[souldier]

Welcome to adopt #150!
We've made it so far, with so many supportive people and helpers.
None of this would be possible without our lovely staff, so a huge thanks to them!

For adopt #150 I thought we'd do something special.

This is going to be writing competition, but with a twist!
I want you to re-create the story below in your own words, from the perspective of any of the four characters, Feather not included.

You must be at least level one to enter, and have a founder already made.

I want to be able to see the characters personality, looks and their side of the story.
You will have no limit on words, but please make sure the stories tie in together and aren't to different!
You may write it in any way you wish.

The four best forms will win their chosen character, custom lined c;

Come along youngsters, Watch where you step, there are thorns!
Ice! Come back here! Oh, leaf, please watch where you’re going!

Now, just around this corner. Woah, WOAH! LEAF! Leaf? Oh, ok, I see. You thought you’d trick me into thinking you’re eating a rat poop, huh? Well, very funny. Come on, put that down, and let’s get moving.

Oh Crow, stop complaining! We’re nearly there. Think of all those tasty berries! So sweet juicy…
No Rock, don’t eat the ones on the ground, they’re all wormy.

Now. Look up, do you see the blackberries, amongst the thorns? Anyone want to try get one? No? Good, because today you are going to learn how to harvest them without getting thorns in your paws.
Ok. See this bark on the ground? Good. Now Crow, Ice, each of you grab a piece and place it on this low branch like this, covering the thorns. Now push down. Keep pushing, nearly there!

Yes! That’s it. Now Rock, Leaf, reach up like this and each of you grab hold of the base of a blackberry with your teeth. Now pull! Keep pulling!

No! Crow, Ice, Don’t let go of the bark! Now look what you’ve done?! Leaf, good job for letting go of your berry when you felt the branch go up.

Rock? Are you ok up there? Hang on, i’ll just push the bark back down… Hff… Puffhh.. Wow! Rock, you got one! Who wants to have a bite?
Leaf! Don’t look at me like that! These are berries- Not rat poop!

This will end 30th August, NZST.

Code: Select all

[b]Username;;[/b]

[b]Tribe;; (Link)[/b]

[b]Level;;[/b]

[b]Character you're trying out for;; (Leaf, Crow, Rock, Ice)[/b]

[b]Prompt answer;;[/b]

[b]Extra;; (three art pieces max)[/b]

[Chimericect]

m a rk

[Silver Pandorica]

MARKKKK

[emblo]

mark!

[azhdarchid]

Username;; blupcretia

Tribe;; Mottle Deep

Level;; 2

Character you're trying out for;;
Leaf, a peppy young mouse who fancies herself a bit of a jester.
At the surface level she can seem callous to her peers and is often written off as some work-shy slacker of a pup by adults. Leaf does try to build some rapport with anyone who’s interested in getting to know her, though she finds it hard to be emotionally vulnerable with others or to metaphorically take a few steps in their shoes, and tends to clash with anyone who ‘can’t take a joke’ (one of the reasons she enjoys lessons with Feather, as though the later can be strict, she can at least appreciate a prime prank and Leaf causes marginally less trouble for her than she does for most other mice stuck with looking after her). She hasn’t quite figured out how far is too far with her jokes, and is in danger of burning a few bridges among those that could have been her friends.
Leaf is actually quite inquisitive despite her claims that most activities are dreadfully boring, and with the right teaching she could make quite the talented worker some day once she finally discovers her passion.
(probably counting this as one of my extras, whoops)

Prompt answer;;
Trekking along with her peers and following their current teacher through a thorn field on a warm-breezy sort of day, Leaf thought her week was going pretty good. At the very least, it was looking to be more interesting than sitting around the tribe and moping about all dejectedly and such. Nah, that was a Crow thing, not a Leaf thing. The young doe was just excited to be out and about for once!

