hidden under snow || phase iv herb

[erminepaw]

It is often imperative that a warrior be aware of their limits and of just how far they can push themself before their body gives out and they are of no use to their clan... this same sentiment is not one Erminepaw shares with his older, wiser, more experienced clanmates. There is a chill in his bones from the last hunt, one that has not gone away in spite of trying to be as warm as possible. A visit to Cottonsprig or Celandinepaw was in his future for sure, but now, right now, he's doing something else for them and padding alongside a patrol in search of herbs. What would he find? Good question! He's not too sure!

The blanket of white decorating the moor is almost blinding in the way it just looks like the same thing going on forever and ever. Erminepaw does not know what a mirage is, but set him loose in this wasteland of white for long enough without proper warmth, food or water, and he may just find out. But it's not a time for depressing thoughts!! Today is going to be a day of victory!! A day of finding the best herbs ever hidden under the snow!! Just like how he'd gotten that huge hare!

Despite digging in the cold, wet snow, Erminepaw cannot seem to find anything but yellow and brown grass, long dead from the frost and now smothered in the blanket of white.

"I can't f-f-fffind anything!" He complains through his chattering teeth. This stutter was going to get annoying real fast. He wants to be the speediest at everything!! And that doesn't just mean running, it also means talking, and ooohhhh boy, is this slowing down his speech.

all you wanted // i could be

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  ooc - health: 18, healthy !! aside from his previous chills roll ofc
  herb: 3, no herb :( 0 points
  
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  #9bcfad
• 
  (img) Erminepaw * he/him * 6 moons
  short furred blue sepia with low white and pale yellow eyes
  Mentored by Featherspine
  Peaceful & healing powerplay allowed || underline for attack
  penned by Neptune. || Neptune on disc, dm me for plots

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[downyfur]

Downyfur is one of those sensible adults whose example Erminepaw ignores. They generally cling to the tunnels, preferring the cramped empty black to the vast empty white. This patrol is decidedly an aboveground one though: the underground path following the moor-runners' route had caved in half a moon ago, and the fallen earth was now too frozen and compacted to dig through. The tunneler walks with her eyes shut most of the time anyway, finding it easier to search for her clanmates by voice and paw-crunch through the snowfall than try and make them out through the blinding white.

As in the tunnels, without much stimulation, their thoughts begin to wander. Sunstar and Wolfsong had come from lands like these, except the hills were taller than the eye could follow, and the coyotes grew so huge they were called wolves instead. It was an exercise in futility to keep wondering why they left. Not even their children seemed to know, though they weren't really forthcoming about it in the first place.

A speck of red catches her eye, and her heart nearly jumps into her throat. Blood? Had Frostwind's killers returned for more? She'd told Heatherpaw to stay close, but... The little molly approaches cautiously, head lowered for the faintest tang of iron among the wet scent of snow. The cheery scent of mint leaps to her nose instead. The relief almost makes them sink into the snow, but they hastily scratch up the herb and gather it in their numb mouth instead.

It's only when she flicks an ear towards Erminepaw's voice that she realizes she can't feel it. She flicks it again. Nothing. Downyfur trudges towards him with a sinking feeling in her chest, promising to address it only after they've all returned to camp. It might just be a symptom of the bitter cold, after all. "You'll find something soon, I just know it," they tell him, trying to coax a warm smile on their face that just ends up hollow.

ooc: rolled an 8 (common herb) + 7 (frostbite)! apprentice tag @heatherpaw. ​

 

[cottonsprig]

Cottonsprig would call herself foolish; that ache in her chest has not cleared up and yet here she is, pressing forth in the cold, cold snow. She distances herself from other cats as she sees them, at least, hoping to obscure the cloudiness in her gaze. Her mind hasn't gone yet - this pesky cold is nothing like how she had seen yellowcough take hold. She's just as mindful and curious as ever.

Erminepaw's voice catches her attention, a few sprigs of marigold locked between her teeth. Not far from the apprentice is Downyfur and her niece, Heatherpaw. There's a quiet nagging in her mind, wanting to usher them all back to camp - but she'd be a hypocrite to do so, wouldn't she? The medicine cat drops her findings to cough into her shoulder, all before gathering what she has and taking her leave before they can ask her to join.

𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 ˖⁺‧₊˚♡˚₊‧⁺˖ 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠

• ooc // rolled an 18 for health (fine!) and 10 for herbs (+1 point!)

• ❥ MEDICINAL KNOWLEDGE
  ♥♥♡ WOUNDS ; can confidently stop bleeding and mend lacerations. will often request that you keep your injury clean and wait it out first.
  ♥♥♡ INFECTION ; as a side effect of likely her own doing, very dutiful with technique and treatment shortly thereafter.
  ♥♡♡ ACHES & PAINS ; will defer to a dark tunnel and rest. if pain persists, maybe she will offer something.
  ♥♡♡ BROKEN BONES ; has never dealt with a broken bone. likely will ask that you never move. ever again.
  ♥♥♥ TRAVELING HERBS ; learned well from her previous mentor. will pile even too many remedies to tough the wilderness with.
  ♥♥♥ KITTING ; having kittens of her own and helped several others with their litters, she is very well versed with calming techniques and quelling pain.
  ♥♡♡ POISONS ; she knows what they are... but that isn't enough, isn't it?
  ♥♥♡ ILLNESS ; having worked through two yellowcough bouts, she is confident in her remedies. much else... she's operating on trial and error.
  ⸻ cottonsprig is a dutiful and excitable medicine cat. she enjoys company and loves conversation. she'd rather not have too many curious noses snooping around her den... but who is she to quell curiosity?

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  ⸻❥ cottonsprig is the primary medicine cat of windclan. a former princess to the moors, she harbors many guilts for her actions throughout her short life. she has no consistent partner, unwilling to commit and settle, and she is training celandinepaw in medicine.

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[FEATHERSPINE]

Erminepaw's shivering whine took a whip to Featherspine's already taut temper. She would already have rather been doing anything other than herb-hunting ... tracking the scents sickened him, reminded him of her parents too strongly, a sickening sprawl. Her apprentice would not give up with empty paws, though- if they had to be here. "You will," she spat, less of the reassuring purr that had rolled from Downyfur's tongue. No, there would be no coddling. This was important, and Featherspine would leave no room for argument about that.

Somehow, in the snow... touched by pearls of ice, a cobweb. Between snarling, shivering jaws Featherspine brandished a stick, beginning to wind the gauze around it. His sighs seemed to shudder more by the second, and disgust took its place on his face. "I c-c-can't stay out here... much longer... so hurry up and fff-fff-find something, even it it's just a leaf." Anything, anything would do at this point. Oh, she needed to be warm again...

\ rolled a 13 for health (whitecough) and a 11 for herbs (1 point)​

✦ penned by pin​

 

[SHEEPPAW]

The black smoke is in a realm he's far less familiar with, herb collecting. Perhaps it shows with his slow breathing, and his struggling to find anything useful for the medicine cats. Sheeppaw finds himself grit his teeth as he couldn't find any plants used for healing properties, instead of the plants he already knows. Heather, grass, a few clumps of moss... Were any of them a use for Cottonsprig and Celandinepaw? Probably less so then actual herbs.

The pesky cold bites at her pale downy coat, messing it up. Ughhh! The scents the cold provides sickens her to her core... the stinging cold on her poor nose makes him grimace. The young molly's eat twitches at Erminepaw's voice, glancing at the other with nothing to show. Dark paws crunch on the powdery snow - fall that hailed Windclan's moors. Her teeth clack clack together, her lanky figure shivering slightly as she finally spots something. A noise of triumph makes it's way through her throat, she pushes forth... But pauses as she stumbled upon a rock. Mouse - dung! He lets out a groan fall out of his maw. "I can't f-find nothin' !" He turns away from the stupid rock, to wander back to the patrol.

