Okay, So A Thought That Has Been Rattling Around For A Bit And I Need To Share. Do The Takers Also Take

Okay, so a thought that has been rattling around for a bit and I need to share. Do the Takers also take the memories and personality of the bodies they possess or do they observe how they act before proceeding? I haven't seen any mention or talks about sudden changed in personality or memory loss, not even mentioned as something cats realized in hindsight. I feel like I'm on to something and if I am, that just makes everything more terrifying in my eyes.

Kekekee

Very good point! In the beginning they didn't, which is another reason they couldn't stay hidden— but after one or two were outed because they acted too different too suddenly they adapted and changed.

Takers went after elderly, sick or kittens, a group that if they withdrew for a while and slowly started to change personalities it wasn't as easy to catch. They just became calmer and quieter. But that obviously didn't last because their bodies didn't age.

I want to be known: the Takers adapt very very fast! 2 got figured out because they acted too different too fast? Everyone changes the game. Can't take the usual game because it's noticeable? We go after the sick then.

The Takers nowadays do observe for a bit (a bit being hours but never more than a day), they also take context clues from the cats around them— but ultimately they're withdrawn and quiet if they did a full body take. The patchwork takers have no such boundaries, they consider themselves as new and act however they please.

The reason Cicada was discovered was because she was walking around with a broken back and because she couldn't hold a conversation without a grin. The living Cicada was soft and gentle, she also took her health very seriously. So she was an easy spot.

Fun thing that will never be brought up in the story but people might like to know!

Glowfern died naturally on her way home. Takers are not gentle, they can't sufficiently kill a cat without leaving marks, overkilling, or doing something that a normal cat wouldn't just walk off. Glowfern had been stalked by a Taker periodically in her time in Chasingclan. She never saw it but she did feel it, this is why she left earlier than she had planned. She never saw the Taker till near the rift, in which it couldn't hide in the shorter grass — she got so scared that she messed up her jump over the rift and broke her neck. The Taker simply took the opportunity presented.