The Pull of Tension's Empathy | Lost Track of Time

[Mosspool]

Mosspaw had really only meant to duck back into the apprentice den for a moment.

Having just finished with her morning routine, she had wanted to check on Hazepaw. Her sibling was often late to rise, and today she intended to ensure they were up with the sun. Fortunately, today her intervention had not been needed. The whole den was empty. Just before she turned to exit, however, something else caught her attention. The state of the den.

Nests were strewn with careless abandon. Not unduly so, but for some reason the sight made her ear flick. It made her feel a bit uncomfortable. Mosspaw knew she should pay it no mind. She had duties to attend to, there was no reason to let her own frustration with the state of the den distract her. If it really bothered her so much she could bring it up to one of the warriors, convince them to get the other apprentices to take care of their own nest. And yet, she knew that if she left it like this then the sight would linger in her mind all day...

How long could it take to clean this up, really?

Mosspaw nodded to herself, her mind made up. She would take care of this mess quickly and be out to meet her mentor within mere moments. It would be no trouble at all. Besides, if it ended up taking her too long she could always abandon the task halfway and finish it later, however unsatisfying the thought of that was.

At that thought she set about her task, tidying up her denmates nest to her meticulous standards. Within moments, she fell into the same sort of intense fixation she often fell into when her training particularly caught her attention. Her focus was absolute. Nothing now could turn her from the task at hand.

She cleaned away all the stray moss.

She picked out every thorn.

No detail was spared.

A sigh of relief left her as her work was finally complete. Her gaze drifted over the den once more. It was so much better now. That discomfort she had felt was gone. All at once, her exhaustion fell over her, and she blinked. She hadn't expected to be so tired out by just a bit of cleaning. It wasn't like she had been at it for that long, right?

Mosspaw glanced outside. The sun was high in the sky. She blinked again. Slowly, her mortification set in as she realized just how long she had been working.

This was the worst thing that could have ever happened in the history of the world.​

 

[FERNGILL]

Fernpaw, too, was embarrassed; embarrassed for the yawn that spanned his maw as he walked into camp, fish-less once again. He'd been working at a catch that morning, but had not been shone by the spotlight of fortune just yet. He'd been told to collect himself before another attempt in the afternoon, and was mortified by how tired he already was. His thirteenth moon was hurtling toward him, and- and he could not be delayed for warriorhood another moon.

Dry lips smacked as he walked into the apprentice's den, barely paying Mosspaw any mind until he double-took at the state she'd whipped the den into. Hardly a state, in fact- she'd cleaned it more meticulously than Fernpaw had ever seen it cleaned, and wise aqua eyes settled on the younger apprentice.

"How long did this take you?" he asked incredulously, very obviously impressed. Fernpaw was terrible at hiding emotions even when he wanted to. His eyes drifted to his horde, piled up unceremoniously atop his own nest... it seemed, at least, she had not moved that. He could not risk losing anything else valuable, not after the tooth Gloompaw had given him had been swallowed by the waves.​

✦ penned by pin ✦​

 

[RAVENSONG]

Sometimes Ravenpaw found himself tasked with the occasional normal apprentice task. Today was not one of those days, however. He somewhat missed the comfort of the apprentice den. At least there he could be certain he would get a good night's rest. Who knew what could happen in the night with how quickly a cat's health could deteriorate over a night.

He had been good at weaving, in great part thanks to his excess of toes. Nest-weaving was a soothing activity for him, and he often found himself continuing fixing nests when he could. However, he could not say if he was greeted with such a disarray of an entire den would he be as privy to clean it as Mosspaw had.

Noticing Fernpaw, Ravenpaw decided to take a quick look at whatever was captivating the two apprentices so. Fernpaw was asking how long something had taken Mosspaw. Curious, Ravenpaw poked his head into the den, startled himself by how clean it was. He sat back and looked at Mosspaw with a spark in his eye. "How bad was it?" He asked.

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