#bansheefig

Shallow I remember liking the idea that he sort of looks like a fennec fox!

He had a litter with someone he wasn’t all that close with. Once they were weaned, he was given full custody. Those kits are:

Then he and Banshee got together!

They had:

Banshee herself looks like this:

(Bonus sister)

Their mother, Plague, is here:

Shallowfig: oh ha yeah well we obviously had to change it.

Hemlockpine: why did you name her Banshee anyway? I get it's after your lover-girl here, but why specificially Myling?

--Meanwhile--

Tendrilkit: *smacks Mylingkit on the head*

Mylingkit:

THE BABIES!!

@elementaldeityoffood

Colours they don't obviously get from Shallow, they got from their bio mom

--

Shallowfig’s heart thumped painfully in his chest. His fear was far lesser than it had been when Banshee almost died and when Plague had tried to attack his precious kits–heartless foxdung–but it was still present enough to make him feel nauseous, squirming uncomfortably as he sat before his father, Alderstar.

Between the den invasion and Banshee’s wound, and on top of it all, finding out that Banshee was pregnant with his kits, it was a while before his parents, other than Hootpetal, wanted to talk with him about his choice to become mates with Banshee behind their back. At least, that’s what he expected that this was about. All Whitebriar had told him was that Alderstar wanted to speak with him about Banshee.

Alderstar sat facing him now. They were on equal ground, but it felt as though his father was staring him down from a high stone. 

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you,” Shallowfig began, wanting to get ahead of this. 

“You should have,” Alderstar replied.

“I thought you would have chased her away,” Shallowfig admitted.

“Would that fear have been worth keeping part of your family secret from the other?” Alderstar inquired. Shallowfig huddled into himself. He looked down on the ground, focusing, or trying to, on his claws digging into the soil. He heard a sigh, and a moment later Alderstar was no longer facing him, but beside him, his tail curled around his son’s back.

“I would be a hypocrite to fault you for choosing love,” his father went on. Shallowfig knew he was talking about his dad, Myrtlewing. “I’m just sorry you thought that I would chase her away.”

“Would you have?”

“I would have probably come close,” Alderstar breathed. “But I know the truth now. She is not Plague’s pawn, shaped in her way. She is a victim that deserves love and a home, and you stood up and provided it for her.” 

Surprised at the warmth in his father’s voice, after having expected rage, Shallowfig looked at Alderstar, meeting his proud gaze. “You’re not mad?”

“I still think you went about it wrong,” Alderstar told him. You should have explained the situation to us or at least your brother and sister. But,” he continued when Shallowfig shrank in guilt, “I understand that is easier said than done. And I understand that our paranoia due to events of the past has caused you to hide from us what makes you happy, and for that I am truly sorry.”

Alderstar was always loving and involved, but this was too much. After finding out he would be a father again, after almost having his kits die and then his mate almost die–and then finding out that it was his pregnant mate that almost died….Shallowfig trembled, leaning and sniffling into Alderstar’s welcoming embrace. 

Then a cold shiver ran down Shallowfig’s spine. “Plague’s not dead.”

“No,” Alderstar agreed. Shallowfig felt his fur bristle and heard his voice tense. “But she’s weak now, after what her daughter rightfully did to her.”

“Do you think she’ll try to attack again?”

“We should expect it, to be safe. Train your kits. Then train them harder. Teach them to kill.”

Shallowfig flinched. He knew and accepted that his fathers and many of his kin were killers, that was a simple fact that had existed since he was a kit, but he had not planned to pass down such….instinct to his kits. “I don’t want them to be monsters.”

“Would you rather they be dead?” Alderstar questioned.

To that, Shallowfig didn’t have an answer. He did, in his head, know that of course he would do anything to keep them alive. But he couldn’t say it, to say it meant to think it, thinking that his lovely, little kits in Banshee’s belly could grow up to be just as cruel as Plague, just to make sure that they don’t die by her claws.

He shut his eyes tightly. He should see Banshee. Standing, he looked his father hard in the eye and responded, “I will do anything for them.”

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--When Alder sighed and walked over to Shallow it was because he was reminded of himself and his own father, Stormstar, and didn’t want to make his son think of him like he thought of Storm!

“Hey! Break it up, you two!” Shallowfig ordered when he slipped back into his den, Banshee following just behind. The kits looked at him, then at Banshee, then their eyes lit up when they saw the food, and they scrambled to their stubby paws and raced after.

Immediately, Banshee was unnerved by the kits swarming around her legs. 

“Alright, alright, give her some space,” Shallowfig told his kits, sweeping them away with his tail. He took the minnows and set them on the ground a few pawsteps away, to give her room.

“And you got herbs!” one of them noticed, mouth and cheeks already messily stained with fish guts. “Do you smell ‘em, Racemekit?”

“Yeah,” Racemekit confirmed, sounding tired. His eyes were glazed and he chewed slowly and without vigor, contrasting his littermates, devouring the several minnows in ravenous gulps that had Shallowfig concerned that they would choke.

