Dark Forest Resident: Talonpaw
Aliases / Nicknames: Little One, My Dear, Lazy Furball, Kittypet Food
Gender: tom
Sexuality: pansexual, biromantic
Family: Nightwing (mother), Cedarheart (father), Smokepaw (brother), Brokenstar, Hopekit, Wishkit (cousins), Lavenderkit (aunt), Rowanclaw (uncle), Snowbird (maternal grandmother), Darkflower (paternal grandmother), Boulder (maternal grandfather), Scorchwind (paternal grandfather), Dawncloud, Russetfur (grandaunts), Raggedstar, Volewhisper, Mosspaw (granduncles), Featherstorm (great-grandmother), Hal (great-grandfather)Â
Other Relations: Rowanclaw (mentor)
Clan: Shadowclan
Rank: apprentice
Characteristics: short-tempered, grieves for his brother
Murder Motive: avenging his brother
Number of Victims: 0 (failed)
Number of Murders: 0 (failed)
Murder Method: getting kittypets to attack Russetfur (attempted)
Known Victims: Russetfur (attempted)
Victim Profile: his deputy
Cause of Death: wounds, killed by Jaques and Susan
Cautionary Tale: ??
Story:
We will never forget Smokepaw.
Liar.
Talonpaw was glad to be on safe ground once the ledge opened up, he could have bounced for joy if his paws werenât so tired.
He rested with his father, Cedarheart, while they waited for the rest to catch up, namely his mother and brother. They had gotten separated as the Clans moved in single-file along the towering mountains. He scanned the faces as they came, alarmed when he only saw his mother, and his heart dropped at the distant, glassy look on her face.
She couldnât even explain what had happened, she didnât even seem to realize they were trying to talk to her.Â
Blackstar explained to them what had happened, how the ground just crumbled beneath Smokepawâs feet and he fell before anyone could catch him.Â
Smokepaw was dead.
Like his mother--both of his parents, in fact, he spent the entire trip in an empty trance while everyone else chattered excitedly about what they thought their new home would look like. Smokepaw wouldnât see it, so what did it matter?
As the haze slowly dissipated, anger began to fill him. The leader was with him. The deputy was with him! How could they have let Smokepaw just fall? The ground may have crumbled, but itâs not as if it can do that in a single second!
He remembered a moment that occurred before they left the forest, when those giant, awful monsters scared his brother. Blackstar had promised that he wouldnât let him die.Â
One night, he couldnât sleep, and decided to pace around the camp. He heard voices coming from beside the leaderâs den, and, curious, decided to eavesdrop.Â
Russetfur was speaking with Oakfur, Smokepawâs mentor. The first thing he heard was Oakfur hissing that he didnât want a new apprentice. That truly caught Talonpawâs attention.
Russetfur was insistent, saying how sorry she was that Smokepaw had passed, but that holding onto their grief feeds no mouths, and how he must move on. She went on to say how he would make an excellent mentor for Tallpoppyâs kits when theyâre old enough, but at that point, Talonpaw could only hear the blood pounding in his ears.Â
He ran back to his nest, clawing up his moss as his whole body quivered with rage. They were replacing Smokepaw! Grief feeds no mouths. How could Russetfur be so heartless? She had been the one to let Smokepaw die!
That night, when he could finally sleep, a white warrior with a single, long scar visited him. The tom told him how horrible it is to lose your littermate, to lose the one cat you should have grown old with.Â
The tom called himself Snowtuft, and went on to say how he didnât remember much of his life, but he was sure he had someone to him like Smokepaw was to Talonpaw.
Before Snowtuft could go on, another, brown tom came over and put a stop to their conversation, telling Snowtuft that he already paid for his crimes, and to not drag the young tom down with him. Talonpaw wasnât sure what that meant, or why this new tom--Creaturefall--was now telling Talonpaw to dream of butterfly fields instead of âthis place.â
It was the first time someone actually tried talking to Talonpaw about his brother.Â
Nightwing and Cedarheart shared his grief, of course, and for a while, they slept with Talonpaw in the now so empty apprenticesâ den, but they would stop Talonpaw from speaking about the death, always saying that they werenât ready to talk about it yet.Â
It felt as though Talonpawâs own grief didnât matter, only theirs.Â
More and more, Talonpaw felt that was true. Rowanclaw, understanding at first, grew frustrated with him when he wouldnât put nearly as much effort into his training as he used to. It got to the point that Rowanclaw took him to Russetfur, who threatened to have his apprenticeship delayed if he didnât get his act together.
