#blightrain

[residents-of-the-darkforest]

imagine the twins begin a business. Bring them one minnow and they’ll lure your enemy over the border for you to kill (while they watch) or for you to watch them kill

[residents-of-the-darkforest]

Fungichomp when Blight and Scab are in the Daycare

Fungichomp: oh hi new little ones

Fungichomp: *sees Falleniris drop them off and realize they’re from that family*

Fungichomp:

[residents-of-the-darkforest]

Mentors

Glassriver -- Houndtooth

Pagrusrose -- Bella-May

Mylingrain -- Blightrain

Racemeflight -- Redjay

Tendrilgnat -- Scabdrip

Poppyswarm -- Whitebriar

It, of course, changes many times so that the best lessons can be taught to everyone, but these are their main mentors and who they are with the majority of the time.

Bella-May may not have lived as a warrior, but she has been in the DF long enough to understand the gist, and again, there's always other mentors to teach the basics while she can teach some more complicated lessons.

--

They did not trust anyone but family. The reason these particular mentors were chosen was because of how brutal, efficient, or intelligent they could be (and to give some of the family other than the main poly some spotlight).

================

@ambitiousauthor

@elementaldeityoffood

[residents-of-the-darkforest]

About the connection the twins have with Starclan, what if they can—not necessarily possess—but take over a Starclan cat’s body, luring them to the Dark Forest with a broken whistle like how some worms take over snails to make them ‘crawl’ into the open where predatory birds can get them?

Not taking over their body as in jumping into it, more taking over their mind from across the border.

Maybe their and the Starclan cat’s eyes glow during this

This also makes it easier to kill them, no sneaking across needed.

——

And should they have different abilities? Maybe one (I’m thinking Scab) can do this while the other can see prophecies that Starclan sends?

They both have the ‘healing really fast’ thing

[residents-of-the-darkforest]

The Welcome Committee (short story)

Bloomwhisker flinched back, blocking his throat. But it quickly dawned on him that the scenery had changed. No longer did he have Fringesong lunging at him, he was alone in a forest rank with the scent of blood. The trees were massive, littered with countless claw marks with roots the size of Bloomwhisker’s head twisting out of the ground like gnarled fangs.

He was surrounded by a cluster of sharp-edged boulders. He could feel them beneath his paws, rough and scraping even though he barely moved. Puddles of crimson-red mud–or what he hoped was mud–filled the hollow gaps in the stone.

As everything set in, sights, and sounds, and feeling, Bloomwhisker realized where he was. It wasn’t long after that that a tune reached his ears, a sing-song whistle like birdsong, only with a strange slowness, and as if the tongue was snagging in all the wrong places. It made Bloomwhisker’s hair stand rigid along his suddenly very icy spine.

He whipped around in time to see two surprisingly small warriors–apprentices?--leap onto one of the boulders. They stood in such a way that Bloomwhisker wasn’t entirely sure that one wasn’t the shadow of the other, movements so synchronized it made him dizzy. But one was spotted brown and black with yellow eyes, and the other was dark with a darker back and some spots, with blue eyes surrounding slitted pupils so intense that they had Bloomwhisker backing up until his back hit the wall of another large rock.

He jumped away when laughter sounded above him. He whipped around and saw a she-cat, definitely older than the two, but very similar in appearance to the black-and-white cat. Her eyes were multicoloured, one of them icy like the dark cat.

She raised her chin into the air and sniffed, shaking her head while smiling. “It’s been too long since I’ve smelled such terror, and we’ve only just started talking. Take it in, girls, you’ll miss it when it’s gone.”

That only served to make Bloomwhisker’s heart thump harder. He turned again, to the side this time, and slipped on one of the puddles. 

“Graceful,” a new voice chimed in. Bloomwhisker looked up, eyes bulging out of his thrumming skull. A brown tom with lighter forelegs stood on the highest rock, standing with his pads on the pointed stone as if it didn’t bother him at all.

“I–uhm, uh…” This was a trick, a joke. Bloomwhisker knew what to expect, Nettlefrog had warned him. “Where’s Ferndoe?” The kind she-cat. She was supposed to meet him, she meets everyone.

“Sorry, spotty,” the tom grinned. “We’re the welcome committee today.”

