Clearkit sticking his paws where they don't belong

Clearkit had spent most of the morning on the edge of camp, where something unusual had appeared-- an anthill. Usually, there were no anthills on the island that was the Riverclan camp, because really, where would they come from? They couldn't swim in the river. It had been exceptionally windy for the past few days, though, and the tiny creatures had been blown to the island and 'set up camp', so to speak.
Clearkit was peering at the little things, scuttling in and out of the hole on top of the small hill. His eyes were round and unblinking as he watched them with interest, his paws tucked under his body and his tail twitching now and then. Where did they all come from? he wondered, The ants must have a lot of queens. Do ants have clans too? Clearkit supposed that they probably had queens, which was why so many ants had appeared in such a short amount of time. Did they have a leader, too? Elders? Warriors? He was curious, and he wanted to see what was going on inside their little camp. So, he stuck his paw in the top and scooped up some of the dirt. Lots of ants poured out, and Clearkit jumped up in surprise as he began to feel stinging first on his paws, then going up his legs. The ants were crawing on him, and biting him! He let out a squeak of surprise and started shaking his fur, trying to shake them off. "Cloudpaw!" He wailed for the medicine cat apprentice, rushing towards the medicine den.

Cloudpaw's ears had immediately pricked at the cry of pain. He stood up and peered outside, jumping when the wail continued and quickly approached his den. 'Couldn't've gotten a thorn, he's practically sprinting!' Confused and slightly alarmed, the black tom stopped the kit outside his den, looking him over. This would be his first time treating someone alone, so he had to do it right!

"What happened?" His eyes fell to a single ant that had fallen out of his first patient's fur. "Oh! Stand in the water to wash them off, be careful!" He'd been told that some bugs couldn't swim, and he hoped that ants were one of them. The young apprentice stood by the water's edge, keeping an eye on the kit in case he slipped. He couldn't mess up.

Clearkit nodded obediently and started wading into the water. He was a bit scared of being swept away by the current, but the water was washing the ants out of his fur, so he stayed put until he couldn't feel them crawling on his skin anymore. The bites still stung, though. "They bit me." He mewed, seeming a bit affronted as he left the water. Clearkit normally had a soft, dreamy way of speaking, but this incident had shaken him out of the permanent dazed state he seemed to live in.

Cloudpaw grimaced sympathetically. Bites and stings hurt, and having dozens of ants crawl through your fur must be very uncomfortable, not to mention painful. He ducked inside his den and sorted through the measly herb store he had. There were some poppy seeds, but that it was more of a general painkiller, he was told, and wasn't too safe for kits. The black tom spotted a bright yellow flower and snatched it up. Dandelion was usually to soothe bee stings, but surely it would work on ant bites as well. He settled in front of Clearkit and began chewing the flower into a poultice. It tasted rather strange, somewhat bitter, yet slippery to the tongue. "How did you get so many ants on you at once?" he asked, spitting the now green-yellow poultice on an ivy leaf he'd brought with him.

"Well, I was looking at this anthill over there." Clearkit explained, flicking his tail towards the anthill, "And I was thinking, I'd like to see what the inside looked like, because I wanted to know if ants have clans with warriors, apprentices, queens, and leaders, too..." He trailed off, the dreaminess he usually had having returned to his voice. "Do they?" He asked, turning an intent, unblinking gaze on Cloudpaw.