That darn thorn! [Private for Brightflame]

[Petalfur]

[*I have permission for this*]

(Private for Brightflame)

    Making her way for the Medicine Cat's Den, Petalpaw limped her way towards the pungent smell of herbs, her left paw help gingerly against her chest. Poking her head in the den, she made out the faint smell of Brightflame under the the all the other smells. She sneezed; her keen nose picked ups every smell, even the smell of Frostkit from moons ago.

    "Brightflame?" the Bengal mix called out experimentally, as though testing her voice. "You in there?" 

[Brightflame]

Bright was, as always, obsessively sorting the herbs they had in stock, this time based on color. They were almost out of borage...he needed to go get some soon. A quiet voice resonated through the den, causing him to turn and bound out of the herb store. "Oh hello, what do you need?" He asked, smiling warmly.

[Petalfur]

    Around the corner of where the herbs were stocked - at least Petalpaw guessed, due to the overpowering smell of herbs and berries coming mostly from a room at the back of the den -  came one of the medicine cats, bounding gracefully towards her. He had leaves on his pelt which seamed to irritate him because his skin kept twitching there. He asked her what she wanted and she simply replied by telling what happened.
   "I was out hunting with my mentor, Patchstorm, when I felt this sharp pain in my paw," she explained, holding her paw out for Brightflame to inspect. "I tried to lick it out, but whatever it was, it wouldn't come out. So, with Patchstorm's permission, I came back to camp to see what you could do."

[Brightflame]

Brightflame laughed brightly, "I remember the exact same thing happened to me when I was an apprentice, it seems like we always have thorns in our pad." He walked over and frowned, shaking his head, "Although generally they make it easy by coming straight here. When you licked it you drove it in more, so it'll be hard to get out. Hold out your paw and clamp your jaw, this is going to hurt." He said apologetically.

[Petalfur]

    Petalpaw laughed with Brightflame's joke, then grimaced, feeling guilty that she had made her situation worse. Instead of fretting about it though, she clenched her teeth and held her breath, bracing herself and driving her sharp claws into the ground under her.

[Brightflame]

Brightflame nodded and offered a reassuring smile, "On three. One..." He took it between his teeth and pulled hard, removing a large, thick thorn. He chuckled softly, "Two, three." After looking it over he smiled, "I'll need to wrap it, would you like a poppy seed?" He asked warmly.

[Petalfur]

that didn't hurt as much as I thought, Petalpaw reflected, shaking the stinging feel from her swelling paw. "Do whatever you need to, Brightflame," she responded.

[Brightflame]

Brightflame nodded and bounded away, returning with some marigold and cobwebs. He led her to the pool in the den and crouched down, "Would you mind washing off the paw and licking it dry for me while I make a poultice?" He asked, beginning to chew the leaves.

[Petalfur]

Petalpaw obeyed and dipped her throbbing paw into the pool of water, swishing it around to get the crud out. She watched the medicine cat chew up the leaves, making a strange mixture of a bright yellow flower. It looked disgusting, but the apprentice was willing to do anything to stop the pain in her paw, even if it meant eating half-chewed leaves, which is what she thought she would have to do. She pulled a face.

[Brightflame]

When he was done he looked up and saw her expression, causing him to laugh, "Don't worry, you're not gonna eat it!" He smiled warmly, it goes on the wound and keeps it from getting infected." He laughed softly again and gestured for her to come over, "C'mon, we're almost done."

[Petalfur]

    Releasing a sigh of relief, Petalpaw hopped awkwardly to Brightflame who had flicked his tail, beckoning her over. She held out her paw for him once more. The silence bugged her, so she asked a question that had been bouncing around in her mind. "How do you memorize all these mixtures and herbs and treatments?" she questioned.

[Brightflame]

Brightflame began carefully applying the poultice, looking up momentarily at the question. He hummed thoughtfully, "Well, after a while you just sort of...remember them. For me it was easy because I have a perfect memory, but I suppose the way I was taught them was to just memorize one at a time. It helps if you memorize all the ones with similar purposes in groups. Like marigolds, horsetail, etc. In one group." He wrapped the paw with cobwebs, "How's that?" He asked.

[Petalfur]

    Petalpaw weighed her paw thoughtfully, then informed Brightflame that it was already feeling better. "You know, being a medicine cat sounds just like being a warrior, because as an apprentice I have to memorize battle moves and hunting and all that, so it's similar to memorizing herbs," she observed. "but being a warrior is my destiny. I wouldn't survive a moon as a medicine cat; no offense."

[Brightflame]

He chuckled, "Don't worry, it definitely isn't for everyone. I used to be a warrior, you know? I was great at sneaking up on enemies, but it just didn't feel like what I was meant for. I don't think I would be able to live as a warrior. To much fighting." He smiled, "That should do it then, try not to aggravate the injury too much or it'll take forever to heal."

[Petalfur]

 After dipping her head and thanking Brightflame, Petalpaw hopped her way yo the apprenticed den to sleep, satisfied with being an apprentice, In training to be a warrior.