Quote:
Originally Posted by Charmer
Shinefang didn't respond to Grousestar's polite comment about his many seasons. He didn't doubt it. He'd got to Starclan when he was good and ready and not before if he had anything to say about it. And they'd be in for a fight if they tried to take him before he was ready. And besides, now he was focused on scenting this herb. He sniffed the air ahead, as he watched the wind stir the blanket of leaves on the ground to see which way the wind was blowing, following the scent with his nose held high. "Around here somewhere," he muttered, looking around. "Ah! Here we are!" The golden-furred tom padded up to a fern-like plants growing in a cluster in a patch of sunlight between two younger-looking trees. He sniffed the fronds one more to be safe and nodded. "Chervil. It's good for infected wounds. To be honest, I'd forgotten about it until Daydream came around and mentioned it. I've been using Burdock root. Burdock is quite a bit more potent, though. And it stings a little." Shinefang bit down on the base of one of the thick, twiggy frond and began to try and pull up to dislodge the root at well. "The root it also good for helping queens with kitting," he said through gritted teeth, straining to pull the root loose. The frond ripped with a sudden snap that nearly made Shinefang fall over backwards. Now only a small green stem remained sticking out of the earth. The old tom let the frond in his mouth fall to the ground with a sigh and padded up to the stem. He began scratching at the earth, trying to make the root easier to remove. "I wanna make sure I have this. There are some queens in the nursery that could kit any day now. Specklespring is pregnant with her third litter and she'll pop any day now," he said, chatting casually, as he tried to dig. Specklespring had been his third warrior apprentice and his late mate's sister. He knew that she'd successfully had kits before, and the old tom had picked up a few things while keeping his mate company in the nursery before the kits came. And... well, Grousestrar knew how that had ended. He was nervous about helping queens give birth. He was sure it would go smoother. He realized on some level that what had happened with his mate was a rare occurrence. But still...
|
The leader was quietly glad that the medicine cat didn't respond to his comment about him having many seasons left, he wanted to move on from that subject quicker than anything. And by the grace of Starclan the change of subject came, focusing now on the herb that Shinefang had scented and told him about. It took him a moment to pick out the smell, but he was able to, doing his best to document it in his head so that if he needed the information later on, he could recall it. Though part of him was doubtful that he would remember it, there were many other things that he had to worry about as leader, the smell of a herb was unfortunately not high on his priority list. But he did appreciate the medicine cat teaching him about it, it was a kind gesture.
Turning his head, he tried to pinpoint the source of the relatively sweet smell, his tail flicking back and forth in thought but it was just so hard when other smells tried to grab his attention. Perhaps it was something that the medicine cat had gotten used to, looking for herbs. What did he say it looked like?
A.. Fern or something? Grousestar almost wanted to imagine it as a flower, since it did have a sweet smell, but another part of him argued that that's not what Shinefang told him it looked like. Luckily enough he didn't have to think about it for long because the older tom had already found it.
With a newfound smile, he quickly padded after Shinefang as he approached the fern-like plant. "Hm, well I suppose we're pretty lucky to have some in the territory! Hopefully we won't have to use it a whole lot, now that the Syndicate is truly gone." His tail flicked back and forth slowly as he watched the other tom struggle to pull the root up out of the ground. "Oh!
Well in that case, I do hope we use it a lot! It's always good to have more kits in the clan. And really? That's good news, I'm glad to hear it. Perhaps I could visit her sometime in the nursery after she's had her little ones; I do love seeing all the kits." Flicking his ear, something flickered in his mind as they were on the topic of queens and kits. He lost his mate and his kits.. He had heard it around the camp, though hadn't actually gotten all of the details. Glancing over, Grousestar didn't really think about what he was asking, or how it might hurt the other tom, he more or less blurted it out.
"Isn't it painful? To help the queens.. I mean surely, you must enjoy being able to help them bring new life into the clan, but does.. It still hurt?"
The leader blinked a bit after he said this before quickly going to correct himself.
"I apologize for being so blunt. If it's too much to answer, feel free to ignore what I asked."