#scabkit

[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]

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]

Known Residences of The Void

Aka residences of the Dark Forest that died again and now reside here

--Antpelt

--Ashfur

--Begonialeaf (oc)

--Berrygaze (oc)

--Bloomwhisker (oc)

--Bristlefrost

--Brokenstar

--Darkstripe

--Hawkfrost

--Lilywater (oc)

--Redwillow

--Snowtuft

--Stormstar (oc)

--Tartail (oc)

--Tigerstar

---------------

Cats that are also in The Void if you want to be angsty or have been reincarnated if you don’t want to be:

--Barkkit (oc)

--Curlkit (oc)

--Fressiakit (oc)

--Frostkit (oc)

--Jaykit (oc)

--Gadwallkit (oc)

--Tansykit (oc)

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

Bonus: deaths

--Antpelt --> torn throat to tail by Ivypool, who was training in the Dark Forest as a spy and had to prove her loyalty. Life or death situation.

.

--Ashfur --> dragged underwater and drowned by Bristlefrost, who died as well.

.

--Barkkit --> poisoned by Scabkit and Blightkit, who at the time did not know what would happen.

.

--Begonialeaf --> faded.

.

--Berrygaze --> throat torn out by Bristleblaze for attempting to harm a kit.

.

--Bloomwhisker --> tortured to death by Myrtlewing, Falleniris, Scabdrip, and Blightrain.

.

--Brokenstar --> neck snapped by Yellowfang in the Great Battle.

.

--Curlkit --> killed by Pasquekit/lull, who didn’t fully understand the consequences of what she was doing.

.

--Darkstripe --> neck snapped by Firestar possesion Rootpsring’s body, whom Darkstripe was helping keep captive.

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--Fressiakit --> born sickly, died sickly shortly after birth.

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--Frostkit --> poisoned by Scabkit and Blightkit, who at the time did not know what would happen.

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--Gadwallkit --> poisoned by Scabkit and Blightkit, who at the time did not know what would happen.

.

--Hawkfrost --> neck snapped by Brambleclaw in the Great Battle.

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--Jaykit --> born sickly, died sickly.

.

--Lilywater --> faded from memory.

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--Redwillow --> chest torn by Blackstar in the Great Battle.

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--Snowtuft --> neck broken by Ashfur.

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--Stormstar --> lured to the Dark Forest by Scabdrip and throat bitten out by Troutstar.

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--Tansykit --> starved.

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--Tartail --> tortured by Myrtlewing and Alderstar for hurting Perchpaw (forced to eat a rock bigger than his head, head stomped into it when he couldn’t).

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--Tigerstar --> neck bitten into until he collapsed by Firestar in the Great Battle.