back to stern reality (c)

It had been in the midst of yet another conversation with Poppyshine about the Clan's influx of apprentices when Perchstar had been informed that Hickorypaw had finally woken up. It had been moons, moons ago when the earth shook, causing a tree to fall on the hind legs of her oldest apprentice. Since then, he'd been in and out of a state of delirium, and never had he been lucid when Perchstar had come to see him. That was one of the many things that had caused her swell of guilt towards her failures at mentoring. If she'd been there for him... Perhaps if she'd trained him better... Would he have avoided such injury? Would he have recovered swifter? Upon returning to RiverClan, she had been disappointed, but unsurprised to note that the tom--Mapleleaf's son--was still comatose. She had begun to fear that he would never truly awaken.

But apparently he was up. For how long, Sandyshell was unsure, and his progress of healing had not been much. It would take much time for him to learn to walk again, let alone know if resuming his apprentice duties was even possible. However, Perchstar found herself heading to the medicine den the very moment that her conversation was over. She wanted to see him. She wanted to see how he was doing. He was her apprentice; he was her responsibility. She'd been unable to do anything for him the past few moons. So, if she could do anything now...

She found her way into the medicine den, light blue eyes scanning the nests for the familiar brown tabby pelt. Sure enough, there he was. Curled up in the nest. Same as he had been since the onset of leaf-bare. Except now... his eyes were open. Perchstar stepped forward almost hesitantly, beginning to second-guess herself. What if he didn't want to see her? Perhaps she would just remind him of his predicament and lack of training. However, she took a deep breath and continued. Her face was as neutral as ever as she approached, though her voice was quiet. "Hickorypaw. I heard you were awake. How... how are you doing?"

Hickorypaw's head was pounding. It had been, ever since he had woken up. His back also hurt, but that was no surprise. The tabby tom had zoned out, staring into space, not too keen on moving. (It felt impossible, anyway) He knew someone was at the entrance, but he was far too tired to turn around and see who it was. They spoke to him, making him jump.

"Perchstar..?" He mumbled, lifting his head and staring at his mentor. "Uh... To be honest... I've been better." He stared back at his legs, they still felt limp and unusable. He tried to move them just now, but nothing, nothing happened. Not even his tail would budge. "Legs wont work." He muttered, flicking back his ears.

Perchstar kept herself from wincing at the answer. She wasn't sure what she had been expecting. Waking up after so long, only to be confronted with the stern reality that your hind legs no longer functioned as you were used to... it would be uncomfortable for anyone, to say the least. "...I'm sorry," she murmured, looking away for a moment. She didn't want to make Hickorypaw any more unhappy with his situation than he already was. Still, since she was not only the leader of RiverClan, but his mentor, she couldn't help but blame herself a little bit.

Was there anything she could do?

Her first instinct was to say no, she wasn't a medicine cat. She had no clue what could possibly help Hickorypaw feel any better, let alone fix his legs. If Sandyshell couldn't do it, then who could? But... as she thought, she realized that she did have an idea. It was probably fish-brained, and she had no clue whether it would work. She ought to think about it more before mentioning it. However, she found herself speaking again--out of a desire to help him, and to assuage her own guilt somewhat.

"I know that this will be difficult for you. It's certainly not ideal. However... I have an idea that may help you regain some usage of your legs. It will probably minimize your discomfort, if nothing else." Perchstar looked over, making eye contact with Hickorypaw. It was strange. She had initially refused the idea from Batsong, since the WindClan medicine cat gave her no good reasoning--and given her recent actions, she was glad she'd made that decision. But she'd thought about it since, and it had occurred to her that the broken pools might have some medical use. She would have to speak with Sandyshell about this, but it might work. "The Broken Pools. They have enough water that you can let your hind legs float, without needing to deal with the river's strong current. Exercising your legs in the pools may help them to get some strength back. I-I can't guarantee anything, but... if there's a small chance, would you like to try?"