The Nines (The Ninth)

The Ninth was originally a child of the First who went by the name of So'ra, meaning "sun," synonymous to "Life's Eye" in the old tongue. It specifically refers to the sun that was later extinguished into the moon, rather than the persisting sun So’yo.

The Fifth deity took such an interest in the mortal So'ra that it wanted to spare him from death forever. The Fifth stole one of the two Eyes of Life out of the sky and gave it to So'ra to swallow, creating a god more powerful than all the previous Eight combined. The Ninth became the greatest advocate for the worth in a mortal soul, going so far as to re-write the Creators' design to ensure that no other Nine outside the Fifth could ever destroy their spirits.

Mortal Life and the Fifth

So’ra was brought into existence by the First, and was an overwhelmingly kind and curious soul with a great zest for life. So’ra was so bold as to approach the Eight deities during periods where they would touch down on Earth, but could seldom get as close to them as he would have liked.

So’ra met the Fifth during a time it was disguised as an ordinary crow that So’ra tried to befriend. The little crow was wildly clever yet had gaps of knowledge in bizarre places that seemed intuitive to So’ra and the other creatures. It looked almost otherworldly in its surroundings, as if it had been misplaced in time and space, a fact that So’ra found intriguing rather than frightening.

Beyond its guise of regality, the crow’s deeper personality captivated So’ra; it was persistent in its desire to understand its fellow creatures at levels that no mortal would so much as think to be curious about, as if desperate to make sense of some kind of greater puzzle, and radiated an inexplicable melancholy that So’ra desperately wished to soothe. He invited the crow to spend time with him as well as his kith at every opportunity, helping the strange being to make friends, which delighted it to no end.

In many ways, So’ra had already figured out the crow’s identity before the Fifth chose to reveal itself. So’ra was not afraid of the Fifth’s true form, even when it shared a truth with So’ra that was unknown to all other mortals; living things were all destined to die at the claws of the Fifth’s talons, their spirits destroyed permanently. The Fifth would one day kill So’ra, a fact that filled it with great sorrow. Rather than fearing the Fifth as it had expected, So'ra promised to stay at its side until that day, and apologized for the existential burden it had been forced to carry and keep secret for so long, which made the Fifth cry. In a gesture of their friendship and to cement how the Fifth looked upon So’ra as an equal, the Fifth revealed its true name to him, and So’ra became the first and only mortal to have ever known a god’s name.

Ascension

On the day the First ordered So’ra’s spirit to be returned to clay, for the very first time in an eternity, the Fifth had refused to do so. In an act of its overwhelming love for So’ra, the Fifth stole the power of an Eye with the intention to preserve his spirit eternally, stripping itself as well as its brethren of the bulk of their powers. None of the Eight deities would ever have the power to harm So’ra again.

So’ra had made peace with his fate to die before the Fifth, unaware of the true depths of the god’s feelings for him, and the extent it would go to preserve his life. On a seemingly ordinary day, out of nowhere the sky went dark for the very first time. It was as if the sun had fallen out of the sky, sending the inhabitants of the Earth into a panic. Appearing out of the darkness, the Fifth lit down before So’ra clutching a small beam of light in its talons and asked him to swallow it, telling So’ra it would preserve his life. So’ra had not understood the Fifth’s intentions nor that this little light was the very essence of life itself, and he did as the Fifth asked.

In the act of stealing a sun and feeding it to a mortal, the great two-sun constellation was split between the realm of the living and that of the gods, severing them permanently. The Fifth fled into mortal form to hide upon the Earth, while the remaining seven were trapped in their heavenly realm with no way to reach their creations.

The new Ninth was horrified upon realizing it ascended to divine status, feeling as though the Fifth had tricked him at the expense of all other living things. The Fifth didn’t care if So’ra would hate it for the rest of eternity. It was just happy that out of every creature it had loved and lost, it at least managed to save one.

Gift to the Living

Realizing the mortals would die out without their gods to facilitate their creation, the Ninth sacrificed the power of the sun to gift all mortals with the ability to create new life independent of the whims of their gods. Additionally it granted each creature an eternal spirit, allowing their souls to cross through the Grey and into So’raréyo upon their death if they were pure-enough of heart, and be reunited with their creators once more. To its own Children it gifted nine reincarnations to spend on Earth as long as the cat reincarnated into another cat. Should a cat’s spirit reincarnate into another animal, it loses any remaining lives. The Ninth is said to now only possess nine lives itself.

From there on, the remaining seven deities could only manipulate the Earth in inanimate ways, such as affecting the weather, but had no way to touch the flora or fauna.

Children of the Ninth revere their deity for easing their existential burden in the wake of the Fifth's betrayal, giving them immortal souls and a way back home to their gods at the end of their lives. One of the nine comings of the Ninth deity is a momentous occasion to be celebrated. The Ninth is said to bring blessings and prosperity, bearing an eye that can see home into the Great Sun Constellation, moving freely between the realms to harness divine knowledge of the world’s truths. It is unknown what other divine powers the Ninth will have retained upon reincarnating, if it will have any at all.

Myth Among Mortals

Mythology of the Nines differs between the Children, and the story of the Ninth is one of the most controversial between species. As the Ninth was originally a Child of the First, many other species of Children of the Nines do not recognize the Ninth as a deity at all, and see all the Ninth's "children" as really just children of the First. Most conclude that no feline has nine lives, and have varying ideas of where their own eternal spirits came from, generally citing their own deities as having used their remaining powers to bless them instead.

Fate of the Ninth's Children

As per the Eighth’s Law of Honour, Children of the Nines who are direct descendants of the parent deity's species typically do not attack each other, while Children of the Nines who are cousins to the parent species are referred to as "lesser children" and are exempt from this law. Because new-age wildcats are considered cousins to lynx (or hybrids in many cases), they too are lesser children in the eyes of creatures who do not recognize the Ninth.

Due to the new-age wildcat's tendency to congregate into enormous territorial colonies, they wreak havoc on the environment wherever they go, out-competing other predators. To avoid being driven from their territories, other Children of the Nines will hunt and kill them. It becomes a moral dilemma for the wildcats over whether they should fight to kill if attacked by these higher predators, because while they want to respect the Eighth’s Law of Honour, the other species see them as illegitimate and will not hesitate to kill them on sight if they find one alone.