we'll stir the stars around

It was, perhaps, concerning that Mothpaw referred to every instance where she got to leave ShadowClan's camp as an adventure; and often seemed to expect things to go wrong from the start. That wasn't to say she was pessimistic, no - she was going to have fun, no matter what happened! Getting lost was fun with friends, after all; and Amberdawn was certainly a friend to Mothpaw. If she wasn't, she wouldn't be here, right? So it was time to go on an adventure with her friend and fellow medicine cat, to find herbs for ShadowClan's medicine den - she'd realized they were getting low, but despite her lessons with the starry she-cat that often walked her dreams, her poor memory still led her to mixing things up fairly often. She was getting better with practice, but still - hopefully Amberdawn could help her if she got mixed up.

Admittedly, Amberdawn was feeling just a touch nervous about the herb hunting patrol which she had planned to go on with Mothpaw that day. After their last debacle of getting lost while trying to find their way back to the Thunderpath for the Medicine Cat Apprentice ceremony, she wondered how in StarClan's name she'd possibly be able to find her way back to camp after wandering the unfamiliar marshy territory looking for herbs. She had expected that Mothpaw, as the native ShadowClan cat, would know the lands well enough to guide them, but she came to realize that Mothpaw had been absent from the territory for a significant portion of her life and realistically probably knew it about as well as the SkyClan cat did. This second outing couldn't wait, though; Mothpaw needed some practical application for hunting and recognizing herbs.

She exited ShadowClan's camp with Mothpaw at her side, their greetings having been exchanged in the camp. Amberdawn's golden fur stood out in the darkness of the marshlands, and she felt a little uneasy as she stood looking from left to right in the territory she didn't know. "I'm... really not sure where the best place to start is," Amberdawn admitted, shifting her weight nervously from side to side.

"I still don't know that much, so I don't really know," Mothpaw shrugged. She was practicing trying to recognize things by sight, but... "I just know that flowers are pretty and sometimes you can catch bugs that land on them! Maybe we could try the places where I like to do that, first...? There's lots of other plants too, so I'm sure at least a few of them are probably useful!" Perhaps her logic was flawed, but adventure was waiting for her, and she was certainly enthusiastic about it.

Mothpaw's energy reminded Amberdawn a lot of Leaftwirl, her best friend back in her home Clan. She remembered with a fondness the first time the two of them had gone herb hunting when the warrior still had her 'paw name and how it had sparked grand ideas of hide and seek. She wished she'd taken her friend up on that offer at the time instead of promising to do it later; they'd never gotten the time. The SkyClan cat pushed those thoughts away, focusing instead on what it had been like to be on an objectively serious patrol with a cat who never bothered with how serious life could be. Amberdawn usually found it refreshing in her own territory, and she wondered if it might be useful here too. Indeed, Mothpaw suggested places that she'd gone to look for bugs in flowers, and Amberdawn smiled.

"Oh - that sounds perfect, actually! By all means, lead the way!" The SkyClan cat hesitated, then asked only half-jokingly, "Do you remember where they are?"

Mothpaw laughed at her friend's question. "Of course I do! It's not like before... I've been most of the places here before. You know most of SkyClan's territory, right? It's like that!" As she spoke, she led the way through the marsh with confidence. Truthfully, she only mostly knew the territory, but the places were flowers grew were places she remembered. They were pretty, and pretty bugs landed on them, so she spent plenty of time here. "It's nice to do things with friends, isn't it?"

Slowly, the pretty flowers she recalled this place for came into view, as did other plants she couldn't name. "Here we are! I still don't know what most of them are, but I'm sure some of them are probably useful! And even if they're not, you've seen another pretty place, right?" Despite the fact that gathering herbs was certainly an important thing - a fact she recognized, but didn't pay much attention to, truth be told - and that their stocks were slowly getting lower without going back up, her spirits remained high and her head remained firmly in the clouds.

The ShadowClan she-cat's hearty laugh surprised Amberdawn, and for a moment she wondered if she should apologize for assuming Mothpaw wouldn't know, but the she-cat seemed unbothered, speaking confidently and immediately beginning to lead the way. "Alright - that's fair," she meowed in reply, and she nodded brightly at the prospect of searching for herbs with her friend. Amberdawn followed closely, growing more uncomfortable as they left the more solid ground of camp to the marshier ground of ShadowClan's territory. It wasn't unbearable, and in some places it was even sort of dry, but it was certainly different from her home Clan. She hoped they were doing alright - she hated to leave them without care, but ShadowClan needed the help, too.

The pair arrived at the flower patches, and Amberdawn felt she was muddy to her ankles, but she still felt full of energy, her enthusiasm strengthened, as all the colors sprang into view. "Oh, my!" she purred while they approached the wildflowers. "This is beautiful - I didn't know this much color could grow in ShadowClan's territory." She blushed a little under her fur and added apologetically, "It's just always so dark and damp over here when I see it from SkyClan, I didn't expect it."

Amberdawn gazed around for a moment, taking in all the green and white and yellow and blue and red around her. It really was quite a lovely sight; perhaps birds used to gather here dropping seeds, or twolegs had maintained it long ago. Whatever the cause for the foliage, the medicine cat was certain there would be something useful. "Well, uh, I suppose this is a good time to find out what you know so far. You received a mentor in StarClan, didn't you?" she asked, gauging how much she might have to teach her ShadowClan friend.