When the Cat Met the Wolf

32. Origins Part 3: The Beginning of Tigre Blanco

It was the fourth year in a row that Arianne Mercier travelled to Barcelona for holidays.

Ever since that fateful meeting during a fall afternoon in the park, Arianne and Thiago had become inseparable. They talked almost every day, video called every week, and they both made sure to visit their friend, at least, once a year.

Currently, Arianne was in Thiago's room, playing one of her recently learned covers, as Thiago stared at her with a huge smile.

"That was great!" complimented the boy "You're becoming better and better!"

"Thanks!" replied Arianne with a smile, placing her violin back on the case "I've been practicing a lot! My teacher said that I will soon be able to play on shows and stuff like that"

"You deserve it! Your playing is quite nice! I wish I could play like you do!" he was being honest. He had no idea how to play the violin, the only instrument he knew how to play was the guitar, and just barely, not like Arianne played the violin.

"You know how to do other stuff!" assured Arianne "Like beating an entire platform game in one hour! Or programming! When you show me the screen in which the programming is done, I don't understand a thing, but you do!" Thiago chuckled upon hearing that.

"I guess you are right" he replied, shrugging with modesty.

"I'm serious!" insisted the violinist "Have you ever considered programming your own game?"

"Honestly? Not really, it requires a lot of time, and creativity, which I don't think I have"

"I can help you with that!" replied Arianne "We plan the plot and the characters of the game together, but you do all the job"

"For now, I want you to focus on your career" replied Thiago "Become a very well-known violinist, and then you can focus on the rest"

"Okay" nodded Arianne "But I won't forget this! And, in a few years, I will remind you of it, in case you forget"

"Okay, okay" nodded Thiago "I won't forget, though. I have an excellent memory"

"Always so modest" said Arianne with sarcasm, making Thiago chuckle "Hey, wanna get tea or something?"

"Sure" replied Thiago, standing up from the floor where he had been sitting on "Let me just grab my stuff"

As Arianne and Thiago walked down the streets of Barcelona with a cup of takeaway tea each and a shared bag with some cookies, Master Fu, who had been watching Thiago for quite some time now, was walking some meters ahead of them.

Once they were close enough to him, he pretended to lose balance and fall to the ground with a groan. Thiago and Arianne saw him, and Thiago immediately handed his friend the cup of tea, before rushing to help the man.

"Are you okay, sir?" he asked with concern, as he helped him up, and she watched the scene with worry. Had he hurt himself?

"Oui" nodded the man, and Thiago silently thanked Arianne for her French classes, 'cause he understood what Master Fu was saying "Merci, monsieur" he added, as he grabbed the staff that Thiago handed him.

"No problem" nodded Thiago, as he watched after him to make sure that he was safe. As he did that, Master Fu walked through the streets with a smile, since he had found the first superhero of the 21st century.

Tigre Blanco.

Later that night, at his house after having dinner with Arianne and her parents, he was in his room, watching a movie, when he noticed the strange, octagon-shaped box with red designs resting on his night table. He frowned as he stopped the movie, and looked at the box curiously.
He was sure that there wasn't anything there during the morning, or during the whole week, for instance.

What was it?

He hesitated a bit before opening it, causing a very bright light to fill the room, which forced him to squint his eyes before he became blind or something.

When the light disappeared, he peeked inside the box, and found a white leather armband inside. He frowned confused as to what  that was doing inside of the box.

Had his mother bought it?

He didn't think so. It definitely wasn't her style of gift, even though she always bought him stuff. In Thiago's opinion, that was the way his mother showed that he cared for him, even though a simple 'good night' was enough for him.

When he tried the armband on, a small figure materialised in front of him, and he opened his eyes wide upon seeing it. It looked like a tiger. It was white, had small ears and very long tail.

"What are you?" questioned Thiago when the figure opened its deep blue eyes.

"I'm a kwami, my name is Jazmin!" replied the tiger with a wink, floating in front of him, much to his surprise.

"What's a kwami?" questioned Thiago, confused but, surprisingly, not shocked that a small tiger was flying and talking right in front of his eyes.

"It's always the same old story" said Jazmin with a sigh "I wish they would write about us in books!" Thiago blinked, still waiting for an answer "A kwami is a magical being that grants powers" she explained patiently.

"Like some sort of genie?" asked Thiago, thinking back to the movie Aladdin.

"You could say that" replied Jazmin with a tilt of her head "But I don't grant three wishes, I give powers"

"Cool" replied Thiago, as if it was the most normal thing in the world "What are my powers?" Jazmin was surprised that he believed her so easily, but, then again, there were many different types of superheroes.

"You can turn into any animal you want, or you can de-evilize people" she explained, floating around.

"What's to de-evilize?" asked Thiago curiously.

"It's to turn people to normal again" replied the kwami "Make the darkness inside of them disappear" Thiago stayed silent, processing that "I'll explain everything to you, but you need to transform first"

"How do I do that?"

"You just say 'Jazmin, transform me'" 

"Alright. Jazmin, transform me!"

Jazmin was sucked into the grey armband, making five white paws appear on it. 

A yellow light engulfed Thiago, and the face of a white tiger appeared behind him. The tiger roared, before wrapping Thiago in a white light; when the light disappeared, his outfit was on, and the white tail had grown. He traced his right arm with his left hand, which made the gloves appear, and then he lifted his hands in front of his face, he clapped and his white mask materialised. Finally, he ran a hand through his hair, making his tiger ears appear.

With a final pose, he was now Tigre Blanco.