i can hear a lonely operator on the phone [ p ]

[finley]

cobwebfern's soft gray paws stepped into a place she hadn't been in a good while. she'd admit: the den had been calling to her ever since mistyshard began her (brief) stay as medicine cat and cobwebpaw, then, left. now she was back, officially, and hope and pride bloomed strong in her chest. she was here. where she was finally meant to be. brief moment of wistfulness over, the newly named medicine cat apprentice got to work, dragging her nest from the warriors den in and placing it in a corner next to berries'. that did remind her: she desperately needed to talk to berryshine.

cobwebfern glanced around, looking for the medicine cat.

[ @squidz - thought I'd get this started !! ]

[squidz]

| BERRYSHINE |

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

[ riverclan medicine cat | she-cat | 12 moons | timid, kind, hardworking ]

—

Berryshine was on the other side of the rock pillar that split their den, organizing some of the remaining herbs. Hm... she'd have to go gather some soon. A few mindless thoughts like that were flittering around her mind when she heard a scraping sound, notably a moss nest being dragged in. Poking her head around, Berryshine smiled, seeing Cobwebfern pulling up her nest next to hers. Wiping some of the excess greenery from her paws, Berryshine padded over, seeing that her best friend (and now colleague) had been looking for her as well.

"Welcome," the medicine cat purred, briefly touching her nose to Cobwebfern's ear in greeting, gesturing to the den with her skinny tail. She could see the proud, content gleam in Cob's blue eyes, and it made Berry all the happier to see how much Cob looked at home already. The ex-warrior had served her Clan faithfully and been a healer when the time had called for it — and now she was in a place that she looked like a natural in. Even if she hadn't directly seen her in action yet, Berryshine was all the more confident of her decision for her apprentice already.

Berryshine glanced around the den for a moment; it still smelled mostly just like stone and water, but soon enough, she knew the den would be permeated by their own scents and the herbs they'd be using. A new camp, a new den, a new name... and now a new apprentice. So many things have changed, but this time, Berry couldn't help but feel that they were all for the better. Even if it was a lot to keep up with.

"I think we'll make a home of it here in no time... a-as long as you help me with the decorations, of course," she added, her whiskers twitching in faint amusement. At least she and Cobwebfern were entering this new stage together, in a way. And there were few other cats that she'd feel as comfortable with by her side.

[ @finley !! ]

[finley]

cobwebfern



purrks ; the collector , herbal knowledge t2
she / they . riverclan med cat app
21 moons . missing back leg
tags ; @squidz - berries <3
tws for this post: none

the tips of her ears turned pink and cobwebfern looked away, blushing a little bit. she offered a lick to the other's cheek before turning to circle the den and look around. ' luckily, i have that one down! give me just a second.. ' cobwebfern dashed out of the den and returned dragging a big leaf with ivy and flowers dumped on it. ' redmire and i sort of hung out earlier, 'nd i also grabbed a buncha stuff to decorate your- our.. our. den. so. yeah. i got flowers, 'nd ivy, and some leaves to tuck in and decorate the den. ' the ex-warrior offered, smiling at berryshine.

she considered this for a second, and then love flooded up in her heart and she grinned widely, pressing her face into berryshine's fur. ' i'm so happy we're doing this together. i'm so happy we're safe and we're okay and our clan is okay and everything is okay. ' cobwebfern meowed this and then purred, sitting down. ' i love you. you're my best friend and i love you. ' raw moment of emotion over, she blushed vaguely and looked away.

[squidz]

| BERRYSHINE |

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

[ riverclan medicine cat | she-cat | 12 moons | timid, kind, hardworking ]

—

Berryshine was pleased to see Cob had already been on the case — it didn't entirely surprise her, given that she had a feeling the ex-warrior would already be very much into making the interior of the medicine den homely and cozy. Berry had the same desire, though she was less... talented, in those aspects. She purred as she sifted through the ivy and flowers with a small brown paw, smiling down at them before glancing back up at Cob, her leafy-green eyes glinting in the dim den.

"These are wonderful!" She purred happily, whiskers twitching. "I-I'll go by your guidance, 'cause this... isn't exactly my strength," she added with a small, humble laugh.

