Dark Forest Resident: Fulvouspine
Aliases / Nicknames: Duck, Tom Duck, Mousebrain
Gender: tom (trans)
Sexuality: pansexual
Family: unnamed mother, unnamed father
Other Relations: unnamed mentor, two unnamed apprentices
Clan: Riverclan
Rank: warrior
Characteristics: loves to swim, great at blending in with the reeds on banks, jumps to conclusions
Murder Motive: prevent more deaths
Number of Victims: 1
Number of Murders: 1
Murder Method: poisoning
Known Victims: Firwhisker
Victim Profile: best friend
Cause of Death: pulmonary edema
Cautionary Tale: ??
Story:
Anyone else in his place would have found it strange, right?
He and Firwhisker had been best friends since Fulvouspine became an apprentice. No one else wanted much to do with the new, clueless kit. But Firwhisker, two moons older, offered friendship. He showed the younger kit around, gave him pointers with his lessons, even made sure no one picked on him.
Perhaps that is why it took so long for Fulvouspine to see something. To do something.
The first incident came after Silverbur teased Firwhisker about a hunting move he had failed. Later that night was the gathering, and the patrol would find Silverbur frozen to death on their way back.
Minnowmist was her brother, and much meaner. He shoved others aside often, angering many. His grief made him worse. Then the leader sent him to live outside the camp until he could realize the importance of his Clanmates and keeping the peace. The blizzard was unexpected. Still, Firwhisker didn’t seem to feel a speck of sorrow.
But those were both accidents, right? It was just too cold.
Then came Troutpaw. Firwhisker had complained to Fulvouspine that the darn she-cat never listened, instead complained over every thing he tried to teach her.
The next day, she was too sick to train. Firwhisker had thought--or at least said--that she was faking it to get out of her lessons. But the sickness rapidly grew worse. She was dead within a matter of days.
It was Firwhisker’s words to him at the vigil that set things in motion. “There’s still Flowercreek’s kits.”
Fulvouspine didn’t want to hurt him, but that many deaths, all of whom annoyed or bothered Firwhisker in some way? All occurring right after they irritated him? One time is luck, twice is a coincidence. But three times is a pattern, a pattern Fulvouspine could not allow to continue.
He came close to turning back many times. While he collected the berries, while he stuffed them into the prey, while he asked Firwhisker to take a walk with him to eat by the river. Most of all, when Firwhisker’s happy chattering became coughing, hacking.
Fulvouspine had to force himself to sit still, to not look even as he could see from the corner of his eyes Firwhisker reaching for him.
He had killed his best friend.
But the deaths had stopped. That surely meant he had been right, didn’t it?
Perhaps he should have gone to the leader first, or medicine cat....would that have given Firwhisker time to kill a fourth? Was he right to take such a drastic step so quickly?
These questions followed Fulvouspine for seasons, lasting beyond his sniffles and coughing. As he lay weakly in his nest in the medicine den, he wondered what afterlife he would find himself in.
Additional Information:
--Firwhisker was innocent. The true killer was someone who had a crush on him, and killed anyone that annoyed him. They are currently unnamed.
--Ref by Turukhan on DA.
--He is named after the Fulvous Whistling Duck.
--Mate to Mallardgleam, another Dark Forest warrior named after a duck. They didn’t know each other in life, but saw each other and fell.
--One of his kits was killed by Scab and Blight’s poisoning. Fulvous blamed himself, thinking that it was karma.
--His head fur gets puffy when he’s angry, making the orange spot bigger.