RiverClan Tunnel Punishments

[occultation]

This is where all of RiverClan's tunnel punishments will take place. Please do not post on this thread unless your character is participating in or supervising a tunnel punishment.

Here's how these tunnel punishments are going to work:

If your cat is ordered to join a tunnel patrol, at the first available opportunity they will join other cats to go down into the tunnels. The goal of these patrols is to map out RiverClan's tunnel system, repair damaged tunnels, clear blocked tunnels, and dig new tunnels. This is difficult work, so you are encouraged to roleplay accordingly!

Each tunnel patrol will be supervised by a high rank, Lionheart, or warrior. A posting order will be used. All participants must make an arrival post by the deadline stated; posting order will go into effect after this. Once it is your turn to post, you will have five days to post with your cat before you're bumped. If you fail to post with your cat after an additional 24 hours, you will be skipped. If your turn needs to be skipped more than twice in a row, your cat will be considered negligent on the patrol and punished further.

Unless you have explicitly been excused, your cat is required to complete this patrol. During the patrol, they should cooperate with the directions given to them by their assigned supervisor, and shouldn't cause any drama/arguments. Excluding their arrival post, each of your cat's posts in the tunnels must be at least 100 words long. If your posts do not meet this requirement, you will be asked to edit them. Failing to do so may result in further punishment for your cat.

Once each cat has made three posts each working in the tunnels, the patrol will conclude and the punishment will be considered complete. Please send any questions to your patrol's assigned supervisor.

[occultation]

( @Tiabirb @furrensic )

There had been some delay with getting this particular punishment started, but Fadingsun certainly hadn't forgotten about it. Excitement put a spark in his step as he headed out into the clearing. This was the very first punishment patrol that would be going down into the tunnels; he hoped it would be nothing but a success.

"Starlingflight and Pinefire!" he called. "It's time for your punishment. Come join me so we can head down into the tunnels. You're required to be here for this, so if you don't show there'll be trouble."

( Please make an arrival post with your cat by March 15! )

[Tiabirb]

Starlingflight
----------------

Her paws dragged as she followed the young bi-colored tom to their 'punishment' site. So she had failed a patrol. She wasn't the most guilty of such a failure. But she didn't have the care or energy to argue with this silly game. But she eyed the tunnel, snorting as she heard 'tunnel'.

"Good. A pre-dug grave for me to die in." Starlingflight mused, "I'm sure my broad shoulders will allow me to navigate so well...as if swimming. Inside the earth." She set a dull gaze on Fadingsun. "If I die, don't dig me out. Just let me rest in peace..."

With a heavy sigh, Starlingflight lowered her gaze. Maybe dying in a dark, isolated hole wouldn't be so bad. No worse than drowning in a freezing river....

@Cherry~ @furrensic

[furrensic]

PINEFIRE
she/her. 16 moons. mottled brown and off-white tabby with orange eyes
(purrks; just a scratch, master scout)

pinefire's mottled pelt burns with embarrassment as she steps out of the warrior's den. she feels like an apprentice getting scolded again, orange eyes locked on the ground as she makes her way to the forming group. she's confident, sure, but just way too embarrassed in this moment to look fadingsun in the eyes which, she mentally curses herself for.

she shoots starlingflight a curious look, raising a brow. oh great, she got stuck with someone who's utterly depressing. "you don't have t' be so negative." she points out, no true anger in her voice, just thinly veiled anticipation.

[ @Cherry~ @Tiabirb ]

[occultation]

( @Tiabirb @furrensic )

Both warriors arrived at a reasonable time, thankfully. Fadingsun's patience was still quite thin with his Clanmates, so he was in little mood for being stood up on this punishment. Starlingflight seemed rather depressed, which was... odd. He recalled the warrior having been a fairly active presence in the Clan; perhaps he should talk to her later to make sure everything was okay.

He only twitched an ear at Pinefire's comment; while it was perhaps a little short-sighted, it wasn't exactly wrong. If Starlingflight was acting this way solely because she was being punished, she only had herself to blame. Still, she didn't seem like the type of warrior for that kind of self-pity.

Silently, Fadingsun beckoned the pair out of the camp and lead them towards one of the tunnel entrances he'd found. On the way, he grabbed a large stick in his jaws. Before diving down, he looked over his shoulder at the pair. "The tunnels can be dangerous, so follow my instructions exactly. If I tell you to run, do so and don't argue; hesitating for a moment could mean your death."

Turning back towards the gaping darkness ahead, the deputy padded down into its depths. It took some time, but eventually he reached a point of the tunnel that seemed somewhat weak to him; the ceiling felt crumbly and thinner than the nearby parts.

Dropping the stick at his paws, he shifted his gaze towards the shadowy figures of his Clanmates. "Shift this stick so that it's supporting this weak part of the ceiling. One of you will need to support the bottom while the other maneuvers the top into position against the ceiling. Do not push too hard; we don't need the ceiling giving way."

With that said, he stepped back to let the pair work.

[Tiabirb]

Starlingflight
-------------------



Pinefire's remark was simply shrugged away by the older warrior. Why did it matter if she was negative? Why did it matter? This was a punishment, and she simply was fulfilling what was expected of her. Was she going to intentionally try to bury herself alive and risk the lives of her Clanmates? Of course not. Accidents happened, and she was only making her dying wishes clear in the event of such an accident happening. Was that so wrong?