Snapping back to the present at a warning from old Feather, Leaf hastily sidestepped with a squeak to avoid the thorns she hadn’t noticed in her path. No biggie, she was fine. Though she felt a little silly about plodding about so clumsily like a daydreaming tortoise. Oh well, she’d just have to look out better to avoid any more thorns!
Squinting ahead, Leaf didn’t notice any immediately thorny threats, but she did spot something else that gave her an excellent idea. She scampered ahead of the group, ducking around the bend and crouching just out of sight next to the remains of some old, sun-dried berry. It was pretty grody looking, but it didn’t look rotten or bug-bitten, and she figured the fun would be worth the taste.

As Feather - and the group trailing behind her - made their way around the corner, looking for where Leaf had wandered off to, the beleaguered guide was met with the site of the mottled young mouse hunched over a pile of something suspiciously rat-dung shaped.

“Woah, WOAH! LEAF! Leaf?”

Feather’s flabbergasted exclamations were met with giggles as Leaf’s efforts to keep a straight face crumbled and she dissolved into laughter. She was only half-listening while Feather went on, missing the brief smirk she earned from the guide as she tried to pull herself together. Leaf gave a little nod, grinning good-naturedly at her prank gone right as she rejoined the group.

Not a moment passed before Crow had begun whining about how long the walk was taking. Leaf sidled up to the dark furred mouse, nudging them with an elbow in what she thought was a friendly manner.
“Aw, cheer up, mr. grumpy stormcloud! You’d think we were walkin’ around on a bunch of thorns or somethin! Oh, wait!” Leaf exclaimed in an over-the-top manner, exaggerating a surprised expression in an attempt to get at least a smile out of the surly pup. She gestured forward at the thorny vines outlining the path, raising an eyebrow at Crow, who seemed less than pleased. They didn’t give her the slightest reaction, walking more briskly and choosing instead to check with Rock, who was examining some sad looking lumps of berries in the dirt with interest.

Leaf’s ears twitched back for a moment, the only indication to her thoughts in the following pause where she tried not to look hurt, before she gave a full-body shrug and decided she wouldn’t let this little incident bring down her Fun Travel Mood. Whatever. Crow was just like that, all the time. Except for maybe with Rock. Leaf didn’t think anyone could be grumpy with Rock. There weren’t many surprises with that mouse, but they were a sweet and honest fellow. Leaf liked to consider them a friend. Or, at least, they didn’t seem to mind Leaf’s jokes, and they were pretty easy to be around.

Finally the group came to a halt in the thick of the grove, Feather gesturing them forward before throwing a paw upward to point at the branches woven above them.

“Now. Look up, do you see the blackberries, amongst the thorns?”
The pups mumbled and nodded their ascent, and Leaf noticed a curious smirk on Feather’s face as the guide continued. “Anyone want to try get one?” Unsurprisingly, there were no takers. Leaf considered for a moment the idea of being the first one up there to grab a nice big berry and proving her worth to her peers and to Feather, but no, wait, that was a bad idea. She didn’t have much practice climbing regular bushes since she was usually always stuck in the tribe’s camp for one reason or another, and she’d had even less experience with a big thorny berry bush. Nah.

The silence stretched on as Feather let the pups mill over their situation, before pulling their attention back to her with a tap of her foot. “No? Good, because today you are going to learn how to harvest them without getting thorns in your paws.”

Leaf perked up instantly, looking on in curiosity as Feather directed Ice and Crow toward the bits of bark laying about and began instructing them on their task. Her nose twitched in thought as she tried to figure out the process ahead of Feather’s teaching, looking excited once she grasped the gist of the idea. She stood at attention when her own name was called, saluting dramatically with a “Yes, instructor ma’am!”

Leaf lunged toward the branch, giving Rock an excited grin before turning to the selection of berries. Her eyes caught the biggest, juiciest one, and she allowed herself to fantasize once more about being the star student to snag the best of the bunch. As Feather instructed, planted her paws firmly in the dirt - mindful of any thorns present, of course - and bit down on the end of the stalk where it met the berry, and gave it a big tug.

That’s when things didn’t go exactly as planned, and Leaf’s whiskers trembled as she detected the slightest shift of the branch as one or both of her companions seemed to let their paws slip. Leaf instinctively dropped her hold, falling back as the branch (and her fantasy with it) went sailing up into the air. She let out a melodramatic sigh as she lay on her back, mourning the idea of what could have been. Oh well. Probably wasn’t meant to be. Leaf managed a smile at Feather’s praise, deciding maybe that was okay.

