It was a new day in green-leaf. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, the warriors were patrolling. Creampaw was in the medicine cat's den with Comfreyheart who was teaching her some basics. They were going over how to take care of a cat with a thorn in their paw. It had been a couple of days since the cream she-cat had become an apprentice, and training so far was not what Creampaw expected. It had been more slow and boring than what she had originally thought. But the thought of helping her clanmates motivated her.

         "Lick the paw with the thorn gently, until its loose. If your not sure then keep licking. Grip it with your teeth and slowly pull it out, the cat may whimper but don't hesitate. That will only make it worse. Once you pull out the thorn, check their paw for infection. It should smell weird if its infected. What herb do you use for infected wounds?" questioned her mentor.

         Come on Creampaw, think! She told you this before, it's somewhere in your head, just find it!! Was it horsetail? Or tansy? It could be Juniper berries? No, you wouldn't berries for infection. But what if you smear them on the paw instead. But that could be true for any herb then. Ugh! You're such a fish-brain sometimes its impossible. Creampaw didn't want to keep Comfreyheart waiting so she quickly blurted out the first herb that came to mind, "tansy?"

         "Close, but tansy is for greencough and poison. We can use chervil, horsetail, or marigold for infection. Horsetail is the strongest and the rarest in our territory since it grows in marshy, so I recommend using that for larger or more serious wounds. Marigold is the most common for us and is found near water, so that's what I use for smaller cuts. Speaking of which, I need to gather some more. Anyway, chervil is throughout the forests making it fairly moderate to find."

         You should know this stuff Creampaw! How else will you become a medicine cat. The apprentice frowned at the thought of not being able to answer such an easy question.

         Her mentor read her expression and comforted, "Now don't be downcast, I don't expect you to know all this stuff instantly." The cream molly just grunted in response. "Now why don't you sort the dock and thyme I gathered earlier. Dock has larger leaves while thyme is smaller. Once you're done, you're free to go. But make sure not to be too tired because today is the gathering and you're coming."

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

          After another boring task of sorting herbs, Creampaw was free to do whatever she wished within reasonability. She spotted Wrenpaw and Salmonpaw who just came back from a session of battle training. Her brother entered the nursery with a small herring. He's most likely talking to Icekit. Creampaw snorted, had her brother already found love? He's barely an apprentice and Icekit's still a kitten.

         Creampaw went up to Wrenpaw and sat down next to him. It had been lonely being a medicine cat's apprentice, so some company was nice.

          "Sooooooo what's new?" asked the brown tom

          "Nothing much. Herbs this and herbs that. Salmonpaw's love interests. The gathering... You know casual stuff."

          The tom gave an amused look and snorted, "Love interests already eh."

          "Speaking of which, here he comes now. Just follow my lead."

          Salmonpaw mewed another goodbye to the white kit and headed towards the apprentice den where Creampaw and Wrenpaw were settled.

         The cream trainee smirked, "What are you two love-birds doing?"

         Startled by the abrupt question, Salmonpaw stuttered, "Who? Me?!"

          Amused by the conversation, Wrenpaw joined in, "Who else? News been goin round that you and Icepaw are going all lovey dovey."

         "Oh, ummm, we're just...." Salmonpaw hesitated. "Talking."

         The cream molly sarcastically said, "Hmmmmmm. Okay, mkay. Totally."

         "Whaaaaaaaaat?!" 

         Wrenpaw giggled, "Nothing... Just. Talking."

         The two scheming apprentices burst out into a fit of laughter and Salmonpaw just looked dumbfounded until he understood what they were doing. "Not funny," he said through gritted teeth. 

         Wrenpaw and Creampaw continued chattering about the gathering, training, and just some general funny events. Shadepaw had joined in after her training ended. 

          It was about sun-fall, and everyone was getting ready to leave for the gathering. I can't believe it!!! It's my first gathering as an apprentice and I'm so excited, and a bit nervous. But mostly excited!! I'll get to meet the leaders and medicine cats and apprentices and everyone from other clans!! Well, maybe not everyone but some of them!!!

          The group of Streamclan cats trekked to the gathering spot which was large hollow with one tree in the middle. I'm here! I'm here! I'm so excited!! Eeeeeeeccckkkk! Okay, okay. Calm down and don't act like a minnow-brain in front of the other clans. 

          Creampaw separated from her littermates as Comfreyheart beckoned her to follow. Her mentors pushed through the crowd of cats to where a select few were sitting near the roots of the big tree. "Creampaw, meet the other medicine cats." Calm down Creampaw, calm down. 

         "Hello Creampaw! I'm Echofrost, Fieldclan's main medicine cat. How do you like your role so far?" asked the cheerful silver tortoiseshell.

         Nervousness took over Creampaw quickly mumbled a, "I love it saw far..."

         The Fieldclan cat giggled, "Why don't you talk to someone your own age. My apprentice Stoatpaw is with the other clan trainees."

         "That's a great idea!" approved her mentor.

         Creampaw felt awkward and just nodded before slowly backed away from the group. She wandered around the gathered felines until she found her sister talking to some cat about her size.

         "Creampaw!" her sister exclaimed. "This is Maplepaw and Blazepaw from Marshclan and Fuzzypaw from Forestclan." Maplepaw was a black tortoiseshell while Blazepaw had a plain orange coat. Fuzzypaw was a tufty white she-cat.

         Feeling more comfortable around cats her own age, Creampaw smiled and greeted them, "Nice to meet you."

         "Who's your mentor?" asked Fuzzypaw.

         "Comfreyheart."

         "And, which warrior is that?" Warrior? Doesn't she know that Comfreyheart is a healer?

         "She's a medicine cat..."

         "I should've known when I saw you. You're too weak to be a warrior." taunted the white molly.

          Anger was sparked inside of Creampaw. Weak was the wrong word. How dare she call me weak! How dare she call all medicine cats weak!

         "My sister is not weak, mind you!" roared a voice. Cats began circling around, apprehension was rising.

         "Awwwww. She even needs her sister to protect her."

         The tan she-cat snarled, "I don't need anyone to protect me!" 

          Fuzzypaw didn't back down, "Then how come warriors are the ones who protect healers?"

          That was it. Creampaw lost her cool and lunged at the white molly. Voices were telling her to stop but she ignored them. Fuzzypaw was one step ahead of her, the Forestclan apprentice rolled the tan she-cat onto her back. Fuzzypaw had the advantage now. What am I doing! I can't fight a warrior's apprentice! Surprised by the white cat's retaliation, Creampaw just did the first thing that came to mind. She bit Fuzzypaw's foreleg and the the warrior trainee jumped back and yelped as blood trickled down her bite. 

          "Stop!!" yelled a voice louder than others. Creampaw became aware of her state and fell back. What have I done...

Should Creampaw have done that? Coldpaw is in the picture above.