I've Got Issues, Just Like You (Rea)

[dylan]

Juniper, poppy seeds, tansy, wait…what went next? Where was the herb that went in this little crack of the herb supply? The little she-cat stared at the supplies and realized it was far too low and if anything were to happen, she wouldn’t be able to cure a cat at all. She had absolutely no marigold, and well she was low on everything else. She would need to make several trips out in the forest to collect it all, even with help. The very young medicine cat apprentice shuddered as she thought of going into the forest. It wasn’t like she was afraid of it, she just didn’t like going alone.

Slatepaw was still under the age of what was considered ‘normal’ age to be an apprentice. Her brothers were still sleeping away in the nursery without a care in the world, and they still had a half moon before they were to be apprenticed. She had been doing this for already a half moon, and been an apprentice since she was four moons. StarClan had accepted her almost immediately, and they were helping her become stronger in her skills. She still was not ready to become the full medicine cat of the clan in StarClan’s eyes, and she wasn’t ready to have her full name. Slatepaw was grateful for this, being an apprentice for only a moon and a half was pushing it to become a full medicine cat. But she was all ThunderClan had.

The silver tabby stuck her nose out of her den for a few moments and looked around. It seemed everyone was busy and she didn’t know who to ask to help her gather herbs. With a sigh she went back in her den and resorted to pacing back and forth, trying to come up with a solution.

[reason]

Kip-paw

If there was one thing Kip-paw never did, it was complain. The ThunderClan was much more likely to take all his turmoil feelings, scathing remarks and even sometimes tears and lock them away tightly behind a joke. Which was exactly he was doing at the moment. Kip-paw's regular training partner was usually Burntpaw. He could never stand the thought of fighting against one of his siblings even if it was just for training. Once he had made this clear to his mentor, Burntpaw had stepped up and offered to fight him instead. Sure she wasn't the best fighter, quite the opposite, but she always tried her hardest against Kip-paw. It was for that very reason that Kip-paw usually came away from the battles with little to no injury. To be honest he had never been to the medicine cat den before. Today that would change. While fighting with Burntpaw, Kip-paw had got his paw stuck in some wood. In haste to dodge Burntpaw's attack he had ripped his paw from the wood. As he pulled from the wood Kip-paw felt a sharp pain before he saw blood running gently from his paw. His mentor had quickly put an end to the fight and sent him back to camp to have the medicine cat look at his paw.

Kip-paw had never meet the medicine cat of ThunderClan, only heard her name from his clan mates. Slatepaw. Kip-paw had been curious as to why the medicine cat still had her apprentice name but wasn't too bothered by it, figuring it just meant she was very skilled.

The off white tom limped into the camp, giving his siblings are reassuring smile. He glanced around for the medicine cat den before trotting towards it warily. Kip-paw stuck his head in first and immediately spotted the medicine cat. She was smaller then him (which was surprising, he was rather small himself) and had a nice silver coat that was decorated with dark tabby stripes. Kip-paw paused, just watching the she cat pace. His heart thudded oddly in his chest as he caught sight of her blue eyes. "Umm, excuse me?" He meowed softly, hoping to catch the she cat's attention.

[dylan]

Slatepaw had finally decided on what to do. She needed to act like the medicine cat of the clan, not some scared little kit. True, she technically was still a kit, but she had not had that as her name for quite some time. She had to stop acting like a kit at three moons. Most cats could only dream of having something so important happen to them, but Slatepaw saw this as a slight curse. She still felt underprepared and just unready for everything. She never made friends as a kit, other than her two brothers, and had not really paid much attention to the other kits in the nursery. By the time she was old enough to actually play, she was being taught the different herbs and their uses. If only her brothers were apprentices, then she could ask one of them to go with her. Slatepaw still was unsure about asking others to help her, she just felt so small compared to the warriors. She knew her herbs, and where to find them, how to treat someone, but social skills weren’t really her best.

The little medicine cat jumped when she heard pawsteps outside the den. They had snapped her out of her thoughts and even when a voice spoke up she jumped once again. Great…now she really looked like a skittish little kit. Turning to look at who had called her she blinked. It was an apprentice, a tom one to add, and she wondered what he needed. ”Sorry, excuse me being like this. Come on in, if you’d like. Can I help you with something?”