She sat up with a huff and shook herself off. After smoothing down her wild fur the best she could, she glanced around the group to see if they’d all gotten off fine. Crow looked shocked, Ice looked sheepish, and Rock..... Rock? She looked to Feather, following the instructor’s gaze up and up and- oh.

Leaf couldn’t help the astonished laugh she barked out, staring up at the pup still dangling from the branch.
“Well look at that! I guess Rocks really do fly!” She exclaimed, astounded with Rock’s stubbornness, or persistence, or just plain foolishness. Whatever the case, she was definitely happy she’d been chosen to come along rather than do more chores while being babysat at camp.

Feather began to push down on the bark as she’d showed her students, struggling to bring Rock back to the ground by herself. Leaf could really only watch, suddenly getting the sense that maybe this was kind of serious as the stalk that Rock clung from bowed dangerously. Just before Feather could lever the branch back down to the ground, that stalk broke off and sent Rock and the berry tumbling down.

There was a brief moment of stunned silence in which nobody knew what to do..... until Rock’s head poked out triumphantly from underneath the berry.

Feather’s sigh of relief was echoed throughout the rest of the pups, Leaf was sure, as Feather stepped forward to ruffle Rock’s fur with a smirk and gesture the others over. “Who wants to have a bite? ......Leaf.” The latter word was a sigh in the young does direction as Leaf gazed dubiously toward the fruit. “Don’t look at me like that! These are berries- Not rat poop!”

Leaf held back as the others rushed up to congratulate their friend and get a taste of the coveted berry. She was trying not to feel bitter for herself, she really was, but..... Feather had showed them a way to gather berries that relied upon at least two mice. The others had all done their jobs, with mistakes, granted; but Leaf? The outcome would have been the same with or without her. She’d been so set on doing something herself. She hadn’t done a thing that had assisted any of her peers, even when Rock had been stuck up in the branches. That was something to think about.

But, something about seeing the pride on her friends’ faces made her think that maybe that was okay.

“Hey, that was a pretty great job you did,” Leaf exclaimed as she joined her companions, letting a wholehearted grin find a place on her face, “and I’ll bet you’ve got quite some story to tell when we get back!”

Extra;;
Didn’t have time for full-on digital art, but here’s some doodles of the gal! c:





Edit: I just realized I did forget to write about her looks, for some reason I was actively trying to keep her description vague?? So basically I did the opposite of what I was supposed to, whooPS
Anyway, if it’s alright I’ll just ramble here about what I imagined her to look like

I definitely think she has a very wild, untamed pelt. I think her fur is naturally wavy or curly? Like this mouse or this one. As for colour, a soft grey like the second image there or a light blond/gold sort of colour would probably suit her nicely!
I didn’t go into a whole lot of detail on markings, but I gave her some darker ‘freckles’ in my doodles of her, and I thought it would be cool if whatever her body colour was faded into a white around her underbelly, snout, and tail. A nice pale green for her eyes would probably be lovely

[Bloth Hoondr]

Mark!

[NinjaGerbil]

M A R K

[Imagine_Ink]

Username;; The Dragon Collector

Tribe;; Link

Level;; 2

Character I'm Trying Out for;; Ice
A wild child, with a lot of energy

Prompt Answer;;

Everywhere Ice looked, there was something new to see. The greenest of leaves fluttering in the cool breeze, oak boughs swaying in time with the thin trunks that they grew from, and the dozens of wildflowers that grew in between the lush patches of grass. Ice bounded forward, weaving his way through the forest of flowers, and leaped upon a rock, half sunk into the ground. Balancing on his hind paws, he stood up, straining to see beyond this maze of oaks and flowers.

“Come along youngsters,” said the airy voice of a mouse. “Watch where you step, there are thorns.”

Ice glanced behind him. That was the voice of their caretaker, Feather. He could see her not to far behind, leading three other pups: Rock, the shy, quiet mouse, Leaf, the prankster with several tricks in reserve, and Crow, the tired mouse who complained too much. Ice didn't think much of his companions. Feather was nice, always making sure they were well taken care of, but he didn't like the rest of them much. Well, except for Rock, who listened to him more than the others did.

