So I accidentally posted a bit of person poetry on here when it was supposed to be this. Anyway, problem fixed.

Jab ran out of the steam pool as fast as he could, an angry goose with a metal pan chasing him. He had gotten there early today so that he could soak longer, but today the caretaker was armed. Standing in the middle of the path, he sighed and sat down. He missed feeling.

But he was confused. He had felt Kiara pressed against him perfectly, her tears, her form shaking sobs, her paws as they gripped at his chest. But he had just sat in a pool, steaming to the point where even a rhino wouldn't stick his toe in it, and he had felt nothing. Maybe I just can't feel pain. He thought mildly to himself. I heard Master Tigress was the same. Should probably ask about this sooner or later. He held his paw up in front of him, watching his claws extend and retract.

He had noticed the lack of feeling a few days after he recovered from fever. Survived. He reminded himself. He had been punching a wall, screaming, crying, praying. When he finally stopped, his paws had been bloody and torn, and a hole in the stone wall had appeared, tufts of his fur hanging from the jagged edges.

The town healer had instantly been called when they found him keeled over on the stone path, retching and crying and bleeding. They bandaged him up and sent him home with an elder. And little by little, since that day, he felt less and less. In fact, last night was the first time he had felt in a long time.

Maybe it is just pain I can't feel. Shifu would know. He was sure he'd find time to ask him later.

The gong sounded in the distance and he realized he was late. He ran to the barracks to find the others already standing outside their doors, but to his relief Shifu was not there yet. As he quickly walked to his room, Nora smiled brightly at him. "You should most definitely train shirtless. Right Kiara?" Kiara smiled and averted her gaze, but said nothing. As Jab walked back out of his room with his shirt half on he saw Shifu waiting at the end of the hall.

"Glad you could join us Jab. If you could, I'd like a word with you before you begin today." Troy chuckled and sent a sidelong sneer in Jab's direction, who merely bowed in acknowledgment. "As for the rest of you, breakfast is waiting in the kitchen. After that, you have until lunch to traverse the thousand steps ten times, at your pace. But if you do not complete them by lunch, you will be forced to do another ten, on top of the sets you missed, after lunch." Troy's smirk was quickly reduced to a sad look of fear. As everyone walked out of the barracks, Jab stood at his doorway, waiting for Shifu.

He approached slowly, looking tiger up and down. Muscular. Toned. Healthy. Nothing that puts him out of the ordinary except his darker fur. When Shifu got to Jab, he faced and looked up at him, meeting his eyes. His eyes as well. Jab's silver eyes were deep, almost piercing.

"Jab, I've been hearing things from the grounds keeper about you since you arrived. He's found you in the thermal pool in the morning, before it has reached safe temperatures." He paused, thinking over his words. "He claims he has found you in the pool up to your eyes, and that you emerged unharmed. Is this accurate?"

Jab broke his gaze and looked away from Shifu. "It is."

"Why are you putting yourself in such pain. I cannot have someone of unsound mind as a student."

"I assure you, I am of sound mind. I just… wish to prove something." He closed his eyes with a sigh. "To myself."

"What is it you are trying to prove to yourself Jab."

Jab opened his eyes and stared down at Shifu. "That I can still feel, and that I survived for a reason." A single tear fell from his eye. Shifu held eye contact for several moments, a look of recognition crossing his face, then one of deep thought, before waving his hand in dismissal. Jab bowed, and jogged from the room.

He did not go to the kitchen. He went straight to the front gate. The thousand steps spread out in front of him, along with the Valley of Peace, shining in the splendor of the morning sunrise. He was about to take his first step when he stopped himself. He looked down at the cotton shirt he had put on. It was covering who he was. It was covering what he was. He gripped the collar and pulled hard, tearing the shirt in two.

He let out a pained roar and tore down the steps. Shifu had pushed his buttons, gotten him emotional, gotten him feeling. But it wasn't pain. It wasn't joy.

It was regret. It was loss. It was the things that haunted him in his sleep and pushed him on during the day. And he ran down the stairs, gaining speed with every step. When he tripped and fell, he didn't feel it, he only got up and kept going. He ran. Because running, it seemed, was all that he could.

Nora and Kiara watched from the gate as Jab ripped off his shirt. Neither said anything, though Kiara flinched at Jab's roar of pain, as he took off down the stairs. "What do you think Shifu said?"

Nora smiled. "I don't know, but he should say more if it makes Jab take that shirt off!"

Kiara smacked her on the back of the head, growling. "Would you stop that! He is in pain! He is in emotional turmoil!"

Nora stepped back, rubbing the back of her head, grimacing. "Yea, but he's also the best looking guy here, and shirtless. Can't deny myself who I am." Kiara rolled her eyes and walked to the top of the steps. Nora walked up next to her, just in time to see Jab fall several yards of stone stairs. But as they watched, he stood as if nothing had happened and continued his descent. "Still hot. He likes you though. Maybe you can help?" With that, Nora was down the steps.

Kiara stood, watching Jab from afar. She was thinking of the night before. How tender and caring he had been. How protective he had been. She hugged herself as she felt the feelings creeping back into her mind, but she shook them off with another thought of Jab. She didn't know what she could possibly do.

But she would try. For him. And for herself.