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Post by Vicioux on Aug 3, 2011 21:06:01 GMT -5
Shadowclaw was out looking for herbs. He made his way to the burnt pines, looking for any new medicinal plants growing out of the ashes. He dug around for a little while until he found some tansy, and he put it in a pile nearby. There were cobwebs around as well, which could be applied to wounds. He continued until he had amassed a large pile of herbs. He looked at them, pleased of what he had done. If Hawkeye were here now, she would have approved greatly. But now she was in StarClan, or at least that's where Shadowclaw figured she'd go. She was a bit of a troublemaker but certainly she couldn't have done anything bad enough to warrant her not going to live with her ancestors in the stars.
For a moment he wondered about his siblings. He wondered if they were safe wherever they were. He sighed, looking up at the dark sky. He knew that Graypaw and Quietpaw were out there somewhere. He wondered if perhaps they had been taken by Raiders and forced to work with them. He would forever miss them, but he had more important things to focus on as a medicine cat. He curled his black tail around his paws and sighed. He remembered just how upset his parents had been when Graypaw and Quietpaw had gone missing. He was just as upset as well.
He was glad to have his position of medicine cat though. He would have liked to be leader or deputy but medicine cat was the easier way of doing things. He was concerned that StarClan was not talking to him, however. He wondered if maybe it was because he hadn't properly been chosen to be a medicine cat. He had just offered in order to gain a position which would allow him to be in control of a lot of aspects of the Clan without having to lead cats into battle or anything bloody like that.
He found a few more herbs when he got up to look around again. He needed a medicine cat apprentice, that would make things easier on him. He could train up some other young hopeful cat who would perhaps actually have visions from StarClan. He thought he heard a rustling in the leaves and he looked up. Some other cat was coming towards him.
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Post by mysteryfaith on Aug 6, 2011 22:45:24 GMT -5
Blizzardpaw's eyes were focused intently upon a speck on the forest floor - well, it wasn't much of a speck. It was a tiny beetle, glossy wings fluttering anxiously as it felt the presence of a predator above it. "Don't worry, little beetle," he soothed it gently; he imagined that a beetle had a hard life, avoiding the heavy paws of some careless warriors. "I won't hurt you."
It took Blizzardpaw a few more moments of slowly following the little beetle before he realised he was in company. Straightening his back immediately and clearing his throat, and hoping more than anything that the cat hadn't heard him speaking to an insect, he put on a false smile; the circumstances only got worse when he realised that he was talking to Shadowclaw, the Clan medicine cat.
"Oh, Shadowclaw!" Blizzardpaw burst out, a little flustered. "I see that you're . . . collecting herbs!" Just in time, the apprentice spotted the pile of fragrant stalks and leaves sat next to the black-and-white tom. "That's exactly what I was doing, too. I mean, I was collecting herbs . . . for you." He could feel his white pelt prickling with embarrassment.
His mismatched eyes flickered with shame - he'd hardly ever seen the medicine cat before, and this really was not the first impression he had been planning on making. Now, the cats of SouthClan would have even more reason to call him a freak; not only did he have one blue eye and one green eye, he now walked around talking to beetles and collecting herbs for strangers he'd never met before.
Blizzardpaw considered correcting the whole conversation - apologising for saying he was collecting herbs, and explaining why he was following a beetle around the forest. The only problem with that plan was, he didn't know why he'd been following a beetle round the forest. It seemed like quite a sound idea at the time - now, of course, it seemed idiotic and stupid.
All he could muster up was a weak, "I'm sorry about this." What did that even mean? Stupid, Blizzardpaw scolded himself. Not only are you a freak, but you also have the mental capacity of a brainless butterfly. He couldn't help but talk to himself so meanly; ever since he'd been able to recognise the speech of the cats around him, he'd known that they thought he was different. He was the freak in the corner, the cat that StarClan forgot, the kitten with the crazy eyes; he'd known such insults all his life, and had grown used to his own brain being one of the contributors. Now, he was too mortified to even speak; he could only let Shadowclaw decide how to react, and hope that things didn't go too badly.[/color]
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Post by Vicioux on Aug 10, 2011 15:28:17 GMT -5
Shadowclaw could now see that it was just one of the Clan apprentices. He slowly let his guard down. He thought that the apprentice's behavior was strange, and he didn't know exactly what to say about it. He was grateful when the apprentice mentioned that he was going to help collect herbs. Shadowclaw more than welcomed that kind of help.
"Do you know anything about herbs?" he asked of Blizzardpaw. He heard the apology that the apprentice made, though he didn't understand what it was for. Blizzardpaw shouldn't need to apologize for offering to help him. He shook his head and sighed. "If you do, I will be requiring some tansy. Could you find some for me?"
He kept his pile of herbs by his side, full of whatever he could find. He began to wonder if Blizzardpaw would make a good apprentice... but then again, another apprentice called Swallowpaw was his first choice. He couldn't really have more than one apprentice either. If StarClan were still there, they could have helped him make a decision on the matter, but he wasn't entirely sure that Blizzardpaw would even consider being a medicine cat apprentice, while Swallowpaw showed obvious interests in being a medicine cat apprentice even to the point of spending much of his time learning about herbs in the medicine cat den.
If Swallowpaw was going to become his apprentice, he hoped that the younger cat maybe had some kind of connection with StarClan that he never had. Shadowclaw almost felt empty without his ancestors. For a medicine cat to not have contact with StarClan was nothing short of disgraceful. Though, he was beginning to wonder if there was something wrong with the ancestors. He hadn't met with any of the other medicine cats recently, but there had been no prophecies in the Clans other than Cardinaltail's dying words.
