Lullaby For A Stormy Night [Private, Herb Training]

[Abyssopelagic]

Coldamber's ears twitched, a hint of amusement in her expression at the wonderment on Springpaw's face. It had become so small and simple to her, she had forgotten that it was quite a feat in the eyes of most.
It was cute.
"'Course we can, dear. Maybe, if we see each other in the future and you try really hard, you could do it yourself."
It was Springpaw's dream, after all.
Her own domain to shape and mold as she pleased when she was aware enough to try.
Perhaps if the both of them had the time, it was something else she could teach the new healer, but for now, she made herself return her thoughts to her lessons with Springpaw.

Coldamber could definitely understand the incredulity the apprentice must feel to hear about most herbs not dying in the snow. She always received this look when she mentioned it.
Well.... she had to admit, it does sound outlandish at first. How else could you tell if a plant was dead if not by a withered appearance?
Not too many really tried to wrap their heads around it, even if she explained.
Springpaw, however, was a marvelous student and wasn't afraid to ask what she wanted to know to give herself a deeper understanding. This was a good trait for a Medicine Cat to have.
"Yes, plants without a root system like grass may die when it snows, but unless the freeze is especially harsh, the plants will find a way to protect themselves.
If plants truly died in the winter, we wouldn't have any to harvest when new leaf rolled around. Plants are like cats, in a way."
She paused, realizing she could show what she meant as she explained, and from the ground slowly sprouted a very small seedling, the start of its stem and the flower buds that had yet to grow.
"Neither start their life fully grown. We start small, not yet at our full potential. Time nurtures the plant, let's it slowly learn how to make its way in its environment.
Like kits, it takes time to learn. Plants stay small while they ready themself for their full potential, as being small takes up less resources than a full grown plant. This is not a quick process. Plants do mature faster than our own young, but it takes about a season for the new plants to truly take root."
As she spoke, the small plant began to change and grow, sprouting its leaves and bud. From the safe little cocoon, petals began to form, tightly wound similar to its home, slowly peaking out as it grew. Almost as if it check that it was safe to emerge.
Once the green of the bud had fallen away, leaving only the vibrant red of the soon to be petals, slowly it unfurled. The petals became more recognizable as a flower until sprouting from the ground was a single rose in full bloom.
Coldamber had to take a moment to breathe before she continued, having taken a lot of energy and focus to pull off what was probably the most complex feat she'd attempted. It was so much harder to create something meant to move and grow than simply bringing forth plants, especially when she slowed the process of growth to be noticeable to the eye in a way that the brain had time to understand what it was seeing.
But she pushed away the exhaustion. She was almost done anyway. There were only a few herbs after this, and then she could rest herself.
"So, to protect themselves from the bitter cold, plants do what we all do when we're cold. It curls up into a ball to preserve what it can. It sheds the part of itself we can see, and focuses instead on its roots, it's true self. It can always grow a new flower when it warms."
She smiled up to Springpaw.
"But, since we can't see the roots unless we dig them up, to us it appears to have died. Some of your smaller, and low growing plants may stick around, as keeping the plant is not as taxing as it would be for a large or tall plant."
As the misty grey molly finished what she was saying, her lips pursed for a moment as she fought against the tugging call to return to the stars and abandon the dream she had entered.
She grit her teeth and pushed through.
"While the plants may eventually die, they stick around at least until the new generation of plants can take their place, where they naturally come to their conclusion.
And, well... it also depends on the plant. This is simply the life cycle of an average plant. It does not account for plants with stronger roots and greater lifespans, like trees and bushes or the rapid growing, small rooted grass."
She gave a small laugh.
"I do suppose it's all difficult to wrap your head around when you haven't had time to notice the changes. Since summer just started, why don't you keep an eye on how the plants fare in the changing weather when leaf fall rolls around, eh? A little investigation all your own."
She hummed, taking a moment. She should.... get to the next set of herbs, but she found herself wanting to hold off, just to have a little more time to try to connect with Springpaw.
She was such a bright young cat, and a joy to teach and answer her questions.
The star furred cat leaned just a little closer to her enraptured audience of one.
"Keep that curiosity alive. It'll help you in the future. Don't ever feel ashamed to ask a question. Asking is learning, and learning is how we grow and expand ourselves as individuals.
Creativity and curiosity are the most important traits of a Medicine Cat. It's how we improve our craft."

