Torn Claws

Blossompaw slowly limped through camp, nursing her front paw as she made her way to the medicine cat den. Wincing as her bloodied paw brushed against a stick she hadn't noticed in her quest, a small whimper escaped her as she peeked inside, eyes widening as they adjusted to the darkened interior that smelled of various herbs. "Hello?" She mewed, voice strained and shaky with pain. "I got my claw caught while hunting, and I really think it needs looked at... Is someone here that can help me?..." Oh stars, she hoped that Safelight or Honeypaw were here, if they weren't she didn't know what she was going to do. StarClan forbid Wolfcall see her in this state... Some warrior she'd make.

Everything was quiet and peaceful in the medicine den as Honeypaw carefully nipped at the bases of borage leaves, separating them from the rest of the stalk. She had been the only cat in the den; Sagelight had ordered her to stay here and check on their supplies, and to separate the borage leaves, while he went out to run a quick errand. At first, when he had left her in charge of the den for the first time a couple moons ago, she had been very nervous. But now, she felt much more at ease tending to the sweet-smelling herbs by herself. All her past experiences being left alone had also been uneventful, so that made things much easier for her to handle being apart from her mentor.

The strained voice of one of her Clanmates startled her, and she leaped up high into the air, her fur bushed out. She had been so focused on her task that she hadn't even heard anyone come in, and her nose had been filled to the brim with the sharp aromas of flowers and leaves to have scented their arrival. Stars, she still had lots to learn about being a medicine cat.

Honeypaw gulped nervously and mentally prepared herself to face whoever had wandered into the den. This would be her very first patient while being alone in the den without Sagelight's supervision and guidance. Great StarClan, how terrifying! What if she forgot what herbs to use? What if she couldn't find the right ones? What if she hurt one of her Clanmates, or made their illness or injury worse? Oh, she was going to blow it for sure!

"Um, c-coming!..." the little molly squeaked, her voice trembling nearly as much as the other cat's had. She shook her head, trying to clear away the fogs of doubt threatening to consume her, and she took in a few deep breaths to calm her nerves. She could do this. She had to do this.

Turning from the back of the den where all the herbs were kept, Honeypaw approached the apprentice who had entered the den. She recognized the gray tabby as Blossompaw. The first thing she noticed was the apprentice's expression. It was twisted with pain, but she could also see a bit of fear in her sky-blue eyes. Whether she was scared of the fact she was in pain or that someone of higher authority like her mentor or parents would find out she had gotten injured, she wasn't sure.

The second thing she noticed was Blossompaw's deep red paw. Honeypaw stopped in her tracks, the scent of blood finally registering. It looked like the apprentice had torn a claw. Oh, no. She had been hoping and praying to her rather eerily silent ancestors that it would be some kind of false alarm, or that the cat was just looking for Sagelight to ask a question. No, this was a real case. One that she had to face alone! All by herself! With no one to help her!

"O-Oh, goodness, your paw!..." Honeypaw squeaked, closing the gap between the two of them in a few brisk trots. She looked down at Blossompaw's injured paw and winced. It certainly looked painful. Had she ripped out her entire claw or something? "U-Um.... A-Are you okay? N-No, of course you aren't okay, your paw is hurt! S-Sorry!... U-Uhhh...." The medicine cat apprentice screwed her eyes tightly shut, trying to think around her embarrassment. What a stupid question to ask! "H-How did it h-happen?"

Commotion came from one of the dark corners of the den, and Blossompaw limped forward slightly, concerned, before Honeypaw's voice came. Ah, she had probably startled her. Feeling guilty, Blossompaw held still as the other she-cat approached, injured paw held delicately over the den floor. Suddenly the medicine cat apprentice stopped in her tracks, and Blossompaw winced, following her gaze down. It certainly looked as miserable as it felt, and she just knew that she would get a lecture about being more careful. As Honeypaw closed the distance between them and started to speak again in a shaky voice, Blossompaw settled slightly. "I was hunting, and stepped on an old log that was almost buried in the ground... The recent rain must have made it soggy, because my paw plunged right through it, and I couldn't get out right away..... I pulled really hard, and just as I started to fall back, leg free, the pain started. I think my nail broke, I don't know that it's entirely gone though.... I thought I saw a little bit of it before the blood got too bad, but... Great StarClan this hurts. Can you help me?..."

Honeypaw gulped. So it was an injured claw after all. She nervously swished her tail back and forth behind her, struggling to calm her nerves. Could she really do this without Sagelight? Well.... Her uncle wouldn't be back for a while, and she didn't want Blossompaw to remain in pain. She knew she had to at least try. She knew the basics of herbs and how to use them, so she was sure she wouldn't make any devastating mistakes. Any mistakes she did make, she was certain Sagelight would fix them. She could do this. She just had to keep telling herself that. You can do this, Honeypaw. Just keep calm and remember what Sagelight had taught you.

The medicine cat apprentice nodded, trying to look more determined than she actually felt. "O-Okay, let me take a better look at it." That would be the best way to figure out which herbs she would need to treat it. Gently directing Blossompaw over to a mossy nest for patients to rest in, she nestled down next to her and looked at her paw. It was caked in blood, but it wasn't too stale that it would make for a challenge to remove. She began to gently rasp her tongue over her paw, concentrating on not wincing at the irony taste. She worked as swiftly, yet as gently, as possible as to not hurt the apprentice's already damaged paw.

