Emberkit's quest

A small ginger ball of fur woke up in the nursery as a ray of sunlight broke through the entrance, causing his fur to glow. It was odd to see a red-furred cat in Windclan. Emberkit, despite his fur color, was determined to fit in with the other kits. The quirky tom stumbled onto his feet and plodded out of his cozy nest and into the camp. His eyes grew big; he had never been out of the nursery before. Who knew the world was this big? A scent caught Emberkit's attention...a flower. A bright yellow dandelion to be exact. "Woah!" The little kit stumbled over and took a big whiff of the pretty golden weed. He examined it closely, finding it to be fascinating. The curious kit wondered what it would taste like...he decided not to eat it; the flower was too pretty to be eaten. Emberkit turned away from the flower to start his quest...his quest to fit in. What do other kits do? He asked himself. Oh, I know! They play! All Emberkit needed was someone to play with. Unfamiliar with the camp, the curious kit blundered into the Medicine cat's den. Emberkit was still unsteady on his feet. His paw suddenly struck a rock and he tripped, falling face-forward into the ground. "Stupid clumsy feet," he said to himself as he pushed himself up. Looking around, Emberkit was amazed at all of the herbs and flowers there were. "Hello?" He called.

"You should be careful. I hear the medicine cat's as ferocious as a badger!" A white kit peered in after the ginger tomkit. Lightkit had slept later than usual, curled away in the softness of his mother's fur and beside his sister, and had just recently awoke. His pure white fur was ruffled and unwashed, and the tomkit counted himself lucky having gotten away from his mother without a thorough grooming. He had witnessed the other kit stumbling around the camp and find his way to the medicine cat's den, whom the white kit himself had never actually met; naturally, he'd been much too afraid. Even the smell of all the plants inside was enough to keep young Lightkit away when the medicine cat wasn't around. Lightkit glanced anxiously around the camp before following the other kit inside and giving a curious tilt of the head. "I don't think I've met you before." Their mothers' nests were probably close by each other in the nursery, yet the two still had not formally been introduced. He leaned forward and gave the other kit's ear a sniff, but the milky scent didn't tell him much.

Lightkit was right to be afraid as the Windclan medicine cat, Gorsepaw, was deeply unimpressed with wandering kits in his den. Not only had he been working religiously to organise the den in a manner that everything could be easily accessed in an emergency, but he'd collected quite a few poisonous berries and dried them. Mainly as Deernose's illness progressed, there was a chance he needed to be put down peacefully. So the den was not a kit friendly place, and probably never would be.

"And I don't think either of you have met me before. Because if you did, you'd know I don't take kindly to little kits who wander into my den." The calico strode into the den, carrying delicately the stems of poppy flowers and thyme, looking at the pair disapprovingly.

Before Emberkit could reply to Lightkit, the ginger tom was interrupted by a cat who walked in with a bundle of something in his mouth. Emberkit stared wide-eyed at the cat. The only cats bigger than him that he had seen were the queens and the other kits, he had never seen an apprentice or medicine cat apprentice before. This must be the medicine cat, thought Emberkit. "Sorry, mister medicine cat," Emberkit purred shyly. "I didn't mean to come in here. I like your den though, it has a lot of pretty stuff. I think they smell good too." The kit examined a herb closely, and soon forgot about Lightkit who was there. "These things are really interesting, what are they called?" Emberkit was looking at some kind of flower.

Lightkit flinched at the sound of the medicine cat apprentice's voice. His ears flattened against his head and he crouched low to the ground, half hoping he could just melt away into the den floor and not be seen. But there was something rather important that he would have to learn at some point in his life: white cats can always be seen. "Sorry... I didn't touch anything!" Lightkit couldn't meet the apprentice's sharp gaze, but instead glanced at the ginger kit who began asking questions. It's like he's not even bothered that he got in trouble! The kit was asking questions about the plants, but Lightkit thought he was crazy. What good did bad smelling flowers ever do? The adult cats always said to stay away, so Lightkit never paid any mind to them. Instead he shrank away towards the wall of the den and let the ginger kit draw attention away from him.

"Bold, aren't you?" The calico spoke to the ginger kit, lowering his herbs and fanning them out. They need to be dried in the sun for emergency purposes, but one of each he kept fresh for immediate use. Keeping an eye on both of them, he double checked that all the possibly harmful herbs were stashed away, before turning to face the pair again. "You should be more like Lightkit. He's got a good head on him."

Yes, he was aware of both of their names, he was the medicine cat after all, he was present for both of their kittings. And though he didn't appreciate them wandering into his den as if it was a new playground, curiosity was one thing he didn't fault them for. Gesturing for them to get closer with a flick of his tail, he explained what he'd gathered. "The red flower is a poppy. And the green plant is thyme. Any guess to what they do?"

Emberkit looked back at Lightkit. "If I was more like Lightkit, then there would be no Emberkit," he purred. "And I think it's good to be bold and ask questions...how other way will you learn?" He mumbled to himself. Emberkit padded closer at the medicine cat's tail flick to look at the herbs. The kit examined them closely. "Doesn't Poppy seeds come from the poppy flower? I think the seeds stop pain and help cats sleep, right?" Emberkit had an interest in herbs, so he had often asked the queens what they did if they knew. "I don't know what thyme does, but I think it is used when a cat is in panic."

'So much confidence for a little thing.' Gorsepaw thought to himself amused at the kit's confidence and insight, there was a budding philosopher in their midst. But when the kit's guessed the plants accurately, his amusement turned to serious consideration. While he had no plans to making hasty decisions based on a kits interest in herbs, he planned on keeping an eye on the kit. Gorsepaw was still an apprentice in rank, despite being full grown, but one day he'd need an apprentice. Perhaps Emberkit would be the one.

"You're correct, that is what these herbs are for. How did you know?"