[iliri]

• Springpaw •
long-furred, oriental-shaped, gray-and-orange calico molly with blue eyes; torn right ear
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So, she will have to test the herbs on her own? Great. A small frown grew apparent among the calico’s lips as she silently processed the starry feline’s words, tail twitching as the molly finished speaking. Springpaw wasn’t so cocky about testing the herbs on her own on someone else for in case she didn’t know the right properties of them. Or, even how they functioned. At least she still held a bit of hope in her heart for most of the herbs that she acknowledged, and for most of what Coldamber was going to teach her. Who knows, after this little lesson, she’ll be able to speak with Drizzlecloud about what Coldamber taught her. It’ll be a great experience for the two of them, at least. Ears perked and eyes focused, Springpaw silently awaited for Coldamber to start them off with the basic herbs. Springpaw already knew briefly about what marigold and poppyseeds did, thanks to the small help of Bumblestar, but maybe Coldamber will give her a bit more tips?

Okay, off with the basics, were they? Of course, Springpaw already knew a little bit of how cobwebs worked, but interest peaked at her once more once moss was brought up, the calico merely cocking her head to the side. So both cobwebs and moss could be used to soak up blood and stop bleeding. Springpaw will definitely take mental note of that. Maybe next time if there’s a heavy battle, she’ll take some moss along with a mixture of cobwebs with her to help stop the bleeding in case it's too severe. Or, maybe she could also use a piece of damped moss to help clean off a wound first before placing down cobwebs, along with some dry moss to help prevent the cobwebs from getting off the wound? Yeah, that’ll probably be a good idea. Tossing the short thought away, Springpaw listened carefully to Coldamber’s next set of words, nodding slowly in a statement of her own understanding. So make sure to not set down any pieces of moss that didn’t go bad or any cobwebs that have something sticking inside of them or any water source. Got it.

Of course, Springpaw already had some ideas of where cobwebs were located and how to collect them without causing any damage, but didn’t give any further comment to the molly. Each and every valuable information that the latter gave to her was just as important as the last. Unfortunately, if Springpaw recalled, there weren't any ‘caves’ around ThunderClan territory. However, cobwebs are really easy to find on bright, early mornings when the rather open atmosphere is foggy and the ground is dewy. Cobwebs are pretty much common when they are in those types of places. If Springpaw recalled, she was sure that she found at least six or more bundles of cobwebs around in the territory when she was younger. It was definitely early at the time, so they were easily noticeable. However, they were also easily accessible around the bottom roots trees inside of the dense forests if she looked hard enough. So, cobwebs were a pretty easy thing for the young eight moon old medicine cat apprentice to find, much to her liking.

Alright, the next herb was one that Springpaw was faintly familiar with from Bumblestar’s short meeting with her and Drizzlecloud; marigold. Once again, Springpaw already knew of what the yellow flower was used for when treating wounds, but it felt better to be reminded of its usage in case it were to ever slip her mind. For which Springpaw had heavy doubts that it ever would. However, at least Coldamber was in more depth about its usage than how the hot-headed leader described it, so it gave a bit of relaxed closure for the young apprentice. Of course, the calico molly briefly remembered what exactly the herb looked like, from her simple recalling of the day she had become the newest medicine cat apprentice, and when Bumblestar showed her and Drizzlecloud the herb. At least Coldamber made sure to let her know that it would range from more than just a simple orangish-yellow color, and that they were both equally effective.

The location of the flower wasn’t much of a surprise, as Springpaw quickly recalled Bumblestar implying to her that marigold was mainly located close to water. The first popping up in her mind was Sunkissed Creek, as for its vastly large river. That was one of the main territory spots in ThunderClan and if she recalled, marigold tended to thrive around that area. At least the herb was still around for leaf-bare, thankfully, so that in case she was low on some, she could go in search of some marigold. However, it didn’t really surprise her much that it wouldn’t be easy to find due to the heavy cold snow and ice that leaf-bare usually brings, but at least it was still probable to spot. However, even with them being fragile against the frost, it’ll make it difficult to carry them easily without causing any damage to the roots or flower. She supposed she’ll just have to figure out a way to carry them back to camp without causing any damage to the fragile petals during the harsh days of leaf-bare.

The thought had seemed to suddenly slip her mind when out of the corner of her blue eyes, a small, delicate yellow-orange flower grew right in front of her paws, seemingly in the shape of a simple marigold. Puzzlement quickly flashed in the young eight moon old’s eyes, leaning down closer to inspect the small plant. How in the world did it end up here in StarClan? However it got there, it surely caught her interest. She slowly knelt herself down so that she could see the little flower clearly, gently nudging the herb with a white paw to see if it was truly there. Yet, there it was, moving in contrast from her touching the plant. In response, Springpaw let out a small gasp of awe as she touched the flower, glancing briefly up at Coldamber as she continued to inspect the little flower. ”Did… did you make the marigold appear? How?” both awe and shock filled her tone, the young apprentice mesmerized by the pretty sight of the orange flower against the starry atmosphere of StarClan. It truly was a gorgeous sight.

