ARPG WRITING CENTRAL

[TheSongOfTheStars]

WAR
Digging
Teesa, Tufts
542 words
"How much longer do you think, until we're done?" It sounded like quitter's talk and Teesa would have repreminded Tufts for complaining if he wasn't digging like a mad beast. Breathy pants came between his words and his feet were flying into the soil. He wasn't a doe, but he was most certainly dedicated.
"Soon," she replied, pausing for a moment to check their progress "once we've connected this tunnel with the northern entrance we'll take a break."
"N-no, I meant..." Tufts was positivly gasping for breath "When do you think the warren will be done?"
"Oh...Soon," Teesa said, unconvincingly "Take a breather Owsla."
Tufts stopped, collapsing to the ground and curled up on himself "I miss Gale Willows Teesa."
"Me too," she admitted, nuzzling his shoulder affectionatly "But this is home now Tuftsroo. We'll make the best of what we have."
"I just wish..." he left the sentence hanging and climbed back to his feet, head hanging.
"Wish what?" She asked and they both began to dig again.
"I'm not sure, I just feel like something's missing, like a lot of somethings are missing."
"A lot of rabbits... didn't make it with us."
"They died, Teesa."
She didn't answer and focused on prying out a sizable stone.
"Either Elil or sickness or fighting. They died Tees."
"I know," her voice came out cracked, but surely, it was onlly from the effort of dislodging the stone "I understand how you feel Tufts. I lost two of my- well, you know what happened."
"Yeah, sorry," he joined her in digging around the stone "I'm sorry."
The stone came loose with a rush of soil and they found themselves peering into the gloom of the northern tunnel.
"Great," Teesa huffed "Let's haul this rock out of here, then we'll widen this connection and then I think we should silflay."
"Can we patrol?"
"You want to go on another patrol?"
Tufts nodded "Towards the north. We haven't gone that way yet and it makes me nervous not knowing what could be up there. The rah said that there was a bobcat living towards the south, who knows what sort of Elil could be on the other end?"
Teesa didn't answer as she got her nose under the rock and started nudging it towards the entrance of the tunnel. Tufts joined her.
They got back outside and sent the rock rolling down the slight incline.
"Well, it is a nice day," Teesa said, looking up at the blue patches of sky that peeked through the branches over "Maybe a short patrol."
She tried to smile and Tufts attempted to give one in return, but both tries were washed out and strained.
"C'mon, let's get this overwith."
The soil was soft and damp and easy to clear away and they got done with it fairly quickly and very quietly.
The core of the warren would be finished soon and then Teesa would be grateful, bucks weren't meant to dig. Sure, they were no less competent, but it just wasn't for them and Tufts obviously was being affected.
Or maybe he just found it easier to talk to her when it was just the two of them and their paws were busy.
Either way the tunnel was done.

[TheSongOfTheStars]

