#ripperpaw

[residents-of-the-darkforest]

Dark Forest Resident: Ripperclaw 

Aliases / Nicknames: Yellowpaw, Edgepaw (By Claudrat) 

Gender: male 

Sexuality: asexual, panromantic 

Family: Hollybloom (mother), Bramblepatch (father), Sparrowstar, Crabcatcher (sisters), Troutstorm, Archfang, Spottedfinch (brothers)

Other Relations: Hazelstar (mentor)

Clan: NightClan 

Rank: mediator 

Characteristics: wants to avenge his father, angry, cunning, resentful

Number of Victims: 6 

Number of Murders: 6 

Murder Method: poisoning 

Known Victims: Hollybloom, Hazelstar, Quailfeather, Sprucepatch, Flyingpetal, Spottedfinch

Victim Profile: cats who he believed had an influence on his father's death, cats who vitnessed his crimes

Cause of Death: poisoned, suicide. 

Cautionary Tale: unjust revenge is an unsteady path

Story: 

Yellowpaw trotted back into camp with a vole, alongside Whirlsky and Finchlily, and suddenly dropped it as he heard a commotion. 

Whirlsky, deaf, gasped as Finchlily ran into the camp. Using her rarely used vocal cords, she rasped, "seen....that...expression...before...", pausing for her fire damaged voice. 

A louder yowl sounded, and Yellowpaw ran to the center of camp. A crowd was gathering, leaving the middle empty. Larchcloud ushered her two kits inside the nursery, but Yellowpaw took no notice as he darted into the crowd. He heard the noise of claws, then a sharp yowl, then everyone went silent. Yellowpaw burst through the crowd, and froze in shock. 

There were three cats there. His mentor, Hazelstar, grinning at his mother, Hollybloom, and his father....Bramblepatch gave him a single weak shake of the head, and went limp. Hazelstar gave a triumphant yowl. "The traitor no longer lives! Take this as an example." 

Hollybloom walked away with a blank look, and Yellowpaw was ushered away by Troutstorm to the apprentices’ den. His request for poppy seeds was answered quickly, and in his deep sleep he met a black and white figure, with a scar over his left eye. 

The cat empathized with Yellowpaw, and together the two of them came up with a plan. Yellowpaw would become the next mediator of NightClan, and make the lives of those who harmed him hell. 

The black and white tom gave him an idea. Yellowpaw was the name of an innocent cat. He wasn't innocent anymore. When he decided on the name, the black and white cat smirked a little. Yellowpaw asked what was so funny, and the cat complimented him on his interesting name choice. 

Yellowpaw then asked for the mystery cat’s name. ‘Claudius’ was the answer.

The next morning, Yellowpaw stood before Hazelstar and asked to become a mediator, saying that he wanted to make sure no more cats had traitorous thoughts. Hazelstar, in accordance with NightClan traditions, only half followed, giving him the name Ripperpaw, at his request. 

Claudius jokingly called him Edgepaw after that. 

Ripperpaw set his sights on his first victim. 

Sprucepatch, the mentor of Hollybloom. 

She was always crabby, and always complaining. She didn't deserve to grow old in age, or at all. Ripperclaw bet she had something to do with it. Ripperpaw planted the seeds of influence. He made up stories for the kits about mean old Sprucepatch, isolating her from the rest of the Clan, and sweet-talking Troutstorm into letting him gain access to the medicine den. 

Lilies in the prey, even just a small amount, could cause kidney failure. Just as perfect, they were small enough to go undetected. 

Next was Flyingpetal, the current deputy. 

Talking with Sparrowslip, his sister who had just gotten her warrior name, he got it in her head that she could do better. She would be much better as deputy! All he needed was a few words to Hazelstar about a traitorous deputy before he was sure that nobody would care, and Hazelstar would have a replacement ready. That is, nobody who could stop him would care.

Once again, lilies in the prey. And then he went out for a walk in the forest, and began cultivating his own lily patch. He couldn't keep going into the medicine den, after all. But Quailfeather saw him, and afraid that she'd put two and two together and make him a dead apprentice, he had to poison her next. 

After that, he set his sights on Hazelstar. When he asked Troutstorm, he said she had only one life left. Perfect. 

The Clan rejoiced, and so did the newly named Ripperclaw. Throughout all this, Claudius praised him for his work. He went to the lily patch again, unaware that Spottedfinch was watching him. Stuffing the lilies inside a mouse, he walked over and gave them to Hollybloom. In a panic, Spottedfinch leapt out and demanded to know what Ripperclaw was doing. 

It was too late, though. Hollybloom lay on the ground, dead. Before Spottedfinch could react, he stuffed a leftover lily into her throat, but the commotion had attracted the rest of the Clan. 

In a panic, Ripperclaw ate the lilies he had used to take the lives of six of his Clanmates. 

Additional Information: 

--Submission by @frightnightindustries​

--Hollybloom would've died if she hadn't killed Bramblepatch, and both knew that. 

--Ripperclaw was a grieving child, and Claudrat knew it.