[/color] she questioned him, sitting down and trying to stop herself from fidgeting. [/blockquote][/blockquote]

[reason]

Kip-paw laughed softly at the she cat's words and gave her an understanding grin. "No need to worry." He chirped brightly. "I just had a little training exercise accident." Kip-paw held up his fore paw to show the medicine cat the already dried blood where his claw had once been. He carefully limped fully into the medicine cat den, being sure not to place too much pressure on his paw in the process.

Kip-paw paused once he was fully in the den to blink his eyes owlishly, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the dark den. He felt his sun-warmed fur slowly lose the heat it had accumulated to the darkened den. Shaking himself to rid him of the goosebumps that had appeared, Kip-paw sway to the side at the jerky movement. The tom stumbled and accidentally put weight on the injured paw. He pulled back with a soft hiss of pain, closing one of his brilliant blue eyes at the pain.

Kip-paw gave the she cat a reassuring grin. "I'm fine, really." He meowed weakly, knowing that the medicine cat had not missed the wince. But he did not want to stay in the den for very long. Kip-paw's thoughts were drifting to his siblings, as they usually did. That gnawing worry that always seemed to plague his mind, persisting his thoughts day and night, was eating at him especially hard today. He could not help but allow his thoughts to wonder to what his siblings might be doing right now. Was Ferretpaw eating enough? Was Copperpaw pushing himself too hard with his training? Was Grousepaw causing trouble again? Did Applepaw have nightmares again?

Kip-paw looked back at the medicine cat and instantly felt guilty. He should be paying attention to her, not lost in his thoughts. He flicked his ears in apology and straightened his slackened posture. "I don't think I've introduced myself, I am Kip-paw. May I know your name?" Kip-paw's grin wavered. He remembered that it was his mother who had taught him to always be kind and polite to she cats, as all toms should.

[dylan]

Slatepaw blinked at the apprentice that had entered, she remembered him slightly from when she was very young and in the nursery. He wasn’t much older than herself, she could remember that much. She listened to him talk and wondered what it would be like to be hurt training. She couldn’t help but think about how much fun she could be having training like a normal apprentice. Her brothers sure would be having fun about now. They were probably still asleep, or taking a nap, or doing whatever kits did. What was it kits did again? She hardly remembered ever being one.

”Looks like it was more than just a little bit of an accident. Do you know if your claw has been ripped out completely or do you still feel a little piece?”

[/color] Slatepaw questioned, ignoring her pacing and concerned for her patient. The tom was being far too brave about this, and Slatepaw hated when her patients downgraded the pain. She needed to know exactly how much damage was done, to better assess how she should treat this injury. When he held up the paw, she inspected it and looked at her pile of herbs. Oh yes, that was right she was out of the herb she would need to treat the tom. It looked like all she could do was put a few cobwebs on it to make sure the bleeding would not return. She watched him in concern as he padded forward and shook his fur out, but swayed. This was not a good sign.

Glaring at him her soft eyes were full of worry. ”You might want to lie down for a bit, and keep that paw rested. I’m currently out of herbs to help fight any infection, and I don’t want you to leave my den or train again until I can place them on your paw. You might have to wait for a bit, though. I’m not really suppose to go out of camp without a warrior.”[/color] she murmured. ”And you do not look fine, you look exhausted and even more worried than I am. So you are going to sit in here, and I am banning you from training for at least a few days. You are to not go on any patrols, or even think about doing anything other than sitting either in here or the apprentices den. Your choice. I don’t want that paw to become infected or you agitate the bleeding by walking on it.”[/color] she added.

Slatepaw didn’t mind that the tom seemed distracted, most cats who came to see her were. She usually just treated them and they left, not bothering with conversation. There were still the select few that didn’t think she would do well as the medicine cat, but slowly she was proving them wrong. This tom had the guts to apologize to her, and she was grateful for that. Finally a cat with manners. Kip-paw, that name registered somewhere in her mind. She didn’t know where, but she could remember that now. She blinked at him for a moment, he didn’t know her name? Most cats in the clan knew of the medicine kit…she had heard the name going around. ”I’m Slatekit…paw. Slatepaw.”[/color] Old habits die hard, and the young medicine cat had once again forgotten she wasn’t a kit and had messed up her own name. Who could blame her, she was stressed and couldn’t think straight anyway.[/blockquote][/blockquote]