[ti]Private[/ti]An Important Question

[silverfang218]

Silverfang’s search for an apprentice had finally ended with a choice. At least, she hopes her search is at an end. She’s been watching some of the apprentices and warriors, carefully thinking about who might do well in the role of medicine cat. Who would have the temperment for this job? Who has the faith for this job?

She eventually settled on, plot twist, an apprentice who was rather new to MistClan, having come from MothClan. There’s likely some cats who will criticize her choice, saying she chose a cat whose loyalty might be lacking, or some other reason they might come up with. Even so, Silverfang was certain in her choice. Morningpaw seems quiet, perhaps even nervous, but isn’t that how Silverfang is as well? Plus, in Silver’s mind, in takes a lot of bravery to leave your clan behind and join a different one, depending on the reasoning of course. If Silverfang had to guess, Morningpaw didn’t seem much of a big fighting cat who enjoyed violence, yet most of what she’s heard from or about MothClan indicated they focused on a lot of that. If that’s true, then Morning may have been fleeing a clan she simply didn’t fit in with. If that’s the case, then major respect.

Even so, it wasn’t a done deal just yet. While Silverfang was satisfied with her choice, there was one other cat who had to approve: Morningpaw herself. Silverfang kept her eye out for the apprentice, wandering around aimlessly (likely confusing some cats who are wondering what in StarClan their medicine cat is doing) until she spots the cream colored she-cat. “Morningpaw.” Silver calls out to the younger cat as she approaches, her limp becoming more evident due to stress; there’s a bit of nervousness in her voice, though there’s also warmth and a tiny hint of excitement. She’s been stressing about this decision and specifically this conversation for a long time, not to mention the other stressors happening in her life. And, as she’s never had an apprentice, Silverfang is a bit out of her element. She assumes that her and Morningpaw will be on a learning adventure together.

She smiles softly at Morning before quickly asking her question. There’s no use in beating around the bush. “Morningpaw, good morning. I know this is really sudden and all, but I had a very important question to ask you. Have you ever considered being a medicine cat?” Silver’s paws fidget underneath her, almost seeming like an apprentice who was waiting for her mentor’s approval. Don’t judge her.

[Firefly]

The small she-cat padded to the fresh kill pile to pick up something to eat, her hunger evident by the grumbling of her stomach. After picking through the decently sized pile, she withdrew a mouse and started searching for a comfortable place to sit and eat it. Right before she got situated, Silverfang, Mistclan's medicine cat, started to pad toward her. Morningpaw was a little confused as to why the medicine cat was heading toward her, but she stood up to hear what she wanted to say. Silverfang was soft and kind like herself, from her experience. She trusted the she-cat, as she did many other kind souls.

“Morningpaw, good morning. I know this is really sudden and all, but I had a very important question to ask you. Have you ever considered being a medicine cat?”

Morningpaw dropped the mouse that was hanging from her jaws. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Medicine cat... Why have I never given this more thought? Maybe this is what I'm meant to do! She though excitedly.
"I've always enjoyed watching Cedarleap sort herbs, and I enjoyed listening to you talk with the other medicine cars at the Gathering." She said, eyes glittering with hope.
"I've honestly just realized how much I've wanted to be one."

[silverfang218]

Silverfang looks a bit giddy at Morningpaw’s answer; it was exactly what she wanted to hear. Her voice sounds hopeful as she continues with her proposition, “Well, I’ve been looking to have an apprentice; I’ve chosen you. If you accept, of course.” She grins warmly; she almost feels bad that she interrupted Morning’s meal for this, but it’s okay, she’ll let the apprentice eat afterwards. They have to figure this out first before food.

“I want to warn you; I’ve never had an apprentice before. We’ll just kinda have to figure this all out together, but after seeing how you interact with cats around here, I honestly think you’ll fit into the role perfectly, and I think we’ll get along well too.” Silverfang’s tail wiggles back and forth.

