Plot Thread Bracken in the Sick Den

Let’s have some fun!
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Muddypaw blinked blearily, yawning widely as she woke up slowly. The young she-cat pawed at her face, removing sleep-sand from the corners of her eyes, her senses slowly sharpening. The tang of herbs hit her nose and confusion dimly lit her mind as she registered that this wasn’t the nursery. Other smells came and the young torbie grew more aware as she remembered that she was in the Medicine Cat Den. The past few days had been a rush and Muddypaw was still getting used to all the changes. About a quarter moon ago she had been apprenticed, named Muddypaw, and put under the guidance of Flutterdream. A few days later she had travelled to the Moonstone and been accepted officially into the role. There had been a vision and the other Medicine Cats and apprentices. The young she-cat’s mind was still reeling with the memories of everything, but she had little chance to think it through as the journey had left her exhausted upon return.

When the ruddy apprentice would have had the time to think, more had happened and now, as she truly regained her awareness that came with wakefulness, Muddypaw realised that her first proper lesson was likely to happen. The wretched murdering rogue who she had heard whispers about in the Nursery, had attacked again. One of the clan’s warriors was laid in the den with her, seemingly asleep and likely in dreadful pain. Muddypaw’s heart raced as she thought about what the day was to bring and she looked around for Flutterdream. Picking up her scent and working out where she would likely be, the reddish-brown torbie scrambled to her paws and trotted swiftly to meet her mentor, tufts of moss caught in her fur and the longer plumes going wild enough to show her relation to Wolfpaw more clearly than usual. ”Flutterdream?” the young she-cat mewed quietly, not wishing to disturb their patient but unsure of what to do.

Screaming into the void counts as progress

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"Good morning, Muddypaw. I hope you slept well. Brackenwing will need new moss to stuff his wound." padding over to her stores, she pointed a paw to where the moss was stored. Then to the herbs she planned on using. "Today we will be using burdock. Burdock is a stout plant with large wavy leaves and round, purple flower heads. It's roots can be chewed and applied externally to prevent infection. Can you fetch a few moss balls for me?" She started with the burdock roots, giving a nod to inspect the plant for its smells and appearance before she brought it over where she waited for Muddypaw.

Let’s have some fun!
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”Morning Flutterdream. I did,” Muddypaw chirped quietly and nodded. The cinnamon torbie watched as her mentor pointed out where she would find the moss before trotting dutifully over and clawing some of it out of the store. She listened to Flutterdream as the Medicine Cat described the herb that she planned to use. Gathering maybe a little more moss than Flutterdream had intended her to, Muddypaw trotted back to her mentor, a mental image of the balls of moss she chased as a kit flicking through her mind.

”Is this enough?” the apprentice asked as she placed the moss near Flutterdream’s paws and then turned her attention to the herb that had been identified as Burdock Roots. She sniffed them over and tentatively touched them with an outstretched paw, taking care not to cause damage as she familiarised herself with the plant. While this familiarity wouldn’t help her find burdock growing in the territory, it would make sure she could grab the correct set of roots when helping out in the medicine den. Once sure she would remember, or as well as a six moon old cat could hope to remember, she settled into a lightly seated position, ready to get up at a word. She smiled up at Flutterdream, awaiting the next instructions.

Screaming into the void counts as progress

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For her apprentice her smile wasn't strained, although behind her eyes there was a weariness there. She had been up most of the night checking up on Brackenwing for any changes. It relieved her to know that her apprentice got a good night's rest.

Diligently she began to peel away the blood dried moss, also taking up the layer of old herb. At least they weren't bleeding anymore. Taking a root into her mouth she began to show the apprentice how it was done, before licking it onto her paw and carefully spreading the fresh layer on their wound.

Next came the moss. "That's a perfect amount. Not too little, not too much. Do you want to put the moss there?" Her nose, still heavy with the scent of burdock, pointed to the exact spot where the moss needed to be pressed.

Let’s have some fun!
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Muddypaw diligently watched as her mentor began removing the bloodsoaked moss from Brackenwing’s wound. The young she-cat winced slightly at the sight of the wound. Not out of fear or disgust, but pure sympathy. She could only imagine how painful it must be to have an injury like that. It was a surprise to Muddypaw when she discovered that the sight of blood and injuries didn’t make her feel queasy or horrified, but rather simply curious and sympathetic to the other cat. She had taken this to be one of the things that Flutterdream and Starclan had seen in her when they decided that she would make a decent medicine cat. After all, a cat who couldn’t bear to look at injuries would make a very poor medicine cat.

When Flutterdream picked up the root, the ruddy she-cat turned her focus back onto her mentor. She knew she had to carefully watch everything that the she-cat did in order to learn. There wasn’t always time to talk things out clearly, besides which, one could only explain actions to a point before seeing the action became far more useful. As such Muddypaw paid attention to the way that Flutterdream chewed the roots into a paste and then licked that paste onto an outstretched paw and spread it onto the injury. Awe filled Muddypaw’s gaze as she noticed how gentle Flutterdream was capable of being and she looked at her own paws, wondering if she, too, would one day be capable of such precise movement with her own paws.

The young medicine cat apprentice’s ears perked up at her mentor’s question. Instantly she knew it was more of a gentle command and she gulped quietly as anxiety rose in her throat. Fears of causing Brackenwing more pain, or of ruining the smooth application of burdock root paste and thus worsening the injury, swirled in Muddypaw’s mind. Nevertheless, she placed the moss down nearby and began to pull it apart so that she could place it on the indicated area. Her nerves meant that Muddypaw failed to actually apply any pressure, causing the moss to sit loosely rather than attach in any meaningful way.