Once the majority of the blood had been cleaned off, Honeypaw leaned forward to observe the claw. Yep, it had definitely been broken. Thankfully, it wasn’t completely gone; she could just barely see a little stump where the rest of the claw had been crudely removed. It should grow back just fine -- well, she assumed claws could grow back -- but she would definitely have to treat it. Let’s see.... I’ll need to make it hurt less for her. I’ll also need to make sure it doesn’t get infected. I’ll probably have to use a poultice for that, so I’ll need something to bandage it up and make sure it doesn’t fall off. And ... some poppy seeds to help her sleep.

Honeypaw stood back up. ”O-Okay. It looks like you broke your claw, but it isn’t completely torn out. I-I sure it will grow back. But for now I’ll, uh, I’ll get some herbs for you. Stay right here.” Well, duh, she’d stay right here, it’s not like she’d want to go anywhere with a broken claw! She was such a squirrel-brain....

The young molly trotted to the back of the den again, minding her previous work as she searched for the herbs she would need to treat Blossompaw’s claw. First, she needed to treat the injury itself and rob it of its pain. What was the saying she developed when Sagelight taught her the uses of herbs? She needed to remember the one for broken claws. ...Use something when claws are ... frayed. Fray. Comfrey. Oh, use comfrey when claws are frayed! She would need to treat the pain of Blossompaw’s torn claw with comfrey.

Next, she would need to prevent the infection. There were herbs to treat infected wounds, but she needed one to prevent it. Don’t infect the ... cats? No. Clan ... friends ... folk. Don’t infect the fold, use leaves of ... oak! A poultice of oak leaves would prevent infections. She would have to mix it with the comfrey poultice.

Now to keep the poultice on her paw.... Use ... something ... to catch the poultices. Catch. Catchweed! Catchweed burrs will catch in a cat’s fur, so using it to keep the poultice in place would be her best bet.

And finally, she needed something to ease the pain. What was that jingle for easing pain? Or did I make one for how to ease pain? How do you ease pain? Laying still, sleeping-- sleeping! Sleep ... poppy sleep ... poppy seed for poppy sleep! Using poppy seeds would induce sleepiness, so Blossompaw would be able to rest easier and forget about the pain.

Feeling much more confident now, giddy that she had been able to remember her little jingles for each herb’s use, she collected the comfrey root, oak leaves, catchweed burrs, and poppy seeds, bundling them up in a beech leaf to easily carry all the herbs back to where Blossompaw rested. She placed the leaf down in front of the injured apprentice and went straight to work: chewing a piece of comfrey root and an oak leaf together in her mouth; spatting it into her paw and dabbit the juices against the injured paw, letting it seep into her fur so it reached her broken claw; gently attaching catchweeds to her paw to keep the poultice in place; and finally shaking out a couple of tiny black seeds out of the poppy head onto her paw and offering them to the apprentice. ”These will help you sleep. When you wake up, Sagelight should be back, and he can do more to help you.”

Blossompaw held out her injured paw as Honeypaw looked it over, and grit her teeth tightly as she began to clean it carefully. The pain was sharp, but bearable, and before long Honeypaw had cleaned it to the point that Blossompaw was able to again see the barely visible stump of claw remaining. Wincing at the sight of her own claw, she looked away feeling a little sick to her stomach. As Honeypaw reassured her, and told her to stay, Blossompaw simply nodded, relieved to hear that the claw should grow back. She settled into a nearby nest, leaving her injured paw dangling over the edge of it as her tail curled around her. She could just hear the quiet rustling from farther in the den, and as she waited her mind began to wander. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad for Wolfcall to find out.... The thought of him coming to visit and sit with her made her pelt flush with heat, and her paw throbbed slightly as her heartbeat quickened. No, he was busy, that was a selfish thought. And besides, she wouldn't want to worry him, no, it was better if this stayed quiet and he didn't find out what a squirrel-brain she was.

Before much longer, Honeypaw was back and the apprentice tried to focus on what she was doing. Her tail twitched as the poultice soaked into her paw, and she resisted the urge to hiss in response to the feeling of it, knowing that it would help. That's what she continued to tell herself as Honeypaw continued, and once she was done Blossompaw rose the paw to look it over gingerly, a low purr rumbling in her chest. Already the throbbing pain in her paw was lessening, and as she looked to Honeypaw she present poppy seeds. "Thank you, Honeypaw, you're the best. Sagelight will be very proud of you." She lapped up the poppy seeds, and as she felt herself drifting off she suddenly lifted her head. "Uhhh, Honeypaw? Can you.... Could you make sure that Wolfcall doesn't hear about this? I don't want him to worry about me...." She mewed as her eyes closed.

Honeypaw let out a shaky sigh once she finally finished, feeling a little light-headed. She had done it! She had done a decent job in healing a patient! The apprentice rolled over onto her side, trying to exhale all the nerves out of her body so she could fully relax. At Blossompaw's inquiry, she lifted her head up to look at her. Her ears tilted back nervously, and she glanced away, thinking of how to respond. She wouldn't want to lie to her brother. But at the same time, if something had happened to her that she wouldn't want Sagelight to grow worried about.... She looked back at the apprentice. "I-I promise not to tell him, not unless he asks. If he does, I-I'm afraid I'll have to. I don't wanna lie to him."

Sleepily, Blossompaw nodded, eyelids closing as the poppy seeds worked their magic. "No no, no lies.... just.... don't...." Her voice trailed off as her tail wrapped over her nose, her chest rising and falling in the peaceful motions of sleep. Her thought would remain unfinished until another day.