Dark Forest Resident: Applecreek
Aliases / Nicknames: Bestie, Johnny Appleseed, Applejack
Gender: intersex trans tom
Sexuality: polysexual, biromantic
Family: Petalnose (mother), Goldenshade (father), Mapleheart (sister), Stormberry, Icefeather (brothers)
Other Relations: Sparkwhisker (mentor), Liondust, Kestrelwhisper, Cedarmoon (best friends/crushes)
Clan: Treeclan
Rank: warrior, loner
Characteristics: kills to impress crushes, goofy, reckless, loves pulling off pranks, skilled at growing plants
Number of Victims: 15
Number of Murders: 5
Murder Method: placing large amounts of apple seeds in fresh-kill
Known Victims: Liondust, Kestrelwhisper, Cedarmoon, Sparrowthroat, Seedclaw (killed), Basiltail, Darkpetal, Feathertuft, Thornbreeze, Redbelly, Gorsepounce, Brindledusk, Crookedeye, Juniperstripe, Lizardleaf (poisoned)
Victim Profile: best friends/crushes, senior warriors who his crushes disliked, other senior warriors (accidentally), elders (accidentally)
Cause of Death: decapitated by falling tree branch
Cautionary Tale: N/A
Story:
Applecreek was a normal cat for most of his life. He was a skilled tracker with a keen knack for sniffing out plants. He had a fondness for the fruit he was named after in particular, and even figured out how to grow apple trees. He was a good son, a good brother, a good apprentice, and a devoted friend. Maybe a little too devoted of a friend.
Applecreek, Liondust, Kestrelwhisper, and Cedarmoon had been as thick as thieves from the ripe age of one moon old. They were almost never seen apart, and they only seemed to grow closer as they grew older. This was especially true for Applecreek, who eventually developed crushes on his three friends-- crushes that were incredibly obvious to every cat in all five Clans except for the actual objects of Applecreek's affection.
He tried so hard to show them his true feelings. The idea of growing apple trees originally came about as an idea to impress them. Again and again, Applecreek tried to show how he felt, with almost no success.
These hapless attempts of trying to impress Liondust, Kestrelwhisper, and Cedarmoon often came at the expense of their Clanmates, who Applecreek would prank in hopes of seeing his friends laugh. Most of the time, it was brushed off, as the targeted Clanmate simply stared at Applecreek with pity and sympathy.
But with how hard Applecreek tried, he was bound to go too far eventually.
Liondust, Kestrelwhisper, and Cedarmoon had been complaining about Sparrowthroat and Seedclaw, two older warriors, constantly interrupting all of their games. Naturally, Applecreek felt that the perfect solution to this was a good old prank. Maybe this would be the one that got his friends to notice him!
He knew apple seeds were quite bitter, so he tore down all of the fruit he had grown that season, tore out their seeds, and stuffed as many seeds as he could in as many pieces of fresh-kill as possible. Sparrowthroat and Seedclaw were bound to eat at least one, and the disgusted expressions on their faces as they tried to remove the taste of the seeds from their mouths would be priceless!
Applecreek went to sleep that night feeling excited about tomorrow. He woke up the next morning to the sound of multiple cats throwing up just outside of the warriors' den. Snickering, he stepped outside to see Sparrowthroat and Seedclaw's reactions... only to see that it wasn't them vomiting.
It was Liondust, Kestrelwhisper, and Cedarmoon. Sparrowthroat and Seedclaw were instead lying in the middle of camp, vomit caking their mouths, their eyes glazed over, and their families sobbing over their lifeless corpses.
Horrified, Applecreek guided his friends into the medicine den. But it was too late. Liondust, Kestrelwhisper, and Cedarmoon soon began having violent seizures, and in mere minute-long intervals, they passed away one by one.
Applecreek had only just let out his caterwaul of pure grief when unsheathed claws cuffed his shoulder. He whirled around to see the deputy--Sparrowthroat-- and Seedclaw's sister, Hawkbush, her teeth bared and her face tearstained. She screamed that Applecreek was a murderer, that she should kill him right there and then.
The only reason why Hawkbush didn't kill Applecreek right then and there was the timely intervention of the leader, Wheatstar. Wheatstar did, however, sadly inform Applecreek that he would have to be exiled. He knew that Applecreek hadn't meant any real harm, but the harm he had done would almost certainly bring doom to nearly half of the Clan.
When Applecreek demanded to know what Wheatstar meant by that, the leader flicked his tail outside of the medicine den. Poking his head out, Applecreek saw almost all of the senior warriors and even a few of the elders staggering around shakily, vomiting, clutching their heads in pain, panting, and overall suffering... suffering because of him.
Applecreek didn't need to be told twice. He ran out of camp and never looked back. He spent the rest of his life a wandering loner. Other loners, rogues, and kittypets spoke in hushed whispers of the cat they called Johnny Appleseed, of how he did his best to spread seeds throughout the land, but strangely avoided apples and apple trees.
More than that, they spoke of the way he always seemed to be crying, how he always seemed to be muttering the names "Liondust, Kestrelwhisper, Cedarmoon" under his breath over and over, and how, when threatened, he always just stood there, as if waiting for them to give him what he deserved.
He did this even as the apple branch splintered off of the tree, falling down and cleaving right through his neck.
Additional Information:
--Submission by @starfalcon555
--As you can tell by the last paragraph, this guy is loosely based on the folklore tale of Johnny Appleseed!
--The other cats that fell victim to apple seed-induced cyanide poisoning were cured by the combined efforts of all of the medicine cats, hence why Applecreek only has five murders under his belt.
--I feel like this guy would be besties with Fleathistle and Fadingstar for obvious reasons, lol
--With the deaths of Sparrowthroat and Seedclaw, Hawkbush is the only surviving kit of Snailstar. Snailstar and their family just keep going through it, huh?
--Hawkbush does eventually become Hawkstar, though! So that's a plus :D