Open Office Hours [open to all]

OOC: An open topic for all to join. I recently took a survey of if people would be interested in this and the results were pretty positive so I hope you all enjoy :). The opening post here will try and give insight into how Batsong is slowly trying to look for those maybe interested in becoming MCA. Please keep in mind MCA is decided via voting so posting here does not guarantee the spot but it might help your odds if you can show character development towards herbs and the med cat like ect. ]]



Batsong neatly sorted the last of the newly gathered herbs that she had collected from her most recent herb hunt. It had gone well and alot of useful things had been found. She worked efficiently putting them neatly stored away for whenever they would be needed which was hopefully a distance future.

She had learned alot over the past couple weeks about the herbs and being a med cat in general. It had not been an easy path and it was filled with difficult times that she had to overcome and push though and persevere to get by. Many times she wanted to give up and go back to being a warrior like she was before. However, she knew that her clan desperatly needed a medicine cat and that she was chosen for this task. She would do anything within her power to protect her clanmates. As a warrior she constatnly was in battles that did just that so buckling down and spending long hours memorizing herbs and their uses was something she forced herself to do even if it did not come the most natural at first.

Now however, there was a shift in her confidence. She fealt that she was starting to get a handle on things, knew them backwards and forwards and could even identify them eyes shut just based on their scents alone. She was gaining experience, had helped wounded warriors and taken care of various problems the elders had.

While there was always more to learn she knew the hardest part was behind her now. Now that she had recently officially become the full clan med cat and had promoted from being mca : something weighed heavily on her mind. She wanted an apprentice and one sooner than later.

There were several reasons for wanting an apprentice.

1) She someone who she could trust to help her look after things, she couldnt be in two places at once and the thought of something happening at camp while she was out gathering herbs was sickening... Sure, smallbean had previous med cat expericne but that was so long ago and it was asking alot of the deputy who already had many tasks, she couldnt overload him with this as well.

2) She never wanted the clan to be put in the situation again where someone had to learn all of this from scratch like she had. With Burningwings sudden disappearance, it was important in her mind that there should always be at least two cats who were knowledgable in the subject of healing and saving lives.

3) She wanted a friend and a companion that was intrested in the topic of herbs and being a med cat, someone who she could talk with in the large most of the time empty med den. Batsong was naturally a very shy, reserved cat... who did speak her mind on issues if something really bothered her but most of the times she was not great at meeting new friends as much as she wanted to, her stutter that she had since birth had always made it challenging to speak and having an apprentice would give her what she hoped would be a happy friendship. She had been much happier when she had apprentices in the past: back when she was a warrior. Sadly, Rosepaw(her good friend) and Crowpaw (her daughter) never made it to warrior as they both died. It pained her alot losing them but she was ready to try again and this time she was convinced she would not fail an apprentice now ... not like that again. While Rosepaw and Crowpaw's deaths were not her fault she did blame herself a little and she would be fiercely protective of anyone who showed interest in perhaps becoming her apprentice of med cat.

Walking out to the entrance doorway of the med den she looked out at the camp clearing where several of her clanmates were gathered. With a shy smile she called out to the group.

"h-...hello all" she stuttered and had to clear her thoat a little with a slight cough before continuting louder so they could actually hear.

"W-would anyone be interested in l-learning some h-herbs and healing t-...t.-te..techniques?" she asked with a little tilt of her head curious to see if anyone would actually want this.

It was so warm outside. Though he loved his apprentice duties, Flutterpaw kept finding excuses to lay on the edge of camp. His small frame almost disappeared in the long grass when he did so, making him hard to find for anyone but Adderpaw, who always knew where he would go. So he'd spent nearly an hour today laying there, in small intervals. Fluffy black fur soaked up the sun, warming him to the bones. It was so nice... he could just stay there forever, if he didn't need to run around and hunt. Which he also enjoyed! Just not as much as relaxing in the sun, with the cool breeze brushing his fur, so he was almost too hot but just barely enough that he felt as if the sunlight had filled him from head to toe. Finally finding another moment to lie down, Flutterpaw let out a quiet sigh of satisfaction... then, he heard a voice from camp.

Curious, his head poked up, tiny ears visible among the long grasses. The medicine cat... Bat-something, right? He'd never talked to her before, that he could remember. She wanted to teach about herbs? Well, he wouldn't turn down free information... and maybe he could make a new friend! It would be so cool if he could heal Adderpaw's wounds himself. Sometimes it was frustrating to only be able to help with words. Maybe he could physically help his brother feel better, too. A cheerful smile on his face, the small black tom pranced over to Bat-something. "I'd love to learn a bit," he said encouragingly. His voice was small but warm as the sunlight that had begun heating up his pelt. "What sort of things were you gonna teach?"

