Fleetpaw noticed Littlepaw's blink and ducked his head bashfully, casting a small smile in her direction. She was a nice cat, he was glad to be able to train beside her. He was glad that Windpaw didn't appear to be scared off by his answer to her question, but he hoped her confidence wasn't...
over confidence. It wasn't quite that simple. But it was time to shift gears. He swallowed hard when Dustbunny said he'd be in charge of teaching Honeypaw, praying he didn't mess up and let Dustbunny down. She was putting her faith in him to give Honeypaw the starting foundations of a tunneler, and he
couldn't let her down.
Still, his exterior did not exactly match his internal motivation. He waited for Dustbunny to head down, padding over to Honeypaw in the meantime. Okay, Honeypaw was asking what was next...deep breaths Fleet. You can do this.
"Th-The tunnels...l-like I s-s-said before...a-are v-very dark." He mewed to Honeypaw, nodding before looking at Littlepaw and Windpaw. He figured he'd let them go first, and once they followed Dustbunny down he followed with Honeypaw.
As the familiar darkness wrapped around him, the cool dirt underpaw, Fleetpaw felt himself feel more capable of breathing deeply. He paused, giving Honeypaw a moment to adjust while there was still some light.
"Y-You...must use y-your...other senses." He meowed, his voice a little more confidence than it usually was.
"Your nose...to follow sc-scents along th-the walls. Y-Your whiskers, to t-tell you wh-where the walls are. Your e-ears, to l-listen for pawsteps." As he spoke, Fleetpaw pressed his flank against the wall of the tunnel as Dustbunny had done when she first brought him here.
"T-Tunnelers will...leave scent trails..." He explained, taking advantage of the fact that they were still near the entrance to demonstrate, walking forward a little with his flank against the wall of the tunnel.
"Th-This is how...w-we keep track...o-of each other...in the d-darkness..." He hoped that would be enough. Dustbunny said they didn't have to explain
everything, but he wanted to ensure Honeypaw had the basic tools and knowledge for tracking.
He waited to give Honeypaw the opportunity to ask any questions, angling one of his extra sensitive ears to check on the voices ahead of them of Windpaw and Littlepaw. He wanted to keep tabs on them, ensure they were okay as well. And prevent him and Honeypaw from falling too far behind the rest. He wasn't too worried though. Fleetpaw hadn't spent nearly as much time down here as Dustbunny, but he already wore the darkness of the tunnels as a second pelt. He was more comfortable in this environment than he was above ground in the sun. Though it may not look it on the outside, and he'd never say it outloud out of fear of sounding arrogant, he was confident in being able to navigate the tunnels.
@
Moonraven - Dustbunny // @
SuspiciousMindz - Littlepaw // @
kira - Honeypaw // @
Star - Windpaw