Walking backward will not help you | Mosspaw

[Hazewish]

TRAVELER, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED (AND NOW YOU MUST GO) ⋆⁺₊⋆

The thrill of finally getting one over Mosspaw, of convincing her to come along on one of Haze’s illicit outings, happily carries them out of the camp and all the way to the first bend of the river — the point where the territory opens itself to their exploration. They almost skip all the way there, though discretion demands that they instead prowl through the weeds.

If nothing else, Mosspaw will see that Haze is really, really good at stealth.

Looking at the graceful twist of the silvery water, they turn, smiling, to their sister and bump their shoulders together. ”Relax,” they say. They’ve done this a hundred times, and it’s far easier when one isn’t stressing out about adults the whole way. It doesn’t make being caught any less likely, it just makes the experience less fun while it lasts. Magnanimously, they add, ”Lead. Where?”

Since it’s Moss’ first time out without adult supervision, she should get to pick the direction — though Haze’s has ideas of her own if her sister’s don’t suffice.

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[Mosspool]

Mosspaw lingered a few steps behind her sister, her clear reluctance a stark contrast to their excitement. Each of her steps was careful and every errant sound made her pause and glance around nervously.

The thought of anyone discovering her stealing out of camp without a warrior made her sick to her stomach with shame. She had no idea how she would explain this. If caught, she might not even try, perhaps it would be better to simply accept her punishment with grace and humility. After blaming Hazepaw of course. It had been them who had coerced her into this after all and she would want everyone to know that.

Her sister was doing a good job of keeping a low profile though, Mosspaw had to admit that much. They crept along so silently that it was honestly impressive, which almost made her more frustrated with them. If they just applied themselves and stopped doing things like this they could be such a great warrior. Instead they applied all that talent to this of all things. Even so, their skill meant that if anyone was going to get the pair of them caught it was herself. Which made her constant vigilance all the more important.

Thus her irritation when Hazepaw broke her concentration for a moment with attempts to reassure her.

"I will not relax." She muttered tersely. "Unlike you, I am not so eager to get in trouble." Her stress was making her snappy and mean, and she knew it. Though she couldn't bring herself to care. Hazepaw had dragged her into this mess, so it wasn't her problem if they found her to be unpleasant company. Their deal had been that she had to come along, not that she had to be happy about it.

Mosspaw's ear flicked when her sister told her to lead. "I do not suppose you will be satisfied if I simply led us back to camp?" She asked dryly, giving her sister a look. Not bothering to wait for an answer, she turned to survey the territory before her. A long silence passed between them. Heading back to camp really was all she wanted to do, so it took her a moment to even think of something to suggest. "We could head down toward twolegplace?" Was the idea she eventually settled on. "That would lead us away from beech copse where there are most likely to be cats and any hunting patrols would be likely to stay away from there."​

 

[Hazewish]

TRAVELER, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED (AND NOW YOU MUST GO) ⋆⁺₊⋆

Though Haze’s tail lashes in irritation at Mosspaw’s comment, she doesn’t let it sting. She wants to get caught just as much as her sister does — that is to say, not at all — it’s just that she knows better than to freak out about it. What will be will be, and what won’t, won’t. It’s out of their paws. She does roll her eyes pointedly: Moss should know she’s being ridiculous right now.

The next suggestion — that they simply get back — doesn’t warrant so much as an ear flick, and Haze waits patiently for Moss to come up with something else. It takes a moment, but she does, eventually. That she chose twolegplace surprised Haze: out of their entire territory, it’s the strangest and most unpredictable place, and to come too close to it has always felt kind of illicit to them. It also happens to be fascinating for that very same reason, so Haze has no complaint. It’s a good pick; safe, discrete, interesting. And it suggests an adventurous streak in Moss that their sister would probably hate to have pointed out.

”Smart,” they nod. Then, smiling as they turn on their heels to head in the direction their sister picked, they hum a questioning: ”Curious?”

They would not have thought Moss the kind to approach twoleg anything... but there’s a lot they do not know about her, after all. Perhaps there is someone fun underneath the rule-abiding! A fellow explorer, even! Perhaps it was Starclan that put her in Haze’s path today, leading them to sneak out together. The thought is a fun one.

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