berries for the people, by the people

[Leah]

White fur stood out clearly against the bushes of Berryplace. Herbs grew in abundance here, especially blueberries which Cherrypaw... wasn't actually sure what they did? There were blackberries as well, good for bee stings. She remembered her mentor's stern warning - and the warning of pretty much every cat ever - do not take the bright red berries. Deathberries kill cats who eat them, anyone who survives eaten one is lucky. Her green eyes scouted the area for different herbs; she was mostly on a gathering mission but testing her knowledge was always good, plus she might find spare cobwebs and maybe beehives for honey, although she wasn't brave enough just yet to tackle a beehive on her own.

The Medicine apprentice carefully bit off a thin stem of raspberries. She wasn't entirely sure what they did either, although she's stored them with dandelion and sometimes horsetail... not that this memory helped, what did those do? Her memory did fail her sometimes, much to her dismay. There are so many herbs and medicines to memorise! And dangerous plants like Deadly Nightshade... Cherrypaw looked down, where clumps of leaves and berries she'd collected sat at her paws. Perhaps she'd continue to test herself while she waited for Burnetleaf.

[Snakeh]

Cherrypaw had been out for a while. Burnetleaf had stayed in camp, reassured that his apprentice could manage on her own for a while, even though she was still a 'paw. He had been checking to see which herbs they needed. Dandelion leaves, raspberries, borage, feverfew, and coltsfoot. Might as well get some poppy seeds before their stock ran low, too. He left camp and kept a mental list of what he and his apprentice needed to get. He got tired quickly, but Burnetleaf was determined to get to his apprentice.

Burnetleaf panted as he entered the clearing. Even the distance from camp to here made him tired. He limp-trotted over to Cherrypaw and sat down beside her, winded. When he caught his breath, he checked the herbs she had. He smiled at her proudly. "Good job, Cherrypaw. It looks like you've worked hard in getting the right herbs. Are you ready for a small challenge? Nothing too big, I promise, I just want to know all the herbs you know."

[Leah]

Although hunting was not something Cherrypaw paticularly liked, she thought it would be good to get some prey for her Clan as she waited. She heard the call of a sparrow - perfect, - from the nearby trees. However, before she was able to get herself closer, she heard pawsteps, and then her mentor's voice. "O-oh. Thanks, Burnetleaf. Yeah, um. Okay." she had a hard time speaking to her mentor, she even turned her head away for a brief second. "I w-was gonna catch... sparrow. A sparrow." Cherrypaw shifted a little bit. A test would be nice, but she worried she would disappoint Burnetleaf. She wanted to be the best Medicine cat she could be, but that would mean surpassing her mentor, which was clearly impossible. She took a deep breath and said, "Okay. I... I'm ready."

[Snakeh]

Burnetleaf smiled softly. "It's just a small assessment over everything you've learned so far. Don't feel bad if you don't remember some things. You're only 8 moons old." He touched his nose to her forehead for a brief second, then settled down in a casual way and began to test her. "What is the use for poppy seeds, and who should never have them?"

Sometimes he wondered why his apprentice was always so skittish around him. She always seemed nervous when talking to him. Maybe she didn't like him? Maybe she was embarrassed that her mentor was crippled. Burnetleaf's mind was brought back to the test immediately, and he waited for her answer with a small smile on his face.

[Leah]

Cherrypaw brightened a bit at her mentor's words. She remembers her mother always got after her for forgetting things, before she died. Yellowtail was strict too, but in her own way. "O-okay," she squeaked, and flinched when Burnetleaf touched her forehead. "Um..."

Oh, poppy seeds. This is one of the easiest. He might as well have asked her what Cobwebs are used for. "I-it helps cats sleep..." she began. "Or sometimes if a cat is stressed or in pain..." she didn't stutter that time, but she spoke at a rather rapid pace. "Kits should never have them." There are plenty of herbs that could easily make a kit sick or dead. Sometimes making them sick was a good thing, so they can expel poisons in their bodies. But that's not what Poppy Seeds are specifically used for.

She recalled things she stored Poppy Seeds with... oh, that was one of the things she stored Raspberries with. But then, that's not particularly helpful either. Do they ease pain or help cats sleep? Her head was starting to hurt, there were so many herbs!

[Snakeh]

"Good," Burnetleaf praised. "Pregnant queens or queens in labor also should never have poppy seeds, because they might harm the kits and the queen needs her energy for giving birth to her kits. What is the use of coltsfoot, and what sickness might it ease?" 

He was slightly impressed with Cherrypaw. Though she was still stuttering a bit, she had remembered the use of poppy seeds. He smiled encouragingly at her, though he still wasn't sure why she seemed almost afraid of him. He couldn't run anymore, and he didn't believe he could use his warrior skills with the condition he was in. So why?

[Leah]

"Coltsfoot?" she echoed. It was that weird yellow flower thing, if she could recall, but what did it do? She didn't know that it eased a sickness. She might throw a guess out there, perhaps one of the 'coughs, but she gets rather estatic and hesitant when she's lying or unsure. She put it with yarrow and dock sometimes... "Cracked pads," she paused. What else did it do? She was completely unsure. She felt terrible despite Burnetleaf's earlier assurance. "I-I'm sorry, Burnetleaf." she lowered her head. "I.... don't know." she hated feeling so guilty, but she couldn't imagine being a Medicine cat if she couldn't remember the herbs! The thought that one day, she would be expected to tend to the sick and injured on her own... and she'd even have her own apprentice one day! Too many thoughts were flooding her head at once.

