Chervil Root

[Songmorning]

Songpaw wandered out into the beautiful Heather Meadow in search of...what was it? Oh yes, chervil root. Dawncloud had sent her to get some becaue Songmorning had complained of a bellyache. There was a little bit of chervil root left in the stocks of the Medecine Cat's den, but it was not enough. Songpaw had taken a careful sniff of it, trying to memorize its smell.

The sample she had smelled was only the root of the plant, so she couldn't recognize the plant on sight. Thus, she was attempting to find some simply by scenting the air. It was difficult, but it was an important part of her training. Yet, with all of the heather flowers and other herbs growing around with their scents mixing in the air, she wondered if she would be able to find it at all.

[Pureyy]

Purestar was talking a nice leisurely walk through the heather meadow. It was great to just get out of camp every once in a while and feel the wind ruffling his fur. He knew that Songpaw had come out here and was wondering where she had gotten to. He kept a lookout for her but he also kept a lookout for rabbits, maybe he'd get lucky and catch one to bring back to his clan. He sniffed the air and caught a scent, not rabbit, not cat, he assumed it was a mouse. He was disappointed but he continued on his way, slowly walking toward the mouse. Just as it came into sight he caught the scent of rabbit. "Perhaps I'll get two nice pieces of prey," he thought. He stalked up behind the mouse, pounced on it and delivered a killing bite to the neck. "That was easy," he thought, "now to find that rabbit." He sniffed the air once more and angled into his newest victim. It was quite a large rabbit, perhaps able to feed two or three cats. He stalked it for a bit as it was nibbling on some heather buds. Slowly, he crawled through the long grass and was just behind the rabbit, making sure he was downwind of course, he gave chase and quickly brought it down. "Wonderful!" he exclaimed out loud. He picked up his two pieces of prey and was on his way.

As he was walking back along the path he noticed some movement coming form a small path of heather. Then he saw the tail, it was Songpaw, he padded up to her. "Hey Songpaw, I know Dawncloud sent you out here, did you need any help?" he asked politely. It was a good thing to show respect to all members of your clan, it was good manners.

[Songmorning]

"Oh, well," Songpaw laughed a bit, abashed that the Clan leader was offering to help her, even though she knew it wasn't particularly unusual for Purestar. "I need to find a certain herb for Songmorning--she has a bellyache," she continued in her quiet voice, "The plant's called chervil, but I haven't used it very much, so I don't know what it looks like. I kind of know the scent, but there are so many other scents around here, I'm afraid I won't be able to find it. I don't suppose you...know what chervil root looks like. What I mean is, could you help me find it, please?"

[Pureyy]

"No problem Songpaw, I'm always willing to help!" replied Purestar. "Now let's see, I used to go for walks with Dawncloud all the time back when we were younger, and she was just an apprentice Medicine Cat, she showed me where supplies of each and every herb are." He turned to the left, "That tree over there, the only one in our territory, I believe there is some Chervil around there. Just follow me," he said cheerily. "But first I'm going to cover up my prey," he said, putting dirt over the rabbit and mouse.

Once he was finished, Purestar padded off in the direction of the tree, waving his tail to signal Songpaw to follow him. He stopped at the tree and turned to Songpaw. "Now just see if you can follow your nose, I'm sure it won't fail you. Maybe after we are done getting the chervil I can take you out hunting with me, teach you a couple of stalking techniques." He had always wanted to be able to have an apprentice but with the clan so low on young cats he usually gave them to what little warriors they had. (I know there technically aren't any but the story kind of wouldn't work without it.)

He was excited at the prospect of being able to spend time training an apprentice, even if it was a Medicine Cat Apprentice, they still needed to know how to hunt, everyone did. He sat down and waited for Songpaw to sniff out the chervil and thought about where the best places to hunt would be. Of course, it all depended on if she even wanted to hunt, maybe she would just want to go straight back and help out Songmorning with her bellyache. Whatever she chose to do he would support her, he kind of wished he had kits of his own.

[Songmorning]

Songpaw lifted her nose and scented the air carefully. She was starting to forget what the root back in the medecine cat's den had smelled like, but she was grateful to Purestar for helping her find a spot where there were plenty of chervil plants.

"I think I'll take the chervil root back to Songmorning first," she mewed as she was searching, "But I would like to learn some hunting techniques too. I've never been very good at it, so I don't think I've adequately helped feed Great Air Clan. I suppose after I give the chervil to Songmorning, we can come back out here so you can give me some hunting lessons." Purestar's relaxed manner had helped take away most of her abashment, and she was beginning to feel more at ease.

