#bansheefig

[residences-of-the-darkforest]

Familyecho won’t let me access it, but do you have photos of Shallowfig & banshee’s side of the family tree? Like who banshees parents are, their kits, and Shallowfig kits? - @wills-woodland-warriors, who is drawing a mini family tree for fadingflea family

Shallow I remember liking the idea that he sort of looks like a fennec fox!

He had a litter with someone he wasn’t all that close with. Once they were weaned, he was given full custody. Those kits are:

Then he and Banshee got together!

They had:

Banshee herself looks like this:

(Bonus sister)

Their mother, Plague, is here:

And I believe the father is Webstripe!

[residents-of-the-darkforest]

Funnelquail, visiting: Mylingkit? I thought she was Bansheekit.

Shallowfig: oh ha yeah well we obviously had to change it.

Hemlockpine: why did you name her Banshee anyway? I get it's after your lover-girl here, but why specificially Myling?

--Meanwhile--

Tendrilkit: *smacks Mylingkit on the head*

Mylingkit:

*UNGODLY SCREECHING*

[residents-of-the-darkforest]

THE BABIES!!

@elementaldeityoffood

Colours they don't obviously get from Shallow, they got from their bio mom

--

Base by Supurrnovae!

[residents-of-the-darkforest]

Father-Son Talk (short story)

Shallowfig’s heart thumped painfully in his chest. His fear was far lesser than it had been when Banshee almost died and when Plague had tried to attack his precious kits–heartless foxdung–but it was still present enough to make him feel nauseous, squirming uncomfortably as he sat before his father, Alderstar.

Between the den invasion and Banshee’s wound, and on top of it all, finding out that Banshee was pregnant with his kits, it was a while before his parents, other than Hootpetal, wanted to talk with him about his choice to become mates with Banshee behind their back. At least, that’s what he expected that this was about. All Whitebriar had told him was that Alderstar wanted to speak with him about Banshee.

Alderstar sat facing him now. They were on equal ground, but it felt as though his father was staring him down from a high stone. 

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you,” Shallowfig began, wanting to get ahead of this. 

“You should have,” Alderstar replied.

“I thought you would have chased her away,” Shallowfig admitted.

“Would that fear have been worth keeping part of your family secret from the other?” Alderstar inquired. Shallowfig huddled into himself. He looked down on the ground, focusing, or trying to, on his claws digging into the soil. He heard a sigh, and a moment later Alderstar was no longer facing him, but beside him, his tail curled around his son’s back.

“I would be a hypocrite to fault you for choosing love,” his father went on. Shallowfig knew he was talking about his dad, Myrtlewing. “I’m just sorry you thought that I would chase her away.”

“Would you have?”

“I would have probably come close,” Alderstar breathed. “But I know the truth now. She is not Plague’s pawn, shaped in her way. She is a victim that deserves love and a home, and you stood up and provided it for her.” 

Surprised at the warmth in his father’s voice, after having expected rage, Shallowfig looked at Alderstar, meeting his proud gaze. “You’re not mad?”

“I still think you went about it wrong,” Alderstar told him. You should have explained the situation to us or at least your brother and sister. But,” he continued when Shallowfig shrank in guilt, “I understand that is easier said than done. And I understand that our paranoia due to events of the past has caused you to hide from us what makes you happy, and for that I am truly sorry.”

Alderstar was always loving and involved, but this was too much. After finding out he would be a father again, after almost having his kits die and then his mate almost die–and then finding out that it was his pregnant mate that almost died….Shallowfig trembled, leaning and sniffling into Alderstar’s welcoming embrace. 

Then a cold shiver ran down Shallowfig’s spine. “Plague’s not dead.”

“No,” Alderstar agreed. Shallowfig felt his fur bristle and heard his voice tense. “But she’s weak now, after what her daughter rightfully did to her.”

“Do you think she’ll try to attack again?”

“We should expect it, to be safe. Train your kits. Then train them harder. Teach them to kill.”

Shallowfig flinched. He knew and accepted that his fathers and many of his kin were killers, that was a simple fact that had existed since he was a kit, but he had not planned to pass down such….instinct to his kits. “I don’t want them to be monsters.”

“Would you rather they be dead?” Alderstar questioned.

To that, Shallowfig didn’t have an answer. He did, in his head, know that of course he would do anything to keep them alive. But he couldn’t say it, to say it meant to think it, thinking that his lovely, little kits in Banshee’s belly could grow up to be just as cruel as Plague, just to make sure that they don’t die by her claws.

