(The Debate)

[Darky [Megan]]

"Thank you," said Redstream, smiling at Spiderpaw. Then she looked at Copperthroat. "It would not be a dictatorship," Redstream retorted, and the grin on her face twitched. "A clan would be as a family would, and I've never seen a dictatorship within a family, have you? And nobody said all the cats would want to be in a family. You may have done fine on your own, but in my opinion you would be doing better within a co-operative environment. Plus if you feel that way then you probably have problems accepting simple acts of kindness, too!"
Upon hearing the tom's last sentence, Redstream felt the fur on her back involuntarily prickling. "A new year means change and new possibilities! The walls may not fall in out lifetime, but if there's a stronghold of determination within them, there might be a better chance of our descendants tasting freedom!" She forced herself to calm down before continuing, "There's a chance that a clan might not guarantee more gets done but at least there's a chance. It's better than keeping things the way they are, anyhow, because nothing new will ever be accomplished!"

Speckledclaw mirrored Copperthroat's action the second he had stopped meowing and snapped in reply, "It's my opinion that if a clan was ever formed, outsiders would be left to themselves, unless they wished otherwise. As for the land issue, any action taken against non-clanners would be up to the current leader of the clan or the clan themselves at that time. You cannot expect me to answer on behalf of all the other cats either - everyone has their own opinion."

[dfsfsd]

Images of a white tom ran through his mind and Copperthroat’s spine fur began to prickle as a glazed look took over his eyes, making him look crazed. “Why, yes. I’ve seen dictatorship in a family.” The tom whispered, blinking to clear away the memories of his father, “I will continue doing fine on my own. Why should I accept the help of others when it isn’t needed? Just because you’re too weak and lazy to care for yourself doesn’t mean the rest of us are.” A disgusted snort escaped him as he listened to Redstream.

“The walls will never fall in any cat’s lifetime,” Copperthroat argued, “There isn’t a chance that the clan won’t get more done- it’s guaranteed. You’ll all be to busy arguing over kill and such, sorting out your leaders.” He snorted.

Turning to Speckledclaw he purred, “You just proved my point. You all speak of freedom and peace, yet you aren’t even certain that may come to cats who don’t wish to be in a Clan.”

[Ten]

"I, for one, value what all of you have to say," Woodstripe assured them, "but several comments throughout the recent dialog have raised questions in my mind. Greed was mentioned as a factor. However, in a Clan, where all cats would have their fill, what could a cat be greedy about?"

She wrapped her tail around her paws. "Frailheart, you suggested the possibility of a crazy cat taking leadership. This is easy to amend. A Clan, being a cooperative, collaborative effort, would choose a qualified cat to take his or her place. In fact, how would any insane feline manage to gain leadership in the first place?" The idea amused her.

"Now, as for accomplishments, do we disagree that increased organization yields increased productivity? Bronzefoot, you spoke of every cat hunting for themselves. You've hunted rats, haven't you? Did you do that by yourself?"

[dfsfsd]

"Power," Copperthroat replied steadily, "A cat can easily pretend to be something they aren't. They could pretend to be a kind, compassionate cat and when they get power you'll really see who they are. Then there’s food, some cats could get greedy over food. Don’t tell me a leader could control when a cat eats, either, because how will a leader be everywhere at once? No matter how many you have." His eyes flashed as Woodstripe spoke to the other two cats.

He wanted to speak, but the comments were not directed to him so he merely held his tongue. 'Just because we have to hunt rats together doesn't mean we should come together,' He thought sourly, 'otherwise, we would've been a clan long ago.'

[Gosh]

"No," Bronzefoot meowed sourly. "But look what happened today. You weren't there, but once the rat was dead, we were all arguing about how the rat should be divided, right, Spiderpaw?" He paused to glance at her and was satisfied when he saw her gritting her teeth. "That would happen even more if we worked together in other areas."

"It is impossible to get out of here," Frailheart meowed, looking directly at Redstream. "Not to mention that we don't need to. There are rats and crickets and lizards to fill those who can hunt, and for those who can't, they die while they are kits, or they turn to a life of scavenging. Change is unnecessary and will bring the spilling of blood."

Spiderpaw meowed to Copperthroat, "If there was a cat who got power and then turned into a dictator they would be removed from position. Problem solved."

[dfsfsd]

"How can you be sure they'd go quietly?" Copperthroat snorted, "If they were truly evil and greedy, they wouldn't, and you'd have a battle. Tell me, how does fighting represent peace?" The tom cat's whiskers twitched with amuesment as he shifted his attention to the other cats, who had spoken before Spiderpaw.

"I have another thing to say." Copperthroat suddenly remembered a elder's tale. "A elder once told me that in clans they had cats who healed others. How can we have that? The leaders are supposed to have something special too." He had forgotten what that something special was, again, but the tom knew that if he was to remember, he wouldn't be talking to these cats.

[Ten]

"The answer to your question about medicine cats (for that is the term for them) is that we would not have one," Woodstripe stated. "Also, with a Clan, seeing as that would provide a way to organize everything in an agreeable fashion, there would be a set method for sharing prey and these disputes would be avoided." The tabby held back a smug grin. Bronzefoot had raised a point that worked against him.

"Copperthroat, would you expand on something for me? What would a bad leader have to be greedy about? You answered 'power' earlier, did you not? Perhaps then you could further explain what you mean by this."

[Gosh]

"I know you were talking to Copperthroat on that last part, but a leader greedy for power would want all to do his bidding," Bronzefoot meowed. "He would perhaps murder cats who he didn't like or for no reason at all."

"Copperthroat spoke of medicine cats," Frailheart added, "but why would they need medicine cats? Cats don't get injured that often. This implies that medicine cats were needed for other reasons - perhaps because there was a lot of fighting? If this was so, then isn't our current way of life better than the fighting that seems to have happened in the old tales?"

[dfsfsd]

"You can't control the way cats do things, no matter what you think, Woodstripe," Copperthroat's nostrils flared, "A leader could be greedy about territory, because those not in the clan would most likely want their own territory. Or we might as well be in the clan, since we'll be living among them. As Bronzefoot said, a leader greedy for power would want all to do their bidding. You cannot tell me that cats would not murder just because they are leader- if they have enough ambition, they'll do anything."

He turned to Frailheart now, "Yes, I believe the Clan fought often. Why should we become something that fights? We're better off now, where we don't fight all the time."

[Gosh]

"Well, maybe there were things out there that caused more harm than anything in here. The stories about the leader and deputy being evil might just be stories - perhaps the real reason we are in here is because there is a horrible thing out there that they needed a medicine cat for," Spiderpaw meowed thoughtfully.

"Yeah, well why isn't there a Clan now, then?" Bronzefoot challenged. 'These Pro-Clanners make excuses and excuses, but if they ever tried to make a Clan, they'd fail,' he thought.

ooc| I was tempted to put 'fail epicly'. xD