#cricketfur

Cricketfur: "...."

Aliases / Nicknames: Pineazure

Gender: tom

Sexuality: bisexual

Family: Mallowfleck (mother), Fringehawk (father), two unnamed littermates, Grasskit, Wrenkit (half-sisters)

Other Relations: unnamed mentor, Whistledawn (step-mother)

Clan: WindClan

Rank: apprentice, loner

Characteristics: always looks for the good in everyone and every situation, loves learning about all kinds of creatures, has a vast sense of humour (many things are funny)

Murder Motive: vengeance

Number of Victims: 3 (2 unintentionally)

Number of Murders: 3 (2 unintentionally)

Murder Method: poisoning

Known Victims: Fringehawk, Grasskit, Wrenkit

Victim Profile: his father, his sisters

Cause of Death: infection due to fox trap, sickness from infection

Cautionary Tale: ??

Story: 

He knew, though he tried to fight the growing infection as best as he could, that he was going to die soon. Less than a moon, he would say, though as the days went by, it was harder and harder to keep track of time--of anything other than his haunting memories.

He also knew long before then that he would go to the Dark Forest. There was no question about that.

Though he hated that he had wanted to kill someone enough to actually do it, he didn't necessarily regret Fringehawk's death. But his little sisters....

He had always loved his family.

He was born in a small litter during a Leaf-bare so harsh that come Newleaf, he was the only one left. He was too young to truly grieve for them, thankfully, but he could remember what happened in the next moons.

Due to their loss, Fringehawk and Mallowfleck doted completely on their son. Mallowfleck joined him when he went to the elders to tell a story, she would hold him when he cried from a nightmare and groom his fur until he fell asleep.

Fringehawk was the one who showed him around the camp when he first left the nursery. He showed Pinekit the basic hunting and fighting moves--Pinekit had felt so cool knowing those things before his apprenticeship! Most often, he would play with his son any time Pinekit asked, no matter how tired he seemed.

Then Fringehawk had limped back to camp, carrying Mallowfleck's body on his back. He had explained that she had ran across the Thunderpath to catch a rabbit, but was struck by a monster.

Fringehawk seemed so distressed, and he held his son as they both sobbed, staying together with Mallowfleck throughout the night.

That was bad, but what was worse was when Whistledawn of ShadowClan joined WindClan, and almost instantly became mates with Fringehawk. They were...almost too close, too quickly. It was like they already knew each other well.

Pinekit was upset, but he managed to convince himself that it was all in his head. Fringehawk deserved to be happy, didn't he?

The new couple soon had their own kits, due shortly after Pinekit would become Pinepaw.

Pinepaw loved his little sisters. They may not have been Mallowfleck's, but he saw his mother's spirit just the same, and looked greatly forward to protecting them and playing with them, just as she would him. He regularly visited the nursery when he was finished his apprentice duties, and more often than not fell asleep curled up next to their nest.

Had he been too harsh? He didn't think he outright said anything to his father outside of passive-aggressive comments, but Whistledawn kept giving him strange looks, like she wasn't sure what he was thinking...had she guessed his reservations?

In a defining early dawn, he woke up to see Whistledawn leaving the den. He decided to follow her out of the camp to have a heart-to-heart talk, but the way she looked around and slunk through the moor, it was clear she didn't want to be seen.

Curiosity got the better of him, and Pinepaw followed still. Eventually Whistledawn would meet with Fringehawk, who had been on the dawn patrol and broke off from the others to hunt solo.

Pinepaw had been beginning to wonder if he should leave them alone and just go back to his sisters, but then Whistledawn said something that captured his attention. "You should have never told me about his mother."

He decided to stay, and with every word that was exchanged between the two, the more the rose-coloured lens before his eyes cracked more and more, until they shattered completely, piercing his eyes and making him see a different kind of red.

His loving father, the tom he admired and trusted, had killed his mother. He had dragged her body onto the Thunderpath to be crushed and mangled, hiding the evidence of what really killed her. He did it all so that he could be with his true love.