========================

--There’s no way Myrtle will just stop killing. But killing cats in Starclan, though he’s done before, is way too complicated, and he can’t do it often. If he kills soemone in the Dark Forest, cats throw a fit.

But if he kills someone new, too new for anyone to really be bothered by it beyond disgruntled annoyance? Most cats here are murderers, after all--they’re not going to be shocked by more murder.

--Aw, and look! He decided to bring his daughter and grandkits! He does kill with others, it was just their time today. Scab and Blight are young apprentices at this time.

--Yes, Fallen questions why she’s so evil, but she still does evil things.

--Bloomwhisker’s story is very vague, all I know is that they and another friend, Nettlefrog, were doing evil stuff at the same time. Nettlefrog died first and was visited by Ferndoe before going into Bloomwhisker’s dreams and telling him about it. 

That’s why Bloomwhisker expecting Ferndoe to greet him.

--Bloom is spotted, which is why he’s called ‘spotty.’

===========================

Taglist: @starfalcon555 @wills-woodland-warriors @elementaldeityoffood

@ambitiousauthor @liberhoe @umbranoxs other names just don’t tag

[residents-of-the-darkforest]

Fox (short story)

He was a murderer. He was a murderer with a body count of two cats, yet he had never felt such intense, dizzying fury as he did today. His entire body burned so hard that he trembled, stomping to and fro, unable to still. 

“I’m glad you are-uh-okay with being with toms, now,” he had told his mate as they rested beneath glowing mushrooms together. “I don’t know if I ever said it, but I’m glad you’re comfortable with me now.” They had been mates for moons--no, years now. He had suspected from the beginning that his love may not be into males, and was pleasantly surprised when they became a poly with their older mates.

He had never wanted to say anything, worried it would make things weird or awkward. Now, he finally felt comfortable enough to say it in passing. He didn’t mean to say it, even then, but he saw the blue light reflecting in his mate’s amber ones and it broke from him.

His mate’s fur had stiffened. Then, “It…it wasn’t because you’re a tom. I mean–yes, realizing I had feelings for you was new, but….it was something else.”

“What?” he had asked, heart sinking.

He had been seeing red ever since.

At last, he was able to think clearly. Coming to a decision, he padded through the trees, searching for the landmarks that others have mentioned. He gathered the fish, then followed different landmarks until, at last, the twins’ scent caught his nose. They were always together, that was no surprise. Scabdrip was purring as Blightrain groomed her fur.

“Eh-em.” He pushed down the fear that pricked in his paws. There were more important things to worry about.

Scabdrip blinked open an eye. “Oh, a visitor! Did you stop by to chat, or do you have a vendetta?”

He dropped the minnows onto the ground. 

“Does he have enough?” Scabdrip asked, eyes closing again. 

His heart began to pound. The price was two minnows, one for the both of them, and he had caught an extra to be on the safe side. Would it still be enough?

Blightrain paused her grooming. “He brought three.”

“Perfect! Enough for Willow’s cough.” To him, she explained, “she’s been feeling unwell. The extra fish will do her good.” She rose to her paws and moved it aside, then picked up the second and swallowed it down. Blightrain took her time with hers, even if it was incredibly small, licking her lips when she was done.

His fur began to prick impatiently  by the time Scabdrip finally asked. “Now who will have the honour of joining us, Foxfire?”

Foxfire met her eyes, returning rage too powerful to allow him to flinch at the icy pupils. “Foxbreeze.”

=============================

@starfalcon555

--No real need to keep his name hidden until the end, but fun anyway. 

--Scab and Blight do care about their family! Look at them, getting food for their niece

[residents-of-the-darkforest]

First Dark Kit:  Amaranthtuft, (younger littermates = Rosewoodspring, Poppyperch, and Raspberrythorn) 

-- Fadingstar X Fleathistle litter

(It was originally thought to be  Lilyclaw, Silktangle, Webfang, and Petalstripe [Lilywater X Webstripe litter] because Fadingstar and Fleathistle hid their kits at first).

.

First Half-Dark Kit: Salviathaw (younger littermates = Brindlekit and Mothshade) 

-- Snowfringe X Sorrelmint litter

Her mother was still alive when she was born, making her Half-DF-half-living.

.