“You bringed them?” Tendrilkit asked Banshee. 

“Uh, yep!” Banshee confirmed. Shallowfig wondered if she had ever spoken to a kit before, and that thought made him wonder when the last time she spoke to anyone–passerbys not included–before. Was she still close with her mother? Shallowfig shook his head. Best not to think about that now.

“We would have first,” Tendrilkit went on moodily.

Shallowfig tilted his head. “Is that why you snuck out?” Did they want to get medicine for their brother? Shallowfig had thought they were simply doing what all kits do, ignoring what their parents’ told them and going on an adventure.

Tendrilkit huffed. “No! You was asleep and didn’t see us!”

Shallowfig hid his smile. “Well, we have the medicine now, so don’t do it again. Come here, Racemekit.”

Racemekit did so. He seemed doubtful as he looked down at the large bundle of herbs, but he took them anyway, as slowly as he did the food.

Shallowfig’s nerves crackled, as they always did when he thought about his son. Already, his sickness was making him more somber each day. It took everything in Shallowfig not to hold his son close every second. He knew Racemekit would not want to be treated any differently than his littermates, even if he might…..No. It was benign.

Shallowfig remembered suddenly that he had a guest–who was watching the kits with interest. Knowing he should speak, and wanting to get out of his own head, he spoke with a smile. “Guess I should introduce you to them, huh?” He nodded forward, to where Tendrilkit was nibbling on a small rib. “Fire-spirit there is Tendrilkit. She’s as much a pawful as you probably think, if not more.” He blinked at Racemekit. He wasn’t going to call him the sick one. “My son here is Racemekit.”

Banshee followed his gaze warmly. “I see you went with the plant names.”

“Yeah,” Shallowfig responded. He didn’t know why his cheeks were warm. He returned his attention back on the kits at the minnows, and instantly frowned. “Pollenkit is the one that will need a bath.”

“Is she the one that’s–”

“Rolling in fish guts? Yes.”

Banshee chuckled before pointing with her snout toward the final kit, who had dragged her share to the other side of the den as to not be disturbed by her rambunctious sisters. “And her?” 

“She doesn’t really live up to her name,” Shallowfig told her, heart filling with love for each and every one of his kits. Even if they were different from each other, they were all equally dear to his heart.

Then it sank in just what he named the final kit, and his mouth went dry. 

Banshee looked at him expectantly. 

“....Bansheekit.”

“Oh..”

Shallowfig tried to chuckle, but it came out like splintering wood. “I suppose I’ll have to rename that one if you decide to stick around, wouldn’t I?”

Banshee looked down.

“!...Not that you have to stick around if you don’t want to, but if you do–Uhm, I guess maybe just Banshkit? Or Sheekit? Or you know what, how about a different name altogether? I think Woodkit suits her–” His rambling cut off by a paw pressed on top of his own.

“It’s a great name,” Banshee told him, eyes glistening. “I should know. My mother called Myrtlewing a Samca–you know what? Maybe we shouldn’t go with that. I can’t imagine it means anything good. Maybe Mylingkit? Lwakit? Hupiakit?”

“Can’t say I know what any of those mean,” Shallowfig murmured.

“My mother had some interests in her group when she was alive. Probably why mine and Ursula’s names are so….different. But I–I can understand not wanting to have anything to do with her.”

Shallowfig pressed, ever distantly, against Banshee. “The names don’t have to relate to her. I can pick the names because I want to. They sound really good. Which one is your favourite?” It dawned on him that he was asking Banshee to name one of his kits, and by the looks of Banshee’s face, it dawned on her, too.

“I think I like the name….”

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--Yep, leaving it on a cliffhanger because I can’t decide on a name!

@elementaldeityoffood

--Wasn’t planning on doing a follow-up, but gotta introduce the kits, right?

Oooooooough

What if she sees like a small nick or something on one of the kit's faces and asks why he hadn't marked the others yet, and goes to mark one (thinking it's normal and wanting to be helpful)

and Shallowfig full on TACKLES her to the ground and demands and questions why she was about to claw his baby

so not only is there angst of her realizing her childhood wasn't normal and in fact very bad, but there's angst of her feeling super guilty about almost clawing her best friend / future mate's kit

Tendril: argumentative

Myling: LOUD

Racme: dignified

Poppy: high-strung

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(And to describe Poppy more, she's 'girly' in a deranged way. Ex. Poppy: gets clawed horribly. Poppy: omg guys look the blood matches my spots so well!! I should bleed more!!!)

@elementaldeityoffood​​

Them!! They are gender-queer and non-binary respectfully

Pagrus was originally gonna be Shrapnel, and their suffix was gonna be fish-related. Then I found Pagrus (a fish) and it fit them so much more! Maybe they got it from Sharkstar?

Also yes Glass’s suffix is a Clan name, the DF don’t give a shit

Bonus:

Dark Kit / Grand Dark Kit eyes are purple.....there’s still purple in there!

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