Spiderpaw's Campaign {The Experiment}

[Thistle]

"Hey! I ain't bad, no sirree! Jus' ask anyone, like... uh, Amberkit! I dunno where that lil guy is but he's the one who'll tell ya that I'm fit enough to be the leada'!"
Spotting Woodstripe, he sidled up toward her (because a. she was a she-cat, and b. she acted like she was the manager of this thing) and whispered in her ear, "Votin' fer ourselves will be okay, right?" Dullpaw flashed the tabby a quick grin.

[duckyaisha]

Patchfur sighed as the stuttering voice of Shortwhisker entered his ears. Well this was just great. He thought Shortwhisker had disappeared somewhere, but unfortunately he had come back. Now he had to deal with both annoying toms. Even Woodstripe seemed exasperated with him. He turned his attention to Redstream next, and was glad that she was sticking up for the cons. He wanted Bronzefoot to be leader of course, but if Redstream were to be leader, he might not mind it so much. "Is the voting starting now?" he asked, wondering if all the cats had arrived.

[Ten]

ooc| "Cons just don't like the idea of controlling leaders, but we do want a Clan.""
--
Nope, that's a cynic.

bic|

"Yes, Speckledclaw, Patchfur - we shall begin, if no one feels rushed," Woodstripe mewed. She stiffened at Dullpaw's advances, though she did not move away; a good leader is tactful and indiscriminate. "Yes, of course. Voting for oneself is acceptable." She added a polite nod, then looked at the group. "Which of our participants are not present? Is Batkit here?" the tabby asked, searching for his small form. "Also, are there any concerns about privacy? Or shall we voice our opinions in turn?"

[Thistle]

"I'm here! I'm here!" Batkit's chirruped, running around the legs of the other cats like an excited kit. They would be voting now, and he was certain of who he would vote for. "An' I know who I want to be the leader! When can we start?"

Dullpaw flicked his tail and meowed, "Oh, goodie. An' I dun' care 'bout whether the votes are in private or not, so go ahead an' do whatever ya wanna do."

[Gosh]

Bronzefoot meowed, "Privacy does not concern me." Short, blunt, to the point. That was more what he really felt, anyways; all this rambling on annoyed him. Since it was now in his best interests to not appear to care if he was elected leader, so as not to arouse more suspicion, he would do so. This would be easy, since although he really felt that being leader would make what was to come much, much easier, he didn't really want to be leader.

Suddenly he realized something; who was he to vote for? Perhaps he should've asked for the elections to be private, but Rockpelt would probably say, 'Why would he ask for privacy unless he was up to no good?' He frowned as he went through his options. Voting for himself or Dullpaw was out of the question, as it would bring up suspicion again. So he had to choose between Spiderpaw and Redstream. 'Hmm,' he thought. 'Which one would be easier to manipulate, more lenient on punishments, less likely to kick me out? Spiderpaw is younger, less experienced, but...' His train of thought trailed off as his gaze wandered throughout the cats gathered. Finally, it landed on the graceful red she-cat, who was probably the winner already, even if Bronzefoot voted for Spiderpaw. But he couldn't be sure. Who knew?

The only thing was that even if he wouldn't admit it to anyone, not even himself, Bronzefoot found Redstream just a teeny tiny bit attractive.

Spiderpaw really would have preferred the elections to be private, but since the other two had opted out of it, she changed her mind. Chiding herself for doing something just because the least-likely-to-be-voted-leader candidates were doing it, she meowed, "Let's vote." And she knew her choice; since she frowned upon voting for herself, she would vote for Redstream. She seemed perfectly capable, a good leader. 'I'm so worried about this,' she thought to herself. 'It's only the experiment, right?'

[duckyaisha]

"I don't care about other cats knowing who I vote for," Dingypaw, meowed, flicking her ragged tail dismissively. She already knew she was going to vote for Redstream, and she was pretty sure the red she-cat would win. Even if she didn't, she was sure Spiderpaw would be fair. Dullpaw and Bronzefoot didn't have a chance. Bronzefoot seemed like a good cat, even if he was a Con, but she couldn't say the same about Dullpaw. She doubted that any cats found him a good companion. Normally this would make her feel sympathetic towards the poor cat, but this was /Dullpaw/, the cat that pranced around and acted like he was leader-of-the-world. She wanted to hit him in the face hard, but she knew that even if she could summon up enough strength to actually hurt him, he'd be angry, and would immediately overpower the weak elder. "Let's hurry up and get this over with," she said impatiently. The faster this was done, the faster the experiment could begin and she could get food.

