The badger trudged along at a slow shuffle, almost dragging his paws across the ground as he did so. His body was tired and heavy, and he wanted to do little more than find a safe place to sleep until it was night again, but his mate wasn’t satisfied with their search yet.

She liked this area. It was far enough away from her previous home that they could build a life here together without worry, and so before he was allowed to sleep they needed to select the place where they would dig out their new sett.

He had spent his entire life being bossed around by female badgers who were much crueler than his little mate was, so he was more than happy to cater to her every whim. He wanted little more than to please her and keep her content, even if it meant going without sleep for longer than he would like. She was carrying his cubs, after all, and he needed to make sure they had a place that was safe for them to live and grow. A few sacrifices here and there were nothing to him in the grand scheme of things.

The problem with finding a new place, however, came from the fact that his mate was extremely picky about what she wanted. It had to be a certain distance from the river, it needed to be somewhere near the shelter of the trees, the soil had to have a certain quality to it… He was already looking for hillsides high above the waterline so he didn’t need to worry about the tunnels flooding in the rain, but her extra specific needs were just making it that much more difficult.

If he didn’t adore everything about her then he would have just given up and laid down to take a nap a good long while ago. Though that would probably come with the risk of her finding him and bullying him for a bit until he gave in to her whims, and the last thing he wanted was to cause her any undue stress.

He just needed to focus on the happy result at the end of all of this difficulty, of having cubs that he knew were his, a mate who was only his, and a home where he could live the way he had always wanted to. The payoff was worth all of the trouble. He just needed to remember that.

The badger stopped at the top of a hill, little black eyes closing as he tilted his head into the breeze. The snow had long melted, but the air was still crisp and cold, winter not quite over yet despite the new growth that was beginning to sprout here and there across the land. The wind carried with it the distant smell of smoke from the places where people lived, as well as the musky scent of the animals that they cared for.

The field and small forest that his mate had selected weren’t too far from a farm, but it was still far enough for him to feel safe. He had learned at a young age that farms were actually bad places, despite how appealing they could be. While they looked like they would be perfect for gathering food, with it absolutely everywhere in sight in the form of eggs, birds, and seeds, it was all a trap. The badger who invaded a farm looking for an easy meal often brought back more trouble than it was worth, and could even endanger the whole clan for their stupid mistake.

Farms were to be avoided, but they weren’t bad places to be near if a badger played things smart. A farm meant the land was rich and good, soil that would be teeming with grubs and larva that would be filling for himself and his mate. He could also identify a lot of trees and bushes that would be overflowing with tasty fruits come springtime, and so long as they only ate what fell to the ground they would have no trouble from the farmer. This land would support their family for many generations, which made him rather proud of his mate for deciding to live here.

She was such a good mate to have. Smart, strong, fast… And she had picked him out of all the other males. How lucky he was.

He opened his eyes again, letting out a huff that sent the grass puffing away from his face. It was starting to grow up tall now that the weather had begun to grow warmer. Soon the farmer would lead their sheep into these fields so that they could eat their fill of the sweet early grasses, growing heavy and fat as they did so. It looked on the surface like a good place to build a home, but it would be dangerous if hooves came down through the holes that would be dug out. Not only would injuring a sheep cause the farmer to want to run the badgers off but having their hard work destroyed would also make life difficult.

It wasn’t a good place to dig after all.

The badger turned his attention away from the field, up the hillside towards where bushes and trees grew, quickly sprouting into a small forest. While fields were more appealing to dig in the forest was less likely to have the sheep taken through, and being higher up the hill meant they would be even safer from flooding when the spring and summer rains came.

He huffed again, puffing out air in a grunt as he turned his squat form towards the forest and began to waddle up the hill with slow sure steps. He didn’t know why he was even bothering with searching in this new place as his mate was sure to hate this idea of his. She was so picky about how the dirt felt beneath her paws, after all. He would never call her spoiled, but she did have her moments, and that was one of them. The badger knew that would have better luck if he continued his path around the hill and closer to the river. She was sure to like a spot there better. After all, that was where she had off headed to search on her own.

