Firthistle

Firthistle is a skinny, weak-looking, scruffy smoky-gray tom with lime green eyes and black tabby markings.

## Personality

Firthistle is grumpy, constantly grumbling under his breath or glaring at cats that have particularly pissed him off in the past.  He holds grudges like a champ, and he tends to run off of bitterness and spite.  He seems to hold contempt for just about everything; there are some cats out there that'd speculate the only thing he doesn't hate is his favorite prey, mouse.  He likes to keep to himself and he doesn't have very much patience — he'll snap and snarl at cats if they get him angry, bedside manner be damned.

As an apprentice, he was willing to start fights with cats that got on his nerves despite the fact that he doesn't know how to fight, and would get pummeled into the ground as a result before some other cat stepped in.  He's calmed down a bit since he was an apprentice and he's less likely to pick fights nowadays, but if he gets angry enough then it's definitely a possibility.  The fact that he's stubborn doesn't help with this at all, as if he thinks he's right or someone else is being unreasonable he won't budge on his position.  Even though he's a sickly medicine cat, he carries himself with the bravado of a gruff senior warrior who doesn't have the patience for his unruly apprentice.  He has little to no patience and doesn't enjoy dealing with curious kits and energetic apprentices, and he'll keep away from them as much as he can.  One of the biggest reasons he's good at his job is so that cats will be in and out of his den sooner and leave him alone (and he thinks that being a medicine cat is actually useful as compared to being a warrior, but that's besides the point). His capacity for friends isn't very big, either, but he'd allow them to do just about whatever they please — as long as they *don't touch the herbs he SPENT ALL DAMN MORNING ORGANIZING, THANK YOU* (on that note, he cusses a lot).  While he'd consider these cats his friends, he wouldn't want them hanging around in his den for any longer than necessary, and will shove them out if he has to.  He'll put up with more resistance form them than anyone else, but that doesn't mean he wants them around constantly or have them always spending their time with him.

He isn't opposed to using dirty tricks, such as slipping herbs into meals, to get cats to eat their medicine and get treated just so that they'll be out of his fur faster.  He doesn't have any patience for stubborn cats who try to get out of his den and back to their duties before they're ready, and he tends to treat those cats like kits that are too stupid to take care of themselves.  He's blunt when he speaks and is unafraid of how cats might react, and he’s done with other cat’s bullshit the day since before they started on it.  He doesn't like interacting with other medicine cats very much, and he tends to just let them chatter on about whatever while he tries to pretend that they don't exist, pushing their chatter to the back of his mind and making it into white noise.

He has no interest in romance; in fact, he calls it gross and disgusting, and will often kick mates and courtmates out of his den with a scowl on his face.  Firthistle is quite a bit weaker than the cats around him, and at times, this can get on his nerves.  He prefers to be independent, but he can't exactly be that if he needs help lugging cats around or trips around the territory to gather herbs end with him winded and exhausted halfway through.

## History

Firthisle was born to a pair of perhaps too-doting parents.  He was sickly and weak — something that has never actually improved — and his mother was fiercely protective of him.  Firkit found this stifling, and even though he snapped at her a few times over this behavior during his kithood and apprenticeship, it’s a habit she never let go of.  His father, though, was positive that him and his sister would be great warriors, and was certain that a little exercise would help Firkit gain some strength and stamina (it would not).  He would push him to get into playfights and other games with his sister, even though he was never particularly interested in doing so.  Despite the fact that his parents wanted him to lead a normal, happy life, Firkit had no interest in that.  He found his calling in medicine rather than warrior duties.  His mother was relieved by this, and while his father was surprised, he was supportive all the same, and he set out for his medicine cat life with no afterthoughts or regrets.