Smudge

Smudge is a soft, and thick-furred plump black-and-white tom with black shoulders, a narrow face, amber eyes, a white tail-tip, and a black nose.

Firestar's Quest

 * Smudge starts having strange dreams about a large group of cats who are fleeing from something, and remembers that his friend, Firestar, had strange dreams before he left to join the cats of the forest. Smudge heads into the forest to talk to Firestar, but stumbles upon a patrol, composed of two ThunderClan warriors, Ashfur and Brambleclaw. The patrol attacks Smudge, thinking that he's an intruder.


 * Fortunately, Firestar is nearby and able to stop the ensuing fight. He later finds out that Smudge's Twoleg nest is built on the site of the old SkyClan camp, and that his dreams were about SkyClan. While they are talking at his Twoleg nest, he introduces Firestar to Hattie, a kittypet who lives with Firestar's old housefolk. Smudge lets Firestar spend the night in his yard, hoping to find some answers. He is soon relieved that he doesn't have to live in the forest with the other wild cats, as Firestar had done.

Into the Wild

 * Smudge is a kittypet and a good friend of Rusty. He is seen greeting Rusty while he sits on the fence of his Twoleg's nest. Smudge wonders if he will go out into the woods, and he disagrees with Rusty when he says that he is. Smudge mentions how another kittypet, Henry, went into the woods and caught a robin. Rusty refuses to believe him as he knows Henry to be fat and lazy. He claims that Henry told him of dangerous animals and wild cats in the woods, yet he gives up with trying to persuade Rusty to stay, and goes back down to his own garden, and Rusty decides to go into the woods anyway.


 * The next day, Smudge talks to Rusty again and asks him about his visit to the woods. He is shocked when Rusty tells him about fighting one of the wild cats. When Rusty decides that he is going to join ThunderClan, Smudge is upset and begs him not to leave. He later accepts that his friend will be leaving. Smudge spends the rest of the morning with Rusty, visiting their old haunts and later says goodbye to him before he leaves.


 * Later, he sees Rusty, now Firepaw, while he is having an assessment. The two of them didn't recognize each other at first, but when they did, they started catching up. Tigerclaw witnesses this interaction and reports the incident to Bluestar.

The Darkest Hour

 * When Firestar goes to Twolegplace to pay his old home a visit, he sees Smudge talking with an unnamed she-cat, later revealed to be Hattie. He quickly assumes she must live at his previous home.

Dawn

 * He does not formally appear, but he is mentioned by Cody who meets Leafpaw and asks her about Clan life, talking about how Smudge lived with Rusty.

Cats of the Clans

 * Rock explains to the kits, Adderkit, Blossomkit, and Mosskit, that Smudge was Firestar's neighbor and best friend back when he was a kittypet. Rock describes Smudge as plump and lazy, and says that Smudge couldn't understand why Firestar would want to live with the supposedly dangerous Clan cats. Despite this, he was brave enough to find Firestar when he had dreams of SkyClan, which shows his loyalty to his friend, proving that not all kittypets are just fat and lazy.

The Ultimate Guide

 * Smudge shares a page with Princess. He was the first to know of Rusty's interest in the woods. Although he couldn't be bothered with wild cats, he was loyal to Rusty and searched him out when he began dreaming of strange cats. Why StarClan would have shared these signs with a kittypet is unknown, though maybe they are not as judgmental toward cats like himself.

Ravenpaw's Farewell

 * Smudge is briefly mentioned by Violet, who tells Barley and Ravenpaw that Smudge would tell Riley and Bella stories about ThunderClan. When Violet says that she thinks her brother and Ravenpaw have met Smudge before, Ravenpaw says yes, and his eyes cloud with memories, saying that Smudge was one of Firestar's friends before he'd left to join ThunderClan.

Trivia

 * Smudge was not the father of Cloudtail.