real bodies are for punks

I didn’t take a breath, for I had no mouth. I didn’t shut my eyes for I didn’t have those either, nor any other way of moving. But even as I was trapped in the dark, I was aware of at least myself, and I stayed calm. Even this wasn’t enough to shake my heart.

Even this wasn’t enough to make me stop.

For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all. Infinite in distance and unbound by death, I release your soul—

I rose around the shell, the Tiger forming around me anew—no, that wasn’t it. I was the Tiger, my body left behind in the white shell beneath me. I turned my head to see my father walking away and separated from my body entirely, clawed fingers curling. The world around me was different now that I’d discarded my physical body, combining Projection with the art of the White Tiger. But that didn’t matter either, so long as it meant I could keep going.

You’ve thought of a new skill. Would you like to name it?

I looked at myself crouching, preparing to Lunge at my father. All things considered, I could think of only one name that fit.

“Bai Hu,” I growled and leapt at my father’s turned back.