Learning Herbs
in which duststripe wants to learn things and sandya is not about that
It was the evening time. The sun had just slipped past the horizon, and the rest of the clan had retired. Dawnglow and Marblestar were curled together, nose and tails tangled together as one, and Moonriver was hanging out in their typical spot as Priest of the Sky.
Of course, that meant Duststripe had the evening to herself.
She padded out of the camp, gently, lightly. Every blade of grass was something to worry about. She didn’t want to be followed, after all.
Her pale, fluffy tail trailed through the grass, damp from the rain that had let up just an hour or so before. It didn’t particularly matter to her - she’d just clean up a little bit afterwards, no big deal.
The river might have been a bit of a walk from the camp but Duststripe didn’t particularly mind that either.
After all, Sandya was willing to teach her about herbs. That was quite the wonderful experience. The Lions barely ever deigned to interact with the clan who worshiped them, but Sandya, the sun, was ready and waiting.
Sandya was there and waiting, their blue eyes sparkling in the crescent moon. They smiled, tipping their head to the side invitingly.
“Come on, then,” chirped Sandya, “Let me show you about juniper berries tonight.”
“Juniper berries?” Duststripe paused, knitting her brows together. “Yeah, okay, what’s that about?”
Sandya smiled. “Well, let me show you them first.”
Ugh. Lions. Why are they like that? Why must they be such frustrating individuals?
Despite her frustration with Sandya, Duststripe kept up a smile on her face as they padded down the river side by side.
Sandya made no effort to make conversation, their face contemplative. Duststripe was just fine with that. Attempting to get any sort of information out of Sandya that the tortie point wasn’t willing to give without getting an annoyingly cryptic answer was nigh on impossible.
After some time, Sandya stopped in front of a bush, covered in spiky green leaves and purple berries. They gestured for Duststripe to sit next to them.
“These are juniper berries,” announced Sandya, gesturing towards the purple berries. “How do you think they’re used?”
Duststripe pondered that for a moment. “Probably eaten? I mean, that’s usually how berries work…”
“Yes,” Sandya confirmed. “These berries are used to soothe belly aches and help cats who struggle with breathing.”
“Okay.” Belly aches and breathing. Belly aches and breathing. “How do they do that?”
Sandya shrugged. “I dunno. I know lots of things, but not how herbs work. None of us lions know, really. We’ve tried.”
“Oh, okay.”
“Well, that concludes our lesson for today! Juniper berries cure belly aches and help with breathing and they look like this. See ya!”
And with that, Sandya disappeared back to… well, wherever Star Clan cats and Lions went.
“Jerk,” muttered Duststripe. Well, at least she knew what juniper berries did now.