WAR
Gathering
Summervoice, Evenswift
518 words
"Summervoice? Summervoice?" Evenswift called with a sing-song lilt "Oh there you are, come on dearie, Orionrah said you needed to accompany me while I gather herbs."
Summervoice gave no answer, just continued staring up at the dappled sky.
"Summervoice, hey, wake up," Evenswift gave her a rough nudge "Don't have any time for your dreams sweetheart."
Summervoice flinched and looked towards Evenswift, blinking dazedly.
"Come on," Evenswift sang and turned away. Wordlessly Summervoice followed her.
For several minutes they walked in silence with Evenswift pulling ahead with a lively step and Summervoice began to lag.
Evenswift glanced over her shoulder and realized that Summer had stopped entirly and seemed to be looking out over the river at a patch of rushes.
"Hey!" Even rolled her eyes when she got no response "Hey Summer, come on!"
When Summervoice continued to be oblvious Evenswift sighed and backtracked.
"Come on dozey ears, can't be having visons all day."
Summervoice turned her head slowly and look Evenswift dead in the eye. She was shaking.
"Come back here," the young rabbit croaked "In the winter."
"Why?" Evenswift tilted her head, her eyes laying back.
"Promise me! When the river is frozen over, Ratser is dying, and the mice are missing you'll back come on the shortest day of Frith's reign or you'll lose the only chance you have with the one rabbit who cares about you."
Evenswift stared at her in blank horror and it took her several long seconds to recover.
"Ratser's going to die?"
"That's not for you to concern yourself over, only take it as the sign it is. Now repeat what I said."
Too shocked to react any other way Evenswift did as she was told, substituiting the "you'll" for "I'll."
"Good," Summervoice gave a sigh and the shaking eased "Come on, the herbs are this way."
Evenswift was too shaken to argue and she struggled to keep up with Summervoice as she led the way down a winding, narrow, psedo trail into a thick part of the woods that Evenswift didn't recognize. It was dark and logic should've suggested that herbs shouldn't be able to grow well in this sort of shade, but Evenswift's mind was on "the only rabbit who cares about you'. Okay, sure, she wasn't too close to everyone in the warren, but they surely...surely they felt a sort of general interest in her wellbeing.
Despite the hot stuffy air beneath the heavy trees, she started to feel cold.
"Summervoice. What did you mean when you said the only rabbit that cares about me?"
Summervoice looked over her shoulder "What are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about two minutes ago, dearie. When you told me Ratser was going to die and some mice were going to go missing?"
Summervoice laughed "Ratser is strong and healthy, I do not foresee anything troubling in his future."
Evenswift huffed, but didn't press. Maybe it had just been a weird fit and Summervoice was spouting utter and complete nonsense. Missing mice indeed.
"Here, here are the herbs."
"Yes, good," Evenswift was relieved for something else to occupy her mind.

[TheSongOfTheStars]

WAR
Patrolling
Tufts, Captain Teesa, Evenswift
551 words

"Did we have to bring her along?" Tufts hissed in an undertone, glancing back at Evenswift.
Captain Teesa heaved a strained sigh "Rah said."
"Yes, but why?"
Teesa rolled her eyes "She's been moping for the past three days. Rah's tired of it. So, she gets to come with us."
"But she's so slow," Tufts rocked back and forth, twitching with pent up energy.
Teesa sat down and languidly scratched at her ear "Listen soldier, why don't you go on ahead, fast as you like, burn off some of that energy, then circle back around if you find anything worth reporting."
"Yes ma'am," Tufts smiled wanly and took off like he was being chased by an elil.
"What's his problem?" Evenswift asked, as she finally caught up with the captain.
Teesa just shook her head in annoyance.
---
It felt good to be running like this, racing, heart thundering, feeling like it was swelling so big it would rupture. He was certain it was like flying, like the birds swore was so freeing.
This was better. How could flying be any better than this? Every pace he was connected with the earth, he felt the grass. How could trusting to the air and the winds to carry you be better, when you could be dropped and plummet back down to the earth anyway?
He paused, panting, tipping his head back and closing his eyes and for the first time in a long while rememeber that it was actually nice to be alive.
A snapping twig reminded that him that he'd like to stay alive.
He whirled on his paws and fixed his gaze on a twitching brush. Every muscle in his body tensed up and he pressed down the urge to flee and instead pricked his ears forwards. Listening.
"Hush!" A tiny voice squeaked "He'll see us."
"You don't even know if it's a boy."
"That's not the point! It's looking at us!"
"Who's there?" Tufts growled out in a voice that he hoped sounded as authoritative as Captain Teesa or the Rah's.
Maybe his tone wavered a bit, but it had the desired effect and three mice came tumbling out of the foilage and landed right between Tuft's front paws.
"Aieee! It's got massive teeth!" One of them squealed and tried to dash off, but Tufts laughed and stopped her from running.
"Haven't you seen a rabbit before?" He asked, perking his ears curiously.
"No," the biggest of the litte creatures said, puffing himself up "We don't come across many monsters on the island."
"But I'm not a monster, I'm a rabbit, I'm no going to hurt you."
"Oh yeah?" Said the one that had been trying to dash off "How can we know that for certain?"
"It sounds just like something a fox would say," the smallest one piped up.
"Tufts!" Teesa was calling for him.
"There's another one!" The littlest one screeched and they all darted away into the bushes.
"Tufts!"
Tufts sighed "Over here Captain."
Teesa and Evenswift ambled over to him.
"Anything to report Tufts?"
"Just a couple of skittish mice," Tufts shook his coat and stood up "Apparently they've never seen rabbits before."
"Alright we'll keep moving then."
"Mice?" Evenswift was suddenly paying attention.
"Yeah, nothing important," Tufts shrugged and he and Teesa started walking again.

