Study Session

Mosspaw sat in front of the medicine cat den, several small bundles of herbs in front of her. A white paw would reach out to delicately pick up an herb from a bundle, smelling it and looking at it closely, before gently setting it back down, muttering quietly to herself as she did. "Horsetail... treats infection... stops bleeding....Lamb's ear.... give strength and stamina...." It was a pleasant day, a slight breeze making the ferns dance lightly as the sunlight shone through the spaces of the leaves above, and Mosspaw was content.

As the nursery grew fuller, Galekit spent more and more time familiarizing himself with the camp itself. He’d poked his head into the apprentices’ den once or twice, wondering if anyone would notice if he lingered overnight (and quickly abandoning the idea when he realized he’d still have to give his name as Galekit). He’d strayed as close to the entrance tunnel as he was allowed. Today, he’d gotten turned around; the tunnel he’d wandered into was not made of gorse, but of ferns, and no one had stopped him from entering it. At its end, the tabby found a vaguely familiar face and some bundles of plants.

”Mosspaw?” She was mumbling something—names, Galekit thought. He was sure ThunderClan didn’t have a Horsetail, but a kit could hardly expect to keep up with new arrivals. He glanced around the den; save for Mosspaw and himself, it seemed unoccupied, so he invited himself into the clearing, striped tail trailing after him. ”Who are you talking to?”

Mosspaw jumped at looked up at the kit as he made is way into the clearing, surprise on her face. Recognition quickly flowed over her expression as she recognized the not-so-young Galekit, and a purr rose in her throat at how his wandering had led him to the medicine cat den. Setting down the herb she had with a smile and a flick of the ear, she chuckled before responding. "Good morning, Galekit. I'm just talking to myself, trying to memorize the names of these herbs and what they do while Pricklebush is out, I've found that saying them out loud is a good way to practice. What brings you here?"

Pricklebush. Now that was a good name for a plant, unlike…what had Mosspaw said? Horsetail? Lamb’s ear? ”How can you tell the difference? They all look green to me.” Galekit frowned down at the bundles, trying to make sense of them; he extended a paw to separate an herb from the pile, then remembered Mosspaw and drew back. As little as he knew about medicine (very little; he couldn't remember if he'd even had kittencough when he was younger), he understood it was important. Probably too important to have dirty paws on it. In an attempt to forestall any further urges to poke around, the gray barely-kitten seated himself, tipping his head toward the fern tunnel in response to Mosspaw's question. ”I was trying to go outside.” It wasn't quite an admission that he'd gotten lost in ThunderClan's camp.

A purr rumbled in her chest as Galekit spoke, and she looked at the herb bundles. [color=#009933]"Yes, they all do look rather similar! But there are some differences, namely in the smell. Watching as he reached out a paw, she suppressed a laugh as he quickly pulled back. She wasn't going to stop his curiosity, and thought that it would be better if she showed him herself to satisfy it. A nimble white paw pulled the herb that the kit had reached for, and another one from a different pile, and set them in front of him. "Here, smell these. Do they smell the same to you? Look at them too. This one is lamb's ear," she gestured to a soft, fuzzy looking leaf, "And this one is daisy. She gestured to the other thick, dark green oval-shaped leaf.

She tilted her head at the kits admission that he had been trying to go outside, and her eyes gleamed with amusement. "Well, this is as outside as you can get, without leaving camp that is!" She purred warmly, happy to have the company.

Great, she’d seen him. Mosspaw had never seemed the yelling type; still, he braced for some sort of comment. Instead, the calico she-cat removed one herb from the pile he’d been hovering over, then another from a further pile, placing them both before him. They looked less similar side by side. Galekit regarded her with confusion until she gave him an open invitation to sniff the herbs, an invitation he accepted and soon regretted when he leaned close to the darker plant (“daisy,” apparently) and sniffed. It was nothing like the comforting nursery scent, that was for sure. Mumbling, ”I’d be sick if I had to eat that,” he turned to investigate the other, fuzzier leaf. To his surprise, its scent was more pleasant than the daisy’s—and different enough for an untrained kit to notice. ”They’re not the same,” Galekit meowed, turning to look at Mosspaw with plain curiosity in his dark eyes. ”What are they for?”

