Little Old Ladies

Mosspelt padded into the elder's den, carefully carrying the prey she was bringing to Ferretnose and Dustcloud. She had carefully selected their favorites from the pile, selecting a small but plump vole for herself. Placing a shrew down in front on Dustcloud, and a tiny squirrel down in front of Ferretnose in turn, she then settled between them, yawning before turning her attention to the vole. After a couple tiny nibbles, the calico raised her head and looked to her two companions. Her tail shifted behind her as she regarded the two she-cats, both of whom she had seen and been through so much with. She sighed, shaking her head slightly. "Did you two ever think we'd be here together like this someday?" She mused out loud, not fully expecting an answer. "After Pricklebush, and so many others, I never truly thought I'd see the day I retired. Now that day is moons ago, and I feel like everything has changed." The vole still lay at her paws, almost forgotten.

Ferretnose blinked dully at the squirrel in front of her, squinting. She was trying very hard to make out the wrinkles in its skin, or the details of its face. The adjustment to her already uneven eyesight deteriorating was more difficult than it had been with her first eye. In her youth, it made her feel fragile and flighty. Now, it was just... unnerving. She worried that she might forget what her clanmates looked like, or that her memory may follow suit as it blurred into obscurity. Who would tell all her stories, if she could not even remember them? Now, more than ever, she ran through significant moment in her mind. She wrapped herself around the memories defensively, etching the tiniest characteristics into her head: the roaring of water underneath her, sweeping her loved ones downstream, the smell of ShadowClan breath hot on her neck, Ridgelight's tail disappearing into a rainstorm, Marsh becoming Oak...

Things got foggier around the edges, like a vignette. Ferretnose slow bit into her squirrel, lips curling up at the pleasant flavor. Her eyes flickered up at Mossbloom's musing, and the elder silently hoped that even if she couldn't see much of anything some day, she would still be able to make out the splotches on the former medicine cat's face. "Yes, look at you now," she teased. "Apprentices waiting on you mouth and paw!"

The she-cat broke out in a loud giggle, recognizing the absurdity of elderhood. As a young cat, she would have gawked at the thought of ever letting any cat take care of her. Having someone hunt for her? Change her bedding? Now, she saw the value of it, with arthritis and loss of sight hot on her heels. It was nice to feel... tended to. Appreciated. Loved. She was sure Beartooth and Harefoot were hollering at her from StarClan for only accepting that kind of treatment after they could no longer participate. "I'm beginning to feel like I've overstayed my welcome," she joked. "I'm a relic from another time. Everything zips by without us... But, now that I think of it? It's nice, I think. We have the privilege of being uninvested, and being able to slow down. When you're a warrior, or a medicine cat, or a queen, you don't have that privilege. There's so much to worry about."

Ferretnose gazed off into the distance. "Pain feels less painful, too. I grieve less."