[Firefly]

Morningpaw smiled as the older cat started to jump around like an apprentice at her reply.
"Of course I'll be your apprentice!. I'm so glad you chose me to help you, it's such an honor, really!" She said, still a little shaky from the shock of such a big question. The mouse was long forgotten as Silverfang continued speaking, mentioning that she's never had an apprentice before.
"Yeah, I guess it will be." She said quietly, nervous that she won't be able to live up to her new mentor's expectations, but also excited and overjoyed that she can finally help somecat.

[silverfang218]

Silverfang’s grin grows, all stress forgotten for the moment. “I’ll sort it all out with Bearstar soon then. In the meantime, I know this was likely a bit of a shock and it’s totally fine if you want to take a day to process this. But if you want to start training today, you know where to find me; if not, I’ll expect you in my den tomorrow.” The silvery cat swishes her tail back and forth, assuming that the younger she-cat will want to take a day off.

Silver tilts her head towards the forgotten mouse with a chuckle. “Don’t forget to eat though. I can’t have you getting sick, now can I? No more training or doing anything until you eat that. Medicine cat’s orders.” The silver cat turns to limp back towards her den, her tail swishing back and forth with satisfaction and relief.

She had practically invited Morningpaw to follow her back to her den if she wanted to start training, but so help that poor apprentice if she tries to follow the medicine cat without either eating or bringing that mouse with her...

[Firefly]

Morningpaw excitedly gobbled down the mouse, eager to join her new mentor.
"Of course not." She said through muffled mouthfuls of mouse. "Guess you're right, I wouldn't want to be in the medicine cat's den for the wrong reason."
Morningpaw nodded as Silverfang continued, telling her where to find her, and to meet her when she was ready.
"I'll be there as soon as I can!" She called after sufficiently swallowing a bite of the mouse.
The cream-shaded she-cat felt eyes piercing her fur from behind her, but as she turned to see who was there, they cat had slipped out of her vision, only a flash of a ragged tail-tip. Morningpaw still felt like she was being watched by someone, despite nothing being there. She shuddered and cleaned the bones off her prey, getting up and shuffling over to the medicine cat's den, suddenly much less comfortable with her surroundings. As she entered the den, she swore she saw, from the corner of her vision, a pair of fiery orbs staring at her from the fresh-kill pile, but once again, there was nothing there, upon further inspection. She pressed deeper into the den, greeting Silverfang with a gentle nod.

[silverfang218]

Silverfang had tidied up the den beforehand; she usually tried to keep her den pretty organized, but now that the weather had warmed up, she had started to venture out hunting for herbs and sometimes she let her finds pile up… literally. But, once she pinpointed a possible apprentice, she went through and cleaned it up before approaching Morningpaw.

The medicine cat is just making sure that everything is in the proper place when her ears perk up at the sound of Morning’s pawsteps. Silver turns towards her new apprentice with a smile and a wave of her tail, not at all noticing Morning’s possibly non existent follower. “Hey, I guess training starts now.” Silver mews with a nod. Everything is going to go great, this won’t be awkward at all.

“So, I’ll talk to Bearstar here in a little bit about you being my apprentice,” Had she said that already? Who knows. “And next half-moon you’ll come with me to the Moonstone and we’ll have your official medicine cat apprentice ceremony there. I know you may have seen or met the other medicine cats already, but I’ll introduce you to their apprentices then too, okay?” Was that all the important information? Silver hopes so- if not, she’ll remember it later. She hopes she isn’t overwhelming poor Morningpaw… this is a good start.

“Alright, so now we’ll start with herbs. Lesson one: unless you know what a plant is and does don’t eat it or feed it to your clanmates.” Silverfang chuckles, clearly joking. Hopefully that much was common knowledge to any apprentice… hopefully. Silver uses a claw to carefully hook a leaf from a sharp smelling plant and an herb that may look familiar to any cat who had suffered during the redcough plague, placing them both in front of Morningpaw. “For lesson two we’ll go over probably the two most important herbs. This one” She points with her paw towards the sharp smelling plant, “is catmint. It is the best cure for greencough. It can also be hard to find in our territories; the only place I’ve managed to find it growing is right up next to that big twoleg den on our territory. And this one,” She points towards the other plant, “is called elfdock. It is the cure for redcough, the same one that swept through all three clans not that long ago.” The older she-cat looks over Morningpaw’s expression as she pauses in her explanations, trying to see if she is being too boring for the new apprentice or if anything is sinking in. She’s trying really hard okay.

