That suitably done to his satisfaction, he bent to the task at hand, and that was finding out who turned him. He was so consumed by it that even going to greet his sisters and friends seemed hollow in comparison that burning need. Only his desire to have it out with Jesmind and his duty to carry out the will of his Goddess superseded that singular compulsion.

That didn't prevent them from coming to him, and that was exactly what happened. The first to find him was Keritanima and Allia, guided by Keritanima's magic. They rounded a corner almost on top of him and gave out cries of delight, and even his anger was brushed away by the sight of them. He embraced his two sisters tenderly, lovingly, having their scents fill his nose with the rightness of them, the perfection that he seemed to feel whenever they were together. It took him a moment to calm them down to where he could speak rationally to them, and they spoke Selani, as was always their habit when conversing privately amongst themselves.

"Brother, they told us what happened!" Allia said as Keritanima blurted "they wouldn't let us sit with you!"

"I'm alright," he told them gently, putting a paw on each shoulder. They were so different from one another, and a thousand forgotten memories of them, of the tediums of everday life in the Tower and on the road, their every expressions and moods, it all came back to him and made him love them that much more. Both weren't without their thorns, but his love for them was stronger for their faults than it was for their perfection.

"Who did it?" Keritanima asked immediately.

"That's what I'm going to find out," he said grimly. "It's why I didn't come running to you as soon as I woke up. I have to start while the trail is freshest."

"Did they tell you what Sapphire did to Mist?" Allia asked.

He nodded. "Mist is alright, or at least I think she was," he said. "All the females were in her company, so I wasn't very sociable when I saw her."

"I can imagine," Keritanima snorted. "Which of them do you think did it? I think it was Jesmind, myself."

"I'm not sure, but it may not have been any of them," he said grimly. He told them about his talk with the Goddess, and when he was done, Keritanima whistled sharply through her muzzle.

"That certainly complicates things, but we'll be looking for someone with a motive, brother. Just anyone that knows about the blood is a suspect, but we can do things to narrow down the field some."

"That's what I'm on my way to do. Me and Sapphire and Jenna are going to where the blood is so we can see what we can find out."

"Well, you're not doing this without me," Keritanima said flatly. "I'm much more devious than you, brother. I think in ways you don't, and I can be a real use to you."

"Both of you can," he said. "Just being here is enough. I have to keep a tight rein on my temper, and you two always did have a calming effect on me."

Keritanima looked at him in a strange tilt-headed manner. "You're… different, brother," she said hesitantly. "I didn't sense it before. I guess I was too excited. But I can feel it now."

Allia looked at him carefully. Then her eyes turned sober. "Even I can sense it," she agreed. "He is like a lodestone within the Weave, drawing its light to him."

"That's part of why I have to keep my temper in check," he said ruefully, then he explained what Triana and the Goddess had told him as they moved towards his room, where he was to meet Sapphire. "I'm not sure I understand all of it, but I do know that my increased Druidic ability is dangerous," he told them. "Triana warned me, and I believe her. She had no reason to lie, not about something like that ."

"At least some part of your brain is working," Keritanima chided with a toothy grin.

He let that pass. "She told me what I need to do to make sure nothing bad happens until she can teach me what I need to know, so I should be alright, at least for a short time. But I can feel it there, Kerri. It's just like Triana said. The All seems to be lurking out there, just the same way High Sorcery did back before I could control it. It's just waiting for a chance to connect with me, and I have to be very careful to make sure not to have anything go wrong if that happens."

"Can we do anything to help?" Allia asked.

"Just stay near me," he said. "I need a level head, and you two always were able to cool my temper."

"That's no great chore," Allia said with a loving smile.

"I hope not."

"Brother, I must ask. Are you happy?" Allia asked in a voice powerful with emotion.

"I'm content," he told her simply. "Had I had the choice that was stolen from me, I would have chosen this. But it's the theft of it that makes me so angry. Nobody had the right to steal it from me, and I mean to punish whoever did it. Thoroughly," he added in an ominous tone, his eyes narrowing.

"It can't be thorough unless we get our licks in too," Keritanima told him, rubbing her hands together. "I have quite a few little ideas brewing. I'm pretty sure that they're not much nicer than yours."

"I guess we'd better start drawing numbers. Sapphire intends to kill whoever did it. I'm going to have to talk her out of that, because whoever it is won't fully appreciate how furious I am if they're dead."

"He is angry," Allia mused to Keritanima.

"Was it ever in doubt?" she replied impishly.

"I win, sister," Allia added.

"You did not. Someone else turned him, so it's invalid."

"What is this?" Tarrin asked.

"When you went nuts on us about us fighting over what you should do, me and Allia made a little wager," Keritanima explained. "I bet you'd stay human, she bet you'd want to be Were again."

"I won," Allia said stubbornly.

"It wasn't his choice," the Wikuni fenced. "It's an invalid conclusion, so it's a draw."

"What was the wager?" Tarrin asked curiously.

"Oh, nothing serious," Keritanima said. "Just ownership of Sha'Kari."

" What?" he gasped.

"Well, nobody lives there anymore, do they?" Keritanima said defensively. "All the Sha'Kar left. And it's a perfectly good place. Lots of nice empty buildings, and someone has to keep up the maintenance on them, don't they?"

"Don't you realize that the Sha'Kar own all that?" he said.

"I asked Ianelle. She said when they abandoned it, it became nobody's property. That means it's there for whoever wants to claim it."

Tarrin had a sneaking suspicion. "When do they get there?" he asked bluntly.

The fur on Keritanima's cheeks ruffled, her version of a blush. "They should be there already," she admitted. "I haven't gotten any recent reports."

"Who got where?" Allia demanded.

"Kerri's fleet," Tarrin said. "I'll bet she sent them out to claim Sha'Kari about two seconds after Ianelle told her it was up for grabs."

"It was more like ten minutes," she said modestly.

"And you wagered possession of it against me?" Allia asked, her eyes flaring slightly.

"I knew you wouldn't do anything with it, Allia," Keritanima said smoothly. "In the end, it was going to be mine anyway, so why are we fighting about it?"

"Get out your purse, sister," Allia said cooly. "You are about to pay me rent."

"But you didn't win the bet," Keritanima said stubbornly. "When Tarrin was turned before he made a choice, it invalidated the whole thing. We don't know what he really would have decided, since he never got the chance to think without the Cat influencing him, do we?"

"That's nothing but a flimsy excuse for you to weasel out of your word," Allia accused.

"What would you do with a place like that, Allia?" Keritanima asked.

"I thought it might be a nice place for me and Allyn to spend our honeymoon," she said simply. "I have some very pleasant memories of some places there," she added with a wicked little smile.