Wounded Paw [Maple + Copper]

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Maplepaw

Go hunting by yourself, her mentor said, There hasn't been a twoleg here since last night, there's gotta be more prey abound! The apprentice stumbled on the wooden piece stuck in her paw, and cursed her bad luck today. She was trying to catch a frog the way she was taught to; crouch among the grass, watch the frog closely, and pounce when the frog was done landing. However, when she tried to catch it, the frog managed to slip out from under paw because she had landed on a wooden splinter and that sort of distracted her from hunting.

Worse, it smelled of burnt wood. Who would burn perfectly good wood? She needed to get better, quickly, so she could train herself for her clan. You must be loyal to your can above all else, Maplekit. Maplepaw could hear her mother's voice tell her, There is nothing prouder than serving your clan.

Well, now she was at the medicine cat's den. She didn't really know who was in there, so Maplepaw supposed she would go in now. Her paw really hurt. The orange and white cat limped in, calling out a formal, "Hello there. Is the medicine cat here?"

pank

[pank]

    As soon as the call echoed through the small clearing making up the medicine cat's den, a startled squeak came from behind a wall of ferns. "Just a moment," called Copperwing over their shoulder as they were shocked out of their dreamlike state they had gone into after sorting herbs. They gave the air a quick sniff and twitched an ear. Thinking back on what they had heard before the cat called out-- an apprentice all alone, by the sound of it-- they inferred that the cat had a minor limp and a trace of burnt wood-smell hung in the air. It was easy for them to decide it wasn't anything too important, so they took another few seconds to wrap up the little story they had been writing in their head (their favorite so far-- it was about a little beetle that was trying his best to take down a huge rat before it ate him). They sniffed once more after letting a paw hover over the piles of herbs, picking up a tiny trace of blood and deciding to bite the tip off of a well-washed comfrey root. Delicately, they carried the tangy-smelling plant between their front teeth and padded to where the patient was standing.


    After letting the scrap of comfrey fall onto their paws, Copperwing took a quick look at Maplepaw and opened their jaws to speak, and boy did the speech come fast. "Hi, guessing you got a little splinter on some burnt-up Twoleg wood? Odd how those guys just light that stuff on fire. Sure, it's warm, but why don't they just grow their fur out instead? Ah, mind showing me the paw with the splinter?" Their voice sounded welcoming, but they seemed to be a bit impatient to get the job done, glancing more at the splintered paw than Maplepaw's face. After they finished speaking, they brought the paw with the comfrey up to their mouth, licked it off, and cracked it with one side of their teeth to get the juices flowing out. Inwardly, they wondered if politeness was really important as a medicine cat. It'd be much easier to just scoop the paw up and slap on the herbs instead of waiting for the patient to allow them to, right?

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Maplepaw

When Maplepaw first heard the response, she assumed she would get immediate treatment, and didn't go furthur in until she had been waiting for a few extra seconds than she needed to. A frown on her face, she tried to pad in but found that the splinter in her foot was still a problem. The orange and white cat huffed, sitting down with her right paw up slightly. What is taking them so long?

That question didn't have to go unanswered for long. Copperwing padded out with lightning speed, and they started talking. Fast. Maplepaw flinched inwardly, not really used to older cats talking at this speed. At the request Maplepaw was sure she heard, She lifted her paw, not wanting to make too much conversation. Hopefully they would be able to help her paw not feel like mouse-dung.

[pank]

        Without a moment's hesitation, the splinter was yanked out and a soothing dab of comfrey juice layered over the wound. "There you go. Good as new! You should lick it often after the juices soak in to keep it clean, but since it was nothing major I don't think it's worth staying off the paw over. Your mentor send you to the camping area?" As they spoke, Copperwing brushed the scrap of copper root into a pile of used-up plants and hooked a bit of moss out of their nearby nest to use to get mouth-washing water later. They were momentarily distracted once more tapping out the heartbeats of the whole motion with their claws and came up with three heartbeats for the actions alone-- new record for a splinter. A tiny bloom of smugness unfolded in their chest, and they hoped the apprentice (who was already obviously a bit weirded out) didn't notice the corners of their mouth twitching upwards in attempts to make a proud grin.

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Maplepaw blinked, bringing the paw closer to herself. This cat was also trying to hold a conversation with her. Why? "Yes." Maplepaw responded, watching as Copperwing started to collect something, then got distracted by themselves and looked sort of proud. All to them, Maplepaw supposed. "Can I know your name?" She mewed, watching her paw with the comfrey juice on it.

(IT'S SO SHORT, SORRY PANK)
pank

[Kuwaki]

locking and moving due to the removal of copperwing as medicine cat.