“How did it go?” she asked, cradled in his arms, a place that felt not only comfortable, but right.
It took him only a moment to recap the experience. Apparently, he’d shifted and satisfied the harimau tribe that he was telling the truth, at least with respect to the change in his physiology. Would that be enough to keep them safe? Her time in the village that morning had made it clear the people remained suspicious. The adults, at least. The children—some of them in human shape wearing only loincloths, others in fur—ran around hooting and laughing. To her shock, one of them spontaneously shifted in the midst of play, their lack of control explaining the minimal clothing. The loincloths either split the tethers holding them around the waist or fluttered to the ground to be trampled on.
After the midday meal of fish and more fresh produce, Farah invited Phoenix and Nadirah to join her and the children as she orated some of their history and then went on to conduct a lesson in meditation and control. The stories Nadirah alreadyknew from Nenek, but she still listened avidly so she could translate for Phoenix.
When it came time to practice, some of the more active youngsters found it hard to sit still, but others adopted a lotus position, eyes closed, breathing as instructed. A few managed to reach a Zen-like state that allowed them to call forth their inner tiger.
While Nadirah knew she had no harimau blood, she couldn’t resist attempting—and failing—as did Phoenix, who sighed when the lesson ended.
“Guess clearing my mind doesn’t work,” he ruefully admitted.
“You’ve only begun to learn,” Farah stated. “Control over your inner tiger can take time. My oldest son didn’t master the ability to shift at will until his thirties.”
Phoenix grimaced. “Meaning, at my age, I could end up being eligible for the senior discount before I get it to work.”
“You might find it easier to go from tiger to human first, as that is the shape you wear most often.”
“Speaking of shifting back, I’ve got a question for you.” Phoenix lowered his voice. “While injury morphs me automatically, I also go from tiger to man if I taste blood. I don’t suppose that’s common?”
The claim raised Farah’s brows. “Blood transforms you?”
“Only in tiger form. As a man, I can eat a rare steak, no problem. But if I’m wearing my stripes, it only takes the taste of it, and poof, I’m two-legged again. General claimed it made me defective for combat.”
“That is very strange. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of such a thing.” Farah half turned and, in Malaysian, called over Johan, who’d stopped to talk to someone in the forest village. “Johan, our guest has an interesting quirk.”
The older man headed for them, and Phoenix groaned. “She just told him, didn’t she?”
“She’s about to,” Nadirah confirmed.
“This is so embarrassing.” Being an alpha male, Phoenix saw it as a weakness.
Farah quickly explained to Johan what Phoenix admitted, which led to the older man staring before murmuring, “I never hear of such thing.”
“Meaning I am a freak.” Phoenix slumped.
Johan frowned. “What he say?”
Farah jumped in to translate, and to Nadirah’s surprise, Johan put a hand on Phoenix’s shoulder. “Not broken. Mind fight.” Johan tapped his temple.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” asked a puzzled Phoenix.
Johan turned to Nadirah to explain in his mother tongue, which she then translated.
“Blood is life for man and beast. However, given how the change occurred, forced instead of inherited, the mind is struggling to adapt. It does not accept the tiger. It convinces the spirit that the instincts are wrong because man does not bite to eat or protect. Therefore, the man, even when he’s tiger, rejects its own nature. When your tiger draws blood, and tastes it, it acts as a mental shock, triggering the shift.”
An astute explanation, judging by how Phoenix’s jaw dropped. “I never thought of it that way, but it actually does make sense, because the first time I used my teeth to attack, I remember being horrified.”
Nadirah addressed Johan. “How can he overcome this aversion?”
At the query, Johan shrugged. “By accepting the tiger. By reveling in his gift. By coming to peace with his primal nature.”
When she relayed the message to Phoenix, he grimaced. “Might be easier if I wasn’t still so pissed at what the general did to me.”
Johan’s reply? “Stop fighting what you can’t change.”
“So, there’s no way to get rid of the tiger?”
“No.” Farah shook her head. “It is a part of you. You must accept. Welcome. Perhaps even rejoice that you are one of the blessed.”