Ice slid down the rock, landing next to Crow. The young mouse looked droopy and tired, much like he always did. Now that he was on the ground, Ice could see the scattering of thorns across the ground. He looked up. Not far ahead, he could see a clump of bushes, thin vines entangled among the leaves

His excitement suddenly returned, the same as when Feather told them of their mystery journey this morning. What could warrant such a visit to a place where there were thorns, when a Feather kept them out of danger as much as she could? Ice grinned widely and bounded forwards past Feather, distancing himself from the rest of the group.

“Ice!” Feather called. “Come back! Oh Leaf...”

Ice was reluctant to go back. His excitement had grown, reaching the bursting point. He need to run, run it all off, going as fast and as far as he could. He never wanted to stop, running as far as the world could go. When he would eventually be old enough, he wanted to explore beyond the Valley in which they lived. It was his dream to see beyond the borders of the mountain.

But for right now, he knew Feather was already stressed enough, looking out for him and the other pups. She was always had his best interests at heart, and Ice knew he needed to go back.

Without missing a beat, Ice veered left, making a big circle to turn around. He sprinted across the ground, his paws barely touching as he hurtled back towards the group. As he neared them, he heard a Feather scolding Leaf.

“...You thought you'd trick me into thinking you're rat poop, huh?” said Feather, a small smirk on her face. “Well, very funny. Come out that down and let‘s get moving.”

Ice chuckled. Leaf was always looking for ways to trick Feather, or any of the other pups. It wasn't uncommon for her to have a sort of gleam in his eyes, one that made Ice concerned about her intentions. But as long as he wasn't the butt of any of Leaf's jokes, Ice usually got a good laugh out of them. Crow was the one only who had a problem with it. If Rock was bothered, he had never said anything about it.

Ice shot past them. Leaning to the side, he made a second loop, returning to the group. He darted between Rock and Crow, accidentally causing Crow to fall to the ground.

The black mouse remained where he was, huffing.

“I'm tired!” He moaned. “We've been walking for hours without a single break!” His stomach suddenly grumbled. “And I'm hungry,” he added. “When are we going to eat?l”

“Oh, Crow, stop complaining!” Said Feather, guesturing ahead. “We're almost there.”

A few minutes passed before Ice noticed they were nearing the clump of bushes he had seen earlier. Ice ran forward, pausing next to Feather to get a good look at their destination. Now that they were closer, he could see clumps of succulent berries hidden among the leaves. He grinned.

Blackberries.

“Just think of all those tasty berries,” said Feather with a sigh. “So sweet, juicy...” she turned back to the pups. “No Rock,” she said suddenly. “Don't eat the one's on the ground, their all wormy.”

Ice looked back. Rock stared woefully at the berry in his paws. He sighed, his tail dropping, and set the berry on the ground. He looked hungry. Ice heard his own stomach grumble, and he hoped they would eat soon.

Feather walked a few more tail-lengths away, before turning back towards the pups. They all crowded around her, creating a circle on the berry and thorn strewn ground.

“Now, Look up,” said Feather, “Do you see the blackberries, amongst the thorns?”

Ice nodded vigorously. Leaf and Rock did too, but less enthusiastically. Crow only murmured something under his breath that sounded like “Can we go?”

Feather grinned.

“Anyone wanna try and get one?” She asked, with a sly grin on her face.

The pups exchanged nervous glances.

“Up there?” Said Crow. “With all the thorns?”

“No way,” said Leaf.

“Definitely not,” said Ice, shaking his head.

Rock gulped.

Feather's face fell.

“No?” She said. Her expression quickly changed, and she smiled. “Good, because today, you are going to learn how to harvest them without getting thorns in your paws.”

Ice exchanged an uneasy glance with Leaf. He didn't like where this was going.

“You see this bark on the ground?” Said Feather, gesturing around them with a sweep of her paw.

Ice wondered how he hadn't noticed it before. All around them, there were pieces of bark, some were in small strips and others were as large as he was. He nodded enthusiastically.

