Sablewish pat his apprentice on the head, a small fraction of his worries disappearing and replaced with a soft smile. “Alright then, I trust you- but make sure everything is stocked! An outbreak of yellow cough would be *devastating* without a good herb supply..” He instructed, probably for the tenth time in the past two days before he headed off to his den, hoping to get some sleep before he had to head off.

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"Of course, Sablewish." Crowpaw smiled, then she yawned. She padded to the apprentices den to get some sleep.

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The next morning, Sable was up bright and early, even though he had hardly slept the previous night. Hastily, he gathered some supplies he thought he might need before heading off towards the border. By the time he arrived, someone was already awaiting, and yet again, he set off towards Houndclan’s camp. It took until the sun was just under its peak to finally reach their destination.

Hailstar had been waiting for the two to arrive for quite some time, and he was more than relieved when they finally made it through the hollowed entrance to the camp. The entirety of their home was surrounded in thickets and gorse to ward off any unwanted guests, and the only entrance was an overhead arch through a shallow dip. “Sablewish.” The patriarch dipped his head to the medicine cat as he entered, dismissing the warrior that guided him. “I hope you’ll be able to make yourself comfortable in our home. I know it’s nothing like yours, but we greatly appreciate your help.” He lead the anxious looking tom to the den he would be staying in. “I suggest you get acquainted with your new-temporary clanmates, let me know if you need anything.” He grunted, turning away briskly to leave Sable to fend on his own.

Sablewish looked around, completely lost. The various new smells of the camp were almost overwhelming, and he was having trouble keeping himself together. Quietly, he stocked his own herbs into the previous desolate supply- this was gonna take a lot of prepping. He had absolutely no idea where to find the herbs in this territory.. maybe he could ask Hailstar? The tom stalked out of the den purposefully- before he realized he had no idea where the leader’s den was. He looked around now, extremely confused.

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Cloverpetal and Prickleshade had been waiting in the camp all morning to see their new medicine cat. Prickleshade nudged Cloverpetal when he arrived. "Look who it is!" Cloverpetal blinked. "I can see them."

The siblings watched Hailstar leave them on their own. "Well? We didn't go out and get these herbs for nothing," Prickleshade spoke, then dashed ahead of his brother. "Wait up!" Cloverpetal followed behind.

"Hello!" Prickleshade smiled, her brother joining her side slowly. "We went ahead and gathered a couple herbs that we could find last night," Cloverpetal explained, more calm than his sister. "It was my sister's idea." Prickleshade held her head high proudly.

"I'm Cloverpetal, by the way. My sister here is Prickleshade." He padded forward slowly, dropping off the bundle of juniper berries he'd found. Prickleshade followed quickly, dropping off a few strands of marigold.

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Sablewish nearly jumped out of his fur when he was unexpectedly approached. He had been so focused on finding Hailstar’s den that he hadn’t seen the two coming towards him. Wide-eyed, he looked at the small bunch herbs at his feet. It wouldnt be very useful for treating greencough or even yellowcough, but he knew he should be appreciative of their hospitality. “Oh- er, thank you.” The tom cleared his throat, looking Cloverpetal up and down and failing miserably at trying to act normal. “Right- uhm, I’m.. Handsomm- I mean Sablewish!” He corrected himself hastily, taking the herbs up in his maw. “Fankyou.” Sable murmured through stems, turning away quickly and padding nearly running into his den out of embarrassment. What an idiot..

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Cloverpetal tilted his head. "He seems anxious." Prickleshade rolled her eyes. "Ok, Mister Obvious. He's in a clan full of strangers. You'd feel the same if you were given to Doeclan out of nowhere."
Cloverpetal nodded. "Yeah, that's true."

"I'm going to check on Sweetpaw and Reedpaw." Prickleshade turned to leave, but Cloverpetal spoke, "It would be good training for them to find some herbs for Sablewish, you know." Prickleshade looked at her brother. "What herbs do you think he would need?"

He flicked his ear. "I could ask him?" He padded to the medicine cat den. "Hey, Sablewish? Is there anything Sweetpaw and Reedpaw could get you? Maybe some prey, herbs?" He scanned the den for a moment, realizing how odd it was not to see Misteyes in here instead. He looked back at Sablewish quickly.

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Sablewish was carefully stuffing the herbs into a rock crevasse, where he assumed the herbs were meant to be sorted into. He flinched upon hearing Cloverpetal enter the den- why couldn’t he just be left alone? He knew they were just trying to be welcoming but.. he had just gotten here. How were two apprentices that weren’t trained to be medicine cats supposed to know what the herbs he needed looked like? “Well.. I wouldn’t want to bother them with that.” He said slowly, shaking out his pelt. “Uhm… I’d rather go with someone who really knows the territory so I can get a mental map of where everything is..”

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Cloverpetal nodded. "Well if that's the case then I could show you around sometime?" His offer was gentle and he kept to the entrance of the den. He didn't want to be overbearing.

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Sagewish hesitated, a little caught off guard by his gentle tone. “That.. would be great, actually.” He gave his ruffled fur a few quick licks, nodding. “Do you think you could show me around camp first, though?”

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He nodded to Sablewish. "That would be great. I'll wait outside the den." Cloverpetal padded out. "He'd rather get shown around the territory before anything. Go ahead and go with regular warrior training," he called. Prickleshade nodded, heading off to the apprentice's den.

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Sablewish took in an airy breath, briskly checking the herb stores once more to see what he needed. “Catmint, borage… hmm.. Tansy? Maybe some lungwort.. hopefully they have that around here.. could use some more cobwebs..” The tom murmured aloud, pawing through the supplies that were already there and making a mental note. Awkwardly, he padded back out of the den, keeping his head low and giving Cloverpetal a curt nod to tell him he was ready.

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Cloverpetal nodded. "Alright. So, I'll show you all of the dens. You've got your den here, of course." He nodded to the medicine cat den, then started to walk over to another. "Right beside yours is the nursery." He poked his head in to see Coldfleck tending to her kits as well as Dusk-kit. "We've got 2 queens right now and 4 kits. Coldfleck and.. Newtjay." He held back any bitterness he had.

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Clearly, Sablewish had picked up on Cloverpetal’s tone when he spoke of Newtjay. He gave the other a look, but decided not to say anything.. really, it wasn’t any of his business, even if he *was* curious. “Right..?”

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Cloverpetal tilted his head, then cleared his throat. "Well, anyways, this is the nursery." He padded off to the next den. "And this is the elder's den."

"Oh, Cloverpetal?" An elderly tom raised his head. Cloverpetal blinked. "Oh, uh, this is my dad, Cricketstrike." He looked at Cricketstrike. "This is our new medicine cat, Sablewish." He flicked his tail for Sablewish to come over.

Cricketstrike purred. "It's kind of you to show them around." He padded over, giving his son a lick on the cheek. Cloverpetal awkwardly flicked his tail.

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Sablewish padded closely behind Cloverpetal, struggling to not let his mind wander. He awkwardly dipped his head to the older tom, trying not to seem uninterested in meeting him.

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