Faris, Poet-Warrior of the K'da

Name: Faris
Age/Birthdate: 14 years old (young adult by his species' standards)
Species: K'da
Powers: As a symbiotic creature, K'da must bond with a host or die, returning to his host at least once every six hours. Faris has the ability to become a living tattoo on the surface of his host's skin. He can choose to partly or entirely detach at will, so long as the host's clothing is loose enough to allow his emergence. While in tattoo form, if he stays still, he is visually indistinguishable from any ordinary tattoo, although he can still see and hear. This is not a painful process for the host. To the host, the K'da attaching or detaching may feel like pressure or flowing water on the surface of the skin.
While in tattoo form, if the host presses up against a wall, Faris can "lean through" the wall and peek at what is on the other side. Under certain circumstances, he can completely detach through to the other side of the wall.
K'da claws are sharp enough to cut through metal with dexterous accuracy.

Appearance: Lithe and agile, the quadrupedal K'da somewhat resemble tiger-sized, wingless dragons when not attached to their host. From nose to tailtip, Faris measures eleven feet long, and is three and a half feet tall at the shoulder. Despite his large size, he only weighs about a hundred and twenty pounds. His scales are a red-tinged gold under restful conditions, though once he enters combat, he turns completely black as his black blood "fills" and colors his scales. K'da have a spiny crest that reaches from between the eyes down their back, nearly to the end of their long, whiplike tail. Faris's eyes are green. When attached to a host, he appears on the host's skin as a full-size tattoo, a two-dimensional representation of his three-dimensional self.

Personality: As a poet-warrior of the K'da, Faris is observant and quick to adapt. He fights hard when forced to, though he regrets any unnecessary loss of life or dignity to others. Faris prefers to resolve problems through diplomacy when possible, although many cultural nuances are lost on him from lack of experience. He is proud of his culture and his people's tradition of history-keeping through poetry, and is eager to contribute.

History: Faris's story begins before the Dragonback series does. Raised among the K'da and the Shontine, a species who has chosen to live with the symbionts, he has never been apart from his people or their beloved hosts for any significant length of time. As a spacefaring species, he was assigned to a scout ship to find suitable worlds for colonization or safe haven from the Valaghua, the enemy of the Shontine and K'da. Up until this point, he has bonded exclusively with one host, Chanath.