Coldamber let the information she had shared with Springpaw settle in. She was obviously deep in thought when it came to certain topics. Perhaps it was because of how long winded her teachings tend to be.
Either way, she gave her all the time she needed to process it all. Once she spoke, thanking her for all she'd taught her, something else came to mind, remembering a face she made while she'd been speaking.
"One last thing before you go running off on me," She gave the apprentice a cheeky grin.
"I saw how you reacted when I said borage was to be eaten by the patient. I do have something to help with that.
While not an Herb, honey is a lifesaver when you have picky patients or someone with general difficulties swallowing.
It's very sweet, and very sticky, but it does wonders to help herbs go down. I always used it with kits. Young ones especially need the help getting leaves down, but it also masks the bitter taste, so even your picky patients will have few complaints."
Coldamber pondered for a few moments, wondering how she'd show Springpaw how to find it. After a moment of contemplating, she had it.
Giving a deep sigh, she closed her eyes and imagined a tree. Not a huge tree, but one that would serve her purpose. Plenty of leaves to simulate how to find them.
Roots sprouted from the ground, spiraling above the both of them into a sturdy trunk. As the tendrils fastened together to hold the tree together, branches with vibrant and green leaves began to sprout, blocking out part of the empty and starry abyss above them until the groaning of the titanic sized roots ceased, indicating to Coldamber that it was done.
Her corporeal form flickered in and out, only starry specks being left where she stood to indicate where she was. After a moment, she stabilized, but was noticeably faded compared to what she'd looked like before.
She dropped onto her haunches and looked up at Springpaw, an apology in her eyes.
"Don't worry, I'm not leaving you just yet. It's just going to be harder for me to hold a form that you can see. If I flicker out, as long as you can see the star dust, I'm still with you."
She gives a small laugh, already sensing the concern that was soon to come.
"Worry not about me, I will recover. I can still talk for a bit more.... I want to talk to you longer. I just won't be able to do anymore tricks, sadly.
Moving and large objects are always hard on me. I've never made a tree before, so.... I'd say I'm getting better.
But simply talking, and maintaining the dream, won't take anything out of me. But you do need to know how to harvest honey."
The former Medicine Cat took a moment to catch herself before she dared speak anymore. After a few long minutes, she stayed silent, simply breathing.
Her fur glowed and dimmed with each breath until finally, her form stabilized further and she peaked her eyes open.
Sitting, she curled her tail around herself, looking far more normal than she had moments ago.
"My apologies, Springpaw. I did not mean to stall our lessons.
The first thing to know about harvesting honey, it is created by bees and stored in their hives. You will find these hives in trees, usually where there is a plenty supply of flowers in the vicinity.
Finding them is a chore the first few times, but when you know what you're looking for, it gets easier. You'll need to look in trees with plenty of foliage, just like this one."
She gestured to the one she'd managed to produce.
"Spotting them from the ground is your first step. You'll be looking for a lump that is almost the colour of the tree's bark, but doesn't quite match. Stay silent, and listen carefully."
She closed her eyes again and soon the air was filled the faintest sounds of the buzzing of a dozen tiny little bees, all working away in their hive.
When she opened them, the sound faded into a low and distant hum.
"This is what a hive should sound like. Once you are sure you have what you're looking for, it's time to prepare before you make the climb.
Have a second set of paws to make this task easier, and have them wait a distance away at the bottom.
To get to honey, you will have to break open the hive. To avoid getting stung by the bees, find yourself some thick, clay-like mud and roll in it. Once you're comfortable with your new armor, you climb the tree and, with a stick, knock the hive down. It will break on the ground and expose what you need: the comb."
With great effort, she made the hive tremble, wobbling until it came loose and smashed into the ground, exposing the sticky, golden inside machinations that made up the hive. Within it, a loose piece of honeycomb dribbled its nectar into a pile on the ground beneath it.
Coldamber stepped forward and plucked the hexagonal structured object from where is nested, and turned back to Springpaw, laying the sticky concoction at her paws.
"This is what you are looking for, and where your game of tag team starts. Once you have it, run, pass it off as quickly as possible towards the closest body of water to wait them out."
She paused remembering Stagleech and his constant honey runs, who never seemed to care how many times he was stung.
"Or, if you're feeling rather brave or confident, you could also.... just continue about about your day. They will stop following you eventually.
And while this all seems like a lot of work for some honey.... this stuff really doesn't go bad unless you get something in it, and a comb will last you quite awhile, as you will only need to coat the herbs in a thin layer to help them go down."