Then, when Cobwebfern sported a huge grin and pressed her face into Berry's dark brown fur, she was happy to feel such joy radiating off the new medicine cat apprentice. It made her own heart swell, nodding in agreement to Cob's first words: how grateful they were to be here, to be safe, to be okay... after everything that'd happened, they could finally use a moment of reprieve. To reset, to breathe, to grow... and it finally felt like that was happening.

But Cob's last words made Berryshine's eyes widen a bit. She hadn't ever heard those three words... well, once before, actually. Stagheart had told her when she was really young, terrified over training to be a warrior soon, still a kit in the nursery. ThunderClan had surprise-attacked them, and within a few moments, the entire camp had been swarmed. He'd taken her to safety and said to her: 'No matter what happens... remember that I love ya, kid.' And then he'd been rushing into bloody battle, disappearing into a sea of fur, claws, and teeth.

Those words had been significant to her; no one had ever told her they loved her. Cared about her, sure, but love felt... stronger. And especially with Stagheart, who was a cat of few words and even fewer (outward) emotions. He tended to show his love and care with actions more than words, so Berry always knew he did. Hearing it now from her best friend's mouth made her chest warm in all the right ways, her skin feeling hot under her fur, as if self-conscious. She didn't know any weight that those words might carry other than an intense care for someone's wellbeing, like a familial bond; that's the only way she knew it. So, a warm purr left her throat, touching her tail to Cob's briefly in a gesture of appreciation.

"Ah, I-I'm happy too, Cob... and I love ya too!" She mewed easily and genuinely, happy to see that her care for her friend's wellbeing was reciprocated. If that's what love was, like Stag and now Cob were showing her, she reckoned that she was understanding what it meant. Right? Appreciation swirled in her leafy-green eyes as she met Cobwebfern's blues. "Y-You've been the best friend I've ever had... I'm so, so grateful for it."

[ @finley !! ]

[finley]

cobwebfern



purrks ; the collector , herbal knowledge t2
she / they . riverclan med cat app
21 moons . missing back leg
tags ; @squidz - berry on top
tws for this post: none

immediately thankful that berry accepted her offering of the den decoration, cobwebfern stood from her position sort of slumped on the floor and began tucking strands of ivy to separate the back of the den, where the herbs were stored, from the front of the den. ' i think it would feel.. nice and cosy if there was ivy, sort of, hanging around. dunno. ' the apprentice returned to her big leaf and retrieved some flowers. ' where do you think we should put these? '

the open-ended question was punctuated by cobwebfern standing up and sitting down, completely unsure what to do with herself. to busy herself, she headed back to the herbs, pawing away the ivy and staring at riverclan's herbal storage. ' now that we're back in the camp, should we begin with sending out herb patrols? we don't.. well, i was gonna say we don't have much, but that is sorta.. an understatement. ' second question finished, she sat back on her haunches and spared a glance at berrypaw, aiming to sweep her earlier outburst of emotion under the rug.

[squidz]

| BERRYSHINE |

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

[ riverclan medicine cat | she-cat | 12 moons | timid, kind, hardworking ]

—

Berryshine tilted her head for a moment, noticing Cob's restlessness and the sudden way she seemed to snap to different topics as she spoke quickly. Hm... had Berry said something wrong? The anxious inclination to assume she had was natural for the little brown she-cat, and she shuffled her paws for a moment, trying not to dwell on the premise. Surely she was overthinking it, like she always did. Stagheart always had lightly scolded her for that, but she really couldn't help it.

Shaking the idea away, Berryshine nodded, deciding to take Cob's words at face value. Maybe she was just nervous and restless from being promoted! It was a big step, big promotion... Berry had been much of the same way. Surely that was it.

"Y-Yeah, ah... oh, I think maybe we could put the flowers in the ivy? That might look pretty," she small she-cat mused, taking one of them in her jaws and bracing her front paws agains the cave wall for balance as she lodged it into the draped ivy. Oops... she pressed too hard, and it was a little scrunched. A sheepish chuckle left her and she blushed, glancing back at Cobwebfern with her whiskers twitching. "Ah... m-might be better for you to do it," she joked, hoping to lighten whatever little shift Cob seemed to have taken.

