The Responsibilities of a Medcat*

Scarletleaf nimbly worked her way through the trees and flowers and assorted plant life that smothered the Everfree Forest's floor. She was off collecting herbs, as she often was when she wasn't making poultices or doing other medcat business. She rarely interacted with anycat else at all, now that she considered it.

Ambereyes said that friendship, especially inter-Clan friendship, was a wonderful gift that medcats possessed, and she should make a few friends.

She scoffed at the notion. Friends! As if that was more important than her connection to StarClan, or her responsibilities as a medcat. Friends were merely distractions, wastes of thought and emotion. The idea of somecat distracting her from her important work, for no reason other than because they were friends, made her want to retch.

Scarletleaf did have a soft spot, however small, for kits, even though she would never have kits of her own. Especially Featherkit. The poor tom was blind in one eye. Even though she was only an apprentice, she was considering picking Featherkit as her own, once her time came and Featherkit was old enough.

She was wrenched from her thoughts when she tripped and fell on a root. "Dangit." She spotted a clump of pinkeye lilies, and crouched down to dig them up. Again, she ran through the various uses for pinkeye lilies; the roots and stem were chewable for a poultice, and the petals could be eaten, or used in berry poultices. The Everfree Forest was absolutely swimming in useful herbs and flowers, and it was very important to know; which ones were dangerous? Which ones were useful, or even tasty?

Once she had collected a satisfying amount of lilies, she headed back, flying neatly over a fallen log. The camp was full of activity, and she had a bit of trouble making it toward the back to the medcat's den. She placed her flowers down on the stone where they were kept, then decided to go to the nursery to see Featherkit. But before she could head back out, Ambereyes stopped her.

"Scarletleaf! What did you find?"

"Some pinkeye lilies." Scarletleaf replied, her voice devoid of all emotion. "Can I go and see Featherkit?"

"Sure. But before you go, I want to ask you something."

"What?" Scarletleaf's tail flicked, showing Ambereyes she was listening.

"There's a Gathering tonight. I was hoping you'd come with me. Maybe make a friend."

Scarletleaf sighed. "I'll go, but no promises on making friends."

Ambereyes also sighed. "You never change. Go on."

Scarletleaf dashed outside and headed for the nursery. Next to the medcat's den, the nursery was her favorite place in the camp, mainly because that was where Featherkit spent his days. The minute she stepped in, she was slammed with a little black-and-white bundle of sheer cuteness.

"Scarletleaf! Scarletleaf! Hi!"

"Hello there, Featherkit." She carefully pried the little Pegasus foal off her leg, then lay down in front of him, legs tucked under her, to hear his latest tale of nursery shenanigans. That wasn't what she was meant to hear, however.

"There's a Gathering tonight, Scarletleaf. Are you going? Can I go with you?"

"Yes and no, Featherkit. You're too young to go."

"Aw, but I wanna go with you." Featherkit whined, climbing onto Scarletleaf's back. "You're my bestest friend in the whole entire Clan!"

"That's very sweet of you, Featherkit. Maybe you can go when you become an apprentice. That's only in two moons."

Featherkit's head and tail drooped. "I'm scared to become an apprentice, though."

"How come?" Scarletleaf asked, the little foal climbing off of her.

"Because I'm scared the other apprentices will make fun of me because I'm half-blind." he mumbled. "I mean, here Cloverkit doesn't care, she plays with me anyway, and she's careful not to play too close to anywhere I might get hurt. But...the other apprentices aren't Cloverkit."

Scarletleaf paused. "That's true, but have you ever heard of Brightheart?"

"Who's Brightheart?" Featherkit titled his head inquisitively.

"Brightheart was a very noble and brave cat, from back when cats lived in the Territories." Featherkit nodded. Scarletleaf continued. "Her name used to be Lostface, because when she and two other apprentices went to take on the dogs to prove their worth and become warriors, her face was horribly wounded, and she became unrecognizable. Then Firestar, the leader of ThunderClan back then changed her name, because there was more to her than her face, and every cat knew it. She was half-blind too, but you know what? She became one of ThunderClan's best warriors. Her story has been passed on ever since."

By the end of Scarletleaf's tale, Featherkit's eyes were shining in awestruck wonder. "Wow." he whispered. "She must have been a really good cat."

"She was." Scarletleaf smiled at his expression. "I bet one day, you'll be just like her."

"You think so?" Featherkit leaned in close to Scarletleaf.

"I know so." Scarletleaf wrapped a hoof around Featherkit, and they sat there together.

Featherkit broke the silence. "You should go and get something to eat before you have to go."

Scarletleaf left the nursery, brushing Featherkit with her tail as she left. She picked up a flower, and sat outside her den to eat it, watching the sky turn darker. Then a shout sounded from the top of the watch rock, and she got up to join Ambereyes as they headed to the Gathering.