It took him nearly ten minutes to finally puzzle out a means to track them down, and he was forced to fall back on the one thing that Triana could not stop, and that was their purely non-magical, mundane presences. Among the myriad spells that Tarrin had learned in his turning was a rather clever little weave that allowed one to use their senses though stone. It was meant primarily for a Sorcerer to see and hear through stone, but the weave would work for any sense, and Tarrin had other senses just as keen as his eyes and ears. Triana would actively block any kind of sound from giving them away, so trying to listen for them would be pointless. She would also prevent prying eyes and seeking noses; she was more than aware of the formidable senses of the dragon, so those too were dead ends. But the one thing she probably did not stop, probably had not conceived of as a danger, was the feel of Were-cats on stone. So long as they weren't standing on a carpet, he knew that the spell could find them. Were-cat feet were very unusual, and he knew he'd have no trouble discerning the feel of them on the stone floors of the Tower.

Putting a paw on the bare stone of the passageway, he released the quickly woven spell into the stone and let it do its work. He sent his awareness into the stone, and became aware of the pattering of countless feet all over him, like little ants crawling over his skin. It took him some time to puzzle through those strange sensations, but it took him but a moment to sort through the feet touching the stone once he had a sense of which sensation belonged to what kind of material. He first discounted all the leather and cloth, knowing that the ones that moved were shoes. Then he discarded the ones that were skin, since Were-cats had no bare skin on the bottoms of their feet. Only fur and thick pads, as well as the clawtips from the claws on the feet that never fully retracted. After putting those aside, it left a very few sensations behind, and it took him little time to discern the three sets of scaly feet belonging to the Vendari and a reptillian Wikuni on the grounds-one of Keritanima's Marines, probably-and the three sets of unique feet he could feel that could only belong to a Were-cat. There had to be a carpet where they were, but not one that covered the entire floor.

Tarrin was surprised and a little amused when he found them. Triana was very clever. She had hidden them in the first place Sapphire had looked, and the last place she would check twice.

The apartment right down the hall from Jesmind's apartment.

After all, after the dragon checked the first time, what reason would there be for her to return? The likelihood that they would think to go there, so close to a hotspot like Jesmind's apartment, was remote. But Triana was a devilishly crafty old Were-cat, as clever as a fox, and she understood that the place would be very safe after Sapphire checked it over.

He wasn't very far from there, so it took him only a few minutes to stalk down to the door. That close to Triana, he could feel her power even behind her shield, a curiously sharp sense of her that he hadn't noticed before. Now that he could feel it, now that he understood what he was feeling, he realized he could have easily found her without having to use Sorcery. And that, he realized, was what Sapphire was trying to do to find them. Just wander around and try to get close enough to Triana to sense her formidable presence.

His emotions turned rather flat once he reached that door. He knew what had to be done. He wasn't going to necessarily enjoy it, but he knew what he had to do.

Putting a paw on the door, he pushed until the latch broke, and then shoved it out of the way.

Inside were all the Were-cats. Mist was laying on a couch, unconscious but looking otherwise unwounded, and Kimmie was sitting on a chair by the couch, worry stamped on her face as she held Mist's paw in her own. Eron sat on the end of the couch, by Mist's feet, quiet and very subdued. Triana was standing in the center of the room, her eyes closed and a look of intense concentration on her face, as Jesmind paced back and forth between Kimmie's chair and the door on the far wall beyond. Jula and Jasana were sitting on a second couch by the fireplace, and Tarrin realized that the apartment was of similar design as Jesmind's, with only different furniture. They all looked at him in almost perfect unison, except Triana, and they all started in shock when he boldly stepped into the room.

"You can stop that now, mother," he said grimly. "Sapphire's been muzzled."

"Tarrin!" three seperate cries issued at once, from Jula, Kimmie, and Jesmind. Jasana called out "Papa!" but Triana only opened her eyes and gave him a strange, worried look. Only she seemed to sense his aggravation. Jesmind rushed past her mother, rushed towards him, and seeing her filled him with a sudden seething anger that he simply couldn't control.

Ears suddenly laying back and his eyes exploding into the unholy greenish radiance that marked his anger, he reared his paw back, and then he lashed out with it as she blindly rushed up to him. His paw slammed into her face, striking her a massive backhanded blow. The power in it sent her flying, crashing to the floor by Triana and rolling to a stop, completely stunned. Had Tarrin struck a human with that much power, it would have been instantly fatal. It very well may have ripped a human in half.

Jesmind laid very still, and Jula and Kimmie looked at him in startled horror. Triana gave him a narrow-eyed, steely look, but did not move.

"If I find out that one of you did this to me," he hissed in a savage manner, with a look of unmitigated hatred on his face, "you'll wish I'd killed you here and now." He locked his baleful gaze on each of the three staring females in turn, making all of them, even Triana, flinch from the power of his stare and look away.

It was primal, but he couldn't control it. He showed them his fangs, a dangerous snarl, crouching somewhat in a very aggressive posture, his claws out as he pointed at Triana. "Do you know who did this?" he demanded in a voice that would brook no hedging in the matter.

"No," she answered levelly. "But are you sorry for it?"

"I'm sorry I never got the chance to decide," he said in a hissing tone.

"That's not saying it wasn't your choice."

"It was my choice, but taking that choice away is as good as turning me against my will!" he said in a furious tone, almost shouting.

Triana lifted her chin, a nearly challenging act, staring him in the eyes. "Then you chose to be what you were meant to be."

"I was satisfied with it after it was made for me," he said in a hot manner. "It's not the same."

"The end justifies the means. You say so yourself. Don't get hypocritical on me now, cub."

Unable to reply to that, trapped by his own words, he could only glare at her coldly, but his anger had lost its bite in her eyes. He knew that. He may be able to intimidate the others, but Triana wouldn't be patently afraid of him. Then again, little he could do would put Triana off for long. She was too old and too wise and grizzled to be afraid of him for long.

Jesmind finally stirred, and her moving seemed to break Jasana of some kind of paralysis. She ran over to her mother and knelt by her as she sat up woozily, her eyes glassy and blood flowing liberally from both corners of her mouth and her nose. Tarrin's blow probably crushed every bone in her face, and it probably poured a great deal of blood into her mouth and nasal cavity before the damage was repaired. She looked up at him in confusion, and not a little bit of hurt.

"Don't cow eyes at me, witch," Tarrin said brutally. "I'm furious with you over how you treated me when I was human. I'm not going to forgive you any time soon."

"I did what I had to do to keep you," she declared, but her voice was a bit slurred.