He shut his eyes tightly. He should see Banshee. Standing, he looked his father hard in the eye and responded, “I will do anything for them.”

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

--When Alder sighed and walked over to Shallow it was because he was reminded of himself and his own father, Stormstar, and didn’t want to make his son think of him like he thought of Storm!

@elementaldeityoffood

[residents-of-the-darkforest]

What Are Their Names? (short story)

“Hey! Break it up, you two!” Shallowfig ordered when he slipped back into his den, Banshee following just behind. The kits looked at him, then at Banshee, then their eyes lit up when they saw the food, and they scrambled to their stubby paws and raced after.

Immediately, Banshee was unnerved by the kits swarming around her legs. 

“Alright, alright, give her some space,” Shallowfig told his kits, sweeping them away with his tail. He took the minnows and set them on the ground a few pawsteps away, to give her room.

“And you got herbs!” one of them noticed, mouth and cheeks already messily stained with fish guts. “Do you smell ‘em, Racemekit?”

“Yeah,” Racemekit confirmed, sounding tired. His eyes were glazed and he chewed slowly and without vigor, contrasting his littermates, devouring the several minnows in ravenous gulps that had Shallowfig concerned that they would choke.

“You bringed them?” Tendrilkit asked Banshee. 

“Uh, yep!” Banshee confirmed. Shallowfig wondered if she had ever spoken to a kit before, and that thought made him wonder when the last time she spoke to anyone–passerbys not included–before. Was she still close with her mother? Shallowfig shook his head. Best not to think about that now.

“We would have first,” Tendrilkit went on moodily.

Shallowfig tilted his head. “Is that why you snuck out?” Did they want to get medicine for their brother? Shallowfig had thought they were simply doing what all kits do, ignoring what their parents’ told them and going on an adventure.

Tendrilkit huffed. “No! You was asleep and didn’t see us!”

Shallowfig hid his smile. “Well, we have the medicine now, so don’t do it again. Come here, Racemekit.”

Racemekit did so. He seemed doubtful as he looked down at the large bundle of herbs, but he took them anyway, as slowly as he did the food.

Shallowfig’s nerves crackled, as they always did when he thought about his son. Already, his sickness was making him more somber each day. It took everything in Shallowfig not to hold his son close every second. He knew Racemekit would not want to be treated any differently than his littermates, even if he might…..No. It was benign.

Shallowfig remembered suddenly that he had a guest–who was watching the kits with interest. Knowing he should speak, and wanting to get out of his own head, he spoke with a smile. “Guess I should introduce you to them, huh?” He nodded forward, to where Tendrilkit was nibbling on a small rib. “Fire-spirit there is Tendrilkit. She’s as much a pawful as you probably think, if not more.” He blinked at Racemekit. He wasn’t going to call him the sick one. “My son here is Racemekit.”

Banshee followed his gaze warmly. “I see you went with the plant names.”

“Yeah,” Shallowfig responded. He didn’t know why his cheeks were warm. He returned his attention back on the kits at the minnows, and instantly frowned. “Pollenkit is the one that will need a bath.”

“Is she the one that’s–”

“Rolling in fish guts? Yes.”

Banshee chuckled before pointing with her snout toward the final kit, who had dragged her share to the other side of the den as to not be disturbed by her rambunctious sisters. “And her?” 

“She doesn’t really live up to her name,” Shallowfig told her, heart filling with love for each and every one of his kits. Even if they were different from each other, they were all equally dear to his heart.

Then it sank in just what he named the final kit, and his mouth went dry. 

Banshee looked at him expectantly. 

“....Bansheekit.”

“Oh..”

Shallowfig tried to chuckle, but it came out like splintering wood. “I suppose I’ll have to rename that one if you decide to stick around, wouldn’t I?”

Banshee looked down.

“!...Not that you have to stick around if you don’t want to, but if you do–Uhm, I guess maybe just Banshkit? Or Sheekit? Or you know what, how about a different name altogether? I think Woodkit suits her–” His rambling cut off by a paw pressed on top of his own.

“It’s a great name,” Banshee told him, eyes glistening. “I should know. My mother called Myrtlewing a Samca–you know what? Maybe we shouldn’t go with that. I can’t imagine it means anything good. Maybe Mylingkit? Lwakit? Hupiakit?”

