SkyClan Medicine Cat's Den

[Seraphon]

Lightpaw walked through the entrance to the medicine cat's den, being forced to 'see' Shinefang by his brother. Every once in a while, as Lightpaw walked, he would feel a sharp pain in his front left paw from the squirrel bite that he'd gotten earlier that day. The pain didn't stay for long and it never really got bad enough for Lightpaw to even say 'ouch' though, he did wince almost every time. Maybe he only felt the pains because he kept turning back as if to leave but then he remembered that his brother was right behind him. Lightpaw didn't actually want to go 'see' Shinefang. It wasn't because of anything that the old medicine cat did, it was more because of judgemental cats. Lightpaw was worried that one may come up to him and ask why he went to 'see' Shinefang. Lightpaw would then have to answer that he had a squirrel bite. Lightpaw had explained this to his brother, Cleftpaw and in doing so he had asked the question,'what if they laugh?' A question that was still ringing in his ears,"Ummm... H-hi Shinefang..." Lightpaw greeted, figuring it was too late to leave now anyways. He then turned back to Cleftpaw and stared right at him with his blind gaze and gave him a look that was equally calm and equally annoyed. Cleftpaw would hopefully realize that that look meant that he did not want to go and actually get his paw healed by the medicine cat. He would have rather Shinefang had come to them when they were hunting outside of camp.


[ @Charmer ]
[ @Casual Scribbles ]

[lone]

Originally Posted by Charmer

Shinefang’s ear gave an irritated twitch. “Not even a how-do-you-do, and already asking for herbs?” The old tom grouched, moving to his herb wall and pulling down a poppy seed packet and three orange flowers. “Cats these days,” he muttered, nudging the herbs toward the apprentice. “By the way, I never got to tell you that I was sorry to hear about your mentor. Wheatfur was a good cat,” the old tom meowed.

Caliapaw’s own ears twitched, but she didn’t respond to Shinefang’s comment. What else was she supposed to do? She wasn’t good with making conversation, and she hadn’t thought about asking how he was doing… she just wanted the herbs, and she wanted to go home. Back to where things were familiar. Maybe this was a mistake. Maybe I shouldn’t have- her thoughts were cut off by the mention of Wheatfur. ”He was. And I appreciate the apology, but… with all due respect, sorry doesn’t really seem to help these days.” Caliapaw sighed, her ears going back. She got touchy when it came to her old mentor. Some cats hadn’t liked him - Caliapaw thought it was because they hadn’t known him. She’d looked up to Wheatfur. He had believed in her enough to make her his apprentice, and that alone was amazing to her. Maybe it had been a mistake, though… she hadn’t been able to save him when it really counted. She hadn’t known, how could she have? Not until it was too late. ”Look, it’s just… been a long day. A long moon, as a matter of fact.” The she cat added, taking a breath. Apologies were not her strong suit either. She felt a little bad, but not bad enough to say “sorry -” it didn’t take anything back. And that was the problem. It can’t bring Wheatfur back, and it doesn’t make me feel any better.

[Charmer]

Originally Posted by Lonestar23

Caliapaw’s own ears twitched, but she didn’t respond to Shinefang’s comment. What else was she supposed to do? She wasn’t good with making conversation, and she hadn’t thought about asking how he was doing… she just wanted the herbs, and she wanted to go home. Back to where things were familiar. Maybe this was a mistake. Maybe I shouldn’t have- her thoughts were cut off by the mention of Wheatfur. ”He was. And I appreciate the apology, but… with all due respect, sorry doesn’t really seem to help these days.” Caliapaw sighed, her ears going back. She got touchy when it came to her old mentor. Some cats hadn’t liked him - Caliapaw thought it was because they hadn’t known him. She’d looked up to Wheatfur. He had believed in her enough to make her his apprentice, and that alone was amazing to her. Maybe it had been a mistake, though… she hadn’t been able to save him when it really counted. She hadn’t known, how could she have? Not until it was too late. ”Look, it’s just… been a long day. A long moon, as a matter of fact.” The she cat added, taking a breath. Apologies were not her strong suit either. She felt a little bad, but not bad enough to say “sorry -” it didn’t take anything back. And that was the problem. It can’t bring Wheatfur back, and it doesn’t make me feel any better.

