Smudging

It hadn't been long since Sagelight had been commanded to bedrest that things got even worse. Honeysong had fled camp in the middle of the night, nowhere to be found. The lynx point tom couldn't help but think somehow it was his fault, that the pressure from his wrongdoings had driven her away. If she didn't want to be found, however, he wouldn't pressure her. He could only pray to StarClan that she was safe. Sagelight did miss his niece, her quiet company in the den had been comforting after a long day. And...Spottedstar was suffering just as much as he was, that was his daughter that had run away.

The medicine cat flicked his ears with a heavy sigh, rising to his paws. It was time for another herb gathering, and now, he noted with a pang of sadness, he didn't have an apprentice to go with him. He padded over to his herb store, taking note of what he was low on and what he could do without collecting today. Once he had his list made up in his head, he left the comfort of his den, out into the warm sun. His Clanmates were milling about in the heat, some lounging, others sharing tongues, still others returning from patrols or bringing back fresh-kill. Sagelight took a moment to stretch, joints popping lightly as he did so. Stars, maybe he was getting old. He certainly wasn't young as he once was, that was for sure.

The stocky medicine cat made his way over to the entrance of camp and sat by it, squinting as he peered around at the other cats. Surely someone would go with him. Spottedstar would probably prefer it if he had some bodyguards to keep him safe. He raised his head, voice ringing clearly around camp. "Hey, anyone want to go herb gathering with me?"

Smokepaw was stretched out near the apprentices' den, trying to will away the awful greenleaf heat that had taken over the forest. Long fur, it turned out, wasn't conductive to staying cool. She'd been out hunting earlier, and was making the attempt to do nothing...

...Except her tail twitched restlessly. How could others stand just lazing around camp? Smokepaw certainly couldn't. Maybe she'd go out hunting again, or with one of the border patrols. Spar with one of the other apprentices. Literally anything had to be better than this.

Lifting her head at the sound of a voice, Smokepaw sprang to her paws. Herb gathering? Hmm. "Need help?" Smokepaw approached the older medicine cat curiously. It had to be rough for him now that his own apprentice had seemingly vanished. Screw it, she'd help Sagelight if it got her out of camp. And maybe she could learn something new along the way. Smokepaw's body language probably screamed that she wanted out of camp, anyways. She just hoped that the medicine cat would take pity on her.

Bloodstrike dropped a fat squirrel into the fresh kill pile and had pivoted on his heel to go looking for a rabbit. He was determined to catch one... Then Sagelight called out, clearly needing assistance. Bloodstrike had heard that Hineysong disappeared, but for the life of him he couldn't imagine why. Something must have happened to her.

He saw that Smokepaw had already padded up to him, but he figured having at least one warrior with them might be a good idea. He frowned as the rest of the clan simply thought that one apprentice was good enough.

"Don't everyone rush over there at once you bunch of lazy lay-abouts!" he growled at the others as he approached Sagelight. He was starting to care less and less what the other warriors thought of him, now that he was in their ranks and they had to have a certain amount of respect for him.

"I'll come along. I can pick herbs and fight if needed." he offered with a tip of his ears. He glanced back at the rest of the clan and saw that at least a few looked guilty. Maybe it was the heat that made them so especially useless right now...

Herb Hunting Rules:

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His call had drawn Smokepaw to him, and soon after Bloodstrike joined them as well. While Bloodstrike was an...interesting cat, it did make Sagelight feel a little better that they would have the protection of a warrior while they went looking for herbs. The medicine cat himself could certainly defend himself if he had to, as he was warrior-trained as well, but he never really liked to. It was difficult and disorienting to him, with his vision and hearing issues.

Sagelight nodded towards the two younger cats as they joined him, smiling despite the heaviness in his heart. He still wasn't quite back to his old self, but his eyes were clearer and his pelt was less unkempt as it had been, which was a big improvement. It was nice to be in the company of Clanmates that weren't sick or injured for once. "Thanks for joining me, you two," he mewed as he led the way out of camp. "The ridge here is good for hunting for herbs, I thought we could start there today." He found that his pawsteps were tracing the path he had taken the last time he had gone herb hunting in the area, which brought back some unpleasant memories. A shudder ran down his spine but he ignored it, picking up his pace to stretch his legs some.

When they neared the good area for herbs, the medicine cat waved his tail to signal they stop. He turned to face them, smiling. It was almost like he was teaching a new apprentice, or rather, two. "So...I know you two are unfamiliar with herbs, so I guess the best way you can help me is to watch me first to get the hang of it. Follow me." He padded off over the growing rocks and pebbles, keeping his nose to the ground to scent for any herbs. After a few moments, his tail flicked as he spotted a flash of yellow in the corner of his eye. He purred with recognition as he came upon some familiar little, round yellow flowers. "Ah! Tansy!"

He pulled up the flowers with his teeth and trotted proudly back to his charges. "Zee, loogk! Voumd zomfing good!" Carefully, he set the flowers down on a clean patch of ground and addressed Smokepaw and Bloodstrike again. "I know you don't really know what you're looking for, but I've found that herbs usually have a different, more pungent scent than normal grasses and plants. So if you smell something different, just holler and I'll come look. Thanks for your help, by the way, I really appreciate it."

