It's hard for a big guy to sneak up on someone, they're generally too heavy with their steps, their breathing is usually more noticeable, and they tend to give themselves away more often than smaller people. It was even worse for Aurion. In addition to the previously mentioned difficulties he had claws, and claws are not quiet, always tap-tapping-click-clacking with every step. Add in the tail that liked to tell people he was around by hitting things and his near utter lack of anything he could effectively hide behind, and you've got yourself a very poor stalker. At least on the ground.

Once you're above a person you become almost invisible, especially at night when you're higher up than the street and alley lights. That is just where Aurion was.

It had slipped his mind in favor of more...'normal' activities in and around the Sanctuary, but he hadn't completely forgotten about the scum that had nearly taken Chase and had taken who knows how many children. Human children, probably, but children just the same. So when he had stumbled across one of those involved, he decided to play a little bit of hide and follow.

He knew, well, he was pretty sure, the guy wasn't well informed about the goings on, but he was still part of it. So when the man was about to enter his apartment from the alley entrance, Aurion let out a cry somewhere between rapid clicking of his tongue and a loud growl. The man looked up towards the sound just in time to see Aurion drop down in front of him. Aurion's hand thrust forward, claws forward.

Buried a good inch or so into the man's chest, Aurion slammed him against the steel door. Standing nose to nose he blew hot, rancid smelling breath on the man's face. "Where take kids."

"I-I dunno what yo-AAHGH!" Aurion flexed his fingers, crushing bones together and pulling them in ways they shouldn't. "I-I don't know man! Really!" The man coughed a bit of blood up onto Aurion. "We, I, just load'em up, ya know? Don't ask questions, just get paid, yeah?"

The man would stink of sweat and piss to anyone else, but Aurion, couldn't smell it. "Who know?"

"I can't tell you dude. Common I won't do it again. I don't wanna die!"

Aurion looked at the man coolly before smiling toothily. His tail raised up slowly from behind him, making sure to draw the man's attention. The fin flexed as it neared him. Aurion drew it from his right hip, to the left side up to the shoulder then across the man's collar bones, slicing cloth and flesh easily, but not deeply. His voice soft, quiet, but a little gravely, he spoke into the man's ear. "You no tell. I. Kill. You. Slowly. Skin you. Scalp you. Tear you. Keep you alive. Eat you while you scream." For emphasis he grabbed the man's hand and snapped his jaw's down on the man's thumb. His teeth bit in and severed it cleanly with almost no resistance from the bone. He spit the thumb at its owner and waited.

The man had been doing well not to crap himself, even when the beast basically threatened torture. That ended quite suddenly when his thumb was bitten off quicker than he could register. But he didn't yell or scream, he just bit down on his lip, drawing blood. He was going to die whether he told the mutant or not. He debated with himself for what seemed like a long time: Tell the mutant or not. The freak seemed mightily pissed about what they were doing, he might wipe them out, then he might just live through it all. "Jack. Jack!" He sputtered. "That's what he goes by. I swear. He's got his hands into more than just this." He saw Aurion tilt his head in slight confusion. "You know, like guns, drugs. More than just this. You want to shut it down right? He's who you want."

"Show me." Aurion said before he jumped and climbed up to the roof with the man in tow. He dragged the man, still bleeding, through the city to the building they did their business out of. By the time 'Jack' showed up the man was pale and breathing hard. "So you're gonna let me live right? You got what you want."

Aurion looked at him blankly, "Never said that." He smiled when the man's eyes went wide when he realized what was about to happen. He tried to run, the idiot. They were on the top of a building, where would he go? Down? Whether he wanted to or not, that's where he was heading. Aurion caught him easily, heaved him above his head, aimed, and threw him like a spear towards the concrete. The result satisfied him greatly, especially seeing the splatter all over 'Jack', thought he was out of sight before anyone looked in his direction.

**************************************************************

It took a while, but Aurion eventually was able to get close enough without being caught to overhear snippets of a conversation between 'Jack' and whoever he was on the phone with. All he could get was that 'Jack' had some sort of meeting with someone about...who knows what, but it didn't sound like it was good. It would be too easy for it to be the person or people that he delivered the kids to. But Aurion could hope.