[ @ares ]
//sorry this is so late\\

[iliri]

• Springpaw •
long-furred, oriental-shaped, gray-and-orange calico molly with blue eyes; torn right ear
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Springpaw could’ve swore that she felt her lips grow sore from the wide, cheeky grin that grew among her maw from Coldamber’s answer. The fact that she will be able to see her temporary starry mentor do more of the shifting thing that she did with the land. It was a very cool experience to see for herself and with the fact that she might even be able to do it with her sounded even more amazing. With a cheeky smile, the calico began to softly prod at the purple stardust below her white paws, trying to make a shape come together with the soft, dreamy ground below, only for it to quickly shift back to the position that it originally was. Bummer. Other than that, with Coldamber’s information about that, she focused herself once more up towards the nebelung and gave her yet another, large, cheeky grin. “Well, I have high hopes that I’ll be able to learn how to do it. It looks cool and I hope that I’ll be just as good as you are. Besides, maybe you’ll be able to teach me, right?” her words were probably corny, but they were true. In her eyes, she hasn’t really seen anyone else do the things that Coldamber did. Hell, she never even truly saw a StarClan cat before, so it was truly a shocking experience for her to learn something as valuable as this.

However, Springpaw’s interest from the other matter wilted as Coldamber began to answer her question about how almost all plants didn’t die during the cold times in the winter. It was undoubtedly strange for plants to survive such conditions, but Coldamber seemed to flawlessly know the answer to such a difficult question. Springpaw was almost tempted to ask how in the world did she know about such things, yet, she held herself back. Coldamber had been alive a long time ago and Springpaw herself was just only a mere young feline. But, nonetheless, it was best if she ignored that and further listened in to what her starry teacher had to say about the plants having an ability to continue growing even if they were beneath the cold snow. Squinting her eyes, Springpaw angled her ears up towards Coldamber’s direction as she began to go into further detail about how plants could grow within the ground. So it was true that plants could die if they didn’t have a roof system, but they’ll only truly die if the weather was extremely harsh in temperature. Geez, Springpaw would absolutely despise being a plant if she were to live as one. She could risk being dead in the winter just from the freezing snow!

However, the more confusing thing about this was that plants and cats were somehow similar in a way, making the young feline raise an inquisitive brow. A bubble of questions rose up in her throat, only to die down when Coldamber began to explain, and thoroughly show Springpaw what she meant by her wording. Springpaw looked down at the little seedling that began to show signs that it was beginning to sprout. Oceanic hues were quickly engulfed with interest as Springpaw watched as the little flower bud began to grow and flourish from the tiny seed, alongside listening to Coldamber’s explanation on the topic. Some of the things that her starry teacher mentioned sounded familiar to how a kitten would grow, and Springpaw could’ve swore that she felt a gasp escape her jaws as the flower began to grow and flourish from the seed, growing up to be a beautiful, velvety red rose. “Woah…” She spoke, bewilderment lacing her voice as she gently touched the petals with a forepaw. It felt just as real as a real, regular rose did. Springpaw had to mentally hold herself back from bounding up due to the immense feeling of childish glee from when she gently stroked the edges of the red petals. Small bits of stardust fell from the flower from Springpaw touching it, but the calico didn’t seem to pay much attention towards it, far invested in the little rose.

Coldamber’s voice broke through her thoughts and the calico looked back up at the molly, listening more to what she had to say. So like a cat, plants curl up into a ball to try to keep themselves warm in the winter. It sounded like a strange, yet cool explanation to give. However, against Coldamber’s explanation, the calico was quick to notice with her keen eyes the exhaustion that laced the starry molly’s eyes. Did she accidentally do too much of that little shifting trick that caused her to grow tired? Oh dear. She could feel the words of concern rising up within her throat, but they didn’t exactly budge out yet as Coldamber continued her explanation, which made the calico far more invested with what she was spewing. Well, at least some plants will still stick around even if their roots were well adjusted to the ground, and since they were lower to the ground, it’ll be easier to make sure that they don’t die due to frostbite or something worse than that. It was rather obvious that all plants were bound to die, but it was still a weird occurrence to the young calico that most plants could even manage to surpass the freezing temperatures of winter itself. It was still a complex thing to truly comprehend, but Springpaw got the most of what her temporary teacher stated.

