Helping & Healing Paws [ Healing/Herb Lessons ]

[Estelle]

Despite the distracted look on her face, pressed close against Springy as she observed the herbs and the movements of her paws, little Poppypaw was listening, noting the questions being asked prior to herself. Bigcat’s question, for instance, revealed that poppy seeds – no more than two!!!! - could help getting sleepy mhm. Then, then, Springy moved on with more silly named herbs – elder flowers and leaves, and boneset and sunfuzzies… Oh! Poppypaw liked that name, and it made her giggle with glee.

Poppypaw smilled brighter, purring, when Springy placed her tail around her and Poppypaw nuzzled her side a little more in response; nodding vigorously when Springy gave an answer to her question. She could play scientist with them!

Oh, oh!! Elder leaves now!! (Did they grow on elders? Pfpf, Poppy has barely – if ever – seen an elder! Who knew…). Oh, oh?
“What’s comfrey?”
Poppypaw asked as she poked the medic’s side with a curious look; what was the use of knowing that leaves that grow on elders are a replacement for comfrey when she didn’t know what it is? Oh, more big words!
“What’s a fracture??”
She continued on, wide-eyed (unbeknownst to herself that she narrowly avoided a fracture just some fortnights ago). Okay, well, it was something that hurt – and sprains, they were the twisty foot thing, was it? Poppypaw twisted her paws sometimes. Okok, so elder’s leaves were broad and attached to… Elder flowers! Hehe, she wondered what they looked like – and they’re attached to elder bushes, what else are they attached to? She giggled to herself, imagining the long line of attachments. So, it’s a tall stalked plant and the flowers are white and in clusters; but you can’t eat the leaves! You can only wrap them around the owie-sprain-fracture (she was beginning to think a fracture is like a sprain but worse).

Ohhh, more mixable things! Elder flowers were mixed with boneset? Springy was explaining that boneset is a tall plant – a lot of tall plants – with long thin leaves (longer than her?) and that one too had little clusters of white flowers at the end, it sounded similar to the elder bushes! But this one can be eaten to treat a cold or early stages of whitecough or greencough (icky things)… Oh, oh!! She often had colds!! Mhm!! That’s how she met Springy!! Ohhh, and even lung infections, whatever that was, but it must hurt. Hmm, congestion was the stuffy nose, right? She tilted her head but mulled over the words, associating them to the definitions she knew and her own experiences – so elder flowers and boneset does away with the stuffy, fevers, aches, makes hungry (hangry);; the elder flowers like the warm and the boneset likes the warm and the kiiiiinda cold – and sun and water.
“Springy, Springy!”
She whispered.
“Does the elder flower mix-mix with the boneset leaves or flowers? Or both??”

Springy moved on, and she giggled.
“Sunfuzzies! Pretty name, pretty!!”
Another marigold and yellow bell sibling; but this it is another tall plant – but still with bright yellow flowers!! Fitting, with the name. It likes aaaallllll seasons, and it cleans wounds and does the same as the other two. Nice, nice!!


[ Sorry sorry, very messy post >< busy with exams for a little while longer ]

[kittycatburmise]

Mallowpaw
60/100

Springlight answered Mudhound's question, but before she could continue teaching them an apprentice was at her side with a question. The innocence that radiated off her made a spark of jealousy light up in Mallowpaw's chest. She looked only slightly younger than her, so how had she kept her innocence? Mallowpaw's was long gone. It had been shattered when Mapleface sank her fangs into Violetfreckle's throat; it had been shattered when Sunglow lay dead at Bumblestar's paws; it had been shattered when everyone she loved disappeared. Had the she-cat not gone to those meetings? Had she not been there during the scene in the clearing? Had she lost no-one close to her?

Swallowing, Mallowpaw looked back to Springlight as she began explaining the next herbs. First was elder, which's leaves were used to wrap around sprains or fractures and flowers, combined with another herb called boneset, were eaten to ease congestion, fever and aches as well as stimulate appetite. On its own boneset was used to treat lung infections. Elder bushes were found in newleaf and greenleaf while boneset was found in every season except leaf-bare.

Next was sunfuzzies, which had a funny name, but Mallowpaw was more focused on the information about it. It was tall with yellow flowers, found all year round in the Thundergales and was used for the same purpose as marigold and yellow bells. Mallowpaw filed that information in her brain before looking at Springlight for the next herb she would teach them. She tried not to look at the cat next to her, at the innocence on her face as she asked Springlight a variety of questions. She was here to learn, not to mourn her kithood.