It was a chilly night, still sharp with the bite of winter air, causing each breath to hang in clouds as they left the badger's mouth in huffs and puffs.

Her claws bit and dug into the soil, pulling the grass out by its roots along with whole chunks of earth. She made wet smacking sounds with her mouth as she rummaged through the freshly turned dirt, snapping up the slippery and tasty earthworms that writhed about in the confusion of suddenly finding themselves above ground. The land was soft and fertile here at the bottom of the hill, rich with worms that were coming to the surface as the weather warmed. It was practically a feast, and she planned on stuffing herself full.

Her mate watched as she grumbled and growled, pawing at the ground to find more worms to eat, snorting and sucking as she slurped them up when she found them. She was a particularly noisy eater, and as he gazed at her he let out a long and heavy sigh, not budging the slightest bit from where he was. He simply stood there, staring at her, his beady little black eyes fixated as she continued to make wet noises with her mouth.

It was pretty annoying to her, but she wasn’t going to stop what she was doing to run him off. He would tire of it eventually, he always did. Until then, she would just have to deal with the odd habit of his. It seemed to her as if the male just liked knowing that she was getting her fill, and she could understand the worry. She was carrying his cubs in her stomach, after all. Why wouldn’t he be concerned about what she ate?

After another heavy sigh, his thoughts a complete mystery to her, he finally turned to shuffle away. Only then did she pause to look up at him, watching the way he waddled as he disappeared through the taller grass. He might have had some odd habits, but she couldn’t think of anyone better to have picked as her mate. He was sturdy, powerful, reliable, devoted… All the things that she had been looking for in a mate. She considered it lucky that another badger hadn’t claimed him already.

Fondness filled her chest as she looked at the other badger, black eyes following him until he disappeared from sight. They would have a good life here, far from any other badger clan, in their strange little sett that he had chosen for them.

She looked up towards the hill, though with the moon setting behind the trees she couldn’t really see anything. The moonlight had left the entirety of the forest as a black silhouette, branches looking like gnarled claws as they stretched towards the stars.

Somewhere beneath that tangle of wood was the hole that her mate had found, a strange place where the air smelled as fresh and sweet as a spring morning and loose dirt from digging simply disappeared before they could clean it up. When she had entered it for the first time the badger had found herself a bit put off by its strangeness, but when she came back later to revisit and see how the dirt felt beneath her paws her impression of the burrow had changed.

It had felt warm inside somehow, as if she were coming back home to sleep after a long night. She had felt sheltered and protected, safe. Though she liked to think of herself as a very tough badger who didn’t need to be protected from anything, she had found she liked the feeling. Surely her cubs would be just as safe in such a place when they were born.

As reluctant as she was to admit it, her mate had picked out the perfect place for them. She made sure to praise him a lot when she tracked him back down, curled beneath a tree that had dropped plenty of nuts for them to eat. Of course, that praise had only come after she grumbled at him until he woke back up and she had eaten a good amount of the nuts. It wouldn’t do to spoil him too much with affection, or he might just turn lazy on her.

Being a badger, she had spent plenty of time beneath the earth in various tunnels and burrows, in different setts all across the territory that her clan had claimed, and not a single one had the same presence theirs had. It felt lucky somehow, fortuitous. They had traveled far to this strange land, not knowing what they would find when they got there, and despite all odds they had managed to find home on the very first try.

Letting out a heavy puff of breath she sank to the ground, stretching out her limbs as she began to roll herself in the freshly tilled earth. The soil sank through her fur and to her skin, and she grunted and squeaked with pleasure as she squirmed about and scratched her back against the ground. There was nothing better in the world than being able to just relax and enjoy a nice roll about in the dirt.

Surely no creature in the world enjoyed such luxury and decadence as she did, covered in dirt and wriggling bout in the grass. She snorted her joy to the world, almost daring another creature to interrupt her.

As soon as the badger was satisfied with all of her rolling she got up, shaking out her stout and muscular body to get all of the earth out of her fur. The result was that she was actually cleaner than she had been before, and she had the delightfully rich scent of soil clinging to her now as well.

Feeling refreshed and in a much better mood than she had been at the start, she began to waddle off in the direction her mate had gone. It was a bit odd that he had wandered closer to the farm the way he had. Farms weren’t places smart badgers just went to, not without staking the place out first to make sure they would be safe.

If their luck held out, then the farm they were near would be a place where they could eat fallen fruit and scraps, indulge in insects that attacked the plants when they grew high, and maybe even steal the occasional egg or two. Not too many, of course. If too many eggs went missing all at once then they risked exposing themselves. It was better to only take such things when their other food sources were low.

Maybe that was why her mate had gone then? To investigate and ensure the farm could be a source of help rather than harm? It didn’t seem like the kind of thing he would do, he wasn’t the smartest badger out there and it never seemed to her as if he thought much beyond what she told him to do, but it was always possible that his worrying about her would cause a rogue idea to form. He seemed to spend an awful lot of his time thinking about her, after all.

Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

So she followed her keen nose to track his trail through the grass, though on the way she came across another scent and a different trail. Something much smaller than he was had been making its way through the grass as well, leaving a tuft of soft fur caught in the twigs of a bush that still had bright red fruit clinging to it.

Ah, so that was it. Her mate hadn’t gone to look at the farm, he had caught the scent of a rabbit and had gone to track down its burrow.