[Snakeh]

Burnetleaf touched her forehead with one paw. "Hey, don't be like that. I remember feeling the same way you probably do. My mentor, Snowtail, had a hard time teaching me because I was a warrior first. I had to unlearn everything I'd learned as a warrior to make room for medicine cat training." He paused. "Coltsfoot helps ease a cat's breathing and it can help ease whitecough and colds. Like you said, it can also help with cracked paws. It's okay that you didn't know. Remember, you're 8 moons old."

Burnetleaf laughed somewhat. "Now, if it'd been me who couldn't remember, that would've been a problem. Cheer up. It'll come to you with some time, patience, and practice." The medicine cat flicked his tail across his apprentice's shoulders. "Come on. We'll gather more herbs and then go back to camp. Then I'll remind you what herbs do what and teach you some new ones, if you'd like."

[Leah]

Cherrypaw relaxed and was even amused by Burnetleaf's story. She never realized there was a time when he didn't know anything either. Breathing and whitecough... she'll have to remember that! She was partially right, at least. "Okay," she said, gathering more herbs would be a great idea. "Yeah, what do blueberries do?" The first thing anyone sees when they enter this place and Cherrypaw doesn't even recall seeing Burnetleaf ever using them.

[Snakeh]

"Blueberries? Blueberries don't quite have a medicinal use. Sick cats find it easier to keep blueberries down than fresh-kill, however, so there's that. Why, do you want to gather some?" Burnetleaf stole a glance down at his apprentice. She seemed much more relaxed now, which made his job easier. A stressed cat was hard to teach. The ginger medicine cat limped over to a raspberry bush and began to pluck the leaves and berries off.

"Raspberries have a similar use to blueberries, though blueberries are best to feed a sick cat. The leaves, however, have an entirely different use. Raspberry leaves help a kitting queen stay awake and keep her energy up." He kept his injured leg off the ground as he plucked the berries and leaves off. He had confidence that Cherrypaw would turn out to be a great medicine cat. She just needed practice and who knows, maybe she'd be an even better medicine cat than old Burnetleaf here!

[Leah]

"No, I just..." Cherrypaw hesitating again. Maybe they could be useful. "I just didn't remember seeing any in our den." it wasn't until now that she saw her mentor's limp and remembered his twisted leg. Cats told her over again that he used to be a Warrior but had to become a Medicine cat. They say he had a different name, that he regretted his decision, and so many more rumors that she wonders if any were true. But she doesn't feel like asking him because it felt almost intrusive; perhaps it wasn't such a great idea to dig into his personal life.

"Oh," she was lost in thought and barely heard him tell her of the use of Raspberry leaves. "Is it only used for Queens?" if it was used to keep energy up, then perhaps... "Can it also be used as a travelling herb?" Cherrypaw bounded her way towards the Medicine cat and helped him pick off berries and leaves.

[Snakeh]

"Raspberry leaves have never been used as a travelling herb before," Burnetleaf answered thoughtfully. "I don't think so, though that was a good question. To answer your other question, no raspberry leaves aren't only for queens. They also reduce pain, so we can use them as a painkiller if a cat shouldn't take poppy seeds." He continued to pluck the leaves and berries off, now with the help of Cherrypaw. The medicine cat sat a bit awkwardly while gathering the herbs, as his twisted leg prevented him from sitting normally.

Once they had enough, Burnetleaf told his apprentice, "Okay, we have enough raspberries now. We should take these back to camp and if I'm not too tired, we'll come back out to get poppy seeds and dandelion leaves." Burnetleaf tried not to boss around his apprentice too much. He remembered Snowtail's bossy manner, and he had always been a little more grumpy about his tasks. He'd decided that when he got an apprentice, he'd do his best to treat the cat as an equal, see how that goes. And so far, it seemed to be working just fine.

[Leah]

"Would it be dangerous to use them as a travelling herb?" Cherrypaw wondered out loud. Why wouldn't anyone think to use an herb meant to keep up strength for travel? She listens closely, doing what she can to memorize the medicines. She mentally organizes the berries in her head; they can go with poppy seeds. "Okay," she replied to her mentor's suggestion, or rather, polite order. However she wants to think of it as, since she's not one to listen when it sounds like a stern command. "Earlier..." she started, and paused. Does it matter? It might, she knows she needs to brush up on her hunting and fighting. She has always been lectured about how these skills might be needed in ambush or if there aren't enough Warriors to fill the supply of prey, and StarClan knows the Leaf-bare took many cats from every Clan. "I... I w-was going to hunt... hunt a s-sparrow," she began stuttering again. That happens when she brings up ideas that she's afraid will be turned down. "For... the Clan. The kits... like, Yellowtail's kits. And elders..."

[Snakeh]

"Not dangerous, but unnecessary. There's already a travelling herb to keep up strength." He listened to her stutter, and shot a soft look. "You can hunt if you'd like. I'll wait here, if you'd like me to." He wished he could still hunt. With his twisted leg, he could barely walk across camp without getting tired, let alone try to hunt something. He flicked his tail across her forehead and grinned, settling down in a comfortable position. "Off you go. Good luck."

[Leah]

"Okay," she replied, "I-i'll go over there," she looked in the direction of a tree nearby. Perhaps there were birds or even mice around. When she looked at Burnetleaf again, her ears twitched as she caught a glimpse of him shifting his leg. "Y-you... want-" she couldn't get the right words out. "w-want to help?" she isn't exactly the greatest of hunters, but she knows the rumors of her mentor's story, perhaps he used to be a great hunter. She didn't have all the scents of prey down, especially since hunting was not exactly a technique that Medicine cats needed. Still, she felt like she should help out the Clan. "You... you could..." oh no, why did she start speaking? She worried he would take offense to her words, it clearly sounded like she wasn't sure how a cat with a crippled leg could help out! "Uh... Uhm." Cherrypaw looked down, she was so stupid! What was she thinking? "Or... I could just..." not looking her mentor in the eyes, she slowly made her way to the tree.