Passing down the knowledge

Batsong sat in the med cat den looking over her various piles of herbs. They had been nearly sorted by her earlier . It had taken awhile but the med den was finally out of its disarray it had fallen into since burning had dissappeared. She hoped soon he would be back. She always was curious about being med cat… she did not like fighting so it sounded nice to be the med cat … but she always thought it would happen under better circumstances… she had no real official mentor and fealt like she was thrown into the deep end on this whole thing.

She was a formidable warrior and had seen plenty of battles and was a good hunter… but none of that was helping Aton in here. The herbs were many to try and memorize and without a mentor to rely on for backup she fealt oftentimes like she had no idea what she was doing and was not qualified to be doing this. She sat down disheartened . She wanted to do her best but it was so much to try and learn. She had been on several herb hunts so that helped a little but without full lessons from someone who knew what they were doing she fealt so lost.

She then got an idea … smallbean the deputy! He used to be a med cat. Maybe he could help her? She wondered. She had not known him super well but they both were wanting to help windclan right??

She confidently stood up and went to the deputy’s den to see him.

S-smallbean?? she meowed at the entrance to the deputy den she had a stutter since kithood and it had never left her.

Do you t-t..th-… think you c-could help me w-with some medicine t-r…tr-training? she nervously called out. She was a very kind hearted cat but so shy and reserved.

She shuffled back and forth on her paws nervously

The sound of his own name started Smallbean from his thoughts. "Hm?" He whipped his head around, panicked eyes catching the dark silhouette that stood in the entryway of the den. "O-Oh... Hello Batsong." The newly-appointed medicine cat was relatively calm in demeanor, he took it as a sign that there was nothing to be worried about. Catching his breath, he kept his ears raised to show that he was listening to her request... which completely caught him off guard. "..what? OH." He scrambled across the den to meet Batsong. He never took into consideration that she didn't exactly have a mentor. He supposed that he was the closest that she would have to one. Stars, why didn't he offer earlier? Luckily, Smallbean still remembered most of his training. He had, after all, sustained himself purely on herbs in order to return to the clans.

"Yeah, y-yeah, of course." Squeezing out of the den, he led Batsong back to the medicine den. "So... are you excited to be a medicine cat?" He nearly cringed at his own awkward attempt to initiate conversation. Maybe he should just stick to teaching. Reciting facts was something that he could do easily- as long as he wasn't put on the spot.

The scents of herbs wafted from the medicine den as he approached, which he noted was very neat and organized. "The herbs are neatly sorted." He thought aloud, glancing over the piles. He supposed he should start teaching her, since there wasn't much else to say. He paused. "So... um... Before I begin, is there anything that you know about herbs already? I... want to know your current skill set so I know what to teach you first."

Batsong followed him back over to the med den. She purred a little satisfied that he approved of the organization she had worked on.

"erm y-yes I am excited... j-just getting used to it I g-guess she responded quietly.

The shy she cat sat next to him and though about what she had leared so far.

"w-well... I have been on a couple herb hunts and I le-learned a lot on those

She flicked her tail at some chickweed she had neatly stored. "Dovefrost...back when h-he was helping us taught me this is good for green-cough" she was suprised that she had remembered that since it was so long ago but the memory was clear as ever.

"Of c-course over here we have the common poppy s-seeds for pain" she pointed to the little seed piles. Every warrior who had been through battle knew these so that was easy for her. She had seen many a battle in her time as a warrior defending windclan and faught alongside smallbean a number of times with the dark forest and the forgotten order.

D-dovefrost also taught me juniper berries for belly aches and breathing control she recited... looking around however the den seemed to be out of stock of this at the moment.

"Finally .... h-he taught me Chicory which is for traveling h-herbs she recited.

She glanced at her deputy wondering how much of this was right. She was almost certain of these answers but Smallbean had alot more time as med cat than herself.

"Anything f-further you c-can help me with or teach is g-greatly appreciated" she grinned a little. She was a very kind cat, and respected the deputy alot but was just a little shy at first.

"oh and I s-supose I already knwo about helping queens during kitting... the ga-gathering was a bit of a learning experience in that regard... having been a mother also helps" she quietly added on. She had a kit of her own who was lost as an apprentice back when she was still a warrior

(She didnt break any rules as far as kits when a med cat just to be clear that happened when she was a warrior)

She glanced at him with a small grin "I just want to m-make sure I am as r-ready as possible if I need to h-heal my clanmates she purred. She wanted to protect them and right now felt underprepared.

Smallbean's eyes darted to herb piles as Batsong mentioned them, subconsciously noticing what needed to be restocked soon and what would be good for a while. Even just being in the place of a medicine cat for a short time was putting him back into the mindset. "Well, you seem to know most of your herbs well, good job." He muttered. "But unfortunately a lot of what the learning experience for a medicine cat is hands on, knowing the herbs only does so much- kinda like how you'd spar with a clanmate while learning training to be a warrior. You can know the moves, but putting them into action is a whole other kind of practice." Hopefully an analogy would help Batsong- she was previously a warrior, right? He didn't doubt that she'd pick up on this quickly, though. In many ways, she reminded him of himself.