He looked back at Blizzardpaw, waiting for the apprentice to give him a reply. He noticed the apprentice's odd eyes -- a trait that he'd not really seen in too many cats before. He had heard tales of an odd-eyed cat being the vicious and fearsome sovereign of the raiders, but that was all. He might have once spotted a NorthClan apprentice with odd eyes, but he couldn't be sure. It was true that it was obviously a very unique trait. Shadowclaw wondered how many comments Blizzardpaw got on his eyes, but he didn't say anything for risk of offense.
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Post by mysteryfaith on Aug 10, 2011 18:43:50 GMT -5
Blizzardpaw nodded eagerly, happy that Shadowclaw had seemingly ignored - or not heard at all - his talking to insects. Besides, he needed something to do; he wasn't training today, and he wasn't planning on hunting for the Clan. Whilst he enjoyed being a warrior, he just didn't feel like collecting any prey; it took time, effort and patience to catch a single mouse, and that would only feed an elder or a couple of kits.
"I'd love to help! But . . . there's one problem." Blizzardpaw felt the familiar heat of embarrassment coming over him, making his tail lash self-consciously. "I don't know what tansy looks like, or what it does. I've never really thought about herbs before . . . I've just accepted that if I get hurt somehow, you'll mix me a magic remedy and I won't even have to think about what's in it."
The tom had never considered medicine cat work before - it sounded pleasant, but it wasn't what he had been born for. He believed in destiny, and he thought that his destiny, set by the quiet StarClan, was to be a great warrior. He wanted to be a legend - a tale told to kits on dark stormy nights, of the ferocious tom with the mismatched eyes. He could see it now - himself, but much bigger, sat on a rock talking to masses of cats, all squabbling to get closer to him so they could catch a glimpse of his ear, or perhaps hear a word or two of his long, inspiring speech . . .
Blizzardpaw dragged himself out of the daydream, but the smile it had brought to him lingered on his muzzle; one day, he'd make that vision a reality, he promised to himself. His attention went back to Shadowclaw, and he realised that, without a basic knowledge of herbs, he wouldn't be much help to the medicine cat at all. He had to start doing something . . . did herbs smell of anything?
Well, it was worth a try. He took in a deep sniff, holding it for as long as he could to identify all the scents floating around him. There was a stale vole scent from somewhere, along with the fresh scents of blackbird and squirrel; although he was tempted to catch just one or two pieces of prey now, he had already committed himself to Shadowclaw's aid today. Besides, he was sure another warrior would get it.
What other scents were there? Along with the distinctive smells of his Clanmates coming from the camp, there was a fresh, unfamiliar scent on the wind. It smelled quite tangy, and was promisingly unknown - if he hadn't smelled it before, it was likely to be something he hadn't encountered, like a herb!
"I smell something on the wind," he told Shadowclaw, excited that he could be of some use to the medicine cat without having to know anything about the herbs he dealt with. "It's fresh, and quite tangy . . . I haven't noticed it before. It's coming from that direction, I think." The apprentice pointed with his tail towards a spot in the trees, eyes bright with the refreshing taste of the new scent.
He wondered what it was like to be a medicine cat - always having to tend to the wounds of the warriors, the coughs of the ill, the blisters of the clumsy. Blizzardpaw couldn't imagine they led an easy life - balancing an extensive knowledge of herbs and treatments along with a close relationship with StarClan had to be difficult.
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Post by Vicioux on Sept 4, 2011 2:18:29 GMT -5
Shadowclaw let out a sigh when he realized that this apprentice really did not know anything about herbs. He shook his head. "Tansy has yellow flowers, and leaves with many parts," he explained. He had hoped that Blizzardpaw would have had at least a little bit of foreknowledge regarding herbs, but he couldn't complain as long as he at least had a little bit of help. When Blizzardpaw mentioned the fact that he thought that herbs were just magical remedies, Shadowclaw couldn't help but let out a sigh.
He could tell by the look in Blizzardpaw's different colored eyes that he had no desire to be a medicine cat apprentice either. He had this shining glow of wanting to be a warrior, and Shadowclaw couldn't put a damper on that. He did happen to notice that Blizzardpaw had sunk into daydreaming, and he let out a soft meow to try and bring the apprentice out of it. It seemed to work. The apprentice had started to sniff the air.
What in StarClan's name is he doing? wondered the medicine cat. His eyes opened with realization when he noticed that the little apprentice was describing what was most certainly an herb. It could even very well be tansy by the way that he was describing it. It did have a tangy sort of smell. He looked in the direction that Blizzardpaw was looking in. Shadowclaw sniffed the air as well.
He's right, it is an herb. It's also tansy. Good luck today. The medicine cat thought. He walked to where Blizzardpaw had shown him and he found the plant. He nodded with approval. It was exactly what he had been looking for. Maybe there was hope for Blizzardpaw after all... if not in becoming a medicine cat apprentice, then at least being able to help Shadowclaw, which was what Shadowclaw really needed.
He carefully plucked the herbs with his teeth and dragged them back to the pile he had made. He turned in Blizzardpaw's direction and meowed. "Good job, Blizzardpaw. That's exactly what I was looking for. Can you smell anything else?" he asked. Just how good are the senses of this apprentice? he wondered. If Blizzardpaw proved to be an asset, maybe Shadowclaw could have him join him on his herb hunts more often.
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OOC: Sorry I was gone for so long. I got grounded from the computer.
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