''In which the badger and bats are cute''

”In which the badger shows kindness and the bats is confused.”
TheClansoftheValley
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Badgerscar's large form was stretched out on the ground, the tom snoozing the day away. He was near ThornClan's water supply, amongst a small, rare patch of lilies. That light snore cut short as a trouble grunt emitted behind his clenching fangs. After a few heartbeats, he flinched and growled. The muscles in his legs twitched as if he were moving, his pink nose pushed out anxious, noisy breaths, and his teeth seethed with grunts of pain. It continued like this until the tom jolted awake, releasing a gasp and turning on his belly. He let out a few heavy breaths, then shook his head, wanting to forget about that dream.

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Batshimmer who had been hunting nearby came back to the spot where the tom was laying and dropped several small mice next to him. “If you’re just going to sit there and not actually do any of the hunting we were sent out here to do then at least sit here and guard the prey.” She mewed curtly as she turned and drank from the stream. Although she wasn’t directly facing him she still was looking in his direction. She had seem him jerk awake from something that reminded her of the nightmares she use to have after her parent’s deaths. That made her shiver and she sat back on her haunches looking at the massive cat. “Are you all right?” She finally asked.

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A wide yawn slipped past his maw, tired yet hesitant to go back to sleep. His cobalt eyes slowly drew to the group of mice that Batshimmer dropped next to him. "Yeah, yeah," he muttered, as if not at all serious about guarding the prey. At least, it didn't require him to move. He lowered his head and took a sniff at the dead mice, then he felt his mouth begin to water. He made a little glance toward Batshimmer before he took a small bite out of one, tantalizing his taste buds. He reached for more but stopped at the question. "I'm fine," he said in indifference. His jaws scooped the mouse he bit out of into his mouth, chewing the tender meat..

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With a frown the much smaller shecat stomped over to the tom, eyes narrowed. “If you eat that you’d better go catch another one for the clan.” She growled, burying the other mice to protect them from the other warrior. Batshimmer’s eyes, though suspicious, still held a snippet of worry in them. She could recognize a nightmare, why would he say it was nothing. A sigh and a groan of frustration later and the shecat was back at the water, this time getting her paws wet in the river and then grooming her dust fur. “Why don’t you ever talk about things with anyone?” She asked quietly, focusing on getting every inch of herself clean and orderly.  

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Ears came down against his cranium at her growled words. He figured he'd hear something like this from merely having a little snack. The tom only stared out into the distance as he ate, eventually spitting out its bones. Badgerscar didn't even bother to wipe clean the blood that dripped onto his white muzzle. He hoped of quietly getting away with not having to replace the mouse as he watched with a pout of the others getting buried. An exasperated sigh slipped past as he rose to his feet. "I'm going to get that mouse," he informed before sauntering away. He'd willingly go hunting if it meant getting away from this topic. "Besides, why do you care? You're not my best friend. I don't have a best friend," he said over his shoulder..

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The female rolled her eyes at him from her spot and shook her head at the disgusting lack of self hygiene. “Everyone needs a friend they can talk to.” She mewed back at him as he stood and began walking away. Pulling a paw over her ear to get the dust back there she turned to watch him. “If we don’t have someone we can turn to we’ll eventually just burst under all of that stress and emotion you keep bottled up.” She added, fluffing her clean spotless fur out against the chill as her small paws made soft padded nosies as she trotted after the heavyset tom, her long tail trailing after her like a fish through the water. She wasn’t going to just leave the lazy warrior and trust that he had in fact hunted for the clan so she would just have to make sure and follow him.

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Perfect. She was following him. As if things couldn't get any worse while she prattled on about something stupid as needing friends. "I don't need a friend," he meowed, cold cobalt irises sliding towards the little feline. Feeling an itch, he stopped in his tracks, raised a hind leg, and scratched at the legnth of his neck. After, he shook his pelt and continued walking, while rolling his eyes at her silly way of thinking. "I don't have any stress or emotion bottled up," he said quietly, looking a head indifferently. He raised his head and parted his jaws to drink in the air. He couldn't get a scent of any sort of prey around here, so he dropped his head. "Even if I did, I think I can manage," he added, looking off to the side..

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Batshimmer shook her head in disbelief and had to do a little jump skip to get out of range as the tom scratched at his nasty fur. She frowned at that, the dirty tom probably had fleas or mange. The thought made her shiver and she had to force herself to take a breath before catching up to him. “Oh and having nightmares means you don’t have anything bottled up or that you are obviously handling it well.” She mewed, quietly and sarcastically. She frowned at the tom she followed and couldn’t help but look him over as they walked, her small paws twitching at the cold ground every time she took a step and her claws retracted and slid into the ground with every paw step. Badgerscar was large yes and broad shouldered but his fur was dirty, greasy, unkempt, and looked as though it was part of a dead animal that she had pulled out of the river after a particularly dreadful flood. Couldn’t he do something about that? It was distracting and Batshimmer was almost one hundred percent sure the smell alone would drive off any prey.

