The Frequent Visitor

Softpaw (c) Wolf-mask =
Swanfeather (c) halseycat =

1

A pointed she-cat was shuffling around the medicine cat den. The apprentice had only just gotten back to the den after searching for a few herbs. Softpaw stored the herbs in the herb store, hoping she was putting them in the right place. It got quite confusing sometimes in these reeds.

The apprentice let out a sigh and sat down in the den, her ears flicking in case she heard a cat approaching. It'd been a slow day so far and she'd like something to happen already.

2

Swanfeather limped into camp, heading towards the medicine cat den. She sighed as she moved, causing pain to spring through her whole body. Whatever she had done to her shoulder hurt a lot more then her usual trips or twisted ankles. She had attempted to climb a tree, one of the only ones she could even find in the territory. She decided now, that it had been a bad idea, it had been raining so much the bark of the tree was soft and slick and she had fallen from the branch almost as soon as she had gotten onto it. Her whole weight being hung by one leg. Eventually she had fallen, although her minor cuts and scraps were nothing compared to her shoulder. The pain! 

Swanfeather tripped into the entrance of the den, blinking the rain from her eyes, "Wolfsmoke, Softpaw?" She whined softly, they were used to her presence by now, it was almost a daily occurrence.

3

Softpaw's ears perked at the sound of a cat limping into the den stirred the small she-cat to her feet. Looking towards the entrance, she saw a familiar white she-cat with black markings. The lilac pointed apprentice smiled but gave a sigh. She'd quickly become used to this since her apprenticeship.

"What is it this time Swanfeather?" the medicine cat in training asked the older she-cat. From the way the warrior was limping, Softpaw guessed either a wrenched leg or it had become dislocated. She'd have to get a better look.

4 

Swanfeather gave a teasing respond, "Well, you are the one training, why don't you tell me?" The kit like warrior gave a playfully raised eye brow and then sighed as pain shot through her front leg again. 

"I fell... from a tree, and tried to catch myself." She muttered as she sat down and let her long fur drop rain from her coat onto the floor. She felt a chill go down her spine and smirked, seeing the herbs re-arranged. "Still trying to figure out a set up you like?" She asked softly, knowing the apprentice moved the herbs all the time. 

5

The smaller she-cat let out a marrow of humor. She nodded "I'll take a look at it" she told the larger warrior. It was quite nice seeing Swanfeather actually. Even if sometimes she got tired of treating the older cat, she made for good practice. Not only that, but the warrior was quite nice to her.

As Softpaw sniffed the white she-cat's leg she looked briefly at the herb store when the white cat made a comment on it. "Yeah, it's kind of hard remembering where most of them are supposed to go." the lilac pointed cat confessed.

She continued to sniff the shoulder and take a good look at it. "I think you might've just wrenched it." Softpaw meowed. Turning to the herb store she meowed over her shoulder "I'm sure we've got something for that along with those cuts, can't have those getting infected!" before turning to sift through the herbs, running over in her mind what she needed.

6

"Cuts? Oh, well lookie there." She mused, looking over at her legs. She purred and watched the she-cat walk away. She swayed her long tail behind her slowly in a soft fluid motion. She enjoyed watching the apprentice, although it might be a bad thing she got hurt this much. 

"Take a deep breath Softpaw. Nothing to worry about." She said tenderly, knowing the she-cat got worried often. "Besides, your stocks look correct to me, and I should know." She giggled.

7

Sniffing through the herbs, the small apprentice grabbed marigold and started to round up poppy seeds. Approaching Swanfeather she mewed around the herbs "I'm sorry, I just can't help it!" before setting them down. "Are you sure?" she asked before turning her attention back to her patient.

"Ok, first things first! Here are some poppy seeds for the pain," Softpaw told the warrior as her tail swept a couple of the small seeds forward "and some marigold for those cuts, I want to get to those first before that shoulder." taking a step forward and sniffed at the white she-cat's wounds.

"Think you could lay down for me? It'll help me treat your cuts and shoulder, besides you should stay off that leg." the apprentice mewed.

8

The white she-cat looked at her cautiously, her ears falling against her head. "It won't keep me from play-- erm, doing my duties for long, will it?" She asked. The warrior really didn't want to have to be stuck in some lonely den for weeks! Although it would be okay here, but it didn't seem serious enough for them to let her stay. 

Swanfeather breathed out, nodding her head softly. The feline dipped herself down, she could smell the moss, which made her smile. Fresh moss! "Did you collect the moss today Softpaw? It isn't even wet!" She chimed happily as she rolled to the side which had only one or two cuts, her bad leg up in the air. 

