Frostkit had always wanted to become the apprentice of Shadefur, the ThunderClan medicine cat. A few days after the silver kit had learned to walk, she wandered away from the nursery, which she shared with her brother, Pinekit, and mother, Cedartail, for the first time. Her tiny, wobbly legs instinctively led her to the medicine cat den where she peeked inside, fascinated by the new and mysterious sights, smells, and sounds. Before she could investigate, however, she was quickly chased out by Shadefur, who had enough things to do already and couldn't afford to babysit her. But after that encounter, Frostkit always tried to scramble over there whenever she could. Sometimes she managed to observe Shadefur organizing herbs, treating patients, and consulting StarClan for advice for quite some time before he noticed her and shooed her away. He always did that. She had often wondered why.
Her mother kept telling her to stop bothering the medicine cat, but she couldn't help it. It was just so interesting! Pinekit sometimes teased her about it. While she was watching Shadefur, he was always talking with the apprentices, asking eagerly for them to show him battle moves that they had learned that day, or how to hunt. She never found that stuff very interesting. For her, it was all about the medicine cat. She knew he didn't have an apprentice, and so she wanted that role very badly.
And now, at last! She stood before the Highrock, her blue eyes wide and eager, as Falconstar leaped on top of it. Her brother stood beside her, barely able to contain his excitement (Just like me, she realized), and Cedartail sat behind them, full of her pride for her kits. Frostkit knew, she just knew, that after her leader appointed Pinekit as a warrior apprentice, Shadefur would be up there, ready to claim his apprentice…
"Pinekit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Pinepaw. Your mentor will be Jaggeddust. I hope she will pass down all she knows on to you," stated Falconstar.
Pinepaw leaped forward to touch noses with his new mentor, almost colliding with her instead. Frostkit giggled at this before joining the chant. "Pinepaw! Pinepaw! Pinepaw!"
But then, yes! Frostkit's fur tingled as Shadefur padded calmly onto the Highrock next to Falconstar, and announced, "Cats of ThunderClan, as you know, I will not be around forever. So it's time I took an apprentice. I have chosen a cat who has shown enthusiasm and independence. Your next medicine cat will be Frostpaw."
Falconstar then added, "Frostpaw, do you accept the post of apprentice to Shadefur?"
"I do," Frostpaw promised, truly meaning it with all her heart and soul.
"Then at the half-moon, you must travel to the moonstone to be accepted by StarClan before the other medicine cats," Shadefur announced.
"The good wishes of all ThunderClan will go with you," the leader concluded. Frostpaw grinned as she touched noses with Shadefur. At long last, she was the medicine cat apprentice!
"Frostpaw! Frostpaw! Frostpaw!" As the cats began to leave, Frostpaw tackled her brother with joy, the two of them falling into a pile of leaves that had fallen from the trees.
"I'm a medicine cat apprentice!" she mewed with glee, flicking a brown leaf off her ear.
"I'm a warrior cat apprentice!" Pinepaw roared and kicked her off, scrambling to his paws and sending the leaves flying. Before she could do the same, he crashed into her, planting his paws on her chest. "Hah!"
"Oh, you," Frostpaw thrashed around for a moment, struggling to get out of his grip. "Hey, let go."
Pinepaw started to say something, but then Jaggeddust called him over, and he bounded after his mentor with great enthusiasm. Frostpaw got up and glared after him until he disappeared out of camp. Hmph. She groomed herself for a moment, and then remembered that she had somewhere to be. She dashed into the medicine cat den.
It was the first time she had actually set her paws inside the den. Now she could finally get a good view of every corner, every little detail. The first thing that hit her was the scent; the sharp, tangy smell of herbs mixed with a faint odor of sickliness. She had smelled it before, of course, but now that it was all around her, it was stronger than ever. It might've made her nose wrinkle in distaste, but she had become familiar with it in all the time she had spent just outside, so instead she welcomed the smell.