At her friend's next question, Berryshine nodded. "Oh, yes, we definitely need patrols... I never got a chance to ever run many of those because of everything that happened between the raid, the mountains..." she trailed off a moment, eyes glazing over briefly in memories of times she still hadn't fully processed, before she shook her head to bring herself back to the present.

"B-But yes, that should be a priority... w-we can try to send them out together if ya want? Or if just you wanna try... or I can..." She gave a little shrug, a small laugh behind her words. "Stars, we're both just figuring this all out, aren't we? At least we have each other now, though."

[ @finley !! ]

[finley]

img incoming i prommy

c o b w e b f e r n ┆ ☆

she / they . 21 moons . riverclan mca

a very scarred, grey fluffy bengal with a missing back right leg. she has fluffs of white and darker grey fur.
purrks ; herbal knowledge tier two, the collector | formatting creds to wolfie <3 | lesbian/sapphic + demigirl

trigger warning ; this character frequently talks and thinks about past abuse, panic attacks, anxiety, and depression. interact with care <3

└> . . . @squidz ; berryshine

[ sorry this took so long !! <3 ily uwu ]

cobwebfern chuckled, nervous energy dissipating at the comfortableness of being with berryshine. it was.. so much, being here. the whole promotion business, of course, but also being in the new camp. part of her knew it wouldn't always feel as safe as it did in the current moment, but the rest of her was so honestly trusting in the fact that riverclan was finally coming back, finally becoming more stable.. it felt good. three legs shuffled to carefully support berryshine as she placed a flower into the ivy, and offering a grin, cobweb stepped back and looked at their work. ' no no no, you did really good! i think it's going to look really nice in here. it already does, but you know, the coziness of it all.. i think it'll help with the comfortability of our patients. '

' 'salright. we can work on that together! ' her voice was cheerful and bright. the earthy scent of whatever herbs they were holding on to wrapped around her like a blanket, and the newly named apprentice blinked slowly, taking a moment to breathe it all in. cobwebfern offered berryshine a comforting lick at the other's moment of silence, smiling to hopefully comfort her. ' it was.. a lot. but.. we're here now! and we have each other, so everything's gonna be okay! ' did she believe the words that tumbled out of her mouth? maybe. she couldn't really tell. but if they were doing their job, to comfort and support her best friend.. maybe it was okay.

' i'll be honest.. i have no idea how to send those out. i think that's a job for both of us to do together, 'specially in the start as we're just getting settled. ' with a sigh, cobwebfern regarded the pitifully meager herb supply. ' never mind that, though. we can start on that later! ' blue eyes met berryshine's green ones and she smiled, offering a flick of her tail to sit. ' maybe in the meantime.. we could swap some knowledge on herbs..? c-cause, you know. we both don't know.. lots. ' cobs stuttered at her mistake, quickly correcting it. ' n- not that you don't know lots! i don't know lots, and i'm- i'm happy to learn- sorry- '

⋅˚₊‧ ୨୧ ‧₊˚ ⋅

" i was nothing before, so i couldn't have asked to be born . "

[squidz]

| BERRYSHINE |

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

[ riverclan medicine cat | she-cat | 12 moons | timid, kind, hardworking ]

—

Berryshine nodded, agreeing with Cobwebfern regarding the comfortability of their patients aligning with the coziness of the den. Being sick or injured was troublesome enough, so having a nice atmosphere would certainly help take the edge off here or there, as opposed to staring at a blank stony wall. Also, about patrols; she gave a huff in acknowledgement, grateful that Cob wanted to do them together. Honestly, that's what Berry had been hoping she'd say — the thought of tackling that all on her own wasn't ideal. Besides, the medicine cat had a really hard time speaking up in front of the Clan, so... having Cob at her side for it didn't sound so bad.

As her best friend comforted her with bright, encouraging words and gestures, Berryshine relaxed a bit more, nodding in agreement. She was rather easily swayed by other's moods, so being able to see and hear Cob's cautious optimism made her feel better.

