SPARKLE IN YOUR EYES — coldsnap

[THYMEROOT]

Organize herbs with Dandelionwish, hunting lessons, sparring, collect moss.

Organize herbs with Dandelionwish, sparring lessons, hunting, collect moss. Collect moss, sparring lessons with Dandelionwish, hunting --

No, wait.

That couldn't be right. The fawn point pauses, blinks. He's already collecting moss. His list isn't right. Sparring lessons with... Dandelionwish? No... No he was meant to... hunt with his brother? That...

Thymepaw stares down at the pile of moss before him, a frown pulling at his face. A rare look for the apprentice, even when buried in all his tasks. And, stars, did he have the list of tasks to do today. How did he let it get so long? He's certain he hadn't been putting anything off - Thymepaw isn't typically one to procrastinate, after all.

Organize herbs! That's it!

Satisfied in his ability to remember what he's meant to be doing with his brother later, the tom continues to pick up moss - a task that... he can't quite remember what he's doing it for. A yawn escapes his jaws.

Tired already?

It was only - cornflower eyes look up at the sky. It was only sun-high! How could he be so tired already? Thymepaw picks up as much moss as he can, takes a step towards - well...

He can't remember what he's meant to do with it. He... remembers promising the kits he'd make mossballs for them to play with, but... he doesn't remember cleaning out their nursery, and... he usually does that after the elder's den... Did he clean out the elder's den already? He must have. He remembers doing it. However, maybe Thymepaw was remembering the last time he did it? He could always check?

Instead of checking, though, the tom finds himself frozen, staring down at the moss before him as uncertainty and overwhelm begin to consume him. He's got so much he needs to do. He needs to get this done. And yet. He stays still, a frown on his face.
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[Coldsnap]

IM SCARED TO GET CLOSE AND I HATE BEING ALONE
I LONG FOR THE FEELING TO NOT FEEL AT ALL
THE HIGHER I GET, THE LOWER I SINK
I CAN'T DROWN MY DEMONS, THEY KNOW HOW TO SWIM

---

Coldsnap didn't have much a reputation for socializing with his clanmates outside of work. His time as an apprentice had solidified his reputation for being impatient and cold toward those that tried to make a friend of him, and quick to resort to violence with those who made an enemy of him. His experience with the Marsh Group had left him with a nasty tast in his mouth when it came to other cats, and it wasn't until his apprenticeship to Hyacinthbreath that the tom slowly began to let himself open up to the world around him again.

Of course, one couldn't say that Cold had been making leaps and bounds in terms of progress. The large tomcat was still likely to be found on his own if he wasn't out patrolling or training with his clanmates, and seldom did he make an effort to approach the other cats in the clan. And yet, there seemed to be less of a severity with him these days. He didn't bristle as much when cats came over to him. Didn't immediately reject an offer to things like pairs hunting or patrolling. Didn't look at his clanmates with the same icey scorn that he used to. Slowly, but surely, he was opening himself to the idea that not every cat deserved to be judged so harshly.

One of the cats that was likely responsible for this change was Dandelionwish.

Coldsnap wasn't sure how or why it had happened, but their talk that night had changed something in him. There was a fire in that tom that burned with tenacity, not for himself, but for those around him. It was something Cold had never seen before, and it gave him that hope -however unwanted it may be- that he might be able to still live a worthwhile life.

And so this loyalty he felt to Dandelionwish almost certainly played a part when his gaze fell upon their brother, Thymepaw.

Coldsnap had never really spoken to the medics siblings before, at first because he hadn't be able to see them as anything but barncats, but later simply because it didn't make sense to approach them. Cold had spent so much time drawing lines between himself and the other cats that it seemed hypocritical of him to simply cross them now, and there was always a bit of inner conflict whenever he considered doing so.

Today though, he decided that there was reason enough. He'd never seen Thymepaw zone out so hard, and they looked like they were thinking hard about something. Coldsnap was hardly a suitable source for anything like comfort or reasurance, but loyalty meant a lot to him. It's what kept his tongue sharp but his claws sheathed when it came to his clanmates, because at the end of the day Coldsnap knew what loyalty was and the importance of it, and he wouldn't sink so low as to betraying those around him.

"Are you hoping the moss will carry itself if you stare at it long enough?" he asked as he came to a stop in front of the other cat. Despite their different ranks, Thympaw wasn't all that much younger than him, which he supposed made it a bit easier to check in on them like this. "Because I'm pretty sure it doesn't work like that."

