Looking For A Friend (Open)

[Deleted]

Rosekit sat just outside the nursery, her tail curled over her front paws. Her ears were up and erect. Constantly, her whiskers twitched as she sniffed. It seemed they were never still. Big eyes stared out towards the clearing, looking at nothing in particular. They did not focuse on any of the warriors wandering around the fresh kill pile, or on anything else.
Of course they didn't. Rosekit was blind.
How many times in the last moon in a half had she wished that she had died of greencough after all, rather than living as a blind cat? It was more time than she could count. It seemed like it was better to be a sighted cat in Starclan than a blind cat, a hindrance to her clan, here.
Her sadness was made even worse because she hasn't been born blind. She knew what it was like to see the world. She missed its color, its beauty. This new, dark world of eternal blackness was scary and made her feel alone, even in a crowd.
Rosekit wanted someone to play with desperately. Whenever she was unoccupied, all she could do was sit and wallow in her melancholy. She couldn't even sit and watch the passerby.
So she sat, looking for someone to play with. Well, listening and smelling for someone to play with. In the most technical sense, she'd never look for anything again.

[Deleted]

Frostpaw padded into camp, wriggling through the tunnel and ruffling his fur when he came out. His narrowed eyes glanced around the clearing. The first thing he spotted was Rosekit, sitting by herself, dejected and lonely. Clearly she was upset about something, it wasn't hard to tell. Now, Rosekit didn't get upset about too many things. Either she'd gotten into a fight with someone, or she was thinking about her eyes. Her blind, milky green eyes.
Frostpaw sighed, and padded across camp towards the nursery. Rosekit knew his scent well enough, so he wasn't too worried about startling her.
"Hello, miserable squirt." he said in a matter-of-fact tone, before purring and bending to lick her between the ears. They had only four moons between them, but Frostpaw was at least twice her size. This wasn't the case for most apprentices and kits, but Rosekit was smaller than most, and Frostpaw was larger.

[Deleted]

Rosekit was happy to smell her brother approaching. She playfully swatted him when he kicked her head, ruffling her recently groomed fur. And then just to make sure he didn't take her swat seriously she reached up, her front paws lifting off the ground a little, to lick him back. Being blind, she had to estimate by smell and sound where his shoulder was. Rosekit always licked his shoulder rather than his head because for one thig she couldn't reach and for another it was a much smaller target. Feeling her tongue meet fur, she gave a quick lick and then sat down before she could fall down. She hoped that she had licked her brother, not some other cat, and that she had found her mark and not licked his ankle or something.
It was infuriating not knowing how she had done.
She decided that she had to speak now. She didn't like it when her sadness became obvious to Frostpaw- it was bad enough that she was always wallowing in self pity without burdening other cats with the knowledge. So she said, trying, but not entirely succeeding, to keep the melancholy out of her meow, "Hi, Frostpaw!" Her attempt at sounding excited and happy sounded pathetic to her ears. She hoped they sounded better to his. "How has your day been?"

[Deleted]

ooc;
Frostpaw is her nephew cx

ic;
Frostpaw ducked out of the way as Rosekit swatted a paw at him, though if he hadn't, she would have smacked him full in the face. Purring, he let her lick his shoulder, pleased that she found the mark she was looking for. Or had she aimed for something else? He couldn't read minds, after all, but the shoulder seemed like the most obvious choice.
"Hi, Frostpaw!" the younger cat said with excitement. "How has your day been?"
Here, Frostpaw hesitated. His day had been going well, but he had some questions to ask Rosekit. Questions about Lilypaw. "It's...fine." he said, and glanced away, even though Rosekit couldn't see him. "Um, Rosekit, how much do you know about friends?"

[Deleted]

(Oh... Right. I knew that. Sort of.)

Rosekit, settling back on all four feet, blinked in confusion. How much do you know about friends? What? She cocked her head, puzzled. The question confused her partially because it was just an odd question, and partially because the meaning behind it was unclear. Did he mean to ask if she had friends- was he worried she was lonely? He was right, of course, if that was his meaning, but it still made Rosekit bristle. Forcing her fur down, she considered the other options. Was he lonely? Was someone being mean to him? That made her bristle, but for other reasons. Again she forced her fur down.
In her response she tried to address as many of the possibilities as possible. "Well, um, I have a few friends-" that was a lie- "but I'm not exactly the friendship doctor here. Why do you ask? Is somecat being mean to you? Do I need to beat someone up for you?" She was trying to joke, but she was worried. Was Frostpaw okay?

[Deleted]

Frostpaw chuckled softly as he watched her reaction. The question made her bristle, but for what reason, he wasn't sure. Either she was suspicious or worried for him, he guessed, but he couldn't think of any more specific reasons.
He snorted at her question, and shook his head. "You, beat someone up? Come on, Rosekit, you wouldn't hurt a fly." he laughed quietly, then turned more serious, shuffling his paws uncomfortably. "Um...I met a she-cat." he mumbled, and felt his cheeks grow hot. "And her brother, too. He was being annoying, and she wanted him to leave, but he wasn't listening. I told him to beat it, and uh, I guess he did. but...then she started acting weird, and I didn't like it." he paused, unsure of himself. This was a long explanation, but he wanted to get it off his chest. "Anyway, I told her I had training to do, and I left, but you know I don't have a mentor yet. She...well, she followed me, and found me beating myself up, and she went on about how she cared about me and she was my friend. but, she had to be poking fun, right?"