[TheSongOfTheStars]

SCAR
Level up
The relationship between Commander and their second

Marblesong and Riverdeep have been friends their entire lives. No matter how hard Marblesong tries to be strong and cold and distant, Riverdeep can always get through the cracks in her friend's armor. Sometimes it frustrates Marblesong how easily Riverdeep can do this, but ultimately she's grateful that she can trust one of the cats in her pack.
Since the two of them grew up together and can relate so well, Marblesong thought it only natural that she appoint her friend second in command, but Riverdeep thought she wouldn't be strong enough and still does think that sometimes. As Riverdeep is always the listening ear for Marblesong to vent her frustrations on, so Marblesong is the kick in the tail Riverdeep needs sometime. Togethet they balance each other well and lead the pack with a strong unity.

[TheSongOfTheStars]

WAR
Festival- Main prompt
511 words
"Orion, you can't be serious."
Orionrah sighed and looked up from his meal of sweet grass "Serious about what, exactly, Evenswift?"
"It's Rah to you, kit," Ratser growled, coming up alongside the younger healer "But you can't be serious Orion."
"About what, Ratser?" Orionrah said, a teasing note in his voice.
"You know what."
"That striped excuse for a squirrel," Evenswift snapped "You can't actually believe that he's Frith's emissary!"
"Far be for me to predict Frith's decisions," Orion said with a tinge of false piety in his voice "But better safe than sorry, Ratser. And maybe he really is Frith's emissary. No harm in letting him stay for a while."
"Hmph, he's just obnoxious," Evenswift grumbled with a flick of her ears "Our dear Summervoice hasn't had anything to say,has she?"
"Nary a word."
"Sorry excuse for a Voice," Evenswift rolled her eyes "Well, can't be helped, if you've set your mind to it Orion-"
"Orionrah," Ratser corrected.
"Life goes on," she continued without missing a beat "I'm low on thyme. I'll be out in the northern woods if anyone should need my assistance."
The old healer and the Rah watched her leave, both shaking their heads.
----
"This is so exciting! Can you believe this?! I can't believe this!" Tufts had not stopped bouncing since he heard the news. As of now he was practically hopping back flips around the much less enthused Captain Teesa.
"No," she said in a slow flat voice "I cannot believe this."
"Frith must be smiling on us! Only a few seasons after moving to this warren he's sent a sign! We must be meant to live here!"
"I wouldn't read that much into it."
"But Captain Teesa!"
"I just don't understand," she said slowly "Why Frith would choose a chipmunk and not a rabbit?"
"Well, Frith isn't just for rabbits," Tufts slowed from a bounce to rocking back and forth in one spot "You know that Teesa."
"You've been spending too much time with those mice."
"I like those mice, they're very nice," he finally seemed to run out of steam and dropped to his stomach, but he was still sporting a grin as wide as the river was long "Maybe this chipmunk will journey past us on his way back and he'll tell us all the stories of all his adventures."
"Maybe," or maybe Pacrack would eat him when he tried to leave on the southern end of the island. Honestly she wasn't certain this whole story wasn't a myth and the chipmunk just wanted somewhere dry to stay with the rainy season coming up.
"Has Summervoice said anything about our new friend?"
Tufts shook his head "I haven't seen her actually. She left this morning to silflay and I haven't seen her since."
"Hmm, that's typical Summervoice," Captain Teesa restrained herself from rolling her eyes. That rabbit was gone when you needed her, mute when you wanted her to speak, and blind when you needed guidance.
"Oh well, I suppose it won't cause any harm," Teesa closed her eyes and napped.