In the front of the den, there were several moss beds that looked as though they had been used fairly often. She guessed that these were for the patients to rest in. She also spotted a flat gray rock in a corner by the entrance, little bits and ends of herbs laying there. Frostpaw was curious about this rock, but soon she was padding a little farther in instead, going slowly, as it took some time for her eyes to adjust to the darkness in the back. She saw another two moss beds. One for me! she thought happily. When she at last made out the enormous storage of herbs, she let out a mew of delight. She had seen Shadefur using some of them, but she had never imagined so many herbs could even exist! She saw a strand of cobwebs, and remembered noticing how Shadefur wrapped these on bleeding wounds. Frostpaw poked at them for a bit, fascinated. Then a shadow fell over her, blocking the light from the entrance, and she froze, turning around to see the smoky gray medicine cat.
"Hi, Shadefur!" she greeted him, dropping her paw in a flash. He shuffled past her with hardly a glance, rummaging through the herbs. Frostpaw tried not to feel disappointed, but then he turned around, grasping a few select herbs and berries, and a wad of cobwebs. He placed them on the gray rock, and faced her.
"So! One part of being a medicine cat is having a vast knowledge of medicine. Let's get started on that, shall we? We'll start with the basics for today." All right! Right down to business. Frostpaw watched as he separated the cobwebs from the pile.
"These are cobwebs, woven by spiders," Shadefur informed her. "You can find them almost anywhere; spiders run rampant in the forest out there. Cobwebs are used to stop bleeding."
Frostpaw nodded. She already knew part of that! Well, guessed, more like. But now she knew!
"And this is marigold." The medicine cat gestured to a few bright yellow flowers with green leaves. "The leaves or petals can be chewed into a poultice to stop infection. Marigold is commonly found near water."
And on the list went. She learned about catmint, and how it was very valuable for treating whitecough and greencough, and poppy seeds, which were used to ease pain, distress, or shock, and helped the patient sleep. Then there were juniper berries, used for coughs, and snakeroot, the best remedy for poison, especially snake bites. There were a few more, and then at last Shadefur halted, and asked, "Juniper berries?"
"Uh…" Frostpaw thought for a moment, and then said, "They grow in dry areas…and are used to cure…infection?"
She knew she got it wrong when she saw Shadefur shaking his head, a glint of amusement in his amber eyes. "You were right about where they grow, but they are used for coughs, not infections." When he saw Frostpaw looked gravely disappointed, he added, "You'll get it someday; trust me."
Then the medicine cat gathered up the herbs he had brought out, and went to place them back in storage. Frostpaw busied herself with staring at the den again as he did so. Then she glanced at him and saw that he was padding back to her with a leaf bundled up in his jaws, his eyes dark now. Shadefur dropped the bundle on the rock, and it opened, revealing three scarlet berries.
Frostpaw leaned in for a closer look, her nose almost touching them, before Shadefur nudged her away and meowed firmly, "These are deathberries. Never, I repeat, never, eat them. These berries can kill a cat within minutes if consumed. Do you understand?"
Frostpaw nodded slowly, backing away now. The deathberries had seemed so innocent before, almost tasty…she shivered at the thought of eating them.
"Good. Every medicine cat must know this, and know it well, for these berries are very dangerous." With that, Shadefur wrapped them back up in the leaf and put them away. This time he was back very quickly.
"So, you may be my apprentice now, but StarClan has not recognized this just yet. You see, every half-moon, the medicine cats and their apprentices meet up with each other and visit the Moonstone at Highstones to have dreams with StarClan. The next half-moon meeting is in three days. You will come with me to be officially recognized as my apprentice, and to share a dream with StarClan."
Frostpaw immediately brightened up. She would get to share dreams….with StarClan? Just the thought of it! Her paws tingled with excitement. "I can't wait!"
Shadefur smiled slightly. "Let's go gather some of those herbs I've mentioned now. I can always use more, especially since leaf-bare is not far ahead of us now." Frostpaw followed him out of the medicine cat den, and out into the forest. She was trying to recollect all the different smells of the herbs now so she could easily recognize them as they looked. She would be sure to find the first one before her mentor!