Sorry didn't help? Boy did Shinefang know that better than any cat. How many cats had told him they were sorry after his mate died. No amount of their sorries had brought her back, and soon the sorries began to build up and spoil in his gut like crowfood. "I know," he said simply. Shinefang had admired Wheatfur for more than just their talent as a medicine cat. When Shinefang was still a warrior, the two of them had fought together to liberate Thunderclan during the evil era. He was every bit as much a warrior as a medicine cat, just like him. "It has," the old tom agreed, not knowing what specifically Caliapaw had gone through, but this leafbare had been challenging in general and rife with conflict. He could certainly sympathize with it making the young cat a little grouchy. "Well, since you've come all the way up here, is there anything else you need?" He asked openly.

[Charmer]

Originally Posted by Boba Fett

Lightpaw walked through the entrance to the medicine cat's den, being forced to 'see' Shinefang by his brother. Every once in a while, as Lightpaw walked, he would feel a sharp pain in his front left paw from the squirrel bite that he'd gotten earlier that day. The pain didn't stay for long and it never really got bad enough for Lightpaw to even say 'ouch' though, he did wince almost every time. Maybe he only felt the pains because he kept turning back as if to leave but then he remembered that his brother was right behind him. Lightpaw didn't actually want to go 'see' Shinefang. It wasn't because of anything that the old medicine cat did, it was more because of judgemental cats. Lightpaw was worried that one may come up to him and ask why he went to 'see' Shinefang. Lightpaw would then have to answer that he had a squirrel bite. Lightpaw had explained this to his brother, Cleftpaw and in doing so he had asked the question,'what if they laugh?' A question that was still ringing in his ears,"Ummm... H-hi Shinefang..." Lightpaw greeted, figuring it was too late to leave now anyways. He then turned back to Cleftpaw and stared right at him with his blind gaze and gave him a look that was equally calm and equally annoyed. Cleftpaw would hopefully realize that that look meant that he did not want to go and actually get his paw healed by the medicine cat. He would have rather Shinefang had come to them when they were hunting outside of camp.


[ @Charmer ]
[ @Casual Scribbles ]

@Casual Scribbles

"Yup," Shinefang called in answer, having just finished pulling out the last of the old comfrey from his nest. He could hardly believe how much it was helping his joints. He was in better spirits than he had been in a moon. He padded toward his den entrance to see two apprentices standing there, one clearly favoring a paw. "Stepped on a thorn?" he guessed, but as he got closer, a rogue hint of squirrel caught his nose coming from the wound. "A thorn with fur? And a bushy tail?" Without waiting for a reply, Shinefang swept up the apprentices paw and looked it over with his one, bright orange eye. "Youch. Mean thorn," he said. Letting the apprentice's paw fall, he looked toward the other apprentice. "I've gotta know, did you kits at least catch the little foxheart? I bet he was as tasty as he was fiesty."

[Seraphon]

Originally Posted by Charmer

@Casual Scribbles

"Yup," Shinefang called in answer, having just finished pulling out the last of the old comfrey from his nest. He could hardly believe how much it was helping his joints. He was in better spirits than he had been in a moon. He padded toward his den entrance to see two apprentices standing there, one clearly favoring a paw. "Stepped on a thorn?" he guessed, but as he got closer, a rogue hint of squirrel caught his nose coming from the wound. "A thorn with fur? And a bushy tail?" Without waiting for a reply, Shinefang swept up the apprentices paw and looked it over with his one, bright orange eye. "Youch. Mean thorn," he said. Letting the apprentice's paw fall, he looked toward the other apprentice. "I've gotta know, did you kits at least catch the little foxheart? I bet he was as tasty as he was fiesty."

Lightpaw laughed a bit as Shinefang made comments about the 'thorn'. Lightpaw tilted his head towards the medicine cat, 'looking' at him. "Squirrel b-bite..." he mewed shyly before laughing quietly again. Lightpaw wobbled a bit when Shinefang swung his paw towards him and then finally steadied when Shinefang let go. Lightpaw blinked and shook his head before smiling half-heartedly,"Y-yeah... We caught it... Or- I caught it. I still can't believe that I did... Along with a rabbit too... Right after Leaf-Bare ends even if it still feels like Leaf-Bare!" Lightpaw started to get excited as he remembered how he had somehow caught two pieces of prey that other blind cats wouldn't have been able to catch if they ran away. For a rabbit, they're too fast for a blind cat to chase through a forest. Especially one as small as Lightpaw. A squirrel, well, that was obvious. If the squirrel climbed a tree there was no way Lightpaw could go after it then. He smiled, proud of himself, before turning his sightless gaze back to Shinefang,"W-whoops... S-sorry..." he apologized,"I-I didn't mean to r-ramble..." Lightpaw tilted his head towards the ground and shuffled his front paws as he sat down.