There was hardly any articulate planning. He simply found mushrooms his mentor warned could be toxic, crushed them up with a rock, and stuffed them inside a young rabbit he then dropped onto the fresh-kill pile while the other patrols were still being organized.

He couldn't believe what he was doing...he couldn't believe what his father had done.

He was no murderer. He shouldn't be, at least, he didn't even like battles. But the rage was like nothing he had ever felt before. It set his fur alight as if he had been struck by scarlet lightning, making his whole body tremble and his claws to tear up his nest in the apprentice's den.

When his mentor told him that it was time to train, he asked if he could eat first--explaining that he had missed a meal the previous day in the hopes that his mentor wouldn't tell him to train first. He didn't want the rabbit to get into innocent paws.

When it was accepted, Pinepaw waited for his father and his mate to return. Then, he dragged the rabbit to his father, suggesting he eat it--it was small, only a little over enough for one cat.

Licking his lips, his father dug in. Pinepaw was quick to follow his mentor out of the camp. He couldn't help but shudder at his own actions. He didn't want to stick around for the result.

But perhaps if he had stayed, he could have prevented his sisters from sharing the meal.

He had not expected that to be an issue. They had only ever drank milk, but apparently, Fringehawk thought that that day of all days was the perfect time to wean them.

Pinepaw tried to move on, but he just couldn't. His chest heaved whenever he thought too much, and Stars, his mind could never settle. He dreamt of his sisters accusing him of killing them, and woke up yowling.

He was on a patrol when he made a split-second decision. He broke away from his mentor and the other warriors, racing across the Thunderpath that his father used to mangle his mother's body, and into the unknown.

He didn't deserve the luxury of Clan life....he didn't deserve anything.

Four days into his life as a loner, his leg got caught in a foxtrap. A broken Twoleg thing like ice was nearby, thankfully sharp enough to cut through the silver string--though it also tore his tongue.

But though he could now move away, there was still enough left of the silver string to tighten around his leg and cause him to limp in pain. That wasn't too bad though--it kept his thoughts distracted and occupied.

It eventually became obvious that infection was setting in. He tried to combat it, using any herbs he found, but he was no medicine cat, and had spent almost no time at all in the den. The wound grew more and more yellow, he grew more and more unkempt and tired, and his leg ached more and more until it was no longer surprising relief but agony.

This was StarClan's punishment.

Pinepaw deserved it.

He was a kit-killer.

And he deserved whatever next punishment awaited him in the Place of No Stars.

Additional Information: 

--Second adoptive kit of Martenstep! They look similar, and cats often mistake them for bio family.

He becomes best friends with his uncle Cricketfur's son, Crispoak. His older adoptive sister, Needlepaw, loves him and tries to guide him as much as she can.

--Whistledawn didn't know about Fringehawk's actions until after she joined the Clan, and confronted him because the more time Pinepaw spent around her and the kits, the more guilty she felt.

--The thing he used to cut the silver-string was glass! Cats don't use that kind of stuff in IRL, but I figure it's perfectly normal in the Warriors universe for them to grab something in their jaws and use that if they really need to.

--It was generally accepted that Pinepaw ran away because the death of his mother and sisters after his mother was too much for him, though patrols were sent out to search for two moons.

--Pinepaw killed at around 6 moons, and died at around 7 moons. In the Dark Forest, he gets his full name.

I said before that their life, particularly Martenstep's was similar to that of an adult in an educational kid show--he's knowledgeable and still an adult, but his life is like a happier, more peaceful version of the world.

He and Cricketfur also lived in a VERY peaceful era of the Clans. There was no battle since at least since he became an apprentice (not with their Clan at least), there was still lots of food even in Leaf-bare, and anyone who died was either sick for a long time or an elder (no sudden or unexpected deaths until Cricketfur).

