Disclaimer: I do not own Starcraft or its affiliates
Transformation
After the fight, the three decided it was best for them to flee the area immediately in case the main pack wanted to come back for second helpings. They didn't want to fight anymore yet, not until they finally understood their new situation. With understanding would come true strength, as they wanted to know more about this new life.
Kiara, Scott, and Alexis were panting heavily as they finally stopped on top of a giant hill, having run the entire way. They had to put a lot of distance between them and the campsite, lest they get sniffed out and hunted down. These wolf beasts were remarkably fast despite their size, and would always attack with superior numbers to finish off a hunt. There was no doubt that the three of them could fight them off, but in their currently wounded state, they were no match if the pack leader showed up as well.
"Well, I have to say, that was a close one!" Scott gasped the minute his lungs finally gave him spare breath. "We would've probably been eaten had we not woke up sooner. Thanks for that kick Alexis."
"No problem bro." The younger sibling waved off the compliment and looked down at her fur clothing, pulling it experimentally. "Yuck, these smell of blood and sweat! And I don't like my new hair, it's too long and it's golden!"
"You have some green highlights streaking throughout," The brown hair boy added, reaching behind and grabbing his own long hair. He frowned and took out the stone knife that he retrieved from the wolf's body. With a flick, it sliced through the fiber at the back of his throat and the long bangs covering his face, leaving Scott with much shorter hair. He ran his hand upwards and pulled, raising the hair slightly so that it spiked upwards. "Better."
"Hey, can I have a haircut as well? But do it in a cool style!" Alexis eagerly requested and her brother nodded, motioning for his sister to turn around. A few quick swipes later, her blond hair was cut to shoulder length and most of the bangs were sliced off. However, two strands were left dangling over her forehead, making them almost seem like feelers from a bug. Noticeably, the ends of her hair were green as Scott had used them for the cut position. "Awesome, thanks!"
"Bangs only," ordered Kiara and her brother obliged, slicing through the annoying bangs covering her line of sight. "Good. Now, let's take care of our wounds."
"We need water." The lone boy stated, stuffing the knife back into the fur loincloth he wore. "Anybody know where the nearest river is?"
"Over there! I see some pools of water down there!" Alexis pointed and the other two turned. By luck, there were a few bodies of water down the hill they currently were on. As the three made their way down, they stumbled a few times as the grassy expanse suddenly gave way to barren rocks and dry dirt. Their faces grew hotter as they came close to the water, and it was no surprise when they discovered steam rising from the liquid. "Hey, hot springs! We struck it good this time!"
"Nice job Alexis." The purple hair girl patted her sister's back and turned to the water, placing a hand in experimentally. "Seems like a nice and good temperature."
"I don't know…it seems quite barren here." Scott kneeled down and grabbed some dirt, shifting it through his hands and smelling. "What if there are chemicals in the water that caused organisms around it to die? We could be in some serious trouble if we took a dip in it…"
"Nah, take a look. It's probably the heat that killed everything around here!" Alexis explained, her eyes looking around. "Hey, there's three springs! One for each of us! C'mon big bro, I'm tired and, judging from my memories, this is a rare treat! And the water will also clean up our clothes when we bathe in it!"
"…fine, but just be careful." The brown hair boy sighed, walking over to one of the springs and quickly submerging himself in it. The blond girl giggled and walked over to another spring, placing her feet in and dangling it for a while before falling into the water with a playful manner.
Kiara walked forwards to the center slowly, feeling the water's depth grow to the point where most of her waist was submerged in the hot liquid. Her dark hair spiraled around her as it floated against the water, limp and submissive. She sighed in relaxation as the pain on her back ceased to be, the blood washed off by the hot liquids. Knowing that flushing the open wounds with heated water would actually disinfect and clean it, the purple hair girl reached back and touched her back.
There were no wounds. After a few confused pats, Kiara craned her neck to look over her shoulder and was baffled at the sight. Her skin was whole again, without a single scar or indication of it ever tearing in that place. Not even a drop of blood was seen in the water surrounding it! "My back! It's…it's healed!"
"The bite marks on my arm are disappearing as well!"
"Hey, my hand isn't blackened anymore! This water is awesome!"
"This spring water…." Kiara suddenly felt something tug down on her bare foot and looked down instinctively. There, rising out of the bottom of the pool, were five massive webbed walls! A shout and scream of surprise confirmed her suspicions as both her brother and sister were met by the same thing. The eldest sibling tried to dash out of the way, but the walls twisted and closed, sealing her inside before she could even get a glimpse of the sunlight.