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Badgerscar came to a stop at her next words, taken a little by surprise. She saw that. He feigned his surprise by sniffing the air, pretending he was looking a scent to hunt for. After a while, he let out an audible sigh, growing increasingly agreveated by her constant pestering. Didn't she know when to drop something? After a long silence, he grumbled, "I don't know what you're talking about." The dark furred tom was taken quite aback when he actually caught a scent of prey. He quickly slunk away from the little annoying furball pest, Batshimmer. As he skirted out of smell and hearing range, he noted that it was an arian prey. A taboo prey, but it was better than nothing. He lowered to a crouch, stalking behind a thorny bush. He waited until its back was turned before he darted out and clamped his jaws around its small body, killing it off swiftly..

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Batshimmer came bounding over to him after burying the prey he just left there for any other predator to see. But she hung her mouth open and a gasp slipped through at the bird in Badgerscar’s mouth. Her heart nearly stopped, and later that would confuse her. When she thought about why she was so scared that they most annoying tom in the clan might have caught a sick bird she wouldn’t understand. But in the heat of the moment she was shocked and scared, her perfect pristine fur spiked up at the bird. “Spit it out!” She screeched, not caring if she scared him. “You’ll die!”

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Badgerscar whipped his head over to the sound of Batshimmer's screeching. His cobalt hues widened in shock at her sudden reaction. Why did she care if he died or not? It confused him. "You don't have to assume every bird is posionous," he meowed nonchalantly through the feathered body. He dropped the bird only to use his fangs to scratch at an itch on his shoulder. "I've already eaten a few, and I'm perfectly fine," he added, dropping to the ground. He rolled onto his back to soothe an itch that had developed in a place he couldn't reach. Back on to his stomach, he pushed the bird toward Batshimmer. "Try for yourself," he said, turning his head away to space out. "I'm done hunting," he announced a few heartbeats later, lowering his head on his paws and closing his eyes..

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Realizing she felt more angry then anything she glared at him before grabbing the bird and throwing it as far away as she could. “That’s so dangerous.” She snapped, lashing her tail. “You’re playing with fire here.” She looked unsettled and felt ruffled. Could this tom really have so little respect for his own life that wouldn’t care if he died? Surely there were cats who would miss him. She felt a pang in her chest, w-would she miss him? She shook her head. “You’re going to get burned.” It was just a cold quiet sentence. She told herself she would miss him because he was a clan mate. An annoying clan mate but still a clan mate so of course she would miss him. But she didn’t really believe that. “Why do you want to die so badly?” She growled, still quiet but also angry as she stalked after him.

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Eyes snapping open, he turned his attention back on her and watch the bird go flying through the air. His ears twitched in annoyance. He went through all the trouble to catch that, and she just tossed it away like crowfood? How annoying. He didn't care to listen to metaphors, never taking a glance her way. The large tom's gaze made its way back to her after she growled her inquiry. He remained silent for a long time, unsure of how to answer the question. He never really thought about it too much. "I don't know," he said quietly, looking away. "It doesn't really matter, does it, whether I'm dead or alive? There's no one to miss me, and the lot would be glad to have me gone, I bet." There truly was no one to miss him. All of his family was gone, each one dying before his very eyes..

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Batshimmer’s tail dropped but her neck fur spiked up in anger. She grit her test and her ears flattened. “Oh and you think you’re the only one without family here? The only one who wouldn’t be missed because you’re just another member of Thornclan?” She hissed, stepping towards him angrily. Did he really think that? She had lost her family too. She was also alone but she would never endanger her own life or the lives of others like that. She bared her teeth at him but looked away, at the ground. How could he just sit there and act like dying and leaving everyone was no big deal. She could almost feel the tears welling in her eyes, an annoying feat that always happened when she was angry. “…I would miss you.” She muttered, digging her claws into the ground. “The clan would miss you.” She added hastily after she realized what she said.

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Badgerscar remained silent throughout her angry rant, having nothing to say. A weird feeling stirred inside of him, something like guilt. He never knew she was sensitive to this sort of topic, but most cats would probably. He let out a huge exhale, regretting having said anything now. Then his entire body went rigid at her next words. She would...miss him? It felt weird to hear that, when he knew it to be a fact that no one really liked him because of his bad attitude. He slowly turned his head back to Batshimmer and picked himself up off the ground. He took a step toward her and gingerly licked at the area under her eye. "Thanks...I guess," he muttered as he took a step back and looked away. He felt a little embarressed now because of what he did..

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Batshimmer was more then surprised at his actions. First an apology and then his caring gesture. She was shocked. And a blush sprung up on her face at the gesture. Why would he do that? Why was he being anything but a fox’s rear end? That’s what Badgerscar did, he was rude and ignored everyone. Always. This random kind side threw Batshimmer. She didn’t know what to do. Blinking a few times her eyes followed his large frame, mouth slightly open. Her blush spread to her neck and ears and she didn’t know what to say exactly. “Uh… Yeah. S-sure.” She mewed looking around, trying to clear her thoughts. “M-maybe we should get back to the clan…” She mewed looking away.

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"Yeah," he muttered, wanting to get away from this awkwardness between them. "I'll be back," the badger-looking tom said before darting off back to the place were the other mice were left. He dug them up and grabbed them, able to carry all of them with his large jaws. Then, he turned and loped back to Batshimmer, not even looking at her. "Come on, Bigears," he growled through the mice, feigning a grumpy tone that most were familiar with him having..

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-End-