stiff possibilities ❖ closed

Duckpuddle's splint had been off for a while. Well, not a long while, but it had still been off for a decent amount of days. The lack of strength in her back leg that had been broken annoyed the brown warrior to death, and she had no idea how she was supposed to get it back to normal again. She had been walking around camp, trying to do patrols, and participating in normal duties, but the strength hadn't come back in a natural way. Duckpuddle supposed that if shew as going to get the strength back, she was either going to have to wait for a long time, or do something in order to speed up the process. What could she do, though? The she-cat had her typical calm expression on her face as she awkwardly padded out of the warriors' den and winced every time she placed her back leg on the ground. It didn't hurt at all, it just felt extremely uncomfortable and slowed her down. The she-cat made a slow and steady beeline for the fresh-kill pile, and once she reached it, she sat down beside it. She was a warrior, she could think of a way... right?

Spotpaw hadn't exactly had the best life. He knew that many cats thought he was a traitor, that much was obvious, but Duckpuddle was pretty iffy-iffy. She just seemed so... stoical. This was odd since she still had a limp. Before considering how rude he might seem, he padded over to the fresh-kill pile and tilted his head, trying to seem like the innocent apprentice that almost nobody thought he was. "D- Duckpuddle, does your leg still hurt? It- I noticed you still h- have a limp..." Suddenly he was lost for words. "I- I mean, are you sure your leg healed? N- not that G- Cloudstone and Goldenpaw weren't doing their jobs right, b- but... um... It just looks like you still have trouble..." Nothing seemed to come out right! He hoped Duckpuddle was in a good mood.

Duckpuddle lifted her sharp green gaze up so that she could meet Spotpaw's eyes. the she-cat knew that most RiverClan cats considered the apprentice to be a traitor, or they were on his side. Of course, the brown warrior didn't look at the apprentice to see a traitor, she looked at the apprentice and saw a tom with an opinion. She didn't agree with how cats were treating him, but she wasn't going to stand up and shout it out loud. The last thing Duckpuddle wanted to happen was for her to be grouped with the "traitors" in the Clan. The young warrior silently listened as Spotpaw began to stutter through his words, but she couldn't help but feel a bit confused. She didn't know him very well, but this didn't seem like the Spotpaw that she had been able to get a glimpse of before.
"Oh, no, my leg doesn't hurt, it's just weak. If it was still broken, it would hurt when I put weight on it," She then paused for about a heartbeat, "You seem awfully nervous, I'm not going to claw your face off or anything."

OOC: what no I'm not nervous what are you talking about I'm never nervous

IC: Spotpaw blinked, startled that she thought he was nervous. Well, he kind of was. But he wasn't about to admit that. "Oh... Na- No, I just can't so- seem to talk today. But um...
Shouldn't it be as strong as all of the other... legs... by now?"

Duckpuddle raised an invisible brow in confusion, but after another heartbeat, she shrugged it off. Obviously, Spotpaw wasn't going to admit anything, and the she-cat wasn't in the mood to try and drag any truths out of the tom. Her long brown tail wrapped itself tightly around her paws as she began to speak again.
"I thought it would be... maybe it'll be back to normal by the next moon. I thought that walking around with it would set it right, again, but I guess I was wrong."

Spotpaw decided to venture farther, feeling a little more brave with his talking. "What if walking isn't enough? Like, maybe walking doesn't exercise it enough? Swimming is hard, against the current at least. What if you swam in the river to exercise it? I mean, you don't have to, it's just a suggestion..." Guess I really wasn't lying when I said I couldn't talk today.

Duckpuddle's brown ears perked up with sudden interest after Spotpaw gave his suggestion. That was actually a good idea. The she-cat slowly nodded as she took the idea into consideration. It's not like she had to learn how to swim from scratch, she was a RiverClan cat, after all. The brown warrior put on a small, soft smile.
"That's actually a good idea, Spotpaw," The she-cat said, "I'm sure my leg will go back to normal after a few sessions. I'll just have to watch out for ThunderClan, considering that the river is a border..."
The last thing the she-cat wanted was for an unnecessary skirmish to happen with ThunderClan, and considering that her leg was weak, she wouldn't be able to fight that well.

Spotpaw flicked an ear, almost playfully- odd, since he had been quite sad and reserved. "Actually? That implies that none of my other ideas are good. And, I doubt Thunderclan has the guts to fight you. They don't need to swim in the water, do they?"

Duckpuddle's ears immediately flattened against her head and she felt heat begin to flood her entire face.
"O-oh, no, I didn't mean that you didn't have any good ideas... you do, I just- uh-" The warrior then paused and widened her eyes. Now, she was the one who seemed to be acting nervous and tripping over her words. She had no clue what had just happened to her. Trying to let that trip-up roll off of her shoulders, the she-cat let herself return to her calm demeanor.
"I suppose not, but ThunderClan and RiverClan aren't exactly best friends right now. I have no doubt that if one of them caught me swimming in the river, they'd want to claw my ears off. I'm pretty sure I'd be able to handle myself, though. I don't think that ThunderClan would want to get their pelts wet just so that they can attack me."