There is a mutation, passed down among women.  For the most part, this mutation lies dormant.  Waiting.  But at one crucial moment, during pregnancy, the mutation becomes active.  It will stay active for 24 hours.  If, during those 24 hours, the pregnant woman comes into contact with an animal, the mutation will latch onto that animal's DNA and the child will be born a demi.

Those carrying the mutation are rare.  Demis are even more rare.  However, rare though they be, the demis are dangerous.  If they choose the wrong path, they could wreak untold destruction.  And so they are rounded up before their third year, taken from their parents and raised in a government facility.  They are disciplined harshly whenever they break the rules, and otherwise left alone.

Until they turn 15, the only companion they have is an animal of the kind that donated DNA to the demis.  Then, the day after their birthday, they are taken away, to a training facility.  There, the demis are turned into soldiers for the government.  Whether they do so willingly matters not; one way or another, these teenagers are turned into weapons.

However, the existence of demis is not as secret as the government assumes.  The mothers know.  They spread the word.  Many believed that what the government did was right, but one woman started a movement.  She is gathering men and women to her banner, swearing them to secrecy, and planning an uprising.  A coup.  These revolutionaries will rise against the government, tear them down, and free the demis.

This woman is a mother of demis, and she wants her children back.  She will free them and all like them, come hell or high water.  She is known only by the name [i]Elpis.  Hope.[/i]  For it is her goal to be Hope for the demis.

That is not all.  The demis themselves have grown tired of isolation followed by near slavery.  They are planning their own revolution, to overthrow the human government and replace it with a demi council.  They are armed, trained, [i]dangerous[/i]... and they will not fail.

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[hider=Misc. Info]
Our characters would be mainly human in appearance, like the following:
Human build, face, hands, and feet
Animal ears, senses, tails, wings, and some fur
Human intelligence, speech, and emotions
Animal reflexes, abilities, and weapons - a demi-poison dart frog, for example, would have the poison of the frog

The age range for our characters is 15-25.

The training facility is out in the middle of nowhere, somewhere up north in the US.  There's the barracks, a large building made up of rooms containing only a bed and a dresser, where the demis sleep; the menagerie, which is where the animal companions are kept; the gym, where demis are trained in hand-to-hand and using their animal abilities to their advantage; the range, where archery and gun training happens; the mess hall, a large building near the center of the compound; and the perimeter, a smooth concrete wall patrolled by soldiers at all times.
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[hider=Rules]
Little to no swearing, please.
As for romance, please only up to kissing, hand-holding, etc. For anything more, ah, [i]intimate,[/i] fade out, okay?
Characters may fight; authors may not.
Try not to make your characters too OP.
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[hider=Character sheet]
[image here, if possible]
Name:
Age:
Gender:
Animal half:
Appearance:
Personality:
Animal talents/aspects:
Other:
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