So now being in the Dark Forest....it's definitely a very drastic change. Not just the environment, but the cats themselves. It's like taking a character from a kid show and putting them in a horror movie.

Of course, since he never did anything wrong and is not rejected by StarClan, he can join the Stars whenever he wishes, but he doesn't want to. Being with his brother again is worth all of that.

Besides, now he has kits, as does Cricketfur. He wouldn't give them up for anything, but he does often think about that old life, and what it would be like if he was still there but with his kits. Say, to clarify, he wonders what it would be like to still live there, with his brother safe and sound, and with the kits they have now, just adopted in life.

But he also questions himself. Does he really want to go back there because it was so peaceful?

Or does he want to go back to when that was his reality, before he knew what was really going on, before he knew that his sweet innocent brother was a murderer?

-----

Bonus them now with their kits! (Needlepaw [Martenstep's daughter] and Crisppaw/oak [Cricketfur's son]). Pineazure is probably off to the side a bit.

he's a single dad, but I don't imagine he's the type to get with anyone he's not also seeing romantically, nor do I see them breaking up or her dying.

Marten and his kits!

Again, Pine is adopted, he just happens to look so much like Martenstep. He and Martenstep's favourite colour are both blue, which is where Pine's suffix comes from.

I mentioned it before, but Pine is about six moons younger than Needlepaw (adopted when he was an apprentice still).

Doing the math, Needlepaw died at 9 moons and was quickly adopted by Martenstep. After four or maybe five moons of raising her and her starting to change for the better, Pinepaw arrives and gets adopted as well. So when they became a full family, Needlepaw was 13 or 14, and Pinepaw was 7.

Cricket and his kit!

Crispoak is his biological son he had with...mystery cat.

I will say though, that chances are fairly high that she was killed by Cricketfur, most likely after he caught her hurting their child. As far as they're concerned, Cricketfur is Crisp's only parent.

I stated before that Crisp was likely born when Pine was 8 or in his first moon of adoption (7).

----

Refs:

Pine: F2U Cat Base by toxelavi on DeviantArt

Crisp: Free Cat Lineart by YarrowLeef on DeviantArt

Marten + Cricket: F2U Longhaired Cat Base by Turukhan on DeviantArt

Crispkit/Crisppaw/Crispoak

The son of Cricketfur! He gets all his looks and colours from his daddy, so there's no clue as to who the mother was.......though I may write a story about what happened to her.

Cricketfur

Aliases / Nicknames: Kit-Killer, Cricket, Bro, Little Brother

Gender: tom

Sexuality: asexual, heteromantic

Family: Pine (mother), Duskleaf (adoptive mother), Martenstep (adoptive brother), Hawk (aunt), Vinekit (adoptive brother), Chestnut (cousin), Milo (cousin)

Other relations: Meadowtongue (mentor)

Clan: Thunderclan

Rank: loner, warrior

Characteristics: kills for attention, kills to keep secrets

Number of Victims: 2

Number of Murders: 2

Murder Method: suffocation

Known Victims: Milo, Chestnuttail

Cause of Death: blood loss from amputated leg

Cautionary Tale: N/A

Story:

It was just him, his mother, Pine, his aunt, Hawk, and his older cousin, Chestnut. The family lived happily as loners, and with Cricket being the youngest, his mother and aunt absolutely doted on him. How cute he was for doing nothing, how talented he was for hunting a leaf.

Then he came along. Milo. 

Cricket hadn’t thought much of it when they stopped for awhile to visit a kittypet. They did it every now and again. But his aunt had fallen pregnant, and named her new son Milo, after the kittypet she had him with.

Still, Cricket didn’t think much of it. That is, not until all of the attention went to the little scrap of fur. Now almost every food went to precious Milo or his mother, and even one of Cricket’s favourite leaves.

Cricket tried to appear extra cute, or catch extra bugs, but his attempts were hardly given a “good job” before all attention was returned to the kit. Even Pine, Cricket’s mother, was acting as if the kit were hers.

