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Post by Justice on Aug 1, 2020 13:49:01 GMT -5
"Get up!" It was early morning, the sun wasn't even up yet, but he could scent rain on the air and wanted to get this done before it came in. He couldn't predict if it would be just a drizzle or a complete downpour and didn't want to bet wet. While he didn't mind it too much during greenleaf his pelt was long and thick and he'd smell like prey left too long uneaten on a hot day. Not what he wanted. Plus, he could really see the dedication of his new 'apprentice' and he called her that sarcastically. She was a hairball. Clueless, helpless, and at the moment completely useless. He'd have to make sure she understood what was going on and what she did and did not need to be touching before they got too far towards their destination. "Sagepaw we're going to gather some herbs from the shallow marshes today. If you aren't outside in two minutes grabbing yourself some prey to eat I will leave you behind." KARAZHAL
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StoneClan Leader TreeClan MCA
INVENTORY
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Post by KARAZHAL on Aug 7, 2020 0:19:41 GMT -5
"Uh...?" She jolted awake, feeling as if she'd been dunked in cold water. Her stomach turned and twisted, and Sagepaw grimaced at the underlying anxiety seeping through her system in response to being awoken by Falconstorm. She gave a mighty yawn and licked her forepaw, running it across her eyes to rid the sleepiness from them. Sagepaw came to her paws, stretching her hindlegs first and then bowing to get out the remaining kinks.
"I hear you, I hear you," she grumbled. It doesn't hurt to be nicer... "I know you've never had an apprentice so we're both learning from each other. I'm trying my best." As she passed him on her way to the fresh-kill pile, she frowned and quickened her pace. She wasn't picky about what she had to eat; her stomach hurt anyway, and there was no time to do her usual morning groom.
She scarfed down a mouse that went down salty and dry. Her tongue flashed across her chops, and she looked up expectantly at Falconstorm. "What kind of stuff grows in the marshes?" She gasped. "Ooh, that's over by NightClan, isn't it?"
Justice
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Post by Justice on Aug 8, 2020 12:16:11 GMT -5
"My having had an apprentice or not has no standing on you being incompetent. If you want me to be nicer to you, try not having that attitude." He swished his tail and watched as the young she-cat got her breakfast. The clan was only just stirring, the first patrols getting ready to head out to either hunt or check the borders. Things normal cats did. Falconstorm led her to the edge of the camp, taking a deep breath as he had to force himself to take shorter strides to accommodate for Sagepaw's little legs. At her question he just shook his head and ignored her for a moment before answering the first question. "Many things, but in this case we're going looking for chickweed and tansy since my stores are low. Chickweed is for greencough, and its going to be hard to find in our territory. It grows in leafy bunches around a small white flower. Basically looks like a flower made from leaves with an actual small flower at its center. Tansy is for coughs. It has a strong scent so it'll be much easier to find. You'll be looking for small round yellow flowers. Now, before we get out to our destination." He let them get a little bit out of camp before stopping them and turning to face Sagepaw. "You do not know your herbs yet, so I'm giving you this warning. I don't care what you think of it, but you will obey it. If you don't know what it is, if you even think you know but aren't certain, do NOT touch, ingest, sniff, paw at, or sit on anything. If I tell you not to mess with something there is a good reason. Don't question it, we'll get along better. Now lets go." KARAZHAL
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StoneClan Leader TreeClan MCA
INVENTORY
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Post by KARAZHAL on Aug 11, 2020 23:36:37 GMT -5
Ah yes. I'm the one with the attitude. Of course. With her back turned to him as she headed to the fresh-kill pile, Sagepaw mouthed a mocking blah-blah-blah and she took out her frustration in her rips and rends of fur from her fresh-kill. She swallowed it quickly despite its dryness. Exhaling loudly through her nose, she reminded herself to make the best of this and not to take his bad nature to heart. It was just so hard sometimes.
She felt rather small padding after him, but she enjoyed a walk through the territories as much as any cat so she kept her ears perked and her eyes on all their surroundings. Sagepaw held her tail high, her medium-length hair causing the end to fold over in a spiky puff. Falconstorm told her they were on the lookout for some plants named chickweed and tansy. He gave a description of what they both looked like, and she was glad they weren't looking for a full list of items. Leafy flower around a white flower, and a stinky yellow flower. Seems easy enough.
