Meeting the Wilderness || A Smudge AU

iii.

authors note: this isn't my best work at all. it took over a week to pull it together and it's only 1,300 words plus some extra. i've been pulling some writers block along with me and it's packed pretty heavy, i apologize!

edit: updated on 6/15/24! this should make it easier to continue, thank you for sticking with me on smudge's journey!

Smudge rose his head with a large yawn, pushing his forepaws forward into the packed earth and curling his back ever so slightly inward for a stretch.

He let a tired mumble of something escape from his jaws as he blinked the sleep away, opening his eyes more clearly to see Thorn's silhouette before him, the sun perfectly singed the tips of his ears a golden color.

"Morning." It was Thorn who spoke first. "I want to have a chat with you, if you'll allow," he meowed, dipping his head slightly to show respect.

Smudge glanced out of the den just as Thorn pushed his way through the brambles, the sight of the forest sure was something he would never forget. The way the leaves on the trees swayed delicately with the soft, hushed murmurings of the wind, in perfect sync with the other life around it.

His attention snapped back to Thorn in almost a heartbeat as he spoke, "me and the rest of the clowder has decided that you are...rather unfit for a wild life." Smudge saw the tom's gaze rest on his rather large belly for a moment. "We've decided that Slate will be training you to become more like one of us, you can't expect to find that Rusty any time soon if you don't."

"How did you know about that?" Smudge was quite intrigued at how the tom managed to read his mind so easily.

"You were mumbling in your sleep all morning," Thorn let out a mrrow of laughter.

Smudge felt his ears heat up in embarrassment, quickly turning his gaze back to study his paws.

Thorn padded out of the den after nodding an "I'll see you later" to Smudge, whose ears were still rather flushed.

Thinking for a moment about the training part of their conversation, he realized with an inner yowl of irritation that Slate of all cats would be training him! He let a few disappointed grumbles escape his throat at the thought. He'd personally hoped that Tawny could've been his mentor, it would be interesting to find out if maybe they were related by any chance.

Now that his feeling of sleep was well gone by the thought of training under Slate, the black-and-white tom rose to his mitts and padded out of the den.

Smudge narrowed his eyes against the flare of the sun's brightness, catching his fur to make it a shiny golden-brown color.

Seeing as the other cats, Ivy, Tawny, Slate, and Thorn were all gathered in one little clump off to the side, he padded over to say his "hello" to them all.

"Morning, darling," Ivy purred.

"Finally awake!" Tawny exclaimed good-humoredly.

All Smudge got from Slate was a disappointed, intelligible grumble and a thump of his head falling to his paws. Smudge caught sight of Thorn throwing Slate a warning glance before he turned to face Smudge.

"Good morning," hemeowed half-heartedly, a sarcastically enthusiastic tone. "I guess I'll start training you," he mumbled after getting yet another glance from Thorn. "Follow me." Slate beckoned with a flick of his tail as he rose to exit through a small gorse tunnel to a small dip in the ground with a few boulders dotting the miniscule 'moor.'