You're My Dad Boogie Woogie Woogie

[ Cody ]

The morning’s first bird songs awoke the young kit from his slumber. Opening a bright blue eye, Cody squinted to adjust his vision in the dimly lit tunnel like hole, shifting his gaze towards the large figure curled beside him. Still feeling partially asleep, he grumbled softly and instinctively nestled into the figure’s warm fur to escape the cold draft that threatened to fully slip into the abandoned badger den that the two had chosen as a temporary place to rest. 

Cody had no clue where they were headed, but he had it in his mind that he would see his parents again at some point. He remembered his mother’s promises that she and his father would follow after them when they could, but due to his youth and inexperience, he couldn’t recognize that the words that Callie spoke were only to sooth his worries and give him false hope so that he wouldn’t cause too much of a fuss about separating.

It had been nearly a moon since then, though. Cody had tried to keep track of the days, but with all the new sights and smells he quickly lost track. During that time, he had become quickly attached to his caretaker, Vulture. He had met the tom on multiple occasions before since he and Cody’s father, Flick, had been close friends. So, it was easy enough for the gray tom to trust and go with him.


[ Vulture ]

Apparently, lying down the night before hadn’t seemed to provide much remedy to the sharp pains that awoke him. Unfortunately, living the more isolated life of a lone traveler allowed less access to solutions, especially when one was constantly on the move, and thus hardly knew their surroundings enough to find a cure that could soothe him. At least he wasn’t quite alone, but a kitten could only do so much; Vulture never would have expected Cody to thrive and survive effectively without guidance from a guardian at his age.

Stretching his arms out, the large brown tom spotted the kitten curled up in his fur and gently minded his movements. They’d grown close over the moon or so that they had been together, and Vulture wished to give Cody the majority of his attention and support - he felt like family at this point, after all. Perhaps it was his closeness with Flick that had fuelled such a connection, but there still seemed to be a bit of hesitation that nagged at his mind; was bringing such a young cat out here wise? Well, they’d been fine so far, but Vulture’s mind took a liking to surrounding itself with thoughts of caution.

He hadn’t much time to adjust himself before the next pang would have hit him: a shooting pain that ran through his tooth and deep into his skull. A light groan came from the back of the tom’s throat - unintentional, but apparent. The sunlight offered little to no assistance either, even the subtlest rays of the rising sun dug into his eyes. He liked to call himself an optimist, but some days just weren’t his best. Vulture rested his jaw down flat onto the ground, his relaxed expression now a frown of discomfort. He thought rest would work, but apparently sleep wasn’t always the most effective medicine.