[patroclus]

Originally Posted by Duskflight

@Patroclus
Despite the medicine cat not responding much to him literally bursting with his enthusiasm, Lichenpaw hardly even seemed to notice, he didn't need other cats to be excited for him, or happy for him, he didn't mind, and it wouldn't have been suspected of Larkbelly anyways, he wasn't exactly a very excitable cat. Licking his lips a bit, he glanced around the camp for a moment before making sure to focus his attention fully on Larkbelly, yellow gaze bright and alert, as was usually for the lanky, and rather cowardly tom. When he looked into the medicine cats' eyes he could see that look, that look of wonderment and for a second, Lichenpaw realized why the medicine cat was always sour, why he never seemed to be truly happy doing what he was doing. This cat never wanted to be the medicine cat, it was not what he ever wanted, he was forced to, he didn't know what it was like to actually want this job, to actually want to do something as boring as this. He was in wonder because Lichenpaw actually wanted to do this, that he wasn't bored, that he knew what his purpose in life was without question. But that realization was fleeting and it passed within a mere second, not leaving him time to dwell or think about it. Ears perking up as he heard the large toms words, the mottled apprentice quickly rose to his paws, tail sticking straight up unlike what it usually was, which was practically dragging on the ground. As soon as Larkbelly began to move, Lichenpaw immediately trailed behind, his rather small paws pattering against the ground quickly as he stuck to the large toms side, his yellow gaze still fixed up at the older cat in excitement. "H-Hey Larkbelly! Um, what will I be learning first?" Spoke up the tom in his usual rather timid manor, though for once, there wasn't any form of fear in his voice, just strong curiosity.

@Owl
Unsure if he should follow her to the pile or not, the black and white patched tom decided to wait where he was standing, watching her with a genuine, loving smile as she picked out a rather large fish for them to share, licking his lips hungrily. As soon as Honeyfrost was back at his side and nudging him towards the warriors den, he chuckled out and padded over with her at his side before settling down and getting comfy, watching her as she settled down as well. "Hm? Oh no, you take the first bite." Purred out the tom politely, nudging it a bit closer to her, his yellow eyes as gentle as ever as he looked upon the tri-colored she cat.

“You’ll sleep there.” Larkbelly flicked his tail towards an empty nest beside his own off to the side as the two felines padded into his den. Though the cave was relatively small, the past few days had made it seem much too large for the massive tom. He was used to tripping over other cats and, though he didn’t entirely miss it, he felt odd being on his own. Lichenpaw would be a good addition. He hoped. “If you snore, I will kick you out. The elders love company at night, as do their ticks. Do not tempt me.” Larkbelly turned from his new apprentice as he gathered a bundle of herbs. His supply was still running low, as he hadn’t been able to return to his herb collecting in the past few days. The stress of his clan mate’s deaths as well as dealing with Starclan’s indecipherable dreams had caught up to the tom. His shoulders drooped slightly, from both exhaustion and from needed to keep from hitting the sides of the cave. Inside his den, Larkbelly’s words were softer, almost, and less harsh as he brought the herbs forwards into the dim light. “I would prefer us go out and gather more herbs as soon as possible. It’s the best way for you to learn and really immerse yourself into the different herbs we will be using. Besides, knowing where to find the herbs is just as important as knowing when to use them.” Larkbelly was actually looking forward to having someone to collect herbs with rather than being left to struggle on his own deep in the forest. It would surely cut the travel time in half without him needed to go back and forth to collect the herbs since he could only carry so many. Though he had been training an apprentice for the past few moons before her untimely death, she was never very active in her training. She wasn’t very eager to go out to collect herbs with him and, despite his sharp orders, he was often left alone in this duty. Larkbelly shook his head to clear his thoughts and returned his gaze to Lichenpaw before sitting back on his hunches. “Cob webs. To stop or soak up any blood. Also used for binding bones. We’ll get to broken bones eventually. Marigold. Stops bleeding and infections of wounds as well as inflammation of stiff joints. Chervil. For infected wounds and bellyache, respectively.” As the medicine cat spoke, he pointed to each of the three bundles carefully as they were named, pushing them towards the new apprentice. “I want you to learn their scent, appearances, and functions. When we go out for herbs, I will see how well you can identify them.” He was certain cob webs wouldn’t be very difficult to remember, though the other two could be challenging.