Regardless, Starlingflight followed after Fadingsun a brow arching at the quick grab of a stick before slipping into the tunnel. Her broad shoulders brushed either side of the wall as she moved further into the tunnel, and her head was low to avoid bumping against low-hanging parts of the tunnel's ceiling. When they came upon their first work site, Starlingflight listened to the instructions. So they were to fortify the tunnels by putting stick inside of them.
"Why exactly do we of all cats need tunnels, and why, pray tell, do we need to reinforce them with sticks?" She asked, the question more to simply understand than it was to complain, though it was...hard to tell. Her voice barely drifted from its usual raspy, dull monotone. She eyed the stick with some indifference, "I'll take the base."

Grabbing the stick in her teeth, Starlingflight dragged it around until she could plant her paw on the base. Her gaze slid over to Pinefire, and she jerked her head in gesture for her to come over and help; by pushing the stick upright while she held it in her paws.

@Cherry~ @furrensic

[occultation]

( @Tiabirb )

Much to Fadingsun's chagrin, Pinefire decided to take off. Stars, if he ever saw that warrior around again he'd have some words for them. Gritting his teeth, he said, "Well, I appreciate you at least sticking around and seeing this punishment through."

Given that Starlingflight was now the only cat here, he'd have to help her. As he assisted her with shifting the stick into place, he answered her question. "We can use these tunnels for a lot of different things. We could use them as a way to flee during an emergency, as a new method of fighting, for prey storage, anything really. It's just another tool to make RiverClan stronger."

He left out the part about this being a great way to punish troublesome cats. Starlingflight had been cooperative so far, so he didn't want to rub saltwater in the wound. "Okay, with this stick in place, let's move on."

Moving a bit further down the tunnel, a feel of the walls revealed several cracks that were beginning to become significant. "We'll need to pack these." (Hopefully that was the right way to deal with this). Scooping up some of the dirt underpaw, he pressed it into one of the cracks. "Take the dirt beneath your paws and press it as hard as you can into these cracks."

[Tiabirb]

Starlingflight
-------------------

Her cooperation was inevitable. Starlingflight was never one to resist...well, anything. Not even the oceans of depression she carried inside. She let herself just...exist, and so with Pinefire ditching their punishment, Starlingflight nearly protested that he shouldn't dirty his paws with a punishment meant for someone else. She could do it herself. But at least he appreciated her presence and resolve to fulfill the punishment.

He was helping her anyway, explaining the useages of the tunnels, and Starlingflight merely grunted in her gruff means of thanks. She didn't like speaking anymore. It just made cats angry, unless they were taken off-guard by her grim tone and thoughts. Not that she truly cared at this point who felt what about her. Not one of them truly cared for her.
With the stick in place, Starlingflight moved deeper into the tunnels behind Fadingsun, pausing to observe his patchwork. "You should try dampening it with spit, or water. Mud sticks and holds better than dry, loose soil." She began to snort and hack, throwing her head back before coughing out a glob of saliva at her paws. With one paw she scooped some loose dirt overtop of the spit and lightly mixed it with a claw. "Works better with a leaf to work on..." She muttered mostly to herself, but then she pressed her paw onto the goopy wet slop and pressed it into the crack, rubbing it gently into the seams and cracks. It got between her toes, but that barely perturbed her; She had moons upon moons cleaning mud and worse from between her toes.

@occultation

[occultation]

( @Tiabirb )

Fadingsun shot Starlingflight a bit of a look as she used her own spit to strengthen and reinforce the cracks. It certainly wasn't something he was about to do- the idea made him shiver a little. Spit was a gross thing, to him at least. He didn't care if it was his own.

After finishing up on the final cracks in this part of the wall, he moved on. Another rough patch of ceiling revealed itself not far away; after giving a curt order to Starlingflight to stay put for a moment, he dashed off back out the way they came.

Returning several minutes later with a good-sized, sturdy stick, he began shifting it into place against the weakened ceiling. His voice muffled by wood, he said, "Help me stabilize this thing."

[Tiabirb]

Starlingflight
--------------------


Look given. Look received. Look thrown away without much in the ways of concern. It was simply a better way to do it. She wasn't about to suggest they start hauling water down into the tunnels. With just one punisher and one punishee, that was just a lot of wasted time and energy, in her opinion.
So she set about repeating the same method; eyeing the walls, spitting, slapping the mud mix into the cracks she saw. She noted...it was kind of peaceful down here. Without the constant chaos and chattering and movement about the Clan, Starlingflight felt her thoughts finally open and wander more than they had in at the very least...thirty moons.

She thought about days past. Back when she was a fresh warrior. When she had met her mate. The days leading up to the arrival of her daughter, a tiny silver and white kit. She remembered the days when Featherkit was growing...and then her thoughts became dark. The dark reminder of why she didn't let herself think anymore. The night she had made a mistake.
The night Featherkit had drowned in the flooded river...

She hadn't even noticed Fadingsun had left her, or that he had come back with another stick. When he spoke, however, Starlingflight was so genuinely startled that she jumped in her surprise, and a heavy thunk was the resulting sound between the top of her skull, and the roof of the tunnel. A small spray of dirt fell over her head as Starlingflight dropped to the tunnel floor and held her paws over her head.
"Fox in a fit!" She let out in a snarling gasp, her fur spiking with irritability, then she whipped a glare around to Fadingsun, "For StarClan's sake don't sneak up on someone like that! Especially not in a tunnel!" She snapped at the deputy, for a moment her temper flaring.

Her gaze dropped to the stick, and she grouchily shifted herself around, once more placing her paws on the stick's bottom end. Now she was miserable, she had a raging headache that throbbed all the way to the back of her eye, and she couldn't have a more sour expression as she worked to pack the soil around the stick.

@occultation