"But... Knowing the herbs is the first step, and I can at least teach you how to use them. Besides, you probably already know how half of these work. You were a warrior, right? Surely you've had your wounds treated." A brief pause fell as he plucked a few leaves from their neat piles. "Besides, it's mostly just things like kit births and broken limbs that need hands-on practice, and you've had experience with at least one of those already." An awkward chuckle left him as he thought about the previous gathering. He shuddered.

He supposed that since Batsong had mentioned Chicory, he might as well tell her about the rest of the traveling herbs. It was one of the most common plant wraps a medicine cat would make, considering how medicine cats were in charge of taking apprentices to the moonstone. "Chicory, specifically, is good for easing pangs of hunger. I've personally never used it in my traveling herb wraps, but it's actually not a bad idea to use. You're going to need to learn how to make traveling herb mixes as a medicine cat because you have to take apprentices to the moonstone. I think it'd be good to start out with that." Grabbing a beech leaf, he laid it down flat on the sandy floor in front of him. "This is a beech leaf, they're used to wrap up all the leaves. You put it down first. Then..." He trailed off, reaching for one of Sorrel, Daisy, Chamomile, and Burnet. He paused before also taking some Chicory root, but left it to the side. "You take Daisy leaves [for aching joints], Chamomile [for strength], Sorrel [for strength and thirst], and Burnet [for stamina], and you put them on top of the Beech leaf, then take the edges of the Beech leaf and fold them inward like this." Leaning forward, he delicately folded the Beech leaf overtop of the others, pressing down the edges so they'd stay. "And there you have it. I didn't put the Chicory root in the herb wrap because it'd be difficult to chew roots on top of all the leaves, but feel free to use it after the herb wrap has been eaten." He stepped backwards, leaving room for Batsong to take his place. "Why don't you give it a try?"

Batsong was so happy to have a previous med cat show her some things. This was very helpful for her and she watched closely giving Smallbean her full attention. She nodded at and appreciated his analogy about herbs and when to use them.

She smiled a little bit at his chuckle of the previous gathering and kits.


Batsong watched carefully as he made a nice wrap of traveling herbs. She repeated after him all the herbs he used as he did it so she could see them and hear their names to reinforce the memory of them.

She did as he showed her when he recomended she should try too.

Ok, first up was the beech leaf which she laid out nice and flat on the med den floor. She followed his example well and soon she had a herb wrap next to his that looked well.

She smiled with a nod. Having someone guide her was so much easier and she appreciated so much him taking time out of his day to help her out with getting up to speed on all of this. She felt she should tell him this... she was never great with words and always stuttered over herself but she did her best.

"Tha-thanks smallbean... It m-means alot to me to h-have some help in all this... b-being a full warrior and t-then switiching is kinda ch-challenging" she meowed with a smile and nod of her head.

Batsong had copied his directions remarkably well. It seemed that she was quite dexterous, a skill that would prove useful during her time as medicine cat. In no time at all Batsong had a traveling herb wrap laying in front of her, nearly identical to the one Smallbean had put together. "W-Wonderful! Now you have traveling herbs ready for your first moonstone journey." He tried to sound enthusiastic.

There was a moment of silence that fell between them following Batsong's nod and smile. Smallbean felt like he had to fill the silence, worried that the moment would fall into awkward territory, but to his relief Batsong spoke, sparing him from what would have been an awkward attempt to converse. He smiled at her expression of gratitude and confession of difficulty. "Of course!" He hummed. "You know..." he paused, averting his gaze to the herbs in front of them. "I was in your paws, once. I get it, I'd been a warrior for a long time before I became a medicine cat, and it was so difficult for me. The conditions of my becoming a medicine cat were complicated, though." He visibly shuddered, recalling the events of the Asylum. "You remind me a lot of myself, though. I... I can say with confidence-", what mild confidence he had, at least, "-that you'll do just fine. You'll be a great medicine cat, even."

It was foreign to him to give himself out like this. He'd always wanted to compliment and praise the cats he taught or mentored, but he hadn't opened like this in a while, even if it was vague. He felt exposed, but still managed to feel safe in the presence of Batsong. Now he felt awkward, an anxious feeling stirring in his stomach. He needed to move on. "So, uh... Is there anything specific you want to learn about? I'm not going to try teaching you everything about herbs right here right now, there's far too much and you'd probably forget most of it. I can still teach you bits as your medicine cat journey goes on, though. But while I'm here, I could teach you a few more things, if you'd like?" The preposition was rushed in an attempt to move on from the last statement.