His tone wasn't necessarily unkind as he spoke, but there was curiosity there as he observed the other feline with sharp yellow eyes.
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---

windclan warrior - male - 9 months - a large, dark grey tabby with yellow eyes

 

[THYMEROOT]

A voice startles Thymepaw. It snaps him out of his daze, causes him to jump. Clumps of moss he'd already been carrying goes flying every which way, creating a mess that will ultimately set back his tasks further. Great.

His ears flatten against his head as he looks around at the mess. A swipe of his paw helps corral the nearest clumps of moss back to the pile he's spent so long creating. This wasn't... This wasn't so bad, right? He could get everything back together in no time, could start all over again with carrying the moss to... wherever.

And then he remembers. Right. Someone was trying to talk to him. That's why he had to pick up the mess before him. How could he have forgotten?

"Huh?" he looks up towards the speaker, his pelt hot with embarrassment. Blue eyes meet the yellow gaze of Coldsnap. Though barely older than him, Coldsnap was a warrior already and - even with his own warrior ceremony within reach - his presence was intimidating. Was intimidating not too long ago, too, when Coldsnap had just been Coldpaw. So.. Stand-offish, the dark-furred tom was. Isolated.

Thymepaw is similar, in ways, he thinks. Perhaps not as... cold... as Coldsnap, but Thymepaw knows he has a tendency to keep himself isolated, knows he struggles with the whole... whole socialization thing. A tendency to stick around his littermates, rather than others.

Being finally able to process the tom's words, fawn-pointed ears flatten against his head. Was he being scolded for his moment of pause, his confusion? Or was this meant to be a joke? He's defensive either way, shaking his head quickly.

"N-No, that's... Not at all!" he protests, sweeping a few more scraps of moss into the pile with his tail. Surely Coldsnap wasn't implying that he was lazy, right? That's not... That's not what this was. Yet, it still felt like it, a sinking feeling in his chest. "I just, was gettin' my head straight. Got a lot to do. Needed to just... remember what I was doin' with all this moss."

What an embarrassing thing to admit. He's had more hectic days than this one and was able to manage just fine, then. So, what's different today, that this pile of moss gives him so much dread?

"Now, if you don't mind, I'll be takin' this to..." Thymepaw pauses once more, voice trailing off. To where? He quickly picks one and hopes for the best. "To the elder's den."
​

 

[Coldsnap]

IM SCARED TO GET CLOSE AND I HATE BEING ALONE
I LONG FOR THE FEELING TO NOT FEEL AT ALL
THE HIGHER I GET, THE LOWER I SINK
I CAN'T DROWN MY DEMONS, THEY KNOW HOW TO SWIM

---

Had he not been living in the same clan with Thymepaw for the last couple months, Coldsnap might had mistaken him for a complete idiot in that moment as they practically ignored him for the first five seconds before glancing up with a blank, huh?

As it was, he hadn't ever known Thymepaw to act so emptyheaded, and while a frown planted itself on his lips at having been entirely ignored, his sense of reason and general curiosity kept him from snapping at the other. Were they sick? Tired? They definitely seemed out of it, and while he didn't tend to concern himself with other cats business, his loyalty to Thymes brother kept him from just leaving the apprentice to their daydreaming.

Suddenly, finally they seemed to fully snap out of whatever haze their brain had been in as they stumbled over their own words to defend themselves. Well, at least that was a bit more normal. Maybe they were fine after all and, like they said, just had a lot on their mind? Only..

If possible, Coldsnaps frown deepened a little more.

"What are you talking about? Dustpaw changed the elders bedding this morning. Your probably supposed to be taking that to the warriors den." he informed them, yellow eyes shifting down to glance at the scattered moss they were trying to gather. After a moment he let out a near inaudible sigh. "Here, let me help. Your not gonna be any good to the clan if you can't stay focused."

He didn't ask if Thyme wanted his help, mainly because Cold was still too proud to ask any cat for anything, even if it was someting like permission to help them. So instead, he simply acted, pulling together whatever scraps of moss were nearest to him. "What else are you supposed to be doing today?"
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---

windclan warrior - male - 9 months - a large, dark grey tabby with yellow eyes

​

 

[THYMEROOT]

Thymepaw hardly takes two steps before he's stopped with a new piece of information - or, rather, information he already knew, but simply slipped his mind: it had been Dustpaw's turn to deal with the elder's den. Cornflower eyes blink in confusion as he looked towards the elder den, searching for the apprentice.

This morning, he realizes Coldsnap had said after being unable to find Dustpaw. He cleaned it out this morning. Thymepaw is meant to deal with the warrior's den today. Right.

