Ruby Astrinor

Name: Ruby Astrinor
Age: 25
Gender: Female
Orientation: Straight

Species: Formerly, human; in this world, she is a chimera - cat, fox, and dragon.  (A majority of her features are feline/vulpine.)

History:
    Ruby was an average girl growing up in rural Montana.  She seemed to have the perfect life – a mother who loved her, a father who was always there, and a supportive, small-town community that helped teach her right from wrong, good from bad, and who always seemed to have her back no matter what.
    One fateful December evening, six months after Ruby’s sixth birthday, that all changed – her father, who had been acting strangely the past few months, declared that he was divorcing her mother.  He wanted them both gone within the week.  Devastated, her mother packed up everything, and the two left for her mother’s home state of Michigan.
    Life in a suburb of one of the largest cities in the state was radically different than the small town life she had been used to.  People would sooner stare her down than smile.  Fear entered her mother’s eyes, the likes of which the little girl had never seen.  Every other week, she took home pamphlets from school – some stranger had taken a child she’d never heard of.  She was taught, “Don’t talk to any strangers,” because it might be her on that paper that the kids took home next week.
    On her own, Ruby’s mother had difficulty paying bills, yet somehow always managed.  Ruby always remembered hearing her mother cry at night, when she didn’t think Ruby would hear her.  In school, most of the kids teased her.  “You look funny!” “You talk funny!” “Your name is stupid!”  “You’re stupid!”  The few who didn’t tease her, she befriended.
    Slowly, the little girl withdrew, building up a little wall around her.  She became extremely shy, avoiding contact with most people, if she had the choice.  She didn’t give them any opportunity to spot weaknesses.  Ruby did her best to become the invisible girl, and for the most part, she succeeded.  She was content watching the rest of them, as long as it meant that they left her alone.
    Despite her circumstances, the girl’s grades never slipped.  She eventually grew into a beautiful young woman, going to Michigan State University on a full ride scholarship.  Life, it seemed, had finally begun to turn around.  She graduated with honors, landed a dream job, and even had begun to date her high school sweetheart.
    That all ended the night a jealous ex-boyfriend tried to end the life of one of her best friends.  Drunk and enraged, the man got into a physical fight with the woman’s fiancée.  During the altercation, the ex-boyfriend pulled a gun, trying to aim at Ruby’s best friend.  In the struggle, the gun went off.  Ruby was struck in the chest with the ill-fated .45 round, and bled out before the paramedics could arrive.

Cause of Death: Exsanguination due to gunshot wound.

Struggles:
• Father issues.
  
• Major issues of self-worth and self-esteem.
  

Personality:
    Ruby is shy around new people.  Generally speaking, she tries to watch them from a distance, to get a gauge on their personality.  If at all possible, and if they seem to be someone she can get along with, she will approach them away from others, and start a conversation.  She’ll do this with a few members of a group, in order to gain acceptance.
    In groups of people she knows well, she is, more or less, a mediator.  She helps sort out differences, and smooth over fights.  This often gets her dragged in the middle of arguments between friends.  Despite how much she hates confrontation, she would rather be in the middle of an argument between friends so that she can help them deal with whatever is going on.
    Ruby has a heart of gold, if the time is taken to find it.  She cares much more for the well-being of her friends than she does herself.  She’ll do anything to make sure they’re happy; her own health and well-being are second in importance, in her mind.  Her friends would describe Ruby as reliable, patient, a bit stubborn, and caring to a fault.  

Trivia:
• Favorite color: …well, all of them, depending on her mood.  Except yellow and orange, unless lemons and oranges are involved.
  
• Favorite candy: lemon warheads or Hershey’s kisses.
  
• Favorite music:  Everything except music that screams more than it sings, or has overly offensive lyrics.
  

Fears:

• Venomous things
  
• Things with a tendency to bite or sting
  
• Spiders and creatures of order solifugae