He followed 'Jack' from as far behind as he dared, and thankfully he wasn't leaving the city and the meeting was at night. Aurion would have had issues otherwise. He was alone, which seemed odd to the lizard man. When Jack entered the building, Aurion slipped inside via a window on the upper floor as quietly as he could. He was glad all he had to do was pry the window open after ripping the latch off instead of having to break it. He slunk along tight to the ceiling watching Jack. The man stopped quite quickly and stood in place. 'What the hell is he doing?' Aurion looked around, but couldn't see anything, and he was sure he hadn't made enough noise to be heard so what was going on?

The Warehouse that Jack had lead Aurion to looked far from anything of importance. There was graffiti on the outside walls as well as the inside. Panels of the walls were missing on the outside, and the only part of the building that looked stable, was the foundation. Pipes were exposed and rusted, trees were over taking parts of the foundation. When Sara had built her under ground storage units, she had taken care not to disturb of cover and evidence that mother nature had so helpfully provided.

Jack was unaware that he had been followed. He just stood there looking at his watch and getting impatient. Jack never heard the window slide open, and he wasn't aware that a lizard like mutant had slipped in and now slunk along the ceiling like the house was just a giant tree.

The cat lady of the house finally drove onto the scene in a discrete white van. Jack greeted her at the entrance to the warehouse and walking side by side they went inside. "You're 20 minutes late." Jack told Sara.

"But you know I'm worth it." Sara teased with a flick of her tail she found the door of a safe, and picked up the door. "Besides. You're not my only client and this isn't my only storage building. I'm spread thin, over a lot of work and there have been a few problems with one of my warehouses." Sara thought of her recent human trafficking issue that Pluto had alerted her to, but that was a different house and a different client. She still had to decide if she was keeping that property.

Jack slid in Sara's both, one finger running down her jaw line to lift her chin. "I could offer my own assistance." He leaned into Sara and she moved to the side, stepping around him, blowing him off.

"Assistance?"

"You know. Assistance. For a price."

"I don't think so."

Jack looked a little put off by Sara's refusal, but he didn't let that get him too down either. "You'd just have to give me the location of your other buildings."

Sara turned back into him pushing him back against the wall of the warehouse with only her presence. She was serious, though still elegant, and a grin of admiration spread it's way across Jack's face. "I still don't think so." Sara pulled at Jack's collar of his jacket, straightening it when the shift of weight had wrinkled it oddly. "I assume you remember the verbal contract for the storage units and that you brought the cash?"

"I've got the cash." Jack said. Sara allowed him to push her back, so he could reach for a money clip. Their transaction turning from fun and playful to serious.

Aurion became more and more annoyed the longer he waited. Jack was just standing there, for what seemed to him to be forever. He had to keep telling himself to be patient, calm down, and be quiet. Thankfully the ceiling of the building gave way easily enough, so when Aurion had started crushing it, it hadn't made much of a sound. Aurion's patience was almost at it's limit when a white van pulled up and a mutant got out.

His vantage point wasn't the best it could have been. The mutant looked kind of familiar, but at the same time, very foreign. She had a tail though, that much was certain, and it annoyed him. Why? Maybe he thought mutants with tails shouldn't be involved or be helping this guy or supporting him in any way. Aurion figured Jupiter wouldn't approve and though Gina could be upset by it. But not the one talking to Jack apparently. He forced himself to take a deep breath and relax.

They weren't talking louder than normal and Aurion was above them, which made it somewhat difficult to hear everything they said. He did get the gist of it though. This mutant woman had a number of storage areas, with other clients. Jack was either paying for one he already had, or acquiring one now. Aurion narrowed his eyes and felt his heart beat faster.

Hoping he would land where he intended, Aurion crouched on the ceiling and launched himself towards the ground. With full lungs he bellowed, "NO. MORE. KIDS!" Twisting in air, he came down feet first between the woman and Jack. One foot landed on the ground solidly, while the other foot's claws gouged their way through Jack's collarbone and ribs before touching wetly to the ground.

Time is subjective, and to Aurion, it slowed way down when he turned his head towards the mutant woman. His tail slapped the ground hard as his fin stiffened. His eyes seemed to glaze over slightly as his second eyelid slid in place. A low growl bubbled up from his throat as he stared down at the mutant. He bared his teeth at her while his fingers flexed and popped.

Standing in front of the quickly dying Jack, Aurion took in the mutant woman in comparison to himself. She was tall, but shorter than he was, not nearly as muscular or heavy looking and she very much resembled a large cat, from the tip of her ears down to her claws, which like the rest of her, were smaller than his. From his landing to his quick look at the woman took a moment or two. Everything he got from those short moments he could rationalize and think about later, but for the time being, he stared her in the eyes, and all but said, 'You're next.'

