a light in the dark [C]

When patrols left midday, Cloverheart hurried to join them. She had little to offer to the band of warriors as they tracked towards the river, except quiet mutterings and sharp glances. But it was a good chance for her to take a breath, and step into the territory; for more utilitarian purposes, to gather any herbs she couldn't manage to find during leaf-bare, and to replace the ones she'd lost recently. The rest of the cats that had been issued on the hunt dispersed, spreading out further inland and down along the river. And that left the medicine cat alone with Poppyshine, their newest deputy and the sound of bubbling water.

Hovering near the water, Cloverheart leaned over the bank, watching her reflection waver and ripple against the current. She hummed after a moment, then leaned away to look at the calico accompanying her. She wouldn't call herself overly close with Poppyshine, but she was a kind cat, and a frequenter in her den in recent days. Nodding, Cloverheart mewed, "Don't let your old medicine cat get in your way, Poppyshine. Go ahead, fish. I'll be... around. Maybe I'll fish with you, maybe I'll force you to pick herbs for me." She snickered, dry, then stepped away to allow the deputy room to settle by the water.

The member 'xaandiir' has done the following action : Dice roll

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'Hunting Dice' : 5

Undeterred by the medicine cat's sharpness, Poppyshine pressed forward with her ever-present smile and chipper words about herb hunting. Cloverheart flicked an ear at the calico, but didn't say anything more. Were it anyone else, she might have rolled her eyes at them, muttered something to herself and curl her lip into an expression more like baring teeth, less of the smile she intended to put on. But Poppyshine... she'd been a bolt of sunshine all her little life, and she was one of few cats Cloverheart allowed herself to like. Not get close, but like well enough. With a shake of her head and a faint smile, the medicine cat turned away, ranging further upstream, leaving Poppyshine to her hunt.

The river was always a good place for herb collecting, and that was especially apparent with the warmer new-leaf air. Plants thrived this close to the bank; not all of them useful, but many of them. Not far away, Cloverheart had already ran into a shrub dotted with purple flowers, its leaves soft and fuzzy like kitten-down; and lower ones, too, leaves sharper and plant round and beautiful golden. Nothing rare, but things she would need anyway. Maybe I can find some feverfew or watermint if I keep going... But these were good enough, for now– and good enough for a sudden idea that popped into her head. Taking a few fuzzy leaves from the purple-flowered bush and a few of the golden flowers between her teeth as gingerly as she could, Cloverheart turned on her pads and returned to Poppyshine's side, just as she pitched a fish onto the bank. Dropping her small collection, Cloverheart nodded towards the fish, humming, "Good catch. I'm glad our deputy knows how to hunt. But," and she gestured a loose paw towards the mussed pile of plants, "Can you tell me what either of these are? They're both pretty common, and you might need to know them yourself, one day. You should know at least one of them, since you hang around so often." There was a subtle warmth to the medicine cat's voice, and she was smiling in earnest as she reclined back onto her haunches.

Poppyshine put her nose to the herbs Cloverheart had brought back, sniffing them carefully and looking genuinely thoughtful over what they could be. Cloverheart's smile grew wider, looking actually fond of the deputy, but her grin came with a slow shake of her head. "You're wrong, but I appreciate you actually guessing. I see where you got those." A loose paw waved in the direction of the fuzzy leaves she'd brought back. "These are mallow leaves. They're not good for much besides stomachaches, but that's still important. And these," her paw twitched towards the golden leaves, "are marigold leaves. It's a lot more versatile than mallow leaves are. It can help bleeding, infection... even old joints, but I don't use it for that so much. Still, it's a good, basic herb to keep around, and you can find it almost everywhere on our territory. If I wanted tansy and mint, I'd probably have to cross Sunningrocks and ask Dovefrost for them." Cloverheart's nose wrinkled, almost instinctually. She'd never had a problem with ThunderClan's medicine cat, and he'd never been unkind to her, but any friend of Beechfang's made her stomach curl. Shaking her head, the little medicine cat rose back to her paws, flicking an ear towards Poppyshine.

"You know, I'm almost sad Perchstar made you deputy. If I'd known you cared about what I do, I would have dragged you to Highstones a moon ago. Or, at least stuffed you into my den so we didn't get shredded trying to find StarClan." Her words fell away, and she looked at the calico sidelong, almost studying. Any further praise was left unsaid, but the longer Cloverheart stared at Poppyshine, the more confident she was in Perchstar's choice. She would have been a good apprentice, but she's better helping the Clan from the warrior side. The cats falling all over her might be a bit bitter if I took her away, too. She let out a little noise of amusement, and without explanation, turned away with a whisk of her tail. "I can teach you more, if you'd like. Everything's coming to life again, and there's plenty to be found down by the river."

Moreso than any warrior she'd tried to talk to about her herbs in the past, Poppyshine was attentive. Whole and truly interested, green eyes sparkling, smiling and skipping when she fell in at the medicine cat's side. "Kits? You? I never would have guessed," the she-cat teased, trotting along the river. If Cloverheart had to guess who wanted kits the most out of everyone in the forest, she would have pointed at Poppyshine every time. Even without saying it, it was apparent in the deputy, and had been since she'd come into the world. In a softer tone, "I'm sure you'll make a good mother, when the time comes. I hope to see them someday." And with that, the sentimentality was gone from her.

Tail flicking to and fro, Cloverheart eyed the vegetation around them as they went. New-leaf was easily her favorite season, if for no reason other than how alive the world looked. And this especially, after the particular harshness of leaf-bare and the Dark Forest's reign... it was soothing, in a way she couldn't properly voice, to see things looking right again. And with all the greenery came the return of precious herbs, and her eyes had already skimmed a few useful plants. Drawing up to a halt, she turned to Poppyshine, mewing, "Let's start easy. Every cat in RiverClan knows what rushes are, and if they don't, a good box on the ears should rattle some sense into them. But," she nodded towards a cluster of healthy looking stalks that had cropped up closer to the water's edge. "They're for more than reinforcing camp walls, or making your nest look pretty. They make good binds, and can set broken bones easy enough." She turned away from the water, looking further inland, to a group of bushes dotted with little white leaves. "That over there, that's feverfew. It looks a lot like daisy; telling them apart just takes practice. It does exactly what the name implies. If I look a little closer, I'm sure I could find some fennel a little farther inland. Tall, with yellow flowers and spiky li'l leaves. If you break the stem open and drink what's inside, it helps with hip pain."

Pausing for a breath, Cloverheart wandered a little inland, closer to the feverfew she'd pointed out earlier. "Don't let me prattle on about every single herb I know, or we'll be here all day. But these little ones that grow everywhere, that are more useful than most warriors realize– I want you to remember these ones."