At that moment, a familliar scent wafted into her nose, and she turned and followed it a few feet until she came to a somewhat prominent plant. It was a large, bush-like plant with many light green, fern-like leaves and clusters of little white flowers. Taking a sniff of the plant, she decided for sure it was chervil.

"I don't really want to pull the whole plant up," she commented uncertainly, "It's just so big. I wonder if there's any way to just get some of the roots but leave most of the plant."

[Pureyy]

"To get just some of it, it is best to dig down around the plant on one side and get the roots that way. It takes less of a toll on the plant because you're leaving one side completely untouched, but remember to keep taking from different sides each time to let the other parts grow back," mewed Purestar encouragingly. "It's great that would would like to be taught some hunting techniques and I'm sure that you aren't as bad as you think you are!" he continued, "It's also good that you would like to help those with ailments first, that is a great lesson the all Medicine Cats must learn, that you must treat all of those who need it before anything else." he finished wisely.

"So this is what it would be like to have an apprentice," he thought to himself, "This must be one of my favourite things to do, teaching young cats everything I know to make them be successful." He sat down in the shade that the little stunted tree cast upon the ground. Even though it was so small if you climbed it you could see all of the territory because it is situated on a hill. It was a great vantage point to see what was going on, you could even see pieces of the other clans' territories.

"So once you're finished that we'll take my prey and your chervil back to camp and then we can come back out here and practice our hunting techniques," he purred, "and I can't wait to teach you!"

[Songmorning]

Songpaw began following Purestar's instructions as he was still speaking, unsheathing her claws and digging in the loose earth around the chervil bush. She managed to unearth a few long, carrot-shaped roots, then she carefully filled in the hole, leaving most of the plant untouched. By then, Purestar was done speaking.

"Thank you," Songpaw mewed. She began padding back toward the camp, carrying the chervil roots. "I'm a little worried about Songmorning," she sighed, "I'm not sure, but...I don't really know what's causing her bellyache. I mean, I don't know if it's serious or not."

[Pureyy]

Purestar watched Songpaw dig around the Chervil Plant and watched as she bit off some of the roots. She was really into her work and he admired her work ethic, she didn't stop until she was done. Once she was finished he unearthed his prey and carried it over to where Songpaw was now sitting.

"Thank you," Songpaw mewed. She began padding back toward the camp, carrying the chervil roots.

Purestar began following her with his prey in his mouth. The scent was starting to get to him, "We had better get back to camp soon, I'm starving!" he thought. Luckily it was the prime hunting season and there was much prey to go around, otherwise he would've pushed his own hunger aside for his clan. "I think we should have a little something to eat before we come out to train for hunting." he said.

"I'm a little worried about Songmorning," she sighed, "I'm not sure, but...I don't really know what's causing her bellyache. I mean, I don't know if it's serious or not."

"Well I guess we'll just have to wait and see, maybe she ate something that she shouldn't have or something that was bad for her." replied Purestar. He didn't want to think that something like Songmorning's bellyache could be something serious. Songmorning had been around forever and it would be a terrible blow to lose her now, especially with the warmer weather coming, although the cool shade of the trees would cool her down, Purestar knew that Songmorning loved to bask in the sun, he even did it on occasion too, when there was nothing else he had to do.

[Songmorning]

Songpaw smiled slightly. "Maybe if the chervil root works quickly, she'll feel well enough to eat some freshkill with us," she suggested. She was silent for a while, then she continued, "Songmorning was the medecine cat for a long time before Dawncloud. I don't think she would unwittingly eat any poisonous plant. Still, it might just be something from some freshkill she ate, and that might not be too bad. It probably won't be a problem." Even as she said this, she felt as though she was just trying to convince herself. They reached their camp, and Songpaw turned and headed toward the elders' den.

[Pureyy]

**After Chervil Root [Continued]!**

Purestar set a swift pace back out to the tree, knowing that Songpaw was following. They arrived at the tree and Purestar climbed up onto the lowest branch. He look to the west and knew they would have another hour before the sun went down. He was sure they could get the basics down in an hour. After pondering he slid back down onto the ground and turned to Songpaw.

"To start off, let's see your best stalking technique, it should come naturally to you, just crouch down, make sure your tail is down and move slowly forward. Make sure to keep your weight off of your paws and to watch where you're going so you don't trip or crack a twig or something." meowed Purestar. He sat and watched as Songpaw tried her first stalking technique with interest.