[Deleted]

Rosekit purred when he got her joke. As he continued, her face fell when he describes his problems with the brother. but when he moved on to he sister's behavior, she began to smile knowingly. Toms. They were so blind to what she-cats were thinking.
"Clearly," she meowed, "she likes you. I don't think she was poking fun, Frostpaw. I think she sincerely likes you. Of course, I don't know... I wasn't there. but it sounds to me like she liked you."
Rosekit wished she could see her brother's reaction. Was he angry? Happy? Scared? She couldn't see to know. It was infuriating. Stupid whitecough. She listened for any noises he might be making. A shuffling of feet hinted at nervousness, while a clawing of he earth or soft growls alluded to anger. but she heard nothing. He was listening quietly.
So she continued. "How do you feel about her? Who is this she-cat, anyway? Please tell me she's in this clan!"

[Deleted]

As Frostpaw listened, he felt his cheeks grow hot and ducked his head. Liked? That was a word he wasn't familiar with. Nobody liked him! The tabby pawed at the ground, his whiskers twitching. No, Rosekit had to have it wrong. That wasn't right.
"Yeah, she's a StormClanner." he mumbled. "Her name's Lilypaw. but she was just making fun of me, I swear! I was crying, and making myself look like an idiot, mind you." he paused, trying to keep track of the she-kit's questions. Oh yes. How he felt about Lilypaw. "Well...I dunno how I feel about her. I licked her, but that was just me being stupid and thinking she could be my friend. And what do you mean likes me? I snapped at her brother and at her!"

[Deleted]

Rosekit sighed. Toms. Seriously. Were they incapable of seeing past their own noses? "Frankly," she joked, "I have no idea why a she-cat might like you." She kept her tone light, hoping he wouldn't take her seriously. "I don't know why she might like you, Frostpaw. It might not even have been a conscious choice. All I know is that from what I've heard, she likes you. A lot.
"If you like her back, that's great. Try asking her to eat with you. See what she does. Just be nice to her, go with the flow." Rosekit paused, thinking it there was more to say. She decided there was. "And stay away from the brother, okay? Especially if you two become friends." Or mates, she silently added.

[Deleted]

Frostpaw chuckled softly and nodded his agreement, though Rosekit couldn't see him. Who would want to be friends with him? He was an annoying little rat, and he liked it that way. He perked his ears slightly, trying to keep his mind set on the fact that he and Lilypaw would not, under any circumstances, become friends.
"I yelled at her brother." he grumbled, and wrapped his tail tightly around his paws. "There's nothing to like about me."
However, it might be interesting to invite her to eat with him. See what she did. Maybe she'd keep up the game and say yes, or live up to Frostpaw's expectations and say no sooner rather than later. Maybe he would ask. Maybe.

[Deleted]

Rosekit bared her tiny teeth at her nephew. She was getting annoyed now. "Listen, mousebrain," she snarled, although it sounded silly in her tiny kit voice. "Enough with the self pity. Just because you think you're some kind of tough cat with no time for friends doesn't mean any other cat does. Now if you're just going to sit there and be all pathetic, you can go mewl to some tree.
"Now, sometime today you are going to ask Lilypaw to sit with you. Or else I'll come strangle you in your sleep. Come on. What have you got to lose? If she does blow you off, you prove me wrong. but if she agrees- you get a friend. And a good one too by the sound of it." Her voice softened. She decided a joke was telling best way to end her tirade, so he knew he was forgiven. "Make sure you ask her. I'll be watching."

[Deleted]

Frostpaw grinned, unable to help himself. Rosekit could sound so funny and serious at the same time. but as she went on, he frowned, and flattened his ears. "What if I don't want a friend?" he hissed, then sighed in agitation. "Never mind. I'll ask, but not because I want to, okay? And don't you dare tell Shadepaw, because I'll do a lot worse than strangle you in your sleep."

[Deleted]

Rosekit would have smacked herself in the head with her paw if she had the range of motion. Frostpaw could be so dense! He wanted friends, even if he wouldn't admit it. Why did he have to act like a tough guy all the time? It just made him sound dumb. "Alright, Frostpaw, whatever you say," she sighed. "Have fun today, ask right? And be nice to Lilypaw, okay? You're a cat, not a thornbush. And I'd like to see you try to strangle me. I could have you pinned down with a leaf stuck over my eyes," she purred, hoping to lighten the mood.

[Deleted]

Frostpaw opened his mouth to make some comment, about how Rosekit was already blind and it wouldn't matter if she had a leaf over her eyes, but he thought better of it. He shook his head quickly, relieved he hadn't said anything. "Sure, Rosekit. One other thing...I uh, may have yelled at her. Lilypaw, I mean. When she followed me. I told her to shut up and get lost." he grinned, unable to help himself, and laughed. "I don't know if she'll be too eager to talk with me again."

[Deleted]

Rosekit sighed. It seemed her nephew was denser than she'd thought. "Poor Lilypaw. I wouldn't talk to you again if I were her, but then, love is blind I suppose. Hmm, just like me. Maybe I should change my name to Lovekit." Rosekit spurred. She loved being around Frostpaw. Around him she could be playful and funny. Around him she never felt as Sgt and self conscious as she normally did.
"Anyway Frostpaw, I say go for it. What have you got to lose? Nothing ventured, nothing gained!"