Thornslash had been feeling things lately, things like lack of strength, fatigue, forgetting what he had been doing. But he didn't want to admit it, not now. Not when things had been happening and Sparrowstar as well as the clan and his love, Brightstar, had counted on him to help deal with the new shadow cats or the loss of food and leafbare. Even now he had ignored some aches in his bones and went out hunting, hoping to find a nice juicy rabbit he could share with Brightstar. He had caught the scent and had been following it but even now it grew weak and he knew it wasn't because the rabbit was far gone.
His nose just... didn't feel right.
He caught sight of white flash and he recognized the hind feet of the rabbit as it took off again and he mustered what he could to go after it. A burst of energy he hadn't felt in years, enough that it almost made him smile, feeling like a kit again. He darted through the bushes on clan ground, keeping hot on the rabbits trail, paws outstretched to catch it when.....
snap!
He felt himself colliding with the ground after catching a paw under a tree root that was just ever so slightly raised off the ground.
He hadn't seen it, and he hadn't felt it until after it was too late. He came to a halt, panting heavily, watching as the rabbit ran off. He tried to get back to his paws when he felt pain shoot through his leg, causing him to stumble back down to the ground. Looking down at his paws he noticed his front left paw was mangled, covered in blood, with something white sticking out of it. Wincing he got to his three paws, but unstable. He fumbled back to the ground again before deciding to just lay there a moment and catch his breath.
"Oh Starclan.....not now....please no. I have to help my clan...." he grunted, shutting his eyes in pain but all he could do was simply lay there and breath through it.
Several hours had passed before he had managed to even limp his way back to camp, frustrated in himself, head low. He couldn't bare to face his clanmates and hobbled to the med cat den in silence. Once there and after Sweetbriar did all she could to tend to his paw, he allowed himself a brief moment to shed tears of disappointment. "I'm sorry... my clan...my leader... my Star. But I may be joining you soon" he mewed softly, resting his head on his one good paw, staring at the bent and wrapped mess that used to be his front left paw.