It was indeed quite difficult to exactly understand all of the information that Coldamber had given to her, but it was also in a way that Springpaw was able to understand it in a consistent manner. It probably didn’t make much sense, but Springpaw took mental note that most of the information that her teacher gave her was in some form of being understandable. However, Springpaw’s ears quickly perked up from the little task that Coldamber gave her, a cheeky grin quickly growing among Springpaw’s lips and gradually making her face grow more sore than ever. That’ll have to be something that she’ll have to remind herself when she wakes up from this dream. “Of course! I’ll keep a close eye on plants and during the leaf-fall, I’ll take note of how they begin to wither unlike the warm weathers of newleaf and green-leaf!” a raspy purr escaped Springpaw’s maw, her wide grin not faltering after she spoke. Maybe she’ll be able to show Coldamber what she found in the future? That’ll sound like an interesting idea! However, Springpaw’s focus quickly shifted towards Coldamber’s next set of words, her wide grin faltering just a little as a swirl of understanding began to emerge into Springpaw’s expression.

An intense, hot rush of emotion rushed through Springpaw as Coldamber told her to keep her curiosity alive. Springpaw had only heard that phrase many moons ago, when she was only merely recently apprenticed. Her old mentor, Rabbitchatter, was always so fond of her curiosity. She had been curious about the simplest of things, either if it were big or small. Springpaw always thought that her ongoing curiosity was a flaw about herself. That all it did was lead herself to asking unnecessary questions and receiving strange looks from other cats. It was a rather common factor that she faced, unfortunately. So from the fact that Coldamber was telling her to keep being curious and asking questions… made a small flicker of ease and bewilderment to swell deep within her chest. “I’ll… keep that in mind, Coldamber. I’ll make sure to keep your words in mind whenever I get the chance to learn something new… Like now, obviously.`` she spoke, her lips curling into a bigger smile than ever as her oceanic hues locked with Coldamber’s starry eyes. Was that too bland? Hopefully it wasn’t. Whichever the case was, Springpaw felt more than glad to have Coldamber’s current advice echo through her brain as they spoke.

Now, with all of that information passed down onto her, Springpaw could’ve sworn that she felt her brain silently ticking away as it tried to comprehend the information her temporary teacher had laid down on her. Sure, learning about what a different herb looked like and what different usage it had was hard enough, but this was definitely something that was making her head spin itself in constant circles. However, during the midsts of her thinking, Coldamber’s voice broke through once again with her thoughts as Springpaw’s eyes shifted up towards the nebelung to listen to her again, cocking her head sideways as Coldamber looked in her direction. A series of shocked blinks followed suit as the molly began to express the fact that she took note of Springpaw’s expression while she explained the usage of borage and that it was required to be eaten. As Coldamber began to explain the usages of honey, Springpaw’s expression began to convert back to its normal state as she continued to listen. Well, at least she knew what honey could be used for now within the medicine den. There was a good bit of it, and Springpaw hadn’t been really sure how in the world it was espoused to be used. She honestly only thought that it was only merely used to help with sore throats, but she supposed that Coldamber’s words would be best for her to properly understand the usage of the sweet nectar. Heck, even the fact that it even helps with picky patients and cats who couldn't properly swallow was a feat that Springpaw would give herself a silent pat on the back for. Although, that wasn’t something that she could properly do, anyways.

However, her eyes were quick to trail towards the growing tree that Coldamber was quick to summon, her mouth growing agape as the tree began to shift and fasten itself together to properly form the shape of a tall tree with leaves that were a vibrant jade-green and came in different variants of shapes. It was merely a majestic sight, and it almost looked indefinitely real as well. However, Coldamber’s fading body wasn’t something that Springpaw hadn’t taken notice of, the apprentice quickly looking in the corporeal feline’s direction as concern grew over Springpaw’s expression. At least Coldamber wasn’t going to leave her just yet, but that was the least of her worries. The fact that she was flickering in and out and leaving occasional starry specks was enough to make her concerned. Just as Springpaw was about to make a comment about it, the former medicine cat beat her to it, letting out a laugh as well. The words that had succumbed in her throat were almost as quick to die as soon as they had arrived. Well, at least Coldamber was alright, and that this was just only a mere difficult process for her to handle. Especially with something as complex as forming a tree within the dreamlands. “Oh… well, you had me worried for a split second. I thought you were going to fade away or become the tree for a moment.” she gave a short smile to show that she was only merely kidding, but it would indeed be weird if Coldamber actually did turn into the tree that she just formed. How in the world would Springpaw even be able to speak to her properly then?