“Good,” continued Feather. “Now, Crow, Ice, each of you grab a piece of bark and place on this low branch like that, covering the thorns.”

Ice was up immediately, searching for the largest he could carry. He soon found one, grunting as he picked up. He didn't release it, dragging it over to the base of the bush. On his way, he caught sight of Crow, heaving a piece half the size of Ice's. The two mice struggled to do as Feather said, but eventually, they were able to situate their bark in the way Feather had instructed.

“Now, push down,” said Feather. Ice grabbed the bark between his teeth and pushed, holding the bark firmly in place. “Keep pushing, nearly there!”

Ice barely heard what Feather said next. He was too busy concentrating on keeping the bark firmly in place. It became even harder, once Leaf scampered up to the end of the bark, her weight bending the bark. Rock climbed up the bark too, more cautiously.

“Yes,” said Feather. “That's it. Now, Rock, Leaf, reach up like this and each of you grab hold of the base of a blackberry with your teeth.”

Ice glanced upward as Leaf latched onto the biggest, juiciest berry that she could. The bark shook, causing Ice to grunt. His usually unlimited bounds of energy seemed to be waning, as he trembled with the effort of keeping the bark in place.

“Now pull!” Said Feather from behind Ice. “Keep pulling.”

Leaf began to tug as hard as she could, jostling the bark even more. Crow whimpered from beside him, loosening his grip on the bark. Ice could barely hold on himself, as he felt the wood slip from between his teeth-

“No! Crow, Ice, don't let go of the bark-“ Feather began, but her words were cut short, as the bark wobbled, sending poor Leaf to the ground. She sighed as Feather scampered to see if she was okay.

“Now look what you've done,” said Feather, skidding to halt next to Leaf. “Leaf, good job for letting go of your berry when you felt the branch go up.” Feather paused, looking around.

“Rock?” She twisted her head around, gasping slightly when she looked up. Ice felt his eyes drawn upward.

There, dangling from the berry, his paws hanging limply in the air, was Rock. He looked a terrified as Feather scampered over to the fallen bark.

“Hang on!” Said Feather frantically. “I'll just push the bark back down.” She grunted, doing Ice and Crow's job with ease. Rock fell down from the branch, tumbling down the bark into a heap on the ground. He straightened up, a berry clamped between his teeth. Ice could clearly see Rock's grin from behind the berry.

“Wow!” Said Feather. “Rock, you actually got one! Who wants to have a bite?”

Ice ran forward, sinking his teeth into the berry as a Rock set it gently on the ground. Crow meandered over, nibbling on the edge. Ice sat up, with berry juice dripping from his mouth. He chewed with relish, glancing over at Leaf. The doe hung back, watching the berry with a suspicious expression on her face. She looked at Feather, the same expression still there.

“Leaf! Don't look at me like that,” said Feather. “These are berries- not rat poop.”

Leaf sighed. She shrugged and scampered forward.

“It looks like rat poop to me,” said Leaf, underneath her breath. Ice stifled a laugh, causing her to grin before sinking her teeth into the berry.


Here's an idea for Ice's design. He is an off white mouse, with white paws and white ears. There are various small white spots on his face and around his ankles

[Knickknacks]

Username;; Knickknacks

Tribe;; Tribe of the Riverside

Level;; Level 2!

Character you're trying out for;; (Leaf, Crow, Rock, Ice) Crow- a smart and occasionally snarky little dude.

*I teamed up with Zaika (entering for Rock), Chimericect (entering for Ice), and Placebo (entering for Leaf) for this comp. Had a lot of fun bouncing ideas and doodles and character stuffs off you guys <3

Prompt answer;;
“Come along, youngsters- watch where you step, there are thorns!”

Crow ambled along after Feather as the adult mouse tried to corral his peers. Ice had wandered off ahead- off in her own little world again; Crow knew this was one of his sort-of-friend’s habits. Feather, however, seemed worried that Ice would get lost or caught in thorns- and thorns were everywhere here, crisscrossing the rough path they were taking and swarming over almost every surface Crow could see. The dark-furred buck gave a small shiver as his gaze skipped over a particularly vicious-looking thorn. He didn’t fancy getting something like that caught in his paws. Ice was smart enough to avoid them, he knew, though Feather didn’t seem to realize that.