[TheSongOfTheStars]

WAR
Festival- Side prompt
500 words

"OH HE'S HUNGRY IS HE?" Evenswift was shouting at the absolute top of her lungs "WELL WHY DOESN'T HE JUST GO AND SILFLAY FOR HIMSELF, HUH? DO I LOOK LIKE I KNOW WHAT A CHIPMUNK IS SUPPOSED TO EAT?"
The healer was caked with mud and grime after several hours of fruitless searching for thyme and was in no mood for games, especially ones played by minute, unwanted, stripey visitors.
"Well, Rah can't do it," Ratser informed her with a curled lip, baring his razor front teeth "He's busy. Teesa's exhausted and Summervoice has gone off to her own little world, so you and Tuft's gotta go get the little rodent a bite to eat."
"I'm exhausted too!" Evenswift threw herself sideways and posed dramatically "I've been gone for hours-"
"I don't care if you've been dancing with the Black Rabbit of Inle. Up. Now."
She didn't move.
"Up. Or I'll get the Rah."
"Make Tufts go."
"Tufts can't go by himself."
"Why not?"
"You know why not! He'll get distracted and wander off. Now get up and go!"
There was no arguing with supreme angry healer voice so Evenswift rolled to her feet with the most dramatic, most injured, sad female sigh and limped off to find Tufts.
---
"C'mon looser we've got to find the oh so great emissary of Frith some nuts or something," she nipped Tufts' ear hard and turned around and prompt marched out of the warren.
"What?"
"Stripey mouse want food. Rah tell Ratser to tell unlucky us to find dumb stripe mouse food. Come."
"You couldn't find any thyme could you?" He asked, skipping after her.
"How could you tell?" She growled in a voice that told him it was too obvious to mention.
"Lucky guess," he said quieter, catching on to her mood "So. What do chipmunks eat?"
"I don't know. Chips? Munks? Who cares. Find some berries and then we can go home."
"Well the mice-"
"OH WOULD YOU PLEASE SHUT UP ABOUT THE MICE? I GET IT THEY'RE YOUR FRIENDS."
There was a full three and a half minutes of silence as Tufts stared at her in dumb shock.
"I was going to say," he whispered as if breaking the silence would make her lash out violently at him "The mice like seeds. Maybe we should bring the chipmunk some seeds."
"Fine," Evenswift growled, her voice raw from screaming "Where do we find seeds?"
---
Apparently you found seeds on the other side of the darn island. In the middle of a briar. In the middle of the swampiest part of the island.
Evenswift wanted to die. But not before she went storming into the warren and crushed that chipmunk's skull beneath her own paws. After he was dead she'd stuff his corpse with the seeds and go spend either hours grooming her fur back to an acceptable state, then she'd sleep for a whole day straight. Frith could go and talk to the Black Rabbit if he wanted his emissary back."

[TheSongOfTheStars]