Patchfur nodded. "I agree, privacy isn't an issue with me either." He didn't know exactly when the votes were going to start, but he didn't want to look like a cricketbrain by blurting out his vote when the process hadn't even started yet. So he kept his mouth shut and waited.

[Darky [Megan]]

ooc
"The only thing was that even if he wouldn't admit it to anyone, not even himself, Bronzefoot found Redstream just a teeny tiny bit attractive."
---
OHOHOHOHOHO.

bic
Redstream looked around, and seeing that the rest of the cats were prepared to vote, she decided to start the voting. The she-cat had no problem with voicing her opinions out publicly, and knew who she would vote for. "Alright then, if the voting's started - I vote for Spiderpaw," she mewed, turning to smile at the said she-cat. Spiderpaw appeared capable, shared a lot of her ideas for the Clan and seemed kind and understanding. Suddenly, she felt the gaze of majority of the cats on her. If she won, it would be a huge responsibility ...

Orangestorm perked his ears. Whoever was chosen for leader would need to be easy to manipulate for the Rebellion, somewhat dense and easy to fool. Dullpaw was the first name that jumped into his head, but the tom pushed the idea aside immediately. Voting for Dullpaw would mark him with immediate suspicion from the other cats. He considered his sister. Orangestorm knew his sister to be full of airs and graces, largely concerned with how she appeared to the public, and rather weak. However, she had surprised him, though he didn't want to admit it, with her ideas and presentation of how she would lead a Clan. Orangestorm hastened to vote for her. Surely Redstream herself would suspect something was wrong?

He decided to vote for Bronzefoot. If not someone easy to manipulate as leader, then at least someone who shared his views on Clanhood would make the Experiment more bearable. Though Bronzefoot had only a slim chance of winning, there was still a chance. He turned to look at the tom, when he caught him gazing at Redstream. It was something that all the cats had been doing in the past few minutes, but for some reason, it fired up a flame - small, inconspicuous, but still a flame - inside the orange tom.

To his surprise, Orangestorm had actually considered for a fleeting second of voting for someone else. Shaking his head, the tom announced gruffly, "I vote for Bronzefoot as leader."

Speckledclaw narrowed her eyes when she heard Orangestorm. She gave the tom a sharp, drilling glance, which he felt on the back of his neck, before considering her options carefully. Bronzefoot was a no-no. He was obviously a con, and her personal judge of character warned her that the tom might have mysterious motives. Redstream had airs and graces, yes, but she seemed to appeal the most to the rest of the cats and certainly stood a fair chance of winning. However the warrior had more faith in the small black she-cat than she did for Redstream, and so she would put her vote on her. "I vote fer Spiderpaw," Speckledclaw said, giving the she-cat one of her awkward, lopsided snarls of a grin.

[duckyaisha]

Patchfur narrowed his eyes the tiniest bit. Spiderpaw already had two votes. Should he votr for Redstream just so Spiderpaw wouldn't win? No, he had to vote for Bronzefoot. "I vote for Bronzefoot," he meowed so everyone could hear.

Luckily the cats were voicing their opinions loudly, so Dingypaw could hear what was going on. The voting had started and she knew exactly who to vote for. "I vote for Redstream," she declared, sitting up straight instead of lying of the ground. She was now officially worried, seeing as Spiderpaw had more votes than Redstream, but hopefully the other cats would vote for the red she-cat.

[Thistle]

"Spiderpaw! I vote for Spiderpaw!" mewed Batkit, smiling broadly at the black she-cat. She already had more votes than anyone else, and she had a high chance of winning. Even though Redstream was also a good candidate, he had nominated Spiderpaw, so he was voting for Spiderpaw.

Dullpaw, however, had other plans.
"I'z votin' for meself," he said, rather loftily. He sent a cheeky grin in the direction of the other felines. Even if he didn't win the vote, he'd still have a little kit to represent his 'Clan'. So even right now, he was a leader. He just needed more followers, which was probably the only reason why he joined the experiment at all.

[Ten]

"R-Redstream!" Shortwhisker shouted.

Woodstripe counted in her head, then meowed, "So - "

"Redst-stream wins, r-right?"

"Patience, Shortwhisker. Redstream has two votes, Spiderpaw has three, Bronzefoot two, and Dullpaw one. Spiderpaw, Bronzefoot, Rockpelt, what are your votes?"

"R-Redstream! Vote f-for Redstream!" Shortwhisker yelled, eyes wide as he leaned toward them.