9 

The medicine cat apprentice crouched beside the warrior with the marigold leaves in front of her. "I don't think so. Maybe a day or two or three? I'll do something to help with the aching for now, but you'll still have to exercise through the pain. It'll eventually go away the more you walk on it." Softpaw explained to the she-cat. The apprentice herself had wrenched a shoulder before and with plenty of exercise it went away eventually.

Softpaw turned around for a second to grab just a tiny bit of cobwebs from the store. They were running a tad low on that, and she doubted any spiders were spinning their webs in this weather.

Turning back, the apprentice quickly chewed the marigold up and patted it on Swanfeather's wounds and covered it with cobwebs to make sure the poultice stayed there. "I think Wolfsmoke did. I don't know how he kept it dry though." she meowed to the warrior.

"Make sure to eat those poppy seeds" she told the warrior and brushed the small black seeds near the older felines mouth before turning back to the store. Quickly she picked up ragwort and daisy leaves. Padding back over to the patient she set the leaves in front of Swanfeather. "Got to eat these too!" she chirped and sat down. "These are mostly used for treating elder's aching joints, but i'm sure they'll help you all the same." Softpaw said. 

10

So many instructions, it made the poor she-cat's head spin. For the most part she just ate what they set in front of her. Most of the time that worked, although a few times she had got an angry yell from Wolfsmoke. Some herbs, were meant for smelling only, or rubbing. The white she-cat smiled as she remembered this lesson and flicked her black tipped ears as she payed better attention to the apprentice. She looked at the poppy seeds, and slowly dipped her head to eat them. She didn't like this herb, the one she needed the most. It made her tired, and she hated to be tired. 

She looked up, soft blue eyes glimmering as she stared into Softpaw's face. She gave a toothy grin before nodding at the new assortment layed before her. She nodded her head softly and focused on chewing as the apprentice went on with her duties. 

"Need- to clean - out wounds. Lick 'em." She muttered, herb juices dripping out of her mouth as she spoke. Which she remembered was rude! Swallowing she blushed, "Sorry.." 

11

Softpaw gave a purr at the older she-cat's apology for talking while she was chewing. It was quite funny to see a cat that was older than her was apologizing for something. "It's alright. I don't mind if you talk and chew. Just be sure to eat them." the apprentice told her newest patient. 

"Don't worry about the wounds. I'm sure the marigold poultice will keep it from getting any infection." the pale cat told Swanfeather as she sat down beside the warrior, curling her long tail around her paws as she watched her patient closely. Her anxiousness was kicking in a little and the she-cat was worried about the black and white warrior.

As she studied the older she-cat, Softpaw noticed that the other cat was starting to become quite tired due to the poppy seeds she had give. With a smile the she-cat mewed "Don't worry, you can fall asleep. I won't leave." to Swanfeather.

12

"I never do that though! It's really rude." the feline said softly, looking at her paws. 

She shook her head, blinking her eyes wearily. She turned softly to look at the cat, and gave a half smile as she tried to finish the rest of the herbs she had been instructed to at. As she did, her white paws played with the moss of her nest, forming a ball. She gave a smirk as she hit it, with her good paw, of course, at the apprentice. 

Amusement gleamed in her as she swayed her long furred tail about, doing her best not to move her nest around too much. Swanfeather was only able to return the playful game one more time before she started swaying. She did her best, to stay up, jerking when her head would touch the ground. It didn't work, eventually the feline was asleep on her back, legs up in the air and her body in a half crescent shape. 

13

The apprentice snorted in amusement at the elder cat's playful attitude. Swanfeather always did act more like a kit rather than a fully grown warrior. There wasn't anything wrong with that though. The she-cat was quite happy that there was at least some cat out there that knew how to have fun like a kit. With a giggle, the pale cat batted the moss ball back to her friend and patient.

When it simply rolled over and stopped though, the soft furred cat noticed that the white warrior had actually fallen asleep! That was alright though, for she knew that Swanfeather would eventually fall asleep due to the poppy seeds. With a soft smile at her sleeping patient, the she-cat walked to the side of the den that held her and Wolfsmoke's nests. Setting down after turning in a circle, the she-cat tucked her paws under her chest and stretched out her head to lie on the rim of the nest, so that Swanfeather was in her sight.

With a sigh, she kept watch on Swanfeather before giving in to the exhaustion she had not known.