Other than that, the oriental-shaped calico silently watched as Coldamber’s corporeal form slowly began to stabilize itself once more. It was… a rather weird feleing to be watching something as spiritual as that. Did it hurt when she did something like that? Did it feel weird? Whichever it was, Springpaw’s curosity was buzzing over it. “Does… it hurt when your body gets like that? Does it give off a tingling feeling? If it’s a weird question I’m sorry, but I’m curious about it.” Springpaw questioned, looking at Coldamber after her spiritual form was fully stabilized in its place. Did her questions feel weird to ask? Hopefully not. Whichever it was, Springpaw looked back up towards the tree after Coldamber began speaking again, ears angling themselves in the direction of the starry feline. So bees create honey and store them in… hives? Well, one thing she knew for certain is that whenever anybody gets stung by a bee, they hurt. A lot. Sometimes it even causes that whole spot to become infected if it’s severe enough. The thought only made an unsettling shiver run up Springpaw’s spine, but she continued to listen to Coldamber anyways, trying to mentally distract herself from the burdening thought of being stung by a raging swarm of bees.

The calico intently listened to the faint sound of buzzing coming from above the tree, angling her ears up towards the hive as her oceanic blue eyes stared right up at the little insects working themselves away. Coldamber can even make living animals too with her ability? That’s something that Springpaw will have to ask her about later. Other than that, she continued to listen to what Coldamber stated, looking back at her as her temporary teacher continued to speak. So a buzzing hive was something that she was going to have to take note of in case she and anyone else were going to go out and gather some honeycombs, and she’ll make sure to bring someone along with her so that the job will be much easier. She wouldn’t really be in the mood to get stung by a bunch of raging bees. Well, that second thought was quick to pass by when Coldamber mentioned something about rolling her body in thick, clay-like mud and that it’ll keep her from getting stung. That’ll be another thing for her to keep in mind, then. Springpaw felt herself almost mentally cringing at the fact that she’ll have to climb up a tree and hit the hive with a stick. Won’t that just irritate the bees even more? Well, obviously it will be, she would be destroying their own home that they took their own time and effort with building restlessly. Oh well, that’ll be something that she’ll have to figure out for herself in the future when she has to eventually collect some honey.

Her eyes were quick to notice how the hive was quick to begin shaking, falling down right onto the starry ground with a splat and oozing of dark, golden honey. It glimmered like how water in a flowing stream would when the moon hit directly on its surface. It was pretty, but it also looked very, very sticky. When Coldamber plucked the hexagonal shape of the comb from out of the broken hive and laid it in front of her paws, Springpaw leaned down close enough so she could further inspect the honey. It didn’t carry any sort of smell on it, which was strange. Springpaw was almost expecting it to have some sort of scent so that she could at least have some kind of notice of what it smelt like. Frowning in her disappointment, Springpaw leaned back up and sat herself down on her haunches, glancing back towards Coldamber as she continued to speak. Run into a body of water and wait for the bees to go away? Well, that sounded much easier said than done. Springpaw would be certain that she would probably receive some stings from a few angry bees if she were to ever try that. It didn’t sound very fun. Coldamber’s other option was already a definite no. Springpaw would definitely never want to just ‘go about her day’ while being chased by a swarm of raging bees. Who would want to risk that?

Well, other than the current information that Springpaw received, she felt a bit relieved that Coldamber was willing to give all this information to her even if it were tiring to do so. It surely seemed like it was, but… Springpaw still had some other questions. “Coldamber… what type of illnesses should I keep an eye out for? Like, I know that greencough is one of them. But what about other ones? Are there ones more dangerous than greencough?” Springpaw wanted to be prepared for the worst scenario if anything were to happen. If greencough were to spread all around camp, then Springpaw wanted to be prepared to know what she should do in case anything as bad as that were to happen to her clan.

