paws in the heather, frost on the berries (c)

At some point, Frostpaw had ended up here.

The world still swam, and her heart still felt like a furnace, but she was slowly becoming aware of the slight breeze against her pelt, the weight of her paws. Slowly, carefully, she raised her head, opening her eyes, tasting faint blood in her mouth. Where… right. The medicine den, or what passed for it at the moment. The world still swam around her, fog still lingering in her vision, but she thought she saw…

“Heatherberry?”

It was thanks to Burdockroot that Heatherberry was even standing right now, though her head still felt congested, leaving her normally soothing voice to sound scratchy and nasally. "Yes, it's me. Don't worry, I have a few things that might relieve your woes long enough to get you somewhere better to rest." There were not many herbs left that ShadowClan had not already tried - Burdockroot being the only one of them at the time who was of any use. Something Heatherberry was very grateful for.

Picking up the herbs Burdockroot used before, she gave aid to Frostpaw to chew them. Though as she bent to help the young apprentice, a twinge of pain made her wince: bitws on her legs from the rat swarm that plagued ShadowClan not so long ago.

Parting her thick fur to take a better look, she noticed the bites to be swelling, red, and slightly oozing with puss. She stifled a gasp, only briefly wondering if any of her clanmates bore the same festering wounds as she did. A tentative lick found the bite to be slightly warm. She would need to speak with Burdockroot or Leopardstar to be sure, but the possibility pricked at her mind. Could a wound be so infectious that it spread from ShadowClan to their travel companions...? It wasn't such a farfetched idea.

For now, she would chew some burdock root - something that usually made her laugh - before mixing it with cobnuts to slather on the infected wounds. That would do for now.

She shook her head as she turned to watch Frostpaw swallow the insane concoction she borrowed from Burdock: Lavender, wild garlic, tormentil, coneflower, and lambs ear.

Herbs used:
Lavender x 16 (-1)
Wild Garlic x 15 (-1)
Tormentil x 19 (-1)
Cobnuts x 22 (-1)
Coneflower x 28 (-1)
Burdockroot x 16 (-1)
Lambs Ear x 15 (-1)

Burdockroot - You try your proposed treatment on your patient, and find that you are Successful at temporarily alleviating the symptoms.

Lavender - You try your proposed treatment on your patient, and find that you are Successful at temporarily alleviating the symptoms.

Tormentil - You try your proposed treatment on your patient, and find that you are Successful at temporarily alleviating the symptoms.

Ragweed - You try your proposed treatment on your patient, and find that you are Successful at temporarily alleviating the symptoms.

Cobnuts - You try your proposed treatment on your patient, and find that you are Unsuccessful with your chosen medicine.

Lambs Ear - You try your proposed treatment on your patient, and find that you are Ssuccessful at temporarily alleviating the symptoms.

Coneflower - You try your proposed treatment on your patient, and find that you are Successful at temporarily alleviating the symptoms.

Wild Garlic - You try your proposed treatment on your patient, and find that you are Successful at temporarily alleviating the symptoms.

The world was shifting around her, ever-so-subtly, and so with a sigh, hot air escaping from her maw, Frostpaw laid her head on her paws. She was tired. She was so, so tired, and staying awake felt like clinging to a tree branch ever so high up in the air, and, and things, and, and stuff, and all of a sudden (or maybe not) she smelled the slightly-familiar scent of herbs. Right. Heatherberry wanted her to eat these. Her stomach roiled at the thought, but she wouldn’t- she couldn’t disappoint her, and so, slowly, the apprentice ate the herbs, wincing at the taste. Had- had she done what she was supposed to? Surely… surely, and some of the fog was receding from her thoughts.

Frostpaw lifted her head again, eyes just a bit more clear. “What herbs were those?”

Heatherberry watched with bated breath as Frostpaw indulged in the herbs she'd given her. For a while, there was no movement except for the labored rise and fall of the apprentices flank, her little yellow eyes in a thousand yard stare. And then she stirred. Oh, thank the Stars! Something out of this concoction of herbs worked as Frostpaw raised her head and spoke. It made Heatherberry wheeze uncomfortably as she laughed. Ever the quizzical she-cat. She would choose to explain only a few of the herbs for now, at least until Frostpaw was in a state to fully comprehend. "One was lavender that soothes the mind and slows labored breaths. Another was lamb's ear, and it gives you strength. Ragweed as well, which gives both stamina and strength. A little coneflower to treat illnesses that mimic whitecough.  How are you feeling? Any better than before?"

ooc: I am so sorry this topic completely slipped my mind. pls feel free to remind me if I ever take this long again :D

Laughter? Frostpaw blinked slowly, head on her paws and fire in her lungs. What was there to laugh about? She trusted Heatherberry, however, and surely if she were laughing it couldn’t all be bad, but it was, because her mind was a mess and her paws weak. She had to listen, though. It was- it was something, and she didn’t know what. An opportunity to help, maybe, except that she couldn’t with paws as weak as these, or maybe just a distraction, or maybe the thought of learning helped. At least the subtle buzz of curiosity under her pelt would no longer join the uncomfortable aches.

Lavender, she thought, and the knowledge left her mind as easily as it had come. No. She needed to remember. Heatherberry was telling her something. Something she’d asked about. She needed to remember. Lavender soothes… breathing. She was asking- did she feel better?

A little. Frostpaw stopped trying to hold on to what the medicine cat had told her, instead focusing on assessing her own condition. Her lungs still felt weak, and her paws trembled, and everything was so so horrendously hot, and her mind was still so, so foggy, but she was here. She was present and awake. “A little. Thank you.”