Oh, training? Berryshine brightened a bit at that suggestion. Everything else had been overwhelming in both all the good and bad ways — but this was something that felt normal, and something Berry herself was passionate about. She followed Cob's direction to sit, settling down across from her with a smile of acknowledgement. At her best friend's last words, Berryshine let out a soft mrrow of grim amusement, seeing how Cobwebfern tried to backpedal as if she'd said something wrong (a very familiar instance to Berry herself)—

"No, no... y-you're right," the brown she-cat chuckled humbly, flicking Cob's shoulder affectionately with her tail. "I never got to learn too many from Mistyshard—" Ugh, even saying her missing ex-mentor's name still sent a stab of grief through her chest.. "—a-and, well... I had to learn a good chunk from Fawnlight." Had she ever told Cob about Fawnlight? Probably not. Berryshine let out a huff and glanced at her friend with a small grin to explain. "O-Oh, uh, StarClan cat... one of the last medicine cats before us. She's really nice, pulled me into some dreams, gave me my full name... m-maybe you'll get to meet her someday!"

Now settled and tilting her head, Berryshine gestured with her tail to the herb stores. "I know you were a stand-in healer, so you definitely know somethin', and we can go from there. S-So... tell me what ya know!" she encouraged, her usually-tentative tone now easygoing and relaxed around her best friend, just the two of them in their new, cozy den and settling into this new stage of life and RiverClan at each other's sides.

[ @finley !! ]

[finley]

c o b w e b f e r n ┆ ☆

she / they . 21 moons . riverclan mca

a very scarred, grey fluffy bengal with a missing back right leg. she has fluffs of white and darker grey fur.
purrks ; herbal knowledge tier two, the collector | formatting creds to wolfie <3 | lesbian/sapphic + demigirl

trigger warning ; this character frequently talks and thinks about past abuse, panic attacks, anxiety, and depression. interact with care <3

└> . . . @squidz ; beery-shine

stars. thinking about mistyshard just hurt. cobwebfern's head lowered and she gently sighed, placing her tail on berryshine's flank. ' hey, uh.. it's okay. i'm sure wherever mistyshard is, she's doin' alright, yeah? ' uh huh. like that would work at all. she swallowed, then immediately lit up at fawnlight's name. ' oh!! i know fawnlight!! she visited me in a dream shortly after misty got named med 'nd i was kinda sad! she's so cool, and super nice. ' aaand cobwebfern had maybe thought she was very very pretty, but that was beside the point.

cobweb dipped her head, padding over to the herb stores and squinting at what they had. she pulled out catmint and coltsfoot, two c-herbs that she had memorized a little while ago. ' catmint, best remedy for green and whitecough. it sometimes.. helps with stress 'nd shock, but there's other stuff that works better for stress. ' she glanced at berryshine for approval, and then turned to the coltsfoot. she also pulled out marigold from the pile, and then returned to berryshine, nerves shaking her up a bit. ' uh, coltsfoot. it.. helps with breathing and kittencough. plus it helps with cracked or sore paw pads. mmhm. '

right. marigold. ' marigold- stops infections, bleeding, 'nd is used for minor scratches.. i think it helps with swollen joints and swollen broken bones. uh. yeah. ' cobwebfern turned to berryshine, sitting down and looking at her with wide eyes. ' was.. was that good? is it your turn? '

⋅˚₊‧ ୨୧ ‧₊˚ ⋅

" i was nothing before, so i couldn't have asked to be born . "

[squidz]

| BERRYSHINE |

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

[ riverclan medicine cat | she-cat | 12 moons | timid, kind, hardworking ]

—

Berryshine's gut twisted uncomfortably as she allowed herself to dwell on Mistyshard for another moment; the one-eyed she-cat was pregnant last she'd been seen, and she'd offered to be there to help Berry as the sole medicine cat... only to disappear without a trace... the small brown molly cleared her throat to get rid of the lump that had started forming there. Her emotions regarding that mess weren't fully dealt with, but now was not the time to start hashing them out. Not when this was a good, refreshing day — a new day, a new place, and new things headed their way. So she gave Cob a weak half-smile and nodded in agreement, although the doubts of where Misty had been made her stomach churn.

