"Thornpaw... Thornpaw, right?" The elder tom muttered as he limped through the entrance of the medicine cat's den. His mind was far from slipping, clinging onto this surreal life in spite of the circumstances. But Carpsplash wasn't a young warrior either and he possessed a stubborn soul, one which often lead to him skipping out on visiting the medicine cat's den far more than he should. There was an obvious stiffness to his joints that impacted the lop-sided manner in which he padded forward. Pain-riddled eyes slowly drifted up to meet the medicine cat's gaze. Given his own reserved nature when it came to anything intimate, including matters of anguish, Carpsplash hardly made himself vulnerable. This brief flicker as their eyes connected was perhaps the most personally honest thing he had allowed himself to experience in some time.
Normally, the grizzled former warrior would indulge kits and younger cats with his outspoken beliefs and tales of the grand ventures of past Riverclanners. Now, he could to little more than rasp out a hardened plea, "You have herbs or something for pain, right, dear? My old bones don't take to the cold much." He settled back on his tail-less rump with a grunt and a low hiss. Hopefully, she had a cure, or something to ease the pain of his piddling body. How many moons had he lived within the walls of these camp? How many different times had he seen? And yet, the physical inability still managed to pull him down, despite his stubbornness and unyielding will.
But Thornpaw would help to ease it, if only for a moment.
