Seek And… Harvest? [patrol]

[Deleted]

ADDERVENOM OF ICECLAN

Addervenom hated early mornings. How on earth had he ended up in charge of a herb patrol at dawn?

Another mystery of the universe, he supposed. The pale tabby tom certainly could use help with today's gathering duties but he was less than happy about having to start before the sun had fully risen. It was with narrowed eyes and brisk, irritated movements that he padded out of the medicine den and went to stand by the camp entrance.

"If you dung-brains don't hurry up, I'm leaving without you!" yowled Adder to the frost-covered and mostly-barren camp. Hopefully there would be some signs of life so he could get a move on.

WORDS: 112 || WRITTEN FOR: Herb Patrol Kitties

NOTES - Private for Silvercloud, Sunpaw, and Mistpaw.

template by Margie @ Adoxography v2

[Sunpaw]

Sunpaw groaned as she woke up to a bitter leaf-fall morning. She sighed quietly as she stepped over several other sleeping apprentices. She bounded over towards sadder emit, the cranky medicine cat. Sunpaw had never met him before, but he had quite a reputation, especially with her mentor. "Hi Addervenom," she meowed, "how are you today?"

[Silvercloud]

Silvercloud, on the other hand, adored mornings with a passion. It just seemed so... magical to her, the dewdrops on leaves and rocks, the rising of the sun. She was already sat in her usual spot on the edge of camp, waiting for the sun to rise.
Today though, there was a little disruption to her routine, in the form of Addervenom. The highly irritating and cranky cat, her only real enemy, had somehow been chosen to be a medicine cat. Logical, I suppose, since no one even wants to mate with him. He'll be able to keep impeccably to the medicine cat code. And he was calling for a patrol. Groaning, she knew that it was, in a way, part of her duty to her clan to join it. And it would look lazy if she simply ignored it. So she dragged her unwilling paws forward and settled into a sitting position a few tail-lengths from Addervenom, close enough that it indicated she was joining, but far enough that they didn't have to speak. 

[Deleted]

ADDERVENOM OF ICECLAN

Right, two out of three. Not bad. Adder wasn't going to wait around all day, however, so he figured the last member of this little excursion could catch up if she wanted to. With a flick of his tail, he motioned for Sun and Silver to follow him out into the mountains.

"We're mostly looking for chervil and tormentil. Catmint would also be good, but I doubt we'll find much, so look for chickweed instead," the medicine cat directed, having ignored Sunpaw's greeting. He wasn't going to waste the whole morning chatting - which, admittedly, was mostly an excuse so that he didn't have to socialize, especially not with Silvercloud, but it was all the same.

He led them briskly to the training hollow. Inside this small grove of evergreens was probably their best chance at finding any sort of herb. "Chervil looks like a fern, tormentil's got little yellow flowers, chickweed has dewdrop-shaped leaves, and you'll know catmint by the scent. Start looking. If you find anything, show me… and for the love of the ancestors, don't try eating it or anything."

WORDS: 182 || WRITTEN FOR: Herb Patrol Kitties

NOTES - Skipping Mistpaw for now; she can join once she's back.

template by Margie @ Adoxography v2

[Sunpaw]

Sunpaw listened as Addervenom explained what to look for. She hadn't really known what would be in store for her in a herb patrol, she had just needed something to do. This sounded interesting, a little bit different from hunting and training for once. Sunpaw sort of understood why Sunfish didn't like Addervenom. He hadn't replied back to her greeting. He was probably busy thinking about other things, so she didn't say anything. Sunpaw followed Addervenom into the training hollow and set off to look for herbs.

[Silvercloud]

Silvercloud moved off after the medicine cat, happy that he didn't seem to be looking to provoke her today. It was nice to have some peace, and maybe, just maybe, they could have a vaguely cordial relationship. It wasn't likely though. But one could hope.
Listening intently to what Addervenom was saying, she nodded and tried to remember all the information. She didn't like him, yes, but that didn't mean that she could, or should, ignore him or pick the wrong herbs. After all, she was doing this for her clan and not for her non-existent love of Addervenom. And that meant that she had to do her best.
Setting off after Sunpaw, she kept her eyes peeled for the features Addervenom had described. It was not long after that she spotted, predictably, the pure yellow flowers that he had spoken of. They stood out among the dull green of the clearing and let off a strong, sharp scent. Smiling to herself in satisfaction, she called out in the direction she had last seen the medicine cat.
"Addervenom! I think I found tormentil. Which part do you need?" After all, she didn't want to pick the flowers and discover that they needed the roots, or some similar fiasco. No, better let the expert do it. She had respect for the role of medicine cat, even if she didn't respect the cat himself.

(I have zero muse.)

[Deleted]

ADDERVENOM OF ICECLAN

The little area which he'd chosen to search first was turning up nothing, and Adder half-flattened his ears in annoyance. For Darkpool's sake, he needed these herbs - there was no way he could go back to camp empty-pawed. He continued sniffing about with no luck, until Silvercloud called out from nearby.

The medicine cat raised his muzzle and padded enough. Sure enough, he recognized the tangle of leaves and thin stems and bright blooms as tormentil. "Just cut off the stems towards the base, like this," Addervenom ordered. He leaned forward to neatly bite off one long stalk, placing it next to the plant as an example.

"Gather a bunch of those but don't take more than half the plant. Sunpaw, have you found anything?" he meowed, leaving the warrior to her task as he turned to check on the apprentice.

WORDS: 141 || WRITTEN FOR: Herb Patrol Kitties

NOTES - reference for tormentil is here

template by Margie @ Adoxography v2

[Sunpaw]

Sunpaw kept on searching the clearing for chervil and catmint, as she knew what those two looked like. Then she spotted a fern like clump. "Addervenom! I think found some chervil!" Sunpaw meowed. It could of just been some ferns, but it smelled different then usual ferns. Maybe there was something in it. Sunpaw bit off a small stem of it and carried it over to Addervenom. "Is this chervil?Or a fern?"

(sorry its late)

[Deleted]

ADDERVENOM OF ICECLAN

At the sound of Sunpaw's voice, Addervenom quickened his pace with interest. He gave the herb a quick sniff and nodded, having detected the sweet scent of chervil. "Yes, that's it. We'll take the whole thing - this bunch doesn't look like it'll survive through leafbare."

The medicine cat unsheathed his claws and dug at the ground for a few moments to unearth the largest roots. Then, grasping it near the bottom, he gave a sharp tug and the whole chervil plant came right out.

"Help me take this to the camp," Adder told Sunpaw. "Silvercloud, meet us there with the tormentil when you're done." Ignoring the taste of dirt, he picked up the chervil by its roots and waited for Sun to support the leaves before trotting away from the training hollow.

WORDS: 132 || WRITTEN FOR: Herb Patrol Kitties

NOTES - Since Silvercloud's on holiday and I don't want to drag this thread on for too long, I'll wrap things up here. Feel free to make closing posts, or don't.

template by Margie @ Adoxography v2

[Sunpaw]

Sunpaw helped Addervenom with the chervil. They got to camp and Sunpaw took the herbs to the medicine cat den. Then she padded off to the apprentice den.