(The Debate)

[Ten]

Frozenheart narrowed his eyes. He should have known Spiderpaw would be so hesitant to take action. As his eyes swept the area again he noticed the newcomer, Longtail. It was always good to have more help... but he was concerned there wouldn't be enough meat now. He pushed the thought away to focus on the task at paw.

The white tom began stalking in Spiderpaw's direction, in order to rotate the circle so that he was closest to the rat. However, the additional cat had alerted the rat's awareness. It looked up with the first glitterings of fear in its eyes, motionless as stone. Then, as its heart rate increased and breathing quickened, it acquired the appearance of an animal ready to bolt.

[Gosh]

Spiderpaw noticed with some relief that the rat was now closest to the white tom. But, as she studied the rat, she realized that the rat was now aptly aware of their presence. It looked like it was ready to run, or pounce, whichever. They needed to get closer together. She glanced at Bronzefoot, the white tom, and the newcomer, unsure whether calling out would be a good idea.

[Ten]

The rat burst forward, racing toward one of the large gaps, but Frozenheart cut it off. It spun around and dashed in the opposite direction with the tom in pursuit. Shrill squeaks flowed from the panicked rodent; it was now headed toward the gap between Bronzefoot and Longtail.

[Gosh]

Bronzefoot acted fast, running forward until he was in front of the rat. Growling, he stalked towards it, seeing what it would do with him in front of it and the white tom behind. Presumably it would head towards Spiderpaw or the other she-cat; they could only hope it was Spiderpaw, as he wasn't sure whether the other she-cat actually wished to participate or if she wanted to steal or scavenge some rat meat without doing much of anything to help catch the rat.

[barkbelt]

Longtail smirked. The rat was in an odd predicament, and if it came towards her, she could take advantage. She looked away from the rat, seeming not to notice it.
'Come here rat.' She thought.'I'll get your neck with my claws a to keep you from biting... Then I can take you for myself...'
She looked away still, the rat in the corner of her eyes.

[Ten]

The rat swerved away from Bronzefoot, far out of his reach as well as Frozenheart's. Its path diverted toward Longtail. However, a good distance remained between it and the she-cat. Again, Frozenheart cut it off before it could escape.

As it pivoted to run the other direction, it came within Longtail's range.

[Gosh]

Bronzefoot watched the she-cat, ready to pounce on the rat if the she-cat ended up running away. You could never be sure about cats who joined in the middle of the hunt. His muscles tensed, and he wondered whether the she-cat saw the rat coming towards her.

[squid]

Dangit! Barkface had missed the start of the fight! Too busy using his cricket catching method.
Oh well, it wasn't like the tom really cared to see cats try and bring down prey that was impossible to kill. However, it did provide him a few minutes of mocking laughter to see them scurry for the rat, only to jump back in order to avoid the teeth that dripped invisible venom of fatal diseases. "Watch out, he's gonna getcha! He's gonna sink his teeth into the scruff of your neck, and no one will be able to help you! Better stop now! It's all fun and games until someone gets diseased!" These were only a few mocks and warnings the brown tabby sounded off as the fight commenced. In truth, he wanted in on the action, but he knew he would instantly outshine everyone else. So, in order to be fair, he simply stayed on the sideline and made fun of the cats.

As Barkface kept watching, he snickered as the rat shot left and right, a trail of cats following it. He just couldn't see anyone bringing the thing down; it was too big, too fast, and too risky to catch it without getting bitten. Shaking his head as he chuckled, he merely held his head high, giving them seemingly all-knowing looks.

[Gosh]

Spiderpaw glared at Barkface briefly. 'He just wants to scare us off so he can get this rat instead,' she thought bitterly. But even so, that tom might have some points. Doubt started to creep into her mind, and she struggled to stop them. 'No,' she thought. 'He's wrong. There's one rat, and four cats. Right?'
'Right,' she thought. 'But if there's too much danger...perhaps I shall run.' The thought of this shamed her. 'It's common sense,' she thought to herself, 'but that could be leaving the others to die. But it doesn't matter at this moment, does it?' She stopped brooding and returned her attention to the rat.

[moody]

A gray tom walked over and smirked. A hunt, eh? He could get that rat if those cats chased it to him. Then go off with it. Besides, it was every cat for themselves, wasn't it?

Grayfur's amber eyes took in the scene, scowling at the pitiful group. A pitiful apprentice; a deaf tom; Bronzefoot, who seemed to have no idea what he was doing; a she-cat with a long tail and judging by the cats' reactions to her, she had just joined and they didn't know if she could be trusted, and that one tom sitting on the sidelines with a know-it-all expression mocking them. Hah!

He glanced at the rat and chuckled to himself. The rat was too big and fast to be brought down without casualties, and even then, it didn't look enough to feed them all.