Cricket tried another tactic then, to appear sick or hurt. It worked for a bit, but the adults eventually caught on and yelled at him for wasting time and resources. 

One day, Milo was old enough for his mother to temporarily leave him. Eager to move around, she and Pine went off to hunt, leaving the trio of kits alone. 

Cricket didn’t waste any time. Eagerly, he lead Milo, the stubby-legged kit, to a dense cluster of ferns where they would be hidden, and held him down, covering his mouth and nose with his paws and chest.

He wasn’t as careful as he thought, and emerged from the ferns to find Chestnut staring at him in horror. He had seen what had happened, only just enough not to be able to help. 

Cricket tried to convince him to keep silent. Milo was his brother, after all, and that meant he got even more attention that Chestnut did. Didn’t he hate that? Didn’t he hate being ignored simply because he wasn’t as young?

Chestnut refused and stated firmly that he was going to tel their moms upon their return. Angered, Cricket attacked him, but, much younger, he couldn’t stand a chance. Defeated, he decided his best option was to run away and avoid the wrath of Pine and Hawk. His murder was for nothing. 

He left late leaf-fall, and soon leaf-bare set in, casting the forest in a white blanket that bit at Cricket’s bones. He was getting hungry, his ribs beginning to jut from his sides. Soon enough, the snow grew and grew until he couldn’t move without leaping, and he couldn’t leap because he was too weak and tired and hungry.

When figures and voices came, he could barely make them out, barely make out that he was trying to make anything out. But when he woke up, he was in a cozy nest set in the middle of a warm den. A milk-scented she-cat had her body wrapped around him. Cricket looked around, and saw another kit staring back at him.

Instantly, the kit bounced on his paws and squealed that he was awake. The she-cat saw him, told him it was going to be alright, and, after asking if he knew where his mother was and he said no, she offered to take him in as her son. Cricket agreed.

He played often with the she-cat, Duskleaf’s, son, Martenkit, and liked the addition added to his name. Now he wasn’t the youngest kit in a group of four, but the youngest kit in an entire Clan!

As well as that, Martenkit was a lot better than Chestnut. Chestnut was always too brooding and grumpy, but Martenkit would prance all across the clearing. He would praise Cricketkit along with Duskleaf. It was a better life than Cricketkit had ever known!

He became apprenticed to an excellent warrior, who he remained friends with after his and Martenkit’s warrior ceremonies. 

When Martenstep got an apprentice in Rushpaw, Cricketfur was practically a secondary mentor.

But then, one day, a patrol walked in with a trespasser. Cricketfur’s heart leaped into his throat. It was Chestnut.

It seemed Chestnut was just as surprised to see Cricketfur. But that didn’t stop him from joining the Clan and using every opportunity to make his life hell. Martenstep stood up for his brother, as did Rushtree, Duskleaf, and his many other friends. Still, it was frustrating. Not only that, but Chestnut-- or Chestnuttail-- could reveal Cricketfur’s murder of Milo. 

One day Chestnuttail offered peace, and invited Cricketfur to hunt along with him. Cricketfur was no idiot. There was a trap somewhere, but it was an opportunity to rid of this pain in his side.

Since his days of training, he grew quite a lot. Now, he was just as big as Chestnut, with twice the knowledge in combat. He managed to hold Chestnuttail down, blocked his mouth and nose, and kept holding him after he stopped struggling, just to make sure.

It had happened far from the camp to ensure that no one would see it. Cricketfur didn’t make it far before something caught his leg. A silver twine dug into his skin, touching the bone. After much panic and yowling, Cricketfur began to chew.

His leg got free. However, with three legs and blood still pumping out of him, he didn’t make it far before collapsing onto the ground.