“Can’t say I know what any of those mean,” Shallowfig murmured.

“My mother had some interests in her group when she was alive. Probably why mine and Ursula’s names are so….different. But I–I can understand not wanting to have anything to do with her.”

Shallowfig pressed, ever distantly, against Banshee. “The names don’t have to relate to her. I can pick the names because I want to. They sound really good. Which one is your favourite?” It dawned on him that he was asking Banshee to name one of his kits, and by the looks of Banshee’s face, it dawned on her, too.

“I think I like the name….”

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

--Yep, leaving it on a cliffhanger because I can’t decide on a name!

@elementaldeityoffood

--Wasn’t planning on doing a follow-up, but gotta introduce the kits, right?

--I wonder what a Samca is

[residents-of-the-darkforest]

I'm sitting here, just thinking about how much trauma Banshee is gonna have to unpack once she's with Shallowfig. Not even romantically with him, just. Around a normal cat who isn't her family. Learning that kits and apprentices aren't supposed to use claws, and that mothers don't scar their own children to mark them as family. Having to dig your own hole under a tree to live in isn't normal either. Just... her asking question about milestones she had and when Shallowfig is gonna have his kits go through them, only to be told she didn't live a healthy childhood.

Oooooooough

What if she sees like a small nick or something on one of the kit's faces and asks why he hadn't marked the others yet, and goes to mark one (thinking it's normal and wanting to be helpful)

and Shallowfig full on TACKLES her to the ground and demands and questions why she was about to claw his baby

so not only is there angst of her realizing her childhood wasn't normal and in fact very bad, but there's angst of her feeling super guilty about almost clawing her best friend / future mate's kit

and perhaps this is what starts her Realization

[residents-of-the-darkforest]

If the kits had to be described in one word each

Tendril: argumentative

Myling: LOUD

Racme: dignified

Poppy: high-strung

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(And to describe Poppy more, she's 'girly' in a deranged way. Ex. Poppy: gets clawed horribly. Poppy: omg guys look the blood matches my spots so well!! I should bleed more!!!)

@elementaldeityoffood

[residents-of-the-darkforest]

@elementaldeityoffood​​

Them!! They are gender-queer and non-binary respectfully

Pagrus was originally gonna be Shrapnel, and their suffix was gonna be fish-related. Then I found Pagrus (a fish) and it fit them so much more! Maybe they got it from Sharkstar?

Also yes Glass’s suffix is a Clan name, the DF don’t give a shit

Bonus:

Dark Kit / Grand Dark Kit eyes are purple.....there’s still purple in there!

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Design by Yarrowleef

[residents-of-the-darkforest]

Mother Knows (short story)

Poor thing hasn’t woken yet, Hootpetal thought to herself once she had entered the den and had a second to blink at the grey cat curled around her grandkits. The kits didn’t wake either, though their noses wrinkled and their paws twitched in their sleep.

She wondered if she should leave and return again, but decided that it was only right to make her presence known. She cleared her throat, then again when the she-cat only shuffled. 

Opening her eyes, Banshee looked around sleepily. Then she spotted Hootpetal, and they burst open while a hiss escaped her throat. She immediately jumped to her paws and stood over the kits, the sight of which made Hootpetal purr with gratitude.

Then recognition dawned on Banshee’s face, apparently making her more frightened than before, as she lowered and flattened her ears. “Stay away! I don’t care who you are!”

“You know who I am?” Hootpetal inquired. “I guess I would hope so, if you are courting my son.” 

Banshee froze. “I–I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

Hootpetal gestured around the den and at the kits before looking back at Banshee with a raised brow. “You’re Banshee, aren’t you? The kit my son was forbidden from playing with.”

Banshee stepped back, still over the kits, who were still sound asleep. “I’m not a kit anymore!”

“I can see that.”

“And he doesn’t have to listen to you anymore!”

“I know that.”

Now Banshee seemed confused, as if put off by Hootpetal’s calm reaction to seeing Plague’s daughter in her son’s den with his kits while he wasn’t there. In fairness, the young she-cat wasn’t aware that Hootpetal had known for some time now.

Banshee tensed her jaws. “I’m not my mother.”

Hootpetal’s gaze softened. “Shallowfig’s hardly me or Alderstar. You know,” she went on after a short pause, “our parents’ don’t define who we are, but their behavior and ideas influence ours. I hope that you can understand why we forbade Shallow from seeing you.”

