Life 3:2
Mudfur did not expect his first day with an apprentice to start off this way. When he'd gotten into the medicine den after getting the news from Crookedstar about his new apprentice, he did not expect the kit to have somehow rearranged half his stores and be actively reorganizing the other half. Every herb had its spot. Mudfur always made sure to organize them exactly the way Brambleberry did. Now, everything was out of place. He could hardly tell where anything was.
"What do you think you're doing?!" Mudfur demanded of the cat now destined to be his apprentice.
Snakekit scoffed at the question. "What does it look like? I'm reorganizing. The only reason I ever remembered Brambleberry's way to organize his herbs is because it is the most terrible way to organize them I've ever seen. I mean really, does the marigold have to be on the complete opposite side of the den than the cobwebs? That's not even mentioning how many herbs that sit by the mouth of the den that are temperature sensitive. I can't believe you even put up with this."
Mudfur was fuming. How dare Snakekit question this organization method? It was the one Brambleberry specifically changed to once he was taken on as an apprentice. "I don't care if this way is less efficient. It is the way Brambleberry specifically made for me when I became his apprentice."
Snakekit paused for a moment after that statement. "Wait. You mean to say that before you were her apprentice she did this differently?" Snakekit queried.
"Yes. She did this specifically for me." Mudfur answered with an exasperated tone.
"You realize she was just messing with you, right? I mean, this method is only really good for making an apprentice learn the herbs by scent and shape. It isn't actually useful in practicing medicine. I should know. I made it to specifically prank Brambleberry." Snakekit replied.
"You made this? Impossible. Brambleberry made this for me." Mudfur rebutted.
"Yeah, and I made it for her to twist his tail. She actually found it pretty funny and put up with it for a moon before switching it back. I can't believe you never called her out on how inefficient it is." Snakekit commented.
Mudfur, unfortunately, couldn't come up with a rebuttal to Snakekit's argument. "Well, it is a little inconvenient. It'd be nice if the feverfew wasn't always drying up from being hit with direct sunlight. And I guess yarrow can be put closer to the other herbs involving stomach issues. If I had to move some things around… Now that I think about it, there's a good few things I want to change. Maybe it is time to switch things up. I doubt I'm going to get any cats in today, and nothing currently needs restocking. Yeah. Let's reorganize this whole place. I'm not particularly happy with where you moved some of the herbs, so we're doing it all from scratch."
"That's the spirit!" Snakekit cheered before pulling all the beech leaves off a shelf. "I'm thinking these should go in a back corner. They become useless when they dry, so they need to sit somewhere damp."
"Nah. I want them over there on that wall. I need the corners to keep some of the seasonal herbs fresh. Beech leaves, while useful for transportation, are not a medical herb. We barely even use it."
The two kept at it until the sun was beginning to set. Both were covered in the debris that had accumulated on the shelves over Mudfur's time as a medicine cat. Just looking around, Mudfur felt proud of the change. Herbs were mostly organized by usage with a couple having to be placed in corners or near the den's entrance to keep them in usable condition. Mudfur felt a faint smile on his lips, somehow just knowing Brambleberry would approve of this. Now that he thought back on it, he was surprised he never caught on that Brambleberry hated the old method. She always complained about needing to walk to every corner of the den just to treat a fever. Had she been hoping Mudfur would have the initiative to reorganize it for him? It was too little too late now, but he'd finally gotten around it. A shiver went down Mudfur's spine. How much was Brambleberry going to tease him at the next halfmoon for not figuring it out?
As the two were cleaning up, Crookedstar called a meeting. Mudfur was happy that Snakekit's apprentice ceremony was finally here until he noticed Snakekit still had fragments of herbs stuck in his coat which also caused small tufts to stick out. Overall, it made Snakekit look like a messy kit. Mudfur shook his head dismissively only for his eyes to widen as a fragment of an herb drifted past his face. That fragment hadn't come from nowhere. The realization made Mudfur wince. He was just as unkept as the kit, but he couldn't acknowledge it or else he'd definitely lose face. He had to pretend that green specks weren't dotting his coat. The humiliation… He could pretend he didn't notice. Calling him out on it would look just as bad on who ever did it. He could keep up the façade.
When Snakekit was called forward, there were plenty of hushed giggles at the kit for not grooming himself for the ceremony. Then, Snakekit flashed Mudfur a smile, telling Mudfur that Snakekit knew exactly what was going on. The audacity of this kit… Mudfur could feel the corners of his mouth wanting to raise. This was the kind of thing Brambleberry would try to pull on him. He missed Brambleberry. Mudfur in turn kept his face stony, trying to deny Snakekit the satisfaction. Unfortunately, this had the opposite effect. Snakekit's smile only grew as Mudfur himself was called forward.
It was difficult for Mudfur to keep his composure as Crookedstar continued to speak. He could see the amusement in Crookedstar's eyes almost saying I told you so. Mudfur continued to pretend that this wasn't embarrassing despite how much he wanted to run to the medicine den to hide. When Snakepaw and Mudfur finally went to touch noses, Snakepaw seemed to flick his tail in excitement. It was only when colorful petals rained onto Mudfur's face did he realize what really happened. Snakepaw had never been meaning to groom himself. In fact, he'd have had to lace those petals into his tail to even get them to stick that long. Snakepaw had done this on purpose. Mudfur desperately wanted to laugh, especially since Snakepaw had such a wide grin upon seeing his prank go off so well. Mudfur decided there was only way to deal with this. He picked up Snakepaw by the scruff like a kit before dragging him off to the medicine den. Snakepaw protested the entire time because it was embarrassing, but a good natured grin was still wide on his face the whole time. Maybe just maybe this apprenticeship wouldn't be as awful as Mudfur anticipated.