_________________________________________________

@Abyssopelagic

[Abyssopelagic]

Coldamber purred with delight as Springpaw said she'd start practicing dream shaping. She was quite sure humans had a specific word for this, but the exact phrase escaped her in that moment, her tired brain struggling to reach for much more than what they'd previously talked about already. ( #air )
"Of course I'll teach you. You've been a delight to speak to, and I'd hate to pass up an opportunity to return."
It wasn't as if she had much else to do. It would be a fun distraction, if nothing else, but she genuinely did wish to speak to this apprentice in the future. She hadn't enjoyed a conversation with a living cat this much, especially not the Medicine Cats she visited.
It was always, perhaps of her own responsibility, to the point and rarely anything more than for teaching.....
Not that Cowtuft really counted. Of course she had extra interest in him, he was the successor of her own successor and there would always be that sneaking little bias in the back of her mind when it came to comparisons.
Springpaw, however, seemed to be tied with him, having been enamored by her curiosity and willingness to learn. She hoped the apprentice kept that joyful little spark.

It had never really occurred to Coldamber that what she did could be seen as a near magical feat, full of wonder and mysticism. Everyone she had spoken to thus far had reacted nonchalant at the presence of her conjurations. Then again, Elmshadow, Cowtuft, and Fawnlight were a rather small sample pool to be looking at as her baseline demographic. And, she believed, Cowtuft and Fawnlight had shown a slight bit of interest, but it had been awhile since she last visited either, and her memory was quite selective in the things it decided to hold onto as "vital" information.
Coldamber returned her thoughts and attention to the young healer in front of her.
"Do not feel discouraged if it takes you a bit before you see results. You are wonderfully imaginative, and I think once you get a feel for it, the dreamscapes will gladly change shape for you. But it is a skill that takes times to learn, even for star cats."
Coldamber tilted her head to the side as Springpaw asked about other illnesses and she ruminated on it, trying to remember of there were any with specific names. It was confusing, really, to remember them all when they all ended in -cough. There were.... a few things, maybe 4 actual diseases she could go more in depth about, but the rest of it simply ailments the average clanmate could get from unusual circumstances in day to day life.
She wasn't quite sure how much the young molly even knew about greencough itself. She doubted Bumblestar could have told her much. The leader didn't seem the type to mince her words, nor the descriptive type.
"Well, I'm unsure how much you've been told about it, but for the sake of you being well informed, I can go a bit over it just in case."
She swished her tail and allowed herself to lay down, indicating for the small cat to do the same if she wished.
"The first stage of the illness you named is whitecough. It is the most mild form and is often be brushed off as simply being a sniffle, which makes it perhaps the most infectious form given that some may not realize the severity. You will see it most often in leaf-fall and leafbare, but it's not impossible to see it other times. Whitecough and the associated stages are infections of the chest and throat and can easily become deadly if left untreated. Thankfully, there are ways to keep it contained and from spreading. The last thing you will want on your paws is an epidemic. However, I plan to share these quarantine methods with your mentor. You've done much learning today, and I'd hate to overload you with information."
The grey molly idly drew nonsensical lines on the ground.

