gossip -- open

[Squirrelbite]

Squirrelkit's mind was racing after that clan meeting. She was thrilled that something interesting was going on, and she now had a chance to make something out of herself, to rise through the ranks of Treeclan. Personally, the red she-kit felt that the cat's calling for a more pure Treeclan were on the right side, and Squirrelkit could not wait until she was old enough to join them.

Her eyes glinting, the lithe she-cat padded up to another cat in the nursery who didn't appear to be busy, her tail twitching. "Did you hear what happened?" Squirrelkit mewed, feigning awe, as if she were a wide-eyed kit that was shocked by the recent events.

"I mean, what do you think? Clan-born, not clan-born.. does it matter?" Squirrelkit tipped her head to the side, eagerly awaiting the other cat's answer.

[Deleted]

Crowkit hadn't known about the clan meeting. Thus, he hadn't attended. He wished he had. It sounded interesting and passionate. He wished he could've taken notes about the interesting reactions and responses he was sure had taken place at the meeting.

Though, it appeared a primary source of information was presenting itself to him in the form of a she-kit who seemed all too happy to share details of the encounter. "I heard." He replied smoothly, appearing rapt with attention. Well, he was for once. Just not for the reasons he probably should be. He tilted his head. He wanted to be careful not to scare away his little news source. "Well, what do you think?" He asked.

[Squirrelbite]

"Hmm.." Squirrelkit didn't know this cat, what side he was on, or if he would go around spreading what she said. It would be certainly best to play neutral, as if she was surprised by everything that was going on, and didn't know what to think. "I don't know!" Squirrelkit mewed.

She hesitated, scuffing a paw against the ground. "Taking in rogues and kittypets is the right thing to do, isn't it? But.. What if one of them wants to hurt us? And what makes us TreeClan if we're full if cats with outside blood?"

The ginger she-cat struggled to recall the names of every cat at the meeting. "That cat, Dogfang.. He made a lot of good points, I think, but all he did was talk about cats that I'v never heard of. So how important can they be?"

[Deleted]

Crowkit was... Surprised by this unknown she-kit's indecision. She seemed like the type to make snap decisions. Hmph... Perhaps he'd need to dig deeper into her head to find out what she was really like. The idea of such a challenge almost made him feel a bit giddy. Then again, he didn't really do giddy as a general point.

"I think you need to decide what Treeclan is." He replied, answering her question, since he figured if he answered he could probably answer more questions. "So... You think there's a lot of cats who are wary of outsiders?" He pressed, wanting to know everything he could. It was so interesting, really.

He tilted his head. "Have you entertained the thought that you're just too stupid to realize that just because you don't know something doesn't mean it isn't important?" Okay, so what if he was trying to get information? He couldn't resist the urge to poke at her, to see how she'd react. She seemed like she'd be more reactive than May.

[Squirrelbite]

"No, I haven't thought of that, because it's a nonsensical conclusion." Squirrelkit kept her voice even. It was natural that, in her life, she would meet cats who didn't understand things as easily as she did. This kit was just one of them, and Squirrelkit needed to be patient.

She had been watching Crowkit very carefully, and gleaned that he was putting on a facade, just as she was. He just wasn't as good at it as she was, Squirrelkit though, or perhaps she was better at seeing through disguises. "I mean.. Weren't you at the meeting? Dogfang spoke of multiple cats, but he never really explained how they contributed to Treeclan. If they were important enough that we're going to base our actions off of the past, then every cat should know their story, so we can learn from history. The fact that I don't know about them is working against those in favor of taking in outsiders."

[Deleted]

Crowkit shrugged. "You sound prideful." He concluded. He wondered how he could use that to experiment on her... No, wait... He was trying to get information. Apparently he got sidetracked easily. Huh. Interesting. He'd have to keep that in mind, when he was trying to be productive.

"Nah. Wasn't at the meeting. I didn't know it'd be so interesting." He said. He tilted his head. "Have you asked about them? Does it make you feel stupid you don't know the history? Maybe history's meaning is being lost because cats like you don't care. So, maybe it's your own fault you don't know their importance. He remembers them, so maybe they are important. You don't know that." He shrugged. "I mean, you weren't there. You're just some brat making naive assumptions without real any working knowledge of the world's workings." He shrugged again. "And so am I. I'm trying to figure it out. It's so interesting..." He purred. 

"You want me to be honest with you?" He asked suddenly. 

[Squirrelbite]

Squirrelkit liked that the tom was being intelligent without trying to belittle her. He made good points, but they simply weren't all true. "Education and intelligence aren't the same thing. I've never had those cats' stories taught to me, that's the job of older cats. I'm not stupid for not knowing, just like you aren't stupid because you didn't know what happened at the meeting." She wondered whether or not Crowkit was clan-born. 

Her ears perked with interest, but her expression remained even, her amber eyes narrowed into slits. "Of course I want you to be honest with me. Have you been lying to me?" Squirrelkit's voice grew an icy edge, but she otherwise remained the same.