Sara was no stranger to death. She'd grown up with it's possibilities always close to her because of the way that she was. What she was. She'd seen labs, registration camps, and everyday violence based on race at it's best. That didn't mean that when Death happened that Sara was immune to shock.

One moment she was about to get a decent amount of pay for this coming month. The next she was watching one of her favorite clients die and staring down a fellow mutant who.... Sara hated thinking this.... but he looked odder than herself. It was a he.... Right? And what was it that he'd yelled just before he'd killed Jack? Sara wasn't paying attention to the words. She'd just flinched with her ears pressed against the back of her head when the words came. The shout had stopped her from actually doing anything useful as her head still swam in it. What was it that he'd actually said anyways? The warehouse was still echoing with it but it was also accompanied by a deep growl and Sara couldn't help but stare this mutant back in the eye. Otherwise the next set of sillyness might have been able to be talked out.

Sara chanced a glance down for a moment at Jack. The odd mutant stood between them. When the odd mutant had gone through his collar bone he'd ripped vocal cords and Jack could do nothing but grasp at the gaping hole, and gasp as he collapsed first to his knees. Then his side. Even if Sara could get to him, her body only healed herself. There was nothing that she could do for him.

With her jaw set tight, she turned her attention back to those clouded over looking eyes and bared teeth. Sara had already been pressed against the wall of the warehouse, and with the recent events, she was still in the same position. She didn't want to fight and she didn't know what was really going on, but the wall at her back didn't give her a lot of options.

"Why?" Sara reached behind herself to the wall. The tips of her fingers trying to find something to grasp onto, break it off, and use as a weapon. Her fingers found a loose bored and she twisted it free with a crunch.

"Why?" She asked why as if she didn't already know. Did she think he was stupid? Because he looked more inhuman than she did?

Aurion snarled his lip quivering. His ears caught the crunch of wood, his eyes narrowed even more. Fast as a whip, his tail twisted and went after the hand and board, ready to slice both clean through. "You know why!" He bellowed as he set his feet and launched his bone platted head forward to try and smash her skull into the wall.

Sara didn't think that Aurion was dumb at all. As a matter of fact she'd repeatedly learned first hand that a mutant's looks didn't have anything to do with thier IQ.... Most of the time. Why just down the street there was a mutant who looked like a giant snot bubble but he could perform the most amazing math equations.

The crunching sound of the wood, from Sara twisting it free triggered an attack from the giant lizard like mutant. He was fast. Sara was faster but she was also cornered with little space to move or to think. The tail whipped around heading straight for Sara's arm with her make shift weapon. Sara managed to spin the piece of wood in her hand to avoid the tip of the tail, and smack it to the side where it smashed into the wall behind her.

The lizard mutant bellowed at Sara again, witch if she was ticked off before, she was ticked out even more so because he accused her of knowing why he'd killed her client, and for being so darn loud. Her ears pinned against the back of her neck as the sound of his voice assaulted her face. Speaking of assaulting her face the otherr mutant came in for a head butt and Sara couldn't dodge to the left or to the right. She could only try to go up, and when she tried that, he'd caught her with the head butt in the ribs. She was shoved backwards into the wall of the warehouse behind her and the air was pushed violently out of her body. She managed to bring her hands up to his face and push back enough to get her feet up between them With the added force between her hands and her feet she tried to toss him backwards to give herself some space.

Aurion grimaced when the woman knocked his tail away. It didn't hurt as much as it sent one hell of shock through his tail and into his spine. It wasn't often someone or something moved fast enough to dodge his tail, let alone intercept and deflect it as easily as she had. The tip of his tail tingled where it struck the wall momentarily distracting him. That wasn't the only surprise he got just then. They had been close enough that in a fraction of a second he could have smashed her head with his, but she was able to react in time to move.

He felt the pressure as his head met her gut, but it didn't feel right. He didn't feel bones break or shatter. The only satisfaction, though short lived, was the sound of air escaping her on impact. Her hands, paws maybe?, were on his head not a breath later trying to force his head out of her abdomen. His feet gripped the ground as his claws tug small divots in the floor as he tried to resist her push. His hands went towards to wall to try and get a handhold so he could use his arm strength to crush her.