All of a sudden Falconstorm put on the brakes, and Sagepaw arched, immediately on alert. She looked around quickly for some sort of enemy he had perceived before her, but instead his eyes were on her. She was expecting a monologue about needing to be on her best behavior because they were on the NightClan border, and of course everyone knew about TreeClan's poor diplomatic relations with those cats. However, it was all about herbs, and Sagepaw couldn't hide her incredulous "wow, you really think I'm mousebrained?" expression from slacking her jaw. "....obviously," she said under her breath. What made him think she would want to just taste some random bitter leaf? Yuck!
"You made me take those travel herbs before the medicine cat gathering, remember? There's no way I'm suddenly going to crave a taste of that again," she said. She made a sort of submissive shrug with her whole body and suddenly noticed he had jumped ahead again, so she scrambled after him to keep up. "But yep, you're the boss. Lead the way."
"Does this mean we're going off-trail? Some paths only medicine cats know where to go?" she asked excitedly, feeling like this was a secret she was getting in on. When she'd gone on patrol with her sister and some other warriors, they'd stuck to the borders, making sure every mark was intact. Although Falconstorm wasn't exactly her preferred adventuring partner, Sagepaw loved the idea of hacking it out in the wilderness, learning about all sorts of plants and flowers.
Justice
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Post by Justice on Aug 13, 2020 10:50:14 GMT -5
"You would be surprised how stupid some cats can be without the warning. I've had many escorts try and help me and end up poisoning themselves." He offered her, but again he didn't really care if she was offended by his warning. He would rather offend a cat than have to drag another clanmate home sick from them messing with something they shouldn't. As they started walking, it occurred to him that Sagepaw had likely never seen another common plant to their area of the valley. "Oh, if you happen to see a plant with a stem that has a larger leaf at the end and two smaller leaves shooting off to the sides with pointed leaf tips don't touch it even slightly. Its itchleaf, and its a pain to get rid of." He hummed softly to himself, going over the list of other herbs he'd be looking for without his apprentice while she found the ones he'd assigned her. A few at a time was how he learned, over many training sessions. This would be how he taught as well. If she didn't like it she could take it up with his mentor in StarClan when she passed. Her excitement grated his nerves, but he reminded himself that she was still young and that with that trait he had to be patient. His tail flicked out, rose behind him as he fell into his confident stride. Slowed gait, but confident. He'd tread this path many times over the moons, as seen by the trail slowly spanning out from the normal pathways they had traveled from camp. "Every medicine cat has their own paths to travel. As we come more into ourselves we realize there are nooks where herbs grow better than other places and we memorize those spots for ourselves. Sometimes we tell our mentors or apprentices, and sometimes we keep it to ourselves. Just to have one special place to go where nobody can find us. I haven't come this way since Bluejay went to StarClan." The particular path was still worn in, but the forest had begun to retake it, and he noted he'd have to clear debris from it later. Where he led her was a small grove where two parts of the forest came together. The overarching oak trees mingled with the paler leaves of a slender birch tree and forming a shaded area where many herbs would grow. Because he hadn't been here in some time the patch was thick with various herbs that to him smelled soothing and familiar. The scent Bluejay always carried with her. It was quiet and everything was blanketed in a soft bed of moss from the moist ground and nearby marsh area. It was wet to one side, and mingled with some wildflowers on the other. Perfect. "I missed this place." KARAZHAL
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StoneClan Leader TreeClan MCA
INVENTORY
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Post by KARAZHAL on Sept 2, 2020 19:11:42 GMT -5
"Oh" was all Sagepaw had to say, and she grimaced with the realization that her mentor was right. (And what teenager wanted to admit that?) Cats could be stupid, and she could definitely see someone attempting to get on Falconstorm's mythical good side by trying to help and failing epically. "Uh, yeah, I'm good on that. I'll just point if I have a question." She had a perfectly working tail after all. She promised to keep it out of this itchleaf so she held it high, letting it fluff up like a cotton boll.
Prancing behind him enthusiastically, Sagepaw's head swiveled from side to side, trying to spot bright colors amidst the vast greenery that swelled within TreeClan's territory. As much as her mentor irritated her sometimes, she had to respect the vast amounts of knowledge all of the medicine cats possessed when it came to herbs. One day, that would be her, knowing immediately where to go just to find some tiny shrub. Falconstorm strode so confidently through the grass until everything opened up into a little grove, trees arching their branches overhead in a green canopy. She was about to ask him who Bluejay was, but thought better of it, since he'd mentioned this cat had went to StarClan. He probably wouldn't want to talk about a dead cat.