[Deleted]

Crowkit tilted his head. "Did you ever ask for the stories?" He asked. He shrugged. "Eh. I suppose. I don't care if cats think I'm dumb or smart. I'm just curious. I don't care how I get my answers." He said, being honest. He got the feeling that Squirrelkit was going to provide... Biased answers. She seemed heavily biased. He wondered if it'd just be better to mess around with Squirrelkit than try to get flawed information from her. Hm....

He tilted his head again. "Not really. Just omitted a few things like how I don't care if anyone's clan born or not. Doesn't necessarily mean I'm fine with cats that aren't clan born. I just don't particularly care about any of you, beyond satisfying my interest." He told her bluntly. 

[Squirrelbite]

Squirrelkit's tail flicked back and forth, and she nodded her head. This cat seemed far too neutral to ever be of use to her, and she didn't feel like trying to convince him of her ideas. For now, the conversation was nice, though. "Of course you act in your own self interests, there's nothing wrong with that. At least you aren't trying to hide behind a front of 'niceness' or 'generousity'."

She didn't really feel like talking about the meeting any more. It was over and done with, and the reddish she-cat didn't particularly want to share her thoughts with the dark tom-kit. 

"So," Squirrelkit waved her tail. "What are these so-called interests of yours?"

[Deleted]

Crowkit shrugged. "I would do it if I thought it'd be effective in getting me the answers I wanted. Though... I think I need to work on my acting, so I don't believe those are feasible tools for me right now." He said honestly. 

"I like analyzing the reactions of cats and using that to figure out how cats' minds work. I'm not like the other kits, so I have to figure it out. I talk to them and sometimes I hit them. Sometimes I leave bugs on them in the middle of the night." He shrugged. "I've been largely trying to figure out negative responses. Perhaps I should turn my attention to the positives..." He frowned. "Is it normal for cats to not scream in response to spiders, and to just glare at you? I haven't gotten around to testing it out on other kits."

[Squirrelbite]

Squirrelkit didn't really care much about other cats, and she only bothered analyzing them so much because she needed to know if they could be of use to her. She did not feel any empathy for those around her, but she never had, so Squirrelkit assumed that she was perfectly normal. "That's pretty neat," She said with a shrug. "But what's your end goal? It sounds like this is just a hobby."

"I know I wouldn't scream if I had a spider on me.  It's just a bug, so what's the big deal?" Squirrelkit crushed bugs all the time, sometimes she even tortured them. But they were just bugs, that didn't make her a terrible cat or something. 

[Deleted]

Crowkit shrugged. "I don't have an end goal. Not now, at the very least. I'm fine with sating my curiosity for now. I'm not searching for some grand purpose. I'm just here to have a good time." He replied, faintly purring. He really didn't see the point in feeling like you were doing something important.

He just... Didn't really care about such things.

He hummed in response. "I'll have to do more testing..." He murmured. He shrugged. "I still want to see if other cats react blankly like the cats I've analyzed so far." He tilted his head. He seemed to be eyeing Squirrelkit strangely. Then he tried to bite her in the face.

[Squirrelbite]

Squirrelkit, foreseeing some attack, jumped back with a hiss, her long claws unsheathing, and she bared her teeth. "Hey!" The lithe she-cat snapped, her tail lashing. "I don't want to be one of your test subjects. And it doesn't take research to know that no cat wants to get bit." 

The reddish she-cat wasn't really surprised or offended that Crowkit had tried to do that, after all, he had just explained how interested he was in the heads of cats. Still, being attacked sent adrenaline rushing through her, and she reacted accordingly. "If you want to really learn, try experimenting with Bumblepaw. That cat is an emotional nut-case, it's kind of ridiculous."

[Deleted]

Crowkit was disappointed by everyone's dodging ability. Hm... He'd need to work on becoming faster than the average cat's reflexes. He figured it shouldn't be too hard, he wasn't exactly huge. His build seemed more suited for speed, honestly. "I didn't want to see if you enjoyed being bitten. I wanted to see how you'd react to being bitten."

Then his eyes gained an almost demented sparkle. "Ooh, Bumblepaw? What do they look like? I want to know them when I see them." He was by no means willing to give up on experimenting on Squirrelkit but... He didn't want to pass up the opportunity to turn another cat into one of his test subjects. He hadn't tried anything on an older cat... But he was interested enough to try.

[Squirrelbite]

"He's.." Squirrelkit paused for a moment, remembering her interaction with the explosive tom. "Light grey, with darker grey tabby patches. And his eyes are yellow." She described him, her tail flicking thoughtfully.  

She personally felt that Crowkit was worse than her. At least Squirrelkit had end goals; she wanted power, and to rid Treeclan of selfish cats. Crowkit, it seemed, only wanted to have fun. A cat like that wasn't use to anyone, on either side of the argument. "How about I bite you?" She took a step forward, looking menacing. "Let's see how you react." 

Then Squirrelkit relaxed. "Nah, I'm kidding. I don't have any reason to bite you."