By the time his claws touched the wall his head and torso had been forced back enough for the cat woman to get her feet on his chest and shove. Hard. The only thing he could do as he was shoved back was to try and rake at her with his clawed hands as he was nearly launched backwards. She had pushed with such force he could have sworn he felt his bones move and compress. He tipped backwards as he went back, falling into an awkward roll, his tail bent oddly and a bit painfully near the base.

When he halted his backwards movement, he didn't stand up. He was more than 10feet from the woman now and glared at her with his cat-like eyes. Tail snapping from side to side like an angry whips he looked the woman over again. She was strong enough to thwart him and sent him flying. Aurion guessed she was at least as strong as he was....if not stronger. She was faster than his tail too, which, at least to his mind, was quicker than then business end of a whip.

It would be wrong to say he was scared. He had to give her credit where credit was due, had to give her some respect, grudgingly at least. She was someone to be cautious around. Aurion raised himself from the ground slowly, never taking his eyes from her. He wasn't standing as tall as he had been, adopting a posture similar to a raptor's. His movement was the freest standing like that, while allowing him the use of his hands at the same time.

Though is voice was low and gravelly, it carried through the building easily, "Where are kids? Where keep them? Where they go?" Aurion's lips peeled back, revealing his teeth in all their glory as a slight snarl escaped him. He was sure the cat woman would get the threat without him having to say anything.

She pushed back on him, and he managed to rake his claws across her upper arm and below her collar bone. Dangerously too close to her neck for comfort. Nonetheless she was successful in pushing the other mutant off of her and enough distance away from herself that she had some breathing room to figure out her next move.

Fore a moment, Sara had dropped to the ground next to the wall she'd been pinned to. Her feet went under herself with a quick twist. She was on her feet with little trouble. "What kids?" Sara spit back. Under normal circumstances, she might have kept her cool and stopped to figure things out. She might have even forgiven Aurion for raking his claws across her and the open wounds that they had left that were now slowly inching their way closed. Really her biggest issue that she had with this other reptilian mutant was that he just killed, not only a good client of hers, but someone she liked enough almost to call him a friend. Almost...

Oh and Sara had gotten the unworded message from Aurion. His teeth bared and her head tilted as he growled at her. Her lips curled showing only the tips of her long elegant feline fangs. Ears flattened against the back of her head. Slowly she stalked across the building floor keeping the same distance between them as her eyes watched Aurion's tail whip back and forth. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Aurion paced the cat mutant and tried to close the distance one step at a time. He didn't intent to get into claw range with the feline, but his tail, maybe he could strike her with it. That would be a long shot, and he knew it. As soon as the distance between them was just close enough for a tail strike, she's know it, and she already proved she was faster than his tail. His glance flicked to her tail and saw that it was basically just an over large cat's tail and no real threat.

Eyes narrowing, not in anger, though he felt quite a bit of that, he tried to gauge what she said and if she were telling the truth. "You give Jack warehouse. Jack take kids from street." His fingers flexed and popped. "Where keep them? You know, tell me!"

Legs launched Aurion forward to close the gap between them. Halfway there he dug his claws into the floor and spun himself around. The rotation of his body added a lot of speed to his tail as it whipped towards the Cat.

Sara could feel the hair on the back of her neck and down her spine stand on end. A deep, low, growl echoed through her throat as she listened to Aurion’s words. Jack took kids off of the street? She didn’t know! And even if she did, it couldn’t have been her warehouses! Sara didn’t really have time to gage all of that information. Aurion was already trying to figure out how close he should get to her.

Her eyes narrowed at the way Aurion was moving. She tensed. Then he struck.

He was covering the gap between them, fast. As Aurion twisted, his tail whipped her way. That formidable fin on his tail was headed straight for her and she was going to have to strike back, but first she was going to have to get close enough to do so. Instead of backing off and pacing just out of reach of Aurion’s tail, she ducked below it. The sharp edge of it slashed her leaving a minor wound. Aurion’s tail whipped around and she charged him intending to take him down with her claws if she had to.

Sara threw her wait at the other mutant and she tried to sink her claws into the ribs of him. With any luck, she’d knock him to the ground where she could try to get more control. "I don't know what you're talking about!"

The momentum that allowed his tail to slash faster than he could alone, helped Aurion turn to face the oncoming cat woman, who seemed to only get nicked by his tail. He had flipped onto his back as she barreled down on him. The flip to his back had the affect of keeping the woman's claws from digging into his sides. Pulling his feet in close, he lashed out with them, tried to rake them across her gut, as she got close, much as a cat would.