[Firefly]

Morninpaw nodded enthusiastically, soaking in the new information that was being thrown at her. The mysterious cat was long gone from her memory now, replaced by exciting new information regarding her new purpose for the clan.
"I can't wait for the gathering." She said quietly, smiling. Morningpaw fiddled her paws in intense focus on what Silverfang had to say. She sniffed the strong-smelling catmint, noting that it was usually found by the Twoleg's home, and that it was for greencough. When presented with the Elfdock, however, her nose immediately started to become irritated, much to her surprise, as Catmint was known as the strong-smelling herb. Morningpaw gave it one last sniff before sneezing.
"Does Catmint help with Whitecough, as well?" She questioned, wondering if the two similar illnesses perhaps had similar remedies. She was fascinated by all the different cures for the wide range of injuries and illnesses.

[silverfang218]

Silverfang merely nods with a knowing smile at Morningpaw’s enthusiasm for the upcoming medicine cat gathering. The first time a cat lays eyes on StarClan… is nothing short of magical. While Silverfang’s first experience had been plagued by her own doubts and fears, it had still been nothing short of awe inspiring.

“Yes. Greencough and whitecough are almost the same thing, if you think about it. Whitecough is just like… the beginning stage I suppose. Though, since it is milder than greencough, I prefer to use tansy, hawkweed, or borage. Catmint is rather rare, and it is near impossible to find in leafbare. Best save it for actual greencough.” Silverfang explains as best she can. “Don’t worry about memorizing all this for the moment. You have plenty of time to learn everything you need to know. We’ll start really diving in perhaps tomorrow; I’ll take you with me to go find some herbs. For now, this is just a little introduction. That being said, is there anything in particular you would like me to tell you about now?” Silver tilts her head to one side.

When she has a few patients in here, she’ll use them as test subjects to show Morningpaw how to do little things. Silver was always a bit of a visual learner and her teaching methods will likely show that, but she’s more than willing to let Morningpaw pick her brain. “And know that you can ask me questions about anything anytime. If it is about herbs then I’ll probably have an answer.” She chuckles softly, wanting Morning to be comfortable around her. She’ll be one of those chill mentors who let their apprentices go at their own pace, though she’ll expect Morning to be a helper rather than a passive observer in little incidents pretty soon.

[Firefly]

Morningpaw nodded, shifting her paws with excitement and anxiety. How was she going to learn all this? How did Silverfang learn this in the first place?! She took a deep breath before finally calming down.
"Thank you, Silverfang. I'll do my best to learn all i can by myself before training starts. Or... Maybe I should go and tell my friends? The choices, this is all so exciting and new!" She said in a louder-than-usual voice. Morningpaw meowed as she dashed out of the den to tell her friends.

She had made it halfway across the clearing when, suddenly, A messy-looking cream tom leapt straight into her path. Skidding to a halt, she wasn't able to stop in time, and collided head-first into the cat.

"I-I'm so sorry! I didn't see you there!" She said, panicking.

"Watch your paws, mouse-brain." The tom replied. "Or at least open your eyes. I know you only wanted to be medicine cat because you're good for nothing else." He sneered, his bristling fur making him look like he hit his head and went crazy.

Morningpaw quivered, but cocked her head in confusion.
"Who are you, anyway?" She said, barely a whisper.

"Oh, of course. The Kittypet doesn't know half the cats in her clan." He continued. "I'm Fireburst. Don't forget that."

"I-I'm not a kittypet... I cam from Mothclan. I only lived at a kittypet store for a few moons. I don't even remember what it looked like." She said as she recalled the events that took place during the fire. She shuddered as the image of her dead brother's body lay in the blaze as she dashed for safe ground.

The mean tom glared at her before stalking off to talk with a group of cats.