#martenstep

[residents-of-the-darkforest]

Base used: F2U Cat Head Base by googaoo on DeviantArt

I was planning this for a while, and have several drawings of some (4?) characters, because I wanted it to be my own. But I'm just too busy for it right now, and really wanted this out. Hopefully I will one day have a version of this where they're all my own art! Until then, I hope you like it!

And if you're new to the blog and wonder why I have dead af cats have kits, here you go: https://www.tumblr.com/residents-of-the-darkforest/717800073334079488/ok-so-i-came-across-this-blog-and-im-super?source=share

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Tags (forgot): @ambitiousauthor @starfalcon555 @liberhoe @wills-woodland-warriors @frightnightindustries @indigo-flightly-falls @elementaldeityoffood @umbranoxs

[residences-of-the-darkforest]

Martenstep, after seeing Cricketfur and Fishsomething spend so much time together: "I just worry that you're starting to replace me..." :(

Cricketfur: "...."

Cricketfur: "I assure you that the relationship I have with Fish is vastly different from the one I have with you"

[residents-of-the-darkforest]

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

[residences-of-the-darkforest]

I was thinking....

What if Rushtree DIDN'T leave StarClan voluntarily?

What if he was exiled?

But what would someone as kind as him do to be sent to the Dark Forest?

Maybe a justified murder? Maybe he saw another StarClan cat was fading, in pain and suffering, and he tried everything to help them to no avail, so he, at the cat's request, did the only thing he could do to help them. The cat was fading anyway, soon they would disappear. Isn't a quick death (or as quick as the death of a spirit can be) more merciful than one that may span for several more, agonizing years?

So he does it, even though everything in him screams not to. Because he doesn't want anyone to hurt. And he lays with them as he does, comforting them as they disappear.

Then he's tackled.

[residences-of-the-darkforest]

That did make me realize that, not including their children, Cricketfur is the only one of the group who actually belongs in the Dark Forest

Martenstep is innocent and only joined to be with him

Daisydust is innocent and only joined from StarClan to have kits

Rushtree is innocent and only joined from StarClan to help others and see the brothers again

[residences-of-the-darkforest]

is rushtree in the dark forest?

Okay initially he wasn’t and wasn’t meant to be

buuuuut

joining a place where many suffer in the hopes of helping them and wanting them to suffer less is 100% something Rushtree would do PLUS the added benefit of seeing his closest friends against

If he does go, it’ll probably be during the “StarClan cats can go to the Dark Forest see to have kits” part in new Clan history, so it wouldn’t be right after he died. Definitely after Martenstep and Cricketfur’s kits were all adults (possibly save for Martenstep and Daisydust’s litter)

I also imagine that he would have a group of Dark Forest kits and apprentices that he looks after. Possibly as a parent, But more likely as their surrogate big bro

[residences-of-the-darkforest]

Rushtree becomes the golden mentor.

He was incredibly grief-stricken for a long time when his two mentors died close to one another (official and unofficial), mentors who were like big brothers to him.

But after a long time of working through it and accepting it and feeling happy again, he becomes to apprentices what Martenstep and Cricketfur were to him.

He's patient as a saint. He listens to apprentice's questions without judgement or ridicule and responds to what they need or want. At the end of every training session or lesson, he asks them how they are doing, if there's anything they want to keep working on, if there's anything they want to talk about--related to the lesson or not.

He would be a wonderful mentor regardless of his loss, because that's just the kind cat he is, but he also does it to honour Marten and Cricket and their memory.

Sometimes--whenever he can, really, he tells stories of the brothers. He would talk about all the important stuff they taught him, he would make it clear what amazing Clanmates and friends they were, so much so that on more than one occasion a younger cat would say "I wish I could have met them!"

Too, he talks about all the fun stuff--all the times they played together, all the pranks that were pulled, the jokes that were made--all tales that never failed to make the listeners crack up when he told them.

And every time he talks about them, he can't help but feel their presence with him, warm and loving. And he knows that even if he can't see them, even if they are physically gone, the true part of them, the spirit of them both, are still right there with him.

At least, that's what he believed.

[residences-of-the-darkforest]

Possible suffixes for the kits:

Snakecurl

Snakeleaf

Deercurl

Deerleaf

Hawkcurl

Hawkleaf

(all after Daisydust's mom-- the leaf could also match Martenstep's mother).

Snakedusk

Deerdusk

Hawkdusk

(after Martenstep's mom)

Snakerush

Snaketree

Deerrush

Deertree

Hawkrush

Hawktree

(after Martenstep's apprentice)

[residences-of-the-darkforest]

@starfalcon555 once said that we should have more qpr pairings…AND THEY’RE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT

so instead of being mates, Martenstep and Daisydust are a qpr and have a litter who they raise as such.

Martenstep is ace/aro and Daisydust is most likely demi

[residences-of-the-darkforest]

how would cricketfur and martenstep'sdeaths look in the matching what killed you idea?

Eyes, the both of them!

In regular death, Martenstep looks perfectly fine because his death cause was purely internal. He died of Takotsubo cardiomyopathy (in other words, he died of a broken heart).

But in the "resemblance to death" version, his pupils pump the same way a heart would, expanding and shrinking rhythmically. It makes it easy to tell if he's lying or hiding something (not that he's good at either of those anyways) because the movements of his eyes speed up.

