Dark Forest Resident: Pinepaw
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.
--Base used: F2U Cat Base by toxelavi on DeviantArt