"It is better to learn your information in bite sized portions, and give yourself time to absorb what you learned. Even once you become more proficient, you will find you might learn best in portions. It is not because I doubt your ability."
She smiled softly.
"Far from it. Besides, we have to leave something for Drizzlecloud to learn if I'm to visit her as well."
Her eyes refocused themselves after staring at something distant for a fair few seconds.
"To continue on what you did ask, whitecough will manifest in the form of coughing, headaches, a mild fever, or even loss of appetite. As it is mild at this stage, borage will often be enough to fight off the infection before it reaches later stages. You could also give them the much stronger catmint, but if you're in short supply, borage is a suitable alternative. You can also give them something to alleviate the cough or loss of appetite if you know something for it. For the most part, their recovery will require plenty of rest and hydration, even once the signs of infection are gone. I think a few days once all symptoms are gone should suffice."
Coldamber startled at the sound of tiny little pawsteps interrupting her train of thought. She turned to see if Fizzletwist had come by, wondering why she was taking so long, but she didn't catch sight of the little fuzzball, so she returned her attention to Springpaw.
"Apologies, thought I'd heard something. It seems to be nothing. If left untreated, whitecough can develop into greencough.
Greencough tends to worsen whatever symptoms were already present, and can cause sneezing, which, paired with the running eyes and nose, can be unpleasant for caretakers. In more severe cases, you can see difficulty breathing and even vomiting. Once you have even one cat showing greencough symptoms, a quarantine should be set up, as it will spread faster than you can treat it. It will be easier since there are two of you to do the treating."
She chewed on the inside of her cheek.
"At this point, the infection will be too strong to be treated with borage, and catmint is the only thing that will cure it. Borage can still be given for fevers of course, but it'll do nothing for the root cause."
Coldamber then remembered something, an illness unlike the two she'd mentioned and that she'd only seen it once, a case that had slipped through the cracks and gone untreated due to circumstances she couldn't control, a cough that Shockholly and Quicksilver treated as such, but had appearantly been far more severe than they'd realized, and the lack of treatment in the time she was gone had been enough to allow it to get as bad as it did.
"There is.... another stage of progression, and is one I surely hope you never see. But, should the greencough be left untreated and the patient live through it, it can turn into yellowcough. It only happened once, and because myself and my apprentice had been in other Clans, they in RiverClan for training and I in ThunderClan to assist.... the cats I had left thought their clanmate had a simple cough and treated it as such. I hadn't taught them how to look for anything more serious, hadn't come across it at that point and...."
She paused, blinking to soothe herself.
"By the time I came back, delirium had set in from the infection and they had many amd severe chest pains. And I have no way of knowing if the catmint I gave did any good, because I lost them shortly after my return... But, it only happened from lack of care, so you should be.... out of the woods in regards to this one. It seems to be extraordinarily rare."
The once Medicine Cat gave a sad smile.
[B]"I apologize for the turn that took. I cannot wallow in my mistakes forever. We learn and we move on. No point in dwelling on what you can't fix.
She sighed and thought for a few moments, thinking of other, less serious afflictions she might run into. There wasn't much in the way of disease, usually just clanmates doing stupid things and getting hurt.

"On a less serious note, aching joint are something that will come up periodically, usually in your older cats, but you shouldn't ignore a younger cat with such a complaint either. It can be onset by an oncoming chill or damp environments. Best thing to do is to give something for any swelling or stiffness, as well as for the pain, and ask that the Den to be checked for drafts or leaks.
Cracked pad are also common among elders, usually from walking on cold and dry ground. Best solution is to apply some honey or marigold to the paw pads, and give a poppy seed to help with any left over pain and swelling. It is also best that the patient remains off their paws if possible.
Lastly, chills. Usually because someone took an accidentally dip in some water (or someone decided it would be an amazing prank to push their clanmate in) or decided to play for too long in the snow. Not too serious usually. Mostly keep them dry, keep them warm, and they'll eventually recover. It does take longer to leave them to warm up on their own. It's more efficient to allow someone to lay beside them to share their body heat. Otherwise, padding them with moss and keeping them out of any chilly spots will do your patient good and on the path of recovery."
She wracked her head for anything else she knew of that she wasn't planning to specifically share with the young Medicine Cat's mentor. After a moment, she shook her head.
"That is about it for things I don't have planned to share with your mentor. Though, fear not, if you still have questions about other things when I next return, you may ask me then as well. I'll likely have learned a bit by then. I like to keep myself busy and am always learning."
She gives a wink to the apprentice and suddenly the pitter pattering of tiny paws was heard again, this time heading straight for her and Springpaw.
She swiveled her head and caught sight of her son Fizzletwist, still kit sized despite all his time in StarClan. The small grey fur ball froze when he noticed the other cat and looked from Springpaw, to Coldamber.
With a cough, she stood and faced the forever kitten.
"Springpaw, this is Fizzletwist. He's my son. He was from my last litter, before I became Medicine Cat."
It was about the only explanation she'd be giving the apprentice. She wasn't ready to tell anyone about trauma caused by his death, or even why he'd died so young. Even now, so far removed from the event, it haunted her.
"Fizzle... did you need something, my sweet?"
The small grey tom continued staring for quite a few long and awful moments before he spoke.
"I thought maybe you were done by now. I want cuddles. And a story. You always do that when you're done with dream visits."
Coldamber was trying to think of a way to reply, when he turned his attention to Springpaw.
"Can I sit with my mom for the rest of your visit with her? I'll be quiet. You'll hardly know I'm there."
Shuffling his paws, he gave his best "I'm very cute and innocent, please say yes" smile.

[ @ares ]