The best kind of training [ebs]

Quailpaw had awoke earlier then usual, she had alwas been waking up earlier now a days.. Thanks to the wretched sickness in camp. All though it was her mentor that had it harder, after all she had to treat others and train her apprentices. Ebonyleaf, such a great medicine cat. After all she was training two apprentices. One here, and one in riverclan Sparrowpaw was it..? Quailpaw didn't mind, she thought it was so great how her mentor was training two apprentices. Ebonyleaf is really one respected cat in the entire forest.. But besides the sickness being a Medicine cat's apprentice was great, it was the best kind of training. Everyday she learned different kinds of herbs, and what their uses were. She enjoyed healing others, she didn't quite know why.. but it wasn't much fun watching her clan-mates suffer.

As she approached the den where Ebonyleaf was, she quickly pushed past the entrance. Hoping that her mentor was awake she didn't want to disturb her after all and she really did deserve the rest. The sickness was wearing and stressing her out, it was bad for her mental health, something equally important as physical.

"Ebonyleaf..?" Quailpaw spoke quietly, "Are you awake?

Crossing the Thunderpath into ShadowClan's territory was like crossing into a whole new world. Her home was far behind her and she was all alone up here, surrounded by enemy warriors and entering the forest's most mysterious corner. If the run across the Thunderpath wasn't enough, just that fact alone got her heart pounding. ShadowClan. Even their name connoted darkness and secrecy. Like everyone else in RiverClan, she'd grown up hearing stories about how bloodthirsty and heartless they were. She was just an apprentice who was training in medicine, not battle, and her father hadn't just been an ordinary warrior. If they really wanted to end her, nothing could stop them.

But even still, to someone as curious and inquisitive as her, this journey could almost be considered a dream come true. How many cats would visit some place so jealously guarded, mysterious, and isolated as ShadowClan's camp? Even just once?

Her first nervous pawstep into the marsh sunk ankle-deep into the mud. Now Sparrowpaw stood near the thorny entrance, shrouded in shadow.

"This is unbelievable," she muttered to herself under her breath. That was the only way to put it.

It was mindblowing how cats could live in these conditions. ShadowClan's territory was wet, but it wasn't wet like RiverClan. RiverClan's territory was rich grassland divided by clear and flowing streams. ShadowClan was just a marsh. Damp, muddy, grimy, and it stank. It wasn't just the ground and the cats either, but the air itself. She'd thought RiverClan had it bad with their recent bout of greencough, but with ShadowClan, it was no wonder why they were all sick. Who knew what kind of sicknesses hung in the moisture here...

She padded forward, murky green eyes glancing back and forth. ShadowClan's camp, at least in her eyes, didn't have the same grandeur as RiverClan's either. It was little more than a muddy hollow ringed in thorn bushes, and even though it was sunrise, almost the entire Clan looked like they were still in their dens. On the other side of camp, their meager freshkill pile consisted of snakes, rats, toads, and worse things... Just looking at it made her lose her appetite.

So this was ShadowClan. Maybe there was a reason they had a reputation for being so distrustful and secretive. She'd be embarrassed to bring guests home too if this was where she lived.

Sparrowpaw sped up her pace, catching up to a smoke gray she-cat who was entering what looked like the medicine den. She slowed to a stop behind her, at the entrance, trying her hardest to hold back a sharp remark. If this was who she thought it was, then their mentor was in there.

"Uncomfortable" didn't even begin to describe it. Here we go.

She'd been up all night while Quailpaw had been mostly resting, running out with the patrols and looking around near desperately for any useful herbs that the territory had to offer. She'd even wandered and headed off unto their side of twolegplace looking for precious medicine, but it proved to be useless, as most of the herbs were frostburnt by the weather - and she had hardly any time to dig up any roots before dogs got away from their twolegs and chased her off. She was at least thankful for the small nap she'd gotten. Although it wasn't deep, nor long, and the sound of coughing kept her stirring... it was better than nothing, with StarClan's will, enough to keep her moving for another day.

