The Odd One Out (closed)

Curlykit sulked on a patch of wet moss outside of the nursery, watching the clouds drift away with her left eye, while the right one was almost closed in an odd manner. Her one good eye followed the white fluffy shapes as they crossed the patch of visible sky above camp. Her stomach grumbled and with good reason as she streched ner back and got up to fetch a small meal from the fresh-kill pile. The quiet kit looked around and noticed the shape of her sister coming out of the nursery. Lichenkit and her didn't look much alike, but the curly-haired she-kit had gotten used to being the odd one out of her quad of siblings. Not only with her weird fur, but also her way of acting.

"Do you wanna share some food Lichenkit?" she meowed up to her, dragging a thrush alongside. Convinced that her sister wouldn't hesitage to join her, Curlykit began gulping down large mouthfuls, ignoring tne 'obligatory before-meal thanks to StarClan', astheir mother had put it. She didn't care for this mythical Clan, the kit-scaring stories weren't a pleasure for her.

Lichenkit wasn't in the greatest mood today. Maybe it was the nightmare she'd had involving her siblings, or the sudden bug that had decided to make her tail it's home when she woke up. It brought about a restlessness that could only spell trouble for an impulsive kit like her. "Dumb dreams," she muttered, waddling out of the Nursery with the intention of eating something. Then, she spotted Curlykit. It was like a cloud had suddenly blocked the sun from view. She tried not to grimace; it wasn't like she hated her! She was just very abrasive. And abrasive or not, she was starving, so surely it'd be better to just get this over and done with.

Only, when she reached the fresh-kill pile, Curlykit had actually offered her a meal! Huh. She was almost tempted to sit down when, all of a sudden, her sister just chomped into it without so much as a thanks. Didn't their mother teach them to do that? She knew her sister was odd, but... "Uh, hey, Curlykit!" She said, standing around awkwardly instead of sitting down like a good sibling should, "Thanks for the offer but, uh, shouldn't you be thanking Starclan for it, first? Maybe you'll place a curse on us or something if you don't, ha ha."

Curlykit looked up at her sister, a questioning look into her away. A few moments of awkward silence passed before she shook her head with a snort. "Oh, that." a grin flowered onto her face as her tone of voice changed to mockery."Don't tell me you believe in those stories?" she broke out laughing, then took another satified gulp of her thrush. If she even had to recite the thank, the she-kit would have been no good, for as soon as her mind lost interest, she basically forgot everything.

"What's with that look on your face? Eat up!" Curlykjt meowed, looking up from her thrush, her belly was full so she allowed her sister to take it fully. Maybe it was just Lichenkit didn't want to eat with her. She should suit herself. The kit began to pass it's small tongue over her curls.

This time, Lichenkit couldn't keep her muzzle from dropping into a frown, unable to laugh along with Curlykit like she'd told the biggest joke in the world. Maybe she was just being paranoid now, but to actually laugh in Starclan's face seemed disrespectful, even wrong. Was she just being a snippy kit like usual? Or did she actually believe that? As soon as the laughter ceased, and Curlykit once again asked her to eat. Lichenkit huffed. With a sigh, she began speaking.

"Curlykit, I know you might not be able to see them, but Starclan isn't just a bunch of 'stories'! I know you like being 'different' or whatever, but that doesn't mean you should just say stuff like that. You might get in trouble." Lichenkit didn't even care that much about Starclan, or her sister getting in trouble, but sometimes things like that just needed to be said! Finally, she sat down in front of the thrush. Uneasily, she looked back at Curlykit. "I can teach you an easy one to say, if you want."

Curlykit looked up from her duty of cleankng her pelt with a bemused look. She and Lichenkit hadn't been good siblings ever, but they'd kept to themselves. Her comment nagged the she-kit's mind like a tick in the elder's pelt. The gray she-kit matched her sister's eyes with a look of annoyance, grimacing at her know-it-all tone.

"It's not like I asked to be different! And I'm not going to waste my time learning prayers to some non-existent Clan when I could learn how to hunt and be the best warrior!" she snapped at Lichenkit angrily, her eyes fixed into her's. She regreted offering her the thrush in the first place, but there was no undoing that now. "StarClan doesn't exist!" she hissed at her decisively.

Her frown deepened as Curlykit's small look of amusement morphed into a grimace. Her previous annoyance was quickly boiling over into genuine anger. Couldn't her sister at least try to understand her?

