Training for Sagepaw

Rabbitfoot felt so awkward walking into a camp not her own. The only other time she had done this was with Shadowclan. That was a little easier knowing that she was somewhat accepted. Here, with how things have been tense with Windclan and Skyclan, she felt so out of place. Padding to the entrance, she stopped to show she was no threat. "I, um... I'm looking for Sagepaw?" she said, all confidence leaving her as soon as she spoke up.

Sagepaw's ears perked at the sound of her name. She had just gotten back to camp and her mouth was crammed with herbs. The grey and white she-cat turned towards the speaker, not bothering to set down the tight bundle. A smile edged at the side of her mouth, around where the shoots of green stuck out, as she recognized the speaker. It was one of the Skyclan medicine cats. Instantly, she padded over and went to go speak Rabbitfoot. However, with the herbs still lodged between her teeth speech was impossible. Her ear flicked in embarrassment. The apprentice laid the pile down at her feet and meowed happily, "Rabbitfoot! How are you? What brings you to Windclan?"

At the sight of the apprentice, Rabbitfoot perked up although she was still a bit nervous about this. She had never trained anyone before, so this was going to be a new experience. "Sagepaw!" she mewed. "I am here for some training for you!" That was about all she had. She wasn't even entirely sure where to begin.

"Oh, thank Starclan." She exclaimed to the Skyclan cat, "For the most part, it has been really easy for me to pick it all up. But, of course, I don't yet know what all the herbs are for..." With Beetlewing gone, the grey and white she cat had to admit she was struggling. The brown tom had taught her so much in their short time together. Even if she was not the happiest as a medicine cat apprentice, Sagepaw had to admit she was unfortunately good at it. There was a spark of triumph each time she had done something right, stopped a cat from bleeding, or prevented infection. But it still constantly troubled her that she would run into herbs that she did not know the names of or what they were good for. If nothing else, Sagepaw liked a sense of accomplishment. Being a healer was certainly not as satisfactory as becoming a warrior, but it still offered some sort of satisfaction.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm not sure if you've been here before. The den is this way." Sagepaw turned to pad away, but quickly remembered her bundle of herbs. Once more, she crammed her jaw full with them. The apprentice padded briskly towards her den, waving her tail for Rabbitfoot to follow.

Anxiously, the Skyclan medicine cat followed the apprentice into Windclan's den. It was so strange being inside of another clan's medicine den, especially as it was organized differently than her own. However, the young she-cat began to relax as the all-familiar smells wafted into her nose. She could smell just about everything: poppy seeds, juniper berries, even the ever-famous catmint. Suddenly, Rabbitfoot was in her element. "Then it is quiz time!" she mewed. "Since you need help with herbs and their uses, I'll pick something at random and you'll have to name it and tell me what it does. How does that sound?"

Sagepaw settled back on her haunches. Her tail wrapped neatly over her paws. For a moment, any thoughts of stress left her. It felt good to be alongside another cat who understood her path. The apprentice smiled and nodded at the sweet, Skyclan she-cat, "That sounds great!" She flicked her tail to motion towards the neat stacks around the den. Part of her felt uncomfortable at the fact another cat's paws would disturb the neat stacks. No other cat touched her organization without Beetlewing here. But she said nothing and allowed Rabbitfoot to what she pleased with the herbs.

"Good!" She mewed before turning to the nice, organized piles of herbs. She hated to mess them up-- they all looked so neat. However, she knew that it was the easiest way to get to learn herbs. So instead, she settled for doing the best that she could to carefully pick up each herb and put them back just how she found it. First, she started with something pretty easy. Getting into the pile, Rabbitfoot picked up some small black seeds, hoping that Sagepaw knew enough to be able to identify poppy seeds. "Tell me what these are and what they're for," she said.

The apprentice was appreciative of the fact that Rabbitfoot carefully picked her way through everything. I won't have to reorganize after all... She thought with a silent thanks to Starclan that her Skyclan counterpart happened to be sensible. Sagepaw narrowed her green eyes as Rabbitfoot picked up the poppy seeds. It was easy. This was day one medicine cat stuff. However, Sagepaw bit back a smart remark and simply responded with, "Poppy seeds. They help to ease pain." Her answer was short, but she forced any bits of boredom from the words and stuck with a mild enthusiam.

"Good!" she mewed, relieved that she knew at least that much. "These are going to continue to get harder..." she told the apprentice. "So, uh... don't get too comfortable yet!" Placing the poppy seeds back in their place as carefully as possible, Rabbitfoot began searching for something else. She was surprised with how well they were stocked here. It made things a lot easier. Finding another herb, the she-cat grabbed the thin white yarrow flowers, placing them down gently, careful not to swallow any of them. She certainly didn't feel like throwing up today. "Okay, what are these and what are they for?" She asked.

"It can help extract poison from wounds, but it can also make a cat sick. Be careful, Rabbitfoot." Sagepaw joked lightly. Her eyes traced the sides of the petals and leaves of the thin flowers. It felt like she had over-analyzed each herb in the den a hundred times over. There wouldn't be anything the Skyclan medicine cat could get past her, unless it wasn't already in this den. She flicked her tail across the den floor as she waited for the next response. Great Starclan, I'm going to need some poppy seeds to get me through this...

"Very good!" Rabbitfoot purred as she put them back in their place. "But also remember that sometimes, it's a good thing that they make cats sick. Usually kits like to get into things and eat stuff they aren't supposed to. If they ever need to get it out of their stomach, feed them yarrow. It will be a terrible experience, but if it helps them feel better..." Her voice trailed off as she looked around for something else to pull out. After searching for something harder, she spotted it and pulled out tall, thin and pointy stems. Horsetail wasn't something she saw often, but it was very good to have. "What about this?"

Sagepaw simply nodded as the older cat spoke. She knew. Beetlewing had told her that.Internally, she flinched at the memory of her mentor. It was one of the first few times she'd been truly interested in healing. The fact that there was an herb to make a cat sick, and that it could be used for good reasons, had stuck out to her for some reason. A bit of sadness flashed in her eyes, but before she knew it, Rabbitfoot was calling out to her to name another herb. This time it was something a little less basic. However, the answer was still prepared behind Sagepaw's well-trained tongue, "Horsetail. For treating infections... one of my personal favorites." The grey and white cat mused a bit in an attempt to make it more interesting. The interesting design of the leaf did interest her. Great Starclan, when did I become so dull?