Mmmmmmmm. Deadmoon was much warmer now, with Snowybreeze draping his blanket of a tail around her and preventing any excessive wind from chilling her beyond what that ambient temperature of the day required. Though, this did little to prevent a shiver of another type. Crowtooth, while never exactly the most cheerful of cats, was pushing deeper into dark and ominous stories than she had previously heard. The description of being......preylike. That was what it was. That was what was getting to her. It sounded worse, even, than things had been with Shadowclan. Hiding in tunnels, more prey than cats.
This sobering reminder was, of course, not enough to stop Deadmoon from snorting somewhat explosively at Snowybreeze's quiet insult. Nothing about the story was funny. Cats had DIED, unjustly, and yet she found it a great struggle, one she would not win, to reign in her amusement. It was partially the rarity of Snowybreeze insulting anycat. She could count on a single paw the number of times he had uttered unkind words, even when there were quite a few (the entirety of Riverclan and Shadowclan came to mind, alliances notwithstanding) in the forest who would deserve them from even one so charitable in his opinions.
Realizing that her nonverbal outburst of sound had been highly inappropriate, and probably embarrassed Snowybreeze to no end not to mention messed up the mood, she cast her eyes downwards and mewed a softer
Sorry. This didn't stop her from turning to Snowybreeze as Crowtooth got ready for his next soliloquy and whispering
I agree with you kiddo, just never thought I'd hear you insult anyone. and, just because she couldn't resist causing a bit of trouble, added impishly
Do it again sometime. Should she be encouraging her former apprentice towards her own, rather pessimistic and bitter worldview? Probably not. But in her defense........funny.
Not funny was the description of what came next. In all honesty her breath became a bit quicker and shallower just imagining it. Deadmoon wasn't especially nervous around water, but she also had no knowledge of how to swim. Underground was also fine enough, but she much preferred being aboveground. Being underground, water pouring in, knowing that there might not be air above you even if you could swim to it's top, was terrifying. Nightmarish. Riverclan didn't have the power to do such a thing to them now, they couldn't pull the river from it's banks and drown their camp, but it was still a horrible thought.
It was a surprise that so few had perished, though tunneling knowledge had probably been greater in those days of yore. There were levels to the tunnels as well, so if it was noticed at low elevations everyone could move she supposed, but it was still something of a miracle. It gave her a bit more respect for this Flutterbug, and even less for Dirtstar. Noticing the issue and connecting it to it's source and what would come was quick mind-work, something she'd never been able to master to the extreme, and so it was quite the feat. Not to mention the bravery involved. As much as she wanted to be useful, her own fears would probably have prevented her from being part of that honorable rear guard. @
Alchemist Kitsune