The member 'Aspen' has done the following action : Dices roll

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'Effect Dice' : 6

"Hey, Bloodstrike," Smokepaw greeted the taller tom. She had no problem with him joining them at all, really. They'd hunted together quite a bit throughout Smokepaw's apprenticeship, and there were certainly worse cats to be around. Not that she was going to let that be known to anyone. Either way, she was an apprentice still. Nothing was between them, now.

"Are there any herbs in particular you're looking for?" Smokepaw's curiosity must've shown on her face. She certainly had no intention of replacing the currently-missing Honeysong, but Sagelight looked like he could use the help, honestly. And herb knowledge could always come in useful, even as a warrior.

The apprentice watched the medicine cat thoughtfully. It looked like he was just sniffing out herbs, not unlike how she'd sniff for scents of prey. It couldn't be that much different, Smokepaw figured. The medicine cat did offer a bit of explanation, which was helpful.

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Smokepaw inhaled, noting that the medicine cat was right. If she focused, she could differentiate the scents of plants, though she was unsure of the herbs' uses. "Like these?" She asked, turning to Sagelight.

The member 'kjSage' has done the following action : Dices roll

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'Effect Dice' : 4

Bloodstrike gave Smokepaw a smile and a nod in greeting. "Hey Smokepaw." He meowed. He listened to Sagelight speak, listening very carefully to his instructions. He watched the medicine cat sniff around for herbs as well, whereas Bloodstrike scanned the whole area for anything that looked different or stood out. In no time at all, Sagelight said... something... and sounded excited. Bloodstrike saw him triumphantly return carrying some round yellow flowers. He stared for a few seconds, not sure what to say.

"...Y-yaaayyy?" He smiled, but it was obvious a big, cheesy, nervous one. So herbs were stinkier (great) than other plants. Smokepaw immediately went to work, so Bloodstrike put his nose to the ground too and began to sniff for... things.

He sniffed and sniffed until he wasn't sure what he was smelling anymore. He was even getting a bit light-headed. Bloodstrike desperately tried to tune out the smell of birds, mice and other things that he normally sniffed around for. Eventually... he nose came across a weird... plant thing that smelled.... weird. Like... a stronger weird. Stars, he'd make a terrible medicine cat!

"I.... think I found a thing..." And with that, he plopped down next to it and waited for Sagelight to inspect it once he was done looking at Smokepaw's plant.... things.

The member 'Bloodstrike' has done the following action : Dices roll

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'Effect Dice' : 6

Smokepaw called out for him so Sagelight came trotting over, peering at the herbs she had found. He stuck his nose close to the plant and inhaled deeply. "...Chervil!" he declared, plucking the leaves from between the rocks. "Good job, Smokepaw!" He carried the leaves back to his growing pile of herb stock. He didn't quite hear Bloodstrike's call but as he looked around for the young warrior, he spotted him sitting by a group of plants with a puzzled look on his face. Sagelight smiled to himself as he joined him, squinting at the herbs he had found. In a moment, the medicine cat's face lit up just like when he was younger, his eyes practically glowing with excitement. "Amazing, you found chickweed! This treats greencough, excellent find, Bloodstrike!"

After depositing the chickweed onto the pile, Sagelight left his two companions to find more herbs and went off to search for himself, nosing around the area with his tail up and alert. A happy purr escaped his chest as he came across more chervil. He pulled it up from the ground and came padding back to the pile, squinting at the other two cats. "You two, look around a little more. Hopefully you find more, just a little longer then we can head back home. Sound good?"

The member 'Aspen' has done the following action : Dices roll

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'Effect Dice' : 4

She'd found something that was useful? Yes, this was much better than sitting around in camp, doing nothing. She studied the appearance of the plants that she and Bloodstrike had found, hoping that she would be able to remember their scents and appearances. But for the apprentice it was hard to pick out the differences between them and any other plant. Nearly as hard was attempting to ignore the scent of birds and squirrels that she would normally be hunting. Was this what Sagelight did all the time? Did he not feel the urge to chase after the abundant prey in their surroundings?

Smokepaw lifted her head, eyes scanning the ground once more for herbs. Trying to find them based on visual differences alone wasn't feasible, she decided. She had to focus to block out prey, but her nose seemed like the best way of finding the herbs at this point.

"I think I found similarly useful herbs... I hope." She called out, then abruptly sneezed at the strength of the herb scents in the air.

The member 'kjSage' has done the following action : Dices roll

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'Effect Dice' : 5

Bloodstrike sat up straighter at Sagelight's praise. So he found something that treats something that he didn't know anything about. Sweet! He also made a mental note that he needed to remember to speak up. He sometimes forgot that Sagelight was hard of hearing.

"I'm in no rush to go home, Sagelight." Bloodstrike said, louder this time. "This is more fun than I thought it would be." He declared happily before putting his nose back to the ground like a bloodhound. He moved in a sweeping pattern now... much like a minesweeper. He'd find everything in this field like this!

His head swept back and forth and his body followed, almost comically. Then a very pungent odor hit his nose and he stopped right over the top of the leafy thingy-thing that he found!

"Sagelight come look! It's right here!" Bloodstrike kept his nose in a point position just above the plant, far more resembling a dog at this point than a cat. His voice yelling for Sagelight rattled the herb a bit, his excitement getting to him over such a small thing. His tail lashed back and forth out and his muscles trembled out of excitement. He was mildly beginning to wonder if he was sniffing too hard and inhaling some energy juice pollen or something.

The member 'Bloodstrike' has done the following action : Dices roll

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'Effect Dice' : 6