WAR
Digging
505 words
Captain Teesa, Evenswift, Summervoice

"Alright ladies!" Evenswift burst into the little hollow where Captain Teesa and Summervoice were sleeping "Time to get your digging paws on!"
The pair of rabbits started grumbling and shifting but neither of them complied with the healer's demand.
"Come on! Come on! Up! Up!" She started nudging Summervoice, very carefully avoiding Captain Teesa, who tended to use her teeth rather than her brain when she was less than awake.
"Evenswift nooo," Summervoice tried to roll away, covering her head with her paws "I'm still tiiiired."
"Well too bad for you, dearie. One of the tunnel's caved in and Orionrah wants us does to clear it out. Come come Captain, wouldn't want you to be found shirking your duties now would we?"
Captain Teesa snarled and slowly climbed to her feet, her eyes rimmed with red and her paws caked with dried mud "We just...spent four hours....clearing out eight collapsed tunnels."
"Yes well, new warren, first rainy season, the dirt's not all settled in yet and this is the price we pay for being does," Evenswift turned away with a flick of her tail and hopped off down the tunnel.
"Captain my neck hurts," Summervoice whined as she too rolled to her feet, ears drooping.
"Mine too, Summer, mine too," The captain of the Owsla sighed, hunching her shoulders "But we don't exactly get a say in this matter, so let's hop to it."
----
The dirt was sopping wet. To call it mud would've been a gross understatment, the three does were swimming in a sort of earthy soup. They were up to their eyeballs in the mess.
"I think this is worse than the last times," Summervoice moaned softly as she sank her leg into the wall of mud up to the shoulder.
"It's cause it's so close to the surface," Captain Teesa mumbled, the majority of her mental energy directed towards her task "This is the north entrance and the rain's just washed half the hill into it."
"Yes, but couldn't we have waited until after the rain stopped? Or a least until morning?"
"No," The captain sighed "One, because if we wait, this starts to harden amd that makes it twice as difficult to dig out. Two, this is the back up escape route. If we get attacked we won't have anywhere to get out."
"Yes, I know all that, but I don't care. I just want to be clean and dry and alseep," Summervoice shook her head then glanced over at Evenswift to check on her progress.
"Hey! What are you doing!?"
Evenswift paused in the middle of grooming the crook of her left elbow "I'm just taking a bit of a break dear."
"Evenswift," Teesa snarled in a voice that instilled fear in the Owsla and raised the fur on the necks of everyone else "Get back here and don't even think about taking another break until we can see the sky through this hole, do you hear me!?"
Evenswift sat bolt upright and nodded vigorously before hustling to obey

[TheSongOfTheStars]

WAR
Festival- Main Prompt 2
518 words
"This is just too strange for my liking," Ratser annouced as he limped to the Rah's side, paws aching from a several missplaced steps on the field or acorns.
"It does seem quite unnatural," Orionrah would've gone on further if he hadn't been interuptted by the arrival of what was baisically the entire warren. Everyone was mincing their way around the obstical course. Everyone that is, aside from Tufts, who was practically dancing.
"Isn't this amazing Rah!" The young buck shouted as he bounded over "Isn't it just unbelievable!"
"You can say that again," Ratser grumbled.
"Orionrah," Captain Teesa started, then promptly tripped over an acorn and faceplanted.
"What I THINK the Captain is TRYING to say is this has to stop," Evenswift said as she manuevered around the fallen captain.
"But Rah!" Tufts stopped bouncing for a second to stare at Orion "He's Frith's Emmisary! These things prove it, don't they?"
Orionrah glanced at Ratser with a raised eyebrow.
"Coincidence," the old healer barked.
"That's an unlikely coincidence," Orionrah admitted glancing at Tufts "But if he is doing this, then he can stop doing it."
"We can't do that!"
"YES WE CAN," everyoe said in unison, shooting a communal glare at Tufts. The young buck's ears drooped and he looked down at his paws.
"However, we...I will ask him very politely," Orionrah gave Tufts a gentle nudge "We just can't have all this excess food around, it'll start to spoil and also it attracts pests."
"Well great, we get the stripe mouse to stop making weird stuff pop up, but meanwhile what do we do with all...this?" Ratser waved a paw at the field of acorns.
"Um?" Tufts perked up again "I know a few squirrels along the north shore who might apreciate the acorns. And the mice always love a few treats."
"Right, Captain Teesa, you take Tufts, Evenswift, and Summervoice and gather up as much of this mess as you can and...spread some of this holiday spirit around. Whatever's left over just store it in with the herbs. Ratser, you're with me."
"Oh, don't drag me into this," Ratser grumbled out, but Orion was already tripping his way back to the warren to deal with their "problem".
"Ahem," Orionrah cleared his throat as he and Ratser entered the dugout hollow that had been reserved for Frith's emissary. The chipmunk was lounging on a bed of dried grass, gourging himself on acorns, but as soon as the Rah entered he shot to his feet "Hello Orionrah! Do you like the silflay? I really hope you like the silflay, I just wanted you to know how grateful I and Frith are to you for your gracious hospitality.
"Yes," Orion said slowly, glancing at Ratser, who just shrugged "We appreciate it. Really. But, I'm sorry to have to say this, but this extra food is a bit of a problem. It's starting to attract pests to our territory and the pests will attract Elil and I don't think I need to explain what will happen if they find us."
"Oh, oh," the chipmunk deflated "Of course, I see."

