Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, Thyme

The sturdy form of a cat slipped out of SkyClan camp, the moon just barely over the treetops. In theory, he should have been sleeping like the rest of his Clan, maybe it would help with his overall demeanor, if he just could get one single good night's rest. But Sagelight hadn't been sleeping well recently...With his recent illness combined with the stress of the Righteous Few coming down from StarClan and Firflower's passing, the medicine cat had been too troubled to sleep properly. He often found himself tossing and turning on his moss nest in the medicine cats' den, moving with as little noise as he could possibly muster as to not wake Honeysong and any ill cats they happened to have in the den at the time.

Tonight, he decided he was fed up with long, sleepless nights. He might as well put his awake mind to good use...So he headed out into SkyClan territory, on the lookout for herbs he needed to stock up on back home. Although lookout was a bad word to describe what he did. The tom was far-sighted, everything close in front of him was blurry and hard to see. He did his best to memorize the scents of herbs so he could recognize them without getting a good look at them...Admittedly, though, with all his lack of sleep, the distinct different scents of herbs were starting to get a little muddled. One of these days, he could make a mistake--...

...But that wasn't a good way to think. If he just stayed positive, just like always, everything would work out. He wouldn't make a mistake, he knew what he was doing (didn't he?). Everything would be fine (would it?). Besides, he had Honeysong to help him out when he needed it. And he seemed to need her help quiet a lot lately. Sagelight sighed and gave his fur a shake, ridding it of the uncomfortable feeling creeping along his spine. What was it...Sadness? Guilt? Or just pure exhaustion? "Things will get better..." he mumbled to himself, just barely speaking above the level his partially-deaf ears would hear. "They have to, because they always do. Now, stop talking to yourself, Sagelight, and get to work doing what you came out here to do." The stocky tom took a moment to stretch out stiff joints and gave his fur one final shake before lowering his head to the ground. His mouth was parted slightly to take in as many scents as he could. This area around the Great Ridge was one that was good for finding many herbs. Time to get to work...

---

Very Useful/Rare Herbs:

Useful/Uncommon Herbs:

Everyday/Common Herbs:

The terrain began to get a bit rocky under Sagelight's paws and he knew he was going in the right direction. If he was lucky, there were good herbs to be found here. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. As he padded over the small rocks and pebbles his mind wandered, just a little bit. Once he got to thinking about it, he was...rather grateful that he could bury himself in his work. It really provided a good distraction for him, at least during the day. Days, mornings, afternoons, they were busy. He could keep himself busy bustling around the medicine den, looking out for his Clanmates. But at night, things were different. Camp was quiet and still and Sagelight was all alone with his thoughts, and he didn't exactly like that. This, this outing of his, it gave him something to do, to keep his mind off of everything that had been going on recently.

His nose caught the scent of something interesting nearby. Whiskers twitching, the medicine cat turned towards the smell, stepping closer. Was that...yes, it was! StarClan must have been looking down on him, because he found some fresh chickweed. It was always good to have chickweed around in case of greencough. You could never have enough chickweed, in his professional opinion, in case of emergencies of course.

Sagelight took his time to strip the plant of its leaves and placed them carefully off to the side where he knew he could find it later. What else could he find tonight?

The member 'Aspen' has done the following action : Dices roll

---

'Effect Dice' : 6

The stocky tom padded away from his little pile of chickweed leaves, more towards the forested area around the Ridge. But he wasn't heading home, not yet. Surely there would be spiders out here amongst the trees. And where there were spiders, there were cobwebs. Sagelight poked around the bases of some trees until he found a twig and he grasped it with his teeth, holding it out to one side. He used his whiskers to feel around for the sticky brush of cobweb fibers around and in the plants littering the forest floor; once he found some, he stuck the twig in the center of the web and used it to collect the fibers around it. Luckily for the medicine cats of the Clans, cobwebs were easy to find and easy to collect, which made their jobs just that much easier.