Banshee’s eyes glittered with understanding, but more than that, they glittered with remembered hurt. “He was the only friend I had,” she whispered.

Hootpetal nodded. “I know he was kind to you, and you to him. But…..his brother and sister were once attacked by someone who tricked them into thinking they were friends, and they’re still scarred and traumatized by it.” Hootpetal had to pause again, quivering for a few heartbeats with fury before she was finally able to calm herself. 

“I was a kit!” Banshee argued, almost a wail. “What harm could I have done?”

“It was never you,” Hootpetal told her. “It was Plague,” she spat the name. “She could have found out and decided to follow you and hurt Shallowfig, or she could have told you to lead him to her. Yes, you were a kit. A kit that would have no idea of what you were doing or being told to do.” Her voice broke. “We couldn’t risk another of our kits.”

Banshee’s head hung low. Hootpetal knew that she understood, but that didn’t make it hurt any less. She was Plague’s daughter, after all. Shallowfig could have been the only light in her entire world back then. 

It was silent for several long, tense heartbeats.

“How long have you known?” Banshee murmured quietly, as though afraid to ask it any louder.

“About you two? Oh, about the day you moved in.”

Banshee’s head snapped back up in startlement. 

Hootpetal chuckled. “There are few things you can keep from a mother–a caring mother,” she added quickly before Banshee could worry if Plague also knew. “I do admit that I’m surprised you’re so shocked by it. I would have thought that you saw me here before.”

“You were here before?”

“This isn’t the first time I visited my grandkits,” Hootpetal responded. She purred as she gazed down at the little hard-to-wake fluffballs. “But that’s not what I mean. Moons have passed, but that doesn’t make the family any less paranoid that one of our kits’ attempted murderers is still out there, and now my son has helpless kits of his own. Who do you think circles the area, keeping an eye on any danger?”

Banshee blinked, then again, and a few times more. Hootpetal couldn’t help but smile, amused at Banshee’s alarm at finding out that not only did Shallowfig’s mother know, but she had been close to the den for some time. “I thought it was me,” she admitted.

“I know. I’ve seen you smell the grass and watch the shadows, as I have. I’m glad my son has such a protective mate. It means the kits are well and safe.”

Banshee smiled back at her, limbs at last relaxing. Then her eyes widened again. “We’re not mates!”

“Of course,” Hootpetal replied. “See you another time.” She turned and exited the den. She had trusted Banshee far more than she had when she first heard of the young kit’s existence, but there had always been a twinge of doubt. Now, having finally met her, she felt secure of her son and grandkit’s safety. She purred, one last time, when a small “thank you,” could be heard from within the den.

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

Hoot knew!

@elementaldeityoffood​

[residents-of-the-darkforest]

Sisters (short story)

Banshee felt warmer than she had in moons. She blinked blearily, her sleepy state making her forget where she was, and she wondered why she felt small bodies pressed against her. Then it came rushing back, and she felt warmer than ever, gazing lovingly at the two kits curled against her, and at the two curled against her mate laying beside her.

Stars…her mate! The word gave her a rush, and she purred, shifting to be closer.

“Still no thorns? It’s like he’s begging to be invaded.”

She stiffened before she got there. There were voices outside! 

Quickly, she stood up and unsheathed her claws, standing over the kits. Shadows fell over the entrance. They were getting closer! 

A grey-and-black cat emerged. Banshee wasted no time, yowling, she leaped, shoving the unsuspecting cat to the ground. She bared her fangs, drool slipping down her chin.

The cat did something Banshee wasn’t expecting–she laughed. “Brother, you have the best guests!”

“Br….?”

“What’s going on?” Shallowfig gasped.The yowl had woken him up, and after pressing the kits against a hidden small alcove, he hurried to join Banshee’s side and fight with her. But as soon as he saw the apparent invader, he only raised a brow. “Funnelquail? What’s going on?”

Sensing that this wasn’t an attack, Banshee got off of the grey she-cat. Funnel…did she hear that before?

“You should probably announce yourself before you enter a sleeping cat’s home,” a second voice spoke up. A moment later another, light-and-dark brown she-cat came into view. She nodded at Banshee. “Who’s your bodyguard?”

Shallowfig rolled his eyes. “Hello, Funnelquail and Hemlockpine, please come into my den.”

It hit like a sharp stone. These were Shallowfig’s sisters!

