Rabbitpaw's Herb Training

Rabbitpaw knew all but certain herb uses. Oceanlight wanted to teach her how to assess certain situations. She saw Rabbitpaw sleeping calmly. She prodded her gently. "Rabbitpaw? I want to teach you the lasts of herb uses before you earn your name." she said softly.

"Huh?" Rabbitpaw's head floated up as her eyes flitted open. With a big yawn, she looked up at Oceanlight with a bit of a dazed look. "Oh, greetings Oceanlight," she mewed. "What's going on today? We're learning about herbs some more?" Getting to her feet, she let out a large stretch to wake herself up and start the day.

The medicine cat nodded. "I just want to make sure you know a lot about herbs and healing before you become a medicine cat. Are there any certain herbs you don't understand what are used for?" she asked. She just wanted her apprentice to be great at tending to the clan's wounds, as any medicine cat would.

"Um..." she muttered, looking around frantically to see if there was anything she didn't know. It was difficult to think about things that she couldn't figure out but at the same time, she felt like she didn't know anything. It was a terrible place to be in with almost no confidence in her skills. "I... I don't know. Maybe, um... could you possibly quiz me?" she asked. She figured that if they were going to learn, she might as well see how much she knows.

Oceanlight looked at her. She thought of a few questions. "Do you know what to do when a clanmate swallows deathberries?" she asked.

Rabbitpaw looked at Oceanlight for a moment as she asked the question, and suddenly her face twisted up. Why would anyone use such a terrible herb? Why did they exist in the first place? Hopefully, she would never have to use the cure. "Um... Give the cat yarrow. I-It will make them throw up and get the deathberries out of their belly." she said, her voice slightly quivering.

Oceanlight nodded. "Yes. You do also get bits of deathberries out of their teeth before feeding them yarrow. The patient would be weak for a few minutes after vomiting, but there is no need to give a herb for that." she said. She had her eyes soft. "What about when someone accidentally breaks a leg?" she asked.

Rabbitpaw sat and thought about it for a moment, deep in concentration. "Use a stick and, um... bindweed to hold the leg in place. Or Rush." She paused for a moment. She knew that there was an herb that could be given to help the pain and even help speed up the process of healing. In fact, she was sure there was more than one. Closing her eyes and trying wildly to think of the names, she finally gasped as the name popped into her mind. "Comfrey root can use chewed up to help the pain and healing." She looked up again only to see if she got the right answer. Her nerves were starting to get to her, as if she couldn't remember anything about being a medicine cat. It was strange how that worked out, but she felt good about this answer.

Oceanlight looked for a few seconds. "Yes. Cobweb and comfrey root can help healing it too. You don't need to be nervous. There are more than one right answers." she said. She thought. "What if someone is in shock?" she asked.

She knew this one. With beaming confidence, she answered, "Poppy seeds!" Puffing out her chest, she felt really good about this one. "Not only are they good for pain, but they can relieve stress and shock. Not good for queens though, which is why you don't give them to a queen when they're in labor." She learned that one pretty solid when Moonlight had kits the first time. There were no mistakes that were made, but it reinforced her prior knowledge.

Oceanlight was amused by her apprentice's confidence. She nodded. "What herb is used to prevent greencough, and what herb treats it." she asked.

Rabbitpaw blinked as Oceanlight asked her next question. "Um..." She knew the answer for what treats greencough, but what prevented it was lost. "Catmint treats it. If... you run out of catmint, you can use, um... You can use Chickweed but that's hard to find here." She paused, trying desperately to think of what prevented it, but after a few moments, she gave up. Her gaze shooting to the ground, she tried to tell Oceanlight. "I... I don't know what prevents it, though."

Oceanlight looked at her. "Tansy actually can prevent it. Don't worry if you get it wrong,  that's the point of this. This is the last one I thought of: What is Celandine used for?" she said.

Oceanlight's reassurance was welcomed as Rabbitpaw looked up feeling a little bit better about herself. Instead of beating herself up over her wrong answer, she found herself thinking deeply about the she-cat's last question. "Oh! It has to do with the face!" she meowed, nearly bouncing out of her seat. The answer was on the tip of her tongue, but for some reason she couldn't quite remember. "It's definitely the face, um.. um... It soothes something. Is it the eyes?" It was only half of a guess, but she looked up at Oceanlight expectantly, excitedly awaiting the answer.

Oceanlight nodded. "That's right. Celandine is used to soothe damaged eyes." she said.