Screaming into the void counts as progress

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Flutterdream watched as Muddypaw stepped up to the task at paw. Brackenwing was the perfect practice as they wouldn't notice any pain if she somehow misplaced the moss. Both eyes blinked down, chin silently nodding as the moss was spread evenly over the wound. Any discrepancy was quickly masked. She was learning that that's what counted.

"You spread it well, but it could be pressed a little deeper? See? A little more pressure there and done." She addressed with a gentle paw as her pad gauged the pressure and applied it where needed. This was a short lessen but a necessary one. There was nothing more they could do for Brackenwing but wait to see if the coma abbated.

She turned back towards their store of herbs with a sweep of her bushy tail. "What kind of herbs interest you here? Or smell interesting?"

Let’s have some fun!
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The young she-cat hesitated for a moment before tentatively pressing the moss more firmly. She had watched Flutterdream’s paws as the Medicine Cat demonstrated the correct amount of pressure to use. Muddypaw was still afraid of hurting Brackenwing, but did as she was told. The task wasn’t perfect, and it was certainly clear that the ruddy torbie would benefit from practise. But since she had been a Medicine Cat Apprentice for less than a quarter moon, there would still be plenty of time to do so.

As Flutterdream turned toward the herb store, Muddypaw stepped back from Brackenwing, relieved that she had done well enough to please her mentor. Dimly she wondered if warrior training would be as nerve-wracking as medicine cat training was. This in turn pulled her mind toward the idea of the fact that she wasn’t sure if she would ever learn to even hunt. Muddypaw’s ears drooped slightly as she got up and padded over to Flutterdream.

At Flutterdream’s question, the cinnamon torbie raised her ears a little with focus and skimmed her eyes over the neatly stored herbs. She tilted her head slightly, considering. There were a few herbs that intrigued her. She didn’t know their uses much, nor even their names yet. There had been no need to learn them as a kit, and she doubted her warrior littermates would ever learn to recognise each plant from each other. “Hmmm…” Muddypaw hummed. “That one smells the most interesting,” she meowed, gesturing her paw toward the strong smelling mint leaves. “But this one… this one is more eye-catching.” This time the young apprentice gestured toward the store of rosemary. To her, it looked like something similar to the pine needles that grew on most of the nearby trees and she wondered how it was of any use.

Screaming into the void counts as progress

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Flutterdream's eyes followed the small, uncertain movements of her apprentice but there was approval there as she seemed to absorb the assessment. The foundation of a good medicine cat was herbs and smiled as she joined her near the stores. She watched curiously as two herbs were mentioned, one by its strong scent and the other from its uniquely shaped leaves that were also so familiar.

"Ah. Mint." Dipping her nose towards the leaves. "It has a multitude of uses from rubbing it on your coat to chase away fleas and ticks to soothing a sore threat. If a cat has a fever they can also injest the leaves as well as easing a troubled stomach."

She nodded with approval. "And that's rosemary. It has a sharp, woody smell..." A paw pointed between the two plants, noting the mix of rosemary stalks and leaves she had collected. "Both and leaves and stalks can act to stimulate blood flow, either chewing and applying it as a compress or ingesting it. Both the leaves and stalks can help with stomach pains and encouraging bile to recover as well as easing headaches."

The amount of herbs and their uses could be intimidating, but Flutterdream was confident inher choice and StarClan's approval.

Let’s have some fun!
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Muddypaw’s eyes widened in surprise and awe as she listened to Flutterdream explain the uses of the two herbs that had caught her interest. “Wow,” she murmured lightly and then took a moment to try committing the smells and visuals of the plants to her mind. In all likelihood the cinnamon torbie would completely forget much of the information in the next few days, but with time and repetition the information would eventually stick. “It’s amazing how a few leaves can do so much for us,” the young apprentice mewed in awe, her bicoloured eyes glittering. “To think much of the clan probably walks past, through or on such useful things without so much as a second thought…”

Muddypaw shook her head and looked somewhat embarrassed. “I mean, they don’t know that they’re useful, obviously… I didn’t know, and wouldn’t have known, so it’s understandable that they don’t and won’t… can’t…” The semi-fluffy she-cat stumbled over herself. She didn’t like that she had just sounded dismissive or uppity. After a pause in which Muddypaw was desperately hoping Flutterdream wouldn’t be disapproving of her, the ruddy she-cat eventually spoke again. “These are just two plants with so many uses… how can I ever remember all of our herbs and their uses, and how to find them all?” The she-cat’s gaze darkened with concern. She truly wanted to become a remarkable medicine cat one day, but she worried that she would never remember anything well enough to achieve that. There was just so much.

Screaming into the void counts as progress

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Flutterdream's expression softened almost immediately as Muddypaw stumbled over her words, the faintest purr rumbling in her throat to smooth away the apprentice's worry. Her noticing was the beginning of everything they did as medicine cats.

Then she rose giving her pelt a small shake before motioning with her tail for Muddypaw to glance over the herb stores again. "Soon we will remember the herbs where they grow. Mint favors the wet soil of the marsh edges...And rosemary prefers dryer ground. I'll show you all my favorite herb spots." The calico glanced back at Muddypaw, keeping her expression steady.

"You aren't meant to remember everything at once! No cat does...Even the oldest medicine cat may struggle to remember a use here and there. You will forget, then remember. And each time it will return to you a little faster."

A small approving smile reached across her muzzle. "Every herb has a hint that will help you and until then...you have me to remind you." Then she aimed to drape her tail across her apprentice's shoulder to reassure her.

They'd have plenty of time. Starclan willing.