First Dark-Star Kit: Blightrain (younger littermate = Scabdrip) 

-- Falleniris X Brooksmoke (donor) X Blackfinch

[residents-of-the-darkforest]

Talk With The Family (short story)

Under normal circumstances, if Fungichomp were to walk in sight of the Eye-Out Thorns, he would be looking over his shoulder continuously, and his heart would be thumping roughly. He didn’t hate nor dislike the family here–though he was certainly verging on it right now–but no one could deny that certain members especially could be unpredictable whether or not they had been friendly in previous interactions.

Now, he was too angry for fear. His entire body buzzed like a nest of enraged hornets, giving him the energy to fight off ten foxes if he so wished. 

He sat just outside of the thorns, facing Falleniris and Blackfinch–who had come from their Devour Cave den–as well as Myrtlewing, Hootpetal, Grousemane, and Alderstar, the parriarches of the family. The four didn’t seem to know what this call had been about, watching Fungichomp expectantly. Falleniris looked troubled, her gaze flitting to her paws, while Blackfinch pressed against her side. At least they were regretful.

“I understand some of you may not have heard of the tragic incident that had occurred earlier today,” Fungichomp began, his teeth grinding with the force of acting civil, when all he wanted to do was shout at these monsters for allowing their kits to become so horrible. 

Hootpetal’s ears pricked, her eyes rounding. “Tragic? At the Daycare?” Clearly, it had occurred to her that a kit must have been hurt.

“Yes,” Fungichomp told her. “Cookiekit, Alabiokit, Smewkit, Muscovykit, Vulturekit, Poplarkit, and Rhubarbkit all became very sick from Deathberry poisoning. It was for luck that Fleathistle was with us today and able to treat them.”

“Are they alright now?” Grousemane prompted, frowning. 

“They’re receiving treatment. But Frostkit, Barkkit, and Gadwallkit died.”

The group withdrew with one breath–all but Myrtlewing, of course not Myrtlewing. 

“Dead?” Hootpetal gasped. 

“Oh no!” Grousemane exclaimed.

“I’m so sorry,” Alderstar murmured in shock.

Myrtlewing watched motionlessly.

Falleniris and Blackfinch glanced at each other, then stared at their paws once more.

“How?” Hootpetal asked.

“I told the parents that it had been a mistake. We use berry juice to decorate sometimes, keeps them entertained and helps to train their paw-eye coordination. Someone–we didn’t specify who–brought in the wrong kinds, we didn’t see the kits eating them.”

“But that wasn’t the case,” Alderstar finished for him, sensing that something was going on. Why else would Fungichomp go to them directly, if his grandkits weren’t one of the sick?

“No,” Fungichomp replied. “Scabkit and Blightkit brought the berries. I didn’t realize it until it was too late.” Images flashed through his mind, of tiny writhing bodies, mouths filling with foam. The deaths had been anything but peaceful. He shivered when he remembered what came after, wailing cries so loud they still rang through his ears as they decayed while still aware, bodies liquefying and juices spilling from their mouths. The youngest of them was a single moon old.

Silence fell over the family for several long heartbeats. Then Hootpetal spoke, still shocked, but there was a touch of defensiveness in her voice. “How do you know it was them?”

“They told me to wait, and they will come back. Stars knows what that means. Whatever it does, it indicates that they knew something about those berries, and I trust everyone I work with. None of us would have brought in anything that shouldn’t have been there. None of us even collected berries today.”

“So what’s the point of this?” Myrtlewing broke in. “You got an agenda, get to it.”

Fungichomp bristled. The tom had just learned that three young kits died horrible deaths. Couldn’t he at least pretend to be sad? He also hated that the tom could see right through Fungichomp, and wasn’t afraid to let him know it. “Don’t you think something should be done?”

“About what?” Blackfinch asked nervously.

“Your kits brought in Deathberries to hurt their peers. Don’t you think that’s, I don’t know, bad?”

“Of course we know it’s bad!” Falleniris snapped. “You think we know how to fix it?”

“I think you should try,” Fungichomp responded with a growl. Was she too lazy to bother preventing the deaths of more kits?

“We know that,” Falleniris curled her lip. “What we want to know is your suggestion.”