Banshee’s fur bristled self-consciously. “I’m his–Uh…I’m his…m-mate.” 

The she-cats’ ears perked up. Banshee flinched back, preparing for an argument to break out. Shallowfig’s family being against their relationship was why Shallowfig and Banshee had ended their friendship as kits in the first place. She didn’t expect them to take kindly to them becoming mates.

“Can we come out now?” Tendrilkit called. Looking over, Banshee saw her peer from the stone wall she was hidden behind. Immediately, her eyes lit up, and she bounced across the den in a few, large bounces, her smile wide and open. “Aunties! Aunties! Aunties!”

“Kits! Kits! Kits!” Hemlockpine responded humorously. 

The other kits came scrambling after in a mini stampede, almost making Banshee trip on her paws. Hemlockpine rolled onto her back and allowed Tendrilkit and Pollenkit to lay atop her. 

Funnelquail was now laying, too, resting on her side and lifting her tail as Mylingkit hopped to reach it, while Racemekit had climbed into the space between her forepaws. She gazed at Banshee. “So, you finally found a she-cat to share these kits with, huh?” Her eyes became sharp. “You are staying with him, aren’t you?”

Banshee was taken aback. “O-Of course!” She stammered.

Funnelquail dipped her head, but didn’t seem satisfied. “Good. Because, well,” she chuckled, “you’ll know what will happen if you don’t.” Next to her, Hemlockpine drew a claw across her throat.

Banshee swallowed.

Shallowfig stepped forward, blocking their way. “That’s enough! Don’t joke about that. Banshee’s not Rosebee, she’s not gonna–” he stiffened. With him, Banshee realized what he had said. It was possible the sisters hadn’t realized who Banshee was, after all, they had been kits when Shallowfig and her played together, and she only glimpsed the sisters before. Now, there was no denying it. 

Clearly, by the narrowing of their eyes, Hemlockpine and Funnelquail noticed it too. 

“Ain’t that the she-cat you’re forbidden from seeing?” Hemlockpine asked.

Shallowfig shifted from one paw to the other. Then he straightened. “Forbidden from playing with when I was a kit.”

Funnelquail shrugged. “True.”

True? Was that it?

She smiled at Banshee, and it was starting to look more genuine. “So are you the new kitmama then?”

Banshee’s skin turned a bright red, and she was grateful for her grey coat that covered it up. She took a breath and faced them. “I’m Shallowfig’s mate now, and that means that these kits are as much mine to take care of as his. If you don’t like that then…then…stick it up your tails!”

The sisters looked at her, then at each other, then at their brother, then at last they burst out laughing. “I like this one!” Hemlockpine giggled at the same time as Funnelquail snortled “such sass!”

After a little, they stood up. “I’m not sure what the family will say,” Hemlockpine warned them, “and frankly I don’t really care. But until you’re ready to tell them, your secret is safe with us.”

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

--Writing bad because it’s meant to be more funny than serious and also I’m about to fall asleep.

But anyway the sisters! The three siblings are very close, so of course they had to make an appearance in a ShallowBanshee story.

--Redbee is the kits’ bio mother who gave full custody to Shallowfig. Due to her leaving, the sisters are protective of their brother and wary of Banshee.

@elementaldeityoffood

[residents-of-the-darkforest]

@elementaldeityoffood

Banshee casually, not really thinking (probably half-paying attention) suggests naming a second leader all spirit-related things.

Shallowfig, a bit more awkardly and madly sweating, asks who the mother would be?

And Banshee realizes what she said and sweats too

[residents-of-the-darkforest]

EVERYONE accepts her after that.

The main worry that Banshee was still on Plague's side and was just a trick to lure Shallow and/or someone else in the family to danger, much like Pipitfeather did to Falleniris and Waspbeak.

Some would still be skeptical, considering Banshee COULD be lying, but they'd now mostly be a little chilly around her instead of flat out GET AWAY.

Red would also apologize to her face, and after finding out that she is a fellow victim of Plague, Waspbeak might even have a heart-to-heart with her.

@elementaldeityoffood​ 

@elementaldeityoffood As Waspbeak’s kit, Redmask was one of the most verbal against Shallow and Banshee’s relationship. They understood being in love, but they love their father more.

Banshee possibly wins their side because Red is genderqueer and Banshee helps them figure out how to show the different genders so someone else doesn’t get confused. (Ex. how Berrytalon has different leaf colours in their fur if they’re a tom or not)