[TheSongOfTheStars]

WAR
Festival- Side prompt 2
517 words
Captain Teesa and Tufts ambled through the trees, their noses pointed towards the warren, but their feet in no hurry. They'd already spent several long hours making trips to the squirrels' and the mices' home, dragging along as many acorns as they could and the two Owsla were exhausted. Not to mention more than a little glad for the break from the madness at the warren. Even Tufts, who was still excited about and firmly believed in the Frith's emmisary, agreed that the reactions of his warren mates was a little out of hand.
So, when they'd finally gotten back home, the remaining acorns had been cleared out and stashed, hopefully, in with the herbs. And that meant, that everyone had quite ample free time to get up to trouble.
Captain Teesa had that in mind when she and Tufts walked into the small meadow beneath the trees where the warren lay, but she couldn't have expected the major construction project that had commenced right on the near edge of the clearing.
"What in Frith's good name?" Tufts burst out when he saw it, his ears stiking straight up like exclamations of surprise.
"More like the Black Rabbit," Teesa growled through her teeth "Come on soldier, let's find out."
"Ratser!" She called out as she and her companion came closer and she picked out the most no-nonsense rabbit in the warren "What's the meaning of this...thing?"
She waved a dubious paw at the mess of grass and twigs and branches.
"This," Ratser said with a fat, smug smile "Is a traditional grass hutch."
"What's....what's a grass hutch?" Tufts asked, tilting his head sideways as if a different perspective could grant him a fresh understanding of the catastrophy of an art project.
"It is," Evenswift stopped with trying to manuever a large branch into place and joined Ratser "The traditional housing that a warren constructs for Frith's emmisary."
The two healers shared a conspirital glance and both tried to hold down sniggers.
"That way," Ratser continued, getting control of himself "The Frith's Emmisary can have the privacy they need away from the busy, bustling warren. Then also, if Frith should call on them at some ungodly hour then they could leave without disturbing the warren that so graciously housed them."
Captain Teesa gave the two healers a skeptical look.
"You'd think Frith would call on them during the day," Tufts pointed out.
"Frith moves in mysterious ways,'" Ratser said quickly.
"And just what," Teesa asked "Does the Rah think of this "traditional grass hutch"?"
"He's all for it," Ratser said with a twitch of his tail "It was his idea almost."
"Almost?"
"Well," Ratser's eyes twinkled "Someone might've given him some prompting."
From the way the two healers were grinning it was impossible to distinguish which one had done the prompting. Summervoice was out, she had that odd glazed look in her eyes that meant she wasn't actually mentally present, her body was just functioning, going along with the flow of motion around it.
Teesa shook her head "Alright, carry on then. I'm going to take a nap."

[TheSongOfTheStars]

HAVEN
Firstlight
210 words
FIRSTLIGHT FELT LIKE she was falling.
It's just a dream, it's just a dream.
Her shoulders ached and burned and her paws were freezing cold. She tried to open her eyes but they might as well have been fused shut. No.
Just a dream. Just a dream.
An ocean, slate gray, was rushing up towards her. The waves hungry and reaching. She could feel the salty spray stinging against her eyes and against her whiskers.
A dream. A dream.
Her senses extend and the aching between her shoulders grew unbearable.
The ocean was close now, too close. No, no, just a few minutes more, please! The salt in the water would make the burning between her shoulders all the worse. Just wait for it to go away.
She tried to brace for it, tried to tense to lessen the shock even though every nerve and fibre in her body screamed against it.
Dream! Dream!
And as the foam enveleoped her body, Firstlight rolled over and woke up.
She startled and laid still for a moment, collecting her senses. Then with an exasperated sigh she sat up and twisted around to began grooming inbetween her shoulders to assure herself that the burning sensation had just been a phantom inside her head.