Then the water level inside the sealed chamber began to rise. She tried to break out, but Kiara's legs were useless against the fleshy walls as they were slowly enveloped in the hot water. Her skin scalded and grew red as the hot water continued to grow upwards, threatening to burn her entire body by its temperature. Eventually, it reached her head and Kiara's supply of air became scarce. She held her breath as long as possible, hoping that she could find a way out then, but it was hopeless as her lungs burned with desperate need for air. Her mouth slipped and the hot water rushed in, scalding her insides and burning them up from the inside as Kiara's eyes closed shut from the pain. Darkness threatened and did consume her, sending her mind into a deep sleep…
O O O
Day 2, Year 1
The transformation process took only a day to complete.
Kiara's eyes suddenly slammed open as she realized she could suddenly breathe. With reckless abandon, her hands swung wildly in the now empty chamber and hit the dried up fleshy walls. It broke apart easily now, and the purple hair woman fell out of the chamber. Her eyes were partially hurt by the sudden influx of the bright dawn but Kiara could now see something besides darkness as she scrambled to her feet.
The chamber she had just broken out of was dried and rotten now, with hardly any indication it was living at least a day ago. Looking at it from the outside now, it was shaped in an oddly familiar shape as Kiara stared at her former prison. Why did it look so familiar?
But even more shocking was when she stood up straight and realized that it was barely her height! It could barely reach her forehead, least of all drown her entire body in hot water! Either it shrank, or did she grow? Glancing down, Kiara let out a yelp of surprise. This certainly could not be her body!
The furs that had once covered her body were now gone. Instead, covering her entire body from the elements was a thin fleshy purple membrane of sorts. Brown carapace dotted her body, covering up several spots such as, but not limited to, her shoulders and hands. Her feet had been covered entirely by the carapace, giving rise to heel-like structures that felt smug to stand on. From her forearm up, carapace covered the membrane and gave rise to claw-like hands. Kiara's hair was also covered in brown carapace, but the purple original could still be seen under her now braid-like hair.
It struck her just as hard as the news of a fire in her home. She knew who she was. She had played a video game character like this before!
She looked identical to The Queen of Blades. Sarah Kerrigan, the infested Terran Ghost. Mass murderer and destined savior to the world of Starcraft.
Starcraft. It all made sense to her now. She was given the power of the Swarm upon death!
Seeing two identical eggs like hers nearby, Kiara rushed over to the nearest one and pulled back her arm, smashing through the dried flesh without any trouble. Scott's body fell out and it wasn't even a second before he started gasping and wheezing for breath, trying to take in as much air as he could. A glance at him as he lay on the ground confirmed Kiara's suspicions. He too, had been infested with the power of the Swarm.
His fur loincloth that had been wrapped around Scott's waist had stayed with him during the transformation, but it was now much thicker and was made out of a flexible form of carapace. It looked as though his chest had developed quite a bit of muscles during the transformation, and so no carapace was needed to cover up the muscles, only a thin blue membrane layer. It seemed that he too, grew older in the chamber, to somewhere in his early 20s. His slick black hair was also untouched by the infestation, which Kiara envied slightly. She would've preferred it that her purple hair was unchanged, but that was a slight complaint in light of their discoveries.
When the last egg was shattered and Alexis' body fell out, Kiara was slightly perturbed. Unlike her siblings, it seemed that the youngest of them didn't grow as much as the others. She still looked different, but it couldn't be more than late teens in comparison to her siblings. Her body changed in the same way that her sibling's did, but with a green membrane skin and without the hair braids.
Again, that infuriated Kiara, but that was the least of concerns. Alexis was still too young and too small to fight effectively. That meant that Alexis was the most vulnerable of them all in combat. A bit concerning-
"OH MY GOD, IT'S THE QUEEN OF BLADES!" Scott yelled, falling back. Oh right, her siblings played Starcraft as well. They knew the characters. The man sank to his knees and bowed his head, pleading, "PLEASE DON'T KILL ME OR INFEST ME!"
"Oh, calm down, it's me!" Kiara rolled her eyes. Her brother was always a bit overdramatic and over worried at times. "And have you looked at yourself? You look almost as terrifying."
"Big sis…?" The youngest of them all cracked open an eye before shutting it immediately. "Um, why do I see Sarah Kerrigan in front of me?"
"Trust me you two, me looking like Kerrigan is the least of our worries."