Her focus on the little plant didn’t seem to last too long as her ears angled themselves up at Coldamber again, craning her head to look up at her as the molly began to speak about the uses of poppyseeds. Well, at least Springpaw knew the most of what poppyseeds do, as she mainly knew that they were mainly used as a factor to help someone become eased from their pain, whether if it’s agonizing or not—which, she would desperately hope it wasn’t—and she would be able to give them a couple if medically necessary. However, even with her brief knowledge of the herb, it was still best to learn more about it from the former medicine cat herself as the information was definitely deemed necessary for both her and Drizzlecloud. So, learning that the seeds were definitely suitable in case a cat is in shock or in the dire aid of having restful sleep. Which, she felt, would be important in case they had a wound that was severe and needed time to heal.

It was rather obvious that the seeds were used to help dull the pain that a certain patient was experiencing, as it was one of the more simple things to learn overtime as she was a young kit. Including, Springpaw was certain that she had to take one herself when she had a thorn stuck on one of her pads when she was a kit. That memory felt like it was only just a day away. However, the pastel calico silently shook away the thought and listened carefully to the nebelung speaking about how much in a dosage she should use for a patient. So, start off with approximately one with younger cats and at least two for older cats, then wait for the seeds to run its course for a little while before giving a cat another one again in case the pain seems to come back, or give them another if problems are still lingering around. It seemed rather easy enough to remember, at least. However, in the back of the young apprentice’s mind, she quickly reminded herself to not give anyone too much poppyseeds or else she could risk something far much worse than a heavy slumber. That was something that stuck with her mind.

Oh, well, at least she was given more information about what a poppy flower looked like. Of course she knew it was a red plant, but she didn’t want to get the plant accidentally confused with a rose in case she were to ever come across one. She was almost certain that an incident almost happened like that when she had sent off Lioncrest in search of a poppy flower. At least she had given him enough information about the plant that he didn't accidentally bring back a rose, thankfully, or else she was sure that she would’ve been in loads of trouble with Bumblestar and possibly Drizzlecloud… then again? She might’ve been lended off the hook for making one simple mistake giving out a herb patrol. It was her first one, afterall. Her thoughts on the matter didn’t stay for too long, as her ears quickly perked up to listen to what Coldamber had to say about where they grew and thrived. Okay, that was something Springpaw would need to remember. So they liked to grow in warm and dry climates… So would they be noticeable in Firefly Cove? Judging from that place being mainly a meadow more than anything, it could be a possibility.

A quick sigh was seen to escape the calico molly’s mouth as Coldamber mentioned that a batch of at least thirteen seeds were in one single flower, but it had only depended on the flower itself on how many seeds it carried. At least that was helpful to know, along with the fact that the seeds even stayed healthy if they were inside the flower after it had been picked. She wouldn’t know how to properly deal with herself if she had only scooped out the seeds of a singular flower itself instead of just taking back the flower. That would’ve felt just ridiculous to do. Well, at least if seeds fell off of flowers that she would bring back to camp, it would just simply grow back into the more poppy flowers that she could harvest in later seasons. Geez, there was surely a lot to take in. How much more information could the young molly possibly handle? She wasn’t sure, but it was all an important value due to her being a medicine cat apprentice of ThunderClan, afterall.

However, a frown quickly grew on the calico’s lips as the gray molly mentioned how the flower won’t be able to properly grow in the leaf-bare, unlike marigold flowers. Well, that was a bit of a grave shame to hear, unfortunately. But at least the seeds will stay in good condition as long as she collected a plentiful amount of them from the flowers. Maybe she could place them in a secluded spot in the herb storage to keep them from freezing from the cold temperatures of leaf-bare? She wasn’t sure, she would probably have to ask about how she could keep them from freezing up due to the cold temperatures… but now that she was thinking about it, she might as well do that before the thought suddenly crosses away from her mind. “Well, would there be a way to keep the seeds from freezing up due to the freezing temperatures of leaf-bare? Could I place something over them to keep them from getting too cold and being able to be used?” The question seemed reasonable to ask, and that would probably go for all of the herbs that she would learn later on during this lesson. What would she do for all of them to keep them from freezing up because of the stinking cold weather? Would Coldamber know? Springpaw hoped so, or else she wouldn’t even be sure how to handle that situation if it were to happen in leaf-bare itself.

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@Abyssopelagic [deeply apologize for the long post! You don’t have to respond as long as this. ]