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Fléin's voice was loudest in the ensuing conversation. "That CoD simply cannot be trusted!" he yelled over and over again, ignoring the shouts he received in response. The pond where the fish dwelt drenched all those nearby as CoD thrashed about in response to the accusations, most of which nobody could hear due to the volume of the debate.
"Quiet! Quiet!" the voice of Sai chirped to no avail, barely audible. "Please... be quiet! Please!" Then, she was queit herself for a second, followed by a piercing whistle even louder than that of yesterday. Fléin was sure he felt part of his brain melt in protest.
Silence followed, and everybody turned to look at Sai on the outskirts of the group. "Well, now that I've got your attent-"
Two wails cut her off. Tom Felton and Mardil - the two who had been standing closest to Sai - were the twin sources. It was soon ascertained that Sai's whistle had deafened them, and they were led off to sit on the side and learn to lipread, if they could.
"Well, that's suspicious and no mistake," Valde announced with the air of one stating the obvious. They all turned to look at him, and he duly feigned ignorance of their confusion.
"Well?" Alli interrogated.
"Hmm... what's that?" Valde continued his theatrics.
"How is deafness suspicious? Wolves have a better sense of hearing than humans."
"All the easier to render them deaf with!" Valde exclaimed triumphantly. "Yes, I'm certain of it."
The noise of mass debate erupted once more at this comment, with the two accused staring on, clueless.
"Quiet!" Sai screamed over it all, and this time they all fell silent instantaneously. Nobody wanted a repeat performance of The Whistle. All heads turned to her. "If this is to work," she said slowly, "we need to act like civilised people." Fléin sniffed at her, but she ignored it. "We need a judiciary system."
"We have a democracy!" various voices cried out.
"Yes, we do, but we have no judicial process. All we have is a rabble of noise that nobody can hear over. It's ridiculous. I can't cope. We need a System."
"What I propose is this: We form a circle, right here, opposite the sticks and stones that hurt our bones. When somebody wants to make an accusation, they step forward into the middle of the circle and present their case, unimpeded. Thereafter, the accused may offer his or her defence."
There were murmurs of approval. Fléin had to admit that the girl had brains, even if she did choose to disguise the fact most thoroughly. Then again, he thought chauvinistically, lesbians were almost men, and men were, of course, far more intelligent than women.
A short while later, a circle was established, and everybody had a log to sit on. CoD had a space at the corner of the circle. Special arrangements would be made if he wished to present a case: a small plastic bowl was placed next to his pond.
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Fléin was the first to present a case, against CoD. He wandered into the centre of the circle and attacked the fish for at least ten minutes. There was no way, he told them, that they could trust a creature so prone to transformation. From beast to fish to talking fish, he seemed to morph every few minutes. Being a lycanthrope was probably as easy as sleeping for him.
There was a general murmur of agreement from the group. Fléin particularly noticed Valde vigorously nodding his head. Though CoD was given the chance to defend himself, most people were too bemused by the presentation of a talking dinner to actually listen to what he said.
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