Satisfied with the amount of cobwebs he'd collected, Sagelight traced his steps back to his pile of chickweed and deposited his cobweb-y stick down with the other herbs. He took a moment to sigh heavily, closing his eyes against the darkness of the night. His eyes were tired. No, his everything was tired. He was so tired...When would this tiredness end? He opened his eyes again, staring up at the stars in between the trees. "StarClan give me strength," he spoke into the still night air. His eyes locked onto a particularly bright star and he imagined it was Firflower looking down on him. The medicine cat smiled a little at the thought of his dear mother as his eyes filled with tears. Too soon, too soon...

One more search. Then he would go home. Sagelight sniffled, blinking his tears away. One more search.

The member 'Aspen' has done the following action : Dices roll

---

'Effect Dice' : 2

He glanced down at the cobweb stick and frowned. Well, he already had one stick, why not get more for good measure? Just two or three more would do...He sniffled one last time and went back to the same area he had found the cobwebs. He strayed deeper into the trees, feeling under the pine needles underpaw for any other sticks he could collect. As he walked, he kept one eye--or nostril, rather--open to check for any predators...they liked roaming the night. Instead of the rank stench of a fox or owl, however, he sensed...herbs. What was it...wintergreen, maybe? In the dim light, he could faintly make out a shrub nearby with red berries on it. The sticks could wait for now, these wintergreen berries would work even better. He held his tail high as he crept over to the shrub. Wintergreen for sure...he thought. Once he got closer, it seemed...a little different. Maybe he just wasn't remembering correctly; he didn't use wintergreen too often. This...this was wintergreen, right?

Sagelight pressed his nose closer to the plant and its berries, mouth parted once more to really taste the scent. All at once, the realization hit him like a tree had just fallen on his tail. "Deathberries...!" he gasped, springing back from the plant in shock. His hackles were raised from immediate fear, the short fur along his spine and tail all bushed up. Great StarClan, that would have been fatal had he put those in his mouth. His stomach and chest felt as if a rock had been forced down his throat, the pit of fear settling very deep in his belly. He swallowed hard, the bile rising in his throat as he backed away from the shrub. Stars, he felt as if he was going to be sick. If something had happened to him and no one was there to help...he shuddered at the thought. Paws trembling, the tom spun to give his shoulders and tail a licking to smooth his fur back down. That was too close.

It took him some time to get over his immediate shock; he had to sit and slow his breathing and smooth his fur and push the thoughts of what could have happened out of his mind. He was okay, he was okay, nothing happened, he was okay...but how could he make a mistake like that? By all the stars in the sky, he really needed a break.

...No cat could know about this. Honeysong and Spottedstar would force him to take a break for sure, and he couldn't afford to do that. SkyClan needed him...right?

The member 'Aspen' has done the following action : Dices roll

---

'Effect Dice' : 3

Legs still trembling slightly, paws heavy, Sagelight padded back to his stash of herbs and cobwebs. On his way back, he was alert enough to collect a couple sticks as he went. He felt numb as he gathered up the chickweed and cobweb stick, doing his best to balance it carefully in his mouth to avoid dropping any. He felt numb as he made the trek back to camp, and he felt numb as he pushed his way through the protective shrubs that guarded it. Finally, after a long night, a long sleepless night yet again, Sagelight padded into the medicine den and placed his herbs and sticks by the herb storage. He could deal with those in the morning.

Feeling for the dried poppy flowers in the darkness, the tom knelt down and lapped up a few seeds that fell from the middle of the flower. I need it...to help me sleep... he reasoned with himself, although he couldn't help but be reminded of...her. Mintwhisker. She also took herbs to help with her...mental instabilities. And Sagelight vowed to never become another Mintwhisker. He sank into his soft moss nest near Honeysong's sleeping form and curled up into a tight ball, sighing heavily. "It's just to help me sleep..." he whispered, as finally he allowed his eyes to close and his tired body to relax into darkness.