⊹ ⏜ ۫ . 𝙎𝙉𝙊𝙊𝙕𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝙄𝙉 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝘾𝙇𝙊𝙐𝘿𝙎 ᶻ 𝘾𝘼𝙉 𝙔𝙊𝙐 𝙁𝙀𝙀𝙇 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙇𝘼𝙐𝙂𝙃𝙏𝙀𝙍 𝘽𝙐𝙄𝙇𝘿

• ooc. rolled a 15 (bro got whitecough!!! OUGH) & rolled a 6; failure
  POINTS: 0

• no ref yet </3​

• ( WHAT? THE FACE? ) ꕤ ‧₊˚. SHEEPPAW. ╱ windclan apprentice.
  ⤷ CLOSETED GENDERFLUID ; HE / SHE
  ✶ CURRENTLY 12 MOONS OLD. AGES EVERY 29TH.
  ✶ undecided / not actively looking — mentoring none.
  ✶ a lanky, longhaired black smoke with high white and pale blue eyes
  ✶ thoughts ; "Speech, B9D6F2" ; attacks only
  ✶ may powerplay minor harm ╱ peaceful and healing powerplay permitted
  ✶ smells like night air & windblown heather
  — all opinions are ic
  
  → biography / @ on discord for plots
  — penned by calzone

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[Puddlepaw.]

I WANT TO BELONG
LIKE THE BIRDS IN THE TREES ​

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

puddlepaw & 09 moons & demi-girl & she/they & windclan apprentice ​

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Puddlepaw has absolutely no clue what she is looking for - humming as she ables along through the snow, even though the cold air makes her throat hurt. Steps wobble to-and-fro - leaving a zig zag through the growing piles of snow as she pushes her way throigh the blizzard, coat and small body buffeted by the wind. Its sheer luck she stumbles across something useful, the sticky-sweet scent the only thing that snags her attention as she tries to shelter beneath the shrub for a moment. Paws and teeth scrape against wood, gnawing of a small branch, before shuffling her way back to the others. She wants to return home as quickly as possible - her nose begining to run and her tune growing increasingly off-key.

━ actions & " speech, " & 'thoughts/quotes' ━

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

B L U E B I R D S ━ F O R E V E R ━ C O L O U R ━ T H E ━ S K Y

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
// 19 - finds rare herbs & 13 - gets whitecough
Points Earned: 2

 

[BUCKFIRE]

Buckfire had some luck hunting for herbs in the past, having secured a rather notable plant for the medicine cats to use. He had felt so confident, the glow of pride and accomplishment so warm and fuzzy that he figured that he'd have better luck this time around. A blizzard wouldn't prevent Buckfire from being one of the best damn warriors in the clan and that was for certain.

Well, at least he thought so.

The chocolate tabby would never admit to overestimating his own abilities, even as he scoured high and low for an herb. Ears ducked and molten stare squinted as to fend off the billowing winds, the tom approached a nearby cluster of powdered bushes. He sniffs around, unable to pick up on any aromas out of the ordinary. C'mon... give me somethin'! Buckfire shakes his head in frustration before turning around.

𝐈 𝐆𝐎𝐓𝐓𝐀 𝐐𝐔𝐈𝐓 𝐋𝐈𝐕𝐈𝐍 ✹ . + ˚ · 𝐎𝐍 𝐀 𝐃𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐄𝐍𝐃 𝐑𝐎𝐀𝐃

• health roll: 15 ( whitecough )
  prey roll: 1 ( no herbs found )

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  — buckfire / 34 moons / he/him pronouns
  — windclan moor runner / former loner
  — sh chocolate tabby w/ orange eyes, bite marks on left foreleg, nick in left ear & scratch on right side of lip
  — click for tags

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[erminepaw]

Grinning widely at Downyfur's reassurance, and he opens his mouth to readily agree with the tunneler, ever eager to boast about how of course he'd find something! He's super cool and the best herb tracker in the whole moors, of course! But, before the prideful words leave his maw, Featherspine snaps at him, her words harsh and biting like the cold in the air as the wind blows past them all, and he scowls, mood immediately soured. While his back is turned, collecting a spiderweb that somehow survived to see another day in this blizzard, Erminepaw sticks his tongue out at him, petulantly muttering under his breath, "Sheeppaw didn't f-fffind anyth-thing either." Still, he digs through the snow and plucks a dead blade of grass. Not useful, but Featherspine said to find anything, and this counts as that. If he wants to yell at him for not trying, then she can be his guest. Erminepaw gives it just as good as he gets it!

all you wanted // i could be

• 
  ooc -
  
• 
  #9bcfad
• 
  (img) Erminepaw * he/him * 6 moons
  short furred blue sepia with low white and pale yellow eyes
  Mentored by Featherspine
  Peaceful & healing powerplay allowed || underline for attack
  penned by Neptune. || Neptune on disc, dm me for plots

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