“Ice! Come back here!” She called, sounding concerned. And sure enough, Ice came scampering back, decidedly unsnared in thorns.

“Leaf, please watch where you’re going!” Feather continued, turning on Leaf- the buck had just taken a staged, exaggerated fall, and was now pretending to have been stabbed and pricked by the thorns in the ground, with a lot of overly-dramatic flailing. Crow bit back a laugh, and heard a small laugh from Rock as well, as Leaf scrambled back to his feet and shot the other mice a pleased grin. Ice gave an exaggerated roll of her eyes but couldn’t hide her smile.

“Now just around this corner,” Feather called, turning to make sure they were finally all back together. Her eyes fell on something a little past Crow’s shoulder and a look of horror dawned on her face.

“Woah, WOAH! LEAF! Leaf?” She yelped, darting past the three other mice to where Leaf- what was he doing? How had he found more joke material already? Crow squinted as Leaf dissolved into a fit of laughter, moving to show Feather- eww, what was that?

“Oh, ok, I see,” Feather said, relaxing. “You thought you’d trick me into thinking you’re eating a rat poop, huh? Well, very funny,” she said, nudging the younger buck good-naturedly, a little smile on her face despite herself. “Come on, put that down, and let’s get moving.” Leaf obediently dropped the nasty whatever-it-was and followed Feather to rejoin the group.

“What was that, Leaf?” Crow whispered as Leaf fell in beside him. “It certainly looked like rat poop to me.”

“Aha- mission accomplished! I fooled you, didn’t I?” Leaf chortled, grinning widely at Crow. “Nah, it was just a gross old berry, don’t worry.” He nudged the smaller buck’s shoulder as they continued walking down the path. Crow turned from Leaf, glancing all around to see where Feather might be taking them, and narrowly missed stepping on another massive thorn.

“Agh!” He yelped, nearly toppling over in his haste to sidestep it. “There are thorns everywhere. I nearly stepped on one. Feather!” He called, his voice becoming more whiny now. He didn’t like sounding petulant, but he also didn’t like thorns in his paws. “How much longer will we have to walk through all this!?”

“Oh Crow, stop complaining!” Feather sighed. “We’re nearly there. Think of all those tasty berries! So sweet, juicy...” her voice trailed off- Crow guessed she was imagining the berries herself. He was excited to get a taste of blackberry, though, so he kept his mouth shut.

“No Rock, don’t eat the ones on the ground, they’re all wormy,” Feather said suddenly. Crow glanced ahead and saw that Rock had hurried to her side, a half-squashed berry picked off the ground clutched in his paws. At Feather’s admonishment, he glanced down at the berry with a sheepish look before casting it aside.

“Now.” Feather stopped suddenly, causing the group of mice to come to a confused halt- Leaf accidentally stepped on Crow’s black tail tuft, causing him to yelp and shoot his friend an injured look. “Look up, do you see the blackberries, amongst the thorns?” Feather continued. The younger mice all nodded. “Anyone want to try and get one?” Crow frowned at Feather.

“With all the thorns up there? Definitely not,” he said. Rock was shaking his head, too, while Ice cast the branches overhead an unamused look before following suit. Even Leaf looked less-than-enthusiastic about the idea.

“No?” Feather prompted once more, at which they said nothing. “Good.”

Sorry, what? Crow wasn’t sure he’d heard her right. The others looked a bit perplexed as well.

“...because today you are going to learn how to harvest them without getting thorns in your paws,” Feather continued.

“Ooh- you’d better watch out then, berries! I’m coming for you!” Leaf interjected, grinning wickedly up at the dark purple clusters overhead.

“Ok, see this bark on the ground?” Feather said, ignoring Leaf, her voice now all business. Crow nodded, glancing around. There were a number of large, rough wedges scattered across the area- other mice must come here to harvest berries as well, since there were no plants with bark like that nearby, only berry bushes.