At the reminder, Galekit turned back toward the fern tunnel, his prior interest in the herbs quickly hidden. He knew it was only a matter of time until he was allowed to go outside for real, but there was a reason he spent so much time anywhere but the nursery, messing around with leaves, moss, loose brambles, whatever he could find. ”I wanted to leave camp. I’m almost old enough.” Fortunately, he’d stumbled into something interesting today.

The calico watched with mild amusement as the kit carefully inspected and smelled each herb. She was glad that she had these two in particular, she knew these ones as two she had learned from Amberdawn back on the shore, and found herself silently offering thanks to the SkyClan cat. "The daisy helps soothe stiff joints, and is used in the traveling herbs that are eaten before the journey to the Moonstone. Lamb's ear gives strength and stamina." She smiled as she explained, feeling a little more confident in her knowledge now that she had described the herbs to another cat.

A fond, understanding look crossed her eyes, and she laughed lightly. "Yes, soon you'll be an apprentice. But even then, you'll have to have your mentor or another warrior with you to go out into the forest. Don't worry, I'm sure your ceremony will be soon enough. Until then, you're welcome to come visit! Or maybe, if you ask nicely enough, you can talk Emberheart into taking you to the top of the ridge around the camp."

Galekit had never been particularly happy about kithood before and doubted he ever would be again, but he was suddenly quite glad he’d never had to deal with stiff joints. Given the option, he’d take them over the daisy. Then he remembered he’d be on his Moonstone journey someday, and the moment abruptly vanished. Frowning, he sniffed the daisy leaf again; it wasn’t much better than it had been a few seconds ago. He’d just have to get used to it—or convince whoever went with him to let him skip it. How far a walk could it really be? Another question wormed its way to the forefront of his mind. Mosspaw wasn’t strictly a warrior, but she was an apprentice, in a sense. ”Did you have to go to the Moonstone?”

It was almost comical how fast the kit’s face fell. What’s the point of training, then? Before he could make his opinion on the matter known, Mosspaw supplied an idea—a good idea. He wasn’t the best at asking for things, but if it meant getting to see more than just the camp and the nursery without getting in trouble… ”It’d better be soon,” Galekit grumbled. Truthfully, he was glad he’d stumbled in here. He could understand why some cats were so interested in working with herbs now; just the two Mosspaw had shown him differed in ways he wouldn’t have seen on his own. He wondered how many plants around camp were the same, usefulness hidden behind plain shades of green. ”I’ll definitely come back,” he decided. This beat one-player mossball by far. "Do we grow those"—he flicked his tail at the bundles—"here?"

The kit's frown brought a look of amusement across Mosspaw's face, and as he leaned forward to sniff the daisy again and ask his question, realization about the source of his concern washed over her. "Yes, I have. Once, when I became a medicine cat apprentice. The herbs are bitter, but the taste doesn't linger very long, and you'll find yourself grateful for them throughout the long journey. Pricklebush and I will have to go again soon, when the medicine cats from all of the clans meet to speak with StarClan." She looked up to the sky, trying to remember what the moon had looked like the night before. Surely the meeting must be soon, and Amberdawn would surely be there this time for her to share her news.

Placing her tail tip under Galekit's chin, she gently lifted up on it. "Hey now, why the long face? You'll be able to go out and learn the territory under the guidance of a warrior, and then once you've learned all you need to know and get your warrior name you'll be able to go out on your own, the time will go quickly. Your mentor will occasionally let you hunt while they follow behind, so it's like you're out on your own, don't worry." She lowered her tail at his grumbling, and gave him a small smile. "I'm sure it will come very soon, and I'd like that very much. Company is always welcome! I look forward to it." She followed his tail to the bundles and shook her head. "They grow all across the territory, some of them grow better near water, while some grow better near rocks, so it depends on what we're looking for. Pricklebush told me that some other ones we have to get from the medicine cats in the other clans, because they don't grow in our territory. So we trade sometimes, but I haven't really been a part of that yet."