Lichenkit's eyes widened at the sudden outburst. A second later, fur bristling, she yelled back at her sister. "Literally all you have to do is say 'Thanks for this food, Starclan', or something easy like that! It's not hard! Honestly, if you're so caught up about being 'different', you could at least try acting like a normal cat!" Lichenkit lashed her tail. "I just, I can't even believe you sometimes."

Curlykit bit back a furious shout and spat at Lichenkit as if she had tasted the most vile of herbs. Her tail was lashing and thumping on the ground loudly. "Well, would a 'normal cat' do this?" she meowed, bristling, and pounced on her sister, beating her small paws across her belly and falling prey to her angry feeling, no longer judging her actions correctly. She let the larger kit go a coulpe of moments later, panting, her brown eyes challenging her to comment again.

"I'm not different! Maybe you are just jealous you are so bland!" Curlykit spat.

"Hey!" She yelped, flinching back at the sudden spit. She curled back her mouth in a mixture of confusion, anger and disgust. What was this kit doing?! Lichenkit was ready to continue arguing, a barrage of insults waiting at the tip of her tongue, despite the obvious threat in the question. She wouldn't attack her, maybe verbally, but not---

Lichenkit yowled out in surprise as she hit the ground. Oh no. Too disoriented by the attack, she didn't defend herself at all from the momentary barrage, eyes wide. It was only once Curlykit hopped off her that she snarled back, scrambling away into a defensive position. They were only kits but, Starclan, that still hurt! The she-cat wasn't thinking rationally anymore; in Lichenkit's mind, her sister tried just tried to harm her, and maybe even enjoyed it. "At least I don't literally try hurting other cats! Why would I ever be jealous of you?!"

ooc: cherrymist be rolling in her grave

Curlykit was furious, like she had never been before. Powerful emotions that she barely understood were fixing inside of her head as she stared her sister in the eye, wishing they had never shared a family. Her curly fur was standing on end as she strode towards her sister, but instead of speaking to her, she sank he teeth into the thrush she had offered to her and dragged it away. She could wait for more fresh prey from the sunhigh patrol. Her stomach was full and a knot in her throat would've prevented her from eating anyway, but she just didn't want her sister to get her paws on that fresh-kill.

"Just leave me alone." she mumbled angrily, dragging the bird to a patch of shadows and sotting down there with a thump. She pretended to be eating, the meat tasting bad in her mouth. Just she wait, I'll become the best warrior in SkyClan and then she'll be begging for forgiveness! she vowed to herself. For the time being, the two siblings were stuck together in the nursery, but for Curlykit it felt suffocating they were even sharing the same Clan.

Lichenkit drew in uneven breaths, letting the silence hang in the air as they glared at each other down. What was her sister thinking of right now? She could only imagine the awful images Curlykit was surely conjuring in that little head of hers. At best, they now shared a mutual hatred. At worst, her sister was a potential maniac, plotting a murder. Lichenkit flinched as Curlykit approached.

"Hey, what are you doing!" She yelled, voice edged in panic. It took her about a second to see that Curlykit wasn't actually going to attack. Instead, she stood in disbelief her sister dragged off the very offering that started this whole mess into the first place. "So, that's it, then? You're just gonna run off and hide? Fine then! I can come back and eat with someone who's not a complete fox-heart!" However, despite how final the statement sounded, she merely stood there for a few seconds, watching Curlykit to see if she'd respond. If not, Lichenkit was officially done.

Curlykit didn't lift her eyes to look ather sister when she spoke, and only a flick of her ears showed that she was aware of her words. The curly-pelted kit awaited more words but silence settled between them again. "Well I'll share this thrush with someone who isn't a mouse-brain either!" she spat, burrying her face in the piece of prey. It was funny to think of who her sister would go to eat with, but the kit wasn't in the mood to laugh, so she stayed there, still as a stone, waiting to hear the small paw steps of her sister going away.

It seemed like neither of them were willing to budge on this. After Curlykit gave her own retort, Lichenkit snarled out. "Have fun sharing your shrew with absolutely nobody!" Her voice was laced with too much anger to come off as genuinely sarcastic and biting. Maybe at a later date she'd regret sounding so whiny, like, well, a petulant kit. At this point, though, Lichenkit merely resigned to giving a final huff before padding away from the fresh-kill pile, appetite ruined despite her empty stomach.

OOC: mobile post.