"I... I knew that," he says, flower-adorned ears flattening against his head. Did he, though? Or was this just another piece of information that slipped away from him? He's used to keeping all this information straight, so why today, is he standing here in front of Coldsnap, looking like an absolute fool? His words sting a little, a comment about staying focused. "I can stay focused, I just --"

He stops himself. He's got a lot on his mind, he almost says again. Everyone in WindClan had plenty on their mind, these days. He can't excuse that. They all work perfectly fine, can focus perfectly fine.

Coldsnap is picking up moss now, and Thymepaw steps forward. "N-No, I can do that myself!" he quickly says, anxiety beginning to rise. He can do this on his own, doesn't need help; fears even asking for it. Despite the fact he's freshly a warrior, Coldsnap doesn't need to be burdened with an apprentice task. Nobody needs to be burdened with Thymepaw's tasks.

Thymepaw feels bad for even creating such a mess for someone else to pick up, nervous paws shifting to paw more stray moss towards the pile. Coldsnap asks him what else he's meant to be doing today, and he pauses, tries to remember his list.
"Um..."

What next, what next?

"I... I promised the kits I'd make 'em some proper moss balls to play with," he offers, despite his knowledge that it's probably the least important of his day's tasks.
​

 

[Coldsnap]

IM SCARED TO GET CLOSE AND I HATE BEING ALONE
I LONG FOR THE FEELING TO NOT FEEL AT ALL
THE HIGHER I GET, THE LOWER I SINK
I CAN'T DROWN MY DEMONS, THEY KNOW HOW TO SWIM

---

Momentary surprise would subtly life his brows when his attempt to help was met with a rushed outburst, and Coldsnap thought he recognized the sound of anxiety brimming within the other tom voice. Large paws would still in their attempt to help as yellow eyes leveled with those of the cat across from him, who was looking more uncertain that ever in the wake of their objection. And it wasn't in Colds nature to press others, or to trouble himself taking on the jobs of others. If there was one thing aside from loyalty that he valued in others, it was their willingess to contribute to the clan, and he wasn't in the habit of letting others slack off while he did their work for them.

Thymepaw didn't seem to be slacking, though. They seemed troubled by something or distracted, and Coldsnap couldn't figure out why. And so he did something he almost never did- he pressed.

"Look." he said, the word holding more patience than it probably should have it at this point. "I'm bored and I don't have shit to do until the evening patrol anyways. If you let me help you, then we can both get something out of this, okay?" he reasoned, figuring Thymepaw was logical enough to adhere to facts. It wasn't exactly a lie. Coldsnap had nothing else to do until the evening patrol, and while he certainly would have found something to do given the fact that lounging around was something he seldom did, there wasn't really any reason why helping Thymepaw couldn't be that thing.

At the others words, Coldsnap would give a small nod. "Okay, so we'll start with that. Lets take this over to the warriors den to top off their nests, and we can use whats next to make moss balls for the kits." replied, not pushing them to recall any more information than that despite knowing from his own days as an apprentice not too long ago that they probably had a ton more on that list to do. But, there was no point stressing about information that was irrelevant right then anyways. The fact of the matter was that they couldn't do fifty things simultaniously, so it didn't really matter if every detail of their chorelist was recalled in that exact moment. They'd get to it when they got to it.

"Sound good?"
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---

windclan warrior - male - 10 months - a large, dark grey tabby with yellow eyes

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[THYMEROOT]

Thymepaw expects more of a... well, snappy, tone from Coldsnap, but is instead met with something else.

Patience. More so than what he'd probably deserved through all his forgetfulness, but patience nonetheless.

And he's... He's grateful for it. It's been difficult lately, what with everything going on. With his brother becoming medicine cat so suddenly - his mentor quitting, only to be exiled soon after. With attempted uprisings after that, Thymepaw had only pushed himself further into work, into helping out where he can. A constant fear that he's not doing enough, ever-present in his mind.

How silly of him, to accept so many things, that he's struggling to keep them all straight.

He's grateful for the patience, even in the slightest, for the ease in his tasks. Grateful for the help despite being adamant he didn't need it.

Perhaps Coldsnap wasn't so bad?

Thymepaw nods his head at the tom's words. "Okay," he says. Coldsnap's bored, he has to remind himself. He needs something to do. He doesn't have the weight of Thymepaw's neverending list of tasks to keep him busy. It will be fine, if Thymepaw gets help, just this once.

He shifts his paws, gathers more moss towards him to prepare for the warriors den.

"Thank you," he quickly adds, "Thank you for helpin' me."
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