Berry's face did brighten as Cobwebfern mentioned that she knew Fawnlight, however, and her whiskers twitched in happy acknowledgement. "Oh, wonderful! S-She's great, right?" Good to know that Fawnlight was also active in other affairs regarding the medicine cats; it was nice to be aware of someone in the stars watching out for the precarious position that her and Cob were now in. Hopefully she could speak to her again soon; even if Berryshine had learned all she needed to know from Fawnlight herb-wise, the she-cat was still a friendly and encouraging presence that had really helped Berry out. She'd consider her a role model.

As she watched her friend shuffle over to the herb stores, Berryshine nodded in approval as Cobwebfern went on, explaining the various herbs and their uses. Her ears also twitched in interest; she hadn't known the bit about catmint working for shock and stress, if needed; nor the part about coltsfoot helping with cracked or sore paw pads. She mentally noted that and listened on for now, giving a smile here or there whenever Cob glanced back at her.

Oh, marigold could help with swollen joints, too? The more you know. Berryshine let out a purr as she padded over, brushing by Cob's flank to take her place by the medicine stores. "Y-You just taught me some things yourself," she mused with a soft chuckle. "I obviously know all the main effects of the herbs here, but the few extra uses you mentioned, like for stress 'n paw pads and all that... t-that's good to know. You really know your stuff," she added with an encouraging glance, hoping to help boost her friend's confidence with that wide-eyed look she'd given, her green gaze lingering for a moment to convey her sincerity.

"Ah... my turn, right." Turning to the stores, Berryshine pawed down a small, low-growing plant with rich dark leaves and tiny yellow flowers. She pushed it towards Cobwebfern, wrinkling her nose a bit.

"T-This is celandine. Very helpful, but, ah... smells pretty bad once the leaves and flowers are split," she added with a half-amused chuckle, knowing its distinct pungent scent very well by now. "And unfortunately, to get the most use, you gotta either crush or chew it to get the juice out — which is, uh, quite strong. But it helps weak or damaged eyes by trickling the juice in there — I used it on Dewpaw who's had pretty bad eyesight lately... huh, speaking of which, I haven't seen her in a moon or so for a checkup. Strange." She paused for a moment, distracted, before shaking her head and returning to the task at paw.

"A-And this, is goldenrod—" As soon as she pawed the yellow-flowered plant over, Berryshine sneezed, her eyes watering. She let out a raspy laugh, clearing her throat. "Stars... it always gets me," she giggled humbly before pawing it over to Cobwebfern to inspect. "Don't make the mistake of sticking your nose right in it like I did... Fawnlight had to see me crying out the sting the whole time we trained." It was easy for Berryshine to joke around with Cobwebfern, feeling at ease around her best friend, and amused and enthused glint in her green eyes as she taught herbs.

"You chew it up into a poultice, and it's good for cleaning wounds. Not as good as marigold, but if we're low or it's only a minor wound, w-we can save the marigold and use this instead," she explained. "Plus, it grows everywhere and in big bunches, so it isn't too hard to find. Which'll be good for our stores, with leaf-bare coming up..."

Frowning for a moment in thought, Berryshine hummed to herself and pawed down some dandelion. The small, bright yellow flower was always one of Berry's favorite flowers to look at or pluck for her nest during her brief time as a warrior apprentice before knowing its herbal usage. She gently pushed it over towards Cobwebfern to inspect.

"Dandelion, I'm sure you've seen everywhere... which is good, because it's a decent backup as a painkiller, like poppy seeds. Probably doesn't work as good as poppy, but it's abundant. I've used it for Waterlily, and she didn't complain too much after, so... I assume it's alright," she mused.

Ah, there was more, but that was a lot of words. Berryshine sat back on her haunches, curling her skinny tail over her paws as she watched Cobwebfern inspect the herbs. She allowed a few beats of silence for the herbalist-in-training to soak it in and give room for any questions.

[ @finley !! - big boofah post hehe +3 herbs for cobs B) ]