreleg, nick in left ear & scratch on right side of lip
  — click for tags

​

​

 

[Dusty]

✯

indent Dusty considers Clover's offer. Things are rather calm right now. The whole farm has come to a standstill under the soft snow. Maybe letting loose a little wouldn't be so bad. Who knows, maybe tunneling would end up being a useful skill sometimes in the future - that would mean this 'playtime' basically counts as work, right?

indent Her line of thought is broken by Buck's words. She glowers at him.
"I know that, Buck." Did he think she's paranoid, or something? She's cautious, not stupid.It doesn't matter, though. Dusty won't let bothersome tomcats ruin her snow day. Dusty descends from her perch, approaching the slowly growing maze of tunnels, and smacking Buck on the shoulder with her tail as she passes him. She comes to a stop next to Clover. If she's going to lean how to tunnel, she ought to ask the master first.

indent "You said you know how to keep yourself safe? Let's hear it then." Dusty speaks frankly, addressing Clover as if she were any other adult cat. No kitten talk, no crouching down to her level. "Keepin' all that to yourself is no fair, you know." Despite this, she can't help but smile. When's the last time she got to cut loose and play with the kittens? It was time to have some good old fashioned fun.

✯

 

[Clover]

Oh, it felt like there were a lot of cats gathering around suddenly.... Clover wasn't quite used to this many others being around her, let alone being the center of their attention. Now wasn't really the time to be worrying about that - as much as it made her want to retreat into her tunnels alone - when other cats were asking her about the plan, and what to do with the tunnels.

"Um, well... when I dig tunnels in the ground, I always make sure I pack down the dirt walls so they don't crumble and collapse. I'm sure it would work the same with snow if we want the tunnels to stay sturdy and not cave in..." What else did she do when she was digging... Usually she didn't have others helping out or even knowing about the tunnels, but... "It'll probably be a lot easier to make sure that the walls get properly packed with a bunch of cats helping, and even if a tunnel does collapse there'd be a bunch of us to help dig it back out."

Somehow, even with Dusty talking to her as if she were an adult cat, she was very aware of how young she was and how little experience she had with the world. She hadn't even experienced every season yet... How was she supposed to be an authority on anything?

__________way down deep inside ✿ there is a real me___________

• "speech" - thoughts
  

• 

• Clover(paw) she/her & windclan
  ✿ lh red lynx mink w/ white spotting
  ✿ 7 moons
  ✿ Peaceful and healing powerplay permitted.
  ✿ Slight suppressed southern accent
  
  
  penned by pastelskulls
  template by scarlet
  template art by redskiez​