[lone]

Originally Posted by Charmer

Sorry didn't help? Boy did Shinefang know that better than any cat. How many cats had told him they were sorry after his mate died. No amount of their sorries had brought her back, and soon the sorries began to build up and spoil in his gut like crowfood. "I know," he said simply. Shinefang had admired Wheatfur for more than just their talent as a medicine cat. When Shinefang was still a warrior, the two of them had fought together to liberate Thunderclan during the evil era. He was every bit as much a warrior as a medicine cat, just like him. "It has," the old tom agreed, not knowing what specifically Caliapaw had gone through, but this leafbare had been challenging in general and rife with conflict. He could certainly sympathize with it making the young cat a little grouchy. "Well, since you've come all the way up here, is there anything else you need?" He asked openly.

Sharp golden eyes lit up in surprise as Shinefang spoke… she hadn’t thought about him understanding. He was older, surely he must’ve, but… sometimes she felt like no one could understand. Alabasterpaw was the closest one, having lost an Uncle on the day Wheatfur died, and now she knew Doepaw had lost his mentor… so maybe she wasn’t as isolated as she felt. ”Well, um… if there’s any advice you have for me, I could really use it right now. Or any guidance on what some of these herbs are, I haven’t… I haven’t learned all of them.” She was reluctant to ask, but since Shinefang was offering, Caliapaw supposed it was okay for her to ask for help. She really could’ve used it right now, too. With all the fights ThunderClan had been getting itself into, chances were that tensions were going to remain high and she needed to know what to do in case someone came in with a bad injury again. She knew how to treat pain (somewhat), how to treat infections and stop bleeding, but when it came to more serious problems - Caliapaw was just about as clueless as they came. She hadn’t expected to lose her mentor so soon. She hadn’t expected to be left alone right when she had started training, or she would have asked to learn more. Wheatfur had trained her for about a moon… it was long enough so that she knew what to do in some situations, and she knew the names of most of the herbs, but she didn’t know what they all did. She didn’t know how to treat everything. Thankfully, Zerosight had taught her about when a cat was ready to go back to their regular duties… otherwise there would be a bunch of cats half-healed or way past healed that were out and about.

[Charmer]

Originally Posted by Lonestar23

Sharp golden eyes lit up in surprise as Shinefang spoke… she hadn’t thought about him understanding. He was older, surely he must’ve, but… sometimes she felt like no one could understand. Alabasterpaw was the closest one, having lost an Uncle on the day Wheatfur died, and now she knew Doepaw had lost his mentor… so maybe she wasn’t as isolated as she felt. ”Well, um… if there’s any advice you have for me, I could really use it right now. Or any guidance on what some of these herbs are, I haven’t… I haven’t learned all of them.” She was reluctant to ask, but since Shinefang was offering, Caliapaw supposed it was okay for her to ask for help. She really could’ve used it right now, too. With all the fights ThunderClan had been getting itself into, chances were that tensions were going to remain high and she needed to know what to do in case someone came in with a bad injury again. She knew how to treat pain (somewhat), how to treat infections and stop bleeding, but when it came to more serious problems - Caliapaw was just about as clueless as they came. She hadn’t expected to lose her mentor so soon. She hadn’t expected to be left alone right when she had started training, or she would have asked to learn more. Wheatfur had trained her for about a moon… it was long enough so that she knew what to do in some situations, and she knew the names of most of the herbs, but she didn’t know what they all did. She didn’t know how to treat everything. Thankfully, Zerosight had taught her about when a cat was ready to go back to their regular duties… otherwise there would be a bunch of cats half-healed or way past healed that were out and about.

