[hider=Status]
Location: Depths of Baalor
Health: Completely healthy
Inventory: XXX
Actions: Awaken, Cause ruckus, Begin Evolution[/hider]

[i]I was not one, but many. We were our siblings and our mother, we were never alone. We were happy, we could run through our jungle, hunt our food, play forever, we were whole. However soon something awful happened. We began to become smaller, isolated, alone. Something was chipping us apart and ending us, the resulting pain of the separation in turn chipped away at our consciousness and split us farther apart. In the end it was only two stars in the night, one small and one large. However the large one wasn't as large as it should be, in fact it was only marginally larger than the small one. This troubled them, then it troubled him as 9 was separated from the collective.

9's grief was unimaginable, his brothers and sisters... they were gone. The soft skins couldn't know what that meant, they were never as connected as 9 and his kin were. Even when their bodies failed they would still be together in the mind. However whatever was happening wasn't only killing their bodies but also their link, their soul, whatever you wanted to call it. The disconnection was so sudden, so complete, that it hurt 9 just as much as the first. One moment they were there, the next they weren't. 

Then the star spoke, the motherly tone conveying infinite sadness. "My warrior, you cannot return home. There is nothing to return to, your siblings cannot be saved, and I am going to die. You are going to be alone, truly and completely. For that I am so, so, sorry. I wish I could stay but I am too weak, but before I go you must know that you are destined to be more than a warrior or a praetorian. You won't just protect us, but you will protect everyone."

9 didn't understand what his queen told him, he didn't want to. All he wanted was to be let back in, he didn't want to be left alone again. Then it happened, the queen died and 9 was shaken to his core. Moments passed before the gravity of what happened fully came to him. Electricity flowed through 9 as he was dragged back to the land of the living.[/i]
---

9 released a pain grunt as electricity coursed through his veins and across his shell, causing his body to jerk spasmodically. His movements hadn't gone unnoticed as the guards surrounding him grew agitated at his actions. With a yell, one was told to go tell Hazim that the nightmare beast was attacking and the younger soldier went running. 9 didn't hear them, the pain that was growing ever more preasent was ripping him apart. With a particularly powerful spasm, 9 ripped through the shell he had grown out of as his size began to increase. A small horn grew from the center of his head and broke through the now unneeded husk of his former self.

As the guards looked on, 9 could sense their disgust at the horrific display. It only added to the grief that was eating away at 9. With a titanic effort, 9 rose from his position on the floor and let out a scream that pierced the men around him. The scream traveled inside their minds and grabbed their tragedies, bringing them to the surface and causing the proud warriors to break down and sob like children. 

When his screech ended, 9 gazed down at his hands. Gone were the talon and claws, now they were replaced with the hands that were found on the arms of the soft skins. He would have wondered deeper on the subject, but grief called to him stronger. Curling himself into a ball, 9 sat in the husk of his old body. Looking at his new chitin, 9 saw that it was a color that he had never seen before. Unlike the purple and white of the Praetorian or the black and grey of the Warriors, 9's was a solid red with golden accents along his body.

9 didn't know what that meant, he would probably never know. However all that mattered was that he was back in a cage, most likely caught again. 9 just waited in his cage for the bad men to return and sell him to the highest bidder.