Still… There was a feeling in his gut that he couldn’t simply ignore. It felt like maybe the forest would be a good place to make their home, better than the field by a long shot. It was almost like a gut instinct, telling him that it was a safe place. The soil had a different sort of feeling that radiated up through his paws and into his chest, and the air somehow felt much more refreshing. It was cleaner somehow, smelling less of smoke and musk, richer with plant life instead. It felt like their life would be better if they lived there, that they would be more well-fed and have less trouble, and he couldn’t just ignore that feeling.

The badger continued to trudge along slowly, trying not to drag his feet too much. He just needed to check this one last place, and then surely his little mate would let him sleep for a while. He couldn’t give up hope that he would get to sleep soon. She had to be getting pretty tired herself by now, right? They were up way past when they should have been asleep, so if he just managed to prove to her that he had been searching then she should be pleased enough to decide to lay down for a bit. Didn’t she need the rest more than he did? They could always start again when the sun had set and they were more awake again, anyway. Badgers just weren’t meant to be awake like this at midday. It was wrong in ways he couldn’t express.

The fresh, thin, grasses fell away to slightly rougher ground that was run through with rocks, and the badger had a sinking feeling in his stomach. The rocky ground would be difficult to dig through, and though it would be good for making sure they weren’t bothered by the farmer and their sheep, the chances of the spot being approved of by his mate seemed to be dropping by the second. Sure, it was mossy and nice here, which meant plenty of tasty bugs for them to snack on, but the badger could already see this going wrong.

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And then he saw it. The perfect spot.

There was a small hole coming up from underneath a tree, where the ground lifted in a rounded mound that made it the absolute perfect place to dig into. The hole was surrounded by thick tree roots, but they were far enough apart that he could easily fit himself inside, and with room at that. The sun seemed to pierce through the trees in a straight beam, falling upon the hole as if leading him to it. There even seemed to be a faint light glowing out from within the hole, ensuring his attention was drawn to it.

He sniffed heavily at the air, searching for the scent of foxes or even other badgers. If it were a fox hole then he could probably run them off without much difficulty, but another badger? There wouldn’t be much he could do in that case, especially if it were a larger clan. If other badgers had made their home here then it meant that he and his mate would need to leave and go elsewhere. It wasn’t a thought he liked in the least bit, so he needed to make absolutely sure that this wasn’t the case.

Despite all of his sniffing about, there was no animal smell near the hole, as if it hadn’t been dug out by anything and had simply appeared there. Natural holes weren’t unheard of, places where rain washed away dirt and left behind empty spaces, though he had never seen one appear on the side of a hill the way this one had. He approached it cautiously, looking around for any signs that something had been there and had dug it out.

No tracks, no prints, no piles of dirt… Looking at it now, the hole was just a bit too small to be dug out by anything but a thin weasel, and yet it was perfectly round. It didn’t seem natural at all, but it also didn’t have the scent of a place that was occupied. Had it long been abandoned then? That could always be possible, though the dirt inside seemed fresh.

There was no smell of snakes or anything else dangerous, and so the badger didn’t hesitate to shove his nose into the hole and give it a deep sniff as he investigated it. It smelled good inside, clean and nice, not like some used home that had been abandoned and discarded. There was only the scent of rich soil and fresh air. If the badger had to assign a word to the scent then that word would be home.

He put his claws to work digging at the entrance of the hole, pulling out the dirt with his front legs and pushing it back beneath himself, kicking it away with his back legs. He was curious about how deep the hole went in on its own. If it were at least the length of one badger already then he was sure that he would be able to somehow convince his mate that it was a good place to dig their own sett.

Once she smelled how nice it was here and felt how calming the air was there was no way that she could turn down this place, right?