She told him that he was the only apprentice in Shadowclan now, and how there wouldnât be any more apprentices for at least six more moons. Talonpaw was angry enough at that, at having his loss blatantly ignored because training him was âso importantâ. What really set him off was when Russetfur told him to put his grief aside, and how laying in his nest all day wonât bring Smokepaw back.
It was everything in Talonpaw not to jump her then and there.Â
Snowtuft visited him again, only once. He was snarling, but not at Talonpaw. No, his anger was on his behalf. He went on about how Russetfur had no right to say such disgusting things, and how if he were Talonpaw, he would claw her apart for that.
Talonpaw found that he liked that thought, but pointed out that he couldnât exactly win a fight against the deputy.Â
Snowtuft suggested that he should find someone that could.
Talonpaw remembered the two kittypets that had attacked Tawnypelt when she and her patrol first investigated the lake territories. She described them as quite muscular for cats that munched on twoleg slop all day. And there were two of them, definitley able to claw up Russetfur.
He would provoke them. Rowanclaw sent Talonpaw to hunt on his own, a punishment of sorts for all the âslacking offâ Talonpaw was doing, while his mentor got to rest in the sunlight back at camp.
Talonpaw took the opportunity. He travelled through until he found the right Twoleg den--Tawnypelt had described it so that they stay away. Then, he rolled around in the gardenâs grass, spreading his Clan scent.Â
The kittypets would get mad. If they were as aggressive as they sounded, they wouldnât take kindly to a stranger spreading their scent in their home. Surely, they would want to get back at them, and when patrols found kittypet scent crossing the border, Russetfur, as the deputy, would investigate. Then the kittypets would attack her.
He was back in his own territory, trying to catch something so that it seemed like he was always looking for prey, when cat scent hit his nose and he was attacked.
He managed to drag himself back to camp, but darkness was blotting his vision in increasing specks. The last thing he saw were the horrified faces of his mentor and parents.
Additional Information:
--Fungichomp arrived in the Dark Forest around this time. He was already furious that Starclan condemned Fishkit, Molekit, and Frostkit to the Place of No Stars with him, and when he saw Talonpaw arrive as well--without technically actually doing anything--he decided that the kits needed to be protected with more than what he could provide, and created the Daycare (possibly getting the name from Twolegs) (or he got it because âDayâ is the opposite of Dark and is what the kits should be expereincing, and theyâre being taken care of, so maybe just a coincidence)
--So the Daycare was first created / first began construction during Twilight in the canon book series.
I was curious about the timeline with that (and other things), and when it was said to likely been made when the lake territories were formed, Smokepaw was chosen--then switched to Talonpaw, so thatâs why heâs in the Dark Forest now!
I didnât think he went to the DF before, it was just an idea created for the sake of the Daycare, but now I like it! What do you think?
--Russetfur strikes me as the âtough loveâ character, so I wouldnât put it past her to say these things.
--Snowtuft is still a tiny bit evil at this point. Maybe seeing the apprentice join the DF because of him is a start for him to want to change--but not quite yet.
--Cedarheart later dies in the Great Battle, aka the battle with the Dark Forest--the area one of his sons now resides. Thatâs some great angst!
(highlighted because this is probably the most important, ya know?)
--Would he be Brokenstarâs cousin? Iâve tried looking up what their relationship would be, and thatâs the answer I keep getting, but it sounds wrong.
--Creaturefall and Fungichomp, Molekit, Fishkit, and Frostkit all belong to @wills-woodland-warriorsâ
--Thanks to @starfalcon555â whose idea it was to have Talonpaw be the DF character due to his grief for his brother as well as the idea to have Snowtuft be a brief mentor.