--

Cricketfur died of blood loss after he chewed his leg off to free him from a fox-trap. That, you can clearly see in the regular death, but in THIS version, his leg is perfectly find and there's no blood on him whatsoever. But his pupils are always incredibly thin, and they have a silver glint to them--much like the silver wire of the fox trap (the glint part might be for his whole eye? It looks green but has that...shine?)

==========

Some cats only have one thing that shows their death, and sometimes that thing is very subtle.

What killed you doesn't necessarily have to show HOW it killed you or even what part of the body it harmed. Example: you were somehow stabbed with a bunch of needles? Well you have needle teeth now.

[residences-of-the-darkforest]

I just realized

Martenstep is the most positive, joyful and friendly cat of all the Clans. He more than likely made many friends, even with cats of enemy Clans because he was just so nice

He filled so many lives with joy…

and he died of heartbreak

[residences-of-the-darkforest]

Cricketfur and his mate bet on how long it takes Martenstep to realize that they’re mates

not just because they’re both toms (Martenstep has only ever known his brother to be attracted to she-cats as far as he’s aware) but because M’s first though when seeing someone (of any gender) with his brother is “oh a friend!”

[residences-of-the-darkforest]

I think I'll make Daisydust Martenstep's mate (sweetheart and sweetheart) and I'll make Cricketfur.................gay

[residences-of-the-darkforest]

Martenstep normally VS Martenstep when someone hurts his little brother

—

I cannot find the original base, but this seems to be the artist: FlutterByBeeBoy - Hobbyist, Digital Artist | DeviantArt

[residences-of-the-darkforest]

Good Old Days

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.

Base: Warriors Sleeping F2U Base (ex in desc) by KingoftheKraken on DeviantArt

[residences-of-the-darkforest]

Brother in Darkness (part 1--Martenstep comic redone)

Martenstep’s eyes blinked open. 

He was dead. He knew it. He had known that he was dying, his chest aching too painfully for the medicine cat to help, and though it only took him less than a breath to realize it, he knew that he was no longer in the ThunderClan camp. That could only mean one thing: he was dead.

Martenstep sprang to his paws, pupils dilated, and a wide smile on his face. “Cricketfur!” He half-called, half-hollard just for the fun of it.

Not including the few moons as a kit before Cricketfur was taken in, Martenstep had hardly ever done anything without his brother. They were as close as two cats could be–they were practically the same cat separated into two bodies. They patrolled together, trained together, ate together, played together, napped together, they even mentored Martenstep’s apprentice together.

Then on a perfectly sunny day, a perfectly normal day, Cricketfur’s body was carried into the camp, his front leg missing and his pelt drenched in blood splatter. Martenstep could only think of how he had just seen his brother, how Cricketfur had just been okay, with no blood and no missing limb and no worries at all. He wasn’t able to believe that this mangled form was the same cat, or if it was, that he was really dead, and he had shaken his corpse in a deperate attempt to get him to quit the mean trick until their mother shouted at him and pulled him away.

Martenstep had tried to hold on to, well, anything he could to prevent him from falling into a pit of utter despair. He could always feel its icy claws, a constant shadow over everything in his life. Everywhere he looked were either memories of his little brother, the brother he was supposed to protect, or the painful reminder that Cricketfur would never step foot on that patch of grass, or climb that tree, or play with that mossball, or anything again. 

He managed to hold on long enough to finish his apprentice, Rushtree’s, training. Though the graduation did bring him joy, it wasn’t enough to fight the darkness, and it wasn’t long before he succumbed to the pain after begging the Stars that no matter what, no matter where, wherever his brother was, he wanted to be there as well.

He didn’t understand why the starry she-cat that spoke with him asked if he was sure, or why she told him that he might regret it, but he didn’t care enough to understand. The only thing he thought about was seeing his brother again.

“Cricketfur!” Martenstep called again, looking around. He sniffed, wrinkling his nose against the strange pungent smell of the forest around him. Then he took in the strange sights. The sky was a deep red, with thin, darker clouds marking it in a way that resembled veins on meat. 

He took a step–the grass beneath his paws crumbled. He bent his head to sniff at them, surprised to find the blades so pale and stiff. They were as dead as grass could be without rotting away entirely. 

All the plants were, he realized in shock. I thought StarClan would have fresh, lush plants, he thought to himself.

He had expected to see bright, open plants so full of colours that even the most seasoned warriors would be mesmerized by them. Instead, he faced drooping bushes with brown and wrinkled leaves, and trees with branches that curled like spider’s legs and trunks that looked to be marked by claws. 

Why? 

He walked along, looking around at this strange setting when his paw bumped against something. He paused, and looked, curious, at the flower so sunken into itself that he could hardly identify it–but he thought it might be a rose, a tinge of red just visible through the blackened skin on its petals that hung limply beneath rotting sepels. It had a single leaf that hung to it by the thinnest thread. 

Next to the plant were curling bramble thorns, long and sharp like a hawk’s talons. Martenstep sniffed along it, just close enough to not poke his nose.

“GET OUT!” 

The booming voice made Martenstep jump into the air. He spun around, scanning the trees and undergrowth, but he couldn’t spot anyone. “Hello?” He asked, confused.

“Hello there,” someone responded, much too close. 

Martenstep flinched, startled, and his head snapped to face the speaker.

A she-cat was looking at him, her pelt was grey with a darker back and spots, and she had a lighter muzzle and underbelly. She had red spots–

No, Martenstep realized, bile rising in his throat. The scent hit him.

It was blood.

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It's probably gonna be a LOOOOOOOOONG time before the comic is continued, so here it is in story version with much faster to come chapters.