The old scarred tom gave a quick nod and pointed his paw toward the packet of poppy seeds. "I can tell you what Daydream told me about proper dosage with those: one or two seeds to ease pain, three or four to make a cat sleep, and never give them to a kit. That helped me a bunch. Shinefang took another look at his herb wall his eye was drawn toward the cluster of yellow flowers. He pulled a shoot down. "Don't know if this grows in your territory. Broom. but I mixed it with comfrey and it's pretty great for broken bones. Oh, and comfrey is good for aching joints. Surgestorm told me you can add it to the nests of elders to help with the aches, and let me tell you it works. Oh!" The old tom batted down a piece of blood-red bark. "See this? Alder bark. Good for toothaches." Shinefang suddenly realized he was smiling as he rambled off the herbs, pleasantly surprised by how the knowledge he'd painstakingly gathered from other medicine cats with very little former training was beginning to stick. He was actually feeling more confident now. "Huh. I guess you can teach an old cat new tricks," he murmured to himself, but he shook his head. "But I'm rambling. Anything in particular you need to know? I'm mentorless myself, but I had enough visits to the medicine den during my warrior days to know a thing or two and I'm learning from the younger cats that had more formal training."

[Charmer]

Originally Posted by Boba Fett

Lightpaw laughed a bit as Shinefang made comments about the 'thorn'. Lightpaw tilted his head towards the medicine cat, 'looking' at him. "Squirrel b-bite..." he mewed shyly before laughing quietly again. Lightpaw wobbled a bit when Shinefang swung his paw towards him and then finally steadied when Shinefang let go. Lightpaw blinked and shook his head before smiling half-heartedly,"Y-yeah... We caught it... Or- I caught it. I still can't believe that I did... Along with a rabbit too... Right after Leaf-Bare ends even if it still feels like Leaf-Bare!" Lightpaw started to get excited as he remembered how he had somehow caught two pieces of prey that other blind cats wouldn't have been able to catch if they ran away. For a rabbit, they're too fast for a blind cat to chase through a forest. Especially one as small as Lightpaw. A squirrel, well, that was obvious. If the squirrel climbed a tree there was no way Lightpaw could go after it then. He smiled, proud of himself, before turning his sightless gaze back to Shinefang,"W-whoops... S-sorry..." he apologized,"I-I didn't mean to r-ramble..." Lightpaw tilted his head towards the ground and shuffled his front paws as he sat down.

Shinefang froze in his tracks, his tail upright with surprise. "A rabbit! You caught a rabbit?" Without another word, Shinefang slipped past the apprentice. "Stay here," he ordered. He was only gone for a couple of moments, but when he returned, he had torn off rabbit haunch in his teeth. He set it down quickly in the corner of his den, his mouth watering at the taste. Turning back to the apprentice, he added, "Congratulations, you just became my favorite cat. I love rabbit. I haven't seen it on the freshkill pile in ages. Just birds," Shinefang turned and spat in disgust. "I thought I was going to lose my mind if I had to choke down one more stringy crow." Padding past the apprentice and back to his herbs, he grabbed a thick burdock root in his teeth. "You're wound is fresh and I don't smell infection, but that's a pretty deep bite, so I'm going with safe over sorry. See this?" He asked, noticing just a moment too late that Lightpaw's gaze was clouded. Blind. "Or, whatever. So to speak. Anyway, this thing will keep rat bites from getting infected. It'll deal with your squirrel bite no problem." The medicine cat knelt and tore off a chunk of the root, wincing a little at the spicy bitterness on his tongue. "It is going to sting a bit though," he added through his mouth full of plant pulp.

[Seraphon]

Originally Posted by Charmer

Shinefang froze in his tracks, his tail upright with surprise. "A rabbit! You caught a rabbit?" Without another word, Shinefang slipped past the apprentice. "Stay here," he ordered. He was only gone for a couple of moments, but when he returned, he had torn off rabbit haunch in his teeth. He set it down quickly in the corner of his den, his mouth watering at the taste. Turning back to the apprentice, he added, "Congratulations, you just became my favorite cat. I love rabbit. I haven't seen it on the freshkill pile in ages. Just birds," Shinefang turned and spat in disgust. "I thought I was going to lose my mind if I had to choke down one more stringy crow." Padding past the apprentice and back to his herbs, he grabbed a thick burdock root in his teeth. "You're wound is fresh and I don't smell infection, but that's a pretty deep bite, so I'm going with safe over sorry. See this?" He asked, noticing just a moment too late that Lightpaw's gaze was clouded. Blind. "Or, whatever. So to speak. Anyway, this thing will keep rat bites from getting infected. It'll deal with your squirrel bite no problem." The medicine cat knelt and tore off a chunk of the root, wincing a little at the spicy bitterness on his tongue. "It is going to sting a bit though," he added through his mouth full of plant pulp.