The badger smacked her tongue against the roof of her mouth, drool beginning to pool as she thought about how delicious it would be. Now she had even more reason to want to track her mate down. He might have dug up something even better than worms to eat, and there was no way he would deny her food if she insisted.

She hurried off at a faster pace, grunting as she did so, her paws almost appearing to skip along the ground as she bounded in the direction that he had gone. Between her speed and the fact he hadn’t gone far at all, it didn’t take her too long to catch up with him.

She found him up to his neck in the soil, furiously digging as he went after the rabbit. Dirt was flying out from around him and the badger found herself stomping her paws in excitement, snorting with pleasure. Her happiness only grew as he emerged from the ground, his jaws clamped tightly around his prey, the brown lump hanging loosely from his mouth as he turned his head to face her.

He seemed to be a bit surprised to see her, but she ignored all of that as she moved closer, using her teeth to carefully groom a bit of blood from his shoulder. He stayed perfectly still as she did so, though his body was tensed and poised, almost as if he were trying to seem larger than he was. His fur wasn’t raised in an aggressive display, however, so she could only assume he was proud of his catch.

When she finished and moved away he dropped the rabbit, presenting it to her with a puffing sound, letting out a series of squeaks after. She didn’t hesitate to accept his invitation, tearing into the soft belly of the rabbit so that she could eat all of her favourite bits. He could have whatever she didn’t want, and with her belly mostly full of earthworms she was really only going after the parts she liked.

While she ate he circled around her, apparently looking her over to make sure she was still in the same condition she had been in when they had parted ways not that long ago. The way he was protective and always looking after her was something she liked about him, and so she didn’t bother with trying to run him off.

When he finished his circling he came back around her, bumping his tail against her own to mix their scents together once more. There would be no mistaking them as anything but a family if another badger were to somehow come across them, and though it was a bit irritating to be disturbed while she ate, the badger didn’t bother to scold her mate. She was the one who had gone and cleaned herself, after all.

It didn’t take long before she had finished her meal, and while her mate moved in to eat whatever she left behind, the badger trudged closer to the tree that the rabbit burrow had been dug near. A few fruits lay around the roots, having frozen on the branches during the dead of winter and fallen to the ground when they thawed. They were wrinkly and ugly, near to rotting, but they had a sweet scent to them that was attractive.

The remains of a thorn bush encircled the base of the tree, making it difficult to get to the fruits, but she stubbornly jammed her head into the space all the same. The was a sharp pain along her nose and beneath one eye as thorns scratched her skin, along with a stabbing sensation in one ear, but she persisted until she could reach the fruit. She used her nose to roll a few towards her, and then with a scooping motion she tucked them beneath her chin.

Shuffling carefully, the squishy fruit threatening to roll free, she made her way back to where her mate was only just beginning to finish eating. With a proud huff she lifted her head high, releasing the fruits right onto his head, sending him reeling backward and squeaking with surprise at the sudden assault.

Managing to look remarkably proud of herself, the badger plopped herself down and began to slowly eat one, waiting while her mate snorted and grumbled until finally catching on that she was sharing her prize. He made even more squeaks and chittering noises, moving closer to her once more so that he could join her in eating the spoiled fruit.

Between all the worms, the rabbit, and the fruit, it seemed as if the badgers had managed to have themselves quite the feast on their first night in their new territory. If either of them had doubted for a moment that this was the perfect place to call home, then those doubts had long been washed away. Winter had been rough for the both of them, so it was a luxury beyond compare to have a full belly.

When the badger finished eating she took a moment to carefully groom her mouth, waiting for her mate to finish as well. Her belly was full now to the point of making her sleepy, and as the moon sank out of view behind the hillside the sky opposite had begun to slowly grow lighter. Before too long it would be day, and neither of them had gathered bedding for their sett. She didn’t want to lay in the dirt on the hard ground, but she also didn’t want to get back to work right away either. She was in too much of a good mood.

So she pounced forward while her mate was still eating, pushing her paws into his side in an attempt to knock him over as soon as he had the last bite of fruit in his mouth. He was surprised enough that he almost rolled over from the sudden attack, but he managed to regain balance quickly, and he looked at her in obvious confusion as he chattered at her.

She bounded away a short distance, back in the direction of their home, and paused to look back at him. Her short tail twitched slightly with the eager energy that vibrated through her as she waited for him to give chase. Though he was a bit slow to realize what she wanted, the moment he did, he launched forward after her.

The pair of badgers ran through the tall grass, one darting away from the other and rolling about, while the other skipped after her, perfectly content to play their game of tag. When she got too far ahead she paused, looking back to make sure he was still having fun with their game, only to find him still charging after her. They made their way slowly up the hill in this fashion, apparently having fun as they played.

It was only when they were within sight of the entrance to their sett that she allowed him to catch her, letting out an indignant honk as he pushed her to the ground to roll about with her. She continued to chitter at him in anger as he squirmed around in the grass, pressing up against her as he did so.

She huffed at him, getting to her feet and moving back down the hill a little way to the taller grass. While he watched, head cocked in wonderment at what she was doing, the badger gathered up a mouthful of grass. It took him only a short moment this time to figure out what it was she was doing, but once he did he got up to join her in gathering bedding.

The sun was rising and it was time for the badgers to get their rest. There was a full night of digging ahead of them once the moon came back out. After all, their sett wasn’t nearly large enough yet.