Ebonyleaf stirred in her nest once she'd heard Quailpaw walk in, calling her name. Groggily, the calico yawned and say up. "Yes, thank you for getting me." She muttered. "We have a lot to do day." The she-cat shook her head to clear the sleep away, pulling herself up unto her feet, she started stretching herself out. Slowly, once she became more alert, she could hear the murmurs outside of her den and the familiar scent of RiverClan.

Ah, that was right. She had invited Sparrowpaw over to train. She knew the apprentice couldn't be long, as she had her own sick to attend too, but this training would be invaluable; and Ebonyleaf couldn't leave both Quailpaw and her clan behind when they were suffering themselves. This would have to do.

She poked her head outside. "Sparrowpaw, come in, Dear." The she-cat called, disappearing inside and looking at her patients in the nest. Two kits, a queen, and two warriors. She thanked StarClan that the sickness didn't seem to be spreading further. They were barely scraping by on herbs as it was and couldn't afford to get sick. Thrushstar also worried dearly about it, something about the last time an outbreak occured in ShadowClan.

"What's a RiverClan cat doing here?" Her mother, Mistflower, had seemed to be awake, raising her head and curling her tail more tightly around the small bodies of Wolfkit and Honeykit.

Ebonyleaf didn't seem phased by the question. "She is my apprentice and she will be helping our clan for now." She answered simply. It still didn't seem to sit well with the queen, but she stayed quiet.

"Now you two - this sickness is highly contagious. If you get any of the sickness on you, or if a cat coughs on you, remain calm - but don't clean yourself. Just go wash your face and pelt off in the stream." The medicine cat mewled. She thought the lessons through.

"Quailpaw, go find the storage of catmint. There shouldn't be a lot left, but just grab what you can." Ebonyleaf turned her attention to the small Honeykit, urging her away from her mother's belly so they could treat her better. "Sparrowpaw, tell me what you know about this sickness."

Quailpaw nodded slowly, an ear flickered quietly mumbling "Your welcome." She didn't want to awake anybody that was sick, after all they heal better when their well-rested. Quailpaw slipped towards her clan-mates trying to fix up their nests so it's more comfortable - easier to fall asleep on. She didn't mind if anyone had coughed on her, shes been in this med den with them and still haven't gotten Greencough. Finish adjusting their beds Quailpaw glanced back towards Ebonyleaf who seemed to be telling someone to come in. Quailpaw tilted her head in curiosity her green eyes squinting, 'Sparrowpaw..?' She was a bit surprised that the riverclan apprentice had showed up, maybe Ebonyleaf told her to come. She didn't mind much, none of the medicine cats can be mean can they?

Once Sparrowpaw entered Quailpaw's ears perked, she never saw Sparrowpaw before she recently just became a apprentice of Ebonyleaf. She for sure needed to leave a good impression, the grey-she-cat dipped her head towards sparrowpaw for respect and greeting, a gentle smile blooming onto her face. Quailpaw had always thought that it would be nice to meet all the medicine cats, she was excited for the up-coming gathering soon. Chatting with her clan-mates was easy enough so chatting with fellow meddies would be simple as pie. Although something seemed of about this Sparrowpaw cat, she seemed a little uncomfortable in her surroundings, she wondered if she had heard awful rumors about shadowclan and was disgusted by us. If thats the case then we needed to prove to her that Shadowclan is not what everyone thinks it is. After all one time we did save skyclan...

Quailpaw's thoughts quickly vanished once Ebonyleaf's words reached her ears. She quickly nodded to her "I'll be quick as I can." She said to her mentor quickly walking of towards the storage where they kept their herbs. Once there Quailpaw glanced around, seeing only a few strands of catmint left. Fear had strickned her heart, this was too little supplies. Maybe she should check a few more times, before she let Ebonyleaf know. After searching for awhile all she could find was a bit more, not much but just enough for the moment. Now she needed to notify her mentor.

Softly gripping the Catmint in her jaws Quailpaw slipped back over to Ebonyleaf, her ears flattening at the sound of horrible horrible coughing. 'Our poor clan-mates they look like they are suffering so much..' Quailpaw thought as she took a glance at them, frowning. Two-kits and two-warriors were sick, but why did two-kits have to catch greencough??

