A Tiny Wanderer [Open]

Rosekit lounged on a small rock near the center of camp, tail flicking irritably. All the warriors and apprentices were out on patrol, resulting in an eerily empty camp. Usually Rosekit would play with the other kits or her mother, but recently it felt like the same thing every single day. Her apprentice ceremony just couldn't come fast enough.
 
 As she lounged, an idea occurred to her. There was one part of camp she hadn't thoroughly explored; the medicine den. Most of the young cats stayed away from the medicine den - they were more interested in learning about fighting or hunting. Usually Rosekit felt similarly, but today she was at emergency levels of boredom. With a grunt, she hauled herself to her feet and wandered over to the nursery. She was old enough to explore the camp on her own, but her mother would still worry.

    "Mom, I'm going to the medicine den!" Rosekit exclaimed, bouncing over to her mother. Her mother purred softly at her approach before pulling Rosekit in for a tongue bath.

    "Make sure you don't bother the medicine cats too much," Rosekit's mother said in between licks. "Stay out of the way and be polite."

    "Okay, okay! Mooooommmm, I can do it myself!" Rosekit complained, struggling to escape her bath. Her mother huffed slightly, but let her daughter go.

    As Rosekit approached the medicine den, she felt a little pang of nerves. She hadn't properly met either of the medicine cats, Plumleaf and Smokestep, and had little idea of what to expect. Reaching the entrance of the den, Rosekit cautiously poked her head in.

Smokestep was still getting used to the change of moving from the warriors den, to the medicine den. Here, things were different, and new, and strange... here, she didn't sleep next to Firepool. She shared the den with Plumleaf, sure... but it wasn't the same. This morning, she was laying on her belly with an assortment of herbs at her paws. She knew the names for them - she'd been memorizing them, of course - but their purposes still mostly eluded her.

It didn't help that she was incredibly distracted... so much so that when Rosekit first poked her head into the den, she didn't notice. It was only when she happened to glance over several moments later that the kit's silhouette startled her back into the real world. Smokestep blinked several times, her mouth forming a perfect "o" in surprise, before she softened her gaze and said quietly, "Hello there."

Her eyes still adjusting to the darkness, Rosekit squinted into the depths of the cave. The voice sounded vaguely familiar - she had heard it in passing - but she couldn't figure out which medicine cat it was who spoke.

"Who are you?" she asked, with only a small amount of squeak in her voice. She paused, then remembered her manners. "My name is Rosekit! I hope you don't mind. Camp was so boringggg." Rosekit took a few steps into the den, and her nose was immediately flooded with competing scents of herbs. Overwhelmed, she sneezed several times, then licked her chest fur to cover her embarrassment.

"I'm Smokestep," she replied. "The SkyClan... um... medicine cat apprentice." She smiled, waving her tail. "You're not feeling poorly or anything, are you?" Smokestep asked worriedly, rising to pad over and look more closely at the kit. Smokestep remembered when Rosekit was born... she hadn't assisted, but she'd watched Plumleaf handle it so expertly. The kit was big for her age, nearly as big as Smokestep herself.

Rosekit smiled and shook her head. "Unless a cat can die from boredom, I'm great!" she mewed. Glancing around, she took in the piles of herbs curiously. Tilting her head, she stepped towards one of the piles and took a sniff, then immediately regretted it. The pile was extremely pungent, causing Rosekit to jerk her head back. "Do you ever get used to the smells?" she asked.

An amused smile followed Rosekit's exclamation of boredom, and Smokestep watched as the curious little one moved forward to examine a bundle of the herbs at her paws, only to reel back in surprise at the sharp scent. The smoky tabby chuckled gently. "That's garlic," she explained. "It's good for rat bites, and preventing infection... but it does have a very strong smell."

She took a paw, scooting a separate pile slightly closer to the kit. "Try those. It's lavender... smells much better. And yes, you do get used to the smells. Sometimes it all blends together, so it's very important that medicine cats can tell the difference."

Rosekit's head tilted as Smokestep taught her about the stinky garlic. She cautiously leaned forward to sniff the new pile, then purred softly as the sweet scent enveloped her. "I prefer this one for sure!" Rosekit mewed.

She squinted at the apprentice, flicking her tail in thought. "Hang on, aren't apprentices supposed to have 'paw' at the end of their name? How do you have your full name already?" Rosekit's eyes brightened slightly. Was it possible to earn your name sooner than she'd thought?? The kit leaned forward, eager for the answer.