He shook his head in response, giving a slight tilt of the head while keeping pace with the she-cat. "I haven't. I don't really wonder too close to the two-leg place. Some of them are a little grabby." He visibly shuddered, remembering the time a two-leg kit had tried to grab his tail, his fur prickling at the memory. He shook his fur, whiskers twitching as he huffed. He noticed she was now sniffing the ground, his ears pinning back. "What does it smell like? I could try and help you more that way."

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Trying to think of a way to explain it, she said, "It's a strong scent, but you'll want to chew it when you smell it and it will make your mouth water." Digging through some dead leaves on the ground, she followed her nose until she found a little sheltered patch. "Aha! Here's some," she purred and looked to make sure that it was all healthy, "Catmint can treat the most deadly colds in leafbare."

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Echopaw slowly nodded, squinting his eyes slightly as he lowered his head to try and sniff out the plant. He briefly caught a whiff of it, tail swishing behind him. He began to follow the scent, drifting away from the medicine cat and finding another patch farther ahead.
He took a moment to study it, temptation riddled in his eyes as the scent began to capture his senses. He lowered his head, nibbling on a leaf of the plant, a soft purr escaping him. It took him a few moments before realizing what he had been doing and quickly let go, biting down on a stem and yanking, trying to grab as much as he could. His gathering skills were.. sub par.

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Having a mouthful of the plant, Cloverspot had trotted after where Echopaw had gone as she put down her herbs. "Stop that," she scolded lightly and pushed some he was tugging up back down with a paw, "You're ripping it to shreds. If you gather herbs, do it like this." Lowering her head, she neatly nipped a few stems and added them to her pile so that the roots were still intact.

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His ears turned back towards the she-cat before dropping the catmint, his tongue swiping around his muzzle as his eyes landed on Cloverspot. He carefully watched as she gathered the herbs, slowly tilting his head before humming. "Ah~ I'll keep that in mind next time we go herb collecting." He winked at her before stepping forward, nipping at the stems before lifting them, biting into it.

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"Be gentle with it," she continued, hating seeing him bruising the herbs, "We need to leave part of the patch anyway so that it can grow again, we don't need to kill all of it." This cat was making her anxious. He was trying to help, but the tom was seriously making the hair on her back stand on end.

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He noticed how carefully she was watching him now, ears turning back for a moment. "Er- I'm not helping much, am I?" He said nervously with a half smile, tail curling low to the ground. "Should I hold them a certain way or-?" He slowly set down the plants he was holding onto, whiskers twitching.

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"Your can carry them in your mouth if you won't chew on them, but don't bite at all, like this," she mewed. Lowering her head to pick up the herbs again, she gently took them into her mouth, but her mouth was still a tiny bit open. If he wanted to come she would make Echopaw helpful, but he was acting like a newly apprenticed kit.

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Echopaw slowly picked up the bundle of herbs as she showed, leaving his mouth partially open and just barely clamping his teeth down on the leaves. He could tell she was somewhat irritated with him, making him shift a little uncomfortably. "I think I got it now. What else do you need to collect?" He said, glancing around with perked ears. He would be a little more attentive now. He needed to make a good impression with the clan, or else they'd chase him out with no remorse- at least, that's what he imagined.

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"Just these for now," she told him and started trotting back to the camp. She could go out later to look for a few other herbs that she wanted, but the catmint was her biggest priority. Getting closer to the camp, she entered and led the way to the medicine cat den.

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Echo remained quiet on the way back, only occasionally parting his jaws to speak, then closing them when he reasoned that it might be best if he kept silent.

When they returned to camp, he dropped the herbs near the entrance before slinking off again in search of his mentor. Going on a patrol seemed like a good idea to get rid of his shakiness, and maybe he could catch something for the medicine cat as thanks for putting up with him.

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When he left, Cloverspot put some of the fresh herbs away and tried turning set some of them out in the sun to dry. With them spread on the ground, she laid down to make sure that no kits or other curious cars got into the delectable smelling herbs. Stretching, she half closed her eyes in the sunlight and purred as her spotted fur warmed.

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Echopaw approached the warriors den, poking his head in with ears turned back, peering inside the dimly lit space. "Frogeye?" He asked, tail swishing behind him. He was about to take another step inside when the husky, rough voice of the dark brown tom with a duller, lighter brown underpelt and dark stripes reached his ears from behind, able to feel the swampy green gaze peering into the back of his head.
"Yes, Echopaw?" the tom said, an eyebrow arching with curiosity. "You smell of..." He leaned down to sniff the other tom's pelt. "Catmint..? Visit the medicine cat den today?"
Echo stiffened at the voice and turned to face him, having to only slightly tilt his head up. "Er- Yes, yeah, that I did. Hey- I was wondering if we could go on a hunting patrol? I'm kind of hungry- and I figured, it would be a good idea to get prey?" Echopaw was speaking as if he was questioning himself, however Frogeye only nodded.
"...Perhaps. We can patrol the boarder while we're doing it." He turned from his apprentice, tail sweeping behind him as he led the slightly shorter tom. Echopaw trotted behind him, glancing over at Cloverspot as she rested in the sunlight, ears turning back as the light shimmered against her calico pelt.

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Hearing a few kits playing nearby, Cloverspot stood and stretched, arching her back and looking at the herbs before she padded to the three little kits playing together. She thought that it was best to go ahead and play with them rather than wait for them to ruin her herbs. The she-cat did get along well with them though and even let them take her, covering her until only her ginger tipped tail was visible.

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((I had almost forgotten about this roleplay... Are you still interested in maybe reviving it?))

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