MCA-kateers (closed for Shad)

Honeypaw walked nervously into SkyClan camp. She had never been here before; all the diverse trees were new to her. The cats walking around her had strong haunches; the medicine cat apprentice assumed they were responsible for the Clan's trademark skill of climbing trees. Her stomach rumbled at the scent of fresh robins and thrushes brought in by a hunting patrol, but she shook her head and walked past the prey pile. She wasn't here for food. Alderheart had sent her here to train in a different camp to see what it was like, and to see if they needed anything. The golden dappled she-cat padded uncertainly into the SkyClan medicine cat den, grinning at the familiar scent of herbs hitting her scent glands. Tansy, catmint, chervil, yarrow and more lay in neat piles. Honeypaw looked around for the medicine cat. "Oceanlight? Rabbitpaw? Are you in here?" Alderheart had said that Ocean light might be out, but Rabbitpaw had been training for quite a while and could probably help teach her just as well.

Rabbitpaw was in the middle of organizing the den again when she heard an unfamiliar voice behind her. Following shortly after was also an unfamiliar, and kind of horrible smell. With her nose wrinkling, she whipped her head around to see Honeypaw hovering at the entrance. Blinking at the other apprentice, she was surprised to see a cat from another clan walking into her den. She really didn't know what to do about it. "Oh, hello there," she meowed. "Um... can I ask who you are? And... can I help you?" there was a bit of sass in her voice but it was purely unintentional. The wariness in her expression was only magnified by the twitch of her tail as her blue eyes stared at the she-cat.

Honeypaw's tail-tip twitched at the cream she-cat's sass, but she shrugged it off. She may gave acted the same if a strange-smelling cat walked into ShadowClan's medicine den. "Oh, you must be Rabbitpaw! Alderheart told me about you. The name's Honeypaw- I'm ShadowClan's medicine cat apprentice. My mentor Alderheart sent me here to get some extra training, and see how SkyClan's doing." In retrospect, the other she-cat only looked a couple moons older than Honeypaw. Perhaps they could be friends.

"Honeypaw?" The name was unfamiliar, but if Crowstar and Vixenheart had let Honeypaw inside then she couldn't be lying. "Oh! Um, welcome!" she said sheepishly, feeling almost bad for being so guarded. Turning her whole body to face the she-cat, Rabbitpaw padded towards Honeypaw with a welcoming expression. "Well, if you're looking for Oceanlight, I'm afraid she's not here right now. I, uh, don't know how much help I can be right now honestly. All I'm supposed to do is just organize everything in here. We leave quite a mess when we're working." A small laugh arose out of Rabbitpaw's throat as she tried to shrug off the fact that they constantly made a mess. Why did she even talk about that in the first place? She was sure that everything was always tidy in Shadowclan's medicine den. She really hoped that she hadn't just made a fool out of herself.

"Ah, it's fine," laughed Honeypaw. "That's why Alderheart stayed at camp- a couple of kits got into the medicine den. Mixed the deathberries with the poppyseeds, ate some of the catmint. Left a real mess. I like what you did with the place," she added, looking around it. A couple of russet-gold leaves had been tracked in; the apprentice used her dappled golden tail to sweep them out. "Well, you could quiz me on herbs? I almost mixed up yarrow and chervil yesterday, so I do need to work on that." If she'd make that mistake when actually treating Shimmerheart, the she-cat would have thrown up and gotten sick. That was why she was still only helping, not treating cats on her own. Rabbitpaw probably knows everything perfectly now.

Oh goodness. She wanted Rabbitpaw to quiz her on herbs? She guessed it would be good practice for the both of them. With an uncertain look followed by wandering eyes on what to ask first, she finally came to a decision. "Okay, how about... What does coltsfoot do?" Honestly, it was a question she wasn't quite sure of herself, but it was a start. Maybe they could figure these things out together. It would be cool to have a study buddy of sorts for these things. It was hard being the only one in her clan, especially when there were so many herbs. She looked at Honeypaw curiously, awaiting an answer.

Honeypaw racked her brains. Oh, StarClan. Um... Hadn't Alderheart just taught her about that? The medicine cat apprentice's frantic hazel gaze landed on a sprig of the yellow-flowered plant. A memory of a cracked paw and heavy breathing flashed into her mind, and she stammered out excitedly: "It treats cracked pads! And heavy breathing! Um, right?" The golden dappled she-cat faltered uncertainly, but shook it off. "How about, um, what does ragwort leaf do? And how do you use it?"

The name of the herb vaguely clicked in her mind. She had heard of it before but for some reason, what it did wasn't coming to her mind at all. It was something that was mixed with something else, right? The nervousness in her eyes was obvious as she tried to look for any hints. "Um... That's an interesting one," she mewed, finally giving up. "But I'm not sure what it is. You mix it with something else though! I remember that much... Maybe juniper berries? I can't remember what it does." She didn't like not knowing, but this was her chance to learn. At least this was with another apprentice rather than with Oceanlight. She didn't even want to know how the medicine cat would respond if she couldn't figure this out.

Honeypaw rustled uncomfortably. "Um... I think Alderheart said you put it in herbal poultices? And it soothes aching joints? Something like that, anyways, I guess. I don't know what else goes in herbal poultices. Or what a poultice is, honestly...." The medicine cat apprentice laughed, a warm sound. "Do you know, Rabbitpaw?"

As soon as Honeypaw mentioned aching joints, it all rushed back into her brain. Her face lit up as she finally remember but it quickly turned into a frown followed by a grunt. "I should have remembered that!" she said with a roll of her eyes. However, the apprentice couldn't stay mad at herself. As Honeypaw chuckled, it lightened up the mood again. She was actually beginning to have fun with this. "I do actually know that one! A poultice is just some mushy stuff. Like, you chew something up and spit it out and the mushy weird stuff that's left is the poultice. It looks gross but it really works!" she mewed proudly, her tail lifting high into the air.

Honeypaw giggled at the description. It sounded so funny, she couldn't help it, even though she hated her own mouse-brained laugh. "So, it's kind of like with nettle? The saliva leeches out the infection? Or the poison, or the ache, as the case may be?" Humor and friendship aside, this was definitely an interesting and helpful fact. "D'you combine the ragwort leaf with other herbs, then? You have any idea which ones? You said something about juniper berries earlier?"

OOC: How dare u beat me shad >:c

With the hints that the other medicine cat was dropping, Rabbitpaw cocked her head and thought it through. Honestly, she wasn't quite sure but she tried. "So... you combine the ragwort leaf with... the juniper berries?" she asked, trying to figure it out. It was entirely a guess, so she looked at Honeypaw hoping she got the right answer.

Honeypaw tipped her head quizzically. "I thought I told you I didn't know. I must have forgotten- I'm such a mousebrain," she explained apologetically, shuffling a little. "Well, it's your turn to quiz me now!" she exclaimed, brightening a little. Hopefully she didn't seem like too much of an idiot....

Rabbitpaw blinked with a look of confusion that quickly turned into concern and worry. "Oh, no! Don't say that you're a mousebrain! I was silly and didn't remember either!" she said, her heart dropping at the sight of her sort of new friend being down on herself. "Here, I'll give you something that you should know! What does Dandelion do?" she asked.

Honeypaw brightened visibly. "Oh, Alderheart taught me that one! It soothes bee stings, doesn't it?" She was glad to finally know something.