Lightpaw blinked in surprise as Shinefang passed him. He opened his mouth to ask Cleftpaw about what he thought Shinefang was doing but he closed it again as the old medicine cat quickly reappeared in the den. He shook his head vigorously as Shinefang talked about how awful birds were and nodded his head in the same way when he talked about how good rabbits were, obviously trying to look like he agreed with his, even though he didn't think that birds were as bad as Shinefang said. When Shinefang asked him if he saw the burdock he twitched his whiskers, trying to hold in a mrrow of amusement,"Well, Shinefang, I don't particularly see it, but I can definately smell it," he tried to stop himself from laughing and pretty soon he had to take deep breaths just to be able to hear the older tom. Lightpaw then took a few more deep breaths to calm and steady himself when the medicine can said it'd sting a bit. He winced at the thought of having that spicy smelling herb strewn all over his wound. He took even more deep breaths after that thought had passed and he willingly lifted his front left paw up to Shinefang so he could put it on. Lightpaw held his breath as he waited for to sudden sting of the healing root.

[lone]

Originally Posted by Charmer

The old scarred tom gave a quick nod and pointed his paw toward the packet of poppy seeds. "I can tell you what Daydream told me about proper dosage with those: one or two seeds to ease pain, three or four to make a cat sleep, and never give them to a kit. That helped me a bunch. Shinefang took another look at his herb wall his eye was drawn toward the cluster of yellow flowers. He pulled a shoot down. "Don't know if this grows in your territory. Broom. but I mixed it with comfrey and it's pretty great for broken bones. Oh, and comfrey is good for aching joints. Surgestorm told me you can add it to the nests of elders to help with the aches, and let me tell you it works. Oh!" The old tom batted down a piece of blood-red bark. "See this? Alder bark. Good for toothaches." Shinefang suddenly realized he was smiling as he rambled off the herbs, pleasantly surprised by how the knowledge he'd painstakingly gathered from other medicine cats with very little former training was beginning to stick. He was actually feeling more confident now. "Huh. I guess you can teach an old cat new tricks," he murmured to himself, but he shook his head. "But I'm rambling. Anything in particular you need to know? I'm mentorless myself, but I had enough visits to the medicine den during my warrior days to know a thing or two and I'm learning from the younger cats that had more formal training."

Caliapaw hadn’t treated any kits yet, but the information about the poppy seeds was good to know - Wheatfur hadn’t told her that. ”I’ve seen all of this in the medicine cat den…” She mewed to herself, glancing at the different things he had pulled down. She hadn’t known about broom - she was trying to remember if Wheatfur had ever mentioned it, but as far as she knew, he hadn’t. Comfrey was more familiar, and Caliapaw was pretty sure he had already mentioned something about it being good for broken bones, but she couldn’t quite recall.

At least she knew it now, since it was likely some young apprentice would come in one day having broken their leg or paw or something like that falling out of a tree. Taking a risk, or something along those lines. “Thank you, Shinefang, you’ve been very helpful.” The medicine cat mewed politely, with a brief smile to the tom. ”I don’t think so, I should… I should get back soon. Just in case anything’s come up.” Caliapaw was a little more comfortable in the SkyClan medicine cat den than she had been before - since Shinefang was being so welcoming and friendly towards her - but she liked her own den more. There was nothing like home, and while she might not always have felt accepted in her own Clan, at least there were places where she could go and hide. Caliapaw often wondered what it would be like if Wheatfur were still alive, if she could go to him and talk when she needed help.

”Thank you again for the herbs, and the information.” The she cat mewed, picking up the herbs that she needed and shifting her weight a little to see if there was anything else he needed. Hopefully she would be able to help Shinefang sometime in the future. This was her first encounter with a medicine cat outside of ThunderClan, and she wasn’t sure if she’d liked it or not. She’d come a long way - but she wasn’t sure about ShadowClan, and Juniperpaw wasn’t much older than she was (since Caliapaw had been hoping for SOME advice) and Wheatfur hadn’t spoken kindly of Surgestorm. So SkyClan had been her best option for the moment.