From his position on his back, on the floor it wasn't hard to see that the wounds he had given her were either gone, or going away, rapidly. He was a bit envious of that, but he realized that if this woman really outclassed him physically, and could heal rapidly, he was going to loose. With that thought in mind he tried to grab her about the shoulder and neck area. "Tell me where he hide them." He growled. If he could get a hold of her, he'd try to pull her close so he could sink his fangs into her neck.

To say that Sara was surprised to have Aurion kick at her gut with his clawed feet…. Would be the truth. It shouldn’t of been a surprise because that was one of her favorite moves but none the less, she was surprised. She took the blow in full from one clawed foot that managed to dig deep across her ribs and abdomen. The other went sideways slashing a smaller but substantial cut. If Sara didn’t have her healing abilities, she would have been dead in a few minutes. A sharp cry echoed from her throat sounding more animal than human with the sudden onslaught of pain and Sara’s eyes dilated till they were nearly all black.

She didn’t have time to stop and check her stomach. Her mutation would have to take care of it by it’s self and it did. During the struggle her ripped flesh stretched to close, and knit together. It would take time but soon Sara’s skin would smooth out only leaving streaks of missing fur that would take longer to grow back, and her tattered shirt…. Well shirts don’t heal… She’d have a fresh one waiting for her at home. No matter. She’d have a new shirt soon enough. She just had to deal with this fellow mutant first.

Speaking of her fellow mutant, he was speaking to her. He still demanded to know where the children were and it ticked her off. Even if she wanted to chat back at him right away, he certainly made it difficult. He tried catching her about the shoulders and for a moment, Sara worked to block his attempts to hold her about her shoulders and her neck with her own claws lashing out at his arms and face. Mean while she tried moving her own clawed feet. One to step on the inner leg of Aurion’s right leg. The other tried to step on his tail so that if it didn’t stop him from striking her with it, it would at least give her fair warning. She certainly didn’t want to get caught by either of the sharp natural weapons again. As for the other leg, hopefully Sara was too close to him for another attack to be easy.

Then, if Sara didn’t have enough trouble talking, the other mutant decided to try to sink his teeth into her neck. Growling, Sara shielded her throat from his teeth. She caught his jaws, upper jaw caught with her right clawed hand, lower jaw caught with her left. She pushed against the other mutant’s jaws aiming back towards the ground. She also tried pulling his mouth wide open, Digging her claws into his lips or gums if she felt her own grip slip. Not to the point of causing injury, yet, but definitely trying to make it uncomfortable.

She chuckled letting a deep growl from her chest echo up with it. “Demanding that I talk, then ripping out my voice box doesn’t really make sense. It’s almost as bad as the phrase cat got your tongue.” Errr ahhh Jaw. That tail. Where was that tail that he’d tried to attack her with at first. Sara moved to try to find it and try to keep it in sight while still keeping the other mutant in her field of view. That tail. Where was that tail that he’d tried to attack her with at first. Sara moved to try to find it and try to keep it in sight while still keeping the other mutant in her field of view. “I don’t know anything about any that he took.” That he took? That he took! Realization hit Sara and for a moment she was distracted.

Aurion didn't have the leverage he needed to pull her close. He couldn't get his body into it, not while she was standing on one leg, the base of his tail and pushing his head into the floor. He tried to get his free leg up enough to claw at her side, but he couldn't quite get the angle needed. With her hands and arms occupied keeping his teeth away from her, and her other limbs also busy, he had to keep keep the pressure on her.

He tried to gnash his teeth at her hands with no luck. She really had his jaw good and secure. His hands were still on her shoulders, pulling her down as she pushed away. Aurion realized that he had a longer reach on the woman. With a quick twitch his hands readjusted their hold and grip, further in towards her spine. Growling he flexed his fingers, digging claws into her flesh and pulled, gouging into her.

His narrowed, yellow eyes watched her reaction. He struck when he saw his opening. The base didn't move, but the rest of the tail lashed and wrapped around her neck, the stiff fin cutting into flesh as it wound around her neck. His tail pulled up as his claws pulled her down as he growled even more.