"E-err..Ebonyleaf we only had this much catmint left, I triple-checked the supplies and this was the most I could find... Sorry. Quailpaw had mewed a pained look in her eyes, she wished that their were more supplies they could offer too their clan-mates, may starclan have mercy. Her ears slightly twitched green eye's looking over at Sparrowpaw curiously, wondering what exactly they had been talking about.

Sparrowpaw returned a stiff nod of greeting to her fellow medicine-cat-in-training. The gentle smile didn't fit her image of ShadowClan at all, and it felt almost inappropriate in this dark and muddy camp full of disease and death. As Quailpaw padded off to fetch the herbs Ebonyleaf had ordered, Sparrowpaw invited herself into a den, looking over her mentor's patients. She flicked her whiskers as the queen raised her head, ready to shoot back a sharp retort, but Ebonyleaf spoke first and the sick she-cat lowered her head back down.

She nodded at Ebonyleaf's words. Sparrowpaw knew all too well how contagious it was, with how it'd raged through their apprentice and warrior dens like wildfire. Really, it was a miracle in itself that she wasn't affected too after how closely she'd handled all of her own sick.

The apprentice flicked her ears at the question. "It's just a sickness that's spread through coughing and contact," she answered carefully. "I've been using chickweed and tansy to try and treat it, but that only seems to soothe the coughing fits for a short while. Mostly I've just been holding my sick back from patrols and bringing them prey and water myself. I think I've got it contained for now, but catmint's hard to come by..." Everyone knew that catmint cured greencough, but she'd looked high and low for it, even near the Twoleg farm, and she hadn't found so much as a leaf. They only had a few leaves to spare to begin with, and she could only treat so many with what they had.

Sparrowpaw turned to face Quailpaw slipped back over to them. Just a look at the meager bundle made her stomach drop. "What? That's all?"

Ebonyleaf nodded quietly as the RiverClan apprentice explained her answer. It didn't surprise her that they weren't the only ones having trouble with catnip. Not only was it difficult to find at all this time of year, with both excessive rain and frostbite constantly roughing the sensitive plants, she couldn't imagine there were too many places in RiverClan territory of all places where it might be. "Good." She meowed, "Chickweed isn't the best choice, but if you can keep a cat's strength up, it should be enough to cure them eventually." It was better than nothing.

The calico's ear flicked when Quailpaw approached again, looking rather disappointed as she dropped the pathetic pile of catnip at her feet. The she-cat held back a long sigh, exhausted and disappointed she hadn't been able to bring more back home to the clan, but - it was as she had told herself moments before -something was still better than nothing. "We'll make do with what we have, Quailpaw." She meowed quietly, her eyes flickering back as Sparrowpaw spoke again. "Unfortunately, yes. Leafbare hasn't left us with much else." There was no point in lying about it, they need only focus on the patients.

As much as the warriors needed the medicine, there were those younger who needed it far more in her eyes. "You two, split what we have and give it to the kits." She said simply, taking a step back to let them work, gesturing with her tail to where Wolfkit and Honeykit lay, both their breathing slow and shallow - aside from when the coughing fits started. "Be careful not to chew out any of the juices. They're what they need most."

Sparrowpaw couldn't help but stare at the meager pile, wondering how that could be all ShadowClan's territory could yield, even in the  coldest moons of Leafbare. She could hardly even feel proud over answering Ebonyleaf's question right. It was true, RiverClan's own supplies had been steadily dwindling as well, but never to that point. In the warmer moons, before the frost and floods, herbs grew in abundance near the river, the Twoleg farm, along streams and almost everywhere in RiverClan's sunny grass plains.

ShadowClan didn't have the same privilege. Their marsh was hardly fit enough for snakes and rats, let alone warriors. Sparrowpaw bent her head down dutifully, gently picking up half of the catmint leaves and carrying them over, careful not to bite down on them. The leaves tasted fresh and cool in her mouth, but she didn't dare get greedy. She let them flutter to the ground in front of her. "Should I give them each a full leaf?"

She didn't think that was recommended, but there was only so much to spare...