Friends for Life

Swiftheart was excited as ever. Well, to be fair she was usually excited, but today was even more exciting!! Today, her dear friend Rookfire had promised to show her the basics of herbs and healing.

Rookfire and her were friends for a very long time. He was always there for her, he was a friend of her fathers and the two of them got along very well. She never had told anyone about the secret fact of Heather's kits being faked to be her own... but if she were to tell anyone it would likely be rookfire. At times, she wondered if she should tell him, just so she wouldn't feel the weight of it all on her own.

She skip hopped around the camp even more energetic than her usual demeaner, even the fastest kits of the nursery wouldnt be able to catch her now!

She ran to his side and let out a happy purr and spun around chasing at her tail. "ohhh I cannot wait. You got to show me all the things okay?" she purred and sat down by his side tilting her head already intent on focusing on what he had going on. She saw piles of herbs near him but in full honesty did not recognize many or any of them at all.

Her sister, Basilbloom was the med cat long ago and had shown her some things but the time of that was long past and she hadnt used them since, if you dont use them they faded apperently.

Come to think of it... didnt Rookfire train Basilbloom? She wondered, hmm her memory of the past so far back seemed to be effecting more than just herbs as she could not recall for certain but it sounded correct in her mind at least.

"What are we learning today?" she meowed happily.

Rookfire smiled back at Swiftheart. "There's way too much to learn in one sitting, unless you want to spend the night learning and memorizing what the herbs do." He was more than willing to teach Swiftheart everything he knew, but that would take moons for her to learn everything. If she wanted to learn herbs, Rookfire felt like he could simplify things to the basics, then add more.

"I'll start with what's most relevant for warriors - which is probably the most interesting part of healing, anyways." He pointed to a sprig of horsetail from the den. "You know how a meddie chews up herbs and puts the paste on your wounds? Usually, it's this. This is horsetail, and it's really easy to find in the marshes. The hard part's usually getting to it."

Stars, there was so much he could talk about horsetail. "Horsetail's great at preventing and treating infections," he said. "I think it's why ShadowClan's so healthy in a place as damp as our territory. Cobwebs help keep a wound closed, but a poultice with horsetail makes sure a wound's all that you got to deal with." Hopefully, Swiftheart would be able to use that information well.

Even as one of the longest warriors of shadowclan, Swifthear's curiosity and energy of kithood had never left her. Her eyes widened looking at the Horsetail she sniffed at it doing her best to commit to memory both the way the plant looked and smelled. She gave a little nod of understanding and purred a bit.

Her ears perked a bit and she grinned at him, "better be careful what you offer, you know I have enough energy to sit here all night and do just that" she playfully, jokingly retorted.

But she nodded understanding that the basics would be perfectly fine enough, perhaps even if she learned enough to just help an injured clanmate to make it to an actual medicine cat that would be invaluable enough.

"Do you miss being a medicine cat Rookfire? You were my sister's Basilbloom mentor right? Do you ever wish you could go back to it?" she asked so curiously and talkative as ever.

Rookfire chuckled. "Well, I'd be lying if I didn't miss it," he said, smiling back at his friend. "I never dreamed about being a medicine cat, like I did being a warrior. But with that being a part of my life now... If I could have been ShadowClan's meddie for life, I would have been content with that." He didn't have many regrets, though. Besides being taken away by Twolegs, and that was out of his control. And it wasn't all bad, since it let him build a close relationship with Smallb- well, Smallstar. Stars, it was impressive how that tom grew out of his shell, even if it took a while.

SNAP. "Whoops," he said, chuckling embarrassedly. "Where did that twig come from?" That twig reminded him of when Ashsong was in labor. She had snapped the stick she was biting on like a twig, sending Rookfire had panic. He rummaged through the medicine den, trying to find another stick for her to bite on, and when he finally got it for her she'd finished giving birth and chewed him out for not getting there sooner. It still irritated him to this day. "Hey, Swift, you want to learn about kitting herbs?" he asked. "It might come in handy if you or another queen ends up kitting outside of camp. Crazier things have happened." He heard about the time a SkyClan cat gave birth during a Gathering, and he remembered Murkystar going through labor while returning to camp.