[squidz]

| BERRYSHINE |

small & nimble dark brown she-cat with darker flecks and light, leafy-green eyes | the collector | dreamwalker |

[ riverclan medicine cat | she-cat | 20 moons | timid, kind, hardworking ]

—

A stammering voice broke through Berryshine's concentration.

She'd been sifting through her herb stores, counting up the return of the recent patrols. What was needed for next time, and how much she had of the essentials... that sort of thing. But a voice that was less familiar to her ears hit her, and she glanced over her shoulder to see a young apprentice cautiously entering. At once her eyes softened, catching Gladepaw's nerves and sheepishness. The 'paw was either nervous or uncomfortable to enter the medicine den for the first time, and Berryshine herself always cared about making her patients feel comfortable.

Didn't want to bother her... Berryshine shook her head, her tone as soft as her expression, giving Gladepaw a little smile. "O-Oh, no... you're not bothering me at all. This is my job, remember?" A small purr left the medic's throat, hoping to ease the apprentice as she padded over, stopping in front of her. She carefully examined the paw held gingerly in the air; the swelling and irritation from the splinter was clear, and the medic felt a sympathy pang in her chest. Those little buggers were small, but enough to ruin your day, as she knew from experience.

"Hmm... l-looks painful. I'm glad you came to me... i-if you leave stuff like this alone for too long, it c-can get worse. It's always good to come here w-whether you're sure you need to or not, okay? It's no trouble, I promise." Her green eyes were earnest as she gave Gladepaw an encouraging glance. It was like looking at a younger version of herself for a moment, timid and shaky, not wanting to burden anyone with anything. Berryshine just hoped to be a safe space for cats like that; she knew well how it felt.

Carefully taking Gladepaw's injured paw in her own, Berryshine angled it so that she got a proper view of the splinter. It was engrained deeply into the paw pad... she hummed in thought before sitting back on her haunches, using both forepaws to try and hold Gladepaw's leg steady.

"A-Alright... this'll hurt, but I'll do it as quickly a-and carefully as I can, okay? I promise." The medicine cat would pause for a moment to ensure that Gladepaw understood before leaning down, carefully fastening her teeth around the shard of wood. Then in one quick motion, she yanked, removing it from the paw pad.

A wad of moss had preemptively been carried over, knowing how splinters could be. At once Berryshine took the soft, cushy plant and pressed it gingerly to the pad, where blood would be trickling from the small but pesky wound. The pressure could even be comforting against the sting with these sorts of things. She'd make sure it'd stop bleeding first, then apply something to the small indent left behind to patch it up. Her eyes flitted back up to Gladepaw's, giving a sympathetic smile.

"T-That wasn't so bad, was it?" Hopefully not.

[ -0.5 moss ]


[ @iliri ]