It didn’t take much effort to widen the entrance of the hole. The soil was good here, and the roots of the tree fell in an arch around the opening without getting in the way. If any people ever found their home then they wouldn’t be able to make the entrance much wider to try to get to them, though it wouldn’t be their only entrance once they settled in and were able to really expand it out to the size they wanted.

He continued to dig down, following the slope of the hole as it went back into the hillside. Aside from needing to make it closer to badger size, it seemed absolutely perfect to him so far. The hole came out of the side of a higher mound so water wouldn’t flood down into it, the soil wasn’t as rocky as the ground further down had been, and the way it angled down and back was just the right slope for cubs when they were old enough to leave the sett.

The badger, filled with excitement from his discovery that gave him a burst of energy, continued to dig out and expand the hole as he followed it down and into the earth. He was looking forward to showing this hole to his mate now. She would love it, he was sure of that fact. She would love it, and he would get to sleep because he had found it for her. There would be a lot of digging later on of course, but that would only come after rest and food.

He could see the end of the tunnel now, and his body was already fully inside the ground. He gave his short tail a quick swish, ensuring that the whole of himself was safely inside the earth, and once he was positive that it was he gave a proud sounding huff. The hole really had been perfect, and now that he had expanded it he had a good feeling that it would be approved of by his mate. There wouldn’t be much more work to do before they could make a chamber for her to sleep and have their cubs in when the time came, and if the dirt was this good all the way through the hill then they could easily expand the sett when needed.

While he was thinking of a future where he had a happy mate and a large family, the badger’s claws hit something that decidedly wasn’t soil, and nor was it a tree root or a rock. It gave a sharp sound when hit, like he had banged his claws against a piece of metal, and something shocking went through his body. It felt almost as if he had slipped and plunged into an icy river.

The badger spluttered out offended growls and hisses as he retreated back a few inches, ready to fight and defend himself against whatever it was that had attacked him. When nothing moved or made noise back, however, he ventured forward to snuffle at the ground and try to figure out what had happened.

There was a stone. A small, bright red, round little stone sitting where he had just been digging. He touched his nose to it carefully and his body was once again filled with that odd sensation. It was a surprising feeling, leaving him stiffening up, but it wasn’t painful at all. Cold, yes, but there was no pain behind it.

Still, he had no patience for small strange rocks that made him feel weird. Huffing with annoyance he gave the thing a swat, intending to knock it back up behind him and out of the tunnel. Instead, however, the rock somehow managed to wedge itself behind a piece of thick tree root, staying perfectly in place as if it had always belonged there.

He pawed at it some more, but it refused to budge, and he couldn’t even touch it now that it was between the dirt wall and the tangle of roots. If he didn’t know it was there already then he wouldn’t even be able to tell where it was, there was just the slightest red shine in the darkness as faint light touched it. At least whatever danger it posed seemed to be gone now that the thing was behind the roots.

The badger bent his head, sniffing at the stone once more, finding to his surprise that it was the source of the good smell. The air that came off of the stone was clean and pure. It was a little strange that a rock could smell so nice, but it hadn’t really hurt him to begin with, so maybe he had overreacted? The badger wasn’t really too sure, but it didn’t feel like it meant him any harm. Wasn’t a rock that made the air smell fresh and clear a nice thing to have in their home? He was sure that his mate would agree with him.

Now that he had dug the place out nicely enough to show it off to her, the badger supposed it was time to go and search for his mate. She had headed away from the farm and toward the river earlier, so she likely was still in that area. He just knew she would love this place he had picked out, and he was sure she would be amused by his weird little find.

His mate might have been a demanding sort, maybe a bit grumpy, but she wasn’t cruel or foul-tempered at all. So long as he had something interesting to show her, there was no way that she wouldn’t be pleased with him.

Feeling fairly content and proud of himself the badger huffed softly and left the tunnel to go fetch his mate. He had found the place they would call home.