Callum School

Personality:
Streetwise and determined, Callum is very independent. He knows how to fend for himself, and is proud of it- you won’t catch this guy asking anybody for help. While at times mischievous and playful, he generally prefers to avoid too much foolishness, having deemed it a waste of precious energy better used by hunting and thieving- though one might say his love of the chase makes stealing a type of game to him!

Callum is very courageous. He is unafraid of most things, and that which he is afraid of he will face without hesitating. While he is too proud to allow anybody take care of him, he will unhesitatingly put himself in danger to protect someone he deems to be ‘innocent’, and his bravery and loyalty could be considered recklessness and over-protectiveness. He judges largely by personality, placing his trust and respect only in those who make selfless and well-meaning decisions- anyone else, he merely tolerates, though he may feign friendliness to avoid conflict.

He is a largely peaceful shapeshifter who tries to avoid starting conflict, but when he does get into a fight it would usually be to the death, as he believes the only way to end an aggressive threat is to destroy it completely. In fact, if he were in a pack and another pack attacked he could easily condone annihilating the enemy pack- even if not all of the members were threats. In this way, he would protect his own, as he believes a true lynx would. The only reason he even avoids fighting in the first place is because he hunts and steals for survival, and an injury would mean starvation!

Callum hates water, fire and confined spaces. Small spaces are his greatest fear, however- it makes him feel trapped, and Callum has a wild, instinctive terror of the trap. He loves to climb and run, however, and often encourages others to chase him, often by relieving them of their goods.



Callum was born in the wild, beside a river far from his current home. His was a small group, little more than a family unit, consisting of himself, his parents, and his three siblings- a sister and two brothers. Life was never dull for this little family.

The early years were peaceful. The group was a peaceful one which lived the wild life, hunting for food and rarely having to compete with others. Callum grew quickly, beginning to learn his own hunting skills the moment he was able to shift- like the rest of his particular bloodline, his first shift came at a young age, and he was five when he first transformed into the light brown lynx he now spends most of his time as.

Like a true lynx, Callum practiced his hunting on little things at first. Butterflies and bugs were popular prey items for he and his siblings, and under the watchful eye of his mother he would go on regular expeditions, foraging and hunting and always returning to proudly show off his latest catch, before devouring it like a hungry wolf. But he was not to know of the trouble that was coming to him and his family.

It came when he was eight. A much larger group of ‘wild’ shapeshifters, consisting largely of wolves and big cats, intruded on their land and scared off the prey, and rather than pick a fight which would inevitably lead to the family’s eradication, Callum’s parents chose to leave. It was a stormy day, and they followed the swollen river for the journey, heading up towards a place his mother remembered, a distant land where he had been raised. They reached a place where the river was narrower, and though it was no shallower than anywhere else, they decided to cross.

They crossed together, paddling strongly across the river as lynxes. Callum was a strong swimmer, though he had never particularly enjoyed getting his paws wet- it was a cat thing, really, or so he would claim. But as they neared the other bank, a particularly strong wave knocked Callum and his siblings off course. His parents managed to grasp his brothers’ scruffs before they were washed away. Callum and his sister were swept downriver, and separated by the current.

Callum awoke to find himself alone, and immediately began heading back upriver to find his family. Along the way, he encountered another shapeshifter- a lone cheetah cub named Arthur, who had also been separated from his family by the stormy waters. Neither child ever saw their parents again, and after a few months, Callum gave up on searching, presuming his sister had drowned and his parents and brothers were living life elsewhere, believing him to be dead.

The next few years were difficult for Callum and his new friend. Finding food was not easy, and insects did not sustain them. Eventually they turned to stealing from humans and shapeshifters alike- they would pinch from stores, and scavenge from abandoned kills. On some occasions they would brazenly sneak among a large, hungry pack and eat amongst them, always beating a hasty retreat before somebody realised they did not belong. They survived, and eventually went their own separate ways upon reaching their teenage years, as Callum had had it impressed upon him from an early age that a mature lynx shifter only ever associated with family, unless they were a leader.

Aged sixteen, he stumbled upon the city of Palyra. Now this was heaven to the lynx shifter. Stores to steal from, packs to scavenge among, prey for him to hunt- it was the perfect place. So there he stayed, and there he remains now, two years later- though he is now less of a thief, and more of an independent hunter.