Territory WC the hum of the earth // slugpaw

[Weaselchirp Weaselchirp]

I'm a young soul in this very strange world
Hoping I could learn a bit 'bout what is true and fake
But why all this hate? Try to communicate
Finding trust and love is not always easy to make

.

Weaselchirp drank in the silence of the tunnels like one savors the last drop of warm prey, her paws barely touching the ground as she half-scampered, half-floated deeper into her beloved cave. The storm's destruction had left scars, muddy smears along the walls, shifted stones, small dents where water had run too boldly... But oh, oh, the earth still held. The earth was still breathing. A delighted hum trilled from her chest at the faint glow of insects above, their tiny lights blinking like stars trapped under soil.

" Generous... " she echoed herself, nose twitching. " So, so generous. The rain may bite, but the ground still cradles us. Clever thing, the ground... " Then she remembered her apprentice. Slugpaw. Slugpaw who was not Cloverbloom. Slugpaw who did not stride forward in the same way that Cloverbloom had done back then. She stopped, pivoting sharply so her large orange eyes locked onto him. They gleamed strangely in the low light, all warmth and oddity.

" Why do you wish to become a tunneler? " she asked, head tilting so far sideways a pebble slid off her ear. " Why dive where others fear to step? Why follow the whispering soil, hm? " she questioned as she padded toward the tunnel leading upward, where a thread of wind spiraled in like a breath of the sky. One paw rested near its lip as she peered back over her shoulder. " I know why I love it. It's home. It's freedom. It's where the world stops being loud. " she spoke, a soft, honest purr unfurled in her throat. " But you, Slugpaw... What stirs in your paws? What makes you want this path instead of running with the moor wind? What secret of the earth calls your name? "

Her whiskers twitched, crooked and expressive. " Tell me... " she urged, voice like wind brushing moss. " I want to know what's growing inside you. "

Speech, thoughts/emphasis

69 MOONS

𖧧

WINDCLANNER

𖧧

SONG

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bio

 

[Slugpaw Slugpaw]

SLUGPAW
​ I never feel like the bad guy ​

He thought for a moment. His mentor was certainly... different. Entertaining, but still a curious character. Slugpaw's eyes were still growing used to the lingering darkness of the tunnel, something that his mentor seemed to revel in; a clear place of comfort for her. The apprentice stepped forward, looking at her face. He shrugged slightly. In truth, he had no reason he had chosen this calling over being a moor runner. His parents were tunnelers, his siblings were tunnelers... it just seemed like the right place for him to be. A generational loyalty he couldn't place.

"I dunno," He admitted. "My parents like it down here, seemed like a good place." He wondered if Weaselchirp knew either of his parents, she was an older Windclanner after all. Though his parents came later, loners. He wondered if that's why they liked the tunnels, away from the rest of the clan --- somewhere to reflect on their own thoughts. He moved his head, feeling a bit of debris fall from his ear. He did understand what she meant when she said that it was quiet down here --- the hum of the world above replaced by the quiet dribble of water from the roof or the noise of dirt shifting. He gave a cocky smirk, puffing out his chest.

"All I know, is that I'm going to be the best tunneler Windclan has ever seen." He swiped his paw against the floor of the cave, his eyes having fully adjusted to the darkness around him at this point. He did deflate a bit, fur bristling. "I gotta show the clan I'm better than that stupid Talonpaw..." He muttered, eyes looking towards the Earth in anger.

I never know what being sad's like

✦

cuz' I always win

• OOC: @Weaselchirp
• KEY:
  

  "speech"

  
  

  'thoughts'

  
  attempted action
  

  "other character's speech"

  
  
• 
  click his cocky face for tags
  

  SLUGPAW is a brown marbled tabby tom with ginger eyes, a nicked right ear, and half a tail from a prior incident in his kithood. He carries himself with confidence and radiates a cocky aura.
  
  masculine, he/him
  9 moons, ages every 29th
  apprentice tunneler of windclan
  NPC x NPC, younger sibling of Staggerdance, Wormpaw, Snailpaw
  Mentored by Weaselchirp
  penned by @ASTEIRI ping on discord or post in #asteiris-astronomy for plots