Martenstep

Aliases / Nicknames: Marten, Bro, Big Brother

Gender: tom

Sexuality: heterosexual, biromantic

Family: Duskleaf (mother), Vinekit, brother, Cricketfur (adoptive brother), 

Other relations: Frondwish (mentor), Rushtree (apprentice)

Clan: Thunderclan

Rank: warrior

Characteristics: wanted to be with his brother

Number of Victims: 0

Number of Murders: 0

Murder Method: N/A

Known Victims: no one

Cause of Death: Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy

Cautionary Tale: N/A

Story:

He was too young what it meant when his brother, Vinekit, succumbed to an illness that had taken hold of him since they were born, but he did know that he was sad. He tried to cheer his mother up, and although she smiled at him, he could still see her sadness.

Then warriors brought in a new kit, and suddenly he had a brother again! Not only that, but with something to focus on in addition to caring for Martenkit brought Duskleaf out of her haze of gloom. 

Bouncing on his paws, Martenkit had shown an equally-excited Cricket, or Cricketkit around the camp, explaining everything in a rush of words that his now brother ate up. 

The pair became friends fast. They played for some days before it was officially told to them that Cricketkit woud be staying as Duskleaf’s son, since they could not find his mother. Cricketkit didn’t seem to mind too much. Martenkit had guessed he didn’t remember her, or he liked Martenkit and Duskleaf better.

Whichever the reason, only two days of knowing each other, the pair were ready to call themselves brothers. Of course, they were kits and happy for every playmate, but the meaning would continue on for the rest of their lives, and after.

Martenstep could be said to be the luckiest cat in the history of the Clans, as his entire life was unburdened by stress or problems. Of course, there was the stress everyone gets. “Will I pass my assesment? Will I or someone close to me get hurt in the battle? Will leaf-bare give us enough food this year?” but never the “there’s a prophecy saying that the Clans might all be destroyed forever and everyone is panicking.”

He had next to no arguments with friends, and everyone close to him remained happy, healthy, and alive.

That is, until a patrol brought Cricketfur’s and Chestnuttail’s bodies into the camp. The sight of Chestnuttail was bad enough, but the sight of Cricketfur.... a limb missing, blood everywhere. Worst of all, the bite marks that indicated he must have chewed himself free of something, so willing to live and yet so unsuccessful. How much pain had he been in? How scared had he been?

Those around him tried to comfort him, especially Duskleaf and Rushtree, who Cricketfur had helped Martenstep to mentor. But the aching in his chest like an ice-covered stone in his heart refused to thaw. It only grew more and more unbearable. He couldn’t eat, couldn’t leave his nest. It wasn’t long before his heart gave out entirely.

But before then, he called to Starclan in the night, and told them wherever Cricketfur is, no matter the place, he wants to be there too, with him. The day later, a Starclan cat came to him and asked if this was what he truly wants, even if the place isn’t the paradise he expects it to be? Even if it’s harrowing?

 Martenstep simply told them that he would go anywhere.

Additional Information:

--Sorry if some stuff looks weird. I just finished some exams, so not super into writing detailed stuff right now.

--Kudos if you get a reference in here!

--Yeah Martenstep didn’t know his brother was in the Dark Forest until he himself went there because of his wish to be with him. 

--Cricketfur doesn’t like that his brother has to suffer in the Dark Forest, but he is also immensely relieved to have him with him.

--Martenstep died of heartbreak (yes, it can actually happen. I think the stress rips the heartstrings or something?). 

--Kit-killer could both refer to Cricketfur killing a kit and being a killer as a kit.

--Kinda deeply based on The Good Son, but also this page by HydraCarina on DeviantArt. I was also going to have him kill Milo by drowning, but wanted to change the murder method up a bit.

--His birth mother and aunt don’t know of his crimes (at least while they're alive) because Chestnut figured it would only hurt them more and Cricket was going to freeze to death anyways. If he had stayed, Chestnut would have told them.

--Chestnuttail was going to lead him into the fox trap (which Cricket did get into), but was attacked before he could.

Picrews:

https://picrew.me/image_maker/286314

https://picrew.me/image_maker/1201673