“How about ‘act like normal parents?’” Fungichomp suggested, fury rising. “I doubt it’s a coincidence such callous kits were born into a family where a majority of their members kill cats for fun.” He glanced at Myrtlewing pointedly. 

Myrtlewing winked.

“Tell me honestly,” Alderstar spoke up. He stepped forward, authority edging his words. “Do you believe that we would be stupid enough to teach our young kits to hurt anyone they deem fit? Do you think that we don’t know that that would make them easy targets? Yes,” he added, “we teach them ways to fight, ways to defend themselves or go on the offensive, and we teach them how to kill if it is ever necessary. But we do not teach them to harm whoever whenever. Now, could you consider that maybe, just maybe, Scabkit and Blightkit heard from a story or eavesdropping that certain berries cause someone to feel bad–just bad, and wanted to try it? Or perhaps they simply wanted to paint, and found the berries themselves before their lessons. Maybe they thought it would be a tasty snack.”

Fungichomp’s skin began to twitch with doubt, but only by a twinge. “They told me to wait,” he repeated. “They said that they would ‘come back’.” A shudder crawled through his skin. Scabkit’s piercing icy eyes, staring through him, had looked like a crazed fox, smiling in amusement as the other kits wailed in agony. It was the most terrifying look he had ever seen from such a young cat.

“Meaning?” Grousemane pushed.

“Meaning Stars knows!” 

“‘They will come back,’” Myrtlewing repeated thoughtfully. “Seems to me they thought their friends would get better.”

The group was quick to nod in agreement. “We could ask them,” Hootpetal proposed. “Speculation can only get us so far, and who’s to say if we’re going in the right direction?”

“Alright, then,” Fungichomp agreed after a moment of thought. Part of him asked himself if it was a trap, if they were going to lead him to his death and silence him. The other part told him to shut up. “Where are they now?”

“Home,” Falleniris informed him. “Waspbeak and Sapdew are watching them.”

Fungichomp stood, sweeping his paw forward in a gesture. His jaw was still tensely locked. “Lead the way.”

===========================

--Featuring:

Alder being diplomatic,

Defensive family,

Myrtle being Myrtle,

Guilty parents.

--Wasp and Sap aren’t a couple at this point, but are starting to hang out a lot.

--’Parriarch’ is a gender-neutral word for the leaders of a family! Bella-May and Houndheart would technically be the ones, but everyone is more familiar with the poly, and the younger generations hang around them more (though they do visit the others).

--Remember how Scab survived and got better after eating the berry? He thought that that would happen to the other kits, and told Fungi such when they were dying.

Must have been really eerie for Fungi.

--Yes they do teach their kits to kill and stuff, but like it says, if their kits do that often, they gain many enemies. So when Buzzard and others kill cats in methods they were named for? They kill annoying or bad cats that everyone hates.

--Alder is as bad as Myrtle, but not when it comes to kits. Kits he would feel bad about.

--I mentioned before that Blackfinch came from a family that lives in caves, while Falleniris comes from a family that lives in the eye-Out Thorns. Both liked how they lived, so they put the environments together--now they live in a cave (different one, Black's family still occupies the original) and filled it with thorns. The thorns' placement seem random, but are in fact like a maze. It is easy for the unfamiliar to get lost in, never finding thier way out. In a sense, they are 'devoured' by the cave, hence the name.

--Fungichomp belongs to @wills-woodland-warriors

--Taglist: @starfalcon555 @umbranoxs @elementaldeityoffood @ambitiousauthor @liberhoe 

[residents-of-the-darkforest]

Fungichomp tells the parents it was an accident, someone-maybe himself-brought berries in for paint, not realizing what it was or that the kits decided to taste it.

Because too many young lives were lost, and he would never allow a kit to be hurt, no matter how evil they may be, even so young. Besides, he knew what had happened to Waspbeak and Falleniris, still carrying horrible scars, because someone, a parent included, wanted revenge.

I wonder if he thinks about that choice now, when more are killed at their paws?

--

@wills-woodland-warriors

[residents-of-the-darkforest]

Red Berries (short story)

“Wow, look at those ones!” Scabkit exclaimed, bouncing over to a cluster of red berries. Normally plants were brown or black, with wrinkles in them. These were bright and plump, and looked utterly appetizing. 

