Tunnel Tongue

Decades of living in the tunnels and marking 'safe' and 'unsafe' routes have lead to the development of an unofficial "language" within ThunderClan. The language can be broken into two separate parts: physical symbols carved into cave walls, and a series of clicks and hisses used to communicate.

Written Tunnel Tongue

The physical aspect of tunnel tongue comes in the form of symbols carved into stone walls, often done by claws. These function similarly to braille. Scratches of different angles or different depths can mean different things. More often than not, physical Tunnel Tongue is used to indicate safe tunnels, unsafe tunnels, tunnels rich in resources or work-in-progress pitfall traps. They've also been used as a way to help cats get around the depths. Even in recent time, apprentices are expected to learn the bare basics of tunnel tongue in order to navigate efficiently.

Spoken Tunnel Tongue

The spoken language of tunnel tongue consists of a series of hisses, spits, clicks, and whistles. On occasion, a type of modified Morse code is used through tapping claws on hard or hollow surfaces. It's spoken quietly, with the language itself developing due to ThunderClan's nature of ambushing and trapping intruders, or needing a way to communicate orders to one another during confrontation. Verbal tunnel tongue is used much less often in modern ThunderClan society, as the need for secret codes has died out since ThunderClan's full withdrawal underground. However, almost all cats are taught the bare basics and a few phrases.

Modern Tunnel Tongue

Tunnel tongue has recently developed its own kind of graffiti. It's most often used by the youth in ThunderClan, with their symbols being nonsensical or written in a certain way to "prank" one another or spread rumors.