She'd been distracted by what she'd just realized. She wanted to tell him that she wasn't involved to scream it at him in his face and slap him but all that she could do was scream again when he choked up on his grip. This time, in pain. All of his claws making new pains that were alarmingly close to her spine Ok if she was going to tell him of her innocents, she first had to survive the exchange, and leaving some wounds from her own claws on him in return wouldn't hurt... Well it wouldn't hurt her. Heck! Hurting him back would make her feel a lot better right now.

This mutant was a him... Wasn't it? Answering that question was quickly put on hold as out of the corner of her eye, Sara saw that tail of Aurion's coming. that sharp edge headed for her neck. It just took a twist of her head and a snap of her jaws. Jaws with the strength to crush bone, like Sara's wild counter parts. Sara caught Aurion's tail in her mouth at the base of the blade like section. All four feline fangs sank as deep as she could send them into Aurion's flesh. Out one side of her mouth, the rounded part of Aurion's tail stuck out not harming anything but still pulling her head up as she tried to increase pressure that she put on his jaw. Pulling the upper part from the bottom part as hard as she could and hoping to hear it pop, crunch, or just a sigh of audible weakness from the other mutant would be semi enjoyable. Unfortunately the part that wasn't that enjoyable was the fact that the sharp part of Aurion's tail, that stuck out the other side of Sara's mouth sawed into her cheek. Threatening to go through it. She'd heal but let's face if. It was much easier to avoid wounds that serious in the first place than to waist the energy her body needed to restore it's self.

That and the fact that Sara's mouth was currently full made things a lot more difficult to proclaim her innocents.

For a moment, Sara's was stuck, with the other mutant's humungous hands pulling her down, and his tail pulling her up at such an angle that she had no clue she was actually that flexible. Teeth still clamped down, her lips pealed back and her eyes squeezed shut as he forced her to look up. Her arm muscles trembled and the muscles drew tighter. There was no way that she could match his strength in this close of fight and especially not at this type of angle.

With her chest rising and falling rapidly, she just couldn't seem to get enough oxigen through her throat. the muscles around her jugular bulging to counter react the fact that this other mutant seemed to want to break her neck. The one thing that Sara had going for her right now is that her mutation made her so cat like, that her skin slid around her when stabbed or pulled much like that of a wild cats. It made an excellent defense and like her wild, savage counter parts, she too suddenly seemed to twist withing it. Her foot that had been pressing down on Aurion's tail shot up and tried to sink it's claws into his chest for a good grip, then shoved down on it to try to keep his teeth away from her. Simultaneously her hands left Aurion's jaws, flying out to the sides and aiming to press the points of her fingers (And her claws) into the inner parts of the other mutant's elbows at a speed fueled by by Sara's adrenalin, and the fact that she'd already been trying to pull so hard on the reptile like mutant's mouth.

If she did manage to make him release her with this move, she'd definitely have larger wounds to heal on her back, from the claws on his large hands. But at least she'd have the chance to kick off of his check and land a distance away enough to catch her breath and heal.

Aurion let out a fresh growl as the cat woman bit down on his tail. Pain spots exploded in his vision as he forced himself not to let go, though the shock and pain made that a difficult task. It also allowed the woman to force his jaw open a little wider than it had been a moment before. His cheeks felt stretched, his jaw felt like it was starting to put pressure on his jugular. And more than that, his mouth was starting to dry out. Yes, through the pain in his tail, being stepped on, and having his jaw forced apart, the dryness in his mouth was what he thought of that really bothered him.

When he started pulling her head away from him, he felt the pressure on his jaw lessen and made a half-choke, half-swallow sound. Looking up at her he noticed she only had hold of the top half of his fin. Since she bit so close to the base it was a little meatier there. Aurion couldn't tell if she had bitten through the fin, but it sure felt like it! He couldn't help imagine having two to four perfect holes in his fin from here teeth. A little flex, twist, and rotating of his tail had the bottom half of his fin pressed against her throat.

Aurion had begun to wiggle his claws as he forced them down, to try and burrow them down until he could get to her ribs and try to crush them. He didn't get a chance to get far when he felt the pressure at the base of his tail disappear.

The rest happened so fast he wasn't sure what happened first. His tail writhed to loop around the cat woman's shoulders and upper arms as soon as the pressure was gone. Her foot slammed into his chest and he felt hot fire in the muscles there as he claws sunk in. His jaw was free, which was a relief, but he wasn't able to get his head near her because of her foot keeping them away. Her fingers and claws hit him in the elbow joint, which he didn't fight, but let his arms fall so he wouldn't get them caught when his tail tried to wrap around her lower arms.