“Good. Now Crow, Ice, each of you grab a piece and place it on this low branch like this, covering the thorns,” Feather continued, sitting back on her haunches to direct them with her paws. Ice and Crow hurried over to the bark, opting to grab one big wedge and drag it over together. They hauled it up over a low-hanging tendril of a bush. Crow could see the dark purple berries gleaming just out of reach. “Now push down,” Feather instructed. Crow and Ice each grabbed a side of the bark and shoved it down toward the ground, using their weight to drag the berries down and closer to their heads.

“Keep pushing, nearly there! Yes! That’s it.” Feather said excitedly. “Now Rock, Leaf, reach up like this and each of you grab hold of the base of a blackberry with your teeth,” she continued, tearing up onto her back legs to demonstrate. The two bucks hurried underneath the branch to where the berries hung, tantalizingly close. They both reared up, stretching to grab the berries with their paws for balance and fastening their jaws around the stem connecting it to the thorny branch.

“Now pull! Keep pulling!” Feather instructed. Leaf and Rock gave small huffs of assent and tightened their holds on the berries. That looked like an uncomfortable way to hold their jaws, Crow thought. He was glad to have this job instead, though his shoulders were starting to burn with the effort of keeping the bark pushed down. Leaf was flailing and throwing his weight about in midair, trying to loosen the berry. Crow felt the bark slide from his grip slightly due to the jostling, and saw small claw marks appear on Ice’s side as she attempted to maintain her own hold.

“No! Crow, Ice, don’t let go of the bark!” Feather gasped, losing her businesslike tone. But there was nothing they could do- Crow’s arms were aching too much to keep his hold, and it seemed as though Ice was faring about the same. The branch snapped back up to its initial position, the bark remaining partially stuck on the thorns- though without Crow and Ice’s weight it didn’t do much to weigh the branch down. Crow jumped back in alarm to avoid getting smacked by the vine, and he heard a thump as Leaf let go of his berry to land on the ground with a grunt.

“Now look what you’ve done!” Feather scolded, hurrying over to the three of them. “Leaf, good job for letting go of your berry when you felt the branch go up.” Leaf gave a weak grin- speechless for once, the air temporarily knocked out of him. Crow cast a glance around. Where was Rock? Surely he’d let go of the branch as well-

“Rock? Are you okay up there?” Feather spoke again, sounding startled. Crow followed her gaze upward and saw Rock. The gray-brown mouse was still clinging determinedly to his berry, his hind legs churning the air as though trying to pull himself back down, his eyes wide and scared.

“Hang on, I’ll just push the bark back down,” Feather said, scurrying over to the dangling end of the branch and placing her paws on the bark. She wrestled it to the ground, huffing and puffing but still doing the job of the two younger mice with ease on her own. The branch lowered again, and as Rock gained a foothold on the dirt again he dropped like a- well- a rock, actually bringing the plump blackberry down with him. Is he okay? Crow wondered with a tinge of concern.

“Wow! Rock, you got one!” Feather said loudly, as though trying to break the concerned silence. She plucked the berry from Rock’s arms- the small buck remained curled on the ground dejectedly- and showed it to the rest of them. “Who wants a bite?”

Leaf, Ice, and Crow hurried forward eagerly. Leaf made rather a production of squinting mock-suspiciously at the berry, causing Feather to sigh.

“Leaf, don’t look at me like that! These are berries- not rat poop!” She insisted. Leaf broke into giggles again, drawing Crow and Ice into his laughter as well. Crow heard a scuffle and turned to see Rock rousing himself, a small smile on his face as he joined them. Crow grinned encouragingly at him and beckoned him over, being sure to thank him for his successful berry retrieval.

Crow glanced around at his friends as they all tucked into the berry, spattering purple-red juice all over their paws and faces. A small grin creased his muzzle. Though today’s lesson hadn’t gone quite as planned, Crow was sure that they would all remember this day for quite a long time to come.

Extra;;

art of my design for this boy :> Personality-wise he's a decent fellow, and pretty smart, though prone to impatience and snarkiness.

[crackerbox_palace]

♥ link to my form ♥

Character you're trying out for;; Rock
quiet, awkward boy who tries his best &
he gets super embarrassed when feather
has to rescue him from the high branch