finally [o]

The first few moons of Lichenkit's life had been rough. The young tom had contracted some sort of illness pretty early on, and it had taken until now for him to even be allowed up and about, so he was taking advantage. Stretching out on his belly, forelegs forward, Lichen yawned and rose to his paws. He poked his head out of the makeshift den-shelter, and his eyes widened. The few times he'd seen outside before, everything had been greenish and flat... but now... now everything was white and unbroken. "Whoa... what is this?" he spoke to the nearest cat. "Where'd the grass go?"

With his brother having been ill for who knows how long, Curlypaw's heart hurt for him every day. All he wanted was to be able to hunt and train together, and having to see Lichenkit held back and stuck in the makeshift medicine cat area was just the worst. Not to mention them being the same age and his brother not being able to earn his apprentice name yet. He of course tried his best to help care for his brother, but found that more often than not his apprentice duties always had him away from camp or in camp but doing other tasks. Luckily today he'd finished all of his duties as quickly as possible and hoped that he could spend some much needed time with Lichenkit.

On his way to the medicine cat den, Curlypaw's spirits lifted when he caught sight of his brother outside instead of cooped up in there. Hopefully his health was finally improving enough if Thistlemask was allowing him to be out here, especially in this dreary, cold weather.

"Lichenkit, are you feeling okay? Do you need anything?" the curly coated tom mewed with a smile as he approached the two, his fluffy tail swishing back and forth in an effort to shake away the snow that had gathered on it. Turning his head to his fellow apprentice, he gave a polite dip of his head, not wanting to seem as though he was ignoring his presence. "Hi, Echopaw," Curlypaw purred. He hadn't gotten a chance to talk with Echopaw much, but maybe they could become friends, and who knew, maybe they'd even train together someday.

As Echopaw moved to scoop some of the snow away from the ground, Lichenkit leaned in to observe, his eyes glistening with wonder as the fluffy white material scattered like feathers on a breeze. "That's cool!" he chirped, head snapping up when he noticed Curlypaw coming over to meet them. He pounced forward to his brother, purring loudly. "Hey, bro!" He dropped to his haunches between the two apprentices, nodding at Curly's question. "Nah, 'm feelin' alright. Echopaw was showin' me the ground! It's not white like this all the time." Obviously, Curlypaw knew that, but it didn't even dawn on him.

Curlypaw was more than happy to hear that his brother was doing well, and a wide smile replaced the worried look on his face. Tilting his head curiously, he supposed Lichenkit hadn't gotten to see snow much with having been cooped up in the medicine cat den, and he was so glad that he was able to experience it with him now.

Turning his amber gaze, he listened as Echopaw spoke. Three kits tall, had that really happened before? "Wow! I can't imagine it being so tall, I'd have to jump around!" he giggled. Before he was able to say anything more, Echopaw threw a ball of snow in Lichenkit's direction. Watching as it gently went 'poof' again his brother, covering him in snow, Curlypaw knew it was on.

Crouching down, he lifted up his fluffy tail and swung it down, sending a wave of snow over Echopaw. "No one messes with my brother without going through me first!" he teased playfully before jumping up in excitement.