"It's so prettyyy," Sagepaw cooed, bouncing in place on the moist moss and delighting in the smells. There were too many for her to discern so to the adolescent she-cat, it smelled as stinky as Falconstorm's lair, but in a much better way, with plenty of ventilation and sunshine and far less male odor to it. She wanted to crawl into one of the holes inside the big oaks and make her nest up there. "Is it safe to smell here? I want to look for, uhh, that tansy thing you talked about." She wandered to the base of a huge oak tree, digging her claws into the thick roots and scratching the bark, rubbing her sides against the wood. Justice
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Post by Justice on Nov 4, 2020 17:31:42 GMT -5
"Good." See, he could be nice. He could encourage an apprentice, he just usually chose not to. After all, he didn't want her to be his apprentice, he wanted her to give up. The life of a medicine cat wasn't one he wished on any cat, especially such an enthusiastic young she-cat like Sagepaw. She could do far better for herself, but StarClan demanded and the pressure from the others had finally overwhelmed him. He couldn't live forever, and he only had one life to give. He gave a soft sigh and sat on the bed of moss as Sagepaw looked around. Blue eyes shut as he breathed in and took in the smells and sounds of this clearing, of this secret place that brought to mind memories of Bluejay, of training with her and spending time at her side, of sleeping nights curled up with her in the medicine den and feeling like he truly had a purpose. To protect the gentle Bluejay with his life. He could almost sense her presence here, and that too calmed his mind and eased his spirit. He missed having a warm body to cuddle up to, missed having someone he could protect. Sagepaw didn't need an overbearing warrior doting on her. She wasn't the type he liked to spoil. Not at all. He came out of his reverie with the slightest smile on his features. "Its beautiful." He had to agree with her there. But she had questions, he had duties, and time stood still for no cat. "It is safe to sniff, just ask before poking any plants you don't recognize. And if you see spider webs, use a stick on it first to see if its occupied. I don't want you getting bitten by a spider." KARAZHAL
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StoneClan Leader TreeClan MCA
INVENTORY
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Post by KARAZHAL on Nov 14, 2020 17:48:56 GMT -5
Sagepaw's little wet nose scanned in slow, wide patterns, like a snake slithering across the grass. Her tongue tasted the air, damp grass, and something more--lots more actually. Now that she wasn't prancing all around, disturbing motes of pollen and making fieldmice pee themselves in terror, she could focus on the seasonal scents that filled the clearing, even those from beyond that crept in thanks to the wind.
Glancing behind her, Sagepaw was pleased to see Falconstorm doing the same. At least she was doing something right by him. She smirked at him a little and got back to what she was doing. She remembered what they were looking for--chickweed and tansy--so she tried ignoring everything that didn't match the descriptions Falconstorm gave her. She wanted to take in everything, like an overachiever, but she recognized quickly how overwhelming that would be.
Her paws carried her across the soft bed of moss that coated every tree and stone in this part of the forest. She privately delighted in the squishiness under her paws, all the fun of jumping in mud puddles without the mess. Once she got over the pleasurable sensations of this new part of TreeClan's territory, the inquisitive apprentice got to hunting down all yellow and white flowers in sight. She wandered over to the wildflowers and craned her head up at the tall marigold. That didn't look right. She continued on, and came across some daisies. She sniffed at their stems, but they didn't give off a particularly strong smell, so she moved on. Sagepaw climbed through the bundled stems of all the grass and wildflowers bunched together. She caught a particularly delectable scent somewhere in here. It wasn't food, but after she smelled it, it did make her hungry and also itching to run around. She stretched out her nose toward the catmint and took a big whiff. The leaves smelled irresistible.
Sagepaw's eyes dilated, as if she'd been cast under a spell. The she-cat jolted backward and zigzagged around the marsh area, splashing onto a rock and zooming from moss to moss, tearing it up with her claws.
"Whoa!" she gasped suddenly, freed briefly from the thrall of the "zoomies". "I feel minty fresh." Her wide pupils faced Falconstorm, and she ducked, wiggling as if he was prey to play with, but instead of going after him, she went back to running through the clearing high off the catmint.
Justice
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