“They must be juicy,” Blightkit guessed. “Ma said that grandpa told her they are, where he came from.”

Scabkit lunged forward, biting into one. It bursted open on impact, splattering her face with an orange liquid that settled onto her tongue as well. She gulped it and the skin she had torn off down, then licked her lips for more. “Yep, juicy!”

“I couldn’t tell.”

Scabkit was about to go in for another one when a coughing fit took over her. 

“What’s happening?” Blightkit asked, staring.

Scabkit tried to respond, but when she opened her mouth, white foam spilled forth, slipping over her teeth like a sticky wave. Scabkit collapsed to the ground, shuddering as convulsions took over her body. Blightkit ran around her, clearly unsure what to do or how to help, but unwilling to leave her side.

Then, what had felt to be endless waves of foam climbing through her throat and suffocating her lungs, began to grow smaller, her shudders weaker, until finally Scabkit realized she could stand again and scrambled to her paws, blinking at her sister in alarm.

“What was that?” Blightkit half-questioned, half-demanded, fur sticking out at every angle, eyes wide. Scabkit’s own bulging eyes could only meet them and stare back. 

“I don’t know,” she answered. A grin crossed her features, growing as she began to think. “But I want to see more.”

Blightkit’s eyes flashed. She understood without needing clarification. “Mom says she and ma will be dropping us off at that Daycare again tomorrow.”

“Should we bring a snack for our friends?” Scabkit turned to face the berries again.

“It is the polite thing to do,” Blightkit reasoned. Padding to join her sister, they smiled widely at the red berries, so shiny their surface reflected their yellow teeth.

===================

--I began thinking after the Duckkit story, why exactly had Fungi shuddered when he remembered Blightkit and Scabkit?

--Scab and Blight aren’t invincible. They can die again, it’s just much harder. If wounds can heal in seconds, then surely some poisons are tougher to kill them, Plus Scab didn’t eat the full berry, just remaining skin and juices.

--We’ll see who and how many are affected by this, but I will say that at least two kits died.

--Taglist: @wills-woodland-warriors @starfalcon555 @ambitiousauthor @liberhoe @umbranoxs @elementaldeityoffood

[residents-of-the-darkforest]

what if stardark kits can heal super well like instead of having dark defects that have super good health

yessssssssssssss that's definitely gonna be something

imagine they get a scratch or something and it just. Heals. The same way a scratch does, getting smaller and cleaner, but super fast so that you can see it heal.

I imagine Fungichomp saw it and decided. Yeah I need to talk to the parents

[residents-of-the-darkforest]

What if Muscovy wants to get with either Blight or Scab. She’s in the right age group and it would also piss Smew tf off

Smew: SHE KILLED OUR BROTHER!!

Muscovy, calmly: did you kill our brother?

Scab/Blight: yeah

Muscovy:

Muscovy: ok

--

Smew: how could you betray Gadwallkit’s memory like this?!

Muscovy: we knew him for like. Two moons. 

Muscovy: Chill.

[residents-of-the-darkforest]

Smewaster! (originally Smewmoss, but I like this suffix for him better. Was also a she-cat, but I think being a tom suits them better. Maybe trans!).

He holds a massive grudge against Scab and Blight for killing his brother, one of or the only kit that remembers what caused their sickness as kits.

--

Ref by Turukhan

[residents-of-the-darkforest]

Anon Frightnight here. I think that Ripperclaw would end up making good friends with Scabdrip and Blightrain. Ripperclaw doesn't really care about others that aren't close, so he would likely hear about the poisoning and just shrug, not saying a thing except to Claudrat. And the Red Berries story matches up with Ripperclaw as a young apprentice, exploring the different poisons.

aw look the terrors are making friends!

[residents-of-the-darkforest]

Scab and Blight killed Frostkit, Barkkit, and Gadwallkit

Their other victims include Cookiekit, Alabiokit, Smewkit, Muscovykit, Vulturekit, Poplarkit, and Rhubarbkit.

Almondkit got lucky, as they had a sniffle that day and stayed with their grandpas

-----------

4 moons old and already heave a decent carnage count

[residents-of-the-darkforest]

just checked and WolfSpottedWillow’s cousins, Scabdrip and Blightrain, were born 40 moons after them

Heatherfrond and Hollymist are about 41 moons older