Batsong was happy to see that someone was interested in herbs. Smiling back at the cat that looked alot like herself but more fluffy and still not full grown she nodded.

"F-fl ... Flutterpaw? yes?" she stuttered but still smiling warmly back friendily.

"It's Batsong g-good... to hmm f-formally meet you" she had always known of the apprentice. She was a quieter more reserved cat so meeting new cats was difficult for her and not her usual but she did know about him just from being around and such.

He seemed to be super eager and positive which she appreciated alot. He seemed to enjoy sun-napping which she also really liked, however today was almost too hot for herself so she was under the cover of some shade.

"Right then, so t-t..today we will b-be covering the basics of h-helping out your injured c-clanmates." she explained to him. "I w-..will always d-do my best to ensure everyone's s-safe but I c-cant be everywhere at once" she explained to him softly while prepping out some herbs for demonstration.

Pointing her tail to the herbs she listed the starter ones that she would teach him today.

"Marigold, Poppy seeds, Cobwebs" she told him.

"If y-you are out and about and s-someone gets hurt these are your best f-friends" she purred explaining.

She used to be a warrior and knew that even just teaching the simple basics to apprentices and anyone else who wanted to could help save future windclan lives.

"Your f-first thing youll want to ensure is s-t..stopping their bleeding. S-secondly you have t-to try and prevent i-infection of the w-wound" she explained

"Marigold c-can do both once chewed up and a-aplied ... so its the miracle one h-here. she took a petal in her mouth and chewed it into a poultice showing him.

"Then you would apply it t-to the wound... it s-should stop the bleeding quickly and as b-bonus it has b-built in anti infectional" she explained. she passed a petal in front of him.

These th-things grow everywhere right now in s-summer so theres plenty to pr-practice on if you w-would like"

"Sec-secondly there is cobwebs. She held a mass out for him to see but she was sure he probably already had seen them around in the back of dens or in corners of camp... they were everywhere really. "I-if marigold isnt around ... p-per say in l-leafbare you can use t-these to stop the bl-bleeding b-but s-since they have no anti infectent... y-you have to be extra careful not to make th-their wound worse"

"So nice big, wad of these yo-you are going to f-firmly press against the wound... t-try and only touch the c-cobweb to the w-wound... your pa-paws and ect can tr-transfer dirt to their open w-wound." She placed the mass of cobwebs on a nearby boulder and pressed down firmly on them using care to not touch it directly... as a demonstration "nice and f-firm c-constant pressure you want to s-stop that bleeding un-until a med-cat can get th-there" she purred warmly.

"and f-finally poppy seeds... they are just used for pain and eaten... d-dont use them on q-queens" hmm that one was alot easier to explain but it was still a really usful herb for common knowledge.

"a-all make s-sense so f-far?" she asked. she would be happy to spend all day talking about herbs but she also didnt want to overwealm the cat with too much information... She would rather him know the basics solid than having too much to remember and forgetting it all

Batsong, Batsong, Batsong. Flutterpaw began repeating the medicine cat's name in his head so he wouldn't forget it later. She seemed very nice, if a little bit shy. That was okay! They could still be friends. When she expressed interest in teaching him, the small tom sat down, looking up expectantly, One ear twitched as he prepared to listen. It seemed fairly simple, even if it was a little bit hard to keep track of at first. Marigold you chewed and put on wounds, cobwebs patched things up, and you ate poppy seeds unless you were a queen. Well... if he and Adderpaw were out on patrol and the tom got a torn claw, he guessed he could probably help with the wound now! That was helpful, at least. Curiously, the apprentice prodded the marigold petal with one paw. "'Kay... I think I got it. How much marigold do you wanna chew, though? Does it matter? And how many poppy seeds do you wanna give someone?" His tail twitched thoughtfully. "Also, where d'you find seeds? I don't see 'em lying around on the ground anywhere."

Batsong purred happily hearing his many questions. She had always enjoyed being a mentor when she was still a warrior and perhaps Flutterpaw would like to become an apprentice at some point in the futrue... although she wouldnt pressure him to do so and wouldnt get her hopes too high.


You are asking the right q-qu...q..quesions" she purred with her stutter.

"You w-would be g-generous with the m-marigold. R-rememebr that it is helping to f-fight in-f...infections so plenty to cover the whole w-wound and the s-surounding area" she answered.

She tilted her head... how many poppy seeds? "well... it d-depends on the s-size of the cat... most windclan ca-cats only maybe 2-3 ful-fully grown... Apprentices maybe start w-with one and s-see if they n-need 2 for more pain k-killer...

F-for a big fat riv-riverclan cat?? who e-eats fish all day long? maybe like 5-6 she winks joking a little bit before continuing her lesson.

"y-yeah so we go on herb hunts s-similar to hunting I guess to find them" she explains

"If you w-want you could come with me on the next one w-when its time?" she offered the apprentice