Come and Take It.

[Ten]

"I am not yet involving myself, Patchfur, though I am thinking it would be beneficial to do so." She cleared her throat. "Good day, gentlemen. May I inquire as to the basis of --?"

Grimykit's yowl cut her off. "An' whaz yer name, mista ugly?" he asked, standing his ground. "Boulderbutt? Fartface?"

[duckyaisha]

Patchfur rolled his eyes. Obviously, the two fighting cats were going to ignore Woodstripe alltogether. He hoped Batkit was safe from the fighting cats, although he was pretty sure Woodstripe would help the kit if he was in trouble. Could Woodstripe really get the two cats to stop fighting? It seemed like that would be pretty hard.

[Gosh]

Spiderpaw nervously hovered close to Patchfur - fights worried her. She frowned when she heard the last part of what Woodstripe had said. "Beneficial?" she questioned. Glancing around, she whispered so that the fighting cats couldn't hear, "I'm not trying to be rude, but how so?"

[Ten]

With a concerned frown, Woodstripe lowered her voice. "Spiderpaw, surely you do not think it permissible to allow cats to inflict harm upon one another without just cause? I do not know the reason for this conflict, but I suspect it is not one worth the death or serious injury of any cat. Can anyone present invalidate my suspicions?"

[Darky [Megan]]

Orangestorm raised his head as Woodstripe, Patchfur and Spiderpaw approached, momentarily turning his attention to the brown tabby, her seeming to be the one in charge amongst the three.

The second he heard her speak he felt a wave of irritation set over him. This cat sounded too prim, too official. She reeked of being a clanner. She reminded the orange tom too much of Redstream. His sister.

He got up, feeling a bit surprised at how annoyed he was being just because of this cat's presence, and began to move away. Though curiosity was keeping a tight rein on his legs, he broke free of its grip and padded away, grunting.

[duckyaisha]

"Well, how you do know the cause isn't just?" Patchfur asked Woodstripe. "Maybe you should ask one of them why they're fighting," he suggested. It was sickening to him how Woodstripe thought everyone would follow her orders, like she was the leader of every cat in the enclosure. "And besides, you /aren't/ their leader. They don't have to listen to you. They don't have to follow your orders until they start participating in the experiment."

[Gosh]

"True," Spiderpaw meowed in a low voice. "Patchfur, maybe the cause is just, but it isn't just enough for death or serious injury to result, which is what will happen if we don't do something." She paused. "And Woodstripe may not be the leader of those two, but she can encourage them to break apart." Frowning, she added, "What makes you so sure that she'll be the leader inside the experiment? Not that she wouldn't be a good leader, but there will be a vote."

[duckyaisha]

"How do you know?" the tom repeated. "Maybe one cat did something seriously wrong to the other. Woodstripe doesn't even know the whole story, and yet she tries to intervene, thinking she's right. Well, maybe she isn't. And sure, she can encourgae them to stop, but that doesn't mean they have to. This is an example of leaders butting into everyone else's lives. Just let them go about their own business. They can fight if they want to. Besides, the experiment leader is obviously going to be Woodstripe. Everyone but me's going to vote for her. I'll be outnumbered."

[Gosh]

"Nothing could justify the murder or serious injury of a fellow cat," Spiderpaw stated. "And you don't know everything either. You don't know if she thinks she's right, and you don't know that everyone's going to vote for her." She bristled angrily.

ooc| Perhaps this is the first example of the hot temperatures...and hot tempers.

[Ten]

ooc| Does Patchfur have short-term memory loss?

bic|

"I have several things to make clear here. Patchfur, please, I request that you listen. I had begun the process of asking their reasons when I was interrupted. I would still like to know their reasons presently and cannot judge without full information. I will ask again, once these things are clarified for you. Mind you, I would have persisted in obtaining their motivation, had not Spiderpaw asked an important question.

"Now, as for the experiment, of course I will not be the automatic leader. We must nominate those we think would make good candidates, then cast votes." She tilted her head with a confused and curious look. "Why is it that you think everyone will vote for me?"